East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“GENERAL ZHOU AND MISTER SUN!”
a soldier announced as General Zhou prepared to enter the command tent.
“Ah! General Zhou, and Mister Sun Jian!” Commander Zhang Wen hailed as
Zhou Shen and Sun Jian approached him.
Zhang Wen was a man of noble stature and inoffensive features, but was
otherwise strangely unremarkable. Stood at his side was a man in plain brown
robes that had rugged features and a bronzed, muscular physique; that man was
Dong Zhuo, the ‘General who routs the Despicable’.
Dong Zhuo bowed to Zhou Shen and said, “General Zhou.”
“Commander, and General Dong,” Zhou Shen said as he bowed to each man in
turn.
“Commander,” Sun Jian replied with a courteous bow. He then turned to
Dong Zhuo, who bowed slightly but said nothing. Sun Jian returned the slight
bow and said, “Respected General Dong; it is a pleasure.”
“…The same,” Dong Zhuo said reluctantly.
“You are invited here for your extraordinary talent, Mister Sun Jian,”
Zhang Wen said with respect. “We are facing tremendous odds; the Qiang are not
to be underestimated, and we have actually lost as many good men to their ranks
as their swords, as it were.”
“There have been a lot of defections, then?” Sun Jian said with
surprise.
“Only of weak, greedy fools that know nothing of loyalty to His
Majesty,” Dong Zhuo suggested. “They are of no loss to us.”
“General Dong is quite right,” Zhang Wen said sadly. “But all the same,
their numbers are the first problem, and their skill is the second. Now,
General Dong has very talented advisers in his employ; General Zhou,
regrettably, has been unable to find a talent to assist him, hence you were
summoned here. ”
“I will serve tirelessly,” Sun Jian promised.
“Right, then!” Zhang Wen said with cheer. “Let’s start by…”
“Aiee… what a bunch of…!” Sun Jian said involuntarily as he entered his tent.
“I can imagine,” Zu Mao grumbled. “So when do we fight…?”
“Dong Zhuo will be trouble,” Sun Jian said surely. “I’ve heard rumours;
he is greedy, self-serving and cowardly, in contrast to his carefully managed
public image. He lost miserably against the Yellow Turbans when forced to fight
them; that means that any success here was bought.”
“So when do we fight…?” Zu Mao asked again.
“…Soon, that’s all I know,” Sun Jian sighed. “But I do not have high
hopes for this campaign. Apparently, the army here will be led by two former
Han officials, Han Sui and Bian Zhang.”
“Low-level clerks,” Cheng Pu supposed.
“A former Attendant Official
and a former Magistrate,” Sun Jian
chortled.
Cheng Pu frowned and made an unintelligible noise that showed his
confusion.
“They’re high positions, or high enough that… … …what have we got
ourselves into here…?” Zu Mao wondered.
“These ‘rebels’ are made up of all sorts,” Sun Jian explained. “Qiang
and Yuezhi peoples made up the initial incursion, but now, it’s mostly locals
that turned on three successive Inspectors and killed the Administrator of-”
“This is a proper uprising
against corruption!” Zu Mao groaned. “We’re going to be fighting miserable
overworked commoners again, and this time they’re-!”
“As before, we show discretion,”
Cheng Pu suggested. “But in future… maybe we should refuse these appointments
if we can.”
Sun Jian nodded slowly.