Volume III: Heroes Fall in Silence While Heaven and Earth Grow Old Chapter 28: Gaizhou I

Deng She guessed correctly. Barely had he finished recounting the mutiny in Gaizhou, before he could even deliver the carefully chosen phrasing that followed, Fang Buzhen, Xu Ren, and Li Jing instantly sensed the gravity of the situation. Shocked and enraged, Fang Buzhen exclaimed, "This must be a scheme by that Tartar, Naghachu! Whose mutiny is it? Does the General know?"

"According to my caravan leader, one is called Huang Zhen, and the other Zuo Li." Naturally, Dingshe would not reveal the true source of his intelligence, choosing instead to claim that the information had been brought back by the Shuangcheng caravan stationed in Shandong as they traveled along the road.

"Huang Zhen and Zuo Li?" Xu Ren and Li Jing looked at each other in utter disbelief. Xu Ren said, "Ever since the Northern Expedition, these two have followed Commander Mao closely. How could they... Oh no! They are intimately familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of our Liaoyang. With this betrayal..." He gasped, leaving the rest of his words unsaid.

Li Jing also wore a worried expression and said, "To, to be frank with you, General, you may not know this, but Huang Zhen and Zuo Li have long enjoyed the trust of Commander Mao, Mao Jujing. I heard they are even fellow townsmen, which is why Commander Mao entrusted them with guarding the rear. N-now that they have rebelled, G-Gaizhou is hang—hang—hanging..."

He grew so nervous that his stutter worsened. He hung in suspense for so long that the others grew anxious on his behalf. Fang Buzhen frowned, Deng She smiled and waited, and Xu Ren filled in the blank for him: "It is hanging by a thread." Li Jing nodded repeatedly to indicate that was correct: "H-hanging!"

Deng She nodded and said, "Although I am not very familiar with the backgrounds of Huang Zhen and Zuo Li, if it is truly as the two of you say, the battle situation in Gaizhou is indeed critically urgent."

Fang Buzhen said, "General, you are mistaken. It is not just Gaizhou! When Naghachu went to such lengths to suborn Huang Zhen and Zuo Li, could his intention truly be limited to Gaizhou alone?"

Feigning ignorance, Deng She asked, "What is Master Fang's meaning?"

"Within three days, Shenyang will dispatch troops. Naghachu's true intent lies not in the tavern, but in Liaoyang!" As soon as Fang Buzhen finished speaking, Li Jing and Xu Ren chimed in in agreement. Startled, Deng She said, "If Master Fang had not mentioned this, I truly would not have foreseen it!" He furrowed his brows in thought and said, "Indeed, it is highly likely."

"Naghachu clearly intends to first sever Liaoyang's wings and then strike directly at the heart!" Fang Buzhen sneered, saying, "With the General's valor, could you really fail to see through such a petty Tartar trick?" There was a subtle accusation in his words. Uncomprehending, Deng She asked, "Why does Master Fang say this?"

Indignantly, Fang Buzhen stood up, flicked his sleeves, and proclaimed proudly, "General, do not forget! When the nest is overturned, are there any unbroken eggs? The principle of the lips and teeth being interdependent requires no subordinate to explain it again, does it? If Liaoyang falls into danger, Shuangcheng surely cannot be preserved! This concerns not only the safety of the Pacification Commissioner, but also involves your own vital interests, General!"

Maintaining his composure, Deng She said, "Master Fang, please speak plainly."

Noticing the map on Deng She's desk, Fang Buzhen strode over in two or three steps, snatched it up, threw it onto the floor, unfolded it, tapped it with the tip of his shoe, and said, "General, please look: once Liaoyang is lost, Naghachu's power will expand. Connecting the north and south, echoing east and west, sweeping across Liaodong will merely be a matter of time. By then, Shuangcheng will have the Liaodong Tartars to the west and the Goryeo royal family to the east, finding itself attacked from both the front and the rear. I ask you, General, how do you propose to handle that?"

It was not merely that Fang Buzhen was anxious; he was intimately familiar with the inner situation of Liaoyang. Once the army attacking Gaizhou set out, the remaining defenders guarding the city would amount to no more than twenty or thirty thousand men. Without outside reinforcements, the city was bound to fall within half a month at most. Where were the external reinforcements? Needless to say, since Naghachu could instigate the mutinies of Huang Zhen and Zuo Li to trap Mao Jujing's main force, Sha Liuer in western Liao and Pan Cheng in Guangning must have long been bogged down in the mire and could not be relied upon.

Even if they could be relied upon, they were too far away to help in time, and success or failure was a coin toss. Why would Fang Buzhen content himself with drawing cakes to satisfy his hunger and let Deng She slip away right before his eyes? Therefore, after Deng She repeatedly feigned ignorance, believing he had seen through Deng She's intentions, Fang Buzhen resorted to repeated provocative prodding.

Silence filled the tent. Yang Wanhu and He Guangxiu had not left. The two exchanged a glance and turned their gaze back to Deng She. Deng She pondered and hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Does Master Fang want me to lead troops to reinforce Liaoyang?"

"You are wise to see it, General!"

***

"Pan Mei of Dongmushan is besieged, our army..."

"Cut off the wrist to save the arm! Compared to Liaoyang, Dongmushan is insignificant. If the General is willing to lead the rescue, this subordinate dares assert that the Pacification Commissioner will have nothing but praise for you and will certainly not place any blame!"

"Our army numbers only a few thousand. Even if we turn back to reinforce..."

"The General is playing the fool again!" Blunt and impatient, Fang Buzhen looked displeased and said, "Are the ten-odd thousand troops under Chen Hu and Zheng Sanbao by the Yalu River not human beings?"

He Guangxiu coughed and said, "Even with General Chen's ten thousand men, our army would still only number seventeen or eighteen thousand. Among them, our main force has just undergone a brutal battle and has had no rest. If we are to embark on a long-distance march on top of that, our combat effectiveness will be worrisome." With sincere earnestness, he added, "I implore the General to think twice."

Raging with fury, Fang Buzhen thought: Even a eunuch dares to meddle and trip us up! He glared wide-eyed at He Guangxiu, shouting, "Bah! Shut your mouth at once! If you dare utter another word, you'd better watch out, or I'll spit all over you!"

He dragged the tip of his shoe across the map, pointing it at the location of Shuangcheng, and said, "Today's fierce battle revealed the presence of the Liaowang's tribesmen within Naghachu's army. From this, we can deduce that Naghachu has plotted today's battle long in advance. Coupled with the surrounding Tartar tribes, the troops at his disposal number around one hundred thousand. Perhaps even if the General leads ten thousand men to reinforce, the numbers might still be slightly insufficient. But General, you have tens of thousands of troops in Shuangcheng. Are they kept merely to be looked at and not used?"

Deeply dissatisfied, Yang Wanhu retorted, "You have the nerve to mention today's fierce battle! Where were you when today's battle was being fought? We were the ones risking our lives, while bastards like you reaped the rewards and promotions! With just a flick of your tongue, you expect us to throw our lives away for you?" He firmly opposed the idea, saying, "General, it is true that Shuangcheng has tens of thousands of troops, but if we send all of them out, who will care for Shuangcheng's safety? Won't the Goryeo royal family seize the opportunity to attack? Instead of saving Liaoyang, we might end up losing Shuangcheng."

In the flickering light of the torches, Fang Buzhen stood tall. He was quite tall, and the official robes he had changed into were too narrow, failing to reach his ankles, making him look utterly ridiculous. Passionate and stirred, he challenged Yang Wanhu, saying, "There is a bird in the southern lands called the Yuanxuan. Do you know of it? When the Yuanxuan flies from the Southern Sea to the Northern Sea, it will not rest unless it is upon a wutong tree, it will not feed unless it is upon the fruit of the bamboo, and it will not drink unless it is from the sweetest spring. At that very moment, an owl searches for a rotting mouse, and the Yuanxuan happens to fly overhead. The owl looks up at the Yuanxuan and lets out an angry shriek: 'Hah!' Now, do you also wish to use your Shuangcheng to roar angrily at your General?"

The words he quoted originated from *Zhuangzi*. Let alone Yang Wanhu, even Deng She only vaguely understood their meaning. Stunned and speechless, Yang Wanhu had no retort. Fang Buzhen grew even more high-spirited. He took a few steps back, flung open the tent flap, pointed at the night sky and the cold stars outside, and said, "On the battlefield today, the General once said to the troops: 'Should our bodies perish today, our noble spirit shall endure forever.' Now, this humble subordinate, unworthy though I am, also has something I wish to say to the General."

"Please speak."

"When Master Zhu Xi passed away, Xin Qiji wrote an essay to mourn him, saying: 'What cannot be decayed is a name that endures for ten thousand ages. Who says the master is dead? His awe-inspiring presence still lives on!' Today, for the General to rescue Liaoyang is to rescue Liaodong; for the General to rescue Liaodong is to rescue our Imperial Song; for the General to rescue our Imperial Song is to preserve the traditional attire and civilization of our China. Regardless of success or failure, your loyal and patriotic heart will surely be passed down through the ages. What does a man strive for in living a lifetime? Fame? Wealth? Master Confucius said: 'Riches and honor acquired through unrighteousness are to me like floating clouds.'"

Most of the men inside the tent were illiterate roughnecks. With his string of literary allusions, leave aside Yang Wanhu, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. In the starry night sky, Fang Buzhen stood with his back to the crowd and sighed deeply, chanting: "A life spans a hundred years, but the stars endure for ten thousand ages. A single breath of noble spirit, a thousand miles of joyous gale. Whether becoming the hat of Liaodong, with pure integrity sharper than ice and snow, whether acting as the owl or the Yuanxuan, the General shall decide for himself!"

The mention of the "noble spirit" came from *Mencius*, wherein Mencius stated: "I am adept at cultivating my noble gas... This gas is extremely vast and extremely staunch; if cultivated with uprightness and without harm, it fills the space between heaven and earth. This gas matches righteousness and the Dao; without these, it withers." Without "righteousness and the Dao," the noble spirit would become weak and powerless.

"Whether becoming the hat of Liaodong, with pure integrity sharper than ice and snow" was a line from the *Song of Righteous Spirit* by the late Song Prime Minister Wen Tianxiang, recounting the story of Guan Ning from the late Eastern Han dynasty who severed his mat to break off friendship with Hua Xin. Deng She held Wen Tianxiang in high reverence and was thus extremely familiar with this poem. The moment he heard it, he understood Fang Buzhen's intention: to use the integrity of the ancients to inspire him to act in accordance with "righteousness and the Dao."

Although Fang Buzhen's previous rhetoric had been a strategic retreat, playing political games with the objective of using Fang Buzhen's mouth to articulate what he himself desired, upon hearing these words and witnessing Fang Buzhen's awe-inspiring countenance, Deng She could not help but feel a sudden wave of profound respect.

Yang Wanhu opened his mouth as if to argue further, but Deng She waved his hand to stop him. To say any more would no longer be maneuvering with strategy, but mere mockery. He rose, invited Fang Buzhen back to his seat, and said sincerely, "Master is truly a Confucian scholar. Your words have truly startled and inspired me." Although he had interacted with Fang Buzhen for quite some time, his true understanding of the man came only now, stirring within him a desire to recruit him. He probed, "I have one question I wish to ask Master. To reinforce Liaoyang is fraught with endless crises, leaving aside the prospect of success; if we fail, the deaths of us reckless men are hardly worth mourning. But judging from your words just now, Master, you possess soaring ambitions. Once your life is cut short, would you not regret failing to achieve your grand ambitions?"

***

Fang Buzhen was filled with deep emotion, completely losing any impulse to "spit" on people. It seemed that only at this moment did he truly understand Deng She, for the words Deng She spoke were precisely what he himself habitually thought. With a smile, he said, "How can things ever completely fulfill human desires? We merely seek to have a clear conscience."

Where the Dao lies, though tens of thousands of men may bar the way, I shall go. Perhaps this was the lifelong aspiration of his life. Regardless of whether his "Dao" was right or wrong, those with loyal faith were always like the stars in the long night—lonely and few. Yet it was precisely they who pointed the way forward for our disaster-ridden nation, their faint light illuminating the hearts of men in a dark age.

Deng She thought of Sha Liuer; was not his faith just as resolute and loyal? He did not consider himself such a man, but gazing at Fang Buzhen's smile, his heart was suddenly moved.

He said once more, "Master is truly a Confucian scholar." He Guangxiu and Bi Qianniu both opened their mouths to speak, but Deng She waved his hand and said, "Say no more. My mind is made up. Master possesses the grand ambition of achieving benevolence, while I, though not seeking to have my name passed down for ten thousand ages, disdain even more to imitate the petty owls and mice."

Overjoyed, Fang Buzhen listened as Deng She continued, "However, as Master mentioned just now, wanting me to commit all of Shuangcheng's troops, I consider that unwise."

"What does the General mean?"

Deng She unbuckled his sabre, used the scabbard to point at the map, and said, "To mobilize Shuangcheng's troops will take at least ten days. To march and reinforce Liaoyang after wasting so much time—I fear Naghachu will have already surrounded Liaoyang city. When our large army arrives from afar, first we must guard against the Tartars surrounding the city to strike reinforcements, and second we must guard against the sudden internal troubles in Gaizhou. Like a hunter with a tiger in front and wolves to the side, we cannot give it our all, and less than half of our ten-tenths strength can be exerted."

Fang Buzhen nodded in agreement and said, "What the General says is entirely correct. Then, in the General's view?"

"Master possesses grand ambitions, but you do not understand military affairs. In my view, since Naghachu is first trimming Liaoyang's wings, why not let us first trim Naghachu's wings?" Deng She's scabbard slid diagonally across the map, stopped at Gaizhou, and struck it heavily. "I will issue orders to Pyongyang today, mobilizing the forces of Wenhua Guo and Zhao Guo—totaling thirty thousand men—to covertly cross the Yalu River. Together with my own forces and Chen Hu's forces, they will form a pincer movement, overt and covert, attacking Gaizhou with the force of a thunderbolt. First we will rescue Mao Jujing and defeat Gao Jianu, and then we will lead the troops back to reinforce. In this way, first, there will be no worries in the rear; and second, with our superior numbers, the relief of Liaoyang city can be accomplished within days. What does Master think?"

Lost in thought, Fang Buzhen remained silent, while Xu Ren and Li Jing loudly applauded, "A brilliant strategy!"

—

1. Guan Ning:
During the late Eastern Han dynasty, when the empire fell into chaos, Guan Ning sought refuge in Liaodong, encouraging himself with pure integrity. Everyone was influenced by him, and his attire and conduct became the model for the age, highly respected at the time. In his youth, Guan Ning was a friend of Hua Xin. Later, observing that Hua Xin was hasty in pursuit of glory and profit, Ning severed his mat and sat apart from him. When Hua Xin subsequently served Cao Cao and aided the Cao clan in usurping the Han, Ning maintained his lofty integrity throughout his life, hailed through the ages as a person of complete perfection. This is an example of unblemished chastity remaining untainted by a corrupt world, upon which the vital energy of the nation rests; hence it is specially highlighted in the *Song of Righteous Spirit*.