The hierarchy among the Western Command's generals could be glimpsed in a single saying: first Yuan, second Chen, third Mao, fourth Zhu, fifth Hu.
The first two, Yuan and Chen, were no ordinary military families. Yuan referred to Yuan Zhen, the current Administrator of Lujiang and General of the Left Army. He belonged to the Chen Commandery Yuan Clan, a descendant of Yuan Huan, and had roots of his own: like Huan Wen, Sun Sheng, Zhu Tao, Yuan Qiao, and Mao Muzhi, he had served on Yu Yi's staff.
From the outset, he had enjoyed considerable independence as Administrator of Lujiang and was regarded as a buffer between Huan Wen and the Western Command, so he had remained in that post for over a decade.
Now, he was gradually leaning toward Huan Wen, becoming instead the largest faction within the Western Command. Clearly, he wanted to use Huan Wen's influence to become the Western Command's true leader, while Huan Wen hoped to use his prestige to hollow it out.
It had to be admitted that Liu Cheng currently lacked the seniority, strength, and family standing to compete with him. They were simply not figures of the same level, generation, or stature.
Especially with Huan Wen involved, Liu Cheng could hardly ignore this fundamental question of political alignment, which concerned both his own political life and the future of the Northern Expedition.
Chen referred to the Yingchuan Chen Clan, descendants of Chen Qun. Originally, it had meant Chen Kui, who had served as Administrator of both Huainan and Chen Commandery. During the first Northern Expedition after Later Zhao's collapse, he had held the title of Western General of the Gentlemen of the Palace and led the advance out of Shouchun in support of Chu Pou. But Chu Pou had died, and