East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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10
The officers reported to General Zhang Wen as soon as the final outcomes
of both pursuit campaigns were known.
“…Ayah,” Zhang Wen exclaimed
as he looked at Dong Zhuo and Zhou Shen. “I am disappointed, I’ll admit: Zhou
Shen, you’ve cost me my job, I think.”
Zhou Shen could not look his commander or Sun Jian in the eye.
“To lose most of your men… shameful,”
Zhang Wen sighed. “Mister Sun Jian has been very generous to you as well, I
think; three of your captains have told me that he tried to warn you about the
baggage train repeatedly, and you ignored him! What good is having sound
counsel if you don’t heed it…?”
“I am a disgrace,” Zhou Shen
sobbed. “I shall be rightly punished.”
“Yes, and sadly, Mister Sun
Jian and I will be unfairly punished along with you: that’s your guilt to bear, ‘General’ Zhou,”
Zhang Wen scolded. “My main regret is that I did not make you sign a pledge
that ensured your execution if you failed.”
“I am a wretch!” Zhou Shen
wailed.
“On the other hand… General Dong, I am ashamed to say that I misjudged
you completely,” Zhang Wen said humbly. “To be surrounded, and fight your way
out of a barbarian horde without losing a single man; you are a hero among men,
and deserve the highest accolades. I will certainly ensure that the court hears
of your incredible achievements.”
“You overpraise me,” Dong Zhuo said with no sincerity whatsoever; Sun
Jian looked and tried to swallow the imaginary ball of rage that was stuck in
his throat.
Sun Jian began a long and miserable journey home that did not take him past the imperial capital. Commander Zhang Wen and General Zhou Shen did travel to Luoyang, however, where they reported their own failures and the supposed successes of General Dong Zhuo, who remained in Liang Province to ‘valiantly resist rebel attempts to seize the old capital’.
When Sun Jian’s party crossed into Lujiang Prefecture
in northern Yang Province, his movements were somehow reported to Administrator
Lu Kang, who immediately had a messenger invite Sun Jian to his capital. Sun
Jian did not want to delay his return to southern Yang, but he did not want to
appear rude, so he accepted the offer. The world-weary, elderly Lu
Kang greeted the demoralised Sun Jian at the gates of Huancheng City and had
his allies quartered in a respectable tavern while he invited Sun to his own
home for tea.
“I have heard much about the Liang campaign from others, Mister Sun,” Lu
Kang said once the two were seated. “But I wanted to hear it from you.”
“…I suppose that I can speak freely, since you’re a man that detests the
wretched, as I do,” Sun Jian replied. “You’ve opposed the corrupt eunuchs and
the like in Luoyang a few times…”
“…I have, in my long sixty years,” Lu Kang said with a sigh. “But I paid a heavy price, and
coming here, to this place that has so many problems, was the only way to do
good while keeping my life and freedom. Some, like the brilliant Cai Yong, paid
an even heavier price: he’s living in exile somewhere to the east of your home
village, and his health is not good.”
“The campaign was a disaster because of poor planning and worse leaders,
and the campaign wouldn’t have been necessary in the first place if the
province hadn’t been run by such corrupt people!” Sun Jian complained. “They
sent what, three new inspectors to
that place to replace the wicked, greedy fool that they put there originally,
and they were all of them either worse or unfit in some other way!”