Chapter 118: Impressive or Not, Your Brother Ji

If measured by the time of departure, Li Longji's inspection tour actually began considerably earlier than when Fang Youde led his troops back to Shuofang.

But the procession's pace was not fast—it could even be said to be about the same as a turtle crawling.

Throughout his life, apart from going to Mount Tai for the feng and shan ceremonies during the mid-Kaiyuan era, Li Longji had essentially remained in Chang'an and Luoyang, primarily active in and around Chang'an.

The scenery beyond the Guanzhong region was, for Li Longji, very novel and very exciting!

The boundless grasslands were a sight Brother Ji had never seen before!

As the weather warmed day by day, Li Longji was in no hurry to reach Lingzhou City. This entire journey was, to him, like a honeymoon with Yang Yuhuan.

Especially after exiting Xiaoguan, the procession headed north along the Weiru River (Gourd River), and as they stopped and started along the way, Brother Ji would frequently slip away quietly with Yang Yuhuan—the two of them riding horses and galloping wildly across the nearby grasslands, having the time of their lives.

Of course, it was true that Brother Ji wanted to have fun, but it wasn't entirely for the sake of fun that he deliberately slowed the journey.

A formal assembly naturally required a leader of the alliance. That leader could only be Li Longji himself.

Since he was the leader of the alliance, it was only proper that the envoys of the various Tiele tribes of the grasslands should come and wait for him—not the other way around! If Brother Ji arrived in Shuofang too early, the Tiele envoys would certainly not all have arrived yet—so should the assembly ceremony still be held or not?

If it were held with people not yet assembled, it would mean certain tribes had not participated in the assembly, leaving behind enormous political hidden dangers.

If it were not held, and instead they waited until everyone had arrived to conduct it, then what would become of the Tang Emperor's dignity?

In Brother Ji's view, the Tang Emperor must have prestige! This point could never, ever change!

No matter how urgently he wished to bring this assembly to fruition, Li Longji held to one principle in his heart: he must be the last to arrive at Lingzhou City!

After nearly a month of marching, the procession—including five thousand elite cavalry of the Dragon Martial Army—finally arrived at Mingsha City, not far south of Lingzhou! Li Longji ordered the Dragon Martial Army to encamp here, taking only a hundred elite soldiers to accompany him to Lingzhou.

As Emperor of Tang, whether imperial guards or border troops, they were all his enforcers. Whatever internal hierarchies of rank might exist, before the various Tiele tribes of the north, there should be no rifts or distinctions of superiority.

If he brought five thousand Dragon Martial Army soldiers to Lingzhou, it would make it appear that the Tang court was riddled with internal contradictions—that the Emperor dared not travel at all and needed heavy military protection just to leave Chang'an. This would cause the grassland tribes, who had always submitted to the strong and feared power rather than felt gratitude, to harbor thoughts of disloyalty!

Going with a light retinue and few attendants would instead show that Lingzhou was entirely under his control—this composure and ease was just like Taizong of old, commanding troops and warhorses with calm certainty, never worrying that the generals beneath him might rebel.

The accompanying He Zhizhang and others all earnestly urged Li Longji, saying that the Sage was the anchor of the state and must not recklessly court danger. But Brother Ji paid these words no mind at all, still insisting on his own view.

Three days later, the Military Commissioner of Youzhou, Fang Youde, and the Military Commissioner of Shuofang, Zhang Qiuqiu, who had been longing for this like waiting for stars and the moon, finally welcomed the Tang Emperor Li Longji, a man crowned with countless halos.

And Brother Ji, bringing along "Imperial Consort" Yang Yuhuan, Dragon Martial Army General Chen Xuanli, and a handful of other trusted confidants, entered Lingzhou City, which was loyal to him.

……

In front of the Shuofang Military Commissioner's headquarters within Lingzhou City, Fang Youde and a host of senior Tang military officers stood in a row, bowing in salute to the self-satisfied Li Longji—a quite spectacular scene.

Li Longji acknowledged no one, walking straight up to Fang Youde, grasping his hands, and saying: "Quanzhong, no need for ceremony—you are my Wei Qing!"

"This humble subject is deeply honored."

Fang Youde said cautiously and carefully.

"Eh, when there are no outsiders, you call me Sanlang, and I'll call you Quanzhong—why be so formal?"

Li Longji tugged at Fang Youde's sleeve, leaning in close and teasing in a low voice.

"That is not permissible—the propriety between ruler and minister must not be abandoned."

Fang Youde said in a solemn voice, meticulously proper.

Hearing this, Li Longji laughed heartily and waved his hand, then said to everyone: "You have all worked hard—join me in the assembly. I shall afterward reward each according to his merit."

"Our thanks to the Sage!"

The assembled generals replied in unison.

"Come, follow me to meet those Tiele tribe envoys!"

The high-spirited Li Longji, face glowing with vigor, strode into the Shuofang Military Commissioner's headquarters. He Zhizhang and the others stood motionless to one side, only slowly walking inward after all the military officers had entered.

"Do not speak later, and do not write poetry—this is the Sage's stage. You only need to quietly watch the Sage perform from the side.

Li Taibai, you absolutely must not steal the spotlight from the main act."

He Zhizhang grabbed Li Bai's sleeve and admonished him, looking at the other man's excited face.

Like a basin of cold water poured over his head, Li Bai suddenly snapped out of it and hastily apologized to He Zhizhang: "Rest assured, Jizhen (He Zhizhang's courtesy name)—I know what's what in my heart."

He knew what's what, my foot!

Li Bai had originally planned to show off in front of Li Longji, flaunting his poetry and prose. Now, with He Zhizhang's reminder, he finally realized he had been thinking far too simply!

How much thought Li Longji had poured into this assembly, how many expectations he held—Li Bai had at least some sense of this. Setting everything else aside, just subduing these grassland tribes and rebuilding the oath-swearing system established in the era of Taizong was no easy feat.

This was Li Longji's stage alone—it left no room for anyone else to steal the spotlight!

Did the assembly benefit the Tang?

It naturally did.

Before the dawn of industrialization, the grasslands would always belong to the grassland peoples. The Tang Empire was a state built primarily on the agrarian civilization of the Central Plains, and was destined to be unable to effectively rule the grasslands.

Since the policy of "loose rein" was to be employed, then holding assemblies with the grassland tribes through the bestowal of titles, thereby maintaining certain political and economic ties, was the most cost-effective strategy.

Establishing "loose-rein prefectures" in the northern steppe and employing the method of "governing according to local customs," thereby achieving the lowest governance cost and the greatest strategic benefit, was beyond reproach—it was the call of the era.

Whether Fang Youde had previously dealt with the Khitans or the Kingdom of Balhae, those were all minor skirmishes, part of the "routine operations" of border troops. But this time, through political and military means, destroying the Türgish and holding an assembly with the various Tiele tribes—this pushed the Tang onto an even higher new tier!

The strategic significance was on an entirely different level.

Though Brother Ji often failed to do proper deeds, coming to Lingzhou this time to participate in the assembly was undertaking a great matter vital to the nation's prosperity.

The chieftains and envoys of the Tiele tribes had all been settled within Lingzhou City and were not at the Shuofang Military Commissioner's headquarters at this moment. At this time, the main hall of the headquarters had two special "guests"—one was a child of seven or eight, none other than Dengli, the youngest son of the late Bilge Qaghan of the Second Türgish Khaganate. The other was a rather aged-looking middle-aged woman—Dengli's mother, Poqu.

After they were captured by the Pugu tribe, on Fang Youde's orders, they had been sent directly to Lingzhou City. Not many among the various Tiele tribes knew of this matter.

"Sage, this is Dengli, the youngest son of the late Bilge Qaghan, and his mother, Poqu.

This humble subject suggests that the various Tiele tribes be made to hand over a portion of the Türgish servants they captured, for Dengli to manage. Settle them in the area north of the Hetao, and establish a loose-rein prefecture, thereby demonstrating our Tang's magnanimity and willingness to let bygones be bygones."

Fang Youde leaned close to Li Longji's ear and whispered at length.

"Quanzhong's plan is excellent."

Li Longji nodded slightly with a smile, then said to Dengli and his mother: "I permit you to relocate to the area north of the Hetao, to serve as subjects of our Tang, submitting to and serving the Tang for generation after generation."

Yet disappointingly, Dengli, like a young wolf cub, fixed his gaze of hatred upon Li Longji—whether because he could not understand Chinese or for some other reason, he did not utter a word.

Only that bone-deep hatred and venomous glare felt almost tangible, as if it might shoot forth from his eyes.

Instead of hearing songs of praise and gratitude, he received looks of hatred. Brother Ji was momentarily stunned, not knowing what to say, and the scene instantly turned awkward.

"I already let you off the hook, so why aren't you thanking me?" Brother Ji could not understand what kind of logic this was.

Actually, this kind of reaction was perfectly normal. It was just that Brother Ji had grown accustomed to being supreme and alone, and had never considered that others also had the right to harbor hatred.

Dengli and his mother were also aristocrats, only aristocrats among the Turks. In their bones, they were the same kind of people as Li Longji.

Aristocrats the world over shared a highly consistent mode of thinking, and similar situations were far from rare.

When violating others, it was like mud flowing into the sea—no matter how excessive, they thought nothing of it, and afterward forgot it completely; but when they themselves were wronged, they would haggle over every penny, remembering every last fraction with crystal clarity, terrified of miscalculating or omitting anything.

The Tang army, leading an alliance with the Nine Surnames of Tiele, had destroyed the Turks. This sky-high hatred—ordinary Turkic herdsmen might be able to forget it, but the nobles of the Second Turkic Khaganate obviously could not.

This manifested concretely in the case of Khagan Dengli, who harbored no guile whatsoever.

Of course, as the offending party, it was not only Brother Ji—quite a few of the civil officials and military generals present also felt astonished.

"The barbarian tribes are but beasts." This notion also had a broad market in the Great Tang.

Right at this awkward moment, Fang Youde stepped forward. With his left hand he grabbed Dengli's braid, and with his right he drew a short blade and plunged it into the man's neck, then pulled it out. Warm blood instantly sprayed all over his face!

Dengli's eyes held terror and confusion as his body crumpled softly to the ground.

He seemingly had not expected that right in front of the Tang Emperor, someone would dare to kill a person directly!

Fang Youde kicked Dengli's corpse aside, then fixed a cold glare on his mother Pofu and berated her:

"Dengli attempted to assassinate the Tang Emperor. His crime is unforgivable, and he has been slain on the spot by me!

If you have other sons, choose one to be your leader. If not, adopt one as a foster son to serve as leader. Is there a problem?

If that truly won't do, then you shall be sold to a Tiele tribe as servants."

"No problem, no problem, your slave still has another son..."

Pofu was so terrified that she spoke incoherently, trembling as she replied.

"Those who show disrespect to the Tang Emperor shall die!"

Fang Youde sheathed his short blade, dropped this fierce remark, and performed a crossed-hand salute to Li Longji: "Your humble subject must go down and wash his face. I beg the Sage to wait a moment."

Li Longji shook his head and sighed: "Go ahead. In the future, if there's no need, don't kill people. Back then you were just... sigh!"

Though he muttered with his mouth, in his heart he was greatly pleased. Fang Youde's flattery was exquisitely satisfying.

Whenever he recalled that during the coup back then, it was Fang Youde who had been the first to charge into Princess Taiping's mansion, Li Longji felt moved:

Some people change with the passage of years, but others do not. No matter how many years go by, they remain just like stones in a latrine—uniquely distinctive.

The assembled generals in the hall of the Shuofang Military Commission were all dumbfounded, and the generals of the Shuofang Army in particular regretted it so much their intestines turned green. Such a perfect opportunity to grovel—why had they lacked the eye for it!

Look at how skilled Jiedushi Fang was at licking!

Not only did he lick with tremendous vigor, he didn't even appear sycophantic!

The angle was cunning, the strike precise—word of it would spread as a fine tale!

The farce of settling the remnants of the Second Turkic Khaganate, through this bit of trickery, actually spread like wildfire. The generals all aligned their story, proclaiming to the outside that Khagan Dengli had attempted to assassinate the Tang Emperor and failed, and was slain on the spot by Jiedushi Fang!

People everywhere said the Turks truly harbored wolfish ambitions, and being destroyed was no injustice. The Great Tang, magnanimous and forgiving, overlooking past grievances and repaying enmity with virtue—this was the grand bearing of a great nation.

Li Longji ordered that a covenant ceremony be held three days later before a specially erected stone stele within Lingzhou City.

A hundred years ago, it was Emperor Taizong who had held a covenant ceremony here with the various Tiele tribes and erected a stone stele. And this stele had been too lonely for a hundred years; Brother Ji wanted to give it a companion.

The next day was bright and sunny. On the grasslands of the Hetao Plain to the southeast of Lingzhou City, wild flowers of every kind were in full bloom, a sight that left people intoxicated.

Brother Ji ordered Fang Youde to lead a hundred-man guard to escort him as a show of imperial favor. He himself, bringing along Yang Yuhuan dressed as a palace consort, galloped across the vast grassland carpeted in green and blooming with flowers.

……

Li Longji brought Yang Yuhuan, and the two came to an open, flat stretch of grassland. The cattle and sheep all around had been driven away. The sunlight was bright but not blinding, warm and gentle on the body.

Fang Youde, leading a hundred elite cavalry, stayed far away and did not approach to disturb Li Longji's "elegant mood."

This was now Brother Ji's private space, his private time.

"Huanhuan, today I want to try something thrilling."

Li Longji said with a wicked grin.

Yang Yuhuan smiled seductively, covering her mouth with her slender jade hand, and asked softly: "What is it, Sanlang?"

"Hehe, just watch. Back in the day, I was quite skilled at this."

Brother Ji said meaningfully, then mounted his horse, reached out his hand, and pulled Yang Yuhuan up.

"Do I have to ride the same horse as Sanlang?"

Yang Yuhuan asked in confusion.

The woman sitting in front, the man behind holding the reins, both riding together. This sort of thing... could be seen from time to time in the outskirts of Chang'an. It didn't seem like anything unusual.

Li Longji, without taking no for an answer, had Yang Yuhuan place one foot on the stirrup and pulled her up onto the horse.

The two were actually not both facing forward, but sitting face to face! Yang Yuhuan had her back to the horse's head!

Yang Yuhuan was terrified and clamored to get off. Brother Ji understood perfectly, whipped the horse's hindquarters, and began "racing."

Two people, one horse, galloping across the grassland in a bizarre posture.

Not far away, Fang Youde had already dismounted, quietly watching Li Longji on the horse, skillfully pulling the light gauze off Yang Yuhuan's body and tossing it to the ground, sighing helplessly.

This Jiedushi Fang, whose great name resounded throughout the world, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with his right hand, several times drawing it out an inch, then reluctantly pushing it back in.

"A seductress brings ruin to the state. Our Great Tang will one day be like the Yin-Shang... destroyed at the hands of a seductress."

Fang Youde let out a long sigh to the heavens and sat down on the grass helplessly.

Much later, Zhang Xun pointed somewhat anxiously at the indecent scene on the grassland not far away and asked:

"Jiedushi, should we withdraw for a bit?"

"Go as you please. This commander is a bit tired."

Fang Youde waved his hand weakly and said.

"Jiedushi, if the seductress were gone, would the world then be at peace?"

Zhang Xun asked calmly?

Fang Youde was startled, then gave a bitter smile and said: "Don't think too much about it, this demoness... her divine favor, even ten of me combined can't compare. Don't think about things like making the saint stay away from women's charms. The saint, in this matter, won't listen to advice."

Zhang Xun nodded thoughtfully, clasped his hands in farewell, and took those guards to a farther place.

Many bizarre scenes, those are not for them to enjoy.

(End of chapter)