Inside and Outside the Campaign Against Yuan Shu
The second year of Jian'an. Shuchun.
This was where a warlord's resolve had set hard — a man who, unlike Liu Bei and Cao Cao in Xudu, had never managed to set a Son of Heaven upon a throne.
"My lord, I beg you, think on this once more. I believe this to be a profoundly unrighteous course!"
"Gongjin. And here I thought you had finally cast off that son of the Sun house and come back to me. Is that all you have to say?"
Zhou Yu, the strategist, had come again to Shuchun in desperation, meaning to stop a lord bent on climbing to the imperial throne. His skin, already pale as a woman's, had gone whiter still, and cold sweat streamed down his face as he pleaded with everything he had.
"My lord! Have you forgotten the great enterprise we first conceived? You took the Imperial Seal from the House of Sun so that you might stand against those 'illegitimate emperors without the Seal' — the one Dong Zhuo enthroned in Chang'an, and the one Cao Cao and Liu Bei now prop up in some place called Xu County. Were you not to raise a Son of Heaven of your own, present him that Seal, chastise the traitors, and make the name of the House of Yuan resound?"
That had been Zhou Yu's design from the start. Yuan Shu would enthrone a scion of the Han imperial clan, forge a new Liu emperor vested with the Imperial Seal, and under the banner of that legitimacy and just cause bring Cao Cao and Liu Bei down. Such was the larger shape of it.
But the creature called Yuan Shu, Seal in hand, had no interest in raising up a Liu. He meant to make himself emperor — and Zhou Yu was fighting desperately to stop him.
"Gongjin, I know your heart. All the same, those Liu fellows are no match for me."
"My lord!"
"Liu Chong of Chen! Liu Yao of Yangzhou! Liu Dai of Yanzhou, already dead and rotting! What is there that I cannot do better than vermin like them? The legitimacy of the Han's Liu clan? If our House of Yuan had not propped that dynasty up for three generations, the eunuchs would have pulled it down long ago!"
"My lord!"
He was already deep in the thrall of that treasure, the Imperial Seal. Whatever Zhou Yu said, there was no turning him back.
"My lord, I beg you... if only until we return from the expedition to Kuaiji, render a rational judgment."
"Zhou Yu, go and tell Sun Ce this. Once he has subdued all the way to Kuaiji and come back, I, Yuan Shu, seated upon the throne, will grant that boy I have cherished like a son the title of General of Chariots and Cavalry, as once was given to Huo Qubing."
"I wish you fortune in arms."
"And for you there will be the post of General of the Guards. Come back safely. Hahahaha!"
Zhou Yu gave no answer. He observed the rites in silence and withdrew.
He had no thought of doing anything further inside a Shuchun already stained with greed, and no wish to speak with anyone. Only once he was beyond the city walls did he finally let out the breath he had been holding.
"...Swallowed whole. From the very start, he was never a man with whom one could speak of winning the realm."
With that single line Zhou Yu resolved to sever every tie with Yuan Shu, and he departed for Yangzhou in haste.
And at last, to take Yuan Shu — who had dared to usurp the title of emperor — Liu Bei of the very "Liu clan of Han" that Yuan Shu had held in such contempt marched out at the head of a great host to punish him.
After Liu Bei led the great army out on campaign, every military post inside Xudu was filled with Cao Cao's men.
An ill wind was spreading from every quarter, and I decided to begin with what lay closest to hand.
"The Deputy Censor-in-Chief, is it not?"
"Your Excellency, until Imperial Uncle Liu returns, I beg you to guard yourself."
"That again? Guard myself against what, exactly?"
The first man I met and spoke with at court was Yang Biao, Grand Master for Splendid Happiness. He was a revered elder statesman, the representative of the senior ministers who had come all the way from Chang'an, and for that very reason a man who grated on Cao Cao. He had also opposed the occasion on which Cao Cao, over his "resignation as Grand General," packed his own kinsmen into the highest posts, and so he was someone who might be swept away at any moment.
"This time he will purge every last person connected to Yuan Shu, who has usurped the imperial title. That is why guilt by kinship is so terrible a thing."
"You... surely you are not speaking of my wife? I cut off contact with the House of Yuan nearly ten years ago."
The irony was that Yuan Shu's elder sister was Yang Biao's wife, and the son born between them was Yang Xiu.
"No one can say when, or what, may happen. I have given you fair warning."
"I'll bear it in mind. Then you must hear a request of mine in turn. Kong Wenju is staying at my house. He served as Chancellor of Beihai until Yuan Shao seized Qing Province on a whim of his own and drove him out. Can you recommend him for office at court?"
Yang Biao, who had taken in Kong Rong — a descendant of Confucius and a great scholar — was asking me to see that Kong Rong might enter service at court. I offered a quiet bow and withdrew.
When the day's business at court was done and I made to go home, Xun Yu was there.
"Deputy Censor-in-Chief."
"What brings you at this hour?"
"I said I would pay my respects at the Censorate whenever I might, and of late I have found the time. So I have come to greet you."
It was a face that always smiled, and yet these days something about Xun Yu had begun to sit uneasily with me. He bowed with perfect courtesy, and in passing, almost lightly, he whispered.
"The Shuchun campaign looks as though it will run long. Among the lords of the realm there are those who applaud the punitive expedition, but the only ones who have actually raised armies are the Left General and the Minister of Works."
"So because no one else answers, Imperial Uncle Liu will be fighting a lonely war? Then at least see that his provisions are ample."
"I shall do what I can."
I knew well enough what Xun Yu was thinking when he said it. I would have the answer soon.
I had come home and was passing a peaceful hour with my wives when it happened.
"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Something terrible!"
"What terrible thing?"
"Husband, your robes..."
Zhuge Xue draped a cloak over my shoulders. Huan Ying and Zhao Mi straightened the set of my clothes, and I went out. Zhuge Liang was sweating cold, and the look of him was anything but ordinary.
"There are soldiers laid all around the grounds."
The day had gone by without a hitch, and now, out of nowhere, the army had our house surrounded? Unbelievable. Me, of all people.
"Let's go out."
"Yes, brother-in-law!"
At the word that soldiers had encircled the house, my wives trembled uncontrollably. I soothed them, then opened the main gate myself.
Cao Cao's troops stood before our home with weapons bared and gleaming, and at their center was Man Chong.
"I pay my respects to the Deputy Censor-in-Chief."
"Enough of that. What is the meaning of this?"
"I report. By His Majesty's edict, as we chastise the traitor Yuan Shu, we were commanded to arrest those within who have ties to him, and, while they are under interrogation at the Court of Judicial Review, to inform the remaining ministers of the court."
"His Majesty's edict? At this hour? Who submitted the memorial?"
"His Excellency the Minister of Works."
It was absurd. I had warned Yang Biao so carefully, and Cao Cao had struck that very night. How many days had it even been since Liu Bei left his seat, and already he meant to begin a purge?
"Oversight of the court's officials belongs to me, who administers the Censorate — and the Minister of Works stepped forward himself?"
"We received the imperial edict in accordance with a memorial. We have delivered the notice, and so we will withdraw."
"Who has been taken?"
"I am sorry. The interrogation is underway at the Court of Judicial Review. I cannot say."
"When the senior ministers of the realm are questioned, custom holds that a scholar-official may not be put to torture. Is that being observed?"
"...That, too, I am not permitted to tell you."
"Ah. Yes, I understand. I'll speak of it at court tomorrow. All of you, withdraw."
"Yes, Deputy Censor-in-Chief."
It was not house arrest. It ended as a mere notification. But this was Cao Cao's warning. From now on, one wrong word at court and a man could vanish without a mouse or a bird the wiser — and he could finish the whole of it before Liu Bei returned. I can pull your strings whenever I please. Think carefully. I already understood the move for the declaration it was. I would find an answer at once.
"Ah, Magistrate Man."
"Yes, Deputy Censor-in-Chief."
I took out the token I always carried at my breast when I dressed to go out, and held it toward Man Chong.
"The soldiers of the Court of Judicial Review must be having a hard night of it. On your way off duty at dawn, have a meal each at the restaurant our household runs."
The food at our family's establishment was the finest in Xudu, a table only the highest scholar-officials and the truly rich could afford. The soldiers stirred and murmured, mouths watering, but Man Chong was firm.
"I am sorry. I cannot accept anything of a private nature."
"You won't even let me buy you a meal? Resolute, I'll give you that. Then I suppose I'll just have to play host to the General Who Establishes Might, Xiahou Dun — or the General Who Displays Might, Cao Hong."
"...We will withdraw."
Man Chong accepted not a single thing. He turned away with the mute bearing of an official who lived by the book.
As Cao Cao's troops withdrew, Zhuge Liang caught at my sleeve.
"Brother-in-law, with the Left General gone, isn't the Minister of Works trying to cut down the other factions?"
"He was warned, more than once, right up through this afternoon. And in the end they were taken that very night."
"What do we do? Shall I call my teacher and ask him to mediate at court?"
"No. If elders who have already retired to the country start moving like that, they'll only draw worse political talk."
Just then a drop of water struck my face. I looked up. Rain was falling, thin and steady.
"Fine weather for it..."
"Your Majesty! Grand Master for Splendid Happiness Yang Biao is a man who ought to devote his whole loyalty to Your Majesty and to the court of the House of Han. Yet I have learned that he dares, through his connection to the insolent traitor Yuan Shu who has usurped the title of emperor, to dream of a scheme too blasphemous to take upon the tongue!"
Cao Cao laid out the scenario he had contrived, and among the senior ministers of the court a great many seats stood empty.
"Grand Master for Splendid Happiness Yang Biao, Palace Attendant Dai Song, Master of Writing Feng Shi, Gentleman Consultant Hou Qi, and others are even now under interrogation at the Court of Judicial Review. I submit that we must question them further still, and tear out by the root whatever remnant of the traitors remains within Xudu!"
"Th-this cannot be! How can the Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, who attended His Majesty from Luoyang to Chang'an and all the way here to Xudu, be called a traitor?"
Grand Minister of Agriculture Si Sunshu cried out, but the moment Cao Cao turned his eyes, every one of them froze.
"The wife of Grand Master for Splendid Happiness Yang Biao was originally Yuan Shu's elder sister. Moreover, his faction has long kept close ties with the great clans and scholars of Runan Commandery in Yuzhou, Yuan Shu's own homeland. This must be investigated to the last, until not one man remains who applauds Yuan Shu. Surely you are not shielding Yang Biao?"
"I believe this to be a matter that does not accord with the proper way."
It was then that Xun Yu stepped forward, with exquisite timing.
"Your Majesty, Xun Yu, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, reports. It is true that the wife of Grand Master for Splendid Happiness Yang Biao is Yuan Shu's elder sister. I also submit that it is right to await a just and impartial judgment through the Court of Judicial Review."
"Dong Cheng, General of the Guards, also reports. Let the interrogation proceed, but I submit that the investigation must be a proper one, with no torture of any kind."
Xun Yu played the good cop to Cao Cao's bad cop and deliberately let it be known that the questioning would be kept within measure, and the imperial in-laws, Dong Cheng among them, added their assent. And in the midst of that atmosphere Cao Cao glanced sidelong at me and smiled.
"Does the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, charged with the oversight of the realm, have nothing to say?"
Every eye in the hall turned to me. It was a question aimed at me in the open, and I answered.
"I wish only that order in Xudu be strictly kept, within such bounds as will not touch the army of Left General Imperial Uncle Liu, who has marched to chastise the traitor."
"How very principled."
Had the practice of politics gifted me with mind-reading? Cao Cao's face just then wore a leisurely smile that all but said, If your side does not step forward, I will not touch you. Think carefully.
When the audience before the throne was over, I hurried off at once to find my brother-in-law, Su Shuang. He too was rattled by the disorder, but I caught hold of him and whispered.
"I need you to go to Xuzhou."
"What? How am I supposed to get to Xuzhou from here?"
"Report it to His Majesty. Say that in the course of managing the imperial tribute, a rare whale has been taken, and you mean to present it to the imperial house. You are Gentleman of the Household in the Ministry of the Treasury, the man who keeps the treasures of the realm. If you say you are bringing goods for the imperial household, that will be enough."
"W-would that truly do?"
"It would be better still if you could take Yang Xiu, son of Yang Biao, who is under interrogation — but make the proposal, at least. After that, learn how the Left General's war is going through the Inspector of Xuzhou."
"..."
"Brother-in-law, a wind of blood is about to blow through this court, but I can promise you one thing. Our family — our people — will absolutely not be harmed. Don't worry."
It was then.
"And what are the two of you discussing so fondly?"
I flinched. Sure enough, Cao Cao had followed at my back and now came up at his leisure.
"Heh heh heh. Is it because you are brothers by marriage? The two of you were deep in quite the confidential talk."
"I was speaking to the Gentleman of the Household about a whale."
"A whale? You mean the whale that lives in the sea?"
"Minister of Works, I was born to a great merchant house, and I have always been very fond of the whale meat taken by the whalers of Bohai and the Eastern Sea. Is a whale not also a rare tribute for His Majesty the Emperor?"
"Oho. So the Gentleman of the Household is going to the provinces in person to receive it? Where? Xuzhou?"
"That is correct."
"Well, now. If it is goods to be presented to His Majesty, you had best hurry, hadn't you? Take the short road. I'll open the Yanzhou passage for you. Off you go."
He was doing it on purpose.
"Minister of Works, the Yanzhou road..."
"What is it? Don't tell me you mean to take that dangerous road through Yuzhou, ravaged as it is by war? Or is there some other business you need to see to, besides the tribute?"
"N-no. If you permit passage through Yanzhou, the road to Xuzhou will be far faster!"
"Hahaha. Yes, yes. I'll lend you good horses and a carriage. It is to be presented to His Majesty — how could we allow any delay?"
Cao Cao was quietly fastening a watch onto the journey even as he sent him off, and I turned to Su Shuang.
"Brother-in-law, from of old they say a whale, seeking to heal its wounds, feeds on the sea-grasses of the ocean, and so it grows."
Su Shuang went rigid.
"Cut the belly open to dress the meat, and soft sea-grass will come spilling out without end."
"Ah, don't you worry. I've moved plenty of whale meat in my time."
Once Su Shuang had withdrawn, Cao Cao studied me closely.
"Marriage ties are a curious thing, and men are easily shaken. He bound himself by marriage to a traitor's blood, and even that loyal minister must have wavered at the sight of his wife."
"Has Yang Biao confessed?"
"Man Chong of the Court of Judicial Review is a thorough man. He finds the truth with ease. I hear Gentleman Consultant Hou Qi has just now confessed to secret dealings with the House of Yuan. He will be executed at once."
He had already killed one of them in the interval, and he spoke without a shred of shame of how he meant to dispose of the rest, one by one.
"I don't know what will come of it if Imperial Uncle Liu hears of this in the midst of battle."
"Xuande is concentrating on chastising that traitor, and I, Cao Cao, am concentrating on cutting away the side branches. The provisions for the front, as well."
"If I put a foot wrong, do you mean you'll cut the supply to the Left General's army?"
"Hahahaha. Would I repeat what Sun Jian and Yuan Shu did in the coalition against Dong Zhuo? Ah — now that I think of it, that Yuan Shu was a bad seed even then."
Every time Cao Cao laughed, I seemed to hear the suffering that would rise from the Court of Judicial Review, and to see the faces of the emperor's close ministers soon to be put to death.
"Baijin. You have done truly remarkable things all this while. You have risen to be a senior minister of the court, and your wives are beauties of the first order. You are a man who has won. Lately it seems you have been driving yourself too hard. Knowing when to rest is a virtue as well."
"Hahaha. I have been keeping rather busy."
"That restaurant your family keeps — I hear it is truly extraordinary. And the rare beauty who comes by from time to time is your concubine, is she not?"
Well. So he was bringing up Diaochan.
"It is a place where senior ministers come and go. Needless quarrels catch all too easily there. Be careful."
"I thank you for the encouragement. And as for this..."
"Hm?"
It was something I always carried on me, kept for the moment Cao Cao chose to apply pressure. The bamboo slips held a bill of no small size.
"This is... a bill?"
"Previously you instructed me that whenever the members of your household dined at my humble establishment, I was to bill you without hesitation."
At the record of what the Caos and the Xiahous had eaten and gone — Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, and the rest — Cao Cao let out another short laugh.
"This, of course, I must pay. I'll send it this evening."
"Ah. There was a name I could not bring myself to set down. Your own family, Minister of Works."
Cao Cao went still.
"How could I charge for what those persons ate? And when you marched on Nanyang, Brother Yide fought on the same field as your son and swore that one day he would stand him a grand feast. Please consider that I have paid that courtesy in his stead."
"You... you?!"
"Perhaps because I come of merchant stock, my hand runs a little open. If you honor us with another visit, I shall set before you the finest delicacies of mountain and sea."
For an instant Cao Cao's brow twitched. I smiled, offered my greeting, and withdrew.