Chapter 114: The Capricious and Casual Jiedushi Fang

The khagan's royal tent of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate had already been destroyed. Amid the howling north wind, charred remnants littered the snowfields everywhere. Nameless men whose deeds in life were unknown had their corpses frozen solid like ice sculptures, piled together haphazardly by the Uyghurs—a ghastly sight.

Before the Bilge Khagan Stele, a tall figure stood. He wore the leather armor common among Tang troops, with a padded coat underneath, and a red cloak draped over his shoulders.

In his hand he held a helmet made of camel hide, his eyes fixed on the clearly visible ancient Sogdian letters on the stele, looking like cryptic scribbles.

He could not understand them at all!

"Someone come! Scrape off every last character on this stele for me!

Not a single one left!"

The speaker was none other than Fang Youde, Military Commissioner of Youzhou for the Great Tang. Setting out from Qikou, he had already along the way brought the Pugu, Baximi (i. e., the Abusi), Qibi, and Bayegu tribes to submission. These tribes all agreed to send envoys to Lingzhou City in the future to participate in the alliance assembly, honoring the Tang Emperor Li Longji as "Tian Kehan."

The Pugu tribe went further, dispatching a cavalry unit led by Pugu Huai'en to reinforce the Tang army, to serve as Fang Youde's hands and feet, and to help the Tang forces absorb the remnants of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate.

Only the Uyghurs among the Nine Surnames of Tiele were powerful and untamed, and had not yet declared their stance. Of course, they had not turned hostile either.

Now, Fang Youde had set up camp here at the Bilge Khagan Stele, waiting for the Uyghur envoy to come and discuss the alliance assembly.

Why hold an alliance assembly?

Naturally, it was to unite against Tubo—or at the very least, to keep them from dragging the Great Tang down.

When necessary, these steppe tribes had to serve as the Great Tang's "mercenaries" and participate in the war against Tubo.

This was the power of diplomacy.

It leveraged one's own strength to project force to its furthest possible reach.

For this assembly, Li Longji would personally bring the Minister of Rites and relevant Rites Ministry officials to Lingzhou, emulating the deeds of Taizong of old, erecting a stele at Lingzhou to swear an oath of alliance.

In the ninth and tenth months of the twentieth year of Zhenguan (646 AD), Taizong consolidated the northern steppe and invited thousands of tribal envoys to a grand alliance assembly.

Thus the chieftains of the various Tiele tribes scattered across northern Ningxia, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia, upon learning that the Tang Emperor would personally come to Lingzhou to meet and accept their surrender, all led their own delegations to Lingzhou or sent envoys to arrive.

During the assembly, Taizong was in high spirits and dashed off an impromptu five-character poem, ordering stonemasons to carve it onto a stele to commemorate the occasion—known in history as "Taizong's Inscription on Stone at Lingzhou."

This was the crowning moment of the Zhenguan era. Li Longji constantly took this as his model, harboring the ambition to restore that former glory.

This time, Fang Youde wrote to persuade Li Longji to personally come to Lingzhou City (also called Surrender-Acceptance City), under the control of the Shuofang Army, to attend the alliance assembly after the destruction of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate. The glory-seeking Brother Ji agreed almost without a second thought.

Li Linfu and others argued against it to no avail, and in the end could only consent to Brother Ji going to Lingzhou at an appropriate time the following year.

But Brother Ji was the emperor, and the mop-up work could not be left to him. So what Fang Youde was doing now was to quickly settle everything that remained unresolved after the fall of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate.

No matter how big or small!

"Jiedushi, this stele standing here is quite conspicuous. If the inscription is merely erased, there will inevitably be busybodies in the future spouting nonsense. It might be better to... topple the stele outright and smash it to pieces, once and for all."

Zhang Xun at his side suggested impassively.

"This stele is a token of the alliance between the Sage and the Turks. How can it be casually destroyed? The Turks broke the alliance first, and we struck back afterward—this is fully justified.

Destroying the stele would inevitably give others grounds for criticism. It is inadvisable."

Fang Youde, standing upright, waved his hand, clearly disagreeing with Zhang Xun's rotten idea.

Satisfying enough, but far too crude.

"Order the craftsmen to write on the stele: 'The Sage of the Great Tang, Li Longji, destroyed the Eastern Turkic Khaganate here.'"

Fang Youde instructed coolly.

"Yes, your subordinate will see to it at once."

"Mm, go ahead."

Fang Youde waved his hand, signaling his personal guards to step aside.

Only after everyone had left did Fang Youde step forward and run his hand over the stele from that long-ago alliance.

"Already a Son-in-Law Khagan, and still out here causing trouble. Truly not knowing whether he lives or dies."

A somewhat sickly smile appeared on his face as he continued muttering to himself: "Yes, next it's just An Lushan, isn't it? Once An Lushan is dealt with, I can retire and return home."

For a moment, Fang Youde's heart was filled with an inexplicable emptiness. He no longer knew what meaning his existence held after all these matters were settled.

Just then, footsteps came from behind. Fang Youde turned and saw Yan Gaoqing approaching cautiously to report: "The Uyghur envoy has arrived, and his attitude is quite hostile."

"Take me to the command tent!"

Fang Youde said with a slight frown, his expression darkening.

As if he had thought of something unpleasant.

Soon, the Uyghur envoy was brought to the Tang army's central command tent and met with Fang Youde.

This envoy wore a fan-shaped crown and a red round-collared robe that reached only to his knees, and bowed in greeting.

The form of the bow was there, but the attitude was somewhat perfunctory.

"Has the envoy come to discuss the alliance assembly?"

Fang Youde sat on a high-legged stool, resting his legs on another high-legged stool, and asked in an impatient tone.

"In reply to Jiedushi Fang: my lord Gulipeiluo still must personally lead his tribe in pursuing the Turkic remnants, and time is tight. Could the assembly be moved to Qikou instead?

Lingzhou City is far away, and my lord worries it will delay affairs of state and military."

The Uyghur envoy asked in a calm tone.

This demand was extremely unreasonable, and the Uyghur side knew it too. But then again, asking for the sky and settling on the ground—isn't that how the game is played?

"And if I refuse?"

Fang Youde asked with narrowed eyes.

Who would have thought that the Uyghur envoy, upon hearing this, would retort without the slightest courtesy:

"I have heard that in the Tang court, the sovereign and his ministers each attend to their own duties: the emperor sets policy, and the officials and generals carry it out together.

Jiedushi Fang, taking up arms and donning armor is of course no issue for you, but for matters of state and military of this magnitude, would it not be better for the Jiedushi to write back and seek instructions from the Tang emperor?

If the Jiedushi agrees but the emperor does not, would that not put Jiedushi Fang in a dilemma?

A fast horse to Chang'an and back would take only a few days. I can wait, or I can return and report to my lord."

The Uyghur envoy's attitude was clear: aren't you just a general leading troops? The matter of the alliance assembly is not yours to decide!

The Uighurs were not without reason for their brazen confidence.

Uighur power had already penetrated deep into the area north of Shazhou and even across the Western Regions; if they joined forces with the Tibetans, the Tang's Western Regions would face enormous pressure.

Although such a move by the Uighurs was also a desperate gambit that would bring them more grief than gain, it did show that the Uighurs were no lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

They had the ability and the means to strike back.

Inside the command tent, all the generals glared furiously at the Uighur envoy, yet none dared to act rashly. Before Fang Youde spoke, none of them would do anything — such was the strictness of Jiedushi Fang's military discipline.

"What you say is quite right."

Fang Youde rose to his feet, walked step by step to the Uighur envoy, and stared down at this Uighur man a full head shorter than himself.

This Uighur envoy was bold as well, locking eyes with Fang Youde without showing the slightest weakness.

This time he was not being reckless; rather, he was probing the Tang's attitude toward the alliance assembly. If the Tang was determined to hold this grassland assembly no matter what, then they would not mind a little "discourtesy" from the Uighur envoy.

After all, compared to real wealth in cattle and sheep, this little face was not worth mentioning at all!

Yet in the instant the Uighur envoy froze, Fang Youde suddenly drew the short blade from his waist and plunged it straight into the envoy's abdomen!

Then he twisted the handle — certain death!

The Uighur envoy's face contorted; he never imagined that Jiedushi Fang, who was quite skilled at commanding battles, would be so utterly devoid of martial virtue!

Using such a despicable method to assassinate an envoy!

Soon, he collapsed with eyes wide open, seemingly unable to comprehend at all why such a thing had happened.

"Someone come! The Uighur envoy attempted to assassinate me, but his skills were wanting, and I killed him instead. Send the assassin's corpse to the Uighur royal tent and tell Guli Peiluo: the Emperor of Tang is the supreme Son of Heaven; to assassinate me is to show disrespect to Tang, and disrespect to the Emperor.

However, this may not have been his own intention, but rather subordinates harboring hatred toward Tang and plotting treason.

For the sake of the greater cause of the alliance assembly, I shall not dwell on this trifle. If Guli Peiluo compensates my army with nine hundred and fifty fine horses as a show of reverence for the Sage of Tang, and does so immediately,

then I can pretend this never happened — and let it not happen again.

Otherwise, whether Tang will still invite the Uighurs to this alliance assembly becomes very much an open question."

Fang Youde pointed at the Uighur envoy's corpse and told barefaced lies, while Yan Gaoqing, Zhang Xun, and the others in the command tent were completely unsurprised and raised not a single objection.

In the army, whoever could lead the soldiers to victory and ensure that meritorious battle rewards were actually delivered — that person was godlike, and his words carried more weight than the Emperor's.

And following Jiedushi Fang boiled down to one summary: you die slower in battle, earn more merits in wartime, your rewards are never delayed, and you have dignity as a soldier!

After the corpse was dragged away, Fang Youde finally looked around at everyone and justified himself as though nothing had happened: "These Uighurs just need to be taught a lesson. Wouldn't you agree? Teach them a lesson and they'll behave themselves for a while."

"The Jiedushi is wise!"

The generals saluted in unison.

"Mm, break camp today. Target: the Uighur royal tent. First march fifty li along the river, and let's see whether Guli Peiluo knows what's good for him."

Fang Youde ordered casually.

So the generals each went about their own business, as though already numb to such "capricious" military orders. After all, nothing was bigger than moving troops across defense zones without notifying the neighboring garrison command.

Since he had done even that, Zhang Xun and the others believed that there was nothing Fang Youde would not do — short of outright rebellion.

……

In the winter of the twenty-seventh year of Kaiyuan, Tibet dispatched troops to attack Shanzhou and clashed with the Anren Army at the Tang military's foremost front line. The Anren Army had over ten thousand soldiers and was a crack force established in the seventh year of Kaiyuan by the Military Governor of Shanzhou and Longyou Jiedushi Ambassador Guo Zhiyun.

The Tibetans came fiercely; the Anren Army fought while retreating, and after briefly repulsing the Tibetans, fell back to Suirong City (Huangyuan County, Xining City, Qinghai Province), not far to the east. This place was west of Shancheng (Xining City) and east of Qinghai Lake, with the Qilian Mountains to the north and the Laji Mountains to the south. The terrain within was marked by high mountains and long rivers, steep slopes and sheer cliffs — strategically perilous, standing like a fortress gate.

The Anren Army held this position, and for over ten straight days the Tibetans could not advance an inch, eventually retreating sheepishly east of Qinghai Lake.

Not long after, the Tibetans continued to press hard in the area south of Shanzhou.

During the Kaiyuan era, the Tang army had made gains on the plateau west of Guozhou, south of Shanzhou, extending their forces into the plateau region and establishing several small military garrisons there as outposts.

These were respectively: the Jintian Army guarding the Hongji Bridge over the Yellow River, the Wuning Army guarding Baigu City, and the Weisheng Army guarding Wanxiu City, among others.

This was the eastern edge of Dafeichuan, the first line of defense for the Longyou Jiedushi facing the Tibetans.

The Tibetans pressed hard once more, and the three garrisons fell again in a short time; the remnants retreated to the Jishi Army garrison within Guozhou territory.

The Tibetan army then pointed its spearhead straight at Guozhou and clashed with the Jishi Army defending it.

The Jishi Army had a total of seven thousand soldiers, slightly fewer than the Anren Army, but the position it guarded was a vital communications route from the snow region into Tianshui since ancient times, extremely strategic.

After over ten thousand Tang frontier troops, gathered from the Longyou elite, fought a bloody five-day battle against the Tibetans, the Tibetan army finally withdrew.

The Tibetans' unusual movements left Longyou Jiedushi Du Xiwang unable to eat or sleep peacefully. He wrote a memorial to the court, stating that the Tibetans were stirring within the Longyou Jiedushi's defense zone, seemingly probing for weak points in the defense — a very peculiar move.

Du Xiwang predicted that the Tibetans' target was very likely Shibaobao City (called Iron Blade City by the Tibetans), which had been seized through stratagem by Prince Xin'an, Li Yi, years ago!

He hoped the Tang army could reinforce Longyou and strengthen the outer defenses of Shibaobao City.

However, because of the earlier incident, the Emperor had formed a prejudice against the "opinionless" Du Xiwang, and so by association dismissed the memorial Du Xiwang wrote. His mind was now entirely on Lingzhou.

Holding an alliance assembly with the various Tiele tribes of the grasslands and recreating the glory of Emperor Taizong's era — this was what the Emperor most wanted to do right now.

……

Despite Anaye's attentive care along the way, Fang Chongyong still caught a chill from the wind and snow en route and had to stop temporarily at Jiuquan City, the prefectural seat of Suzhou, to rest and recover from his illness.

Once he recovered, he would proceed to Shazhou Dunhuang to take up his post. To avoid giving anyone a handle against him, Fang Chongyong sent Yan Zhuang ahead with his official seal to report at Shazhou and explain that illness prevented him from traveling. Otherwise, an official reporting late to an out-of-region post was a serious offense!

Thanks to his father Fang Youde's connections, Fang Chongyong received solicitous care from Suzhou Inspector Shi Jixian. His quarters for recovery were the finest private villa of the largest household in the city. Everything he ate and used was meticulously selected.

If Fang Chongyong had been more trusting of strangers, he would likely have had no fewer than ten servants attending him.

Honestly, it was considerably better treatment than what Fang Chongyong had received in Ganzhou. It could be called "attentiveness to the utmost" — every request granted.

Unsolicited kindness conceals either treachery or theft. Though Fang Chongyong was ill, his mind was still clear. The longer he stayed in Suzhou, the more he felt something was not quite right.

Just as Fang Chongyong was slowly recovering while still harboring doubts, a letter actually arrived from the court!

This courier, who transmitted official documents through the relay station system, had come from Dunhuang. Unable to find Fang Chongyong, he received a tip from Yan Zhuang and, after a circuitous journey, finally located Fang Chongyong's party in Jiuquan City, the prefectural seat of Suzhou, next door to Ganzhou.

At his bedside, Fang Chongyong said weakly to Anaye, who was tending to him: "Read the official document."

"Wang Huailiang, Inspector of Shazhou, has been dismissed for crimes. Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites Fang Chongyong shall temporarily act in his stead and handle his affairs. A separate appointment will be made once the court fills the vacancy.

What does this mean?"

Anaye asked in puzzlement.

It's boring; I'm going to sleep first; even if Ji Ge comes, don't wake me.

Fang Chongyong couldn't even be bothered to complain; now he's taking a sick leave, first letting himself calm down.

Ji Ge's messed-up affairs—we'll discuss them later.

(End of chapter)