Chapter Fifty-Seven: Welcome to Nanyang

When Shen Chen learned that he had gained another elder in the family, it was already two days after the fact.

In the Han dynasty, a mother's father was not referred to as "waigong," but rather as "waizufu"—maternal grandfather. His own maternal grandfather was the biological elder cousin of Deng Hong, which meant Shen Chen was to address Deng Hong as "cousin sixth great-uncle" on his mother's side; the "cousin" here was akin to "paternal cousin" in meaning. This in turn meant that, for Deng Hong's children, he would have to call them "cousin seventeenth uncle" or "cousin aunt," respectively.

The Deng family was a large clan. By Deng Hong's generation there were already six brothers, and the next generation was even more numerous. Even Shen Chen's mother had to call Deng Hong's children "cousin younger brother" or "cousin younger sister." Such a low generational rank was truly a vexation.

Shen Chen wore a sullen expression all day. Within the clan, his status was not high—everywhere he turned, he met elders. Even Zhuge Liang was two generations above him, and now there was yet another elder added to the mix.

But there was nothing he could do about it. After all, it was the misfortune of his birth. He couldn't exactly blame his parents for not being born into a prestigious family, or for not having a higher generational rank.

Of course, there was good news as well.

Liu Biao had decided to send his troops. According to their plan, they would begin luring the Yellow Turbans from the region surrounding Nanyang. Zhang Xiu quickly sent letters to the leaders of the surrounding Yellow Turban armies, inviting He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man, and others to come to Nanyang for a grand gathering.

By mid-February, Cao Cao had already set out with his army to attack the Yellow Turbans in Yingchuan and Runan. At this time, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man, and the others had also received news and immediately began sending envoys to contact Yuan Shu.

But what sort of man was Yuan Shu? He was still dreaming his imperial dreams, paying them no heed at all.

Thus, when faced with the ferocious advance of Cao Cao's army, the Yellow Turban leaders found themselves isolated and without aid.

Since He Yi's territory was in Yingchuan, and Cao Cao set out from Chenliu, attacking He Yi's stronghold at Xuxian, He Yi's forces were routed and he was forced to gather his men and flee south.

After entering Runan, He Yi joined forces with Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man, and others, but Cao Cao's troops were already pressing in, marching toward Wuyang, Xiping, Dingying, and other locations.

At this moment in Xiping County, Huang Shao's territory, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man, and the others gathered to discuss how to deal with Cao Cao.

Seated in order, He Yi looked around and said, "Gentlemen, Cao Cao is nearly upon us, intent on wiping us out. Can you really do nothing but wait for the axe to fall and your own deaths?"

"Cao Cao is strong, his army vast. I fear we cannot match him head-on," Liu Pi replied, frowning.

"Indeed, we must devise a plan," Huang Shao added.

Growing anxious, He Yi pressed, "Then think of something! In my opinion, we must unite and resist Cao Cao together."

"Unite? How?" He Man sneered from the side. "You couldn't defend Yingchuan, and now you want to drag us into your mess, have us fight your battles. Why should I help you?"

"What nonsense is this, He Man?" He Yi exploded in anger. "I know you bear a grudge for my previous attack on you, but you know in your heart that this is a moment of life and death for us all. If we do not unite now, we will all die at Cao Cao's hands!"

He Man replied coldly, "At least I'm not being attacked by Cao Cao right now. What does this have to do with me?"

"You cowardly rat!" He Yi roared, drawing his blade.

"Come then!" He Man was not to be outdone; he too drew his sword.

"Both of you, stop!" someone interjected. "The enemy is at the gate and you quarrel among yourselves? What are you doing?"

"Enough!" Liu Pi and Huang Shao hurried to intervene, and after a noisy scuffle, the pair were finally calmed.

History records that each of these men commanded tens of thousands. In truth, that number included the old, the weak, women, and children. The number of true fighting men under each banner was less than ten thousand—sometimes only a few thousand.

Otherwise, with Cao Cao commanding only forty or fifty thousand, and the Yellow Turbans collectively mustering over a hundred thousand, they would have stood a chance in open battle.

Beyond their limited numbers, internal strife plagued the Yellow Turbans. Since Zhang Jue's death, the movement had become fragmented, each leader acting independently. Occasional alliances formed, but more often they eyed each other with suspicion, unable to form a unified command.

It was for this reason that Cao Cao was able to defeat them one by one—first the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan, then those of Runan.

This campaign, too, proved lucrative for Cao Cao, yielding a great number of laborers and oxen, laying a solid foundation for his system of agricultural colonization.

At this moment, He Yi and his companions could not know that history would remember them merely as stepping stones to Cao Cao's success. But they were well aware that if they did nothing now, they would surely be destroyed.

So despite their bickering, under the mediation of Liu Pi and Huang Shao, He Yi and He Man did not come to blows—one sat down in a huff, while the other continued to sneer.

Just then, a guard entered to announce, "Chief Gong has arrived!"

"Gong Du is here?" said Huang Shao. "Show him in."

Gong Du, whose base was in Shangcai on the east bank of the Ru River, had traveled from farther away and arrived last. Entering, he found the atmosphere tense and asked, "What’s going on? Cao Cao hasn’t even arrived, and you’re already fighting among yourselves?"

He Yi sheathed his blade and gestured toward He Man. "Ask him."

"Enough, what's the use in arguing now?" Huang Shao waved to forestall He Man's retort. "Let’s think about how to deal with Cao Cao instead."

"How? His blade is already at our throats." He Yi said coldly, "If you want to die, stay here and wait for it. I'm not resigned to death."

"And how do you plan to fight? Can you win?" He Man spread his hands. "All together we have maybe twenty or thirty thousand men, few with the heart or arms for war, poorly equipped, lacking armor—what can we use to fight him?"

The world knew the Han ring-pommel sabre was a fine weapon against northern nomads, but few realized how scarce iron was in Han times. True steel sabres were rare, found only among the central government's formal troops—the Five Northern Armies.

The court controlled the iron mines, and steelmaking techniques lagged behind those of later ages. The common people used mostly pig iron or wrought iron.

Yellow Turban weapons were even poorer—only their officers had steel blades, while the common soldiers' gear was wretched.

How bad was it? In the early days of the rebellion, farm tools, wooden spears, bronze implements, and a few iron blades were their main weapons.

More than a decade after the outbreak, little had changed. Repression by the court and local warlords left the ordinary Yellow Turbans poorly trained and abysmally equipped.

Against Cao Cao's fierce and well-armed troops, their numbers were insufficient, and their arms far inferior. There was no way they could win.

If, as the official histories claim, each leader really commanded tens of thousands of fighting men with proper gear, their strength would have rivaled Yuan Shu’s—Cao Cao could not have prevailed so easily.

The truth is that the "tens of thousands" included all civilians; the number of soldiers was in the low thousands, ill-equipped and no match for Cao Cao.

The leaders knew this well. Even if the five strongest chiefs gathered all their men together, victory was impossible.

Thus, one by one, they wore faces of gloom, each feeling a deep despair.

It was then that Gong Du, seeing their dejected faces, scratched his head and said, "If we can't win, then let's just run away."

"Where would we run to?" Liu Pi replied bitterly. "North is Cao Cao, east is Yuan Shu, south is Liu Biao. Should we flee into the Gaoling mountains?"

"Let's go to Nanyang," Gong Du suggested.

"Nanyang?" He Man shook his head. "Would Liu Biao allow it?"

"He’ll have no choice but to allow it," Gong Du said, producing several bamboo letters. "I intercepted these on the road. They were sent by scouts from Zhang Xiu in Liangzhou, originally headed for Yingchuan and Runan. Since you’d retreated to Xiping, they met me outside the city by chance and asked me to pass them along."

"Are you sure you didn’t just rob them?" He Yi asked suspiciously as he took the letters.

Gong Du looked sheepish. "At first I did want to steal their horses, but their horsemanship was too good—they just dropped the letters and rode off."

None of the leaders could read, but in a force as large as the Yellow Turbans, there were always some literate men—former Yellow Turban priests, for instance.

Upon having the letters read, they learned the situation: Zhang Xiu had marched south from Guanzhong through Wu Pass, defeated the forces Liu Biao had sent, and seized Nanyang.

Feeling isolated and vulnerable, Zhang Xiu feared Liu Biao’s army would soon descend upon him. Hence, he invited the Yellow Turban leaders to join him in Nanyang for a grand alliance.

"Is this Zhang Xiu reliable?" He Man questioned, skeptical since he’d never heard of such a prominent leader in the Liangzhou army.

"Either way, Nanyang isn’t far," Huang Shao said, after thinking it over. "Let’s send someone to investigate."

Zhang Ji had attacked Nanyang at the end of January, less than a month before. In those days, news traveled slowly—people moved from the north to Nanyang, but rarely the other way around. Thus, the Yellow Turban leaders had no inkling of the recent events in Nanyang.

Huang Shao sent a messenger on horseback to investigate. Xiping was close to Nanyang, only a dozen or so kilometers away, but to get real news, one had to go to Wan.

By this time, Zhang Xiu had already entered Wan. Two days later, the Yellow Turban leaders received the latest intelligence:

At the start of the year, Zhang Ji of Liangzhou had attacked Nanyang but was killed by a stray arrow at Rangcheng. His nephew, Zhang Xiu, succeeded him and continued the campaign. The garrison commander Wen Pin was forced to retreat, and Deng Ji of Huyang, as well as Liu Wei and Wang Jie of Fancheng, were routed in the field by Zhang Xiu. Thus, Zhang Xiu took control of Wan.

With the exception of Wen Pin’s defeat, these reports were largely accurate and stood up to scrutiny. In addition, Liu Biao had cooperated by withdrawing Wen Pin to Xinye, while Zhang Xiu publicly claimed to have defeated Liu Biao and occupied Nanyang.

For a time, the people of Nanyang believed they had a new ruler, and panic briefly spread. But Zhang Xiu promptly posted proclamations to reassure the populace and commanded the Liangzhou army to refrain from any misconduct, soon restoring order.

Having learned all this, the five Yellow Turban chiefs convened again. This time, there was not a hint of hesitation—all agreed to go to Nanyang and join Zhang Xiu.

After all, the Liangzhou army was formidable—a force worth relying on.

And so, as the Yellow Turban armies of Yingchuan and Runan, along with dozens of smaller bands from around Nanyang, received Zhang Xiu's invitation and made ready to march, late in February, Cao Cao—after more than ten days of rest—prepared to move south and attack Runan.

Cao Cao was in high spirits.

After taking Xuxian, he had captured a great store of He Yi’s supplies—numerous oxen and able-bodied laborers, replenishing his resources.

Learning that He Yi had fled to Runan and joined the local Yellow Turbans, Cao Cao grew all the more eager.

"Yellow Turbans are a fine thing," he said, riding his tall horse, accompanied by Cao Hong and Cao Ren, on the road to Dingling.

Over the years, the Yellow Turbans had been instrumental to his rise. He had first gained Yanzhou when the Black Mountain remnants of the Yellow Turbans ravaged the province and the Inspector, Liu Dai, was killed. Chen Gong and others had recommended him as Inspector, giving him his base.

Then the Green Turbans came, delivering up men and equipment; Cao Cao captured hundreds of thousands, incorporated forty or fifty thousand elite troops, and formed his famed Qingzhou corps.

Now, after defeating the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan and Runan, he had seized abundant supplies.

Without the Yellow Turbans, there would have been no Cao Cao as he was now; all his power was built on their remains.

Cao Hong laughed, "Indeed. Who would have guessed they would have so much grain and so many oxen? Had we known, we should have wiped out the Yingchuan Turbans long ago."

Cao Cao gazed about at the vast, desolate plain by the Ru River and sighed, "Yingchuan and Runan have always been prosperous lands of the Central Plains. What a pity to see them in ruins. If I could hold and nurture these lands, it would be a fine thing."

"We've driven out the Yingchuan Turbans," Cao Hong said. "We can just move the people here."

"Indeed," Cao Cao nodded. Beyond Dingling, Runan lay close at hand.

Cao Ren, silent all this time, had his ear cut off—though the wound had healed, the injury to his spirit had not. He grew ever more taciturn, staring south with a chilling gaze. Suddenly, he said, "The Shen clan—they migrated to Nanyang, didn’t they?"

Cao Cao glanced at Cao Ren’s wooden expression and sighed, "Zixiao, I know your anger is hard to bear. But we must put the greater matter first. Vengeance can wait for another day."

"I understand, elder brother. I will not forget," Cao Ren replied, turning to gaze toward Runan. At that moment, all his hatred turned upon the Yellow Turbans.

For only by occupying Yingchuan and Runan could the Cao clan reach toward Nanyang.

But to Cao Cao’s surprise, this campaign would end in disappointment.

After passing Dingling, he approached the area of Wuyang and Xiping, but scouts reported no Yellow Turbans in the city.

Puzzled, Cao Cao sent out more scouts to search for their whereabouts.

Several days later, the scouts returned: Over ten days prior, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man, Gong Du, and more than a hundred thousand followers had joined forces and marched south to Nanyang.

At the same time—

On Bowang Mountain, northeast of Wan and gateway to Nanyang, Gan Ning, Deng Hong, Shen Chen, and more than twenty cavalrymen stood atop the summit, gazing north at the vast mass of the Yellow Turban exodus.

Below, the mountainside teemed with migrants—old and young, all fleeing toward Nanyang, escorted by a few scattered Yellow Turban soldiers.

To Shen Chen, it was an encouraging sight.

Spreading his arms wide, as if to embrace the endless flow of people below, he stood atop the mountain and declared,

"Welcome to Nanyang."