Volume One Southern Sichuan Commandery Chapter 31 Information

The grain ships journeyed upstream with unexpected ease; passing through the territories of Guozhou and Langzhou, they encountered neither bandits nor military obstruction. Wei Fufeng surmised that the outlaws, mistaking the vessels for troop transports rather than grain ships, had let them pass unhindered.

When the ships docked at Langzhou’s wharf, Wei Fufeng mustered his courage, disembarked, and entered Langzhou city to survey this strategically vital military stronghold, surrounded on three sides by water and guarding the approaches to Ba.

As he wandered through the city, Wei Fufeng obtained startling news. One month prior, the imperial court had divided the territories of the Shannan West and Eastern Sichuan military governors, establishing the new command of Longjian, with jurisdiction over Langzhou, Longzhou, Jianzhou, and Lizhou. The Longjian military governor, Yang Shouzheng, was the adopted son of the Grand Eunuch Yang Fuggong.

Both Longzhou and Jianzhou had previously fallen under the Eastern Sichuan governor’s rule; Jianzhou in particular controlled the vital Jianmen Pass, the gateway to the Sichuan heartland. Additionally, the neighboring prefecture of Mianzhou, once under the Eastern Sichuan governor, had also been handed to another of the Grand Eunuch’s adopted sons, Yang Shouhou. Yangzhou, east of Xingyuan’s jurisdiction, was now the seat of a new military governor, Wuding, held by Yang Shouzhong.

Thus, Longzhou, Jianzhou, and Mianzhou—a swathe of northern Sichuan—had been wrested from the governor of Eastern Sichuan by the Grand Eunuch Yang Fuggong, a brazen display of ambition. With the further loss of Luzhou and Changzhou, the Eastern Sichuan governor had been decapitated and crippled, deprived of five prefectures at a stroke.

“So this is Yang Fuggong’s plan to devour all of Bashu. It seems real power at court has slipped away, and the emperor in the Daming Palace is but a figurehead.” Upon learning this, Wei Fufeng mused with both concern and a flicker of hope. The enemy of one’s enemy may yet become a friend. With Yang Fuggong so ravenous to seize Eastern Sichuan, would its military governor sit idly by? At the least, he would make moves to defend himself.

After some thought, Wei Fufeng instructed Xiaoxue to grind ink as he drafted a letter proposing an alliance to the Eastern Sichuan governor, hoping for a pact of mutual defense. In truth, with Eastern Sichuan’s crisis so dire, he should have waited for their initiative—but the threats facing Southern Sichuan were equally urgent. With Yang Fuggong’s power swallowing three prefectures already, the logical next step was the absorption of Southern Sichuan, whose governor had been appointed by Yang Fuggong and could easily be reclaimed.

Having written the letter, Wei Fufeng found himself hesitating. Even if an alliance was struck, could there truly be trust and earnest cooperation? Would he dare let Eastern Sichuan’s troops into Luzhou? Conversely, would Eastern Sichuan admit Southern Sichuan’s forces? Would his overture for alliance not arouse suspicion, making the Eastern Sichuan governor fear a ploy of Yang Fuggong’s?

After a long time, Wei Fufeng could only smile bitterly. In the end, the greatest alliance was simply for Southern and Eastern Sichuan to coexist in tacit understanding. He destroyed the letter, drafting instead a message for Old Feng: if the Eastern Sichuan governor proposed an alliance, they could offer support from afar. Should Yang Fuggong attack Southern Sichuan, Eastern Sichuan’s army would strike at Shannan West’s territories; should Eastern Sichuan be attacked, Southern Sichuan would do the same, forcing Yang Fuggong to fight on two fronts.

Yet even as he wrote, Wei Fufeng could not help but smile wryly. Such a pact would do little to benefit the Eastern Sichuan governor. The Shannan West governor, Yang Shouliang, only maintained nominal control over the southern Ba territories; any campaign by Southern Sichuan would seem only to aid Yang Shouliang. Thus, Wei Fufeng added a line: they could bypass the southern counties and instead strike further afield at Langzhou, Bazhou, and Bizhou.

The grain ships reached Shunzheng County in Xingzhou without incident. The cargo was unloaded onto carts, and a thousand soldiers with a hundred laborers set out west from Xingzhou, passing through Yangping Pass into Mian County of Xingyuan Prefecture, following the Han River east.

There were three main routes into Sichuan: the Golden Oxen Road from Mian County to Chengdu, the most direct; the Micang Road from Xingyuan Prefecture to Bazhong; and the Lychee Road from Xixiang County (Yangzhou) to Fuling, which lay downstream from Yuzhou on the great river.

Wei Fufeng’s transport of grain was made easier by the Jialing River; but when his convoy reached Yangping Pass in Mian County, they were harassed by the local garrison. On the advice of Wei Fufeng, Military Officer Zhou Hong declared that the grain was bound for Chief Minister Yang Fuggong’s forces. The garrison commander immediately ordered them through and even exchanged pleasantries with Zhou Hong.

Wei Fufeng watched coldly, noting the greedy stares fixed upon the grain carts and the hungry look on the soldiers’ faces as they licked their lips. “Yang Shouliang’s troops are clearly still short on food. The Wei River plain has suffered poor harvests, and Chang’an is starving; this won’t be relieved any time soon.” He reflected that his initial forces had come from Hanzhong, and so he understood the situation well.

Now, as a military governor himself, Wei Fufeng’s vision had broadened. He had grown up in Shangluo County, spent five years as a child in Fufeng County, and had long envied the prosperity of Chang’an, believing it abundant in food. He had visited Chang’an four times and eaten well, though as a lowborn son, he had no right to remain there.

After two days in Mian County, the grain convoy entered Nanzheng County under Xingyuan’s jurisdiction. Fearing that Yang Shouliang might seize the supplies, Wei Fufeng traversed Nanzheng and Chenggu counties with anxiety, only relaxing once they entered Yangzhou. This was now the domain of the Wuding military governor, Yang Shouzhong, another adopted son of Yang Fuggong.

In the Hanzhong basin, only Xingyuan and Yangzhou counted, but the creation of the Wuding command meant Yang Shouliang had lost half his control over Hanzhong. Langzhou belonged now to the Longjian command, Yuzhou to Southern Sichuan. The Shannan West governor’s territory had shrunk dramatically, and the three lost prefectures had been the richest.

From Yangzhou, Wei Fufeng planned to take the Ziwu Road straight to Chang’an. There were four routes from Hanzhong to Chang’an across the Qinling Mountains. Wei Fufeng had entered Hanzhong via the Baoxie Road, which, compared to Ziwu, was easier for transporting grain. But Meixian, at the end of Baoxie, belonged to the Fengxiang military governor, who would surely seize their supplies.

When the convoy reached Ziwu Town and rested, a subordinate sent to gather intelligence from Xingyuan Prefecture returned with news. There had been no conflict in Shangzhou; the main fighting in Huainan raged brutally along both sides of the great river’s lower reaches.

In the chaos of Huainan, Yang Xingmi had been defeated north of the river by Sun Ru’s army and fled south to Runzhou, Changzhou, and Xuanzhou, where the struggle continued. It was rumored that Sun Ru had massacred the entire city of Yangzhou, and wherever his army passed, slaughter and pillage followed. Yang Xingmi’s destruction seemed only a matter of time.

One piece of news left Wei Fufeng stunned and incredulous: Chang’an was preparing for war, and the emperor was set to dispatch troops against the Hedong military governor, Li Keyong.

Li Keyong was a Shatuo, whose ancestors had long defended Yunzhou (the northern Yanmen Pass region) for the Tang. Years ago, Li Keyong had led imperial forces against Huang Chao’s rebels, and after their defeat, was made the military governor of Hedong (Taiyuan) and a chief minister.

During the suppression of Huang Chao’s rebellion, Li Keyong had aroused the jealousy of Zhu Quanzhong, the military governor of Xuanwu (Kaifeng). Zhu feigned hospitality only to attempt Li Keyong’s life; Li Keyong escaped, and a deep enmity was forged.

After the man-eating demon Qin Zongquan, a remnant of Huang Chao’s horde, had been destroyed by Zhu, Zhu Quanzhong became the strongest warlord in the Central Plains. Only Li Keyong of Hedong could match him.

It was said that recently, Zhu Quanzhong had allied with other regional powers and defeated Li Keyong. Zhu then petitioned the court for an imperial campaign, forming a coalition to attack Hedong (Shanxi) and eliminate Li Keyong. To general astonishment, the emperor approved and began preparations to send troops.

Wei Fufeng found this hard to believe. With the two strongest warlords at odds, the emperor—weak as he was—would have been best served by sitting back and letting the tigers fight. To send troops was to invite disaster; whatever the outcome, the result would only benefit others.

Should Li Keyong be defeated, Hedong would fall to Zhu Quanzhong, and only the strongest would reap the rewards. If the campaign failed, the court would suffer losses and incur Li Keyong’s revenge, and the emperor’s prestige would plummet, chilling the hearts of all commanders across the realm.

After all, Li Keyong was a loyalist who had committed no direct offense against the throne.

“If the emperor truly goes to war, it only proves him a greedy fool, no wonder my petition for grain was so quickly rewarded,” Wei Fufeng reflected, frowning. The emperor’s actions left him disillusioned; as scion of a great clan, Wei Fufeng had longed to serve a wise sovereign and become a capable minister in a golden age. Yet the emperor’s conduct now gave him a sense of impending doom, as if the bow would be cast aside once the birds were hunted.

Wei Fufeng did not wish to die, nor to be discarded once used. Now, as military governor of Southern Sichuan—like Li Keyong, a de facto warlord—he saw that the emperor, seizing on any opportunity, was quick to strike at his own commanders. Such behavior was the mark of a petty tyrant.

Lost in thought, Wei Fufeng began to consider his conduct upon arrival in Chang’an, and whether the Grand Eunuch Yang Fuggong would uncover his true identity as Wei Zheng. He intended to claim that Wei Zheng was his uncle and that he himself was merely carrying out orders to pay homage at court.

Even if Yang Fuggong learned that it was he who had visited Yang Shouliang, he would likely dismiss Wei Fufeng as a mere pawn. Only the Wei clan of Chang’an would truly be worthy of Yang Fuggong’s notice; it was only under the banner of the Wei clan that Wei Fufeng had secured any cooperation at all.

Wei Fufeng also pondered whether he might turn the imperial campaign against Li Keyong to his own gain. An imperial title was precisely what he needed: it would command authority and allow him to stand as an equal among the Wei family’s leading figures. With such an honor, though born of a lesser branch, he could gain respect within the clan and, in accordance with ancestral law, establish his own house and become the progenitor of a new line.

“This journey to Chang’an—I must secure an imperial title no matter what,” Wei Fufeng resolved. Years of low station had left him yearning to become a man of honor, and only the emperor’s recognition could transform his status at a stroke.