Chapter Forty-Nine: The Preventive Dose

The location of Yellow Gate Pavilion lay to the east of Xinye, nestled between the Yu River and the Bi River, roughly southwest of what would later be known as Tanghe County in Nanyang. Thus, heading south from there, after crossing the Bi River, one would enter the territory of Huyang County—the two regions were very close to each other.

Shen Chen and his companions set out around seven or eight in the morning, and after roughly two hours, they arrived in Huyang by midday. When the county magistrate heard of their arrival, he personally came to invite them to the county office for lunch.

During the Han Dynasty, most commoners ate two meals a day. The twelve-hour system marked the period from 7 to 9 a.m. as the “eating hour,” corresponding to the “chen” branch, which was the time for breakfast. From 3 to 5 p.m. was called “bu,” corresponding to the “shen” branch, when people would have a combined lunch and dinner and eat nothing more for the rest of the day.

But that was the custom among the general populace—over ninety percent of whom struggled for survival, toiling endlessly and barely managing two meager meals a day. For the highborn and powerful, however, three meals were the bare minimum; they could dine whenever they pleased.

Thus, upon receiving the magistrate’s invitation, after consulting with his wife and Shen Chen, Deng Hong gladly accepted. Besides the county magistrate, two other prominent local clans were present: the Fengs of Huyang and the Fans of Huyang.

Deng Hong instructed his servants to guard the carriages and sent someone into the city to have food and wine delivered. He, his wife, and Shen Chen then followed Magistrate Li into the county office.

Alongside Magistrate Li were two men: the head of the Feng clan, a man in his thirties, and the head of the Fan clan, who was around forty years old, named Feng Gai and Fan He, respectively.

Once inside the main hall, Magistrate Li took the seat of honor, with Deng Hong and his wife at the first position to his right, Shen Chen at the second, and the heads of the Feng and Fan families opposite them.

The two sides exchanged greetings and began to converse amiably.

The Fengs and Fans, as it happened, were closely connected to both the Liu and Deng families. The Fans of Huyang were the family of Emperor Guangwu’s uncle, Fan Hong, with vast estates and innumerable servants and over ten thousand acres of good farmland. The Fengs were descendants of Feng Fang, Minister of Works under Emperor Guangwu, whose grandson Feng Shi became Grand Commandant during Emperor An’s reign—a family ennobled for generations. Both clans, like the Dengs, were old aristocratic houses of Nanyang and had formed marital alliances with the imperial Liu family and the Dengs. Liu Xiu’s maternal family was the Fans; Feng Fang’s son had married the eldest Princess Huo Jia, daughter of Emperor Ming, making them in-laws to the emperor.

The Dengs’ illustrious history needed no elaboration—Empress Dowager Deng and Lady Deng Meng were both empresses. Their ancestors often crossed paths; for example, in Emperor Shun’s time, the Fengs, Fans, and Dengs formed a political faction, only to be ousted from Luoyang by the machinations of eunuchs like Jiang Jing.

In those days, the elite families were closely allied at the top, while their lesser branches lived near each other in Xinye and Huyang, forming countless ties by marriage. Thus, the Dengs had a complex relationship with the Fans and Fengs of Huyang; they could reminisce about their ancestral glory and thereby draw closer.

Unfortunately, it was now the late Eastern Han, and ancestral glory was of little practical use.

By this era, the great clans of Nanyang had declined. Since the reign of Emperor Ling, apart from He Jin and Zhang Wen—who were Nanyang natives but not of noble birth—not a single member of the noble families had risen to high office.

Today, their status was little different from Deng Hong’s, or even lower. After all, Deng Hong held an official post and followed Governor Liu Biao of Jingzhou, while the others merely possessed some land in the county, barely qualifying as local gentry rather than true aristocracy.

So as they conversed about the past, a sense of melancholy filled the room.

Since crossing over into this era, Shen Chen had studied diligently and gradually grasped the true flow of history. He now understood why the once-glorious Nanyang clans fell so desolately in the waning Han, surpassed by upstarts like the Yangs of Hongnong and the Yuans of Runan.

The root cause was the overwhelming prominence of Nanyang’s great clans in the mid-Eastern Han. Of the twenty-eight generals of the Cloud Terrace, thirteen hailed from Nanyang. The three founding ministers under Guangwu—Deng Yu as Grand Minister over the Masses, Li Tong as Minister of Works, and Wu Han as Grand Commandant—were all from Nanyang. The number of Nanyang’s noble houses ennobled for generations was beyond counting; officials from Nanyang filled a third of the court.

When greatness peaks, decline follows.

No matter how mighty a family, their prime lasts at most a hundred years. From the reign of Emperor Shun onward, the Nanyang gentry suffered their first major setback. Eunuchs like Jiang Jing seized control of the court, dismissing and driving to ruin countless Nanyang officials, especially those of the Deng clan. After Emperor Huan, when Lady Deng Meng was deposed, the Nanyang great clans saw a brief resurgence, only to be struck down again—this time fatally. They withdrew from the political center and, by the era of warlords, lost all influence.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion further devastated Nanyang, slashing its population and shattering the power of the noble families, leaving them helpless to affect the course of events.

Now, the descendants of former political allies—the Dengs, Fans, and Fengs—were reunited. Time had flowed on; former central powerhouses were now reduced to local gentry, and they could not help but sigh as they reflected on this fall from grace.

After some talk of their ancestral glory, Magistrate Li finally asked with curiosity, “Are you planning to take your new wife back to Xiangyang, Chief Registrar?”

Deng Hong nodded. “Indeed. Lord Liu granted me a month’s leave, and I have spent more than twenty days at home. Now, I plan to return. Why do you ask, Magistrate? Has something happened in Xiangyang?”

Magistrate Li smiled. “Nothing has happened, only the Governor is currently not in Xiangyang.”

“Oh?” Deng Hong and Shen Chen exchanged glances. “Where is the Governor now?”

“He is in Wan City.”

“What is he doing in Wan City?”

“Chief Registrar, you may not have heard: over ten days ago, a court envoy arrived in Xiangyang, sent by the imperial court. The Emperor has dispatched the Grand Equerry as his envoy to Jingzhou.” Magistrate Li gestured northwest. “When the Governor learned of this, he hurried to Wan City to meet the imperial envoy.”

Hearing this, Shen Chen gave Deng Hong a meaningful look.

Deng Hong’s brow furrowed, and he sighed deeply. “Alas…”

Magistrate Li, along with Feng Gai and Fan He, looked at each other in puzzlement. “Why do you sigh, Chief Registrar?”

Deng Hong, following Shen Chen’s earlier advice, replied, “I sigh for the misfortune of the Son of Heaven, and for the misfortune of Nanyang. I fear great calamity may soon befall Nanyang.”

The three exchanged glances—until now, the lunch had been a cheerful affair, a chance to build ties for the future. Suddenly, the mood turned somber.

But since Deng Hong had broached the subject, none of them could simply change the topic, so Feng Gai ventured, “Why do you say so, Chief Registrar?”

Deng Hong surveyed them. “Think on it: the Emperor’s envoy comes, surely to request Lord Liu to ‘defend the king.’ If the Emperor were safe, would such a request be needed? Since last year, you have all heard of the turmoil in Guanzhong.”

Fan He nodded. “Yes. Refugees from Guanzhong have poured into Nanyang through Wu Pass. Lord Liu sent officials to resettle them on farmland here, and Huyang took in a group of destitute people who are now farming in Tangzi Village.”

Deng Hong continued, “Since last year, the great families of Guanzhong have said the Emperor wished to move east to Luoyang but was held captive by Li Jue and Guo Si. Now, with the chaos, the Emperor will surely attempt his move, and will ask Lord Liu for troops and supplies to defend the throne.”

“Isn’t this a good thing?” the others wondered.

Deng Hong pressed on, “But think: Guanzhong is in such chaos that food is desperately scarce. Over a million have fled; even the Emperor is forced to leave for Luoyang. The situation must be dire—how is this a good thing?”

Magistrate Li shook his head. “I understand your meaning, Chief Registrar. But if the Emperor moves to Luoyang and Lord Liu comes to his aid, all will be well.”

Deng Hong was speechless. “Magistrate, you still don’t grasp my point. If the situation in Guanzhong is so desperate that even the common folk and the Emperor cannot remain, it means that since the year before, no one has grown crops there. Disasters continued last year, and the Xiliang armies were in constant turmoil. When everyone has fled and the starving soldiers of Xiliang have nothing left, what do you think they will do? Must I spell it out?”

“You mean they will invade Nanyang?”

The group was startled.

“Exactly,” Deng Hong nodded. “If my prediction is correct, someone will soon come south from Wu Pass to pillage Nanyang. At that time, Nanyang will be engulfed in war.”

The three exchanged glances, taken aback.

There was a brief silence, and Magistrate Li signaled a servant to pour wine for Deng Hong.

Raising his own cup, Magistrate Li smiled, “Chief Registrar, perhaps you worry too much. Lord Liu commands seventy or eighty thousand armored troops—would the Xiliang men of Guanzhong dare invade Nanyang? Let us drink.”

“Yes, let’s drink. Such idle talk does no good. If word reached Lord Liu, he would not be pleased.”

“Come, let’s drink.”

The three tried to ease the mood. For one thing, they did not believe Deng Hong; for another, it was not prudent to discuss such matters.

With Liu Biao still in power, to suggest his territory might be overrun by the warlords of Guanzhong was, in effect, an insult.

Moreover, Liu Biao’s strength was still formidable—though not yet at his historical peak around 200 AD, when he absorbed Zhang Xian’s forces in Changsha and consolidated Jingnan, commanding over a hundred thousand men—but he was already a regional lord.

None there believed Deng Hong’s words.

Seeing their disbelief, Deng Hong glanced nervously at Shen Chen. All of this was Shen Chen’s guidance—a strategy to intimidate the local great families and common folk around Xinye into seeking protection with Yellow Gate Pavilion when war came to Nanyang. But for now, it seemed ineffective.

Shen Chen, however, raised two fingers in a V—signaling Plan B, not the gesture for victory.

Deng Hong took a drink, sighed, and said, “I know you do not believe me, but never mind. I expect that soon there will be news from Wu Pass. When that happens, I urge you to be ready.”

“If it is as you say, Lord Liu should be able to repel any invaders,” Magistrate Li offered, seeing Deng Hong linger on the subject.

“Of course,” said Deng Hong, “but Lord Liu’s real enemy is not the Xiliang armies from Guanzhong, but Cao Cao in the north. This villain is ruthless and violent—he slaughtered hundreds of thousands in Xuzhou and filled the Si River with corpses. If he comes, Nanyang will be strewn with bodies. My hope is only that you remain vigilant.”

“Thank you, Chief Registrar.”

“We will keep it in mind,” Feng Gai and Fan He replied, somewhat perfunctorily.

Seeing this, Deng Hong concluded, “I have said all I can. If, in the future, you find my warnings have come true, and Cao Cao does invade, you are welcome to seek protection with my clan at Yellow Gate Pavilion. We have already dug trenches and built fortifications, and I believe we can avoid most disasters.”

It was simply a precaution.

Just as back at Yellow Gate Pavilion, when Shen Chen had warned that Cao Cao would massacre Xuzhou, no one believed him. Until the blade actually fell, no one wished to abandon their homes and flee. Only the facts could convince them.

So Deng Hong did as Shen Chen had done before—plant the seed of prophecy as a warning. If they did not believe him now, when the prophecy was fulfilled, they would change their minds. With the support of these local gentry, and his own reputation among the people, Deng Hong could rally the clans and commoners of Xinye and Huyang, thereby strengthening Yellow Gate Pavilion’s influence.

For now, this was Shen Chen’s strategy; when history took its course, the seeds would blossom and bear fruit.

After the banquet, Magistrate Li, along with Feng and Fan and some of the local people, escorted Deng Hong out of the county.

The caravan continued south toward Caiyang, the ancestral land of the Cai clan, where they would stop to pay their respects before heading west to Fancheng and boarding a boat for Xiangyang.

Meanwhile, as Deng Hong and Shen Chen made their way to Xiangyang, in Wan City, Liu Biao was meeting with the imperial envoy.

The envoy was Grand Equerry Zhao Qi. After exchanging formal greetings, Zhao Qi stated his purpose: the Emperor wished to move east to Luoyang, but the city lay in ruins and he hoped Liu Biao would provide troops, money, and grain to support the court.

Upon hearing this, Liu Biao immediately agreed. Jingzhou was the most stable region in the land; last year, under Shen Chen’s system of land reclamation, some 200,000 new refugees had opened up over a million acres of farmland. The winter wheat was already planted and would be harvested in spring; there was no shortage of resources.

Seeing Liu Biao’s ready agreement, Zhao Qi was delighted and remained in Wan City for a time to discuss details—how much money and grain to send, how many troops and craftsmen to dispatch to restore the palaces in Luoyang, and so forth.

A few days later, once Zhao Qi had received satisfactory answers, he prepared to return by ox cart through Wu Pass to Guanzhong and report to Emperor Liu Xie, who was then in Hedong.

Liu Biao, for his part, returned to Xiangyang and began implementing the plans discussed with Zhao Qi, sending soldiers and craftsmen with supplies to Luoyang.

Meanwhile, Deng Hong and Shen Chen spent two days in Caiyang, paid their respects at the Cai ancestral shrine, then departed westward into the territory of Fancheng.

Once again, they passed through the familiar eastern gate, and saw familiar figures reclining atop the parapet.