Jinting Han people

Leaving Chencang, the southern Jin army continued eastward along the Wei River, where they first came into view: the abandoned Kuaicheng. Following the rebels' defeat, the Hu people had dispersed, leaving the city a deserted affair. Further west, the Qinling and Longshan Mountains narrowed to a point where only a winding Wei River valley remained, marking the narrow Chencang Pass.

So far, there are five roads to Shanglong opened up by the world, and Chencang Narrow Road is one of them, but it is by no means the main road to Shanglong.

It should be noted that Longban has a complex terrain and steep mountain roads, stretching over 600 miles from north to south. The shorter the mountain roads are, the steeper they are, while the longer the mountain roads are, the easier they are to walk on.

Typically, caravans or large armies traveling up and down Longban would follow the more northern Weishui River valley, passing through Weixian County and crossing Guanshan to enter Longyou, a route known as the Guanlong Road. Alternatively, they would reach Fanxukou, north of Guanshan, via the Fanxu Road through Jieting before finally entering Longyou. Zhang Gui, however, traveled the further north via the Jingshui River valley. After reaching Anding County from Xinping, they could also take the Jitou Road or Wating Road across Longban, both circuitous routes but relatively flat terrain.

The narrow Chencang Road, though only a little over 300 li long, was not only steep but also extremely narrow, often only two to three zhang wide, barely wide enough for three horses and one cart to run side by side. Several sections of the road were made of plank roads, rivaling the Shu Road.

Therefore, there are few historical records of the Chencang Pass. It was only used once in battles from the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period. That was when Ma Chao was betrayed by Yang Fu. Xiahou Yuan ordered Zhang He to lead 5,000 cavalry to attack Ma Chao through the Chencang Pass. Caught off guard, Ma Chao, with only a few thousand Di and Hu troops under his command, had no choice but to flee without a fight. This battle finally reversed Xiahou Yuan's previous defeats and became a turning point in Cao Wei's pacification of Longyou.

After discussion, Liu Xian and Meng Guan decided to cross the narrow Chencang Road into Longshang, drawing inspiration from this battle. The rebels had just been defeated, and many had fled back to Longshang via the Guanlong Road. The news had likely not yet spread throughout Longyou. Therefore, the narrow Chencang Road was likely unguarded. While crossing it would be risky, a successful route would surely catch the Qiang and Hu people of Longshang off guard.

But knowing this was enough. Once they entered the narrow Chencang Pass, the Jin people were stunned to discover how difficult and precipitous a road truly was. After only a mile or two, the terrain between the riverbanks gradually rose, leaving the elm-lined wilderness behind. The peaks to the west plunged into the clouds, with pine forests and metasequoia trees hanging among the jagged rocks, like an endless emerald waterfall. The occasional wind-worn marks on the mountain walls looked like specks of tears.

Walking through such a valley was not only physically difficult but also mentally taxing. The lack of sunlight and the nearby rushing Wei River caused the valley temperature to plummet, as if suddenly arriving in September. Furthermore, it was the autumn rainy season, with occasional drizzles, which made the group tremble as they led their horses up the mountain, and soon became unbearable.

Some wore straw raincoats, others wrapped themselves in cow felt. This provided some warmth. But when it came time to camp at night, not only was it difficult to find a place to sleep, but even if one was found, making a fire was a challenge, as dry branches were hard to come by. The soldiers had no choice but to walk a little longer until they found a suitable place to rest. This constant pace and rest turned day and night upside down.

But the most unbearable thing was the mountain mist in the canyon. When there was no wind, the people of Jin felt a sense of complete silence, the sound of dripping water dissolving all other sounds. Beyond the dripping sound, it seemed as if something unfathomable was watching them from the darkness. But when the wind came, the frantic whistling sound was like the roar of a demon from hell. Everyone caught in the wind felt as if their throat was being strangled, making it almost impossible to breathe. Coupled with the miasma that wafted in from nowhere, every breath felt like a sharp knife piercing their throat and lungs.

Once when the army was resting, they rested halfway up the mountain. The rain had stopped and everyone finally got a good night's sleep.

At dawn, Meng Ping suddenly woke Liu Xian up and pointed toward the mountain, saying, "Master, look! What is that?"

Liu Xian looked down and found that the rain and fog had stopped halfway up the mountain. A strong wind blew, and thick clouds were moving in the darkness, sometimes bright and sometimes dark, as if they were on a reef in the vast ocean, and could be swallowed up by the sea of clouds at any time and sink into the boundless abyss.

Gazing at this scenery, Liu Xian did not feel afraid, but just felt as if he was in another world.

At this time, Lü Quyang also woke up. He had experience in climbing Long Mountains. Pointing at the scenery below, he said, "Don't panic. It will be dawn soon. Who knows how beautiful it will be!"

Liu Xian was very happy to hear this, so he called up several subordinates around him and waited for the beautiful sunrise together. As a result, he didn't know how the news got out, but the whole army knew about it, and they all got up early to watch it.

The weather was still very cold, and many people were shivering. But gradually, as the morning dew dripped onto the mountainside, a bright golden light penetrated the gloomy world. At this moment, all around was quiet and silent. Everyone couldn't help but hold their breath and concentrate. Then they saw a rainbow stretching across the mountainside. Above was the sky that was almost within reach, and below was a tranquil and peaceful sea of clouds.

Everyone was in this trance between the clouds and the sky. Li Ju was also assigned to Liu Xian's command at this time. Facing this scene, he couldn't help but say:
"How magnificent the summit of Baiyun is! It's truly worth our trip to come here!"

Liu Xian sighed, "For whom did this mountain grow? For whom does this water flow? The universe is so vast. How can I stand shoulder to shoulder with it?"

As the sunlight grew brighter, the clouds and fog cleared away, and the Wei River could be seen reappearing at the bottom of the valley. The water, which had been rushing here when it came, now flowed silently, and countless Danxia-like red soil peaks were revealed beneath it.

Lu Quyang said to Liu Xian, "My Lord, I have already completed the most difficult part. The next part is some gentle roads. It will probably take two more days before we can completely cross the Longban Pass."

Liu Xian nodded. He knew that, since they hadn't encountered any Hu harassment so far, it meant that no one had noticed the Jin army's movements. This time, taking the narrow road through Chencang and ascending to Long seemed to be a very successful strategy. The next thing to consider was how to pacify the enemy.

Therefore, Liu Xian deliberately slowed down his pace and summoned all the generals on the road, listening to everyone's ideas while thinking about the next countermeasures.

The first thing to do is to listen to the advice of Lu Quyang. He is a native of Lueyang and is most familiar with the situation of the Hu people in Lueyang. He also understands the strength and weakness relationships between the various tribes.

Lu Quyang introduced, "In Lueyang, there are two tribes with over 10,000 people: the Li and Pu clans. There are about twelve tribes with populations below 10,000 but above 1,000, not to mention the smaller tribes with populations below 1,000. In short, Lord, in my previous impression, whenever the Lueyang Prefecture government wanted to do something, they usually consulted with the Pu and Li clans, and nothing was impossible to accomplish."

"When I was studying abroad, the leader of the Pu family was Master Pu Mingpu, but now he should be Master Pu Huaigui. I'm sure you have met him in Chang'an."

"The original leader of the Li clan was Lord Li Mu, who is believed to have passed away due to illness. He had five sons: Li Fu, Li Te, Li Xiang, Li Liu, and Li Xiang, each of whom was a renowned figure. The most famous among them was the third son, Li Xiang. He was both civil and military, and possessed a chivalrous spirit. He was recognized as a first-class figure in Qinzhou and the current leader of the Li clan."

"Yes, I've heard of that, too," Li Ju said. "It seems he first served as the County Supervisor, then as the County Chief Clerk. In the fourth year of the Yuankang reign, he was said to have been summoned to Luoyang and appointed Commander of the Central Army Cavalry. He was said to have the spirit of Wen Yang!"

"Oh? There's such a thing?" Liu Xian was surprised to hear this. Although the Central Army Cavalry Commander didn't have much real power, his official rank was very high, also a fifth-rank official, which was enough to show Li Xiang's excellence. Why would he abandon his official position and come back to rebel?
Lu Quyang continued, "He said he was ill and had returned home to recuperate. However, there was a report from the army earlier that he was leading the Li clan south to Wudu and was no longer in Lueyang."

Liu Xian lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then said, "Now that these people have arrived in Wudu, there's no need to discuss them for now. It seems that the focus of this attempt to pacify Lueyang lies on this Pu family." "Where does this Pu family live now?"

"It should be in Shuiluochuan, 20 miles west of Guanshan and 15 miles south of Lueyang County."

Liu Xian opened the map and marked the location of the Pu family. Lueyang County was established based on the trend of the Longban Mountains. The entire county was arranged in an oblique arc, with four counties under its jurisdiction: Linwei, Qingshui, Lueyang, and Pingxiang, arranged in order from south to north. After the southern Jin army passed through the narrow Chencang Pass, the first place they would reach would be Linwei County, which was still quite a distance from the Pu family.

He said to the crowd, "Regarding the issue of appeasement, if you have any suggestions, please share them with me."

Although Li Han was from Longxi, he hated the Qiang and Hu people the most. He was the first to speak, "Military Commander, the Hu people have a human face but a beast's heart. They only fear power but not virtue. This is very clear to me. Now that our army has reached Longxi, the Hu people are completely unaware. We should first launch a surprise attack on Linwei and slaughter everyone in the city, young and old. Then we can try to pacify them. Then, the Hu people will be terrified and will surely surrender."

His suggestion was so drastic that it shocked the other generals who were listening. However, few people condemned it because it was not Li Han's unique viewpoint, but a method pioneered by Cao Cao, the Emperor Wu of Wei.

Cao Cao believed that the slogan "the people are not afraid of death" was completely empty talk. Rather than wasting time on rhetoric, he argued, it would be better to intimidate the enemy with unprecedentedly brutal massacres, then quickly convince the remaining enemies that if they didn't surrender immediately, they would share the same fate as those who had been killed. He later even instituted military regulations stipulating that any city that refused to surrender before a siege would be massacred. This proved remarkably successful, allowing Cao Cao to control two-thirds of the empire.

Emperor Xuan of Jin, Sima Yi, also employed this strategy. When he pacified Liaodong, Gongsun Yuan refused to surrender. Sima Yi first massacred the city and built a Jingguan (a kind of imperial guard) before pacifying the Liaodong region, mirroring Cao Cao's approach. This was also the reason why, when Shu Han and Sun Wu fell, they surrendered without waiting for the enemy to encircle their capitals. The Wei army's intimidation tactics were so terrifying that no one dared to risk the consequences of a siege.

Liu Xian naturally disagreed, but he also needed to see the opinions of the people around him.

The generals present immediately split into two groups. Some agreed, such as Suo Chen and Huangfu Shang, who said, "The Hu people are lowly and deserve this."

But some objected, and Li Ju took the lead, saying, "There are so many Hu people in Longyou. How can we intimidate them by simply massacring the city? Our army only has 20,000 men, and we are unfamiliar with the area, and we are short of food and fodder. How long can we last by intimidating them? Even if it works temporarily, it will not maintain long-term peace. I absolutely disagree with this idea."

"Then what's your plan?" Since Li Ju had no achievements before, Li Han looked down on Li Ju in his heart and asked with a squint.

"Brother, I've come up with an idea." Li Ju didn't bother to pay attention to him. He turned to Liu Xian and said, "Why don't we suddenly show up in Linwei, prepare our troops, show off our strength, and then negotiate peace with them. This way, we can show our sincerity in negotiating peace without appearing weak. What do you think?"

"What if we fail? Are we supposed to storm the city?"

Li Han was still questioning, but Liu Xian answered for Li Ju first:
"It's okay. We took risks when we crossed the Longban Pass. Compared to that, taking another small risk like this is harmless. As long as this recruitment is successful and we've made a good start, it will become easier and easier to recruit people later. If we use Brother Shirong's method, although it makes sense, it will always take longer."

"The war has been going on for so long, it would be better to make peace sooner rather than later!"

Although Meng Guan suggested that as the commander-in-chief, it was best to stick to his own judgment without holding a military meeting, Liu Xian, believing that he had not yet reached Meng Guan's level of military proficiency, still attached great importance to the military meeting and hoped to gain more persuasion from his own perspective and ideas.

After saying this, Li Han looked at Liu Xian twice, didn't say much, and sat back down.

The other generals felt the same way. After two years of fighting, everyone was tired.

With the plan now finalized, Liu Xian began assigning tasks. Since it was Li Ju's suggestion, and Liu Xian wanted his sworn brother to demonstrate his abilities in public, he allocated 3,000 men to Li Ju, ordering him to lead the vanguard and be responsible for negotiating with the Linwei Hu people, with the rest of the tribes providing support.

On the eleventh day of the seventh month, the Jin army in the south officially broke through Jinlin Mountain and entered the Longyou Plateau. Li Ju's vanguard troops galloped ten miles to the gates of Linwei City, catching the surrounding Hu people off guard and in chaos. They didn't even have time to close the city gates.

However, to their surprise, the Jin army did not engage in any killing or looting. Instead, they lined up their troops in a dignified manner under the city. Their formation was strict and their flags fluttered. It was obvious that they were a strong army that was good at fighting.

After the Hu people's riots subsided a little, Li Ju personally arrived at the city and asked to negotiate with the Hu people's leaders in the city.

After half an hour of negotiation, the two sides quickly reached an agreement: the Hu people would cede Linwei City to the Jin army and leave 20,000 hu of grain. The Jin army agreed not to harass the surrounding Hu people, and those who killed, robbed, or stole would be punished.

By the time Liu Xian led his army to Linwei City, the Hu people in the city had calmed down and lined the streets to welcome the arrival of the Jin army.

But there is not only good news waiting for Liu Xian.

After seeing Liu Xian, Li Ju's expression was slightly nervous, but he still spoke slowly and steadily: "Brother, I just got some news."

"What happened?"

"Pu is sending envoys to various tribes in Lueyang, saying that he wants to convene a meeting, hoping to gather a large army to aid the Qi bandits." (End of this chapter)