Wu and Yue in the Same Boat (3)
The next day, Liu Bei summoned every high and low official of the court.
Seeing that the color had returned to Liu Bei’s face, the ministers murmured among themselves in relief. At the awards ceremony he had looked so frail that the sight of him restored to health was a genuine comfort.
“You have all gathered,” Liu Bei said, looking over the assembled civil and military officials.
The sight of the once-haggard emperor standing with renewed vigor brought a visible ease to Zhuge Liang and the rest of the court.
“I have committed a grave error.”
Blinded by vengeance, he had launched a reckless campaign. Countless soldiers had lost their lives, and the common people had been left to mourn husbands and sons.
“To set that error right, I have reached two decisions.”
Unlike before, Liu Bei opened his eyes with firm resolve as he made the declaration.
“First, I will restore diplomatic relations with Wu.”
The court officials’ eyes went wide; a stir ran through the hall. Barely a month had passed since they had nearly lost their lives fleeing Wu’s armies. The emotional gulf between the two states still ran deep.
“Your Majesty, restoring relations with Wu will be no easy matter.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. An alliance with Wu seems unwise.”
The war had been fought to avenge Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, pillars of Shu. The losses suffered along the way had left the generals’ resentment raw. Wu, for its part, had only withdrawn its pursuit because Wei had begun to make ominous moves. Sun Quan and his commanders were still nursing their own anger over the officers they had lost to Liu Bei.
“Our true aim is to destroy the northern bandits who brought down the Han.”
Liu Bei reminded them of the very reason Shu had been founded.
“Yet Shu has grown weak, while Wei’s strength remains undiminished. To stand against them, we have no choice but to join hands with Wu.”
As he spoke, the image of Lu Xun rose unbidden in his mind. The thought of the man who had avenged his brothers still made his teeth grind, yet for the sake of Shu’s future he would have to take that hand.
“My grudge against Wu remains, but I have come to understand once more that private feelings must be set aside for the greater cause.”
Seeing the firmness of Liu Bei’s will, the ministers had no choice but to accept it.
“Your Majesty, then what is the second decision?”
It was Li Hui, the Director of Internal Affairs, who asked. The others, too, looked curious about what else lay beyond the alliance with Wu.
“From this day forward, I entrust the regency to the Crown Prince, Liu Shan.”
Once again the civil and military officials broke into a murmur. A regency meant that when a sovereign’s health failed, the heir would oversee the affairs of state.
“Your Majesty, are you unwell in some way?!”
“We shall seek out the most renowned physicians at once!”
Liu Bei shook his head at their heated reaction.
“The illness has already passed. This is merely preparation for what may come.”
He had recovered this time, yet the next occasion he took to his bed, only Heaven would know whether he would rise again—even if he did not yet see the soft-natured Liu Shan as a vessel fit for the throne.
“Then, Your Majesty…”
“I intend to remain at Liu Shan’s side and help him learn to govern well.”
Liu Bei had given long thought to what he himself could still do.
What I can still do… is this…
His gaze moved from Liu Shan seated beside him, to Zhang Bao and Guan Xing, and finally to Guan Suo.
To raise the next generation and entrust them with the dream.
The battle at Ma’an Mountain had made him keenly aware that he was no longer the man he once was. He could not know how many years remained to him, but he meant to do everything still within his power.
He had no face to show the sworn brothers with whom he had vowed to die on the same day, yet as Guan Suo had said, it seemed he needed to remain here a little longer.
“I ask you to understand my will.”
His voice sounded deeply weary. The high ministers could not bring themselves to oppose him; they bowed their heads.
Several days later, Cao Pi raised a great host to strike at Wu. With Cao Pi’s southern campaign underway, Sun Quan of Wu extended a hand of reconciliation. Relations with Wei having collapsed, he could no longer afford to keep Shu as an enemy as well.
Shu accepted Wu’s offer of peace. It was regarded as the first foundation stone for a future alliance with Wu.
While Wei and Wu fought each other, Shu had a more urgent task of its own: repairing the damage suffered at Yiling. The state had launched a reckless campaign almost the moment it was founded, and the crushing defeat had left devastation in its wake. Three of the Five Tiger Generals, the pillars of Shu Han, were already dead.
Though the catastrophe at Yiling itself had been averted, the battle at Ma’an Mountain had still cost them several generals, forty thousand troops, and vast stores of supplies. Word had even arrived that the great clans and foreign tribes of southern Yi Province were beginning to stir in the wake of the defeat.
Zhuge Liang had to move tirelessly to mend the damage.
The one consolation is that, in terms of national strength and talent, we have at least been given room to breathe.
Prime Minister Zhuge Liang summoned the officials of the court.
“I intend to repair the damage and stabilize Shu within two years.”
He declared that while Wei and Wu were locked in struggle, he would firmly establish Shu’s foundations. The first thing to which Zhuge Liang turned his attention was Shu’s productivity.
“I hereby proclaim the policy of Close the Gates and Rest the People.”
A policy of shutting the borders and allowing the common folk to recover—meaning, in practice, that intervention against the restless region of Nanzhong would be postponed.
At the same time, corvée labor and taxes were reduced, and agriculture was encouraged. Accumulating the national strength exhausted by war took priority. In broad vision and political skill, there was simply no one who could match Zhuge Liang.
“I leave it to you, Jichang. Gongheng.”
Zhuge Liang called the names of Ma Liang and Huang Quan.
“Yes, Prime Minister.”
“Leave it to us.”
While Zhuge Liang retained overall control of economic affairs, he divided the remaining work between Ma Liang and Huang Quan. Domestic administration was entrusted entirely to Ma Liang; military matters went to Huang Quan.
The lesser tasks were likewise given to the talented men who had returned alive from Yiling. Through these measures, the murderous workload that had once fallen on Zhuge Liang alone was greatly lightened.
To the military officers as well—Feng Xi, Cheng Ji, and the rest—he assigned the duties of stabilizing public order within Shu and training garrison troops. These were men who, under ordinary circumstances, would have held key posts in the state; it would have been strange not to employ them.
With this, Zhuge Liang’s shoulders should be a little lighter.
Zhuge Liang was such a workhorse that history would later judge he had died of overwork after shouldering every official’s duties alone.
After Liu Bei’s death he bore everything by himself.
But this time, most of the officers who would have been cut off and killed by Wu, or forced to surrender to Wei, had managed to return. The efficiency of Zhuge Liang’s work would improve accordingly.
I cannot simply sit still either.
While the court was moving in a flurry of activity, I paid a visit to the residence of a certain general.
“I have kept you waiting.”
A middle-aged man whose hair had begun to turn white greeted me. His young sons followed behind him.
“Well then—what reason did you have for requesting to see me?”
With Guan Yu and Zhang Fei gone, Zhao Yun had become the most senior veteran remaining in Shu.
“I beg of you—please take me as your student and teach me.”
I bowed my head as I made the request.
“Teach you…?”
“Yes.”
At Ma’an Mountain I had failed to bring out the full measure of my strength. With the martial power Guan Suo originally possessed, I should have been able to take the head of a nobody like Shamoke in a single stroke.
I have to train until this body answers me properly.
If Zhuge Liang stabilized Shu in short order, the next step would be the pacification of Nanzhong. There the talents needed for the northern campaigns would gain experience and receive fitting ranks. If I meant to prepare for the northern expeditions to come, I had to hone every ability I possessed.
Zhao Yun stroked his chin at my request.
“So I am to teach Yunzhang’s son…”
“Even if only while you remain in Chengdu, I would be grateful for your instruction.”
Seasoned battlefield experience and outstanding martial skill—at the present moment, only Ma Chao and Zhao Yun possessed both.
Wei Yan has too many flaws of character; he is out of the question.
Ma Chao was stationed in Hanzhong, so I had judged that Zhao Yun, who had been close to Guan Yu, would be more likely to grant my request.
And more than anything else…
“There was no need to come all this way to ask.”
Zhao Yun smiled gently as he spoke.
“I had already intended to instruct the junior officers who have newly entered the military command.”
Even though I had arrived unannounced seeking instruction, Zhao Yun granted it without the slightest hesitation.
Just as I thought.
Among the Five Tiger Generals, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Ma Chao each had their disqualifying flaws. Guan Yu had been arrogant toward the scholar-officials; Zhang Fei had treated his subordinates harshly; Ma Chao’s reckless valor had cost him his entire family. Zhao Yun alone had no such defects—only virtues.
A man of generous character, he and Huang Zhong were the only ones among the Five Tiger Generals against whom no negative judgment was ever spoken. I had judged that the chance he would accept my request was high.
Of course, a little political calculation is mixed in with the training as well.
In the recent battle at Ma’an Mountain I had earned merit alongside Zhao Yun, and the awards ceremony had brought me into the public eye. Feng Xi and the other officers whose lives I had saved had thanked me warmly enough, yet in the political arena there were also those who eyed me with jealousy.
Whispers that I had merely stumbled into great merit by chance, or that I had shown disrespect toward the emperor, were already circulating. Moves to slander me were certain to appear.
My father Guan Yu was dead, and my elder brother Guan Xing was, like me, still a green youth with no real footing in the military command. By forming a close relationship with Zhao Yun, I hoped to blunt at least some of the political attention and checks directed at me. A kind of backing, in short. As my father’s longtime comrade-in-arms, it would not seem strange for us to grow close.
Zhao Yun glanced at Zhao Guang and Zhao Tong standing behind him and murmured,
“If I teach you, it will also set a fine example for my own sons.”
The young boys stared at me with open curiosity.
“From now on, present yourself at the training grounds every morning at dawn.”
“Thank you. I shall be in your care from this day forward!”
I bowed deeply, conveying my sincere gratitude.
They say that ever since he was still a wastrel, Guan Suo’s martial talent already surpassed Guan Xing’s.
In raw martial gift alone, he had stood above the other sons of the Guan clan. I intended to polish that strength until I became the Guan Yu of the second generation.