The Luoyang Conspiracy (2)
“Defense, not extermination. Then, it would be a scheme to target Tanshihuai's head.”
Zhang Xiu's words made Wang Fu clap his hands and laugh.
“Truly, a man who has served as Zhonglangjiang Protecting the Xiongnu from Bingzhou! Your information is swift!”
Wang Fu shot Tian Yan a look that seemed to say “Isn't that right?” Tian Yan forced an awkward smile.
He had wanted to handle matters only between Duan Jiong, Tian Yan, and Wang Fu himself, but suddenly Zhang Xiu had intruded, and his mood wasn't good.
Just as Zhang Xiu suspected Tian Yan's intentions, Tian Yan began to suspect Zhang Xiu's.
Whether they did or not, Wang Fu continued since he held the reins.
“Each year, just as before, when the Xiongnu's scholars begin raiding Bingzhou or Yuzhou, the previous Colonel will command part of the Capital Army to raid the Xiongnu's main pastures in a direction they hadn't anticipated. How does that sound?”
Wang Fu asked Zhang Xiu to review the strategy. Tian Yan also tensed, shooting a glance at Zhang Xiu.
“Although the border armies stationed in Bingzhou and Yuzhou would be insufficient, if the Capital Army dispatched from the Censorate becomes the spearhead and the border armies of the two provinces become the shield, we could easily confront Tanshihuai. However...”
“What is the ‘however’?”
Zhang Xiu added the ‘however’, and Tian Yan couldn't hold back, asking sharply. Zhang Xiu smiled faintly at him, replying.
“I speak considering Tanshihuai's cunning. He is, in a word, ‘a cunning northern barbarian’. His claim of possessing ‘14,000 li east-west and 7,000 li north-south’ is not entirely exaggerated.”
Zhang Xiu was talking about the depth of the space occupied by the Xiongnu. Tian Yan understood what Zhang Xiu meant and nodded.
Although nomads don't lack fortresses and cities, they are fundamentally different from Han people in that they can abandon them at any time and flee.
If the Xiongnu flee into that space exceeding ten thousand li, the Han army would have difficulty pursuing them.
No, they might not even be able to pursue and would be ambushed continuously on the retreat, leading to annihilation.
Moreover, the land occupied by the Xiongnu was not just vast.
A long desert stretched east-west, dividing their territory north-south.
The southern part of the desert was still habitable and close to the Great Wall, but the northern part was cold and unfamiliar to the Han people.
The harshness of the desert was beyond words.
Tian Yan said with a bitter tone.
“If Tanshihuai abandons the southern desert and flees, our Han army will be forced to wander in the desert or the northern steppe.”
“Although Grand Commandant Duan has previously served as the Pargang General and played a great role in strong extermination campaigns, we must supplement the strategy assuming that Qiang and Xiongnu are different.”
It was a criticism of Duan Jiong and Tian Yan's strategy, but Tian Yan could only widen his eyes without countering.
Qiang. Or the tribes who lump them together with similar ethnicities and call them Hu.
They were widely dispersed south of the Great Wall, from Guanzhong to Liangzhou and Bingzhou.
Unlike the Mobei steppe, they benefited from mild climate and fertile land. They didn't engage in nomadic herding; they tried to stay in one place as long as the land and weather allowed.
This was the difference from the Hu called Xiongnu or Xianbei. The Hu moved seasonally, changing pastures.
“Their strategy comes from their way of life. The Qiang's strategy from their life, and the Xiongnu's from theirs.”
But pointing out flaws in strategy is easy for anyone. Tian Yan asked gruffly.
“Then what should we do?”
It was a reluctant demand for alternatives.
“Think about when Emperor Wu was subjugating the Xiongnu.”
At that time, the Xiongnu were not divided north-south. It was a great power occupying a territory similar to or wider than what Tanshihuai occupies now.
“Raising armies from multiple directions and pressing the Xiongnu all at once.”
This time, Wang Fu answered Zhang Xiu's words.
“So, Zhang Zhonglang's meaning is... that we must mobilize not only the Capital Army here but other armies as well?”
“Yes. For example, the previous Beidi Taixia Ha Yu. Now he is Colonel Protecting the Wuhuan in Yuzhou.”
“I've heard. He successfully repelled Tanshihuai's attack from Beidi Commandery.”
“Currently, Tanshihuai's main base is at Tanhan Mountain facing Yuzhou's Dai Commandery. Through Ha Yu, we can inflict a great blow on Tanshihuai or at least tie down his feet.”
“Hmmm, then shall I assign the Capital Army to the previous Colonel, and the Yuzhou border army to Ha Yu, and attack from both sides?”
“If that's not enough, we can also mobilize the army of Zhang Min, who is currently the Zhonglangjiang Protecting the Xiongnu in my successor's position. Since he suppressed the He family rebels, he won't have issues commanding soldiers. If we can mobilize the Xiongnu Chanyu's cavalry through Zhang Min, we can confront the Xiongnu army even more efficiently.”
“But can we trust the Xiongnu?”
“We misunderstand because we call both Xiongnu and Xianbei Hu. However, the Xianbei hate the Xiongnu more than we Han do. The Xiongnu would gladly submit to Han if they can eliminate the Xianbei.”
The Northern Xiongnu who thoroughly defeated and occupied the Mobei steppe were the Xianbei. The Southern Xiongnu naturally thought they should take the Northern Xiongnu's pastures for themselves, leading to conflict with the Xianbei.
“The Xianbei are descendants of the Eastern Hu. After Donghu was exterminated by the Xiongnu, the remaining ones hid in the Xianbei Mountains north of Buyeo and became the Xianbei we know today.”
“The Xianbei remember their ancestors' grudges and thus hate the Xiongnu.”
Tian Yan's strategy, passed through Zhang Xiu, evolved into a three-pronged simultaneous attack. Wang Fu thought it plausible.
“A strategy plausible enough to show to Emperor Liu Hong.”
Wang Fu smiled satisfiedly and told the two guests.
“It seems we've got the general outline. Let's rise. Let's enter the palace immediately. Let's go together to meet His Majesty in person and report.”
Then he summoned a servant and ordered.
“Today, we will not receive guests.”
***
Both Tian Yan and Zhang Xiu had seen the emperor before.
But this was the first time they reached the audience chamber so close.
How many complex procedures they had to go through just to hear the emperor's orders transmitted through the eunuchs from afar. How long they had to wait.
But following behind Wang Fu, all those procedures seemed to have been abolished, allowing them to proceed unhesitatingly into the depths of the palace.
“Is this the power of the eunuchs?”
The repulsive yet fascinating scent of power was somewhere between stench and fragrance.
“That's why Duan Jiong, despite all his achievements, chose to become a eunuch's dog.”
Lord Duan Jiong was undoubtedly a great general. However, he abandoned the expectations of the scholar-gentry, the barbarian chieftains, and the famous scholars and sided with the eunuchs.
It was said that he also participated in killing Grand Commandant Dou Wu, the head of the Dou family of the external relatives, who had conferred the title on the current emperor Liu Hong.
Since it happened deep in the palace and the situation was so urgent, Zhang Xiu didn't know the details.
If it had been his predecessor, Zhang Huan, who was the Zhonglangjiang Protecting the Xiongnu, he would have known, but he never spoke about Dou Wu's death.
Anyway.
“I feel excited about power for a moment, but how much more so must Duan Jiong have been.”
So, it was no wonder that, despite being dismissed, he sent Tian Yan to Wang Fu to try to return somehow.
Perhaps he intended to use the Xiongnu extermination campaign as an opportunity to return.
Zhang Xiu was thinking this as he walked, when he didn't notice Wang Fu had stopped.
He almost collided with Wang Fu's back and barely stopped, Wang Fu turned around.
“Lord Zhongshangsi...?”
Sweat was flowing from Wang Fu's temple, his jaw clenched.
“Both of you, if I bow, bow. Don't say a word.”
“Yes? Yes...”
“Remember this well. His Majesty ascended to the sacred throne at the age of twelve in the Chunqiu era. And in that year, he personally held the sword... and commanded the assassination of the rebel Dou Wu.”
What was this eunuch saying?
A twelve-year-old boy personally commanding the assassination of the external relative Dou Wu?
“Until then, His Majesty was just a poor imperial prince in some county of Jizhou, a name-only impoverished royal. After ascending to the throne, it wasn't long before he assassinated Dou Wu. That is His Majesty. Remember.”
The three entered inside.
From afar, the voice of another eunuch shouting came.
Wang Fu immediately prostrated himself there.
Without even chewing on Wang Fu's words, Zhang Xiu and Tian Yan also prostrated themselves.
Something passed by in front of them, slightly above.
Sweat also sprouted on Zhang Xiu's temple.
His back felt damp too.
What was this... the pressure?
The air pressing heavily made time seem to stretch.
After some unknown time, a voice came.
A young man's voice.
The Chunqiu of the emperor who personally held a sword at twelve and beheaded the external relatives was this year... twenty, perhaps.
“Wang Fu, what is it that you seek to report to this lord?”
Wang Fu, without his usual arrogance when facing Tian Yan and Zhang Xiu, reported the strategy discussed in the mansion with a trembling voice.
After listening to Wang Fu's words, even though Emperor Liu Hong remained silent for a long time, he replied like this.
“This lord is tired.”
“If, if this minister has disturbed Your Majesty's mood, then death...”
“The Yi in Yizhou have rebelled in Yizhou Commandery, and those arrogant groups calling themselves Qingliu are enough to be tired just by exposing their corpses to each other. Now it's the Xiongnu from the north.”
“If we behead Tanshihuai this time, it will relieve Your Majesty's worries.”
“It will be so.”
After Wang Fu's words, Liu Hong slightly relaxed, then froze again.
Footsteps descending were heard.
The footsteps stopped in front of Tian Yan, who was prostrating beside Zhang Xiu.
A sound of ‘thud’ was heard.
Zhang Xiu glanced sideways. The splendid shoes he had never seen before were gently stepping on the back of Tian Yan's head.
Unable to move even a finger, Tian Yan pressed his forehead and even his nose bridge to the floor to endure the emperor's feet.
“You are Tian Yan. If only the back of the head is visible, this lord would have known nothing.”
“H-h-h-h-honorable...”
“If you are honorable, Duan Jiong would not have sent you to probe this lord.”
At that moment, Zhang Xiu felt his own body trembling uncontrollably.
The emperor... was now staring at him. He could tell without looking.
Soon, the footsteps ascended again.
Only then did the three take a deep breath.
“No matter what your intentions are, the strategy is plausible. I will review it. You may withdraw.”
***
After Wang Fu, Tian Yan, and Zhang Xiu left, Liu Hong sat crookedly on the imperial throne, flicking his fingers.
From a corner covered by pillars and ceiling, a man in his forties approached with a trot.
“Cai Yong, have you heard?”
“I have heard, Your Majesty.”
“What is your opinion?”
“It will fail. Even Ha Yu, Tian Yan, and Zhang Min mentioned by them cannot match Duan Jiong's skill, so how can they behead Tanshihuai's head?”
Liu Hong now lay on the imperial throne armrest as a pillow. Then, gesturing as if to explain in detail.
“Tian Yan's skill is nothing more than glancing sideways while following Duan Jiong. Ha Yu's merit is in defense, not offense. The rebels Zhang Min exterminated, the He family, are nothing but minions compared to Tanshihuai.”
“Is that so?”
Cai Yong noticed from Liu Hong's voice that the emperor was half-listening to his words while doubting the rest.
Liu Hong was like that.
He used everyone he could, compromised with everyone if possible, and suspected everyone if he didn't trust them.
Taiping Dao or Qingliu, eunuchs or external relatives.
“This lord will have to exile you.”
Cai Yong prostrated himself. The order was not a real exile. It was to go somewhere using the pretext of exile.
“I have appointed Wang Ji, Wang Fu's brother, as the Taixia of Yuanyuan Commandery. Send him to Bingzhou to exile you and check how far Wang Fu's greed has reached.”