Chapter 195: Scapegoat

Back home, Fang Youde immediately fetched Fang Chongyong, who was brandishing a knife and swinging a staff.

While Fang Chongyong was still changing clothes, Fang Laique shyly tugged at Fang Youde's sleeve and, embarrassed, asked, "Ah Lang, Ah Lang, Little Young Master (Fang Chongyong) is already married—should I get married too?"

Seeing his shaved head—Fang Laique, who had recently undergone a rather "legendary" ordeal and was now a proper temple monk—Fang Youde's gaze softened, and he laughed heartily, "Sure. What kind do you want? Someone will arrange it for you."

"Little Young Master says that later he'll arrange for me to marry a prime‑minister's daughter; any prime‑minister's daughter will do."

Fang Laique began to speak nonsense in a dead‑serious manner.

"A prime‑minister's daughter…"

Fang Youde paused briefly, then let out a helpless laugh, "How could a prime‑minister's daughter be worthy of you?"

"Is that so?" Fang Laique asked, his face puzzled.

"Of course. When taking a wife you must marry a great branch of a five‑surname family; a mere prime‑minister's daughter is nothing."

Fang Youde said, sounding insincere.

Seeing Fang Laique causing trouble, Fang Dafu hurriedly pulled him aside and whispered scoldingly, "Get out of the way, you blind thing!"

Noticing Fang Dafu had something to say but held back, Fang Youde waved his hand and said, "We'll talk later; I have an important matter to discuss with that unfilial son now."

"Young Master is exceptionally clever, capable of what others cannot; he's not an unfilial son at all."

Fang Dafu crossed his arms, bowed, and laughed.

"You don't get it; it's people like that who frighten others. Among the unfilial sons in Chang'an, he ranks first."

Fang Youde, his face weary, said, and waved his hand, signaling Fang Dafu to step back.

Alone in the cramped courtyard, he watched autumn wind scatter leaves, the ground covered in yellow frost. Though his heart was deeply conflicted, at this moment Fang Youde also felt that the flourishing Tang in his mind was declining at a visibly rapid pace.

It was even accelerating its decline.

"You are indeed diligent in training your body."

Seeing Fang Chongyong rubbing his arm as he walked over, Fang Youde snorted coldly and said,

"That's natural; who knows what will happen later? Someone spent four years in Hexi, trusting only the knife in his hand. A frail scholar can be crushed in a blink; such a person is better dead than alive."

Fang Chongyong replied calmly, his gaze defiant toward Fang Youde, his head slightly lifted.

"Hmph, let's discuss it in the study."

Fang Youde turned and left; after the two sat down in the study, he couldn't help but sigh, "Just as you said, the Sage is indeed inclined to exile the princes."

"That's natural; Ji Ge's little scheming is obvious."

Fang Chongyong said with a scornful expression.

"Ji Ge?"

Fang Youde looked a bit puzzled.

"If you like to call the Sage 'Sage', just do so; such verbal matters aren't worth quibbling over."

Fang Chongyong said irritably.

"'Ge' can mean elder brother or father; it has many uses. Calling the Sage by that term really leaves one at a loss."

Fang Youde let out a long sigh, then shook his head helplessly.

He knew well that this 'good big son' of his held no respect for the royal house or for Li Longji. Yet that wasn't surprising; he treated all Li Tang princes except Li Longji like dogs, showing the same lack of respect.

"The Sage is old; he doesn't have much time left. He now simply doesn't want to manage state affairs or think about what comes after. So for the Sage, his own well‑being is paramount; the country's condition is secondary.

Moreover, exiling a prince isn't without benefit."

Fang Chongyong waved his hand casually and said,

"Benefits?" Fang Youde asked, puzzled; he couldn't conceive any advantage to exiling a prince.

"One who proves himself king after a hundred battles far surpasses those born king."

Whichever prince can spill blood rivers and ascend the throne will naturally govern the nation well.

"Is this reasoning hard to understand?"

Fang Chongyong's eyes burned as he looked at Fang Youde and said,

After hearing this, Fang Youde fell into contemplation, silent for a long while, unsure how to rebut.

It must be admitted that Fang Chongyong's words were logical. Considering Fang Youde's own observations at the end of the Tang, those emperors born in the inner palace and raised by women were ineffective not only because they wished to kill rebels but lacked power, but also because their own qualities were worrisome.

They failed to understand that the most basic rule of the world is the 'rule of force', not some bureaucratic formalities.

If you can't beat me, then I decide; this is the universal maxim. Without title or rank, you carve a path to heaven with the knife in your hand—that's the most evident rule.

Figures like Huang Chao and Zhu Quanzhong, perhaps, were no different.

"You can see through this now; truly your eyes burn like torches, I'm not as…"

Fang Youde sighed and said,

"Father wants the Tang to last for millennia; I understand that. In that case, perhaps we should facilitate the princes' exile, let them compete fiercely; perhaps a king could be born, who knows."

"But in any case, if Father reaches this step, it is already loyalty to the Tang."

"The current situation is clear: the flourishing Tang will fall into chaos within ten years; exiling the princes might still offer a rescue."

Fang Chongyong spoke absent‑mindedly, his words merely comforting old Fang.

In reality, the Tang sits beneath a volcanic crater, a buildup of centuries‑long contradictions, at a historical crossroads that will affect a thousand years. Only by making twenty million people vanish could the overpopulation‑land scarcity imbalance be altered, reviving the militia system.

Otherwise the dynasty's cyclical law cannot be halted; once conditions align, it will erupt.

The Tang's post‑An Lushan "regional peace" was actually due to war, which caused the "disappearance" of at least ten million people over time. This temporarily eased land disputes and disrupted the existing land circulation system.

Otherwise the Tang would have only a 150‑year lifespan; a calamity like the An Lushan Rebellion would spell its downfall.

"I don't believe it! I don't believe that with me here, the flourishing Tang has only ten years left!"

Fang Youde's eyes turned blood‑red as he slammed the table, "I rarely lose my composure like this, but since Li Heng was killed, this panic has only grown!"

"Believe it or not, you're Fang Jiedushi; if you can save them, then go save them."

Fang Chongyong crossed his arms and gave up speaking further.

He and Fang Youde are blood‑related as father and son, but in reality they are a mature collaborative partnership that does not observe the father‑son or ruler‑subject formalities.

"Enough."

Fang Youde waved his hand, then asked seriously, "The court meeting is in three days; I, as Imperial Censor, will also attend. Should I remain silent, or should I submit a memorial?"

"Of course you should submit a memorial, to draw a clear line from the civil officials. Otherwise the Sage will surely distrust you; after all, an Imperial Censor appointed by a Military Governor is not a true Imperial Censor."

Fang Chongyong said with a solemn expression.

He felt that Old Fang must never muddle this sort of matter by positioning himself as a member of the civil officials! In fact, any close attendant of the Son of Heaven who gets close to the civil officials meets a fatal end!

Fang Youde nodded slightly; after this coup, he would no longer be a purely frontier army general.

"Then how should I phrase it? Can I also take part in these matters?"

Fang Youde asked with a bewildered look, his strength lies in fighting, in brandishing weapons, not in scheming against those civil officials.

"Now that the Sage has been forced by Li Heng to hide east and west, may I ask what the Chang'an County Magistrate and the Wan Nian County Magistrate were doing at that time?

The twelve County Captains of Chang'an, six per county, not a single one stepped forward to handle this, not even a whisper of report. Father, what do you think—should they be beheaded?"

Fang Chongyong sneered.

Does a rebellion like this also involve the Chang'an County Magistrate?

"How should we interpret that?"

Fang Youde asked, somewhat confused.

"If, in Qinghe County of Youzhou, someone attempted a rebellion that almost succeeded, and the County Magistrate and County Captains were completely unaware throughout the plot, should they be beheaded?"

Fang Chongyong retorted.

"Then it must be immediate execution, possibly even affecting their families."

Fang Youde nodded slightly and said.

"Isn't that exactly it? Now someone in Chang'an has almost succeeded in a rebellion; shouldn't the County Magistrate and County Captains be executed? Father and I are both eyewitnesses—did you see what the County Magistrate and County Captains did during the suppression?"

Fang Chongyong asked boldly, righteous and confident.

Fang Youde was left utterly speechless.

Although Fang Chongyong was sophistically arguing, the fact remains that these people being beheaded is a highly probable outcome; not only would a harsh, ungrateful emperor like Li Longji do it, even a different emperor would likely act the same.

Because Li Heng's rebellion is such a massive affair, does the civil official group have no fault at all? Why were they completely oblivious to Li Heng's plot?

Someone has to take the blame; otherwise, when the civil officials face similar situations in the future, they will calmly watch the drama from the side, even sipping fine wine as they watch!

The County Magistrate is exiled to Lingnan, the County Captains are beheaded; that's just the starting price. When Ji Ge's turn truly comes, the blow will be even more painful!

Even if, to some extent, the County Magistrate and County Captains are innocent, they still cannot escape misfortune.

"These actually did not partake in the treason."

Fang Youde muttered to himself.

"Those commoners in Yangzhou who cannot survive there are not all participants in the killing of officials, the rebellion, and the assault on the county seat."

"Then why did father order them all to be slaughtered?"

Fang Chongyong looked at Fang Youde and retorted, righteous and confident.

After a long silence, Fang Youde weighed his head down and said.

"Indeed, in the late Tang era, it became customary for the Chang'an County Captains to be the scapegoats."

In his subconscious, from the founding of the Great Tang to its fall, the civil officials' pots were few. As for those rebellious 'rioters,' to him they were utterly rioters, unworthy of sympathy.

Of course, not to mention the Chang'an County Magistrate, even the County Captains of Chang'an being pushed out as sacrificial scapegoats when trouble arises is no surprise. Especially since the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the Chang'an County Captain has been a high‑risk occupation.

Fang Youde recalled an occasion when an official's send‑off ceremony was overly grand; crowds of townsfolk pointed and chattered along the way, disturbing the city's appearance. When the emperor learned of this, a certain Chang'an County Captain was pushed out as the scapegoat.

In fact, that County Captain not only knew nothing at the outset, but even if he had known, he could do nothing. Hundreds or thousands of townsfolk clamoring—could a low‑ranking officer with barely any subordinates, like him, possibly stop it?

At such times, reasoning is useless; if you are weak, you simply deserve misfortune. The court and officialdom are not places for logic.

The Chang'an County Captain is the most treacherous post in the central administration, bar none.

In Tang history, the Chang'an County Captains (including those of Wan Nian) were not only frequently scapegoated, but when rebels seized Chang'an and did not wish to personally slay members of the imperial clan, they would "delegate" the task to the Chang'an County Captains to lead men in killing members of the Li imperial family!

The rebels' logic was both bizarre and straightforward: since the court officials would eventually wipe out you County Captains, why not first slaughter a batch of imperial clan members from the Ten Kings' residences and the Hundred Grandsons' courtyards as sacrificial offerings?

The absurd logic that flourished in the mid‑late Tang is displayed to the fullest in the office of County Captain.

"Father need only submit a memorial; that will suffice to hold the Chang'an City County Magistrate and County Captains accountable. The rest can be left as a side‑show."

"Of course, doing so would offend the civil officials to death, but perhaps that is exactly what the Sage wishes to see."

"Even if father does not raise this issue, someone else will still bring it up."

Fang Chongyong said with a helpless expression.

As a person, one must avoid wanting everything.

Gain comes with loss; that's the norm of life. To seek the emperor's trust, to be close to the myriad officials, and to have supreme prestige in the army—

How can this person not ascend to the heavens!

After the princes are sent out, the court begins to divide factions, fighting endlessly, then awaiting Ji Ge's judgment.

This, in fact, is also the scene Li Longji hopes to see. At this moment, befriending the civil officials is no different from looping a rope around one's own neck!

"By the way, observing the Sage's demeanor, it seems he is somewhat inclined toward Prince Shou as Crown Prince."

"Prince Shou… could also become the next Son of Heaven?"

Fang Youde lowered his voice and asked. Since Li Heng's family was sent down the Yellow River road, he had lost any grasp on the future, becoming dreadfully anxious.

"Prince Shou as emperor—that play has never been performed!"

"Impossible. The Sage only cares about his own well‑being and never thinks about the future. If there truly is a prince the Sage favors, it would only be those who are just a few years old now."

Fang Chongyong said flatly, giving Fang Youde no room for any fantasy.

"Father should be sent out early."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but urge.

"Sent out to the frontier... sigh, with troubles within and threats without, what real difference is there between staying in Chang'an and being posted to a border garrison?"

Fang Youde shook his head in disappointment. The Tibetans had rested for a few years and presumably recovered some of their vitality. The aggressive suppression of Tibet during the Tianbao era should be beginning soon, and when that time came, the Great Tang would again have to spend vast sums of money, grain, and fodder, pouring them into this bottomless pit.

To save the Great Tang's golden age—truly, how difficult it was!

There will be one more chapter today.

(End of this chapter)