Chapter 314: Establishing the Great Xia, Proclaiming the Zhongxuan Era

For Nan'ao's current trade volume, a single cargo ship meant nothing, but a threat to shipping was a matter of the utmost importance.

Since all the senior military and civilian officials of Nan'ao were present, Lin Qian did not want to cause alarm, so he asked casually, "Has He Sai returned?"

The guard replied, "He's in the side hall of the front courtyard."

Lin Qian greeted Ye Xianggao, saying he would step out for a stroll, and asked Ye Xianggao to preside over the rest of the discussion.

Lin Qian left the main hall and walked quickly toward the side hall, asking on the way, "What happened? Tell me in detail."

The guard said, "Your subordinate doesn't know the details either—only that it was the wokou who did it. The ship that was seized was empty; the crew were all released, and the losses are not great."

The fleet had been sailing back from Hirado to Nan'ao, and the cargo on board was mostly silver, which was why many of the holds were empty.

Hearing this, Lin Qian felt no comfort. Whether the ship was empty or not, whether the losses were great or small, the fact remained that the shipping route was under threat.

Soon he had entered the side hall, where He Sai sat in anxious suspense. Seeing Lin Qian come in, his face filled with shame and he moved to kneel and beg forgiveness.

Lin Qian sat in the seat of honor and said with a stern face, "Get up! State the facts first."

He Sai said, "The trading convoy went to Hirado this time with twelve whale ships, twenty three-masted Fujian junks, ten Sea Wolf warships, and one Yahat-class vessel.

Business went smoothly, but on the return voyage, in the waters of the Ryukyus, a band of wokou boarded and attacked us by stealth."

Lin Qian frowned and said, "Wokou?"

He Sai nodded and said, "Yes. This band of wokou took advantage of the dark of night, came up to the Fujian junks in small boats, boarded them, subdued the crew, and then sailed toward the open sea.

When I discovered this, I immediately sent the Bill of Lading after them. After chasing for over ten li, we found the crew had been driven into the sea. The Bill of Lading stayed behind to rescue the men overboard, and the wokou seized the opportunity to sail the Fujian junk away."

Since the Nan'ao trading convoy was established, it had never once been hijacked, so the escort sailors had grown lax—which was only to be expected—and He Sai had already punished the escort soldiers on duty that night.

But the fact that the wokou dared to lay hands on the Nan'ao convoy was highly suggestive.

After all, even when the Nan'ao convoy anchored for the night, it anchored in the open sea, where it could not be seen from shore.

For the wokou to come in small boats, at night, and venture deep into the open sea, they must have received word in advance—knowing where the convoy was and that its escort defenses were insufficient.

The spot the wokou chose was also strange. The Ryukyu Islands were a sensitive zone—nominally a vassal of the Great Ming, but in reality secretly controlled by the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Domain.

And in the earlier Bill of Lading turmoil, the Shimazu clan had happened to be the side that failed to withdraw in time and got their gains shaved off. Even though He Sai had warned the Shimazu clan in advance, it was hard to guarantee they bore no grudge.

Add to that the fact that the Dutch, after establishing their Nagasaki trading post, had been exchanging flirtatious glances with the Shimazu clan all along—the whole affair reeked of a coordinated conspiracy.

Lin Qian asked, "How have the civilian merchants passing through the Ryukyus fared recently?"

He Sai said, "I hear quite a few of them have been robbed as well."

Lin Qian thought to himself, Just as I suspected. This was most likely the Dutch stirring up trouble. The Dutch did not want to clash with Lin Qian directly, so they allied with the Shimazu clan to back the Ryukyu wokou.

Commerce raiding was only the surface.

If Lin Qian went to protest, negotiate, or rashly dispatch troops, he would fall straight into the Dutch trap.

The situation in Japan was now treacherous and unpredictable. The shogunate was panicking over the massive outflow of silver, dissatisfied with Nan'ao's silk dumping, and deeply worried about Lin Qian's rise—it had already begun to impose preliminary restrictions on the scale of silver outflow.

To make a move on the Ryukyus at such a time would inevitably further fray the shogunate's nerves, tighten their control over silver outflows, and could even escalate into military confrontation.

And the Dutch trading post in Japan would be able to ride the wave and grow stronger, reaping the benefits of the fisherman's quarrel.

Whether Lin Qian ended up in a standoff with Japan, or reduced exports and lowered silver inflow, both would be a double weakening of his finances and military.

Batavia would then be able to breathe a long sigh of relief, avoiding having to face Lin Qian's military pressure directly.

Lin Qian let out a light laugh. Compared with the Dutch chain of schemes, Yuan Chonghuan's heavy-handed severing of trade was truly a minor sorcerer before a great one.

In truth, Lin Qian had long considered his approach to relations with Japan: temporarily swallow his pride and play the turtle for a while.

Nan'ao had too many external enemies—the Dutch in Batavia to the south, the Great Ming and the Jianzhou barbarians to the north, and the Toungoo Dynasty to the southwest still gnawing away at Yunnan's territory while the Ming was consumed by internal strife.

There was no sense in ignoring the enemies right under one's nose to go picking a fight with one's paymaster.

At the present stage, Nan'ao should first proclaim kingship and establish its state to stabilize internal affairs; externally, it should march north against the Great Ming, take the two provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and march south against Batavia—plucking out the Dutch nail and turning the South China Sea completely into an inland sea.

As for the Japanese wokou, so long as they could still hand over silver and did not cause too much trouble, everything could be written down on the ledger for now. Once a unified regime was established, old grudges and new scores could be settled together.

At this thought, Lin Qian offered He Sai a few words of comfort, then assigned two more Yahat-class vessels—the Banker and the Spice Road—to escort the convoy.

After handling the matter, Lin Qian returned to the main hall. The two sides of debaters had finished their tea break and were once again arguing heatedly—the topic had shifted to whether they should settle on a state name containing the water radical, such as Great Abyss.

Lin Qian asked, "Has the virtue been decided?"

Ye Xianggao said, "No. The water virtue and earth virtue factions are deadlocked, so they've moved on to debating the state name."

Seeing that at this rate they might argue for another month without reaching a conclusion, a flash of inspiration struck Lin Qian and he asked, "What about 'Han'? That state name has the water radical, and historically it was very powerful."

Ye Xianggao first gave his customary round of praise, then said tactfully, "Historically there were already the Western and Eastern Han. Later dynasties are not suited to adopting it again as a state name."

Ye Xianggao gave a brief explanation, and Lin Qian understood.

In short, there was a rule for choosing a state name: the state names of past unified dynasties could not be used.

The typical examples were Han and Tang.

From a political standpoint, adopting Han as the state name carried a heavy historical burden—one would have to explain the new dynasty's policy inheritance from the two Hans, explain the ethnic question, and explain whether the Great Ming could represent the world of Han civilization.

From a metaphysical standpoint, since the two Han dynasties, the number of separatist regimes that had taken Han as their name was beyond counting, and not one of them had come to a good end.

In the distant past there were Shu Han, Han Zhao, Cheng Han, Later Han, Southern Han, Northern Han, and so on.

In the recent past, there was the "Great Han" established by Chen Youliang, known among the people as "Chen Han"—did it not meet its end in the waters of Poyang Lake?

Using this name again would already be inauspicious.

Most of those separatist regimes in history that took "Han" as their state name harbored the intention of using the name to swindle and deceive.

It was like duck sellers all hanging up the signboard of Jinling Salted Duck.

The duck Lin Qian made was already good enough—there was no need to borrow someone else's signboard.

Lin Qian gave an "oh" after listening. Seeing that Ye Xianggao kept playing the peacemaker, he asked, "May I ask which state name the Grand Secretary supports?"

"All are good." Ye Xianggao smiled.

Ye Xianggao was now the de facto Chief Grand Secretary, and as he was also related to Lin Qian by marriage, he was theoretically a member of the consort clan. For a consort clansman to meddle in politics was already treading on a political red line in the Great Ming, so naturally he could not steal the spotlight on a major matter like choosing the state name.

Without this humility and caution, he could not have retired safely from office while Wei Zhongxian held power.

Hearing this, Lin Qian knew the matter still had to be decided by himself. He frowned and pondered for a long while, then another flash of inspiration struck: "What about 'Zhonghua' or 'Minguo'?"

Ye Xianggao said softly, "Helmsman, a single-character state title carries the greatest dignity. Two-character titles are what regimes on the margins use, to show they harbor no ambition to contend for the realm."

Of course, a state title modified by a grand adjective like 'Great' doesn't count as a two-character title — for instance, the Great Ming.

Lin Qian inwardly grumbled about how many rules there were, then racked his brains for a long while before asking, "Grand Secretary, where do the two characters 'Hua' and 'Xia' come from? What is the story behind them?"

Ye Xianggao said, "These two characters first appeared in the *Zuo Zhuan*. The original line reads, 'When Chu lost Hua-Xia, it was Xi Gong's doing.' From then on, successive dynasties used 'Hua-Xia' to refer to the Central Plains."

A Tang-dynasty scholar of old said, 'China has the greatness of ritual, hence it is called Xia; it possesses the beauty of robes and regalia, hence it is called Hua.'

Thus these two characters refer not only to the Central Plains, but also to the civilizing influence of the sages.

As the saying goes, 'When barbarians advance into China, they become Chinese; when China retreats into barbarism, it becomes barbarian.' This is precisely the principle."

The same classical flourishes, when spoken by Ye Xianggao, sounded rounded and fluent, not so pedantic.

Lin Qian understood and said, "Simply put, Hua-Xia is both a geographical concept and a cultural one, and it has a strong capacity for inclusion and vitality, right?

I think this term is a good one. It lacks the historical baggage of the Great Han, lacks the narrowness of pursuing bloodline, and while strengthening a sense of identity, it also carries an outward drive for expansion.

Grand Secretary, what if we use 'Xia' as our state title?"

At these words, Ye Xianggao fell silent, and the debaters on both sides fell silent as well.

In high antiquity, there had been the Xia dynasty, also a unified dynasty recognized by the Confucians, which was why no one had considered the feasibility of using Xia as a state title during the debates.

Now that they thought about it, Xia was entirely qualified to be chosen.

More than three thousand six hundred years had passed from the end of Xia to the Great Ming. The world had largely forgotten its negative memories. Instead, Yu the Great taming the floods, rescuing the people from disaster, establishing the Nine Provinces, and unifying Hua-Xia were achievements well known to all — an extremely powerful political and cultural symbol.

Moreover, Confucian narratives loved to invoke 'modeling on the Three Dynasties' at every turn — that is, learning from the sage-kings of Xia, Shang, and Zhou.

Never mind whether such values were right or wrong — using Xia as the state title would naturally win the approval of Confucian scholar-officials.

Back when Wu Zetian usurped the Tang and changed the state title to Zhou, she had exactly this intention of using 'modeling on the Three Dynasties' to silence the Confucian scholars.

The historical 'Western Xia' was actually a Song-dynasty appellation, just as historians call the regime Liu Bei established 'Shu-Han'—

—the same way.

Within Liu Bei's faction, they all called themselves the 'Great Han.'

Western Xia was founded by the Tangut people. In their Tangut language, the state title was 'White High Great Xia State' or 'Great White High State.'

Of course, if one went further back, there was also the so-called 'Great Xia' established by Helian Bobo during the chaos of the Five Barbarians.

Helian Bobo was a Xiongnu. His founding of 'Great Xia' was a presumptuous claim to be a descendant of the Xia dynasty's monarchs.

This instead further confirmed the inspirational power of Hua-Xia culture.

In short, the character Xia was more than sufficient to be established as the state title.

Ye Xianggao stroked his beard and said slowly, "The *Book of Documents* states, 'Yu divided the Nine Provinces, followed the mountains and dredged the rivers, and levied tribute according to the land. Yu spread the soil, followed the mountains and felled the timber, and fixed the high mountains and great rivers.'

Xia is the virtue of the Center. Yu the Great had the merit of dividing the land into Nine Provinces, pacifying the floods, and securing the state — comparable to the virtue of Earth.

Also, the *Book of Rites* records, 'The Xia house honored black; for great affairs of mourning they used the dark hours, for military affairs they rode black horses, and for sacrifices they used dark-colored victims.'

The *Book of Documents* also says, 'Yu was given the dark jade scepter, announcing the completion of his work.'

A li is a pure black horse; xuan is a black tinged with red. The scholars of old said, 'The qi of water prevails, hence their color honored black.'

Thus the Xia house could also be attributed to the virtue of Water.

This old man believes that without Earth there is no way to pacify disasters, and without Water there is no way to settle the people. When Water and Earth aid each other, only then can the realm be secured.

What the Helmsman means is that our Nan'ao now advances on both sea and land: to the north lies the aspiration to pacify the Central Plains and give repose to the common folk; to the south lies the achievement of sailing ten thousand li and purifying the world. Rescuing the myriad people from flood and fire, securing the state to establish great peace — this is what it means to possess both Water and Earth, with virtue uniting the two.

To establish the state as Xia — above, it accords with the governance of the Three Dynasties; below, it follows the hearts of Heaven and man. Is this not the natural order of things?"

When he finished speaking, everyone was dumbstruck, utterly speechless.

Even Lin Qian was secretly startled, thinking to himself, "Was that what I meant?"

Then he looked at Ye Xianggao again and thought, "As expected of a Chief Grand Secretary, one who harmonizes the realm. One moment he says the theory of the Five Elements is nonsense, the next he pins both the Water virtue and the Earth virtue onto the new dynasty."

From a political standpoint, Great Xia was a name Lin Qian had come up with. No one had become a founding meritorious minister — none of them had, so it was fair for everyone.

Moreover, the new dynasty had many affairs to handle. Next came the era name, and after the meeting everyone had their own work to do — they couldn't possibly keep debating endlessly.

After a moment, seeing no one object, Lin Qian made the final call: "Then it is settled as Xia. From this day forth, we are the Great Xia!"

"The name Great Xia is excellent! It sounds rousing!" Chen Jiao was the first to praise it.

Zheng Zhilong muttered, "Xia army? Great Xia army! It does sound better than the Nan'ao army."

Scholar Zhou swayed his head and said, "The sound of Xia is the sound of elegance — the proper tone of the Central Plains. When the *Mozi* quotes the *Book of Songs*, it renders 'Da Ya' as 'Da Xia'; the *Zuo Zhuan* has 'Gongzi Ya,' which the *Hanfeizi* writes as 'Gongzi Xia,' and also—"

"Alright, alright, alright—" Chen Jiao hastily cut him off. "The character Xia is elegant to a fault. Let's move on to discussing the era name."

At these words, the brothers all laughed heartily. The other civil and military officials wanted to laugh but dared not make a sound. Much of the hostility among the debaters dissipated.

Settling the era name involved no conflicts of interest, so everyone freely offered their opinions.

By lunchtime, they were still discussing without pause. After eating, they continued deliberating without a moment's rest.

Before dusk, they finally settled on a suitable era name: "Jinglan."

The character Jing means to pacify and purge, hinting at using force to end chaos. Lan comes from the *Mencius*, referring to great waves and billows — what it referred to in the late Ming needed no explanation.

However, Scholar Zhou said, "The two characters Jinglan have plenty of dominance but insufficient restraint. An era name should be awe-inspiring without being fierce, elegant without being flashy, profound without being obscure.

Jinglan is too shallow and too plain — both awe-inspiring and fierce, rigid and easily broken. It is not a good era name.

Better to call it Zhongxuan. Zhong is the soul of the Earth virtue, carrying the meaning of fixing the Nine Provinces, establishing the Central Land, and commanding the four directions.

Xuan is the root of the Water virtue, corresponding to Yu of Xia taming the floods and settling the realm, receiving the dark jade scepter and the Mandate of Heaven.

It perfectly matches Great Xia's aspiration: with the Central Land as the foundation, giving repose to the common folk and consolidating the Nine Provinces; with dark Water as the wings, managing the maritime frontiers and opening up ten thousand li."

Everyone looked at Lin Qian — the final decision on the era name was his to make.

He looked outside the main hall, saw the distant sky burning red, and slowly spoke: "From this day forth, it is the first year of Zhongxuan of our Great Xia!"

Three days later, the Nan'ao Times published a special edition, reporting that King Lin Qian of Xia had proclaimed himself king and established his government in Guangzhou, founding the state of Great Xia with the era name Zhongxuan—

The Nan'ao Times was also renamed the Great Xia Times, and this special edition already used the new name.

Zhu Xieyuan, who was in Guangzhou, read the newspaper and coughed repeatedly, coughing so hard he could barely straighten his back.

Zhu Yixun was behind him, patting his back.

Ye Xianggao, seated in the guest's position, said, "When Doctor Su arrives in Guangzhou, have him take a look at you. Doctor Su's medical skill is superb—he is sure to have a good prescription."

"Cough, cough——no need!" Zhu Xieyuan's tone was harsh. After a long pause, he said, "If the Grand Secretary has come to persuade me to surrender, then please turn back now.

I came to Nan'ao because I did not wish my entire household to be slaughtered wantonly—not to abandon the light for the dark and seek advancement."

Ye Xianggao took no offense, and said slowly, "I have not come on official business this time, but rather on a private matter I wished to tell you in person——it concerns your late father."

"What?" Zhu Xieyuan was slightly taken aback. When he and Ye Xianggao had both served in the Great Ming, their dealings had been purely official, with no private friendship—what private matter could there be? And one concerning his father, who had been dead for nearly two years?

Ye Xianggao's expression turned grave as he confirmed, "This matter is of great importance. Might I ask how Your Excellency's health——"

"I am perfectly fine!" Zhu Xieyuan said urgently.

This cough of his was an old ailment, a root of illness contracted in his youth. It looked severe when he coughed, but it would not kill him.

He had served as Governor-General of five provinces in the southwest for ten years—what great storms had he not weathered? He would hardly collapse from some piece of bad news.

Ye Xianggao drew an official document from his bosom, placed it on the table, then rose and said, "This is part of the confession of the Wei eunuch before his execution. One passage concerns your late father. Please read it yourself, Your Excellency. I take my leave."

Zhu Xieyuan's heart was full of misgivings, and he had already vaguely guessed what the confession contained. He forgot to see his guest out and hurriedly had his grandson bring the confession to him.

When he opened the confession, his hands trembled. Though his father had been eighty years of age when he died, he had been healthy, free of illness and calamity. One day, while walking on level ground, he had suddenly fallen, and soon after passed away—his death had been suspiciously untimely.

Zhu Xieyuan had long harbored suspicions about his father's cause of death, but with no evidence to be found, the matter had been dropped. At the same time, he had kept some hope in his heart.

And when he finally opened the confession and saw how the Wei eunuch had conspired to murder his father, how he had used the mourning leave to strip him of his military command—

Zhu Xieyuan could no longer contain himself. Tears burst from his eyes. The confession slipped from his hands. His eyes streaming, he looked up at the ceiling, weeping without cease.

"Father, your son is unfilial——" Zhu Xieyuan let out a long sigh and broke into sobs.

Meanwhile, in Shuinan Village, Dongguan County, Guangzhou Prefecture.

In a household surnamed Yuan, the patriarch's aged mother, his lawful wife, and his younger brother were at home, waiting to die.

The head of their household was Yuan Chonghuan, who had led troops in a great battle against the Great Xia. After his defeat, he had been taken under guard to the capital and executed by slow slicing.

His family—that is, his concubine Lady Ruan, who had been by his side caring for him, along with his two young daughters—had been exiled to Hangzhou, then on the way their sentence was changed to Yunnan. No doubt they would soon die on the road.

This news had long since spread to Guangdong.

Yuan Chonghuan, stubborn and unrepentant, had loyally given his all for the Great Ming, and yet had come to such an end. Surely their family, living under Great Xia rule as the dependents of an enemy, would also soon meet their deaths.

The Yuan family waited for several days, but the officials who would seize them never came. They clung to the hope that the authorities had forgotten them, and were just rejoicing in their narrow escape.

Only yesterday, when they saw in the newspaper the news of the Great Xia's founding, did they understand—the authorities had simply been too busy with the king's enthronement and the establishment of institutions to spare them any attention.

Now that the enthronement and institution-building had settled, their death sentence must be at hand.

As it happened, word came this morning from the county and prefectural offices that the County Magistrate would be paying a visit, and their family should make preparations.

Now the three of them had dismissed their servants, bathed and changed into fresh clothes, and were waiting in the main hall.

"Shuming (younger brother Yuan Chongyu's courtesy name), have all the business affairs been seen to? Have the payments for goods been settled with everyone?"

Yuan Chongyu nodded absently, then said, "Mother, sister-in-law, why don't we just run? The South——the Great Xia only has two provinces' worth of territory. If we flee to Jiangxi, we'll be safe."

His old mother shook her head: "I am old. Dying in my hometown suits me fine."

His sister-in-law also said, "In this life I never bore him a son or daughter. I shall go below and serve him there. Uncle, if you——"

"Sister-in-law, say no more. We are one family—if we die, we die together."

Before long, the County Magistrate arrived at the door.

The whole family thought the executioner had come. They stood in the hall, prepared to meet their deaths. Yuan Chongyu shielded his mother and sister-in-law behind him, trembling violently all over.

Yuan Chonghuan had been a provincial Governor-General, but his younger brother was merely a timber merchant—far from possessing his elder brother's courage to look death in the eye.

Seeing this, the County Magistrate was greatly surprised: "Who said anyone was going to kill you? Has some neighbor been spreading idle gossip?"

The three of them were momentarily at a loss for how to react, frozen in place.

The County Magistrate said angrily, "These country folk, always——"

"Ahem, ahem!" The clerk who had accompanied him hastily coughed a reminder—under Great Xia rule, one could not treat the common people as obstinate rabble and scold them at will. One might well lose one's official cap over it.

The County Magistrate reined in his angry expression and said with a smile, "The Helms——His Majesty the King has issued a clear decree, ordering me to come to your household to convey his regards."

"Regards?" Yuan Chongyu said, his face full of confusion.

The County Magistrate said, "Yes. The Helmsman said——bah! His Majesty! His Majesty said that Yuan Chonghuan was a loyal minister of the Great Ming. Though he committed some errors, calamity should not extend to his family. Your household may live in peace, and think nothing more of it——also, this is the newly appointed Township Head Zhao of Shijie."

As he spoke, the County Magistrate gestured to introduce a young man, who clasped his hands in greeting with a warm smile.

Yuan Chongyu's confusion only deepened. He thought to himself: "I've only ever heard of Prefects, Subprefects, and County Magistrates—never a Township Head. What kind of office is that?"

The County Magistrate continued, "From now on, Shuinan Village falls under the jurisdiction of Shijie Township. If your household has any matters, you may speak of them to Township Head Zhao."

Township Head Zhao clasped his hands and said, "Zhao will devote himself wholeheartedly to the task."

Yuan Chonghuan's family had come under Great Xia rule as early as the seventh year of Tianqi. Now, more than four years had passed, and they had long since adapted to life in the Great Xia. The comparison between Great Ming and Great Xia was clear to see.

Yuan Chongyu had even written letters urging his brother to come over and surrender, only to be furiously rebuked, after which they had cut off contact. Who could have known that they would be separated forever after that?

Yuan Chongyu and his family bore no hostility toward Great Xia officials to begin with. Yuan Chonghuan had died at the hands of the Ming court—the Great Xia had no part in it. Even if they wanted to hate, they could not hate the Great Xia. Now not only did he and his family not have to die, they even received the solicitous care of Great Xia officials. It all felt like a dream.

After a long while, Yuan Chongyu finally remembered the duties of a host. He hastily invited the County Magistrate and Township Head to be seated, then ordered a servant to pour tea—only after giving the order did he remember that the servants had already been dismissed, so he asked his sister-in-law to go find the tea leaves.

The County Magistrate said with a smile, "No need to fuss. Township Head Zhao has just taken office and still has many places to visit. We shall not impose further."

As he spoke, the County Magistrate beckoned toward the door, and a clerk entered carrying a brocade box.

The County Magistrate pointed, and the clerk set the brocade box on the table.

Yuan Chongyu: "This is?"

"After His Excellency Yuan suffered the slow slicing in Beijing, his head was hung in the bustling market. The next day it was gone without a trace. Rumor has it that a righteous man surnamed She stole it away and buried it on the spot.

What is in this box are His Excellency Yuan's clothes, brushes, ink, and other personal effects from his lifetime. A reporter from the newspaper's Tianjin station happened to purchase them from some hoodlums in the capital. His Majesty ordered me to return them to your household, as a keepsake of sorts."

In that instant, Yuan Chongyu was struck speechless by the breadth of Lin Qian's magnanimity. His eyes reddened, and only after a long moment did he say, word by word: "Thank you, Helmsman!"

Yahei

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