Next chapter is on Jiang Xian, so we'll explore in details how the Emperor died in it.
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201: The Late Emperor Xian
201: THE LATE EMPEROR XIAN
In retrospect, it could be said that Jiang Xian takeover of the Han government didn’t go as smoothly as planned. He had hoped that with the support of the Emperor, Niu Fu would fall in line and submit to the new regime, followed by his officers and the Wang clansmen, who would surely join him in the hope of keeping what power they had. Then Niu Fu died, his army went berserk, with the Wang Clan choosing to rally the mutinous officers in Sili Province instead of joining force with Jiang Xian to put them down. This did not bode well for him, as their leader Jiao Jiao had been chosen in part on the premise that he would lead the army against the new Chancellor. Out of fear of what might happen when the rebellious army came down on Luoyang, many officials and courtiers chose to flee in panic. This left the imperial bureaucracy in a bit of a mess and the government with a void that needed to be filled, and fast. This wasn’t exactly a great situation to be in, but hey, at least Jiang Xian was finally the Chancellor!
While it was clear that the incoming imperial army was a massive threat, Luoyang wasn’t completely defenseless either. Niu Fu had left a garrison within the Imperial Capital when he left. While they weren’t keen on their former leader being removed, they had also been cut off from the main army. With what information they had, it looked like their brethren were committing treason against the Han Dynasty, which was exactly how Jiang Xian presented it to the populace. His control of the Emperor was actually quite useful in preparing the defenses of the city. The Palace guards joined in the effort to protect their monarch, and he even managed to have volunteers show up to defend the Emperor and the Dynasty. Jiang Xian couldn’t exactly refuse them as he needed troops, and soon he had a small number of these heroes ready to serve. This left him with almost a thousand men ready to fight, although it is debatable how reliable that fighting force was. Training would be necessary.
Considering that Jiao Jiao and his fellow officers had around five thousand men, give or take, this was no winning combination he had on hand. Jiang Xian thus tried to find a way to save his fledgling regime through more diplomatic means. He already had some support in the person of Administrator Xiao Ru of Chen Commandery, although it was debatable how likely this would prove useful in a war. No, he needed a righteous man who would pledge himself to protecting the Han. The best option seemed Gongsun Zan, who was a supporter of the Han Dynasty and had a court full of self-righteous loyalists. He sent an envoy telling Gongsun Zan to stop his war north and please come defeat the rebels in Sili Province. But something wrong must have happened, as in January 201 Yao Shuren was the one coming down on Sili Province in the name of protecting the Emperor. Yao Shuren wielding the banner of the Han loyalist. What a joke. But as long as it kept Jiao Jiao and his forces occupied, Jiang Xian didn’t mind who pretended to be what.
Soon enough, Jiang Xian found a positive in all the departures and treasons against his regime. With all the officers in rebellion and the older officials having fled, this was an opportunity for individuals lower down the totem pole to rise up the ranks. If there was ever a group to beneficiate from the new regime, it was these men. They had no qualms in serving such a man as Jiang Xian, which allowed the Chancellor to cherry pick those he felt would serve him well as loyal subordinates. Of course, most of them had stayed down the hierarchical ladder due to inexperience or lack of talent, but that barely mattered in the current context. The remaining older officials lacked the loyalty necessary to thrive in this new regime, and their experience was more a source of suspicion than respect.
Soon enough, low ranked officers in the garrison found themselves promoted to generals. First was Xie Pei, a man of no great talent but who was well liked by his men and known for his fervor in performing his duty. This was the kind of attitude Jiang Xian wanted In a commander, someone who was appreciated enough to keep the troops under control, but not enough to convince them to follow him into revolt. Then there was Xing You, who proved to be the only one of real talent among the three. Xing You wasn’t stupid and understood perfectly why he was being promoted and how to play the game of politics. More than anyone, he eventually became Jiang Xian’s man on the inside, humbly moving the soldiers toward the opinions ordered by his master and reporting any hearsay that seemed important. Finally, the youngest of the three was Wan Ke. Wan Ke was incompetent, having only reached a low command post due to familial ties in the bureaucracy. Kind, stubbornly loyal and content to serve the Chancellor, he was gullible enough to believe every word of propaganda coming from Jiang Xian’s mouth. He ate it all up.
These three men became the armed branch of the new imperial administration, and for better or worse would be used as tool by Jiang Xian whenever he saw fit to use them. After all, there were still many people in the city that opposed him, or even sympathized with the rebellious generals. Niu Fu sadly had quite the impact on many lives in Luoyang. This had to be fixed quickly. In a private audience, Jiang Xian convinced the Emperor that there were still enemies trying to take his newly acquired powers from him. The giant man pleaded his monarch to perotect the Dynasty from traitors. Incensed, Emperor Xian wrote an edict ordering the arrest and investigation of a list of officials, all suggested by Jiang Xian of course. He quickly brought that edict to Xing You, who perfectly understood what his boss wanted done. The general was able to sell the orders to his two collegues, and soon the troops were roaming the streets. Xie Pei was able to convince the reticent soldiers to go along with this, while Wan Ke fervently obeyed the orders.
Jiang Xian also started to recruit from the scholars who had stayed behind. He approached a scholar named Jia, a hardworking man who had often been passed over during Niu Fu’s time in power, leaving him resentful and bitter. Now Jiang Xian offered much authority to Jia, and the scholar welcomed this by giving his upmost loyalty to the Chancellor. He was quickly appointed as the new head of the Imperial Academy, the previous one having ran off to go join the rebels. Soon enough, the two men started working together quite closely, with Scholar Jian becoming something of an assistant to Jiang Xian. Their partnership proved quite fruitful, and Jiang Xian appreciated the fact that his new partner was both cowardly and shy, making him the dominant person in the relationship. He didn’t want some overly ambitious man to backstab him, after all.
One issue that the two quickly faced was the absence of a Head Scholar at court, something that the Emperor complained about endlessly. The Imperial Court was supposed to be the center of knowledge and virtues, yet there was no one to hold the title of Head Scholar. Jiang Xian consulted Scholar Xia, who was able to find him a scholar named Mu Bofu. In his early 40’s, Mu Bofu was actually quite the learned man, but his lack of talent in anything else and his willingness to challenge orthodoxy had put a stop to any dreams of a career. The Chancellor suggested him, and after reading some of his work the Emperor agreed with it (mostly because the other choices that he was presented were awfully terrible, which was the whole point). Once Mu Bofu showed up at court, the Son of Heaven proved a lot less impressed with the man, but Jiang Xian was able to convince him of the man’s talents. He certainly didn’t want to have to search for someone else again…
While Jiang Xian had managed to get the court under control, that didn’t mean that there weren’t any opposition left to his new regime. One of the most prominent figures of this opposition was none other than the old Wang Mao, who still resided within Luoyang. Having finally realized that his family had been double-crossed by Jiang Xian, he now worked to bring back the Wang Clan to prominence, even if both his nephews joined the officers in Sili Province against the current government. His efforts to organize opposition had court had so far fallen flat, in part because Jiang Xian had made sure to keep the old man under watch. For all his arrogance, Wang Mao was an ambitious man who couldn’t be trusted. He might use his old familial connections to launch something if left alone.
But while Wang Mao was an old elite who was trying to stay relevant, an irrelevant family was now rising up as another opposing force to the regime. The Pei Clan was headed by the old Pei Mao, son of a former Inspector of Bing Province. Pei Mao was an old official who did not distinguish himself outside of two facts. First, his incorruptible loyalty to the Han, the Emperor and the monarchy, probably as much as Jiang Xian in his older days, and second, the fact that Dong Zhuo had him blinded in 190 for one reason or another. Being blind certainly didn’t help his career, although he was now hailed as a symbol of sacrifice in the name of loyalty to the Dynasty. To help him protect the Emperor from the manipulating Chancellor were his two sons. The oldest, Pei Qian, had actually served in some capacity during the Imperial Campaign against the White Waves Bandits under Dong Huang, the one that had made Niu Fu famous. His younger son Pei Hui had been too young to participate at the time, but had since then showed quite the intelligence, becoming a good asset to his family. While the Pei Clan wasn’t a powerhouse at court, they certainly started to gain some traction among those not in Jiang Xian’s pockets.
But the most annoying problem from within proved to be the Emperor himself. He had supported Jiang Xian on the premise that Niu Fu was preventing him from ruling his empire. The new Chancellor was supposed to help him regain the reins of power. But as the year went on, the Son of Heaven quickly realized that he might have been duped. He was becoming frantic, often criticizing his Chancellor during open court and trying to undermine him, while behind the curtains he kept giving orders and complained when they were blocked by Jiang Xian. For example, Jiang Xian sent Xie Pei and Wan Ke in June to lead troops to go “convince” some neighboring villages that they needed to reaffirm their loyalty to the true Han government and pay their taxes. When he heard of this, the Emperor started to complain that he hadn’t been consulted on this matter, and even managed to get an imperial edict ordering them all to come back. Not only was this undermining Jiang Xian’s position, but the young monarch was also trying to divide him from his allies. The Emperor started to talk with Xing You, who had been made Minister of the Guard by now, and made overtures suggesting that the officer would do a great service if he helped his liege remove the Chancellor.
As the good lackey he was, Xing You quickly reported this whole thing to his master. Backing the Emperor was not a good idea, and Xing You preferred to play it safe by sticking to the Chancellor. To this were added other reports that came in from his wife, who had quite the influence with the maids in the palace. Diaochan told her husband that the Emperor was often talking about how he would rid himself of Jiang Xian like he had done with Niu Fu. Empress Duan, who had been selected because she was a pushover that Jiang Xian could manipulate, was now useless as she did nothing to stop her husband’s grand ambitions and bring him back to Jiang Xian’s side. Diaochan also made it clear that if this continued, this could be a problem for them both. Jiang Xian agreed that something had to be done, but surprisingly, it was Diaochan who spoke the words first. “The Son of Heaven cannot continue to reign.”
However, Jiang Xian was a bit hesitant to proceed forward. Maybe this was due to his lingering attachment to the Emperor. After all, only a decade ago he had risked his life to save the young monarch, sneaking in the palace to make him sign an edict. More realistically, this was out of political fear. His legitimacy came from this emperor, so deposing him to replace him with a puppet would not sit well. More likely than not, it would lead to a coup or the rebel officers finally attacking, ending with the old emperor restored while he and his puppet were killed. This led him to the grim conclusion, the only ending in which he got rid of this turbulent monarch and still kept his legitimacy. He had to kill the Emperor.
This was not some easy decision to take. Dong Zhuo had also killed Emperor Shao (May-September 189) to replace him with his younger brother, and look where that got him. And that was only the most recent example. Half a century ago, the evil Liang Ji had poisoned the child Emperor Zhi (145-146) to keep power. Both men were among the most hated villains of Chinese history. Did he really want to join them? In the end however, his political instinct kicked in, and the need of survival outweighed his loyalty to his master. And besides, the Han needed a united front right now. What the Emperor was doing endangered the Dynasty on the long term, he justified to himself. He had to do it.
Of course, he had to do it in such a way that wasn’t too obvious. Thankfully, he had plenty of experience in plotting the assassination of an authority figure, and previous successful regicides certainly gave him tips on what to do and what to avoid. He decided on a slow poison, something that would eat the Son of Heaven from the inside. All he needed was a good tool to do the job. He found it in a young maid, who agreed under the promise that she would be married to the next Emperor. That poor naïve thing. During a feast, the maid made sure to refill the Emperor’s drink as often as possible, with the monarch unaware that he was being poisoned. However, the plan almost went off rail at that point. Not only did the Emperor refuse to drink a lot during the feast, but he also chose to go sleep with his empress instead of returning to his own quarters.
This was an issue because only eunuchs and women were usually allowed entrance in the Empress’s palace, as to ensure that the progenies of the Emperor were truly his. This meant that Jiang Xian and most of his agents weren’t on hand to finish the job if needed. Thankfully, the maid was around, as was Diaochan. His wife quickly rotated the servants in the Empress’s palace, making sure to only keep those that were fully loyal to her. When the Emperor told his wife that he was in pain and that his stomach hurt, the maid (the same from the banquet) was quick to suggest that a doctor be called. Overriding usual protocols, both the Emperor and Empress Duan agreed to have a physician called. Of course, this was no doctor, but an agent of Jiang Xian, who gave the Son of Heaven poison in the form of medicine, telling him it would take effect during the night. When Empress Duan woke up the next morning, 3rd of October 201, she found the Emperor dead. He was twenty years old.
The Empress quickly panicked and started screaming. Soon enough, the maid (who had stayed vigil all night) came in to see the scene. In tears, Empress Duan asked what to do. The maid went to seek Diaochan, who advised the Empress to get dress discretely and go meet her husband in secret. She was escorted by Xing You, who made sure she was never seen by anyone. Instead of calming the Empress, Jiang Xian played on her fears. This was an assassination by enemies of the Dynasty, and they would not stop there. They would kill her and launch an attack on her relatives due to her association. Afraid for her life, Empress Duan pleaded Jiang Xian to save her. The giant Chancellor raised her up and told her he had a plan, magnanimously offering to save her. She had to leave Luoyang right now if she wanted to be safe from these killers. He already had everything prepared. Not questioning why he had everything ready before she even asked, Empress Duan made her exit from the Imperial Capital. By the time that court was in session, she was already long gone. All that was left was get rid of the maid…
Jiang Xian first announced that the Empress had fled the capital in a hurry. This threw the court into chaos as everyone tried to figure out why she would flee like that. Then, and only then, did the Chancellor reveal the death of the Emperor. With the Empress out of the picture, she couldn’t assume the powers that would have normally fell onto her during this crisis, leaving Jiang Xian as the highest authority in Luoyang, especially when it came to the succession. Now, this actually proved quite a bit of an issue, as Emperor Xian had no son or brother to pass the throne to. Scholar Jia, Mu Bofu and other experts had to go up the family line all the way to the descendants of Emperor Zhang (75-88), the third Emperor of Eastern Han. Of course, Jiang Xian had no intention to hand the throne to some high-ranking provincial warlord or an old man with a mind of his own. No, what he searched for was a child that could be controlled easily to ensure the stability of the court.
In the end, the honor of succeeding to Emperor Xian fell on the eleven years old Liu Kai. Liu Kai’s relationship with the previous emperor was quite distant. His grandfather, Liu Yu the Prince of Jinan, had the same great-great-grandfather as the late Emperor: the Prince of Hejian, sixth son of Emperor Zhang. This made Liu Kai seven generation removed from his imperial ancestor. In term of his more immediate family, his father Liu Yun had died of camp fever at the age of 18 in 192, just a few months before his own father’s death. This resulted in the disappearance of the Principality of Jinan and Liu Kai being sent to the imperial court to be raised by now absent relatives. A child with a lacking education, no family in sight and little to no personality. A perfect choice to ascend the throne. Liu Kai would thus become the 15th Emperor of Eastern Han, and the 31st since Emperor Gaozu founded the Dynasty in 202 BC. History would remember him by the posthumous name of Emperor Mu of Han (漢穆帝; HànMù Dì; “The Solemn Emperor of Han”).
Jiang Xian was as quick to ensure his total control over the child monarch as he had been to put him on the throne. He quickly declared himself not only regent of Emperor Mu but also his guardian, responsible of his education and his upbringing. That way he could make sure that this one turned out the way he wanted. But more importantly, and more brazenly considering the situation, he had the new Emperor betrothed to his daughter Jiang Chang. Jiang Chang was ten at the time, making her around the same age as Emperor Mu. To her credit, the young girl was proving a great match for any young man. Her beauty was starting to show up, with the general opinion being that she would inherit it from her famous mother. She was also strong, both of body and mind, able to assist any future husband. But right now, this seemed like Jiang Xian was just trying to assert ever more control on the new emperor, denying him the allies that future in-laws could have provided.
News of the succession started to spread, but Jiang Xian had more important things to deal with. With Emperor Xian no longer in the way, he started to seriously hinder the careers of anyone not loyal to him. At the same time, he went ahead and promoted his goons to high offices as reward for their loyalty over the year. Of course, the child Emperor Mu trusted his regent to deal with all these appointments for him, as he was too young to lead the imperial government. Mu Bofu ow could add the rank of Grand Tutor to that of Head Scholar. The gullible Wan Ke was made Grand Commandant of the imperial armies while Xie Pei became Excellency of Works. As for Xing You, the only one who truly understood how things worked, he was placed in charge of the Censorate as reward for remaining loyal to Jiang Xian. These men, who had been nobodies only a year ago, now stood in positions that were beyond their wildest dreams. And so court continued with these men in charge, with Jiang Xian at the head of it all. After all, the Dynasty needed to be ruled, and Emperor Mu certainly needed the help of his trustworthy Chancellor.
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PS: So since we now had multiple Emperors in the story, I'll start to also refer to them by their posthumous names. So Emperor Mu will often be called Emperor Mu instead of just "the Emperor".
Also, the genealogy of the Imperial Clan might have been confusing, so here's a picture showing how they are related. In rhe center down in Emperor Mu (seventh gen descendant of Emperor Zhang), on his right is Emperor Xian with his brother and father (fifth gen descendant of Emperor Zhang). Also for comparison is Liu Siyuan on the left, for hum... reference. (fourth gen descendant of Emperor Ming)
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I had suspected the Emperor was assassinated when you revealed his death last chapter, but I hadn’t wanted to believe that Jiang Xian would be responsible. Despite my previously stated dislike of him for his indirect role in Niu Fu’s death, I simultaneously was still fond of him for previously saving the Emperor from Dong Zhou and for having started of as a good man. It also helped that we saw other main characters doing far worse things to relatively innocent people than he had ever done (Niu Fu’s death not being directly his fault or his intent and neither of the Dong chancellors really counting as innocent).
Yet his actions this chapter have soured any redeeming notions I’ve had of him previously. Killing the very same Emperor who he had once saved, just to preserve his own power, is despicable. Despite his attempts at self-justification this was hardly necessary for the Han Dynasty’s survival. If he truly just wanted to prevent a power struggle between him and the Emperor damaging the loyalist cause, he could have stepped down or, if he still wanted power, allow the Emperor an actual say in the running of his own empire. But that would mean compromising his own power, and ultimately, we see that Jiang Xian truly values power above the lives of others. It is almost tragic that the man who stopped Dong Zhou can now hardly claim to be any better than him.
In conclusion, Jiang Xian is now unambiguously my second most hated villain of the series.
(the first place spot being reserved for Xiao Ru; unlike him, Jiang Xian killed someone who actually disliked him and didn’t kill him in response to perceived slights. Plus Jiang Xian is actually smart, Xiao Ru is a combination of evil, vindictive, and stupid that makes him his own biggest reason for his losses and ensures any victory he receives is tainted. The fact he has somehow survived every single one of his enormous failures thus far boggles the mind. One day his undeserved luck will run out and it will have not come soon enough).
Yet his actions this chapter have soured any redeeming notions I’ve had of him previously. Killing the very same Emperor who he had once saved, just to preserve his own power, is despicable. Despite his attempts at self-justification this was hardly necessary for the Han Dynasty’s survival. If he truly just wanted to prevent a power struggle between him and the Emperor damaging the loyalist cause, he could have stepped down or, if he still wanted power, allow the Emperor an actual say in the running of his own empire. But that would mean compromising his own power, and ultimately, we see that Jiang Xian truly values power above the lives of others. It is almost tragic that the man who stopped Dong Zhou can now hardly claim to be any better than him.
In conclusion, Jiang Xian is now unambiguously my second most hated villain of the series.
(the first place spot being reserved for Xiao Ru; unlike him, Jiang Xian killed someone who actually disliked him and didn’t kill him in response to perceived slights. Plus Jiang Xian is actually smart, Xiao Ru is a combination of evil, vindictive, and stupid that makes him his own biggest reason for his losses and ensures any victory he receives is tainted. The fact he has somehow survived every single one of his enormous failures thus far boggles the mind. One day his undeserved luck will run out and it will have not come soon enough).
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Jiang's circle will begin to shrink as he finds fewer that he can trust. Thank you for the update
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In Xiao Ru's defense, he is smart according to his traits (yeah, I haven't been showing it too much). Maybe the reason that he always survive is because he's smart?
Curious where you'd rank Yao Shuren and Xuan Su if you have Xiao Ru and Jiang Xian at the top, considering these guys also tend to be on the villain side of the story.
Well, he did get Jing Province at the end of the last chapter, so he's a full on Governor now. A powerful one too, if I'm not wrong. So now he has the means to work toward his goal! (Or a bigger territory to sit in for 4 years again)
He certainly doesn't have a big circle to begin with, so that shouldn't take long.
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To be fair, my hatred of them probably doesn’t constitute a proper hatred so much as a disdain for their actions; and my view might also might be influenced by the fact that it’s been a while since I read a Yao Shuren or Xuan Su POV chapter. Having remembered some of the stuff the latter two did, I think my ranking system for most hated villain of this story needs further evaluation. At this point I shall simply reserve the right to be disappointed in how far Jiang Xian has fallen as well as the right to be at least annoyed at Xiao Ru and be amused at his misfortune.
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Damn. Didn't expect for Yao Shuren to attack Sili, but I'm liking it!
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Wait I actually got Jing? I honestly thought that was a joke where following the Emperor's death Siyuan once more locks himself away.
Oh boy, can't find out where this will go now. Excited to see if any major players of the novel shows up in Jing. ^_^
Oh boy, can't find out where this will go now. Excited to see if any major players of the novel shows up in Jing. ^_^
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Hey, nice to see you! There will be a chapter on the war in 202, so we'll see that in details then!
Yeah he got the province! The Emperor' s death was more ruining the joy of becoming Governor, not cancelling it. His sleeping period is done, and now he's back as an active player in the story.
Also, who are the characters in Jing Province in the novel? I only know Wei Yan is one, but that's only because he's a favorite of mine.
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Resident of the world reading the news: Oh, Emperor died. Is it Tuesday already?
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Wei Yan and Huang Zhong are probably biggest two but people born in Jing are A LOT!!! Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Xu Shu, and those are just three of Liu Bei’s strategists.
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201: Good Neighbors
201: GOOD NEIGHBORS
Sun Jian had been defeated, pushed out of the region never to return. When this reached the ears of Yuan Shu, he finally started to cheer up. His disastrous handling of Feng Zian and the threat of his rival had left him emotionally drained for a while now. This victory thus proved welcome news, and he started once more to boast how he was the greatest man throughout China, how Sun Jian never compared to his greatness. Celebrations were held within his city just as the army was doing the same, praising Feng Zian and Chang Nu for their efforts in defeating Sun Jian. The Commandant ability to lead his men to victory had garnered their respect and loyalty. Yuan Shu might need to worry about that at some point, but for the moment his usual paranoia was sidelined by his relief and his joy. Everyone was happy, everyone was relieved, and everyone now believed that the worse was behind them.
But then Yuan Shu received two strange letters. One was from Chang Lin, asking that they now split Yingchuan Commandery between themselves. The other was a letter of Chang Lin’s liege, Administrator Xiao Ru of Chen Commandery, warning Yuan Shu that his subordinate was not acting on his orders and did not speak for him. Of course, Yuan Shu was aware of the deal made between Chang Lin and Feng Zian for supply. Yet as far as he was aware, the splitting of Yingchuan Commandery was never in question. Feng Zian, who was receiving envoys from Chang Lin around the same time, had a similar reaction, although with a lot more cursing. Chang Lin was out of his goddamn mind if he thought that he was getting anything. Their deal had been about supply and cooperation, nothing about dividing lands. This was especially baffling to the officers, considering how they had defeated Sun Jian multiple times, while Chang Lin had suffered defeat after defeat at the hand of the Colonel. The envoys were sent packing. Chang Lin, feeling slighted by this betrayal, decided to press on with the war. Besides, he had little reasons to go home anytime soon, as his cuckolding of Xiao Ru was now public knowledge.
But Chang Lin wasn’t the only one refusing to give up. When this all started, around seven or eight people attacked Yingchuan Commandery to take control of it, including Sun Jian, Yuan Shu and Chang Lin. Among those was a man named Zhu Jun, and old officer of the Han and father to the governor of Jiaozhi Province. After losing his commandery in the early 190’s, he had gotten some influence back when he was appointed as Head of the Censorate Bureau by Niu Fu when the Chancellor got sick of Jiang Xian’s scheming. However, he spent little time in Luoyang, which partially explained how Jiang Xian was able to keep such a grip on the Censorate. Instead, he had focused on this campaign for Yingchuan. His war effort stopped following the death of Niu Fu, at which point Zhu Jun became one of the many rebel officers, only to then return to his attempted conquest. His campaign, previously motivated by a personal desire to extend both his and the Dynasty’s reaches, was now supported by Jiao Jiao as a strategic endeavor, as it would allow them to completely surround Luoyang.
Feng Zian quickly prepared himself to face Chang Lin and his army, sending news of this development back to Yuan Shu. He had hoped to also be able to ship his son Feng Yong with it, but the messenger told him that he wished to get there as fast as possible and didn’t want to deal with a child. Annoyed, but not uncaring to the point of putting his son in danger, the Commandant agreed to have Feng Yong stay with him. Besides, it would turn out that there were little dangers to be had with the army. Instead of going against Feng Zian and the Yuan forces, Chang Lin had instead moved against Zhu Jun and entered his territories, ready to knock a rival out of the war. This might seem like a strange move, but then again, the Yuan forces were far superior to what the other two could mobilize. Both generals were extremely competent commanders, leading to a struggle to stop Chang Lin from entering Zhu Jun’s territories in January 201. In the end, Zhu Jun simply did not have the troops to hold out, and he was forced to retreat within his city. Chang Lin could now celebrate his victory.
Which is the exact moment when Feng Zian chose to fall upon the winner with his larger army. The battle of Fushuju was an easy and quick affair for the Yuan forces. Chang Nu demanded to be given a force to lead the first charge, a request that was granted by his Commandant. The general charged at Chang Lin’s forces, making his way through the enemy ranks and slaughtering men after men. He was a rageful machine on the battlefield, with no opponent able to stop him. As always, he enjoyed the fury of the melee. Then he got an arrow through the chest and died shortly after. There were only six confirmed casualties among the Yuan forces, and Chang Nu was among them. He had been fighting for Yuan Shu for more than a decade, spending most of it side by side with Feng Zian, always loyal to their lord. With no relatives or family to take care of him, Feng Zian ordered that the soldiers prepare his corpse for funerary rites, and a small mourning period was observed by the troops out of respect for the general. Feng Zian was especially frustrated at the loss of such companion, as Chang Nu was the only officer with who he got along with.
Immediately after having dealt with the passing of Chang Nu, Feng Zian ordered a siege of Zhu Jun’s city. His two enemies now dealt with, all that was left was to force them into submission. And from his previous experience, this would mean long and boring sieges. This was bad for Feng Zian, who wanted to get his mind off the recent death of Chang Nu and the presence of his son. He would have much preferred another battle to distract him. So instead, he fell back into his own hobbies. First were martial arts, which he did both out of a desire for martial prowess and to relax himself. He started training in the camp, often with other soldiers who wanted to learn. This proved good enough, but he was also a scholar first and foremost. He had felt quite insulted when Pan Zheng had outsmarted him half a decade ago, and since then had retained a bit of a disdain for the younger man’s success. Now that he had time on his hand, he started to consider the idea of writing his own work, something that would remind everyone how great he was. In order to achieve that goal, he started to go through the great texts of literature, philosophy and warfare, trying to figure out what he actually wanted to write about.
He also had his son with him. Yeah. What a joy. He couldn’t go to a local village and bring nice women without the child asking “Why are you with women that aren’t mother?” and “Don’t spend time with them! Please teach me stuff instead, father!” What a brat… In his defense, he did try out of boredom to overview the education of his son (and also because he knew his wife would chastise him if he didn’t do at least the bare minimum). He tried to teach him the classics of Confucian studies, as he wanted his sons to be scholars, but Feng Yong didn’t seem interested in it. This prompted Feng Zian to scream at his son in frustration and storm out. When he came back, he found the boy reading some Taoist writings, either out of interest or in an attempt to please his father. Wrong system of belief, but better than nothing. He also tried to teach him martial arts, but again, the teachings didn’t seem to stick. Tired of this, he sent the boy with the next hunting party. Feng Yong was all dirty and dusty upon his return, yet his eyes sparkled with joy and excitement. From that point on, Feng Zian made note to send his son hunting with the soldiers, as the boy seemed to have taken a knack to it.
While this was all happening, Yuan Shu was working out the details of his son’s marriage. Pan Zheng, who had been the young man’s tutor at one point, had described Yuan Yao as “a failure”, and he hadn’t been that far off the mark. As it turned out, Yuan Yao was pretty satisfied to be a noble, loving the life and wearing all the best clothes. He did try to work hard, but he didn’t feel the need to distinguish himself to impress his father. Weirdly enough, Yuan Shu quite liked his eldest son and still considered him his successor should something happen. And even if the boy wasn’t that good at… well, anything, he could still be an important tool in the game of political marriages and alliances. It was there that Yuan Shu had once again showed his talent, managing to get the hand of Cao Cao’s daughter in marriage. Cao Cao’s reputation was well known, and as such his daughter was a prized lady to have in his family.
The issue was that Cao Cao seemed to have been a lot more reticent about the match. This was in part due to all the difficulties Yuan Shu had experienced over the years, being more than once in a dire situation that almost spelled his doom. When came the time to solidify the betrothal into a marriage, Cao Cao balked, seeing how Yuan Shu might be defeated by Sun Jian. This had left Yuan Shu vexed, and he arrogantly declared that he would have the two children married, whenever Cao Cao wanted it or not. Now that he was finally stable, Yuan Shu once again pressed Cao Cao’s court for the match. Thankfully, Cao Cao had left instructions on the subject before going north to help Lü Bu, and the match was quickly agreed. The genius warlord hoped that in the best-case scenario Yuan Shu would join him and Lü Bu in a triple alliance against Gongsun Zan. And worst-case scenario, he had a backup ally in the south.
The siege of Zhu Jun’s city was starting to get quite long for Feng Zian’s tastes. You would have thought that by now he would have got used to these long-protracted sieges, but no, he still hated them. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Chang Lin launched raids on their camp while they waited. These were abject failures, but they were still annoying. Yuan Shu also started to wonder what was happening, once again falling back into his old suspicions about his Commandant. Thankfully, Tan Zilong was there to remind him of how well this train of thoughts went last time. It was a miracle that Feng Zian had remained loyal back then, so better not to test their luck. Yuan Shu was forced to agree, although he did want to know what was happening. In order to do so, he sent a group of officials to make sure that Feng Zian had everything he needed. Yes, that sounded like a good excuse to spy on him.
The officials eventually arrived, bringing with them something for the Commandant. When Feng Zian saw what it was, he fell to his knees and screamed, cursing Heaven for such cruelty! Oh, what undeserved fate was placed upon his shoulders! Feng Guo then asked his dad were to put his bags, to which Feng Zian pointed at his tent before going back to screaming at Heaven about this punishment. As it turned out, Feng Guo hadn’t been feeling great as of late due to stomach pains. His mother thought that some fresh air might do him some good, so she sent him to go spend time with his father on campaign. Great, now he had two little munchkins running around camp bothering him. Being younger and less tactful, Feng Guo proved even more annoying than his older brother, complaining about life in the army camp and asking when they were going back home. Well, at least this one didn’t seem to take a liking to it…
It was finally in August that Zhu Jun’s walls were penetrated after a daring assault. The doors to the city were soon open and the men stormed in. While there was obviously some violence from the invading soldiers, Feng Zian wanted this done as quick as possible and didn’t allow his men to do much looting. He quickly approached the mansion of Zhu Jun and ordered him to surrender. Seeing no other option, Zhu Jun came out and offered his surrender. Still, the Commandant wanted something out of it, and forced the old man to pay a large sum of money to Yuan Shu for all the trouble. This actually caused some tensions with the soldiers, as Feng Zian insisted that the whole payment was for their lord and their lord only. Zhu Jun had no choice but to pay. Soon after, the Yuan forces moved out of his home to go deal with their remaining rival. This would be Zhu Jun’s last action in Chinese history. He died in 205 of a heart attack at the age of 55. Four of his sons (including the Governor of Jiaozhi Province, Zhu Fu) preceded him in death, leading the Zhu Clan to fall into obscurity from that point on.
Now making his way to Chen Commandery to deal with Chang Lin once and for all, Feng Zian stopped when he was told of a curious situation in the neighboring state. With Xiao Ru absent to fight the Prince of Pei and Chang Lin trying to take Yingchuan Commandery, the area was empty of defenders should a revolt broke out. Which is why a group of Taoists started to recruit peasants to form their own state, sick of the harsh laws of Xiao Ru. Led by a military expert named Tang, these rebels were able to accumulate five thousand men to fight for their cause, finally rising against their oppressor in August. Chang Lin tried to defeat them, as they had risen up within his own county, but he was annihilated by this massive force. When Xiao Ru heard of this, he started to panic, as he didn’t have the force to deal with such threat now that he was embroiled in the many wars of the region.
Feng Xian, somewhat confused by this development, sent news of it to Yuan Shu asking for orders. Yuan Shu immediately saw a way to capitalize on Xiao Ru’s misfortune. He sent an offer of help to Xiao Ru, offering to send Feng Zian to deal with the rebellion. This kind of uprising couldn’t be tolerated, after all. What if this Tang tried to go for the others next? Xiao Ru was ecstatic at this offer until he realized what price Yuan Shu was asking in exchange. Just to be safe, it would be better for Xiao Ru to place himself under his continuous protection. In other words, the price for help was submission. Xiao Ru certainly didn’t like these terms. He enjoyed being his own boss and felt that it was now beneath him to submit to others. Yet he now faced the possibility of losing all his lands to this revolt. But saying no wasn’t exactly a possibility here. Backed against the wall, he promised that once the revolt was down, he would submit to Yuan Shu.
Pleased, Yuan Shu sent notice to Feng Zian that he could go ahead and destroy the sectarian uprising. The Commandant didn’t ask twice, quickly crossing into Chen Commandery to deal with the problem. He faced Tang in October, a struggle that proved far more difficult than anticipated. Adding to the fact that the Taoists had a lot more troops than Feng Zian (almost twice as much), Tan proved to be a match for his opponent, maneuvering his men in such way that it left the Yuan forces with little rooms to act. Some of Feng Zian’s officers started to get demoralized, even suggesting a strategic retreat. Feng Zian used them as martial arts practice before shouting at them for their cowardice. These rebels were in the wrong, both ideologically and morally, and they shouldn’t be allowed to win. So instead of retreating, Feng Zian started to make strategic use of his more trained and better equipped units, which were eventually able to ware down the waves of badly equipped peasants. By the end of the month, Tang and his men were defeated. The prisoners were sent to Xiao Ru, who had them all tortured and executed publicly.
While Chang Lin still wanted to argue that he had rights on Yingchuan Commandery, the presence of the Yuan army and Xiao Ru instance that he stood down forced him to surrender too, ending years of long conflict for the control of Yingchuan Commandery. But now came the hard part. Having fulfilled his end of the bargain, Yuan Shu expected Xiao Ru to fulfill his. The administrator gains some time to dodge the question thanks to the unexpected retreat of Feng Zian. The Commandant, sick of being on this campaign, returned to his lord’s territories without awaiting orders, removing the most immediate threat on Xiao Ru. Still, Yuan Shu could just as easily mobilize them back. Then came the news of Emperor Xian’s death and the ascension of Emperor Mu, which took everyone by surprise. Following the advice of his councilors, Xiao Ru explained that he first needed to have to permission of the new imperial government before submitting to Yuan Shu. This was a clear tactic to stall, as both knew well that Jiang Xian was still the Chancellor, with little having change other than the monarch “ruling” the Dynasty.
Yuan Shu quickly sent envoys to Luoyang, explaining to Jiang Xian how he had heroically defeated rebels and now sought to continue to protect Chen Commandery, asking for imperial support in his mission to restore the Han’s authority in the region. Of course, the message also reminded Jiang Xian that he was in deer need of allies against the officers in Sili Province, and that Yuan Shu would be all too willing to reciprocate a good gesture when called upon. But Jiang Xian saw Yuan Shu for the snake he was, another massive threat right next to the Imperial Capital. In comparison, Xiao Ru was something of an ally to his regime, and he wasn’t going to let him be eaten like that. Jiang Xian explained that such important decision would be reviewed only after the long and extended period of mourning for Emperor Xian. It wouldn’t be righteous to do so before, after all. Xiao Ru seized on the excuse to dodge the annexation, and soon it became clear that Jiang Xian planned to let the issue quietly disappear in the bureaucracy. Yuan Shu was infuriated by this, and would continue to hold a grudge against the Chancellor for taking away his prize. However, he would have to drop the issue, as he became worried with the changes operating on his southern border. The great warrior Liu Siyuan was now in control of Jing Province, a prospect that was dangerous enough for Yuan Shu to postpone any campaign against Xiao Ru permanently.
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PS: Wow, I really went through this year fast! Didn’t know I could do that and that my hands could handle it, but I did it. I obviously can’t guarantee that I will continue to have such a fast-posting schedule or how long this will last, but at least I managed to do this big year in less than two weeks!
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I laughed at Feng Zian’s melodramatic misery at being stuck with another one of his children. Also I present this chapter as evidence that Xiao Ru is blessed with luck, as he dodged that annexation ultimatum far more easily than I expected.
I also laughed at Yuan Shu demanding Xiao Ru’s subjugation in exchange for fighting the rebellion. That just seems to be how Xiao Ru’s luck works: he faces a problem, he gets a seemingly miraculous solution, then the supposed miracle turns into another problem and the cycle continues.
I also laughed at Yuan Shu demanding Xiao Ru’s subjugation in exchange for fighting the rebellion. That just seems to be how Xiao Ru’s luck works: he faces a problem, he gets a seemingly miraculous solution, then the supposed miracle turns into another problem and the cycle continues.
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Does Mrs. Feng have a reason to send the boys to Daddy? Daddy Not Happy! Thank you for updating
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Xiao Ru is the worst type of asshole, the type whose constant failures and moral bankruptcy never seem to come back to bite him.
I don't get why you would consider Yao Shuren a villain, expansionistic and opportunistic sure, but he always seemed to honour his debts and unwilling to spill blood for petty reasons, the most terrible thing he ever did was his treatment of Guo Bian, which while cold, is neither the worst we've seen from a father figure (*ahem* Feng Zian *ahem*) or that destructive to begin with, it even felt like he was holding himself back even after Yuyi's death, am I missing something here?
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I view Yao Shuren as a villain for that time he ordered the massacre of a village that was hiding Mo Jie after “recruiting” the latter. I could tolerate most of his actions, but killing people for protecting someone from what they thought was certain death, not even violently but by simply hiding him, makes him a villain in my book. He’s probably not the worst villain in the story, but I do he believe he counts as one.
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Oh wow missed that the first time. My guy is ‘the whirlwind’. LOVE it.
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201-202: All the Way North
201-202: ALL THE WAY NORTH
Gongsun Yue’s death had quite the effect on his cousin. He had been one of the most reliable advisors that Gongsun Zan could count on, a tremendous help in building up his power. And now he was gone. That didn’t mean Gongsun Zan didn’t have other reliable advisors he could count on, like Zhao Yun and Liu Bei. But Gongsun Yue had been family, putting their Clan over a vague goal like “saving the Han” or selfish personal ambition like Yuan Tan. This resulted in quite de emotional pain, but it nothing compared to the physical pain that his gout was inflicting him these days. In order to combat both, or at least to make these pains bearable, Gongsun Zan began to turn to the bottle. Soon enough, alcohol became a daily part of his life, and in large quantity. While he eventually recuperated from the sorrow that followed Gongsun Yue’s death, his new fondness for alcohol would follow him all his life. After all, his gout was really painful, and he needed to take the edge off it.
After having performed the funerary rites for his cousin, he angerly ordered a pursuit of Cao Cao’s army. The soldiers were all too happy to march at double speed to get there. The enemy commander had killed one of their own, and he needed to pay. Zhang Fei was all too happy by his lord’s newfound fury, even if it was temporary. He certainly helped fuel it by his boasts of “bringing back Cao Cao’s head within seconds of a battle!” But for all their determination, Cao Cao had a smaller force, and the gout of their leader did make it hard for him to travel, even if he was now in a litter instead of on horseback. Finally, they managed to corner the forces of the enemy in early March 201. This was a problem for Cao Cao, especially as it seemed that Lü Bu was still stuck trying to fix the quagmire that was provincial bureaucracy. The ensuing battle, which took place at Fanyang, went as well for the colonel as the last one. Thankfully for Cao Cao, and frustratingly for Gongsun Zan, the genius general was able to save most of his army this time, tricking Gongsun Zan into following a fake retreat, sending the governor pursuing in the wrong direction.
Zhao Yun was making his way east when Gongsue Yue died. By that point he was temporarily staying with the secondary army, still led by Tan Weiping. While their sieges were going well, it seemed that the cohesion between the commanding officers weren’t exactly up to standards. Obviously, Tan Weiping was trying to enforce his authority, but this was proving far harder than it should have been. Yuan Tan was the first problem, as he barely listened to any orders, only held in leash with the threat of permanent punishment after his previous stunts. However, that did nothing to make him any more likeable. Then there was Guan Yu, who felt that he was just better than both of them and believed that he only had to answer orders sent by Gongsun Zan.
The arrival of Zhao Yun did nothing to ease tensions. His goal was mostly to stay and take note of the situation, to make a report for his lord once he returned east. But Tan Weiping did not appreciate this younger man snooping around his army. While they were all technically on the same side, rivalries between the officers for powers and positions never stopped, and Tan Weiping started to pressure Zhao Yun to just move on already. But now wanting to make sure that things were going well, the general decided to stick around to help manage the troops, to the annoyance of his fellow commanders. Tan Weiping even wrote a letter to the provincial capital asking for him to be recalled, as he had no role to play with them. Weirdly enough, Yuan Tan made efforts to get along just fine with Zhao Yun, even though the two had extremely different personalities. This was mostly due to Yuan Tan taking Zhao Yun’s side in the disputes, if only to piss off the old Tan Weiping. For his part, Zhao Yun saw why Yuan Tan tried to get close and decided to avoid him as much as possible.
Zhao Yun eventually received two letters from Gongsun Zan. The first one saw him promoted to the position of Administrator of Hejian Commandery for his services and his good work in Bing Province. He first considered declining the promotion as all he had done was his job, but then realized that it would be pointless to argue this with a messenger and simply accepted the letter and the promotion. The second letter that came in were orders that he come join the main army and serve as a general. This was welcomed by Tan Weiping, who made sure to offer an escort for the esteemed younger man, just to make sure he had a safe road and didn’t need to come back. Upon arrival, Zhao Yun was surprised to find out that he had been appointed Commandant of Ji Province and was instead being sent back to oversee the province’s defenses. When he asked Gongsun Zan about these conflicting assignments, he was met with a confused answer. It was starting to be clear that the Governor wrote one of these orders while drunk, although it is unknown which one.
Meanwhile, Gongsun Xu had been tasked with the duty of helping Liu Bei in managing the provincial capital in his father’s absence. Or at least this was his only official assignment. In private, he had been asked to keep a watch on Xuan Su, the new Chief Clerk whose abilities were starting to be called into question, as was his morality. But the heir didn’t have to worry much about the official, as Xuan Su was in process of mourning his son, who had sadly passed away before reaching his first birthday. Wanting to be there for his wife and daughter as well as feeling smoldered under the obvious surveillance, Xuan Su almost walked out to go back to his domain. But Liu Bei was there to remind him that even in such sad times, duties were to be performed. Only by their relentless efforts could they save the Han Dynasty from the brink of collapse. Being a hardworking man, Xuan Su did appreciate the support and reminder that he could waste his sorrow into work. Liu Bei’s sympathy was appreciated.
So now that he was back in full shape, it was time to plan for the permanent removal of Liu Bei. The scion of the Han had been left as the regent of the province in Gongsun Zan’s absence, which meant that he was the biggest threat to his power right now. Besides, if something was to happen to Liu Bei, he would certainly be the next one in line to become regent. The newly appointed Zhao Yun, who might have proven a decent rival, was too occupied with the defense of the province. As for Gongsun Xu, his father had to know that the young man wasn’t ready. He was good at talking people down and knew his classics well enough, but he might not be ready for the duty of ruling a province. His pathetic efforts at investigating him certainly went toward that conclusion. No, Liu Bei was the only real thing that threatened him, which is why he had to be removed. But Xuan Su knew that he had to do it right in a way that wouldn’t expose his own dodgy actions. He didn’t want Gongsun Zan to learn how he was pocketing some of his gold on the side, after all.
He finally settled on the idea of using Gongsun Xu’s investigation against the regent. Weeks after weeks, he started to drop hints that it was Liu Bei who was actually the corrupt one, that he was the one abusing his authority. Since this was not the case, Xuan Su had to make sure that this hinted at something really hidden and under the surface. His frame job seemed to work as far as the quality of his clues, which left Gongsun Xu completely caught off guard. He did not expect to find things related to Liu Bei while investigating Xuan Su. In fact, it seemed as if the Chief Clerk was doing his own little investigation on the regent. He asked Xuan Su about it and was told how suspicious Liu Bei was being. However, the heir was still suspicious about this whole affair. It just didn’t seem right to him. Annoyed at this hesitation, Xuan Su berated Gongsun Xu for not doing his job and arresting Liu Bei on the spot. You have the proofs, so just act already!
This outburst shocked Gongsun Xu, who started to have doubts about all this. He decided to take a step back from the whole affair, instead enjoying life at court for a few weeks while leaving his subordinates to find more. When he asked them back for a report, they mentioned that they did find more, a lot more actually. As it turned out, Xuan Su was starting to get sick of waiting for the young heir to make a move. To push him toward the desired conclusion, clues had been distributed generously, to the point that some of the censors started to wonder if this was not some kind of frame job. Gongsun Xu, who trusted Liu Bei, decided to calmly confront him on the subject, asking him to come clean if he had done anything wrong. The fact that Liu Bei’s answer was that his only wrong had been his failure to do more said enough, and the whole investigation was dropped. While some asked to search for who had put all those clues, nothing came of it. Xuan Su had done too much of a good job covering his back for that.
As the year approached its end, Tan Weiping started to have more and more problems piling up. Yuan Tan was increasingly overt in his attempts to usurp his authority and Guan Yu just acted as if he was invincible now, like no order really applied to him. And then he was told in November that some of his subordinates had rebelled in his commandery. They felt as if his tenure had been one of tyranny and oppression, even though it had been mostly fair by the standards of the time. Really, they just wanted to use this opportunity to undermine him. This worked. After a year of problematic reports from the secondary army, news of the revolt proved the last straw for Gongsun Zan. He removed Tan Weiping as commander and sent him back to his commandery to deal with that problem. But Gongsun Zan, not wanting someone else to take over the second army considering the abysmal reports he got, decided to simply absorb it into the main army, leaving Guan Yu and Yuan Tan to go back home while their liege waged the war by himself.
The removal of the second army did nothing to help Lü Bu and Cao Cao. Lü Bu’s administrative difficulties turned out to be more profound than they first appeared, and he had to deal with a lot of issues personally. This in turned stopped any hope he had to get his men on the field before winter, which had left Cao Cao as the only one actually fighting for most of the year. Frustrated by this, Cao Cao eventually came to his ally and offered him a deal. The general would ensure the defense and the administration of You Province as a regent, making sure that everything was ran at its peak performance while Lü Bu went fight Gongsun Zan with his army. With the defeats Cao Cao had suffered earlier that year, Lü Bu certainly had more troops than he did. And with reports from Ding Kai indicating that their troops had been trained all year, this seemed like the best strategy to stop Gongsun Zan’s advance.
This came just at the right time, as a third player was using their weakness to his advantage. Seeing how You Province was vulnerable and disorganized, the Northern Xiongnus launched a massive raid on the border to pillage towns and villages. But this was not just pure opportunism. The horde was still led by Huchuqan Khagan, who perfectly remembered how Lü Bu had humiliated him in 192-193, taking away a small part of his territories. With a party of a few hundred horsemen, Huchuqan Khagan was all too happy to go take his revenge on the hated warlord. With some luck, this might even prove the start of an expansion south, away from the Xianbeis of Budugen the Great encroaching on his territories.
Lü Bu quickly mounted a counterattack against the raids. There was no way he was going to allow those barbarians to play a role in this war. In late December, Lü Bu led his army against the Xiongnu raiders, who were hindered by the temperature limiting their movements. It was a complete victory for the You forces. However, this also happen to be the first time an officer distinguished himself. First noticed by Ding Kai, Tian Chou had been given a command on the Commandant’s recommendation. This had proven to be a great choice, as he efficiently led the center against the Xiongnus, organizing an efficient attack against them based on the terrain. Tian Chou was a just leader, a devout Confucian, an honorable man and someone with did not suffer from the plague that was ambition. He seemed the kind of man who would feel just at home with Liu Bei or Zhao Yun, which is why it was so surprising that he idealized Lü Bu. For him, there was no better man to serve.
Emboldened by their victory, Lü Bu declared that victory would soon be at hand and started marching south to go confront Gongsun Zan. Ding Kai and Cao Cao (who was still following the whole affair) tried to point out to Lü Bu that this was a terrible idea. While they did have morale and great commanders, it still didn’t change the fact that Gongsun Zan had two times their number of men. Adding to that the fact that the enemy generals were no slouch either, and it was looking like a battle might be the stupidest idea right now. But Lü Bu was confident, convinced that his victory against the barbarians was proof of the invincibility of his army. No, his own invincibility! If Cao Cao was too cowardly to fight this war, then so be it. He would fight it for him. The battle that took place at Qiu in February 202 could best be described as “a good effort” on the part of the You Province forces. They were motivated and ready to charge, but that did nothing to really help them. In his quest for personal glory, Lü Bu forsook strategy, launching a full-on attack on the enemy position. After the initial shock at this tactic, which did cause a few hundred casualties, the Ji forces reorganized and forced Lü Bu into a bloody retreat.
This failure left Lü Bu volatile, often venting his frustration by screaming at his soldiers for their failure. They were supposed to be his elite army, yet they had failed to win the day. Thankfully, Ding Kai and Tian Chou were there to reassure the troops and stop them from ever thinking of going against their leader. Still, that did nothing to solve their situation. They tried to make their way to safety, but found the closest cities already held by Ji garrisons. This forced Lü Bu to order his troops to continue moving, closely followed by Gongsun Zan and his men. That cat and mouse lasted for about a month and a half, during which Cao Cao refused to risk breaking his defensive plan to send useless reinforcements to Lü Bu. Frustrated, the warlord eventually faced his nemesis again in late March. If the Battle of Qiu was at least a valiant effort, the Battle of Yangxiang proved a useless waste of lives. This time the troops of Gongsun Zan were not taken by surprise and readied themselves for the assault. By the time Lü Bu realized what was happening, more than half his men were dead, with the rest in full retreat.
Things seemed to be in the bag for Gongsun Zan by that point. In early 201, he defeated Cao Cao and his men twice. In early 202, he did the same with Lü Bu. His newfound alcohol addiction didn’t seem to impact his talents as a general. With such victories behind him, he had all the rights to believe that this war would be over by the end of summer, probably even earlier. But then he started to receive letters from the provincial capital, panicked missives from Liu Bei and Gongsun Xu warning him of a new threat that had appeared on their southern border. Showing up with a large army was none other than Zhang Yan, former leader of the Black Mountain Bandits and general of Yang Province. And now he wanted to take control of Ji Province. To achieve victory, Cao Cao and Lü Bu would have needed a miracle. In April 202, they had their prayers answered.
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Oh. I hadn’t thought we would see anyone connected to the Black Mountain Bandits be a threat again. Lü Bu and Cao Cao got really lucky that this happened.
I also find it funny, in a darkly humorous sort of way, that Xuan Su expresses genuine appreciation towards Liu Bei’s sympathy for him; and then in the next paragraph we see him immediately use that newfound vigor to plot to frame Liu Bei. I guess if you give Xuan Su an inch, he’ll try to take a mile (and your lands while he’s at it).
I also find it funny, in a darkly humorous sort of way, that Xuan Su expresses genuine appreciation towards Liu Bei’s sympathy for him; and then in the next paragraph we see him immediately use that newfound vigor to plot to frame Liu Bei. I guess if you give Xuan Su an inch, he’ll try to take a mile (and your lands while he’s at it).
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