A Conversation with Father
November of the year 190.
Yuan Shao returned to Ye at the head of the Jizhou army. He had fought Dong Zhuo, yet schism had broken out within the coalition, and they had never managed a proper battle. Afterward they were stuck fast in Suanzao County, frittering the months away, until the exhaustion and the sense of powerlessness among the officers and men reached their limit.
"My lord! We congratulate you on the merit of driving the traitor Dong Zhuo to Chang'an!"
Tian Feng raised the cheer, and the civil and military officials of the Jizhou Inspectorate, drawn up in ranks, bent at the waist as one and echoed the congratulation.
Strictly speaking, it was Sun Jian's merit that had driven Dong Zhuo to Chang'an. Father, however, held his tongue and lifted a hand in dignified acknowledgment. The moment he admitted that Jizhou had poured out vast stores of men and materiel and still produced nothing much to show for it, the justification for ruling the province would wobble, and the driving force of his government would fail.
"While I was away from my seat, you labored greatly in governing Jizhou."
In a calm voice he comforted the officials for their toil, then caught sight of me and beckoned me closer. Before I could even offer a bow, he caught me up in both arms and lifted me high.
"Heh — our Shang has grown so much in so short a time."
"Father, in only two months I will be ten."
When I answered with proper gravity, Father broke into a bright laugh and set me carefully back on the ground. For a moment he was simply a fond father again, and the warmth of it lingered.
"My lord. The campaign must have wearied you, so rest deeply for a few days. The reports of business conducted in your absence I will submit slowly, once your mind and body are wholly settled."
"Do so. See that the officers and men who suffered in hard country are given hot meals and ample rest, and hear out what they desire. It was a truly blood-draining, exhausting campaign. We did not cut Dong Zhuo's breath with our own hands, yet driving him to Chang'an alone may be called a considerable achievement."
"We shall obey."
Yuan Shao left the aftermath to Tian Feng and walked slowly into the city. Tian Feng at once took command of the civil and military officials, sorted the troops by arm with crisp order, seated them in ranks upon a broad open ground, and served out hot meat broth and food in plenty. Empty bellies had to be filled solid before discontent could be laid to rest.
"Former Clerk, I will handle matters from this point."
"Military Supervisor, you have suffered much attending our lord in Suanzao."
Tian Feng offered Ju Shou, the Military Supervisor, a scrupulous salute and withdrew. In the days when both had served under Jia Cong, Tian Feng's precedence had been the higher; yet after Father took office as Inspector of Jizhou and Ju Shou rose to sole authority over the army, Ju Shou's place stood far above his.
Ju Shou left the gathering at once and approached Gongsun Fan, younger cousin of Gongsun Zan.
"You have labored, Colonel Gongsun."
"The fighting is over. I want to return to Youbeiping at once."
"We can send you only after Young Master Mai has been safely returned."
"When we departed Luoyang I already sent word to Youbeiping, ordering them to dispatch Young Master Mai. We need only meet around Hejian Commandery and receive him there."
Ju Shou inclined his head in silence, then summoned Yan Liang at once.
"Cavalry Commander Yan. Take two thousand elite Jizhou cavalry this instant and follow close on Colonel Gongsun's heels. Meet Young Master Mai in Hejian Commandery and escort him safely back."
"I obey."
Yan Liang acknowledged the order without expression and fixed Gongsun Fan with a glare. Gongsun Fan's Youzhou cavalry numbered roughly eight hundred. Should he attempt any trickery in Hejian, Yan Liang's two thousand Jizhou horse would crush him in a breath. Bearing that taut tension between them, Yan Liang and Gongsun Fan departed Ye the next morning.
Toward evening, Father secretly summoned me to his quarters. Since his return he had met neither official nor kin, and he called for me first of all.
"Sit there."
His countenance was still sunk in darkness and cold. He had led the march on Luoyang as chief of the alliance, yet the fruit had gone to Yuan Shu and Sun Jian; the resentment of that must have been bitter. Or perhaps he felt the desolation of having meant to behead Dong Zhuo and set the tottering dynasty upright, only to fail in emptiness. I did not dare open my mouth. I only sat rigidly straight and watched his firmly closed lips.
"Have you pursued your studies without slacking?"
"Yes, Father. I studied diligently under Duoguan Shuzuo Tian Feng."
"Good... That is how my son ought to be."
A heavy silence circled the chamber once more. This was no time to wag a clumsy tongue and offer advice, so I merely held my breath.
"Shang'er. The counsel you sent was truly accurate, and truly useful. It was tremendous advice — yet your father's capacity fell short, and I could not put it to proper use."
"No. I believe it was a force no one could have withstood."
"A force beyond resistance... Yes. It is spilt water in any case, so let us pick no further at the wound of defeat. It is all past."
Father smiled bitterly, but a grieving sorrow brushed the corners of his eyes. He was surely remembering the Yuan kinsmen butchered so wretchedly beneath Dong Zhuo's blade. That he had informed me, through Tian Feng's mouth, of the grave matter of continuing his elder brother's line was enough to tell how great a shock the slaughter of the clan had dealt him.
"More than that... The inspectors and administrators gathered at Suanzao withdrew one by one, and those who remained at my side to the last were only Mengde and Xuande."
In that instant my heart dropped.
Surely he had not concluded some secret accord with Cao Cao and Liu Bei? And Liu Bei, of all men. He was not of a station to sit face to face with Father and converse. Had he not been unable even to attend the councils Father presided over? The intuition that the wheel of history was twisting around in a frightful turn wrapped my whole body.
"Your father, valuing Mengde's talent, summoned him to discuss his course in private, and Mengde brought Xuande with him. To be honest, at first I was uncomfortable — he was not of a rank to match me... Yet as a collateral scion of the imperial house he had won a measure of merit in battle. Sitting across from him, I found his bearing considerable and his speech excellent. There were corners in which he and your father understood one another."
Damn.
In the history of my previous life the two of them, after their great defeat at Xu Rong's hands, had fled with nothing but their lives. In this life they had won merit, and gone so far as to strike an accord with Father.
"The reason your father troubled to stand those two before him, pledge a future, and resolve that we join our strength... was none other than your uncle."
Ah. So it has come.
With the Yuan bloodline slaughtered, a quarrel over blame had erupted inside the coalition — whose fault was it? — and on that account Father and Uncle Yuan Shu had crossed a river of hatred from which there could be no return.
"That ungrateful wretch of an uncle has colluded with the Inspector of Xuzhou and is grinding his teeth, swearing he will strike your father. He has declared that after he drags me down from the Inspectorate of Jizhou, he will bury in blood the charge that I drove our clan to death! Seeing that twisted nature and that venom, this is no mere bluff — it is a blade meant to pierce your father. Growing strong enough to strike Dong Zhuo and set the dynasty right is already more than I can manage... and now my own blood means to drive a dagger into my back...!"
Father let out a deep sigh in which rage and despair were mingled. Had I stood in his place, my blood would have run backward. The butterfly effect of the wedge Dong Zhuo had so cunningly thrown was this vast. The age of chaos had raised its curtain on Dong Zhuo's horrific tyranny, and the true chaos had opened with the struggle for power between the two brothers, Father and Yuan Shu.
"Now then. Will my clever youngest son lend me the wisdom to break through this board?"
Anger had already been wiped from his face, and he looked at me with eyes full of expectation. Through the many letters we had exchanged, the trust Father placed in me had long since surpassed the level of a light favor. I sank into thought a little longer than usual, then slowly opened my mouth and offered my counsel.
"The General of the Rear will surely try to draw in the Dudu of Youbeiping and bring you to heel."
I had already marked my uncle as an enemy, and so I called him the General of the Rear rather than by the fond title of uncle.
Thwack!
"Exactly!"
Pleased with my answer, Father slapped his thigh hard with his palm, a hearty cry of approval accompanying the blow.
"The General of the Rear, together with the Inspector of Xuzhou, will secretly join hands with the Dudu of Youbeiping as well, and ring you in layer upon layer to choke the breath from you. And so, with fire fallen on your feet, you hastily drew Lord Cao and Lord Liu in as colleagues. But... to speak frankly, those two lords look insufficient to serve as your shield."
"Truly excellent, our Shang. Your words are right a hundred times over."
Father wore a smile more satisfied than at any time before, and with a rough hand he stroked my head warmly.
"Yes. A lacking shield must be filled in solid, however we manage it. And yet Mengde produced one truly astonishing scheme. Could our clever Shang perhaps guess what that scheme was?"
Cao Cao had offered a scheme? What scheme could the master of improvisation have produced, that Father should appraise it so highly, eyes glittering?
"Could it be... an act that breaks the laws of Han head-on?"
"Hm... Depending on the point of view, it might be, and it might not."
"Then... a method that cunningly exploits a flaw in Han's system of appointments, so as to swell one's strength?"
"Ho. Go on!"
Father's eyes widened with interest. Now I understood completely.
"Lord Cao must certainly have advised that you exploit the weakness in the system by which local officials are recommended. First, putting Father's high renown to the fore, you recommend your confidants as local officials! Do that, and you can maximize your influence across all Guandong. At the same time Lord Cao and Lord Liu, receiving Father's recommendation, will legally raise government troops and grow their power."
"A prodigy sent down by Heaven! No — even that light title of prodigy falls wretchedly short! All the way to Ye there was a worry that set my head aching, but hearing your insight, there is no need to brood any longer! Ha — hahaha!"
Father pounded the desk with his palm and burst into open laughter. The heavy, cold shadow of the worry he had carried out of Luoyang vanished from his face in an instant, like snow melting. But what, in truth, had Father's worry been? To exploit the blind spot in the recommendation system and use Cao Cao and Liu Bei as pieces on the board — he would already have settled that conclusion at Suanzao and finished the measures. Then the true worry that had pressed on his mind until now could be only one thing: the matter of continuing his elder brother's line.
Ah... This time Father has confirmed my capacity completely, and at last he has hardened his resolve to cast Elder Brother Yuan Tan out and send him as adoptive son into our uncle's line!
I had read his inner mind perfectly, but the matter was far too sensitive to let past my lips. Even if Father's resolve was firm, he would have to soothe the fierce opposition of the civil and military officials of the Jizhou Inspectorate. There were quite a few officials who supported my eldest brother.
"Shang'er."
"Yes, Father."
"The answers you gave today were excellent, and they left an impression. If your years were only a little fuller — if you had merely reached the capping age — I would have seated you at once as Biejia, the second man of Jizhou, and it grieves me that I cannot."
"No. If my lacking insight has been even a little help to Father's great work, this son is only overwhelmed, and glad."
"And I will tell you this in advance as well. I have recommended Mengde as Administrator of Pei Commandery, and Xuande as Administrator of Liang Commandery. Do you know why I recommended the two of them to those places in particular?"
Thud.
It felt as though my heart had dropped out of me. The great wheel of history was spinning madly, wholly against my expectations. Not only Cao Cao, Father's nemesis in my previous life, but the hero Liu Bei as well — to receive Father's recommendation at so early a time, reign as administrators, and swell their power! Yet even before this fatal balance of gain and loss, I dared not oppose him. Father was not seeking my opinion now. He was notifying me, unilaterally, of a decision already made.
"Both Liang Commandery and Pei Commandery are key strongpoints of Yuzhou, and from them one can check the Inspector of Xuzhou, who has colluded with the General of the Rear. Moreover, Qiao County in Pei is Lord Cao's homeland. If the two lords form great power there according to Father's intent, they will be able to check the General of the Rear and the Inspector of Xuzhou. While those two lords hold them in check, Father must personally lead the army, break Gongsun Zan in the north, and pacify Hebei completely. Once Hebei rests wholly in Father's hands, you may set anyone in the realm beneath your feet."
"You have put your finger on it exactly! And yet... giving wings to Mengde and Xuande seems to sit ill in our clever youngest son's eyes?"
"Their ambition is very great. For now they will grow their strength in Father's shade and obey your will, but once they have bulked up, I believe they will surely turn and oppose you. What this son fears terribly is that Father may be raising tiger cubs."
At that cold counsel Father put away his hearty smile and nodded with a chill expression.
"Do you think your father does not know their ambition? Having dealt with them myself, it is plain that both are fully qualified to be heroes who will aim at the realm in days to come. But Shang'er, listen well. If only your father wholly unifies this vast Hebei and grips it in his fist, a couple of tiger cubs can be trampled whenever I please. No power in the realm will dare surpass the overwhelming might of Hebei. And if, holding that tremendous power, your father should still collapse..."
Father closed his eyes and sank briefly into thought, then opened his mouth again with a resolute light in his gaze.
He clenched both fists tight and swore it, his face grim enough to swallow the realm. He was not the legitimate son of a great house, but a son of a concubine; he had endured two three-year mournings at the risk of his life, and only then won the world's recognition. He had fought the Ten Attendants who held power, gathered the scholar-officials, and risen as a leader of the Qingliu faction. He had rallied strength and fought to slaughter the Ten Attendants, and as Inspector of Jizhou he had joined with the officials of Guandong and marched on Luoyang to repel Dong Zhuo. That rough, turbulent life of his had been an unbroken chain of bitter struggle and victory.
"Yes, Father."
I swallowed deep, down into myself, the words with which I had meant to warn him once more of the danger Cao Cao and Liu Bei posed. He already knew that danger to the bone, and still he had staked a thoroughly calculated gamble in order to trample Yuan Shu. What I could do was assist him meticulously at his side, and advise him.
"That aside. I heard that while your father was away, you put cavalry to work on your private authority."
"Yes, Father. This son dared it, prepared for your thunderous rebuke, and cut away in advance a fatal calamity to come. Father... do you perhaps remember a man of Liaodong Commandery named Gongsun Du?"
"Of course. He once rose even to the seat of Inspector of Jizhou. Liaodong must be his homeland. I hear his nature is exceedingly cruel, and that he is a dangerous man."
"If that Gongsun Du were to receive Dong Zhuo's recommendation and formally ascend as Administrator of Liaodong..."
"Naturally he would become a knot of worry for your father, who means to unify Hebei. He is not a man one can cajole into obedience and control in moderation. But why do you speak his name?"
Without a word I drew from my bosom the edict wrapped tight in silk and set it upon Father's desk. Confirming the markings on the edict, Father started in shock.
"The traitor Dong Zhuo accepted Xu Rong's recommendation and abruptly recommended Gongsun Du as Administrator of Liaodong, and His Majesty issued an edict. What Father is looking at now... is the edict this son seized by ambushing the imperial envoy bound for Liaodong."
Thud!
Father froze in his seat as if a hammer had struck him on the head. Was it the boldness of execution — his young youngest son leading private troops to assassinate an imperial envoy? Or fear of the plain treason of seizing the Son of Heaven's edict? No. Judging by Father's nature, he was not aghast because it was treason. He already regarded the Prince of Hongnong — unjustly deposed and poisoned by Dong Zhuo's hand — as the true Son of Heaven of Han, and he denied to the marrow the emperor now seated on the throne, dismissing him as a false puppet Dong Zhuo manipulated. Above all, had he not, only moments ago, cunningly exploited the flaw in the system of appointments and, without any edict from His Majesty, planted Cao Cao and Liu Bei in administrators' seats by his own will? The age in which rightful justification and an imperial edict guaranteed power was over. Yuan Shu and Gongsun Zan would before long join the unlawful ranks.
"Shang'er... you are truly..."
Father drew breath for a long while, as if he could not emerge from the shock, then stared straight into my eyes and declared in a resolute voice:
Acting Major. The word acting branded it a provisional post, yet it was an astonishingly high office. Father's firm will — to plant his young child in a core position — showed through.
"Father... Considering my age and the statutes of Jizhou, how will you bear the fierce opposition around you? Is it truly all right to force matters so?"
"In an age of great peace it would be mad folly not worth half a coin. But now is chaos within chaos, reeking of blood! To stabilize the realm one must not be choosy of means. Your father has already stepped deep into muddy water. So raise no objection, and obey your father's command!"
"Yes, Father! I will assist you at the cost of my life!"
"And... since you have gone and seized a precious edict, I must plant a trusted man of mine in the empty seat of Administrator of Liaodong, and check Gongsun Zan. Is there by chance a tolerably fine talent fit to sit in that place?"
Once more I marveled inwardly, and a thrill ran cold and bright down my spine. These were spoils I had seized, and he was peeling off a portion of power, bidding me seat in the Administratorship of Liaodong a man of mine, one my influence could reach.
"Ju Zong... That man would seem fitting. What do you think?"
"Hm? Is he not the full brother of Military Supervisor Ju Shou? As your father understands it, he is not yet your man."
For an instant it was as if the back of my head had been struck cold. I had been proud of how thoroughly I had hidden it, yet Father already saw through, as if reading the palm of his hand, the roster of whom I had won over behind the scenes and gathered into my own faction. Truly an intelligence network worthy of a father who aimed at the realm. Then he must also grasp perfectly which officials and generals had attached their lines behind Eldest Brother Yuan Tan.
"Of course he is not wholly my man, but I am firmly convinced that Ju Zong is the optimal talent who would give his life for the Jizhou Inspectorate as it now stands. The world disparages him, saying he falls short of his brother the Military Supervisor in learning, ability, and many other respects — but that is only when he is set beside Military Supervisor Ju, a genius of the realm, and it is by no means that the man's own capacity is lacking. Above all, his nature is loyal to the point of inflexibility. Even if he one day holds power in Liaodong, he will never betray Father or strike you from behind. Liaodong is a frontier among frontiers, far from Ye. Place a greatly ambitious and cunning man there, and he may bulk up and one day declare independence."
At my precise reading of the man, Father nodded as if in deep agreement. Of course the private calculus behind my recommendation of Ju Zong was another matter. If I recommended him and put power in his hands, he would become Father's sturdy shield and, at the same time, my man. Father seemed to have settled the decision inwardly, yet to the end he did not let a single word pass his lips about the matter of continuing his elder brother's line.