Jinting Han people

In the fourth year of Tai'an, which was also the second year of Jianxing in Chengdu, in April, spring was nearing its end, yet orioles sang everywhere. The orioles of late spring were no longer the tender voices of early spring, but rather melodious songs vying for beauty, flowing into the ears of the generals like a clear spring.

This is the royal palace of the Chengdu Kingdom. Li Xiong's son, Li Yue, is playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football) with his brothers and cousins, including Li Qi, Li Han, and Li Ban. The scene is lively and exciting, and the generals are watching with great interest. To show that everything is harmless, Li Xiong also makes an exception and appears among the crowd, casually spreading out a straw mat and watching with great enthusiasm.

The sun blazed fiercely, casting a golden glow on the forests of Fendong Ridge to the east. This brief respite before the campaign was punctuated by the song of orioles, adding an unusual touch. Li Xiong leaned wearily against the armrest, his distinctive black robe with mountain patterns signifying his status as lord. Aside from that, everything else was simple, whereas the other generals, adorned with gold embroidery or jade belts, were more extravagant than Li Xiong.

Li Xiong's gaze swept lightly across the field, less appreciating the game and more observing the expressions of the generals. He was internally imagining the profound impact this dramatic shift in the situation would have on them. The extent to which the foundation of the Chengdu Kingdom had been affected was a very serious question. From Li Xiong's grandfather to his father and then to Li Xiong himself, the Lueyang Li clan had flourished for decades, but whether they could maintain unity in the face of this new crisis was not a given.

At this time last year, he had achieved a complete victory over Luo Shang, began to focus on restoring the livelihood of the people in Chengdu, and gained the support of Qingcheng Mountain, successfully stabilizing his rule and finally completing the establishment of his kingdom in October. This should have been a great opportunity for him to further expand his power, but Liu Xian suddenly appeared from the north. The two men's positions determined that they were incompatible, so Li Xiong decisively chose to turn his attack northward, with the main goal of seizing Hanzhong.

In the first battle at Yinping, the two sides fought to a draw. Although the meticulously planned encirclement and annihilation campaign failed, Chengdu's national strength was greater than Hanzhong's. In a war of attrition, Hanzhong would inevitably collapse first, which Li Xiong could accept. Therefore, Li Xiong's plan was to gradually advance this year and take Yinping through a protracted siege.

But he didn't expect Liu Xian to act even faster!

In mid-February of that year, the Hanzhong army suddenly marched south from the Micang Road, passing through the Dangqu River and appearing in Bazhou County. Wherever they went, they received a surge of support from local scholars. The Chen and Li clans of Anhan, the Huang clan of Dangqu, the Zhao clan of Xichong, and the Feng clan of Xuanhan all responded. Ma Tuo, the governor of Bazhou in Chengdu, was greatly alarmed. He was unaware of the situation or whether there were any internal collaborators within his city, and hastily led his army to withdraw from Langzhong City. As a result, within just half a month, Bazhou County had completely switched its allegiance to the Hanzhong army.

This was undoubtedly a huge blow to Chengdu, greatly shocking Li Xiong. Not only was Bazhou a major prefecture in Sichuan, but more importantly, it served as a flank barrier for Zitong Prefecture. Langzhong, in particular, was strategically located, allowing for a direct flanking maneuver to the south of Jiange, severing the connection between Jiange and Zitong.

Indeed, in March of the following year, Li Xiong received a message from Li Li stating that the 20,000-strong Hanzhong army at Yangping Pass had officially marched south and had arrived at Jiameng. This army appeared to be personally led by Liu Xian, and had even raised the banner of "Han and traitors cannot coexist." This put Jiange in a precarious situation, forcing Li Li to relocate the people of Jiameng to Zitong to defend against the Hanzhong army, and to have Ma Tuo set up camp 30 li north of Langzhong to prevent the Hanzhong army from advancing north.

However, this does not solve the problem, so they hope that Li Xiong can send troops to reinforce Zitong as soon as possible.

Thus, this expedition came about. However, Li Xiong is still waiting for a response from one side. Only with a promise from that side can he send troops without any worries.

Li Xiong casually glanced at the high-ranking officials sitting beside him, finally fixing his gaze on Fan Ben's face. Fan Ben was the son of Fan Changsheng, the Grand Master of Qingcheng Mountain, and also the representative of the Celestial Masters Sect in Chengdu. Since gaining the Celestial Masters Sect's recognition, Li Xiong had been inviting Fan Changsheng to come out of seclusion and serve as Prime Minister in Chengdu, but Fan Changsheng had always politely declined, only sending his son Fan Ben to remain in Chengdu as a messenger between the two.

Many people may be familiar with the Celestial Masters sect, but they may not know its specific strength. However, Li Xiong, as the ruler, knew that these forces, which did not seem to control a single city, were the most powerful local tyrants in Sichuan.

Because they possess faith, know how to form societies, and have stored provisions, a single order from Qingcheng Mountain could instantly mobilize millions. Now that Liu Xian is leading his army south, raising the banner of the Han Dynasty, only with the full support of the Celestial Masters can Li Xiong wholeheartedly fight Liu Xian. If the Celestial Masters, seeing the unfavorable situation, abandon him and support Liu Xian instead, then all will be lost.

Therefore, Li Xiong needed Fan Changsheng's reply before he dared to make any further plans. Eight days ago, he had already expressed a similar idea to Fan Ben, but as of today, he had not received a reply, which inevitably made Li Xiong impatient and also wary.

After a while, a servant came and informed him of something, and he quickly left his seat. Not wanting to spoil the mood, he disappeared silently into the crowd alone, as if he had only gone to the restroom. He walked through the palace corridors and returned to his bedroom. The warbling of orioles could be heard from here. The peach trees were laden with plump, red peaches. At the doorway, a middle-aged man knelt with his head bowed.

"Oh, Master Yang, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Li Xiong bent down and reached out to help the middle-aged man up.

This man was Yang Bao, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in Chengdu, a native of Lueyang and also a fellow townsman of Li Xiong. While the military generals relaxed, the Ministry of Personnel in Chengdu continued its intensive work. As the Left Vice Minister, Yang Bao still had a considerable amount of administrative affairs to handle.

Yang Bao had a very upright, square face. He was also the most outspoken and eloquent person in the Chengdu State Secretariat, and he was also adept at interpersonal relationships, knowing how to save face for Li Xiong. Therefore, Li Xiong trusted him greatly and would secretly entrust him with matters that were not convenient for outsiders to know.

Li Xiong pulled Yang Bao to sit side by side on the wooden couch: "Have your spies already reported back?"

"I have reported back." Yang Bao nodded, then continued, "Your Highness, I'm afraid you can't place too much hope on Qingcheng Mountain."

Li Xiong's task for Yang Bao was to bypass Fan Ben and ascertain the current attitude of Qingcheng Mountain. As things stand, Liu Xian's influence in Shu cannot be overstated. Qingcheng Mountain has a long history, existing since the founding of Shu Han, and may have some connection to the state. If Qingcheng Mountain were to side with Liu Xian now, the battle would be pointless; Li Xiong would inevitably lose, and his family's three generations of wealth and fortune would likely be destroyed.

Upon hearing Yang Bao's answer, Li Xiong's heart sank, and he pressed on even faster: "Is Qingcheng Mountain already preparing to change its appearance?"

“That’s not quite it, but…” Yang Bao hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and said, “Your Highness, my nephew said that a grand symposium is being held at Qingcheng Mountain…”

In order to gather information, a year ago, Yang Bao deliberately sent some young children to Qingcheng Mountain to serve as Taoist novices, among whom was his nephew Xiao Chu. From Xiao Chu, he learned that the Celestial Masters Sect was holding a council meeting, which had been going on for several days without any results.

"Besides Grand Master Fan, there were also Grand Master Li A, Grand Master Zhang Kang, Grand Master Bai Ding, Grand Master Chen Hui... Thirty-nine Grand Masters from the forty-four prefectures of Sichuan attended the meeting this time."

"Thirty-nine? Doesn't that mean they've all come?" Upon hearing this, Li Xiong felt a thud in his heart, as if a huge boulder had been thrown into his heart.

It should be noted that after Zhang Daoling, the first Celestial Master, founded the Celestial Masters Way, he established a "zhi" (治) as a religious district, appointing a priest to govern the local followers. At the time of Zhang Daoling's founding, there were twenty-four "zhi." This expanded to forty-four during the reign of Zhang Lu. Now, with the fifth Celestial Master, Zhang Zhaocheng, after settling in Longhu Mountain, he relaxed control over the Celestial Masters Way, delegating power to the four priests. The influence of the Celestial Masters Way has reached a new peak, now encompassing ninety-six "zhi" throughout the land.

It is not difficult to see that among the four chief priests, the Bashu region has the most administrative divisions, totaling forty-four, of which five are located in Hanzhong. The council convened at Qingcheng Mountain was attended by thirty-nine chief priests, meaning that all the chief priests of the Celestial Masters sect in Bashu were gathered at Qingcheng Mountain at this time.

"Yes," Yang Bao said. "Your Highness, the purpose of this meeting is to discuss how to treat Liu Xian."

What was the outcome of their discussions?

"There's no result. Otherwise, we wouldn't still be waiting to reply to His Highness..." Yang Bao took a deep breath and explained to Li Xiong in detail: "Here, Chen Hui, the chief priest, is the leader, and there are nineteen chief priests in total. They advocate switching allegiance to Liu Xian. They believe that Liu Xian is the legitimate successor of the Han Dynasty, and based on past experience, his actions seem like those of a true Taiping Zhenjun. The Celestial Masters Sect is also known as the Righteous Alliance. Since they want to uphold the righteousness of Heaven, they should support Liu Xian's restoration of the country."

Hearing this, Li Xiong's face remained expressionless, but his fingers involuntarily clenched into a fist. He said calmly, "What do the others think?"

"Chancellor Li A opposes Chen Hui and advocates continuing to support His Highness. He believes that after Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang entered Shu, they pretended to cooperate with Qingcheng Mountain, but in reality, they secretly suppressed it, which is why it has been unable to develop for decades. As for Liu Xian, he has not shown any goodwill towards the Celestial Masters Sect so far, probably because he is just like Liu Bei and is wary of him. Now, His Highness is following the will of Heaven and the people, and has made the Celestial Masters Sect the state religion. He is the true Lord of Peace chosen by Heaven."

"How many people support Chief Minister Li?" Li Xiong's expression remained unchanged, but his tone was somewhat relaxed.

"Nineteen people." Yang Bao shook his head and sighed, "It's because the opinions of both sides are completely deadlocked that there is still no conclusion."

"How can there be no conclusion?" Li Xiong frowned slightly, then immediately realized, "Who hasn't expressed their opinion?"

He then asked, "Could it be Grand Master Fan?"

"Yes, that's right. So far, Grand Master Fan has not yet expressed his opinion," Yang Bao said, bowing his head.

Hearing this, Li Xiong felt extremely frustrated. He stood up, hands behind his back, and went outside to feel the spring breeze. He realized that their fate was now in the hands of others. A single thought from Fan Changsheng could determine the outcome between the Chengdu and Hanzhong armies—how tragic!

But Li Xiong understood Fan Changsheng's thinking. This kind of bet was extremely cautious; it was better to achieve nothing than to make a mistake. During the years of brutal fighting with Luo Shang, Fan Changsheng had remained steadfast, only placing his bet after Li Xiong had captured Chengdu. Li Xiong would have done the same. However, for Li Xiong now, Fan Changsheng's support was indispensable. Without the approval of the Celestial Masters Sect, how could he have the righteous cause to oppose the legitimate Han dynasty?

After hesitating for a moment, he finally made a groundbreaking decision and said to Yang Bao, "Write a letter for me and send it to Qingcheng Mountain."

"Just say that I am of meager virtue and incompetence and unfit for the throne, and that I am willing to relinquish the throne to Lord Fan. Remember to be humble in your wording."

Yang Bao was stunned for a moment. He quickly knelt down and said, "Your Highness has fought countless battles to obtain this position. How can you so easily grant it to someone else? I hope you will think it over!"

Li Xiong resolutely replied, "No need for further words, my mind is made up. Go and write it! Send it to me tonight!"

Li Xiong knew exactly what he was doing; he knew it was the right decision. Given the Celestial Masters' transcendent status, they would never willingly become a secular regime. What they wanted was to be the behind-the-scenes manipulators, ensuring that whoever was in power had to cooperate with and worship the Celestial Masters.

Li Xiong also knew that Fan Changsheng's hesitation stemmed from two reasons. One was his uncertainty about who would win between himself and Liu Xian, and the other was his uncertainty about who supported the Celestial Masters Sect more.

Li Xiong was confident of victory, but dared not make an absolute guarantee. However, he intended to make a show of support for the Celestial Masters sect. He believed that Liu Xian would never go to such lengths. This would be enough to ensure that the Celestial Masters sect would not side with the Hanzhong army in the short term.

But this is not enough. If we want the Celestial Masters Sect to truly change their minds, it seems we still need to defeat Liu Xian head-on.

After Yang Bao left, Li Xiong returned to the main hall and chatted and laughed with the generals as if nothing had happened, but in his heart he was calculating how to deal with Liu Xian's next offensive in Zitong.

Although the commandery of Bazhou was lost, fortunately, Ma Tuo successfully led his troops back, and the military losses were not severe. Jiange was also in their hands. The most urgent task was to quickly recapture Langzhong. Langzhong was located in the middle reaches of the Xihan River (Jialing River), surrounded by the Xihan River on three sides, which could be attacked by the navy. Given Liu Xian's current situation, he certainly could not possibly have a navy to resist. However, once Langzhong was recaptured and the siege of Jiange was lifted, it was still a feasible strategy to use the navy to recapture the cities of Bazhou one by one along the river.

Li Xiong calculated in his mind that there were dozens of warships at Jiameng Pass, plus the navy under Ma Tuo, totaling more than a hundred ships. As long as he led his troops to supervise the battle, reorganized the morale, and advanced by both land and sea, he would have a 70% chance of capturing Langzhong.

Just as he was pondering this, another servant hurried over, walked to Li Xiong's side, and whispered to him that an envoy from the north was requesting an audience.

The repeated announcements from the waiter drew everyone's attention. Li Xiong was slightly displeased, but he still stood up and said with a smile, "I'll be right back."

After stepping back into the corridor, he asked the attendant, "Where did this messenger come from?"

The attendant glanced cautiously at Li Xiong and whispered, "Your Highness, it seems to be an envoy sent by the Grand Commandant, with the latest military report."

Upon hearing that the envoy was sent by Li Li, Li Xiong had a vague sense of unease. His expression turned serious, and without saying another word, he quickly entered the hall to meet the envoy.

As expected, the messenger brought him a disastrous military report:

For reasons unknown, a Hanzhong army suddenly appeared south of Jiange, seemingly having bypassed both Jiange and Jiameng Passes, thus cutting off the main road between Jiange and Zitong. Li Li was terrified upon receiving the news. Daring not to linger in Jiange, he led the Jiange army and Ma Tuo's forces, abandoning the pass and fleeing south in a desperate breakout attempt. However, they were ambushed by the Hanzhong army and suffered a crushing defeat.

He originally commanded an army of 30,000, 20,000 of whom were veteran soldiers from the Western Barbarians, all elite troops of the Chengdu Kingdom. However, after this battle, only 10,000 of the 30,000 remained. They were also pursued by the Hanzhong army and were unable to defend Zitong City. They had no choice but to abandon the city and flee further to Fuxian County.

In his military report, Li Li described the enemy as follows: "The enemy has pushed forward through dangerous terrain, displaying their remaining strength and appearing and disappearing like ghosts and gods. Although our defeated troops have returned to Fucheng, I fear it will be difficult to hold it for long. I hope that Your Majesty will garrison Luoxian to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances."

The implication was that Li Li was urging Li Xiong to prepare early, as he was unable to stop Liu Xian's offensive, and the entire Zitong Commandery was about to fall into the hands of the Hanzhong army. (End of Chapter)