The Locust Swarm Is Coming—Prepare the Fire

A leisurely peace.

Bonds grew thick over wine, and mentor and pupil sat together in the tie of master and disciple. After two wars, the first harvest proved a bumper year beyond all expectation, and beneath the escort of the Danyang troops the merchant caravans ran again without meeting a single band of brigands. I threw myself into the business as well, and the Langya Elite Training Camp, raised in short order, had Zhang He, Bu Zhi, and Xu Sheng rotating through on assignment, turning out elite soldiers in staggering numbers. Most of them were wanderers who had lost family and fortune alike after Cao Cao's invasion of Xuzhou, and rage became the engine of their discipline.

"Once we've handled this and that, there's one last thing we ought to settle cleanly on the inside, before it blows."

"I've looked into it just as you asked, but there's simply nothing to catch hold of."

It was the first time in a long while that I had gone to Zhuge Jin's house for a cup, and that was his answer.

"Cao Cao's father dying in Xuzhou is a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tragedy that can't be undone. A hundred carts plundered, and the money seized by Zhang Kai and his gang. By any ordinary reckoning, funds on that scale have to leave a current somewhere. And yet we can't find so much as a trace? That's what makes it strange."

It was old news. No one else spared it a thought. But because it was I—an outsider, not a man of Xuzhou who had lived through the massacre—who insisted on digging, Zhuge Jin had agreed to the secret inquiry.

"Baekgeum. Suppose—just suppose—the man who murdered Cao Cao's father is here inside Xuzhou. What would you do?"

"He'd have to die."

"...!"

"I wouldn't have to kill him myself. Bind him alive and send him to Cao Cao in Yanzhou as a gift. That would do."

"The people of Xuzhou might tear him to pieces first, and send the corpse."

Zhuge Jin emptied his cup and moved on to the next matter.

"How are Xue and Liang?"

"Living very happily."

"I owe you a kindness I could never repay in a lifetime. Whatever comes after this, I will follow you without question."

He was saying it when a voice came from outside.

"My lord, a man has come from Yanzhou."

"Send him in."

The door opened. A merchant returned from Yanzhou offered his greetings, then leaned toward me and spoke low.

"After Dongjun in Yanzhou fell, the forces of Lu Bu and Zhang Miao were driven into retreat."

"I thought as much."

"And this is a secret letter sent from Mount Tai."

I examined the bamboo slip the courier had brought.

"What is this?"

"Something important?"

"Ziyu, I need that head of yours! Explain to me what sort of situation this is. After that I'll take it and report to the Governor of Xuzhou."

Flushed with wine, Zhuge Jin read through the intelligence gathered from Yanzhou and Mount Tai.

The second year of Xingping. The year 195.

When Cao Cao tried to mount his second invasion of Xuzhou on the strength of Yanzhou's supplies, the furious discontent of the local great clans burst into open rebellion. The brothers Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao of Yanzhou took up the sword, and when Chen Gong, Bian Rang, and the rest rose with them, they drew in Lu Bu—then cutting his own path as an independent warlord in the Central Plains—and swept Cao Cao's power aside. But Cao Cao canceled the expedition and came back, and at once he massed his army. Lu Bu's host and Cao Cao's then fought for Yanzhou in a battle where heaven and earth hung in the balance.

In the fury of that fighting Lu Bu ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lost Puyang and Dongjun, the lands he had seized, and the civil war in Yanzhou ended in a great victory for Cao Cao's army. What remained was for the defeated, falling back, to answer for what they themselves had begun.

"We will go down into Yuzhou. There we will lay plans for another day, and fight that bastard Cao Cao once more."

Chen Gong, the man who had designed the whole of the war, burned with fighting spirit again and pledged himself to the days ahead. Zhang Miao, though, murmured with a face emptied of spirit.

"It's all over... Not only my brother—my wife and children too. Cao Cao killed them all. Is a life like this even a life?"

"Lord Zhang! There will be another chance. Promise yourself the future now, take Cao Cao again later, and have your revenge then."

Lu Bu, their partner in the enterprise, had been listening in silence. He brushed at armor stiff with dried blood and came toward them. Outsider though he had been, brought in from beyond this fight, he had shown a truly terrifying unmatched prowess, butchering Cao Cao's army into meat, and that charge had been Lu Bu himself—a genius of battle whom no one could stop.

"They say those who meet must part. We gathered with one purpose, but now each of us has to find his own way to live."

"That is so. Even so, we must join our strength and take Cao Cao once more."

"I've plenty stored up against that bastard Cao Cao myself. Three times in my life I let the chance to kill him slip. There won't be a fourth."

Chen Gong confirmed the will in him, and with relief began searching for a road of retreat that would keep them clear of Cao Cao.

"Then we should scatter here, each along his own road. We will go to Runan in Yuzhou."

"Yuzhou?"

"That region lies within the spheres of His Highness the Prince of Chen and of Yuan Shu, but in truth the Inspector's seat stands empty, and Cao Cao has just plundered the area for the supplies he lacked, so the land ought to be vacant. We mean to start again there."

"Would it not be better, Flying General, if you went to Mount Tai? The Cavalry Commandant there, Zang Ba, bears Cao Cao a great grudge as well. He will lend you his strength."

Lu Bu listened without a word, then nodded.

And so, in the very moment his army meant to scatter toward Xuzhou and Zhang Miao's toward Yuzhou, Lu Bu gave a bitter smile—and then his eyes flew wide.

"Yuzhou is where this Lu Fengxian will go."

"!?"

"I've a bit of an acquaintance with Yuan Shu, you see. If it's land where a man can grow an army and rise again, it's only right that this Lu Fengxian be the one to go."

Cold sweat ran down the faces of Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, who had meant to slip away into Yuzhou themselves.

"Gongtai. Will you guide the way?"

"No, Flying General!"

"Don't worry. I'll have my household and my men see Lord Zhang safely all the way to Mount Tai. Mount Tai and Runan both—I know them well."

Lu Bu had declared that he would take every thread in hand and settle it himself. Chen Gong, who had originally meant to make for Xuzhou, he would take along; Zhang Miao he would have his own subordinates escort safely as far as Mount Tai.

"General Lu, there is no need for you to go so far."

"Why? Because you find me suspicious? I'll attach my men, even my kinsmen, to keep you company on the road. Those of you bound for Xuzhou may reach Mount Tai in safety, and from there a bit of negotiation will see you through unharmed."

Lu Bu was a man whose greed was as enormous as his martial skill—a temperament that would never take a loss, and that had, without fail, to seize the greatest share according to his own design. As he saw it, starting in the lands of Yuzhou offered more to feed on than Xuzhou, and so he meant to go there himself in Zhang Miao's and Chen Gong's place.

"Still suspicious, are you? I'm even sending my own household, with orders that they be held as hostages if Zhang Miao proves difficult."

"Ah—no. An escort of that kind, we will accept, and go."

And so, when it was settled that Zhang Miao's faction would make for Xuzhou and reach as far as Mount Tai, Lu Bu called for Zhang Liao. A man of Bing Province like himself, and in martial skill the strongest warrior in the faction after Lu Bu. Introducing him, he ordered the man to guide them to Mount Tai. But once the two had spoken face to face, Lu Bu threw an arm around Zhang Liao's shoulders and laughed aloud.

"Come now, come now! One defeat is no cause for a funeral face. We are warriors living for another day!"

While the awkward air loosened, he dropped his voice so that only Zhang Liao could hear.

"!?"

"I've already sent a letter to Zang Ba. Give that one about three parts in ten, and borrow his soldiers."

"Will that work?"

"The moment we pulled out of Yanzhou, that man stopped being of any use. But the treasure and the soldiers he's still holding onto—those I need. Among the Yanzhou lot, the only one worth anything is Chen Gong, which is why I'm taking him with me to Yuzhou."

"..."

"End it for him neatly. One stroke."

"Under...stood."

After that Lu Bu looked toward Zhang Miao's party as if nothing at all were amiss, and raised a thumb for them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to keep their spirits up.

"So this is why you called even me out in the dead of night? Well, now."

"Master Zijing. That reading is the right one, isn't it?"

Discussing the letter from Mount Tai with Zhuge Jin, I had inferred one thing about Lu Bu's movements, and on the momentum of it I had called in Lu Su as well, who lived in the house next to Zhuge Jin's. Lu Su read the reports from Yanzhou and Mount Tai in detail, thought a moment in silence, and spoke.

"Does Lu Bu not know that Zang Ba is entirely on the side of the Governor of Xuzhou?"

"He must have known, and tried to win him over anyway."

"The Yanzhou faction toward Xuzhou, Lu Bu's faction toward Yuzhou... This looks like Lu Bu striking Zhang Miao's Yanzhou men in the back as they head for Xuzhou, then swallowing the whole of it himself."

"With Zijing, that makes three of us of the same mind."

"And he will shamelessly hold out his hand while invoking Cao Cao, the enemy we all share. It is the brute force of common ruffians—shameless even to contemplate."

If it was Lu Bu, he would. That man would truly stab a back and then stab it again, gorge himself on everything, and with the spoils charge Cao Cao, or Yuan Shu, or our own side—whoever happened to be standing in front of him.

"So then, Baekgeum. What is your thought?"

"He has to die. Where does he think he's sticking his foot?"

"Lu Bu, you mean? However badly Cao Cao may have beaten him, catching that Flying General will be no easy matter."

Zhuge Jin clutched his head. Lu Su thought quietly, then turned to me.

"Our lord understands chivalry, yes, but he is also a man overflowing with benevolent virtue. If Lu Bu comes in with his head bowed, he may well say we should receive him as a guest general."

"That is a thing that cannot be allowed."

Lu Su nodded his agreement.

"Baekgeum, while you have taken charge of Xuzhou's supplies and resources, you have also served us outwardly in this way, as scout and as courier. And if the words are yours, our lord grants nearly all of them."

"Yes, Zijing."

"Persuade him yourself. Lu Bu must not be let in. He must be driven far away."

"So I should. When a swarm of locusts comes pouring in from outside, you set fire to the fields and burn the lot of them."

"Lu Bu, a locust..."

Ah. These people wouldn't know that connection, would they?

"Hah. So the fighting in Yanzhou has ended at last, and the losing side is coming this way?"

"Couldn't manage it in Yanzhou, so I suppose Xuzhou looks easy to them."

I had deliberately hardened the wording, preaching that Lu Bu would become yet another invader.

"After Cao Cao withdrew, now Lu Bu? It cannot be borne!"

"Indeed! What tie does the likes of him have to Xuzhou, that he should come here?"

"That Lu Bu betrayed his adoptive father, Ding Yuan, to crawl under Dong Zhuo, and later killed even Dong Zhuo and ran wild—is he not a fiend of slaughter?"

Zhuge Jin laid on just enough seasoning, and when the other retainers laid bare their revulsion toward Lu Bu, Lu Su shook his head at Liu Bei, again and again.

"And yet Xuzhou is still not settled, and our troops are few. What if Lu Bu became, in our place, a buffer between Yanzhou and Xuzhou? What if we took him in and used him as a defensive line on the forward frontier?"

"My lord, Lu Bu is absolutely not such a man."

"Zijing, I know. But to wipe the acquaintance from my face and cast out a man in distress—that strays from the path of chivalry."

Here I stepped forward.

"Lord Xuande. It does not stray from the path of chivalry!"

"Hm?"

They had drawn the mood along for me. What came next was mine.

"Lord Xuande, you can walk the path of trust and chivalry well enough without ever taking Lu Bu in."

"Hoh. Baekgeum. Come closer, and speak."

I held no office. In truth, though, I was the majority shareholder of this Xuzhou Company. So I set about convincing Liu Bei, and proposed the driving-out of Lu Bu that everyone wanted.

"Lord Xuande, those men will be at Mount Tai and at Xiaopei, and in those places stand Zang Ba and Guan Yunchang, respectively."

"That is so."

"Xuzhou now overflows, thanks to the bumper crop of beans and barley. If they ask for help, we can provide oil and grain enough to see them as far as a new place to settle. That alone is chivalry."

"Baekgeum. You mean give them food and nothing else, and drive Lu Bu out?"

"If we answered them with nothing at all and simply shoved swords and clubs in their faces, that would be unrighteous. But our circumstances here will not bear them, and there is nothing whatever amiss in giving them something to eat and sending them on. We never invited them. We will have done them the charity of telling them to seek elsewhere. Who in all the world could say a word against that?"

Don't prattle about the customs of hospitality to someone who wandered in unasked. Refuse the invitation itself, from the start.

"And if we give them food and they still don't move, then they truly have other intentions, and we raise the army and drive them out. If they turn back, we return to the business of Xuzhou as if nothing had happened."

"Hmm."

Liu Bei was still wrestling with his compassion, so I drew a little closer and whispered where only he could hear.

"Lord Xuande. If Lu Bu accepts an invitation, comes in, and then attacks Yunchang at Xiaopei—what will you do?"

"!"

"Yunchang is strong, of course, and he will fight Lu Bu with ferocity. But because of an unrighteous man like that, he will see far too much blood he never needed to see."

Liu Bei's eyes flew wide and he sprang to his feet. I faced him and spoke without flinching.

"We don't even need a great force! The Danyang troops of Xuzhou, and I—we will go, settle the matter of Mount Tai and Xiaopei, and come back."

"Wh-what!?"

In that instant Zhao Bao shot to his feet at the words Danyang troops, and I flicked him a look. Remember that time. You wanted to establish merit, didn't you? Whoever comes to Xuzhou, you said you'd go out and fight them yourself. Show Xuzhou's will, you said.

Zhao Bao caught it, clapped his hands together at once, and shouted.

"Th-that's right! I'll go and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠face them too! If that Lu Bu harbors other intentions and means to devour Xuzhou, this Zhao Bao will stake his life, stop him, and drive him out!"

"Brother! I'm goin' too! To think I get to meet Lu Bu again!"

Zhang Fei shoved his way in.

"My lord, Zijing must remain here, so may I go?"

Zhuge Jin joined as well.

Liu Bei looked at the lot of us, nodded, and spoke.

"We will go, and return."

Permission granted.

The Danyang troops who had been idling about Xiapi would, while they were at it, finally have a proper mission against Lu Bu. Zhang Fei and Zhuge Jin would be taking part as well. I had set everything in place. Time, then, to go and tie up the loose ends.

To bring a rain of fire down upon the locust swarm that dared come toward Xuzhou!