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"Wenzheng, come, take a seat…"
Inside the tent, Fei Qian was using the fading evening light to review some documents. Seeing Du Yuan arrive, he invited him to sit.
However, every time Fei Qian called Du Yuan by his courtesy name, he felt extremely awkward—could the man before him really live up to those two characters?
Although Fei Qian knew that literati during the Han Dynasty had not yet developed the particular, inexplicable obsession with posthumous titles that would emerge after the Tang Dynasty, he still found it awkward to address Du Yuan by his courtesy name.
Especially when looking at Du Yuan himself—the dissonance was even stronger. How could a man as dark as an African chieftain be called Wenzheng (a name implying literary virtue and uprightness)?
Ahem…
Alright.
After receiving his appointment, when Fei Qian summoned the officials of Shang Commandery, only Du Yuan showed up.
Du Yuan's father had originally served as a Cong Cao (Assistant Officer) in Shang Commandery. Later, when the entire commandery administration was forced to relocate, he moved to Luoyang. At the same time, the Du family was a minor gentry clan in Shang Commandery. Due to the same circumstances, they lost their original land and estates, leading to the family's decline. His father fell seriously ill and passed away in despair, repeatedly murmuring on his deathbed his desire to return to his homeland…
Thus, although Du Yuan was no longer an official under Shang Commandery's jurisdiction, upon hearing that the court had sent someone to reclaim Shang Commandery, he resolutely joined Fei Qian's ranks.
"Ahem, Wenzheng," Fei Qian flipped through the documents in his hand and said, "Could you tell me about the events surrounding the relocation? The records I have are vague and incomplete."
"What exactly does my lord wish to know?" Du Yuan replied, not as relaxed as Fei Qian, but instead speaking with formality and precision.
In the Han Dynasty, the definition of sovereign and subject (jun-chen) not only referred to the emperor and his officials but also to mentors and their disciples, as well as regional leaders and their subordinate officers.
Therefore, someone like Du Yuan, who had pledged allegiance to Fei Qian and was officially appointed as Shang Commandery's Cong Cao, naturally addressed Fei Qian as "my lord" (zhugong).
"No need to be so formal. Let's just chat casually," Fei Qian gently tapped the desk and voiced his confusion. "In the first year of Zhongping, Shang Commandery was relocated. Yet, in the fourth year of Zhongping, there are still local gazetteers…"
Du Yuan lowered his head and remained silent for a moment before saying, "…The fourth year of Zhongping… that gazetteer was submitted by my late father…"
Fei Qian also fell silent, then said, "My apologies, Wenzheng."
Du Yuan shook his head, composed himself, and said, "In the first year of Zhongping, the Southern Xiongnu's Left Division, along with the Qianren Qiang and Laoje Qiang tribes, rebelled and plundered areas in Xihe, Shang Commandery, Shuofang, and Yanmen… Xiayang was also breached. Later, by the emperor's decree, the administrative seat of Shang Commandery was moved to Luoyang…"
"The emperor's decree" naturally referred to the command of the emperor. Since Du Yuan addressed Fei Qian as "my lord," the person above the lord was, of course, the emperor.
Fei Qian nodded, gaining some understanding. The records only mentioned twelve characters: "In the first year of Zhongping, the Qiang and Hu launched massive raids, and the administration was moved to Luoyang." Without finding someone who had experienced it firsthand, who could know what exactly happened behind those twelve words?
However, Du Yuan's words still left Fei Qian deeply perplexed.
Xiayang was quite close to the Three Adjuncts (Sanfu). Although the Western Capital, Chang'an, was not the capital during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was still an important region of the Han Dynasty. How could it have been so vulnerable?
To use a later analogy, it was as if the imperial capital had been attacked by barbarians right up to the summer retreat, with weapons almost thrust under their noses.
Fei Qian flipped through the documents again and said, "Weren't there any garrison troops in Shang Commandery, Xihe, or Shanyang? Even if there weren't, what about the Three Adjuncts? Moreover, whether it was the Southern Xiongnu or the Qianren Qiang and Laoje Qiang tribes, they had long been subjugated. Why did they rebel repeatedly?"
Du Yuan said, "In the first year of Zhongping… they were mostly transferred away…"
Fei Qian lightly smacked his forehead. Although he had spent some time in the Han Dynasty, he still hadn't fully adapted to the dating system. This was the famous first year of Zhongping! He really should have realized it sooner.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion occurred in the first year of Zhongping.
So that was it.
The garrison troops were transferred away, and the Hu tribes, seeing an opportunity, rebelled.
If that were the case, the issues here were quite intriguing…
However, Fei Qian didn't want to explain further. The underlying complexities ran deep, involving many people and events that he hadn't fully sorted out yet.
No wonder compiling historical records was such a massive undertaking in every dynasty. It required several literary giants to oversee the project and numerous assistants to meticulously piece the details. This was because records of such events were scarce and often deliberately or accidentally obscured or omitted for various reasons. As a result, later generations had to rely on faint clues to piece together the truth.
In the second month of the first year of Zhongping, the Yellow Turban Rebellion officially erupted. Like a wildfire igniting dry grass, it spread rapidly across the country. In such a crisis, Emperor Ling of Han desperately transferred border garrison troops to suppress the rebellion…
These were the surface-level facts, easily connected. But what lay beneath?
Why did the Qiang and Hu rebel as soon as the troops were withdrawn?
Why did the Hu tribes, who had long been subjugated and had transitioned from nomadic to settled lifestyles, remain so ferocious?
Fei Qian suddenly asked, "Wenzheng, your hometown is in Beiqu? Are there still people there now?"
"Indeed, north of Beiqu, south of Dingyang." Speaking of his hometown, a trace of nostalgia flickered across Du Yuan's dark face, but it soon turned to sorrow. "…There should be no one left. My Du family was among the later ones to migrate… Before that, many gentry families had already left…"
Fei Qian nodded. He had found two sets of data in the materials Cai Yong sent him:
One was from the second year of Yuanshi during Emperor Ping's reign: Shang Commandery had 103,683 households, a population of 606,658, and twenty-three counties…
The other was from the fifth year of Yonghe during Emperor Shun's reign: Shang Commandery had 5,169 households, a population of 28,599, and only ten remaining counties…
Just as Fei Qian was pondering the implications, Huang Cheng suddenly entered. With a somewhat troubled expression, he greeted Fei Qian and Du Yuan and said, "Zhonglang General Fei, there's an issue. How should we design the banners?"
"Banners? What's the problem?" Isn't it just a matter of using official titles for the flags? What could be so complicated? Fei Qian found it hard to understand.
Huang Cheng scratched his head and said with a simple, honest smile, "The others are straightforward, but there are just too many banners. If we put them all together, there isn't enough space. If we choose just one, it's hard to decide which one to pick. So…"
Fei Qian's face darkened instantly. He nearly choked on his own breath...
*****
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