Shouchun Rebellion (2)
There's a running joke: Wei stans tear into the big-eared one,
Shu stans tear into the MILF hunter,
and Wu stans tear into that delusional little rat.
Sun Quan.
In the modern day she's fallen into disfavor, saddled with nicknames like "Sun Jerry" and "Hefei Sex Maniac," but Sun Quan was unquestionably a hero of her age, on par with her old rivals and political foes Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
When her older sister Sun Ce died young and a life-or-death crisis came crashing down, she overcame it with brilliant skill at employing talent and navigating politics. She smashed Cao Cao's army, which had swallowed Jing Province, at Red Cliffs, and once Wei and Shu had founded their states, the ministers and officials acclaimed her as Wu's first emperor.
"I am honored to meet you again. I am Quan, second daughter of the General Who Defeats the Barbarians... no, the Left General."
I was just stepping out of the palace gate,
when I ran into a girl I'd met once before, though she'd felt unfamiliar then.
Neatly arranged red hair.
Bright golden eyes brimming with intelligence.
Delicate features and soft, slightly chubby cheeks.
Like her older sister Sun Ce, she was a girl who could boast exceptional looks.
Nine years old this year.
Remarkable intelligence was already palpable despite her young age.
A noble grace flowed from her like that of a refined young lady from an illustrious house. Even though she was a child who liked bustling about, she showed a calm restraint that valued decorum.
"A pleasure. I saw you last time, didn't I."
"That Your Highness the Crown Prince remembers me after only a brief glimpse—I am honored."
With a daughter like this, a man would have no regrets.
A moment's conversation was enough to tell she was a brilliant prodigy.
"I see you're reading the Classic of Filial Piety. That's impressive at such a young age."
"Hm-hm!"
The Classic of Filial Piety (孝經) was both the introductory scripture expounding Confucianism's basic virtues and the textbook children opened and studied the moment they reached the age of reason.
I met her eyes and praised her.
At that, the second daughter of the Wu Prefecture Sun Clan blushed, reacting in that way peculiar to children.
'A child this clever and cute turns into that obstinate old fossil, huh... This is why people ought to step aside of their own accord once they get old. Well, the Emperor of Wu turned into a law unto herself for a whole bunch of complicated reasons.'
Wu's early-death jinx.
A host of meritorious vassals died young, never making it past thirty or forty.
Sun Quan, on the other hand, lived to the ripe age of seventy.
A long life is a happy thing.
But living long in a world where your precious flesh and blood have left you was a terrible curse.
She must have had no choice but to go mad.
If she hadn't gone mad, her mind couldn't have held out.
Her father too,
her sister and younger siblings too,
even her sons and old friends.
Sun Quan was the emperor of Eastern Wu (東吳) who settled the strife and chaos and completed the state's foundation, but tragically she had to endure the cruel sorrow of her wives and children all dying young. The reason she grew irascible in her final years, clinging to nothing but the bottle, must surely have been the grief and loneliness of being left all alone.
"Did you come to the palace with your father?"
"Yes!"
"The royal archive has thousands of scriptures and old texts stacked up. I know they're hard for you to read now... but when you're grown and have built up your learning, I'll open it for you so you can read to your heart's content."
"Wow, thank you!"
Her father Sun Jian and her older sister Sun Ce were the classic martial type who poured every Ability Score point into Martial Power. The second daughter, Sun Quan, by contrast, was a Talented Woman whose innate Intelligence and Politics stood out.
A hexagonal genius.
Leadership. Martial Power. Intelligence. Politics. Charm.
She boasted peerless excellence, with every stat except Martial Power surpassing 70.
Sun Quan was a clever girl throwing herself into her studies to aid her family. Glancing at her sparkling golden eyes and slightly chubby cheeks, I muttered to myself, 'A girl this cute turns into that crotchety old fossil in her later years...'
"Here, take this. Honey pastries."
"Honey pastries...? But my mother told me, you mustn't accept bribes from men. Her family once carelessly accepted a betrothal gift, and that's how Mother ended up marrying Father."
I brought out a pouch filled with colorful honey pastries.
At that, the girl's golden eyes sparkled like the morning star.
"As if the crown prince of a kingdom would offer a bribe in broad daylight. Think of it as a gift, not a bribe."
"Mmhmm."
With fingers as fine as slender jade, Sun Quan took out a small, lumpy honey pastry. She glanced around for a moment, then put a pink one—reduced wild-strawberry juice—into her mouth.
* * *
The moment we subjugated Lujiang Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture and declared our Raising of an Army, we completely cut off the taxes and tribute we'd been sending to the Imperial House and the Imperial Court.
Our loyalty was finished.
We would no longer serve the Imperial House and Imperial Court.
The current Imperial House and Imperial Court were nothing more than a Puppet Emperor organization under the thumb of an arch-traitor for all time.
We had proclaimed to the whole realm that we were a power independent of the Han Dynasty.
For Dong Zhuo's army, which had taken the young emperor and the court elders hostage and was wielding absolute, unchallenged power, Liu Chong's Raising of an Army was little short of a lethal threat. It was obvious that countless Warlords across the realm would follow Liu Chong's example and declare independence.
"My lord...! The provincial officials who'd been sending taxes and tribute as a pretense, however minimally, have cut them off completely ever since King of Chen Liu Chong declared his Raising of an Army!"
Every feudal lord and provincial official of Han was obligated to remit taxes and tribute to the Imperial House and the Imperial Court on a regular basis. Even after being reduced to puppets by Dong Zhuo's army, the lords and officials had sent at least half to show good faith.
"Revoke their royal letters and commissions and declare them enemies of the state! They are no longer lords of Han!!"
Refusing taxes is an impossibility.
The Prefecture-Kingdom System
The emperor grants the feudal lords the right to govern their fiefs, and the feudal lords pay taxes to the emperor.
It wasn't simply taxes and local goods; when war broke out, they had to lead troops and join the cause, and when the central government ordered construction work, they had to conscript laborers and send them to Luoyang.
Rebellion.
Refusing to pay taxes and fulfill obligations meant rebellion.
As word spread that Liu Chong had declared independence and cut off taxes, fierce anti-Dong Zhuo sentiment boiled over among the many feudal lords and provincial officials: "Even if I pay taxes and tribute, they'll just go straight into Dong Zhuo's warehouse, won't they?" "Luoyang's burned to the ground anyway, so what's the point of sending taxes to the Imperial House and Imperial Court?"
"You mean to tell me those southern bumpkins illegally seized Lujiang and Jiujiang and declared rebellion...! Not even a month after the Guandong rebels who invaded Sili Province withdrew!"
"Liu Chong and Liu Seong-hwi were without a doubt meticulously preparing this Raising of an Army even before they rallied the Guandong rebels. I may be mistaken... but Liu Chong's army is moving with lightning speed, as if they knew in advance we would burn Luoyang and carry out the Relocation of Capital to Chang'an."
Knew in advance.
It's an absurd notion.
How could anyone have predicted the unprecedented arson that burned Luoyang?
Director of the Palace Gentlemen Li Ru swallowed a heavy groan, terrified by Liu Chong's army's unchecked charge. The formidable military strength Liu Chong's army was rapidly accumulating in the south was his greatest worry.
"I'd like to mobilize the main armies of Guanxi and Guanzhong right this moment and trample those southern bumpkins under spear and hoof! The moment we move the Imperial House and Imperial Court to Chang'an, these so-called Cadet Imperial Clan Members openly reveal their filthy rebellious hearts!!"
"Your humble servant would also like to condemn the southern rebels right this instant... but regrettably, there is no way to send an army large enough to suppress Liu Chong's forces to the south.
Yellow Turban remnants calling themselves the White Wave Bandits have begun to boil up around the now-ash Luoyang. And the Guandong rebels who invaded Sili Province are also a headache.
Two thousand li.
The distance from Chang'an to the south reached a full two thousand li.
Mobilizing a vast host to establish supply roads and link logistics trains while advancing south would require staggering amounts of manpower and materiel. Knowing that full well, Dong Zhuo threatened to summon the armies of Guanxi and Guandong and sweep them away but still couldn't bring himself to order a sortie.
"Listen here, is there not some good scheme? If we stand idly by and watch those southern bumpkins commit high treason, every quarter will rise up! We must devise a countermeasure as quickly as possible to root out future trouble!"
"There is a method."
Dong Zhuo clenched a fist the size of a pot lid and exploded with rage.
At that, Li Ru, who'd been deep in thought for a moment, spoke up.
"What method?"
"Empower the Inspector of Xu Province Tao Qian. Then grant new offices and titles to the Governor of Beiping Gongsun Zan and the Inspector of Yang Province Chen Wen, and lure them into joining Tao Qian."
"I grasp your meaning... but will Tao Qian move so willingly? Tao Qian is a cunning old man fond of playing the hypocrite. We'd have to make a considerable effort to move that old codger."
"Your humble servant already laid the arrangements the moment the Guandong rebels dispersed. The Inspector of Xu Province is a man who acts entirely according to practical gain. If we satisfy his hungry ambition, he will certainly move a major army."
Tao Qian was a greedy schemer, but unlike the southern bumpkins he never plotted outright treason to overthrow the Han Imperial House. He'd joined the Guandong rebels but hadn't dispatched troops, and unlike Liu Chong's army, he'd been sending taxes and tribute to the Imperial House and the Imperial Court all along.
That was precisely why Dong Zhuo's army had appointed Tao Qian Governor of Xu Province and General Who Stabilizes the East.
Dong Zhuo delivered an offer to Tao Qian that was practically a blank check: if you suppress the southern rebels, I'll grant you any lands you desire.