Jinting Han people

In late November of the fourth year of the Tai'an era, after half a year of silence, the Hanzhong army finally took action again.

Liu Xian made no attempt to conceal his intention to send troops. When 20,000 garrison troops arrived in Luo County, he openly returned from Woyunwu. He then raised the Anle Banner and led 30,000 soldiers to Guanghan, where he gathered the forces of Yang Nandi, Huangfu Zhong, and Fu Chang, bringing the total to over 40,000. He then deployed his troops eastward, his forces aimed directly at Jianwei.

Their ranks were imposing and impressive, stretching for over ten miles, a sight that terrified all who saw them. Li Xiong received the news immediately, but he dared not act rashly, for Liu Xian had used a similar feint to attack Luocheng during his first siege. He could only observe the situation while tentatively launching another attack on the Jiangkou camp in Luocheng, and simultaneously inform Li A in Jianwei, hoping he would be more cautious.

At this time, there were more than 100,000 followers of the Celestial Masters sect in Jianwei County. However, based on previous observations, these untrained followers were nothing more than refugees. No matter how many there were, they were insignificant compared to the Imperial Guards that Liu Xian had brought from Luoyang.

Therefore, when Li Xiong sent the message, he specifically analyzed for Li A: If Liu Xian were to attack Jianwei, it would be unwise to rely on superior numbers and rush in for a field battle. To play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, it would be better to defend first and then engage in battle. The Celestial Masters' temples are mostly located deep in the mountains, with stored food and water, making them difficult for a large army to conquer quickly. The best strategy is for each side to retreat into their temples. Once Liu Xian attacks one corner, the remaining followers will harass the Hanzhong army's supply lines, causing them considerable annoyance and delaying their advance. Li Xiong will then relieve Luocheng from the front. After relieving the siege, Li Xiong will lead his troops straight to Zitong, effectively cutting off Liu Xian's supply lines. Victory for the Chengdu army will then be easily achieved.

Li A wholeheartedly agreed with this, and thus, before Liu Xian arrived, he had already summoned the chief priests of his various divisions to explain this strategy. The followers were naturally overjoyed to hear that they wouldn't have to engage in direct combat. Under the propaganda of many Celestial Masters followers from other prefectures, the Hanzhong army was portrayed as vengeful ghosts crawling from the underworld, slaughtering countless fellow followers. Many followers were filled with resentment and hatred, but many others felt fear and panic. They immediately moved their homes and families, gathering in the deep mountains and forests.

When Liu Xian's army arrived, Jianwei County was truly in ruins. The soldiers looked around and saw that all the houses along the way were empty, the rice paddies were overgrown with weeds, and apart from sparrows, pheasants, and rabbits, there was not a soul in sight in the woods. Some houses had even been burned to the ground, and the smell of ashes was a testament to the determination of the believers to resist.

This unusual situation immediately alerted the soldiers, who, with a little deduction, could discern the enemy's intentions. Faced with this situation, Liu Xian did not act rashly, but instead first set up camp in Zizhong County and then convened a military council. In addition to the aforementioned generals, those attending included Zhang Qi, Tang Ding, Yang Bin, and others who had risen up in Jianwei, as well as Li Xiu, who was also present.

Because A-Die had already given birth, Yang Nandi was in a very good mood. After hearing the battle reports from the past few months, he also looked down on these cultists who had no fighting ability. He immediately volunteered to Liu Xian, saying, "Ha, these fools think they can be safe once they enter the mountains. Little do they know they are just courting death. Huai Chong, why don't you leave this to me? I will sweep them away one by one and kill them all!"

He wasn't the only one volunteering; most people thought it was a good opportunity to make a name for themselves in battle, so they echoed his sentiments and hoped to send troops to demolish these mountain gates one by one.

How could Liu Xian not know what they were thinking? Previously, Liu Xian had ordered all units to treat the captured Celestial Masters followers well and release them from their hometowns. However, judging from Li Ju's report, there was considerable discontent within the army, and the implementation had been mixed. It seemed that because of the Celestial Masters Rebellion, many soldiers, like Liu Xian before him, loathed the Celestial Masters followers and preferred to exterminate them rather than recruit them.

But that was Cao Cao's approach. A true ruler should govern the people and earn their trust. The people are actually shrewd and intelligent. If someone thinks the people are foolish and unreasonable, it's because they themselves are foolish. Liu Xian had figured this out when he was eighteen and imprisoned, but he hadn't known how to do it before. However, after a serious illness, he gained some understanding, and now the important thing was to put it into practice.

Therefore, Liu Xian rejected Yang Nandi's suggestion and instead selected more than 3,000 cavalry from the army. Then, with Zhang Qi as their guide, they first went to Tiangongzhi, the nearest town.

Tiangongzhi is located in the northwest of Zizhong, situated on the shore of Longquan Lake in the center of the Longquan Mountains. The terrain here is not particularly steep, and the view is relatively open, but the mountains and water are perfectly integrated. To lead a group in, there are only two routes, one to the south and one to the north, making it a classic example of terrain that is easy to attack but difficult to defend. According to prior intelligence, there are approximately eight thousand followers hiding here.

After Liu Xian arrived in his territory, he did not launch a siege. Instead, he sent several dozen men to the mountain gate to provoke them, insulting them as cowards who dared not defend the righteous path and kill the enemy. If they were truly afraid and cowardly, they could fight bare-handed without swords, and whoever lost would surrender.

These words indeed enraged the followers on the mountain. Hiding inside the mountain gate was unbearable, and they were also angry at being disrespected. Seeing that a thick fog had risen the next morning, they immediately decided to descend the mountain and attack the Hanzhong army. At that time, the fog was very thick, and everything seemed to be soaked in milk. People and trees were very blurry, and from the depths of the fog came the sound of bamboo flutes, followed by a tidal wave of shouts.

However, the sentries Liu Xian had set up along the way had already discovered these believers coming down the mountain. As soon as they approached the military camp, the soldiers of the Hanzhong Army had already formed ranks.

At this moment, the followers rushed forward, shouting:

"Slay the tyrant!"

"Those who retreat will betray their faith and die in the underworld!"

"The Immortal Hall of the Immortal Cultivator: Longevity!"

But the shouts were quickly drowned out by the sounds of fierce fighting. Although the followers shouted frantically, they were frightened by the Hanzhong army's imposing defenses and retreated like a receding tide. Undoubtedly, they dared not truly engage Liu Xian's forces. But having descended the mountain, they were not about to retreat so easily. At midnight, Liu Xian had arranged for Zhang Qi to lead over a hundred cavalrymen out of the camp, using their familiarity with the terrain to ambush the path leading to and from the mountain gate. As soon as the followers charged out, Zhang Qi cut off their retreat. Then Liu Xian ordered Meng Tao to lead an encirclement, capturing them all on the spot.

This doesn't even qualify as a war; it's just a scuffle.

Afterwards, in front of a large number of captured believers, Meng Tao brought the chief priest Yan Kang to Liu Xian. Yan Kang did not know that the person in front of him was Liu Xian. As an old man in his fifties, he stubbornly shouted, "What if you kill me? Heaven has sent down divine punishment, and this tyrant Liu Xian is about to die! What if you kill me? I can go to the Immortal Hall to enjoy eternal bliss!"

Yan Kang acted this way primarily because the chief priests had all been informed that Chen Hui had personally witnessed Liu Xian's serious illness. Chen Hui was highly respected within the Celestial Masters sect, and everyone was certain that Liu Xian was nearing his end. Therefore, they could roughly guess that the Liu Xian who had previously quelled the rebellion was an imposter, simply unable to win on the battlefield. Furthermore, the recent stagnation of the Hanzhong army's activities was naturally interpreted as Liu Xian's grave illness, and the current offensive was seen as Liu Xian's last stand before his death.

Unexpectedly, he heard the person in front of him laugh and say, "Oh? Who said I was going to die?"

Yan Kang was taken aback; he couldn't understand the meaning of those words, or rather, he refused to understand them. Seeing that Yan Kang had been scrutinizing him for a long time without speaking, Liu Xian couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I am Liu Xian. Do you recognize me?"

The Celestial Masters sect had described Liu Xian's physical characteristics, and when Yan Kang saw Liu Xian standing in front of him, every feature seemed to match. Most importantly, he did indeed possess that undeniable air of authority. Yan Kang's eyes immediately showed a hint of panic, but he quickly lowered his head, forcibly suppressing his fear, and stubbornly said, "I don't believe it. You're just a fake."

"What fake?" Seeing Yan Kang feigning ignorance, Liu Xian also feigned ignorance and asked, "Are you saying that Sun Tianjian of the East Sea said I am the True Lord of Great Peace, and that's a lie?"

“Of course! You are not Liu Xian! And Liu Xian is not the True Lord of Peace! The real True Lord of Peace is the King of Chengdu!” Yan Kang answered crisply.

"Then why can't you defeat the counterfeiters?" Liu Xian asked. "Shouldn't a true Taiping Zhenjun be invincible and save the people from suffering?"

Yan Kang was speechless. This question truly left him unsure how to answer. He could only say, "Kill me if you want, why waste words?"

Yan Kang was indeed prepared for death, and he couldn't be prepared for anything else. Unexpectedly, Liu Xian said, "Who said I was going to kill you?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Kang looked up in astonishment, not understanding why Liu Xian had done this. Although it is said that one should not punish the masses, and most prisoners are not usually punished, a rebel leader like him would typically be beheaded as a warning to others.

Liu Xian slowly said, "No matter what, you are still my subject. These are chaotic times; we must unite. How could I indiscriminately kill my own subjects when the world is not at peace? I did indeed suffer from a serious illness, but two months ago, I heard the voice of heaven. Laozi used this to admonish me, urging me to save you, and then I recovered." Yan Kang was stunned again. He hadn't expected Liu Xian to consider him his subject, let alone that the other party had heard the voice of heaven. He was completely at a loss, and after a long while, he asked, "Are you serious?"

"Of course. I know you have suffered a lot. You have been fighting all these years, living in fear every day, and your harvest has been meager each year. This year is about to end. If you don't go down the mountain to farm, will your food last until the autumn harvest? If the people starve to death, that would not be my intention."

Unbeknownst to him, Yan Kang's hands and feet trembled slightly, and his forehead was covered in sweat in the winter heat, which seemed to shimmer with a dull, leaden light. Liu Xian said no more to him and released him, as well as the other captured civilians, allowing them to return to their hometowns to prepare for next year's spring planting.

Yan Kang dared not return to Tiangongzhi, and the people who had overheard their conversation were as if bewitched. They did not return to Tiangongzhi, but obediently went back to the surrounding villages to rebuild their homes, seemingly forgetting Yan Kang completely.

This scene left Yan Kang even more distraught. He fled south to Emei with only a dozen or so Daoist disciples, intending to seek refuge with Li A. However, along the way, he couldn't help but murmur to himself, "The voice of heaven and man... True Lord of Great Peace..." His mind also kept turning to the past events and deeds of Shu Han over the past forty years, and his heart grew heavier and heavier.

This devout priest had been traveling for three days through wind and frost. When he arrived at Mount Emei, his cheeks and feet looked as if they had been soaked by a drizzle; his face was withered, his spirit broken, and he seemed to have aged more than ten years in just a few days. When he met Li A, he secretly wept, which made his sorrow even more pronounced, and Li A didn't recognize him for a moment.

Yan Kang told Li A, "I have seen His Majesty."

"What Your Majesty?" Li A was baffled, because there was no emperor in Bashu at the moment.

“It is the Duke of Anle.” Yan Kang disregarded the believers around him and said in front of everyone, “I can see that he is the true Lord of Peace and Emperor of the Han Dynasty.”

This truly startled Li A. He quickly pulled Yan Kang into the meditation room at the mountain gate and whispered, "Are you crazy! Didn't we agree to support the King of Chengdu?"

Yan Kang then told Li A everything he had seen and heard in Tiangongzhi, and said, "How can the Prince of Chengdu compare to His Majesty? I think His Majesty already has the aura of an emperor!"

"Nonsense! Liu Xian is just using the excuse of curing the illness to try and sow discord among people!" Li A certainly didn't believe such a statement. When he met Liu Xian, he only felt that the other party was stubborn and had a bad complexion. Where did he get any imperial aura?

In the days that followed, more and more people came to join Li A. They came from all walks of life, but for the same reason: Liu Xian called himself the True Lord of Great Peace and personally pacified and pardoned the rebellious Celestial Masters followers. The followers could not muster any thoughts of resistance and either submitted or fled. Especially as the end of the year approached, the number of Celestial Masters followers who surrendered in Jianwei County increased dramatically. Apart from Emei Prefecture, where Li A was located, all seven other prefectures had surrendered.

This was no longer a war, but purely a pacification of the people.

"This can't go on any longer!" Seeing that the morale of the people within Emei was wavering, Li A couldn't help but say to his trusted followers, "This is a psychological tactic by Liu the traitor! This must be a trick! Once we've all surrendered, how could he possibly not execute us? We'll all end up on the execution ground. We must find a way!"

"What plan do you have?" the confidant asked.

"Assassinate him!" Li A thought of a brilliant idea and said, "Now, to show his benevolence, Liu often sleeps and eats in people's homes. It is said that he doesn't have many guards. Let's send someone over with a crossbow. I don't believe we can't kill him!"

No matter what, as one of the three chief priests of Shu, it would be difficult for the Celestial Masters to keep secrets from Li A. He now knew that Liu Xian had led his army to pacify the people outside Nan'an City, no more than fifty li from Emei Prefecture. If he found a local Celestial Master to guide him, he would surely be able to meet Liu Xian. As long as he assassinated him then, the saying "death ends the regime" would be fulfilled, and all the turmoil would end.

To ensure the success of this operation, he sent his only son, Li Xu, to carry out the mission.

Li Xu, of course, obeyed his father's orders. He descended Mount Emei and, after half a day, found Liu Xian's residence, as Liu Xian made no attempt to hide. Liu Xian was resting in a small Taoist temple called Fuyuan Temple, accompanied by more than ten guards. The temple housed over a hundred followers of the Celestial Masters sect. Li Xu sought guidance from an acquaintance, intending to infiltrate the temple first to gather intelligence before devising his assassination plan.

He easily slipped in, and the next morning, when everyone was having breakfast together, Li Xu saw Liu Xian.

At that time, about a hundred people gathered together for a meal. The food was very simple, consisting of wild vegetables such as locust flowers and hibiscus flowers steamed with rice and some scallions. However, Liu Xian, being among the common people, did not find the meal simple at all. After enjoying it, Liu Xian asked, "Who cooked this meal?"

A fair-skinned woman dressed in coarse cloth and carrying a child stood up, somewhat flustered and awkward, and stammered to Liu Xian, "Your Majesty, is it not to your liking?"

Liu Xian laughed and said, "No, what I meant was that you made such a delicious dish with such simple ingredients. It's truly remarkable! I'll have my wives learn how to make it later. Please give me another bowl!"

These words made the woman extremely embarrassed, yet also incredibly proud. She quickly took the wooden bowl with both hands and poured rice for Liu Xian. However, Liu Xian didn't eat immediately but instead asked, "How much grain do you have left here? Is it enough to eat?"

The female follower replied, "Your Majesty, please rest assured, we lack nothing."

"Hahaha," Liu Xian shook his head and laughed twice, then said, "In poor families, you can always hear lies that make you happy. Madam, at least you lack salt, otherwise, why would you put so much dogwood in this food?"

"Don't worry, the war will be over in six months. I will forgive anyone who is willing to change their mind and apologize to me. Be patient for a while longer, and remember not to delay the spring planting."

"I promise everyone that when I return to Chengdu, the land rent will be halved for the next two years!"

Then, amidst cheers, he instructed the guards beside him to bring two bags of salt from the military rations. Once the salt arrived, Liu Xian immediately went to the next location.

Logically, Li Xu should have inquired about Liu Xian's itinerary and continued to follow. However, recalling what he had just seen and heard, Li Xu couldn't help but scratch his head. He felt that what he had seen was far different from what his father had said, and he couldn't muster any thoughts of assassination. Watching Liu Xian and his group's departing figures, he did not continue to pursue them, but returned to Emei Prefecture dejectedly, saying to Li A, "My lord, I think Yan Dugong and the others are right. Anle Gong is indeed Taiping Zhenjun."

He found this principle easy to understand. Although he didn't know what the afterlife would bring, what was wrong with living well in reality? Hope after death and hope before death are both hopes, but even the simplest-minded person could distinguish which was superior. (End of Chapter)