Taiheiki

Chapter 51 The Fugitive

The first crossbow Wei Cong made after traveling through time was made of tea stalk bamboo, sheep horns, and sheep hoof tendons. Its performance was no less than that of an ox horn crossbow with the same pulling force, but its cost was less than one-tenth of that of an ox horn crossbow. It can be said to be a very successful attempt.

Of course, Wei Cong did not intend to influence his craftsmen's choices with his personal preferences, lest he weaken their creativity. After demonstrating the application of the above techniques in bow making, Wei Cong encouraged them to try various new bows with different material combinations, testing and comparing the finished products one by one to find the best balance between cost and performance.

Wei Cong knew very well that his activities for a long time in the future would be in Jing and Yang provinces, and the enemies he might face would be the Shanyue chieftain in the south, the Wuling barbarians, the Changsha barbarians, as well as bandits, religious armed forces and other local forces. The common characteristics of these enemies are low armor rates, few strong cavalry, a large number of soldiers but uneven quality, and the combat environment is mostly on water, in mountains and forests with lush vegetation, and in swamps.

In this complex combat environment, the role of close-quarters hand-to-hand combat was diminished, while the role of crossbowmen, especially infantry archers, was magnified. Therefore, Wei Cong planned to have all his men carry bows and arrows, serving as part-time archers (at most, the draw weight standard for the infantry bows would be lowered slightly). This was fine while his troops were small, but as his forces grew, the cost of bowmaking would be reduced, saving considerable money. Furthermore, military supplies like ox horns were often not readily available. A variety of materials could be used to rapidly produce a large number of high-quality, low-cost weapons to equip his troops without being constrained by military resources.

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Hanshou County, Wuling Commandery, Jingzhou.

"Mr. Cao, we will reach the Hanshou County seat in half a day!" the guide whispered.

Cao Cao nodded, but remained silent. Ever since he crossed the river, the population along its banks had gradually shrunk. Villages were overgrown with thorns, and it was common to walk for dozens of miles without seeing a single wisp of smoke from cooking fires. Even the few inhabited villages he occasionally encountered were heavily guarded and heavily guarded, and the guards were fierce and wary of him.

Two days ago, lookouts had spotted an increasing number of floating corpses on the river's surface, some carrying crows. When Cao Cao's ships encountered these bloated, misshapen "boats," the crows took to the air, clamoring in protest. The shore lay scorched fields and burned-out villages, while the shallows and sandbars were dotted with shattered ships, mostly merchant vessels and fishing boats. Occasionally, an abandoned warship was spotted, along with the remains of two large sailing vessels, one completely burned above the waterline, the other with a gaping hole in its side.

"The situation in Hanshou County is probably very bad!" the captain whispered.

"Anyone who's not blind can see that!" Cao Cao muttered to himself, but he still spoke in a deep voice, "Now that we're here, we have to see what the situation is like in Hanshou County. We have four large ships with archers and soldiers on board, so even if we encounter bandits, we can protect ourselves. I promise you, when we return this time, not only will I double the promised ship fare, but I will also recommend it to the prefect Han and ask him to reward you!"

"Master Cao, whether it's money or praise, it's only useful to living people!" the captain retorted rudely. "You saw those corpses on the river, didn't you? The crows were sitting on them, picking at their bones like carpenters nailing windows. What good would money do them?"

"Although the Wuling barbarians are numerous, they can't build large ships, nor are they good at sailing!" Cao Cao laughed. "Let's not talk about them on the shore. On the water, they can't do anything to us!"

"Young Master, you don't understand!" the captain sneered. "This is already a battlefield. Anything can happen on a battlefield. Do you see those things—those things—" He pointed to a dozen corpses with their hands tied behind their backs floating on the river not far away. "I bet nine out of ten of these unfortunate people floating on the water weren't killed by the Wuling Barbarians. Those barbarians may be vicious, but they prefer looting to slaughtering. They're short of people: farmers, craftsmen, women, children—they're not going to waste them like that. Once the smoke rises, everyone will take up arms, be wary of each other, and attack each other. Thieves, tyrants, generals, and scattered soldiers will all pounce on those weaker than themselves, biting and devouring each other. It's a scene you definitely don't want to witness!"

"You mean, what we saw along the way might not have been done by the Wuling barbarians?" Cao Cao's face turned ugly.

"Of course!" the captain sneered. "What the barbarians want most are money and ironware, and the villages don't have much of those. Why would they go raid villages when they have nothing better to do? And you've seen along the way that many villages are far from the official roads, some even on sandbars. The Wuling barbarians don't have many ships, so why would they massacre them?"

Cao Cao was refuted by the captain. Despite his lofty ambitions, cunning, and wisdom, he was still only a teenager. The overwhelming impact of the scene before him—"bones exposed in the wild, no roosters crowing for a thousand miles"—left him momentarily at a loss for what to do. He muttered to himself, "Then, what should I do?"

"We have to wait for the imperial army to arrive!" the captain said coldly. "Defeat the Wuling barbarians, then pacify them. Kill the most aggressive warlords and generals, and then severely punish the bandits and deserters. Then this area will be peaceful for twenty to thirty years."

"What? Just 20 or 30 years?" Cao Cao asked in surprise. "Then what? Will it happen again?"

"What else?" The captain rolled his eyes: "Mr. Cao, you are an educated person, you should know when the Wuling barbarians started to cause trouble, right? They have been there since the time of Emperor Guangwu, and they cause trouble every ten to twenty years. Otherwise, why are there so few people in such a good place? I am exaggerating! This place is hopeless!" At this point, the captain spat fiercely into the water.

Cao Cao opened his mouth, unsure what to say. He knew the captain was right. Ma Fubo, the renowned founding general of the dynasty and the father of Empress Xiaoming, had died of illness while campaigning against the Wuling barbarians. Since then, the southwestern barbarians, represented by the Wuling barbarians, have become a thorn in the empire's southeast, with minor disturbances lasting three to five years and major ones lasting ten to twenty. Back in Luoyang, he had discussed with his companions how to conquer and subdue these barbarians, permanently and permanently, transforming Jingnan into the heart of the empire, much like they had done in Yingchuan and Nanyang. Now, his own actions back then seemed truly ridiculous.

"Sir, there seem to be people over there!" A member of the Cao family pointed to a nearby branch of the harbor. Cao Cao followed his subordinate's finger and spotted a few people on the shore of a looted fishing village, shouting and waving their arms as if begging for help. Cao Cao turned his gaze to the captain, who shrugged. "It could be some desperate people, or it could be a trap. You can decide for yourself, sir!" "We have four boats, so we're not afraid of traps. If we don't rescue someone, wouldn't our trip be in vain?" Cao Cao cheered up and shouted, "Asheng, take a few people and row over to take a look. Be smart, don't fall for a trap!"

"Don't worry, sir. I'll be careful!" the clan member said with a smile. He then called a few of his men and boarded the boat, heading for the abandoned fishing village. Cao Cao walked to the side of the boat, nervously watching as the boat drew closer to the rescuers. Fortunately, the expected trap didn't materialize. The rescuer exchanged a few words with the rescuers, then leaned over the table, let the rescuers board, and rowed towards Cao Cao's boat.

"Sir!" Before the boat even approached, the rescuer shouted, "Hanshou County has been lost. The one calling for help on the shore is Wuling Prefect Lu Langjun!"

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"Would you like another bowl of hot soup?" Cao Cao looked at Lu Ju, trembling and pale, holding the bowl of soup, his eyes filled with contempt and pity. A prefect of two thousand stones, abandoning his seat and escaping was effectively a death sentence. I'm afraid the first thing the newly appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry, Feng Gun, would do upon arriving in Jiangling would be to sacrifice the head of the Wuling prefect. He was going to die anyway, so why not in Hanshou County? Didn't he understand the principle of preferring death at the hands of thieves to the laws of his country?
"Forget it!" Lu Ju waved his hand. He was feeling better now, no longer in the mess he had been when he first boarded the boat. He looked up at Cao Cao and asked, "Thank you for your kindness in saving me. May I ask where you are from?"

"My son is from Pei, and he is the grandson of Cao Jixing, the Grand Chamberlain of the Palace!" answered the attendant beside Cao Cao.

"The grandson of the Grand Chamberlain Cao Jixing?" Lu Ju shuddered and quickly stood up to greet him. "So it's Master Cao. What are you doing—"

"I came to Jiangling to visit a friend and happened to hear that the Governor of Jingzhou, Liu Shijun, had gone out of the city to meet the enemy but was defeated by the bandits. The situation was critical, so I brought some food and grain to Hanshou, hoping to do something for the court. I didn't expect to meet you on the way!"

"This..." Lu Ju's face showed a trace of shame. He sighed, "Mr. Cao's sincere heart for serving the country really makes me feel ashamed! But Hanshou County has already fallen. Your trip was in vain!"

"Envoy Lu, as far as I know, Hanshou County is the seat of the Jingzhou Governor, and the city's defenses are strong. Although the Wuling barbarians are rampant, they are not good at attacking cities. How could Hanshou fall?"

Lu Ju glanced at Cao Cao in surprise, knowing that the young man before him was extraordinary and could not be treated as an ordinary young man. He nodded and said, "Master Cao, have you ever heard of Jingfu?"

"Jingfu? It seems to be a respectful title given by the southern barbarians to their leaders?" Cao Cao answered in a less certain tone.

"Indeed, young master is truly well-informed!" Lu Ju nodded. "Young master, you are from the north. You may not know that after crossing the Yangtze River, you become a foreign country, with thorns everywhere. Just four or five miles from the prefecture, you become a barbarian people. Although there are prefects and county magistrates, they are led by their own leaders and do not obey the king's orders. Although there have been occasional rebellions in the past, they were not of the same magnitude and were hostile to the Han people. Whenever they rose up, the Han people and the Shanyue leaders would hold their troops in check, and even respond to the orders of the prefecture and county and send troops to help, so it was not difficult to suppress them. But this time is different!"

"Different?" Cao Cao understood Lu Ju's implication. "My Lord, are you saying that this time the bandit leader is able to command the other barbarians?"

"Indeed!" Lu Ju nodded. "Not only that, this bandit leader has also issued orders strictly prohibiting any attacks on Han and Shanyue villages that have submitted to him. He has also recruited surrendered soldiers, bestowed upon them wives, daughters, cattle, horses, and land, and established laws to divide them according to their tribes. This massive move has already severed the road from Jingzhou to Jiaozhou. Clearly, his ambitions are not small!"

"Is there such a thing? What's the name of that bandit leader?" Cao Cao's face darkened upon hearing this. He knew that the Huaxia people's greatest advantage over the surrounding ethnic groups wasn't technology or numbers (for a long period of history, southern ethnic groups had been more advanced than the Huaxia in metallurgy, and in the south, the indigenous ethnic groups were far more numerous than the Han Chinese who migrated south). It was their precocious political system and the corresponding superstructure. By contrast, most of the southern ethnic minorities were still in the transitional stages from tribal alliances to chiefdoms. In the words of the Huaxia people at the time, "The barbarians are divided into tribes, large and small, with no sense of belonging. In times of emergency, they help each other, but in times of slack, they attack each other." They were unable to form strong autocratic states and could not confront the might of the unified Huaxia. Conversely, if an ethnic minority advanced beyond this stage and formed an autocratic state, it would inevitably pose a significant threat to the Huaxia state and must be taken seriously.

"I don't know yet!" Lu Ju shook his head. "I only know that the barbarians called him Jingfu instead of his real name, and that he was sold as a slave in Jingzhou when he was young. He learned to read and write, and only escaped back to his hometown when he was nearly thirty. He gradually became a local leader!"

"If that's really the case, this bandit leader knows all about the situation in China, and that's going to be troublesome!" Cao Cao's expression became increasingly ugly. Everyone knew that these fugitive slaves from the Han area were the most troublesome. They knew very well the internal strengths and weaknesses of the Han people. After fleeing back to the barbarians, they could bring the advanced production technology and political organization of the Han area, which could easily allow their mother clan to achieve rapid development in a short period of time. The most important thing was that these people would never have illusions about the Han people. They were determined and flexible. As long as they didn't die, they would likely become an external threat to the Eastern Han Dynasty for a long time.

"Yes! That's why Governor Liu suffered a great loss from him!" Lu Ju sighed. "Hanshou County fell because there were spies there among the Han people who fled into the county. When I see Feng Cheqi this time, I will definitely report this to him!"

"I guess this won't save your life!" Cao Cao glanced at Lu Ju and thought to himself: "At most, he will be escorted to Luoyang and die later!" He was no longer interested in chatting with Lu Ju: "In this case, let's go back to Jiangling first! I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave first!" After that, he bowed to Lu Ju and turned to leave.

(End of this chapter)