Jinting Han people

Although Wang Bao is dead, the dire situation in Luoyang has not improved, and the Grand Marshal's office is still searching for a way out.

In late April, another major incident occurred in Luoyang. Late that night, a madman entered the palace through the Yunlong Gate, then traversed most of the inner palace, finally reaching the Taiji Hall, where he shouted at the emperor's residence, "I want to be the Grand Secretary!"

This man caused no damage and was immediately imprisoned by the palace guard on duty. However, the impact he had can't be explained in a few words.

The Forbidden City was the residence of the emperor, a vital part of the state. Its defense system consisted of three lines: the Left and Right Guard Generals were responsible for the outer defenses, while the Assistant Ministers and the Imperial Guards Generals were responsible for the inner defenses. Three military commanders were stationed around the emperor to oversee the inner security. Yet this madman had silently breached two lines of defense and reached the emperor himself! How could this be allowed to continue?

He claimed he wanted to be granted an official title, but if this madman was planning to assassinate the emperor, wouldn't that cause a major upheaval? Even if he didn't kill the emperor, given the circumstances, he could have easily stormed into the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel and killed several high-ranking officials and prime ministers. How would that have ended?

Therefore, this case immediately caused a huge uproar in the court and among the public. The one most affected was Prince Qi, Sima Jiong, who believed that this was most likely aimed at him. Even if an assassin managed to infiltrate the palace, they couldn't break through the emperor's inner defenses. But what if he encountered such a situation in the palace? He probably wouldn't even know how he died.

Therefore, he strongly advocated for an investigation into the matter, but as always, the investigation process was extremely unsuccessful.

Theoretically, the four palace gates this madman passed through—Yunlong Gate, Jianli Gate, Chongli Gate, and Duan Gate—were all under the control of Dong Ai, Wei Yi, and other followers of the Prince of Qi. Investigating these gates yielded nothing. What about the guards? The result was that the dozen or so guards involved had vanished without a trace, along with their families. The Court of Justice issued over ten arrest warrants, but they disappeared without a trace, as if thrown into the sea.

The investigation had reached this point, plunging the court into an eerie silence, with officials fearing any involvement in the matter. However, the people of the capital region were abuzz with discussion, and gradually, a prevailing opinion emerged that this was a farce orchestrated by the Grand Marshal himself, a scheme to bypass court affairs and seize absolute power.

This statement wasn't entirely unfounded. After the palace incursion incident, Sima Jiong, for his safety, stopped attending court. Previously, although he wielded immense power, he would still go through the motions, discussing important matters himself before making decisions in court. But now, he had moved all military and political affairs within the court to the Grand Marshal's residence. All officials in court could only present their reports to the Grand Marshal's office.

Meanwhile, for his own safety and the convenience of his office, Sima Jiong drastically expanded his Grand Marshal's Mansion, requisitioning hundreds of surrounding residences. The rebuilt mansion was comparable in scale to the Western Palace. Furthermore, he breached the palace wall north of Qianqiu Gate, constructing a dedicated passageway between the imperial palace and his own residence. This allowed him to bypass the usual palace defenses and directly access the Secretariat.

What's even more striking is the sheer number of palace guards at the Grand Marshal's residence. Sima Jiong expanded the original thousand-man guard to ten thousand, drawing all the soldiers from the Eastern Expeditionary Army. In a short time, the Grand Marshal's residence was a sea of ​​banners and a forest of spears and halberds, its imposing presence surpassing that of the former deposed Crown Prince Sima Yu, almost matching that of the palace guards.

These actions were undoubtedly presumptuous and would further erode Sima Jiong's popularity. But Sima Jiong was no longer concerned with such matters; he had already lost the battle of public opinion and didn't care about his reputation anymore. He had to resort to this method to ensure his control over Luoyang.

Then, the question becomes how to weaken the King of Hejian and the General of the Western Expedition.

Thus, in July, he issued an imperial edict to the Western Expeditionary Army, formally summoning Li Han, the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Hejian, and Huangfu Shang, the former Governor of Liangzhou, to the capital.

This was precisely Dong Ai's idea. After rejecting Zu Ti and Wang Bao's strategy, he spent several months gathering information and finally devised a usable strategy, which he then advised Sima Jiong:
"Grand Marshal, victory is not limited to the battlefield. The Prince of Hejian wants to use underhanded tricks to undermine your popularity. You can do the opposite and summon his chief secretary, Li Han, to court."

“Li Shirong is the strategist of the Prince of Hejian. If he enters the court, the Prince of Hejian will be like losing an arm. I predict that he will not be willing to release him. If he does not release him, he will be violating the imperial edict, which shows that he has disloyal intentions. The Grand Marshal can then rightfully rebuke him and shift the blame for the civil war onto the Prince of Hejian.”

"I have also heard that Li Han is at odds with the brothers Huangfu Shang, the former governor of Liangzhou, and Huangfu Chong, the current governor of Qinzhou. You can recruit Huangfu Shang into your staff to win over the soldiers of Qinzhou."

"With the support of the Huangfu brothers, no matter how many capable ministers and fierce generals the General of the Western Expeditionary Army has, they will have to be wary of Longxi first. At that time, Your Highness can launch a pincer attack from both sides and regain control of the General of the Western Expeditionary Army. Wouldn't that be a piece of cake?"

This plan pleased Sima Jiong greatly. Why not weaken and strike at Sima Yong without paying much price? So he issued this edict and sent it to Chang'an.

The moment this edict was issued, the atmosphere in Luoyang became extremely tense. This was an open and blatant scheme, and all the civil and military officials could see Sima Jiong's intentions, let alone the Prince of Hejian, with whom the two sides had been secretly fighting for so long. Everyone in the court and the public speculated that it wouldn't be long before the Prince of Hejian would formally raise an army and challenge the Grand Marshal.

Indeed, this was the case. The imperial edict was delivered from Luoyang to Chang'an by fast horse in just three or four days. However, after ten days, the General Headquarters of the Western Expedition still had not replied, which was clearly a sign of disobeying the imperial order.

Sima Jiong was overjoyed, believing he had Sima Yong's weakness in his grasp, and sent two more imperial edicts to urge him to act. At the same time, he ordered Liu Shen, the Chief Clerk of the Grand Marshal, to mobilize troops in Luoyang. The previously disbanded army of the Eastern Expeditionary Force gradually regrouped in Luoyang. Within half a month, over 50,000 men were mobilized as the vanguard, giving the impression that if the Prince of Hejian refused, he would immediately send troops to attack.

Thus, the delay stretched from mid-July to late August. Huangfu Shangdu had been in Luoyang for ten days, but Li Han still showed no signs of making a move.

Just as this great battle was about to break out, Kansai suddenly sent a reply, claiming that they would obey the emperor's decree, carry out the imperial edict, and would soon dispatch Li Han to Kyoto.

This reply greatly surprised Sima Jiong. He immediately summoned Dong Ai to discuss the reasons. After two days of discussion, the conclusion was that Sima Yong was still afraid.

Objectively speaking, the disparity in strength between the small Guanzhong region and Sima Jiong, who controlled the entire southern lands, was immense. Although the Qi King's army could not afford defeat due to various political factors, Guanzhong, having suffered repeated turmoil and impoverished conditions, was also unable to withstand defeat. Both sides had roughly the same tolerance for error.

Moreover, Sima Yong was ultimately from a remote branch of the family; without Empress Jia's favor, he would have been nothing more than a leisurely prince. In the event of war, his influence would not be sufficient to subdue the entire Guanzhong bureaucracy. Perhaps it was precisely because of these concerns that he chose to act covertly rather than launch a direct military campaign.

Based on this assessment, Sima Jiong gradually gained confidence. Sima Yong's retreat certainly removed Sima Jiong's pretext for attacking. However, with Li Han gone, the threat from the Western Expeditionary Army would be greatly reduced. Afterwards, the Grand Marshal's office could use the same pretext to repeatedly weaken the Western Expeditionary Army until Sima Yong's threat was reduced to an extremely low level, and then reclaim Guanzhong without bloodshed.

Soon, they devised another plan to strike at Sima Yong.

In early August, when Li Han arrived in the capital, Sima Jiong specially hosted a banquet for him at the newly built Grand Marshal's Mansion.

The last time Li Han was in the capital, Sima Jiong did not pay much attention to him because of the weakness of the Prince of Hejian. But after so many public opinion storms, whether he disliked or admired him, he regarded Li Han as a great talent. Therefore, this banquet can be described as grand, and all the well-known and famous staff members of the Grand Marshal's mansion came to participate.

To demonstrate the prestige of the Grand Marshal's residence, after the guests were seated, Sima Jiong first ordered the Eight-Row Dance to be performed in the courtyard.

The so-called Eight-Row Dance was the highest-level dance in the Zhou Dynasty's ritual system. There were sixty-four dancers in total, arranged in groups of eight, hence the name Eight-Row Dance. In ancient times, the Eight-Row Dance was presented by nobles to the emperor, consisting of half civil and half military dances, thus carrying immense prestige. Now, within the Grand Marshal's residence, sixty-four beautiful women gather in a group, each holding a flute in one hand and a long pheasant feather pheasant in the other, their graceful movements accompanied by the sound of bells in the rear courtyard, resembling clusters of crimson clouds and vibrant flowers.

As Sima Jiong watched the dance, he asked Li Han, "Shi Rong, is there such a beautiful scene in Guanzhong?" Li Han replied, "Guanzhong is barren and cannot compare to the beauty of the capital region. But in terms of scenery, there are some that can rival it."

Sima Jiong asked, "Oh? What scenery is it?"

Li Han said, "In Chang'an, chieftains often present captives as a form of begging for mercy, and they dance in front of the palace."

Sima Jiong was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter: "Truly a beautiful scene! Truly a beautiful scene!"

Li Han, alone in the Grand Marshal's mansion, his life in the hands of the Prince of Qi, still dared to boast of his bravery in Guanzhong and defend the General of the Western Expeditionary Army. This greatly impressed Sima Jiong, who secretly praised him as a loyal minister. However, the banquet he hosted was not for Li Han to boast of his loyalty and bravery.

Sima Jiong then said, "So, the General of the Western Expedition must be a formidable warrior, unmatched on the battlefield! How come the rebellion of Qi Wannian back then was fought so poorly that it took Meng Guan's intervention to quell it?"

Li Han said, "This is all due to Sun Xiu's raising of a tiger, and Zhao's hesitation and incompetence. It is not the fault of the generals and soldiers. If the country had valued and appointed capable people from the beginning, how could things have come to this?"

Sima Jiong had been waiting for this very sentence. He said, "So, the King of Hejian must hate Zhao the Traitor to the extreme!"

Li Han's eyes flickered, but his expression remained tense. He casually replied, "That's exactly right."

"That can't be right!" Sima Jiong said with a cold laugh, "Before I went to the capital to help the king, I sent an envoy to Guanzhong to contact the King of Hejian, but why didn't I receive a reply?"

When the King of Qi sent envoys, he wasn't just contacting Sima Yi and Sima Ying in Hebei; he contacted almost every vassal king he could reach. Some agreed, some refused, but most maintained respect for Sima Jiong. Only the envoy sent to the Western Expeditionary Army was beheaded on the spot by Sima Yong and sent to the capital. This was a major reason why Sima Jiong disliked Sima Yong.

Li Han, of course, pretended not to know about this matter. He said, "Strange, is this really the case? My king was quite hesitant at the time and did not make up his mind, but he still sent your envoy out of the country with courtesy."

"But Sun Xiu said that it was the Prince of Hejian who sent his head to Luoyang. What does that mean?"

“Sun Xiu is a treacherous and cunning man, a habitual liar. How can he be trusted? He also said that Hebei had a great victory over the King of Chengdu and Henan had a great victory over His Highness. Isn’t that also a lie?”

Li Han vehemently denied it, saying, "He must have intercepted the envoy halfway and tried to smear my king."

"What a sharp tongue you have!" Sima Jiong continued aggressively: "Among those present is Xiahou Shi's second elder brother, who carries Xiahou Shi's blood-written letter. Li Shirong, do you dare to swear in public that you led the army to kill Xiahou Shi, truly to quell the rebellion for the country?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Xiahou Bo, Xiahou Shi's second elder brother, stood up and glared angrily at Li Han in front of everyone. The blood-written letter in his arms was Xiahou Shi's last words; on the silk, Xiahou Shi recounted his journey to defend the emperor, denounced the horrific massacre at the hands of the Western Expeditionary Army, and vehemently denounced the Prince of Hejian for disloyalty and filial impiety. This was a carefully prepared public opinion weapon by Sima Jiong, intended to undermine the prestige of Li Han and his backer, Sima Yong, at this very moment.

Li Han remained expressionless and said, "This matter happened so long ago. I made it clear to the Grand General and the General of Chariots and Cavalry long ago. They both agreed with it. Yet today, the Grand Marshal is turning black into white. Is he trying to force loyal ministers to rebel?"

He then pointed one finger to the sky and declared loudly, "I, Li Han, swear to Heaven that if I kill any loyal and virtuous person, I will die under a thousand arrows!"

Such a clear and honest statement left Sima Jiong speechless. For a moment, the atmosphere became quite tense. After the Eight-Row Dance ended, the dancers were unsure whether to continue. Dong Ai, standing nearby, tapped her jade cup with bamboo chopsticks to ease the tension, saying, "What are you looking at? Keep dancing!"

When the music started playing again, Dong Ai looked at Li Han and said with a smile, "Why are you getting so worked up? Let's talk about something more recent."

"I heard that His Highness the Prince of Hejian, without the court's permission, privately appointed a governor of Liangzhou, I think his name was Xu Xiong, to occupy Hanzhong. He also sent Protector-General Ya Bo to occupy Zitong and take over Jiameng Pass, Baishui Pass, Yang'an Pass, and Jiange Pass. Is this true?"

Li Han said, "The Di bandits in Yizhou are rampant and are already attacking Chengdu. Our king is worried about the country and sent troops to relieve the siege. This news came just last month. In urgent situations, we must act expediently. I came here today to report this matter to the court."

Having said all that, the staff members present couldn't help but admire Li Han a little. He was truly determined, refusing to let anyone have the slightest advantage.

But this was exactly the attitude Dong Ai wanted. He said, "So, the King of Hejian sent troops because he was busy with royal duties?"

Li Han said, "That's exactly right."

"Perfect!" Dong Ai clapped his hands and said to Sima Jiong beside him, "Grand Marshal, the Di bandits are rampant and should not be underestimated. In order to avoid another disaster like Qi Wannian's, we should do our best and take action as soon as possible."

“In recent days, Chief Secretary Liu has gathered 50,000 troops in Luoyang in order to pacify Bashu. But I think that the journey is long and the place is unfamiliar, so it would be better to cooperate with the Western Expeditionary Army.”

"Li Changshi, could you please write a letter to the Prince of Hejian, saying that we hope the Western Expeditionary Army will send another 30,000 troops, led by Liu Changshi, to quell the bandits? What do you think?"

Li Han was stunned upon hearing this. With his intelligence, how could he not see that he had been tricked?

Sima Jiong planned to use the pretext of suppressing the rebellion in Bashu to order his trusted confidant Liu Shen to send troops, invoking the righteousness of the imperial court, and seize a portion of the troops under the Western Expeditionary Army. Once they quelled Li Te and occupied Bashu, they could then threaten Guanzhong in the south. At that point, Sima Jiong would have formed a tight encirclement of Guanzhong from Luoyang, Bashu, and Qinlong, creating an iron curtain that would trap the Western Expeditionary Army!
Li Han wanted to refuse, but she had already put forward her stance, so how could she take it back?
But he was indeed quick-witted. Taking advantage of the time he was drinking with his head down, he calmed himself down and came up with a solution. Then, feigning a sullen expression, he said, "This is the duty of a subject, and it should be done this way."

Sima Jiong and the others laughed, saying that Li Han had fallen into their trap and was now helpless. (End of Chapter)