Jinting Han people

Chapter 488 The Winds of Change in Hedong
On the day of Dingyou in February, shortly after Sima Yong had settled in Shanxian County and established his subsequent policies with Yan Ding, Li Ju, the governor of Hedong, was leading a group of people across the fields outside Anyi City.

The spring rains had been falling continuously for the past few days, showing no signs of stopping, making the ground wet and slippery. The horses often stumbled, and the young men accompanying them, such as Guo Fang and Zhang Jing, would occasionally chuckle to themselves.

Li Ju, a veteran of many battles, was naturally an expert horseman, navigating both snowy and mountainous terrain with ease. The boy beside him, however, was different. He seemed inexperienced, and his body wasn't fully developed; the horse easily slipped at higher speeds, causing him to sway back and forth, seemingly about to fall off. Although everyone adored the boy, his clumsy yet earnest efforts couldn't help but elicit laughter from the other young men traveling with him.

"Stop laughing! If the young master hears you, he'll get angry with you!" several servants kindly advised.

That's what he said, but the young man held the reins tightly and didn't say a word. He just silently clenched his flanks and watched Li Ju, who was leading more than 30 riders and his subordinates ahead of him. Li Ju was talking enthusiastically with several of his advisors.

“This year is a good year, so the people should not have any unnecessary worries and should continue planting as usual.” Li Ju frowned and said to Liang Zhi, the chief clerk beside him, “Don’t pay attention to any of that talk. This is not their business. If anything happens, I will take care of it. It’s not their place to worry about it.”

Looking at the few green wheat seedlings on both sides of the road, Liang Zhi shook his head slightly and said, "The prefect's good intentions are certainly commendable, but the impact of the Battle of Luoyang is too great. The people of Hedong are already talking about it, and they are all worried about the safety of Grand Commandant Liu."

"Is that so, Lord Prefect!" Duan Xiu, the clerk, also looked worried and agreed, "You know, three months ago, Huangfu Dan and his men fled back in disarray, saying that the Grand Commandant and the General of the Cavalry were at odds, causing the court to suffer a great defeat. The whole of Luoyang is finished, and the Grand Commandant has died on the battlefield. This has caused panic among the people. How could this not have an impact?"

Guo Fang, the Commandant of Anyi, laughed and said, "Hasn't it been proven to be a rumor now? One of Zhang Fang's conditions for peace talks was that the Grand Commandant should resign from his post. The Grand Commandant should be safe and sound now."

"Yes, but the Grand Commandant is going to Xuchang with the court after negotiating peace. When will he be able to return?" Duan Xiu continued, "You have all seen this final condition. The Prince of Hejian has taken control of Yongzhou, Bingzhou, and Sizhou, which is equivalent to surrounding us on all sides. Before, he might have had to deal with the court and was wary of us, but now that he has no worries about his rear, do you think he will leave us alone?"

Duan Xiu's words were true, and the crowd fell silent. In fact, ever since Li Ju became the governor of Hedong, he had been a long-term target of the Western Expeditionary Army. Sima Yong had repeatedly tried to recruit Li Ju to Chang'an. When recruitment failed, he first tried to bribe him, then attempted assassination. In the past two years, Li Ju had survived six assassination attempts, a truly harrowing experience.

Meanwhile, the governors of Pingyang (Song Zhou), Fengyi (Zhang Fu), and Hongnong (Peng Sui) all stationed troops on the border of Hedong, putting immense military pressure on the region. The intentions of Sima Yong, the Prince of Hejian, stationing troops in Shanxian County were also highly suspicious. Although Sima Yong nominally claimed it was to supervise Zhang Fang's campaign, there was a mountain pass called Dianlingban, forty li northeast of Shanxian County, one of only two routes in and out of Hongnong Commandery. This inevitably led people to suspect that the Prince of Hejian might launch a military campaign against Hedong Commandery at any time.

Therefore, after learning the outcome of the Battle of Luoyang, the entire Hedong Commandery fell into a state of depression, with large-scale abandonment of farmland and people preparing to flee the war.

Faced with such a threat, Li Ju remained calm. Although he frowned, he was not dejected, but rather displayed an unyielding spirit like a stubborn rock. He slowly said to everyone, "The King of Hejian and the others may think that way, but you cannot think that way."

Clearly, Li Ju intended to defend Liu Xian, but his tone was almost like a casual statement: "The Grand Commandant is my sworn brother, and he has been governing Guanzhong for many years, bringing benefits to the region. You should all know his personality."

"The Grand Commandant is an extremely stubborn man. He always thinks things through carefully before acting, putting the well-being of the entire world before his own. He would never put anyone in danger unless he himself is in danger."

"...Indeed." The crowd's expressions softened, and they all voiced their agreement. Whether it was the Battle of Gumu Plain, the Battle of Niyang, or the campaign to persuade the rebellious Hu tribes to surrender in Qin Prefecture, Liu Xian often entrusted the most risky tasks to himself. This earned him extremely high prestige among the people and the army, and he is still widely praised in Guanzhong to this day.

“And this is his home, he can’t possibly abandon us.”

Li Ju then said, "Now that the Grand Commandant has made peace with the Western Army, but has not sent a message to us, there are only two possibilities."

Everyone pricked up their ears.

"First, the Grand Commandant has already made arrangements and confirmed that the King of Hejian will not attack Hedong."

This disappointed many people, as they could not imagine such a possibility.

"Secondly..." Li Ju paused slightly, then slowly said, "The Grand Commandant is on his way here in person."

This statement caused an uproar among the crowd. The young man riding a horse nearby slipped and nearly fell off. Liang Zhi reacted quickly, catching the boy and helping him sit up again before asking Li Ju, "My lord, is it true?"

"What? You don't trust the Grand Commandant?"

In fact, everyone's eyes lit up when they heard those words. Their previously low morale seemed to be revitalized by a surge of warmth. Although there was no evidence or letter, everyone had this feeling: Liu Xian was indeed on his way; it had to be.

But would Liu Xian's arrival change their current predicament? Not really. Yet the people of Hedong had a blind faith in him, believing he had a way to turn the tide even though they knew he had suffered defeat. Because this man had indeed created countless miracles.

"No more complaints?" Seeing this, Li Ju quickly straightened his face again, pointing to the uncultivated fields along the road and said, "I don't care what you think or what trouble you may encounter. Food is the most important thing for the people. If we can harvest one more season's worth of grain, we should harvest one more season's worth. We must get the people to start planting immediately, otherwise, when the Grand Commandant arrives here, do you want to show him this kind of scene?"

The atmosphere became lively again. In the misty rain between the fields, Li Ju dispelled their fears and began assigning tasks for encouraging farming throughout the prefecture, emphasizing several key points: county officials should reasonably rent seeds, oxen, and farming tools from farmers; this spring's crops should include as little wheat as possible, opting instead for faster-harvesting grains; and farmers should be encouraged to brew less wine and store more grain…

The staff no longer hesitated to decline. They listened to Li Ju's arrangements and agreed repeatedly, secretly admiring the prefect's composure and meticulousness.

In the two years since taking office, Li Ju's governance of Hedong has been remarkable. He repaired water conservancy projects, reclaimed wasteland, and recruited displaced people. Although he recruited soldiers and trained them, he did not harm the people's strength. On the contrary, he made the people of Hedong very wealthy. Even many noble families in Hedong did not dare to look down on him because of his humble origins. Instead, they praised him as "Li Guogan" and admired his composure and wisdom.

Now, with the Western Expeditionary Army's great victory in Luoyang, Hedong Commandery is once again facing a crisis, and one of unprecedented magnitude. Yet, the commandery governor remains calm and composed, actively maintaining stability within the commandery—a situation strikingly similar to that of the young Liu Xian. How could this not earn the admiration of everyone?
After their conversation, the group circled around and entered Anyi City again. The others went about their business, while Li Ju dismounted and, surrounded by guards, chatted with the young man as they made their way to the prefectural government office. "Fengyao, how was it? I noticed you're much more skilled at riding today!" As soon as Li Ju entered the office, he reached out and ruffled Liu Lang's hair, praising him with a smile, "I think it won't be long before you won't need anyone to look after you anymore."

Ten-year-old Liu Lang was quite happy. Although he lacked his father's company during his childhood, he was fortunate to have a very responsible uncle. Li Ju loved him very much. Ever since Liu Lang was old enough to understand things, Li Ju had always taken him under his wing, personally teaching him everything from learning to read and write to martial arts and archery. Therefore, the two had a very deep relationship, almost like father and son.

But Li Ju was not Liu Lang's biological father after all. Thinking about what Li Ju had said when he was visiting the county, Liu Lang could no longer suppress his inner turmoil and asked Li Ju, "Uncle just said that the lord is coming to Hedong soon. Are you really sure?"

"I'm not sure, it's just a feeling." Li Ju took off his half-wet cloak and military uniform, changed into a robe, then sat down at the desk, pulled out an official document, and said with a smile as he read, "What's wrong, a little nervous? Don't want to see your father?"

"Of course not, it's just..." Liu Lang stammered.

People are always used to living in the present, and feel lost about the disrupted future. It's hard for people to imagine whether life after the change will be better or worse than it is now. This is especially true for children. Liu Lang last saw Liu Xian two years ago, which was a very short time, and now he can hardly remember what his father looks like.

Li Ju knew the child's concerns. He put down the official documents in his hand and gently comforted him, "Fengyao, don't be afraid. Your father is not only a great hero, but also a man of deep feelings. He has wronged you these past few years, but it was all out of necessity. He will make it up to you afterwards. You have to believe me."

Although he didn't remember what kind of person his father was, in Liu Lang's mind, Li Ju was undoubtedly a great man. He nodded repeatedly and said, "I believe in my uncle."

"That's good. Go and pay your respects to your mother! Remember to practice your sword later. I'll check on you around 3 PM."

Seeing Liu Lang nod solemnly and leave, Li Ju smiled and picked up the official documents again to continue reviewing them. After all, others could rely on Liu Xian as their source of confidence and hope, but as the current governor of Hedong, Li Ju was well aware of his mission. As long as Liu Xian did not come to Hedong, he was responsible for the survival of everyone. Others said he handled heavy matters with ease, but in reality, it was because he treated even the lightest matters with utmost seriousness every day; over time, people could no longer discern the difference.

His first letter was to Xue Xing, who was in charge of managing the horse farm, requesting all available horses. After two years of management, Li Ju had trained 4,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry in Hedong. In the middle of last year, he had supplied most of the Hedong cavalry to Liu Xian and then started training them again. Now, they had gradually recovered to a size of over 2,000 cavalry, but were clearly still short of horses. Therefore, Li Ju suggested to Xue Xing that they could borrow a batch of horses from the Tuoba Xianbei as a precaution.

Next was the reply to the case of Wang Xu, the magistrate of Hebei County, for embezzlement. Currently, most of the ironworks in Hedong are under Wang Xu's command, but instead of forging armor and farm tools as originally planned, he is using the opportunity to cast more Buddha statues and gold figures to sell to monks and Taoists for personal gain. His actions have now been reported by County Commandant Gou Yuan. After a secret investigation and verification, Li Ju ordered Gou Yuan to arrest Wang Xu, ascertain the amount of embezzlement, and quickly restore the normal operation of the Ironworks.

Next, the defenses in the Pingyang direction needed adjustment. Recently, the Pingyang prefect had been reinforcing troops towards Linfen, seemingly indicating a southward advance. Wenxi magistrate Gao Min submitted a memorial to Li Ju, asking whether Wenxi County should also receive reinforcements. Li Ju reasoned that as long as the Dongchibei pass was secured beforehand, Wenxi County's forces would be sufficient for defense. On the other hand, Fenying County, located downstream of Linfen, was more vulnerable to attack. Therefore, he decided to temporarily maintain the defenses in Wenxi and instead reinforce Fenying with 500 troops.

Next was a letter to Sun Xi, the magistrate of Dongyuan. News from Hedong and Guandong had been cut off, making it impossible to obtain firsthand information from Guandong. He was instructed to quickly investigate the aftermath of the Battle of Luoyang and ascertain Liu Xian's latest whereabouts, preparing to receive Liu Xian at any time…

After handling more than ten official business matters, it was already lunchtime. He stopped what he was doing and ate some tofu and dried meat. As he finished his lunch and was drinking tea, the silence was suddenly broken by the voice of a guard outside the door:

"Who's there? No entry without prior notification!"

Then someone reported, "I am an envoy sent by the Lord of Xi County. I have an extremely urgent matter to attend to, so I rushed in. Please forgive my intrusion." Footsteps then echoed down the corridor, and a guard accompanied a scholar in. The scholar immediately bowed and said, "Lord, I am Feng Yan!"

Li Ju knew him. Feng Yan came from the Feng family of Xiayang and was a minor official in Xiayang County. The magistrate of Xiayang, Xi An, had asked him to be a messenger several times.

Seeing the anxious look on Feng Yan's face, Li Ju felt a chill and asked solemnly, "Has something happened to Xia Yang?"

"It's not Xia Yang who's in trouble, it's Feng Yi!" Feng Yan, having just caught his breath, knelt down and hurriedly said, "Lord Li, just the day before yesterday, the King of Hejian sent reinforcements to Prefect Zhang, ordering him to cross the river as soon as possible and seize Hedong!"

It's finally here! Li Ju's heart skipped a beat, but on the surface, his lips didn't move.

For so long, he had been preparing for war, knowing that the King of Hejian would definitely target him. Of course, avoiding war would be ideal. But now that hope was dashed, and Liu Xian hadn't arrived yet. It seemed he could only assume the worst and rely on himself for now.

This reality did not discourage him. Li Ju only pondered for a moment before his fighting spirit was ignited. He asked, "Is the news reliable? How many troops did the Prince of Hejian give Zhang Fu?"

"It was learned by the spies sent by Lord Xi to Linjin, and the news is absolutely true! The King of Hejian has given 20,000 troops, and Fengyi has 10,000 of his own troops, so they are expected to send 30,000 troops. Prefect Zhang has already spread the word in the army that he intends to challenge you, my lord, to a duel at Fengling Ferry to decide the outcome! The messenger has not yet set off, but I estimate that his army will be assembled in two days!"

Thirty thousand men? Li Ju began to calculate the situation. Although he had twenty thousand soldiers at his disposal, he also had to be wary of the western army from the direction of Dianlingban and Pingyang. After deducting the necessary garrison troops in various counties, he estimated that he could probably only have less than ten thousand men to put on the battlefield.

With a troop disparity of more than three times, for the disadvantaged side to win, its general's battlefield wisdom would likely have to completely surpass that of the other side. This requires not only devising ingenious tactics but also forcing the opponent to make extremely foolish mistakes. Even the most brilliant generals would not dare to make such a guarantee.

But Li Ju showed no fear. He made up his mind in the blink of an eye, stood up and said, "I understand. Thank you for your hard work. You should go and rest. I will make my own decision."

When faced with difficulties, solutions are never immediately apparent; there are no perfect solutions in the world, and there is always a corresponding price to pay. Having experienced various trials, Li Ju has come to understand this deeply. Escaping, besides offering self-comfort, solves nothing. Only by bravely facing challenges and daring to pay the price will the opportunity for victory quietly arrive—this is what is meant by the favor of fate. Therefore, among the five virtues of a soldier, courage is the cornerstone.

Li Ju immediately ordered the mobilization of troops, mobilizing two thousand cavalry and seven thousand infantry from the prefecture, and marched towards Fenglingdu overnight.

(End of this chapter)