The room was much smaller than he’d expected, square-shaped and sparsely furnished. A large desk sat in one corner, two chairs in front of it, while the middle of the room was occupied by a square table with four chairs tucked into it. A small bed, fit more for a soldier’s tent than a Duke’s bedroom, was tucked into another corner. The room contained only one window, which Wei suspected looked down onto the front courtyard. Several large plants were set into pots in the empty spaces along the walls, and shuttered lanterns burned from hooks set into the stone walls.
But the most notable feature of the room was who was in it. Duke Xiao stood standing in front of the table in the center of the room in the same simple brown robes of the men outside. Wei remembered Xiao from the dinner that all of the rulers of the Seven States had attended back in Luoyang five years before, the same night that Marquis Wen of Wei had died and the day before the peace agreement between all of the states had been signed. Xiao had been the youngest man at the dinner, and no one had paid him much attention, even though they all knew that when his grandfather died he’d become the new Duke of Qin.
Xiao moved forward when Wei entered the room, and Wei could see some resemblance to his grandfather in the still-young man. His long black hair was bound back in the same neat queue that Wei remembered, and his long black mustache flowed down into the same dark beard, which he allowed to end in one point instead of two like his grandfather had favored. His brown eyes contained warmth as he approached Wei and put a steady hand on his shoulder.
“Wei Yang, it’s been some time since we’ve been in the same room together,” the Duke said as he pulled his hand back and stood with his arms folded into the long sleeves of his robe.
“Five years,” Wei replied. “The night that Marquis Wen died.”
Duke Xiao nodded. “Yes, his death came as quite a surprise. I think it speaks volumes to the strength of the man and the respect that he commanded that all of the other rulers present in Luoyang at that time managed to put aside their animosities and sign the peace that Wei was the strongest supporter of.”
“He was a good man,” Wei said quietly as he looked past the Duke.
Xiao noticed his wandering eyes and quickly pulled his hands out of his sleeves. “Where are my manners? You must be tired after such a long journey from the city.” He took a few steps back and pulled one of the chairs out from under the table. “Please, take a seat.”
Wei nodded and walked slowly to the chair, lowering himself gingerly into it.
“I understand that you suffered some serious injuries a short time ago?” Xiao asked as he pulled another chair out and nodded toward Jing before pulling one out for himself to sit next to Wei.
“Just a difference of opinion with some Confucians,” Wei said.
“I see.” Xiao reached up to stroke his mustache as he stared at Wei, the room falling silent for several moments. At last he clapped his hands together and made to rise from his chair. “Well, Wei, you must be quite tired, I’m sure. We have a room prepared for you just down the hall. Perhaps after some rest-”
Wei held up his hand, silencing the Duke. “If it would be alright I’d like to speak to you now. From what I’ve heard around the state and from your man Jing here, I know that you’re looking for men to help you make Qin into a powerful state once again. I’d just assume you asked whatever it is you wanted to ask so I can be on my way.”
Duke Xiao’s eyes shot to Jing, who simply shrugged. A slight smile came to his face as he lowered himself back into his chair.
“Jing told me that you were quite headstrong, but I had no idea.”
“I’m a simple man with a simple life,” Wei said with a shrug. “If you’re looking to make Qin great then I think that you have the wrong man.”
“I see,” Duke Xiao said as he folded his fingers in front of his mouth.
“There are plenty of examples of things that Qin can do that are already being practiced in other states,” Wei went on. “The changes that General Wu Qi brought to Chu are a good model to follow.”
“They weren’t a good model for him,” Jing said quickly, “they got him killed.”
“Which is a good sign that they were working,” Wei said calmly. “I think that Su Xiong has come to that same conclusion and that’s why he’s kept the changes in place.”
“What Duke Su’s doing in Chu is certainly interesting,” Xiao said, “but could those same changes be replicated in Qin?”
Wei shook his head. “Qin is too far behind to even begin contemplating the same changes that General Wu brought to Chu. For one thing there is barely any army in Qin to speak of. Many of the changes that General Wu brought dealt with the army, as was to be expected from a military man. The other changes had to do with the nobles, a problem which Qin is thankfully without.”
“Yes, what nobles we have here are not granted the same amount of independence as those in Chu were,” Xiao said. “But what about Wei? You lived and served most of you life there; surely you have some suggestions on how Qin could emulate the changes that brought that state to the fore in such a short period of time.”
“Wei was in a unique position which many of the other states were not,” Wei said. “The state was blessed with a good location in the center of the Seven States, plentiful resources and the manpower to utilize them, and many generations of strong leadership.”
“And Qin cannot boast of those things?” Jing asked.
Duke Xiao shook his head. “Not all, but a few.” He leaned forward in his chair as he studied Wei. “Qin has a sizable area of land, and the resources that we possess are equal to or greater than those of the other states. Our location, while not centralized, I think affords us certain other advantages. We can continually expand westward, something that none of the other states save for Chu can claim, and the only way into our state is through the passes, the Hangu in the east and the Tong in the west.”
“And the leadership?” Wei asked, his head held in his hand and his gaze set firmly on Xiao.
Jing cleared his throat and leaned forward. “There’s nothing wrong with the leadership of Qin, for many-”
“Jing, please,” Xiao said, holding his hand up to silence the man. “Wei is right, we haven’t had many generations of strong leadership like the State of Wei has enjoyed, and that’s perhaps the main reason that we find ourselves as the weakest of the Seven today.”
“Sire, your grandfather was a strong man who did many fine things for this state,” Jing said.
“He was a good man, and perhaps the finest thing that he did for Qin was to sign the peace in Luoyang, ensuring that Qin was not overrun by its neighbors, something that very well could have happened by now except for that document.” Xiao sighed. “But he was not a great leader, which is what Qin had needed for some time. None of the previous duke’s made the hard changes that must be made if Qin is not only to reclaim its rightful place as one of the leading states, but if it’s simply to survive.” He leaned back in his chair and directed his gaze once again at Wei. “We need your help, Wei. We need your ideas,” he paused to point at the book sitting in Jing’s lap, “and those of your mentor, Liu Kui. Perhaps you derive a certain amount of satisfaction from your wanderings around the Seven States, taking odd jobs transcribing documents for one man or another, but I doubt it. You didn’t work your way up in the world to do that. Liu was training you as an advisor to Dukes and Marquis’ and even Kings. Don’t throw that all away, Wei.” He leaned forward in his chair and clasped Wei’s hand in his and stared steadily into his eyes. “Help me to again make Qin great, Wei.”
Wei sat staring into Duke Xiao’s eyes for several moments, moments in which the Duke’s gaze did not falter nor his grip lessen. Finally, after nearly a minute had passed, Wei nodded.
“We will talk for as long as it takes for me to tell you my ideas,” he said slowly. “You may question as much as you like, argue even, but mainly I want you to listen. When I’m finished, you either agree to the changes I propose and I
stay on to serve Qin, or you do not, at which point I will take Liu’s book and go.”
Duke Xiao nodded. “Then let us talk.”
FIVE
The troops on the field were in disorder. There were several divisions gathered, that was clear, but where one division ended and another began was anyone’s guess. Here one line of men would be so tightly packed together that they wouldn’t even have room to draw their weapons, while there another would be so loose that a chariot could drive through the gap between two men. Men on horseback and a few in chariots raced up and down and across the field trying to bring order to the situation, but all they managed to do was make it worse.
Pang chuckled as he watched one commander get his men formed up tight at the end of a line, race down to the opposite end to do the same, only to have the men that had just been re-formed come apart all over again.
“It’s a wonder they haven’t been conquered yet,” Pang said to the officer next to him, a man whose name Pang couldn’t recall. Over the past ten years that he’d been commanding the army so many officers had come and gone that he could no longer tell one from another.
The officer nodded and smiled but said nothing, causing Pang to wonder how long this one would last before some mistake on the man’s part brought his career, and most likely his life as well, to a crashing end. Still, Pang thought as he turned his attention back to the field below, that end most likely wouldn’t be coming today.
The commander that he’d been watching had somehow managed to get his whole line formed up tight and straight only to have another line from behind march into it and throw both into complete chaos and confusion.
Best to end this debacle as soon as possible, Pang thought as he turned his gaze to the well-ordered lines of troops that comprised his army. Ten thousand men were arrayed in five divisions at the base of the hill. They were a mile from the city of Qufu, and half that distance from the enemy’s ranks. With a single command from Pang his officers would begin moving those troops forward, and the small State of Lu would be no more.
Pang was just about to issue that command to the officer next to him when he heard a horse coming swiftly from behind. Turning, Pang saw the rider gallop right up to within a dozen feet of them before pulling back hard on the reins and causing the animal to rear up on its hind legs with a loud whinny and snort.
“Sir, everything is in place for the attack,” Pang said when the horse had settled back to the ground.
Hui of Wei, Marquis Wu’s son and next in line to the throne of the State of Wei, trotted his horse the few remaining feet to Pang and the officer. His long black hair, usually tied neatly behind his head in a long queue, was instead flowing loose behind him. His straight black beard flowed down just past his throat but only one side of his mustache flowed down to join it, the other being purposely trimmed short. Very few commented or asked about the peculiar mustache while in Hui’s presence. After all, few escaped without Hui’s wrath descending upon them. That wrath was usually unleashed depending upon the transgressor’s rank in the army. Higher ranked men usually escaped with little more than a scathing look, but Pang had know Hui to actually kill lower-ranking soldiers, especially if they happened to laugh.
Few men anymore knew of the true reason why Hui kept the mustache purposefully trimmed, but Pang was one of them. Although he hadn’t been in the Wei Army twenty years before during the now legendary siege of Zhongshan, he had heard the tales, once even from Hui himself after both had spent a long night drinking together. The mustache was kept short not so much on purpose but because it could no longer grow long on that side. The scar had come from Marquis Wen’s rings after he’d publicly slapped Hui following a botched trial by chariot. And those scares ensured that the mustache would never look proper. The shame of that scar, however, kept Hui from ever shaving and letting the world see it.
Hui stroked the long side of that mustache as he stared out at the field. Looking at Hui’s disheveled hair, Pang couldn’t help but think that Hui had just woken up, even though the sun had already been up for a few hours, and ridden quickly from the rear of the army’s camp from where he’d no doubt been having his way with one of the many women that followed the army’s march. Pang wondered if he would do the same if he had such a beautiful wife waiting back in a palace in Anyi, but he doubted it. Still, Hui was his commander and his friend, and he wouldn’t grudge the man what pleasures he could find.
“How long have they been in such a sorry state?” Hui asked as he surveyed the field.
“Today?” Pang asked, turning his head to look at Hui as a small smile crept onto the heir’s face.
Hui laughed as he began running his fingers through his hair. “You’re right, Pang. When has Lu ever not been in such a sorry state?” His hair straightened to satisfaction, Hui began looping it about and tying it into a top-knot that let most of the hair fall down his back.
“It should be an easy victory for our men and with few losses,” Pang said as he looked back to the field. “Once the army is routed I don’t think the city will try and hold out.”
“We won’t be welcomed warmly, but throw their gates open to us they will. The last thing they want is a protracted siege, especially with all of their fighting men defeated.”
Pang nodded. “And then what?”
Hui narrowed his eyes at the question. “Then we lay down the new laws, put our administrators in place with a sizable force of occupation, and move on. What did you think we would do?”
“I mean what next after Lu?” Pang said, turning back to look at Hui. “In the past year we’ve defeated the States of Song, Zheng, and now after today, Lu. Who else is there?”
Hui stroked the single long strand of his mustache as he looked from Pang to the city in the distance. “Wey?” he asked finally.
“Zhou is already making moves against them,” Pang said. “They’ll be finished by the time the year is up.”
Hui’s brows knitted. “Then who else is there?”
“None that I can think of,” Pang replied.
“Well, then whatever will we do with ourselves, Pang? Two old army men with an army but no one to fight. If there’s a sorrier thing than I haven’t seen it.”
Both men laughed, and the officer tried to join in as well. Hui seemed to notice him for the first time.
“Sergeant,” Hui said forcefully. “Send the order out that our divisions are to begin advancing. Let the archers do their work then send out the soldiers. The flanks are to be assaulted with chariots and horsemen.” He turned back to look at Pang, a slight smile turning up the sides of his mustache. “The usual procedure.”
“Yes, commander,” the officer said loudly before kicking his horse into motion and rushing down the hillside to the division commanders.
“What will we do, Pang?” Hui asked after the man had gone. “I haven’t been back to Anyi in more than five years, I don’t want to go back.”
“You have a wife and young son waiting for you there, Sire.”
Hui shook his head. “I’d rather face ten divisions of men on the field than face her.”
Pang looked back to the field. He knew Hui and his wife had problems, but he didn’t know to how great an extent. Hui rarely talked about her or his son. They didn’t seem to exist for him.
The first volley of arrows suddenly shot out into the air and began raining down on the still disorganized Lu soldiers. The barrage would have been much more deadly if the troops would have been packed together tightly like they should have been, and which their commanders were still desperately trying to do. A second volley shot out and then the divisions of infantry began their march. Just the sight of the thousands of men advancing upon them was too much for some in the Lu ranks; Pang saw several men drop their weapons right then and there and begin rushing back toward the city or simply out across the field toward the distant hills.
Beside him Hui shook his head. “Are there no opponents left worth fighting anymore?”
“Plenty,�
�� Pang answered. “The only problem is that they’re protected from an attack by a peace that was signed by us all.”
“Ah, the Seven States,” Hui said with a mocking edge. “I’m surprised the peace is still in place after these twenty years.”
“And with the death of Marquis Li of Han recently as well,” Pang said. “His son Marquis Wen of Han isn’t bound by the agreement that his grandfather signed in Luoyang.”
“And who knows what Qi is up to,” Hui said. “It took twenty years but Duke Kang is now finally dead, of old age of all things. The way that the Tian’s were hunting him it’s surprising he lasted so long.”
“Especially the way that they were almost dragged into the war between Chu and Yan fifteen years ago when Duke Dao and General Wu Qi were killed,” Pang said.
“Bah!” Hui snorted. “Both states are meaningless and without direction. They wouldn’t even classify as a challenge.”
“It seems to me, Sire, that soon there will be many new opponents, and all of them worthy, unlike those we face here today.”
Hui laughed. “You’re right, Pang. Look at them run. We’d better get down there soon if we want to get a piece of the action.”
Hui kicked his horse, sending the animal racing down the hill. Pang watched him go for a few moments, and, with a shake of his head, did the same.
SIX
Hui slammed the empty cup down on the table and reached for the flagon of wine. His bleary eyes opened a little wider as he picked it up and felt that it, too, was empty. He turned it over so that the last few drops fell onto the table then hurled it at the far wall where it shattered into a dozen pieces.
“More wine!” he yelled to no one in particular.
The Warring States, Books 1-3 Page 44
