The Warring States, Books 1-3

by Greg Strandberg

  Zhai’s eyes darted back and forth as his mind sorted through the myriad tasks that would now have to be quickly completed in order to facilitate such a sudden departure.

  “I’ll have to get right on it then,” he said, meeting Wen’s eyes once again.

  Wen clapped him on the shoulder and held open the tent flap for him.

  “Good, you do that, Zhai; for tomorrow we head home.”

  ELEVEN

  The chariots thundered down the road, drowning out all sound but their wheels and the horses that pulled them.

  Wen, as he’d done on the way to Zhongshan, rode in the lead chariot, Minister of War Zhai Huang beside him. They rode at a slower pace than when they’d headed toward the city a month earlier; partly because there was no rush as there had been before, and partly because Wen wasn’t at all eager to get back to the royal court in Anyi. The month-long respite he’d had from policy and politics had been welcome, and the idea of sitting through hours of stifling talk concerning the state suddenly didn’t appeal to him that much.

  Still, he was looking forward to being back in the city, and especially around the people. Unlike many of the rulers in other states, Wen didn’t shy away from the common citizens but embraced them, and they loved him for it. Despite the fears of his guards and numerous advisors, one of Wen’s greatest pleasures was to walk about the city streets among his people. The idea of doing that now, with the twin victories in Zhongshan and Xihe fresh in the people’s minds, created a great wellspring of happiness inside of him.

  The weather had treated them well during their journey and the roads had been good, allowing them to cover the distance from Zhongshan through Zhao and into Wei in the span of only two days, nearly the same amount of time as when they’d rushed north the previous month. Despite the right of passage granted by Zhao, it had come as a relief to once again enter Wei lands. As if sensing their return, the sun had broken out the day before and continued to shine down upon them as they got closer to the city.

  The scenery became more and more familiar and it was obvious to all when they’d broken camp that morning that they were only a few hours from the capital. After only an hour on the road the many small canals that branched outward from the Yellow River and fed into the city became visible. Wen had smiled when the first waterways came into view, and his thoughts immediately went to Ximen Bao. The engineer had done so much for the State of Wei during his long career, and Wen was happy that the man was finally working on the project that he’d dreamed about for more than twenty years.

  The road began to follow the small canals and everyone in the one-hundred chariot entourage knew that they were less than an hour from the city. The canals would flow right into Anyi through specially-designed holes in the city walls, where they’d then flow throughout the city. Dozens of parks, some small but most large, sprouted up along the canal routes, giving the citizens a place of quiet with which to spend a few moments, however brief, from their busy lives.

  Besides the canals, Anyi was also known for its orderly design and the cleanliness of its streets. The city had once been similar to other large cities throughout the Seven States: a place of dirt and grime, disorderliness and havoc; a regular bustling metropolis that appeared bursting at the seams. Wen had decided to change all of that when he’d come to power nearly fifty years before, and the city had been forced to clean itself up and present a more dignified appearance. Resistance had been immediate and expected, and Wen had stared it down. Within a few yeas nearly everyone lauded the changes and looked back with scorn on the city’s old ways.

  The road began to rise and the canal flowed off to the west as they approached some low-lying hills. The horses neighed under the whips of their drivers and the party began the final ascent that would bring them to the overlook of the city and then to the northern gates. The hills were low, but the climb was steep, and the road switched back and forth. As Wen approached the summit he looked down below him and smiled at the hundred chariots snaking along the road beneath him. Within moments he was at the top and he steered the chariot off the road and pulled up on the reins.

  Beneath him lay Anyi, the capital of Wei and a city teeming with more than one hundred thousand people. The large stone and brick walls that surrounded the city were mortared to a smooth finish and towered more than thirty feet above the surrounding countryside, a countryside which teemed with small farms, wheat fields, and rice paddies. From the height of the hill Wen could see the traces of the dozens of waterways that wound through the city, and a green canopy of trees rose above the houses and buildings wherever he looked. The four main gates of the city, marking the four points of the compass, were bustling with people entering the city on business and those leaving after having delivered their crops from the surrounding farms.

  Wen smiled at the sight and Zhai clapped him on the back.

  “It is good to be back home,” he said with a smile as he looked at his ruler.

  Wen smiled and put his arm over Zhai’s shoulders.

  “That it is, Zhai. That it is.”

  A moment later Liu Kui and Wei Yang rode up and came to rest a short distance from Wen, followed by Wu.

  “Father, are we stopping here?” Wu called out loudly as the other chariots began to rumble up the road.

  “No, I just wanted to look down on the city,” Wen yelled back. “Tell the others to continue on to the city.”

  Wu craned his neck to hear the words then nodded. He steered his chariot around and shouted at the next chariot up the hill, waving his arm for them to continue down the hill and to the city. The man nodded and within moments a steady stream of chariots was passing by the Marquis and his advisors in a deafening cacophony of hooves and wheels.

  The procession went on for many minutes and Wen was eager for it to end so that he could look down on the city in peace. Already the first chariot was down the hill and speeding along the flat expanse to the city gates. Another few minutes brought the final chariot up the hill and past them and quiet once again fell upon them.

  “Ah, that’s more like it,” Wen said with a smile.

  A great cloud of dust hovered around them from the passage of all the chariots and Zhai waved his arm in front of his face in a futile attempt to disperse it, causing Wen to laugh at his efforts.

  “We’ve been breathing in the dust of the road for two days, Zhai. A little more won’t hurt you.”

  He smiled as Zhai continued to wave his arm frantically and squint down at the city.

  “In fact, you might want to take a few deep breaths of it,” Wen added. “There’s no telling when we’ll be on the open road again. No, it’s all dreary court life from here on, Zhai, and-”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, Sire,” Zhai said, pointing down the hill toward the city, “but there are two chariots speeding down the road from the city.”

  Wen narrowed his eyes and looked down at the road. The dust had cleared enough so that he could see that Zhai was correct: two chariots were indeed heading in their direction.

  “Both stopped and talked a moment with the lead chariot of our procession,” Zhai said. “It appears that they want to speak with you.”

  Wen threw up his hands.

  “I thought that I’d be spared the concerns of the court until I had at least entered the city!” he said in mock exasperation, eliciting a laugh from Liu Kui in the chariot near him.

  “No doubt they need your immediate advice on which type of paving stones to use on a new street, round or square,” Liu said.

  Wen threw his head back in laughter, and even Zhai cracked a smile at the remark. Wu wasn’t amused by the comment and frowned at the other’s mirth.

  “It could be an important message concerning our recent conquests,” he said seriously.

  “Bah!” Wen said with a wave of his hand. “No doubt it’s just a formal welcome back to the city.”

  “Shall we ride down to meet them?” Zhai asked.

  Wen shook his head. “No, let them come to
me. I’d like to look down on the city for a little longer.”

  The men fell quiet, allowing Wen a few minutes to gaze on the capital in peace before the two chariots could be heard coming up the road. Within moments they’d crested the rise and their drivers pulled up on the reins. The man in lead chariot jumped out and immediately rushed up to Wen.

  “Jun!” Wen called out loudly when he saw who the man was. “I didn’t think you left the palace, even for your Marquis.”

  The man stopped in his tracks several feet from Wen as he thought about the comment for a moment.

  “You jest, Marquis Wen,” he said as he started forward once again.

  “Of course I jest,” Wen said with a wry smile and a sideways glance at Liu. “Now what is it that could not wait for me to get back to the city?”

  “We received this message just this morning,” Jun said, handing up a rolled scroll to Wen. “We were just about to send it off by bird to Zhongshan when you were spotted atop the hill.”

  Wen took the scroll and glanced at it, then looked back at Jun, his eyes wide.

  “It’s from Qi!” he said with surprise.

  Jun smiled and nodded eagerly, motioning for Wen to unroll the parchment as all of the other men looked on with renewed interest.

  Wen unfurled the scroll and read the words inside. After a few moments he looked back down at the city, his eyes large and somewhere else.

  “What does it say, father?” Wu asked as he walked toward Wen’s chariot.

  Wen handed him the scroll without looking, his eyes still on the city below. Wu read quickly then glanced back up at his father and then at Jun, who was smiling more eagerly than before.

  “It’s from General Zhai Jue,” Wu said eagerly. “He’s captured Duke Kang!”

  Wu looked from his father to the men around him, his face awash in excited anticipation.

  “He’s actually managed to capture him!” he said as he smiled up at his father.

  Wen looked away from the city and to his son.

  “There was never any order for General Zhai Jue to do anything more than assist the House of Tai against the House of Jiang,” he said. “The capture of Duke Kang complicates matters immensely.”

  “If Duke Kang has in fact been captured that means that House Jiang is through ruling Qi,” Zhai said. “We sent him there at the request of House Tian for help against House Jiang, and it looks as though he’s performed his task wonderfully.”

  “We sent him to help, not take charge,” Wen said with an edge of anger in his voice. “And what of Han and Zhao? It was agreed that each of us would send in a company of troops to assist Tai of Tian. With Duke Kang’s capture by our own general, what will they think?”

  “Surely they had a hand in the capture as well,” Wu said. “Each state sent in the same amount of troops, with a capable general leading each company. It just as well could have been the Han or Zhao generals that captured the duke.”

  “But it was not!” Wen shouted. “How will it look for the general of a lesser state, for that is what Wei is, remember? How will it look for Wei to capture the duke of a leading state such as Qi?”

  “House Jiang has been steadily losing ground to House Tian for more than a century,” Liu pointed out. “It should come as no surprise to anyone that they’re now on the verge of losing control of Qi.”

  “And we were quite discreet in sending our troops into Qi to assist Tai Tian,” Zhai added, “as were Han and Zhao. There’s a good chance that many in the Seven States don’t yet know that Duke Kang has been captured, or that outside troops had a hand in it.”

  Wen stroked his beard thoughtfully as he stared down at the city. “And we need to keep it that way,” he said at last, turning to face the men. “General Zhai Jue requests and audience on the Yellow River near the border with Wei and Qi.”

  “When?” Zhai asked.

  “As soon as possible, I assume,” Wen answered. “If this message was received just this morning as Jun says, then that means that Zhai sent it off yesterday, the day before at the latest.”

  “He’ll be heading there as we speak,” Wu said.

  “If he hasn’t already gotten there with Duke Kang in tow,” Zhai said.

  “By now there’s a good chance that Han and Zhao both know of the capture as well,” Wu said. “Both rulers could have been informed by their own generals and they could be heading to the same spot.”

  “There’s also a chance that neither of them have been informed yet,” Zhai said.

  “They’ll know, and right away,” Wen said. He turned back to Jun. “I want a message sent off immediately, to both Marquis Lie of Zhao and Marquis Jing of Han, informing them of the events that have taken place in Qi. Tell them both of the requested meeting by General Zhai Jue on the border of Qi, and politely request that they both attend as soon as possible.”

  Jun nodded and Wen turned back to look at the city, his hands clasped behind his back. Several moments of silence passed before Zhai spoke.

  “When will we depart?” he asked.

  “Now,” Wen said.

  “I’ll have the royal palace notified immediately that you’ll be arriving and then departing again,” Jun said as he turned to the second chariot that had accompanied him up the hill and still sat on the road a short distance away.

  “You’ll do nothing of the sort,” Wen said loudly, drawing Jun’s attention back at the same time as the small man visibly shuddered under his Marquis’s voice. “When I say now, I mean right now. We will not ride down into the city but descend the way which we’ve come, backtracking to the road north which we passed earlier this morning and which leads to the city of Wei and then to the border with Qi.”

  “But father, surely you’d like to have a short rest and get cleaned up before getting back on the road,” Wu said.

  “We will ride to Qi as we are, dirtied from the road and from our victories in the field,” Wen said. He stared at them all for a moment, and when no argument came he directed his gaze at Jue.

  “Jun, notify the palace of my intentions. Have them send out a few chariots with some supplies and extra men, but not many, mind you. I want our journey to the border to be discreet. Tell them to push hard and that they can meet us halfway to Wei along the Yellow River; we’ll make camp there tonight.”

  “I will tell them,” Jun said as he walked over to the chariot that had carried him.

  “Now,” Wen said, taking up the reins of the horses once again, “let us cover as much ground before dark as we can. I want to be meeting with General Zhai Jue by this time tomorrow.”

  He cracked the reins across the back of the horse, sending the animal and chariot into motion once again. Jun was forced to jump out of the way with a cry of distress as the chariot charged at him on its way to the road. Wen’s laughter carried up the hill as he raced back down the road, a cloud of dust already in his wake.

  TWELVE

  The fire crackled and hissed as Liu laid another log onto it.

  “What is it exactly, Wei, that you’re unsure of?”

  Liu settled himself back down on his bedroll and stared across the fire at his young apprentice, his eyebrows arched upward expectantly.

  “Well, it just all seems so difficult to keep straight is all,” Wei said, his eyes drawn to a stick that he was using to scratch about in the dirt.

  “What, exactly, is it that you’re finding so difficult to keep straight?” Zhai asked. “The names?”

  “Well, that’s part of it,” Wei admitted, stopping the movement of his stick long enough to meet the Minister of War’s eyes. “But also the exact relationship that the Jin Dukes had with the Zhou Kings.”

  “I admit that it’s very hard to comprehend, especially when you first begin to study it,” Liu said as he leaned back onto his elbow and stared into the fire. “Why don’t we go through it one more time?”

  Wei met Liu’s eyes and nodded slightly before dropping the stick to the ground and staring into the fire.

&nb
sp; Marquis Wen sat up for a moment to take a sip of tea before laying back down, his head propped up with a rolled blanket. They’d ridden well into the evening before they reached the halfway point from Anyi to the city of Wei. Wen called for a stop and ordered their four chariots to be circled for defense as they set up camp a short distance from the banks of the Yellow River. It grew dark quickly and they began to doubt whether the rest of the chariots that were set to follow them from the city would arrive, but an hour later they could hear the rumble coming from the west and a few minutes after that an additional four chariots thundered to a stop beside them.

  Wen, wanting some peace and quiet with which to think, had ordered the new arrivals to make their camp further along the road. Now, as the moon rose in the sky above them, a dozen small fires burned with men sitting around them, each wondering what the next day’s audience with General Zhai Jue and the captured Duke Kang would bring for the State of Wei. There was little to do to pass the time but talk, and the five men gathered around the fire were lucky, for two of them were philosophers, and all in the Seven States knew that philosophers could talk around a fire all night long without growing tired, especially when the subject came to the history of the Seven States.

  The conversation had gotten started when Wei had overheard Marquis Wen mention the Three Jins to Zhai Huang. He’d turned to Liu to ask what exactly the Three Jins were when Marquis Wen had overheard him.

  “Only what I’ve been striving for since I came to the throne fifty years ago.”

  Wei had looked from Wen to Liu, confusion written plain on his face, and Marquis Wen had thrown up his head in laughter.

  “Looks like it’ll be a long night, men,” he’d said to the others around the fire. “Well, go on, Liu. You might as well tell the tale of how the Seven States have come about, and how it is that one day soon King Weilie will be forced to recognize the Three Jins.”

  “Perhaps you’re finding it difficult to follow because we didn’t start far enough back,” Liu said, drawing Wei back from his brief reverie.”