Taiheiki

Chapter 261 Convergence
"Lord Wei, please rest assured!" Ying Feng cupped his hands in greeting. "I understand the implications better than anyone else. I will give you a reply before noon tomorrow!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Ying!" Wei Cong returned the greeting with a cupped hand. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow!" Ying Feng turned and boarded the carriage, watching the departing carriage and riders. He heard Wu Deng's voice in his ear: "My lord, do you really think Ying Feng can persuade Feng Kun to submit?"

"Pass down the order!" Wei Cong said in a deep voice: "The entire army shall be on high alert. Soldiers shall not remove their armor. Officers and soldiers of all camps shall be ready to receive orders at any time!"

Fifth Deng was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, but then he understood what Wei Cong meant and replied excitedly, "Yes, my lord, don't worry. As long as you give the order, we can beat Feng Kun and Zhang Huan to a pulp!"

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Feng Kunjun's camp.

The camp was pitch black in the dead of night, save for a few campfires and the whistling wind swirling outside the tents. Feng Kun sat at a low table, his expression grave, his eyes flickering like will-o'-the-wisps beneath his thick eyebrows. Just then, Luo Hong entered from the outer room. Seeing Feng Kun's appearance, he asked worriedly, "My lord, the rooster has crowed once; you should rest early!"

"Do you have any wine?" Feng Kun looked up. "Get me some. I want to drink something, otherwise I can't sleep!"

"Wine?" Luo Hong sighed. "It seems there's another pot of Sangluo wine in the back. Let me get it for you!"

"Have a drink with me!" Feng Kun said, "Have a drink and then go to sleep!"

Luo Hong brought over the wine jug and two cups, poured one for himself and one for Feng Kun. After drinking a few cups, Luo Hong felt sleepy, so he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, got up, walked to a stack of sheepskins next to the tent entrance, lay down, and soon started snoring.

Feng Kun sat at the table, his eyes glazed over, seemingly asleep yet awake. Suddenly, he jolted awake, as if startled by an invisible nightmare. He looked around in terror, as if surrounded by demons. After a long while, he gradually came to his senses, clutching his forehead. He muttered to himself, "It's terrifying, truly terrifying. My feet sank into the mud, struggling desperately, but I sank deeper and deeper. Then I realized that what I was standing on wasn't mud, but blood and countless corpses. What made me sink deeper wasn't the mud, but countless hands grabbing my clothes, pulling me down. Beneath the blood were faces, shouting 'Together, together!' Were they trying to drag me down and make me one of them?"

At that moment, Feng Kun noticed the wine jug on the table. He grabbed it, put the spout to his mouth, and began to drink deeply. In just a few breaths, he had finished the wine, the fumes turning his face a purplish-red. Feng Kun glared menacingly at the corner of the tent, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist, as if an invisible demon lurked there, ready to pounce and hack it to pieces.

"General!"

The announcement outside the tent startled Feng Kun from his reverie. He pressed his right hand to his forehead, and after a moment, he came to his senses: "What is it?"

"Ying Canjun is back, and he wants to see you immediately!"

"Uncle is back?" Feng Kun wiped the foam from the corner of his mouth, shook his head to clear his mind, and said, "Okay, let him come!"

"Here!"

A moment later, Ying Feng came in from the outer room. He was surprised to see Luo Hong lying on the sheepskin at the entrance of the tent, snoring, and Feng Kun, who was covered in alcohol. It was the first time he had ever seen Feng Kun in such a disheveled state.

"What happened?" Ying Feng asked.

"What's wrong?" Feng Kun plopped back down behind the desk. "I feel like there's blood and corpses all over the ground. They're pulling me down, trying to make me like them?"

"Lord Feng, you're drunk!" Ying Feng sighed in disappointment. He walked to the tent entrance, wanting to leave, but then remembered the urgent situation. He gritted his teeth and said to the outside, "Lord Feng needs to wash up. Quickly, go and fetch a bucket of warm water!"

Warm water was brought quickly, and Feng Kun was fully awake after wiping his face. After Ying Feng dismissed the servants, he immediately said to Feng Kun, "General, I have an extremely urgent matter to report to you. Please remain calm!" Then he recounted Wei Cong's earlier suggestion.

"Eliminate the Dou family? Support the emperor to rule personally?" Feng Kun's forehead was covered in cold sweat the size of soybeans. "This is a crime punishable by the extermination of three generations! Has Wei Cong gone mad, or am I out of my mind and mishearing?"

“You’re not out of your mind!” Ying Feng looked into Feng Kun’s eyes. “Wei Cong isn’t crazy either. That Dong Yilang from Luoyang brought the Emperor’s edict. I saw it with my own eyes, and it should be genuine!”

"What do you mean, 'real' or 'fake'!" Feng Kun roared. "Have you lost your mind? Don't you understand this basic principle? The Emperor's words only become official edicts after they have been drafted and sealed by the Imperial Secretariat. Otherwise, they are nothing. Don't you understand this? Don't tell me that the edict brought by that Dong Yilang has an official seal on it."

"Of course I know that!" Ying Feng said with a wry smile. Feng Kun's words were common knowledge in the central politics of the Eastern Han Dynasty: the Three Dukes had lost their power, and power had returned to the Secretariat. Even the emperor could not bypass the Secretariat to issue orders, let alone the fact that the current emperor had not yet assumed personal rule, and his seal was probably not even in his possession. According to the political practice at the time, any edicts that could be issued were just empty words.

"But Wei Cong is right about one thing: with your army, plus yours, and Zhang Huan's, the combined forces of the three of them are enough to shake the world. With such a large army, who would bother with legal disputes?"

"Uncle, you're talking nonsense again! If it weren't for Dong Yilang's mediation, Wei Cong and I might have already started fighting. It would be good enough if the three of us—me, Wei Cong, and Zhang Huan—didn't fight each other; how could we possibly fight all the way to Luoyang!"

"Lord Feng, you and Wei Cong have no blood feud, neither the murder of your father nor the loss of your wife. The previous unpleasantness, to put it bluntly, was just about vying for the credit for suppressing the Moth Rebels. But you are now in your sixties. Even if you win against Wei Cong this time, how many days can you stay in the court? And given Wei Cong's age, he can stay in the court for at least another thirty years. If you offend him, I'm afraid at least two generations of your family will suffer because of him! What's the point?"

"You were the one who suggested dealing with Wei Cong back then, and now you're saying why bother!" Feng Kun sneered, "Uncle, you really have a sharp tongue; good or bad, it all comes from your mouth!"

“Times change, how can there be a fixed rule?” Ying Feng laughed and said, “Look, first, I didn’t know there was a secret edict coming from Luoyang; second, I didn’t know about Wei Cong’s plan; and of course, the most important thing is the third point.”

"What is the third point?"

"Wei Cong is a man who knows when to advance and when to retreat. He made you and the Grand Minister of Agriculture both become the Three Dukes, while he only asked for the position of Commandant of the Capital Region or Commander of the Imperial Guards for himself. Only in this way could he possibly win you and Zhang Huan over!"

"You don't really think this can work, do you?" Feng Kun sighed. "Putting everything else aside, Zhang Huan, Wei Cong, and I have never gotten along. How could we possibly accomplish something like this? If things go wrong, it could be a disaster that leads to the confiscation of our property and the extermination of our entire clan!"

“Actually, there’s no need for three people!” Ying Feng laughed. “As long as you, Lord Feng, and Wei Cong agree, it doesn’t really matter whether Zhang Huan is willing or not!”

“How could it be indifferent—” Feng Kun’s words had barely left his mouth when he immediately realized, “Could it be that Wei Cong is planning to strike first?”

“That’s right!” Ying Feng laughed. “Zhang Huan only has a few thousand men with him this time. If Wei Cong joins forces with you, he will be wiped out.” Feng Kun was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Wei Cong is ruthless. He’s already thinking of harming people before even forming an alliance. How can we accomplish anything with someone like him?”

"In my opinion, it's people like Wei Cong who are destined for great things!" Ying Feng sneered. "A petty person is no gentleman, and a ruthless person is no true man. Back then, Xiang Yu wanted to boil Emperor Gaozu's father alive to force him to withdraw his troops. Emperor Gaozu said, 'We are sworn brothers, and my father is your father. If you really want to boil my father, then please share a cup of soup with me.' Later, he executed Peng Yue and Han Xin. That can be called ruthless. In this respect, you, Feng Gong, are far inferior to him!"

"Alright, I am indeed far inferior to him!" Feng Kun smiled wryly: "From what you're saying, you're strongly advocating for and agreeing to Wei Cong's proposal?"

"Indeed! Nothing is more meritorious than saving the emperor! Back then, Shan Chao, Xu Huang, Ju Yuan, Zuo Guan, and Tang Heng, all eunuchs, were enfeoffed as county marquises for the emperor in the killing of Liang Ji. Shan Chao was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Xinfeng, with a fief of 20,000 households and a grant of 15 million coins; Xu Huang was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wuyuan, with a fief of 15,000 households and a grant of 15 million coins; Ju Yuan was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Dongwuyang, with a fief of 15,000 households and a grant of 15 million coins; Zuo Guan was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Shangcai, with a fief of 13,000 households and a grant of 13 million coins; and Tang Heng was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Ruyang, with a fief of 13,000 households and a grant of 13 million coins. Lord Feng, you and Zhang Huan have fought for the court for decades, with countless merits. Is there any small reward to pass on to your descendants? Now, the best opportunity is before you. You can decide for yourself whether to go or not!"

Feng Kun remained silent for a long time. He closed his eyes, his temples throbbing violently: "What if we fail?"

"Lord Feng, setting aside personal likes and dislikes, do you think Wei Cong is a good general?"

“Of course he is a good general!” Feng Kun replied quickly.

"Very well, are there any generals in Luoyang City who can rival you and Wei Cong? And are the troops they left behind capable of fighting against your and Wei Cong's forces?"

No, it can't be!

"If that's the case, then what else do you have to worry about? In the end, these kinds of things still have to be dealt with by force. As long as we can win, all problems will cease to be problems!"

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The next day, just as dawn broke, Wei Cong received a reply—a handwritten letter from Feng Kun, stamped with the seal of the General of Chariots and Cavalry at the end. Nothing could be more reliable than this guarantee. Wei Cong happily handed the letter to Dong Zhong.

"Young Master Dong, please take a look. We already have a fifty percent chance of winning this matter!"

"Only 50%?" Dong Zhong's right hand trembled slightly.

"That's already quite a lot!" Wei Cong laughed. "Back when I went south to take Jiaozhou and before I campaigned against the Linyi people, my chances of winning were probably less than 50%. In warfare, you can start when you have 40% or 50% chance of success. Your own efforts can add another 20% or 30%, and the rest is up to fate!"

"Then why can't we wait until we're more certain?" Dong Zhong asked.

"Because the enemy isn't stupid! If you can see a 70-80% chance of victory, the enemy can see it too, and naturally they'll be on guard, even setting traps. That 70-80% chance often turns into 30-40%, which is actually bad!" Wei Cong laughed. "Take our current situation as an example. If I had a close relationship with General Feng and the Grand Minister of Agriculture, the General most likely wouldn't have let the three of us lead the army together! Nor would he have let you, Young Master Dong, leave Luoyang!"

"That's right!" Dong Zhong nodded. "Then when can we raise an army?"

"No rush!" Wei Cong laughed. "Let's take Wancheng first and cut off Zhang Huan's escape route!"

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"You want to take Wancheng first?" Feng Kun looked at Wei Cong in surprise. He never expected that Wei Cong would not deal with Zhang Huan first.

“Indeed, for the initiator of a war, the element of surprise in the first attack is the most valuable!” Wei Cong said. “Lord Feng, if Zhang Huan agrees, that’s fine. But if he doesn’t, then we’ll have to resort to force. In the end, no matter the outcome, Wancheng will receive the news, and we’ll have to attack a heavily fortified city. But if we capture Wancheng first and then force Zhang Huan to accept reality, it will undoubtedly be much more advantageous!”

“Compared to Marquis Wei, I am indeed old!” After weighing the pros and cons, Feng Kun had to admit that Wei Cong’s plan was more advantageous. He sighed and asked, “Then how should we specifically deploy it?”

"The first step is to feign illness!" Wei Cong laughed, "But it's not me, it's you."

"Why?"

“Wancheng is about 800 li away from Xiakou. You can first rush back to Xiangyang, and then lead your troops from Xiangyang to Wancheng. This will take time, and feigning illness can buy you some time. I will confront Zhang Huan on the third day after you depart. Whether he accepts it or not, it will not affect your ability to take Wancheng!”

“I understand!” Feng Kun nodded. “Then, Lord Wei, aren’t you afraid that I’ll change my mind after I return to Xiangyang?”

“If that’s the case, then I can only blame myself for misjudging you!” Wei Cong laughed. “In my opinion, Lord Feng, you have spent half your life on the battlefield and are already in your twilight years. You have finally encountered an opportunity to be ennobled, so you should seize it tightly!”

"If I were to turn against them, the Empress Dowager and the Grand General would likely grant me a title of nobility!"

"That's true, but you don't have the surname Dou after all. The General and the Empress Dowager certainly won't be more generous than the Emperor when it comes to bestowing titles!"

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pier.

"It's getting late, Master Feng, let's get on the boat!" Ying Feng said in a low voice.

At this moment, Feng Kun was wearing a scarlet short robe like that of an ordinary Han soldier, with a blue cloth wrapped around his head. He looked like a veteran. He turned around and glanced at the camp behind him, then suddenly sighed and said, "Uncle, do you know? I wasn't even as nervous as I am now when I first went into battle to kill the enemy!"

"You don't need to be nervous!" Ying Feng reassured him, "Zhang Huan wouldn't expect you to secretly leave and go back to attack Wancheng. With Deng Zhong's help, taking Wancheng is a sure thing!"

(End of this chapter)