Chapter 691
The Mandate of Heaven Shifts South
The noise inside Shouchun City quickly attracted the attention of the Han army, but He Pan, upon learning of it, did not rush into the city. Instead, he ordered his soldiers to breach the dam and release the water.
By the morning of the second day, the floodwaters that had accumulated for over a month had mostly flowed into the Huai River, revealing silt covering the ground and numerous puddles the size of bronze mirrors, in which crucian carp and common carp that hadn't yet managed to escape were leaping. At this time, the wind began to blow again, the sunlight brightened, and the white clouds in the sky appeared like wisps of smoke. But the once bustling city of Shouchun had now returned to quiet.
He Pan then ordered his generals to march out of their camps and form ranks, surrounding the city on all sides. Two miles south of Shouchun, he erected a high platform, raising his own banner. His troops gathered there, each displaying their own banner. The west wind blew, causing the banners to flutter like clouds, and the dark, imposing crowd stretched from the platform all the way to the south gate of Shouchun. As the crowd assembled, drums began to beat in the ranks, one after another.
This was an extremely straightforward statement: the Han army did not intend to enter the city directly, but rather demanded that the Jin court inside the city surrender. They wanted to announce the transfer of the Mandate of Heaven in the most open and aboveboard way.
The scholars within the city were numerous and quickly understood He Pan's meaning. At this time, Wang Yan was under house arrest, and Wang Xuan had temporarily taken command of the city's army. He quickly ordered a pure white steed to be brought in, then helped the bewildered emperor onto the horse. The emperor had been confined within the city for over two months, deprived of his freedom, and was quite weary. Now, mounted on the horse, he felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement, unaware of what was about to happen or the significance of this journey out of the city.
The sun was shining brightly, but the weather was already extremely cold. In particular, the frost from the night had not yet completely melted, and the winter wind felt like a knife cutting through the air, making people feel even colder and damper.
Wang Xuan held a box, pulled on the reins, and looked back. The scene of Wang Yan being surrounded by his entourage and colleagues during his reign was gone. All that could be seen were a few dozen clansmen, standing there expressionless as they saw him off. Most of the others were still watching from the city wall, but it was clear that they only felt relief at surviving the disaster, and felt no sympathy for the fallen Langya Wang clan.
But Wang Xuan could only endure this humiliation. He turned to Wang Xing, Wang Gen and other clansmen and said, "Keep an eye on the master and don't let anything happen to him."
Just as everyone was nodding, Wang Huifeng suddenly asked, "What do we do after this?"
This was a topic no one wanted to discuss, as if it would allow them to avoid facing the issue. But after this sentence, everyone fell silent, and then some people broke down in tears. Everyone knew of the King of Han's order: the Langya Wang clan would be imprisoned for thirty years and barred from holding office. This essentially meant they would be commoners for life. How could they accept that?
But they had no choice but to accept it. Wang Xuan comforted everyone, saying, "If you can keep your life, what is there to complain about? At worst, you can farm the fields, have a house and a field, live with your family, and never leave them. When you die, you can be buried in the fields with a handful of yellow earth. That will be enough."
To his surprise, the women and children wept even more bitterly after he finished speaking. Wang Xuan had no choice but to turn away, leaving everyone's gaze behind, and led his white horse away, stepping through the mud as he left Shouchun City.
The roads, soaked by the flood, were exceptionally difficult to traverse. Coupled with the emperor's obesity, his white horse moved slowly, neighing uncomfortably. Wang Xuan had initially thought surrendering would be easy, but after walking for half a day and seeing Han soldiers surrounding him across the mountains and fields, watching him intently, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive.
The emperor also felt very uncomfortable. Looking at the dense crowds on both sides, he tried his best to straighten his body, but soon found it difficult to maintain. He then whispered to Wang Xuan, "Are all these people here to ask for official positions? I'm afraid I don't have that many positions to give!"
Wang Xuan then said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, these people are mainly here to visit you. After a while, you can rest, and no one will bother you anymore."
"Is that so?" The emperor became pleased again, waving his hands vigorously to his left and right, as if to entertain his guests. The Han soldiers burst into laughter at this sight, whistling as they returned the smiles to the Jin emperor, while privately whispering, "Emperor Wu of Jin has truly lost his mind! To let such a person be emperor, how can the Jin dynasty not perish!"
Everyone knew this was an extremely important historical moment, so they all took off their hoods and threw them into the air, creating a cacophony of cheers. This made the horses a little uneasy, but fortunately, Wang Xuan pulled hard on the reins and managed to keep the horses from getting into any trouble.
After walking several hundred more steps, out of the muddy area, Wang Xuan saw several tall, armored soldiers with swords step forward to his left and right, raising their hands to signal silence to the surrounding soldiers. The Han army quickly returned to silence and solemnly formed ranks. Just moments before, there had been thunderous cheers, but in the blink of an eye, silence had fallen. Wang Xuan felt the terror of the Han army even more, and his body unconsciously hunched over, as if bent by something unseen.
He finally arrived at the foot of the Han army's high platform, then helped the emperor dismount and slowly walked to the center of the platform. There stood hundreds of heavily armored Han generals and officers, most of them robust and strong, like iron towers, reflecting a dazzling light in the sunlight. Among them, Han army marshal He Pan, leaning on his sword, sat upright on a stool. Although he had removed his helmet, revealing his gray hair, it only accentuated the old man's somber and solemn demeanor.
After seeing He Pan, the emperor sized him up for a moment, then suddenly smiled and pointed at He Pan with his index finger, saying, "I...I think I recognize you..."
He certainly recognized He Pan. When He Pan was the Grand Herald in his early years, he often came to court to pay homage to the emperor. He sighed, got up from the stool, bowed slightly to the emperor of Jin, and said gently, "Your Majesty, it's been a long time. I have prepared some food for you, including rock honey and rice cakes. Please go and rest in the back."
The emperor had some things he wanted to say, but upon hearing that there was good food, he immediately beamed and said, "How did you know I've been starving these past few days?" Then he followed Meng Tao and the others down from the high platform and into the camp.
After Sima Zhong left, He Pan looked at Wang Xuan, his expression turning serious again. Wang Xuan dared not meet his gaze and quickly knelt down, touching the lacquer box in his palm, saying, "Reporting to Lord He, the way of Heaven is constant. The Jin dynasty declined while the Han dynasty rose. The seven imperial seals should be returned to their rightful owners."
He Pan opened the lacquer box and saw seven jade seals inside: one large and six small. The large seal was naturally the Imperial Seal of the State, while the small seals were the jade seals used by the emperor in his daily handling of various government affairs.
He Pan closed the wooden lid, solemnly took it in his hands, and then handed it to Liu Lang, who was standing beside him, so that he could hold it on behalf of the King of Han. He then said to Wang Xuan, "Lead the way!" From this moment on, it meant that the Mandate of Heaven of the Jin Dynasty had returned to the hands of the Han Dynasty, and the surrender was over. The next thing the Han army had to do was take over Shouchun and even Huainan, and handle the aftermath of this battle.
At this time, there were more than 50,000 soldiers and civilians in Shouchun City, including 12,037 soldiers and a considerable number of scholars and officials. Among them, there were more than 200 members of the Langya Wang clan alone, as well as 46 large and small aristocratic families such as the Wenxi Pei clan, the Xingyang Zheng clan, the Taiyuan Wang clan, the Taiyuan Guo clan, the Yingchuan Xun clan, and the Yingchuan Chen clan. In addition, there were the Cao and Xiahou clans of the former Cao Wei dynasty, and many descendants of Sun Hao, totaling more than 4,000 people. He Pan registered them all.
Many people tried to plead with He Pan, sending official documents and gifts in hopes of gaining a place in the new court by currying favor with this veteran of two dynasties. But He Pan turned them all away, even those from his own wife's family, the Pei clan.
Pei Xia and other surviving members of the Pei clan sent a letter saying that they had never had any disagreements with the Prince of Han in Luoyang, but rather greatly admired him. They were now willing to work together with He Pan to assist the Prince of Han and rebuild his great enterprise, and even called themselves He Pan's lackeys. He Pan, of course, saw through this ruse; these people were just unwilling to give up their wealth and status. So he sent his eldest son, He Zhang, to reply: "Gentlemen, please do not worry about food and drink; you will have your own provisions along the way. However, my residence is small, and I am not fond of hunting, so I cannot support so many lackeys."
However, in order to appease the scholars, he did not make any absolute statements, but said: "If you all have real talent and learning, the King of Han will have his own plans to test you, why rush it?"
In contrast, the Sima princes were remarkably calm. Sima Chi, the Prince of Yuzhang, and Sima Yan, the Prince of Wu, were both still alive. As the emperor's two last brothers, Sima Chi, facing the Han army guarding them, actually showed a relaxed expression. He took out the manuscript of the *Records of the Three Kingdoms* that Liu Xian had given him years ago and handed it to Meng Tao and the others, saying, "It's all over. The manuscript is returned to its rightful owner. I only hope the new emperor can grant me a quiet plot of land so that my brothers and I can leisurely recite it and spend the rest of our lives in peace."
Besides them, over a hundred others were captured, including Sima Wei, Prince of Yiyang; Sima Hun, Prince of Zhangwu; Sima Zi, Prince of Pei; and Sima Yi, Prince of Gaoyang. It can be said that, apart from a handful of others like Sima Fan, Prince of Xiangyang, who remained in Chang'an, the Jin dynasty's princes and nobles were essentially wiped out by the Han army. However, they were not treated harshly; they were simply placed under house arrest on naval vessels and forbidden from moving freely.
That same day, He Pan hosted a banquet on the Shaopi Pavilion. After all, there were many old acquaintances of Liu Xian in Shouchun City, such as Shan Jian, Fu Zhi, and Liu Yu. They held high positions and were very influential. Although they had some relationship with Liu Xian, and even their relatives and friends were with him, Wang Yan dared not do anything to them; they were merely figureheads. Because of their special status, He Pan naturally treated them with special courtesy in order to win their hearts and minds.
The old men, upon meeting again, were naturally filled with deep sorrow. After countless political upheavals, many once-renowned scholars had vanished without a trace. Zhang Hua, Pei Wei, and others had died tragically in coups; Yue Guang had died in despair in Xuchang; Liu Tun and Ji Shao had been captured by Qi Han; Zuo Si had gone into seclusion in Youzhou; and Wang Yan was now a prisoner. Looking around, they found very few familiar faces.
Standing at the bow of the ship, Fu Zhi observed the Han army's military strength and sighed, "Back when we pacified Qi Wannian, who would have thought we'd end up like this? Fifty years of ups and downs in officialdom, it's all just a fleeting dream!"
These elderly people were all witnesses to the ascension of the Jin dynasty. The Jin dynasty had only lasted for fifty years, and they were not even as old as the many elderly people present. When the new dynasty was established, it divided the country into five classes and greatly promoted the aristocratic families. Everyone thought that the world would soon be unified and that peace would return. Unexpectedly, it perished so quickly.
Shan Jian said, "Yu and Tang blamed themselves, and their rise was swift; Jie and Zhou blamed others, and their downfall was sudden. Governing a country is a difficult task. A slight mistake can lead to complete defeat. Didn't the previous dynasty, the Great Wei, only last for more than forty years? I wonder how long the Han dynasty can last this time."
Shan Jian's words were ominous, but it was no wonder he felt so emotional. The Shan family was originally related to the Sima family through marriage. Zhang Chunhua, the wife of Emperor Xuan of Jin, Sima Yi, was born into the Shan family. This enabled the Shan family to prosper after the Gaopingling Incident. Now, with the change of dynasties, the accumulation of the previous dynasty was destroyed and they had to start from scratch, which inevitably gave them a sense of despair.
He Pan was not angry when he heard this. He just smiled dismissively and said, "The reason why the Jin Dynasty gained the world was because it knew the world was of utmost importance and had to endure and bear the burden. The reason why the Jin Dynasty lost the world was because it was frivolous and childish. Master Shan, you should not speak lightly about rise and fall."
He paused slightly at this point, then added, "What in this world is easy? Just do good deeds and don't worry about the future."
These words deeply moved everyone. Liu Yu, as Liu Kun's elder brother, slowly said, "What Lord He said is very true. What's done is done. Since the King of Han has changed the world and shifted the Mandate of Heaven southward, we can only work together in harmony."
It must be said that the wealth the Jin court brought to Shouchun was immense. After two capital relocations, the treasures from Luoyang and Xuchang were also brought to Shouchun. After a day and night of inventory, they discovered 600,000 bolts of silk, 1.3 million taels of silver, and 200,000 taels of gold. However, grain and fodder were scarce, with only about 50,000 shi remaining. In addition, there were countless rare treasures such as pearls, jade, coral, tortoiseshell, and agate.
But for a nation, what truly matters are other things. The Han army also captured some national treasures, such as the armillary sphere left by Zhang Heng during the Later Han Dynasty, the sundial and weights and measures verified by Xun Xu during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin, a complete set of twelve chime bells, a jade chime, three swords made by Emperor Ling of Han to revive the dynasty, the Jiao Wei Qin left by Cai Yong, the cinnabar tripod of Liu An, the King of Huainan, the Buddha's relics seized from Sun Wu, and more than 100,000 volumes of books from the Jin Dynasty.
These things all have extraordinary historical significance. Wang Yan originally wanted to burn them all to the ground and be buried with him. If he had succeeded, it would probably have been a great disaster for China, but fortunately it did not happen in the end.
Regardless, everything that has happened over the past decade or so has caused immense suffering to the world, and someone must be held accountable. Although this disaster was not caused by one person, but rather by many, some with ulterior motives and others without, the rights and wrongs involved are already too complex and messy to be clearly explained, making a thorough reckoning impossible. Moreover, even if some people are killed, the dead cannot see it, and the grudges will not simply disappear.
But there has to be something to announce to the world that the disaster is over. Otherwise, people cannot comfort themselves and continue to look forward and move on.
On the sixth day of the twelfth month, He Pan, following the prior instructions of the King of Han, decided to execute Wang Yan in public. (End of this chapter)