Why Liu Xiu Took Longyou Before Ba-Shu

Once Liu Xiu moved toward Longyou, Gongsun Shu in Ba-Shu became the last great rival on the road to unity.

Wei Xiao had finally broken with Luoyang. If Liu Xiu wanted to unify the realm, he had to solve Longyou first and then look toward Ba-Shu.

Another Emperor in Ba-Shu

While Liu Xiu was pacifying the east, two western powers grew stronger. One was Wei Xiao in Longyou. The other was Gongsun Shu in Ba-Shu.

Gongsun Shu came from Maoling in Fufeng, a core region of the old Han empire. In his early career he served as a local official through family privilege, and when he governed a county, he kept order well enough that banditry declined.

During Wang Mang's reforms, Gongsun Shu was appointed governor of Shu Commandery. When the realm fell into rebellion, troops from Hanzhong entered Chengdu under the name of righteous soldiers but looted and burned. Gongsun Shu organized local forces and defeated them.

That victory stabilized Shu Commandery and gave him local military power.

In the second year of the Gengshi reign, he defeated an army sent by the Gengshi regime, and his reputation shook Yi Province. Relying on Chengdu and the difficult terrain of Shu, he proclaimed himself King of Shu and made Chengdu his capital.

In the fourth month of Jianwu year one, supported by the powerful families of Chengdu, Gongsun Shu took the imperial title. His state was called Chengjia, and his reign title was Longxing. Around the same time Liu Xiu became emperor in Hebei, Gongsun Shu became emperor in Chengdu.

Ba-Shu had been rich since the Warring States period. After Li Bing's irrigation works, it had the foundation of the "land of abundance." It was also hard to attack and easy to defend. With soldiers and supplies, Gongsun Shu's throne was quite secure.

For Liu Xiu, restoring Han unity meant that Gongsun Shu would eventually have to be faced.

Longyou Had to Move First

If Han forces marched directly into Shu, the greatest danger would not be Chengdu itself. It would be their rear.

Wei Xiao held Longyou and communicated with Gongsun Shu. If Han armies went deep into Ba-Shu, Wei Xiao could harass Chang'an from the northwest and force the Han to fight front and rear at the same time.

So Liu Xiu decided to take Longyou first.

Before formal war with Wei Xiao began, a rumor spread near Chang'an that Feng Yi planned to betray Han and proclaim himself King of Xianyang. The rumor began when Wei Xiao sent a minor official toward Luoyang, outwardly to greet Liu Xiu but in reality to observe the central plains. On the way through Chang'an, the man was killed by an enemy. Someone then claimed Feng Yi had killed the envoy to anger Wei Xiao and profit from the conflict.

Feng Yi had guarded Chang'an for more than three years. Since defeating the Red Eyebrows, he had fought and pacified Guanzhong. When he heard the rumor, he asked to return to Luoyang. Liu Xiu first refused, then allowed it after repeated requests.

When Feng Yi reached Luoyang, Liu Xiu praised him in front of the ministers. This was the clerk who had followed him from the beginning, cut through thorns for him, and stabilized Guanzhong.

Feng Yi had long been called the Big Tree General because after battles, when others argued over credit, he would sit alone under a tree and think through the campaign.

Feng Yi told Liu Xiu that Wei Xiao and Gongsun Shu occupied the southwest and would not submit unless struck hard. Liu Xiu told him that Chang'an was the hinge between Longyou and Shu and could not be lightly abandoned.

After steadying morale in Chang'an, Liu Xiu sent troops against Wei Xiao. The first Han attack went badly and had to withdraw.

Wei Xiao Tried to Turn Back Again

After winning the first clash, Wei Xiao became afraid to push the conflict all the way.

Old friends such as Dou Rong and Ma Yuan wrote to him, urging him not to oppose Han. Wei Xiao also understood that one victory did not guarantee another.

So he sent a memorial to Liu Xiu apologizing.

He wrote that when the great army suddenly arrived, Longyou's officials and people were frightened, and he had only sent troops to save himself. Life, death, punishment, and pardon all lay in the emperor's hands. If he were given a chance to correct himself, even his dry bones would not forget the favor.

The ministers in Luoyang were angry. Wei Xiao had fought the court's army and then tried to excuse himself with stories of filial devotion from ancient sage-kings. Some asked that Wei Xiao's son, held in Luoyang as hostage, be killed.

Liu Xiu did not act at once. Instead he sent Lai Xi with a handwritten letter. The letter said that even lords who fled or rebelled could recover their titles if they later submitted. If Wei Xiao truly wished to restrain himself, he should send a second son to court as hostage. If he did not wish to do so, he need not reply.

The meaning was plain. Either show new sincerity or stop pretending submission.

Wei Xiao thought it over and concluded that Liu Xiu would no longer trust him. He sent envoys to submit to Gongsun Shu. Gongsun Shu made him King of Shuoning and asked him to raise troops in coordination against Liu Xiu.

From Wei Xiao's position, this was not irrational. He was weakest, Gongsun Shu was somewhat stronger, and Liu Xiu was strongest. If the two weaker powers joined, each might preserve his territory. If Wei Xiao helped Liu Xiu destroy Gongsun Shu, then once Shu fell, Longyou would be next.

Lueyang Cut into the Heart

After Wei Xiao joined Gongsun Shu, Liu Xiu decided to attack Longyou again.

In Jianwu year eight, the general Lai Xi advanced rapidly with light cavalry and seized Lueyang, a key stronghold in Longyou. Liu Xiu was delighted. He told those around him that when General Lai took Lueyang, it was like striking into Wei Xiao's heart and belly. Once the heart and belly were damaged, the limbs would naturally fall apart.

Wei Xiao heard that Lueyang had fallen and personally led a large army to attack it. Wu Han reported to Liu Xiu that he had already sent troops to reinforce the city.

Liu Xiu became angry instead. Who had told Wu Han to advance? Wei Xiao had lost a vital place and would certainly throw his elite troops against it. Lueyang was strong and could not be taken quickly. Only after Wei Xiao had exhausted himself against its walls should Han forces move.

This was exactly what happened. Wei Xiao besieged Lueyang for months without taking it. When Liu Xiu saw that his troops were tired, he decided to campaign in person. Some warned that the east had only just been pacified and he should not go far. Liu Xiu ignored them. The army reached Gaoping, joined Dou Rong's forces, and attacked Wei Xiao hard.

Han progress was rapid, and Wei Xiao retreated to Tianshui. Liu Xiu wanted to destroy him at once, but urgent news arrived from Luoyang: peasant rebels had risen in Yingchuan, and garrison troops in Hedong had also rebelled. Liu Xiu had to return east day and night.

On the road, he sent an edict to Cen Peng saying that people always suffer from not knowing satisfaction: after pacifying Long, he now looked toward Shu. He hoped the generals would take Longyou and then immediately advance into Ba-Shu.

The idiom "after gaining Long, looking to Shu" came from this moment.

Longyou Could Not Hold

After Liu Xiu withdrew, the Han army in Longyou ran into trouble.

He had instructed Wu Han that after a battle, soldiers from different commanderies would only consume grain if kept together. If they began deserting, morale would shake. Better to dismiss them in time.

Wu Han wanted to use more troops to surround Wei Xiao and did not follow the instruction.

More soldiers gathered, and food grew scarcer. Hungry men began to flee. Then Zhou Zong and other Wei Xiao commanders arrived suddenly with five thousand reinforcements sent by Gongsun Shu. The Han army had no time to form properly. Wu Han burned his baggage and withdrew to Chang'an, losing much of the earlier progress.

In Jianwu year nine, Wei Xiao fell ill. Years of war and famine had exhausted the region. The people had little food, and Wei Xiao himself was reduced to eating bean rice. Sick and hungry, he died.

After his death, Wang Yuan, Zhou Zong, Yong Kai, and others raised his young son Wei Chun as king and held Ji County. Gongsun Shu also sent troops, still hoping Longyou and Ba-Shu could support each other.

In Jianwu year ten, Liu Xiu saw that Wu Han and the others still could not pacify Longyou and decided to campaign in person again. In the tenth month, Lai Xi and the other generals broke through the gates of Ji County. Zhou Zong surrendered Wei Chun, and Wang Yuan fled to Gongsun Shu.

Longyou was pacified.

Two Roads into Shu

After a short rest, the Han army began the full attack on Shu. One route entered from Longyou. Another moved upstream along the river. The two were meant to press Gongsun Shu from different directions.

In the sixth month of Jianwu year eleven, Lai Xi and Gai Yan attacked Wang Yuan and Huan An, defeated them badly, and pursued. Gongsun Shu was frightened and sent an assassin to kill Lai Xi.

The assassin's blade struck deep into Lai Xi's body. Before dying, Lai Xi urgently summoned Gai Yan and entrusted the army to him. Then he wrote one last memorial to Liu Xiu with his own hand, threw down the brush, pulled out the blade, and died.

Lai Xi's death made Liu Xiu decide to lead a major campaign against Gongsun Shu himself. In the seventh month, the Han army reached Chang'an and prepared to enter Shu through the passes.

Gongsun Shu hurriedly moved troops, sending Yan Cen, Lu Wei, Wang Yuan, Gongsun Hui, and others to defend Guanghan and Zizhong. Cen Peng sent Zhang Gong with fifty thousand surrendered soldiers up the Fu River to attack Yan Cen.

Zhang Gong had many men and little grain. Many surrendered troops wanted to flee. Just then an envoy from Liu Xiu arrived at Cen Peng's camp with seven hundred warhorses. Zhang Gong falsely announced an imperial order, took the horses, and marched through the night.

He raised many banners, climbed the hills, beat drums, and shouted. Infantry moved on the right bank, cavalry on the left, and warships advanced together. Yan Cen had not expected the sudden Han attack and panicked. Zhang Gong pressed the advantage, defeated the Shu army, and killed or drowned more than ten thousand men.

Yan Cen fled back to Chengdu, and many troops along the way surrendered.

Under the Walls of Chengdu

The Han army kept moving toward Chengdu. Cen Peng wrote to Gongsun Shu, urging surrender and promising that if he submitted, his family's wealth and rank could be preserved.

Gongsun Shu sighed after reading the letter and showed it to those close to him. Many urged him to surrender. He refused, saying that rise and fall were matters of Heaven's mandate. How could a Son of Heaven surrender?

Soon after, he sent another assassin, this time killing Cen Peng at night. Two Han commanders, Lai Xi and Cen Peng, had now been assassinated in succession. Command passed to Wu Han.

In the first month of Jianwu year twelve, Wu Han defeated Gongsun Shu's army and reached Guangdu. Liu Xiu still sent men to persuade Gongsun Shu to surrender. Gongsun Shu refused. Wu Han continued attacking and held Guangdu, winning eight battles.

The Eastern Han army reached the outer walls of Chengdu. Zhang Gong also took Mianzhu and Fucheng and joined Wu Han.

Gongsun Shu could only distribute gold and cloth to recruit five thousand death-defying men and give them to Yan Cen. Yan Cen sent cavalry behind Wu Han and defeated the Han army. Wu Han fell from his horse into the water and escaped only by grabbing the horse's tail.

But this was the last flash before collapse.

In the eleventh month of Jianwu year twelve, Zhang Gong's army reached Chengdu's Xianyang Gate. Gongsun Shu personally led troops against Wu Han and ordered Yan Cen to resist Zhang Gong. Yan Cen at first won, but his soldiers had fought from morning to noon without food and were exhausted.

Wu Han seized the moment and sent elite troops against Gongsun Shu. The Shu army fell into chaos. Gongsun Shu was stabbed through the chest by a Han officer, fell from his horse, and was carried back into the city. That night he entrusted the army to Yan Cen and died.

The next day, Yan Cen surrendered the city. Wu Han entered Chengdu, killed Gongsun Shu's wife and children, wiped out Yan Cen's clan, and let soldiers loot and burn. When Liu Xiu heard, he was furious and harshly rebuked Wu Han.

Even so, Longyou and Ba-Shu had both been pacified. Liu Xiu had been emperor for twelve years. Only now had he basically gathered the realm. After years of war, the restored Han empire would no longer face only battlefields.