Chapter 226: Ambition of Brother Ji

Fang Chongyong and his party continued westward, heading to the Left Frontier Military Governor's garrison at Shan Zhou City; soon they arrived at the county seat of Xiangwu in Wei Zhou, not far from the ruins of Luo Men Post. Before they could enter the town, a middle‑aged man in a large red official robe came straight toward them.

He wore a cap, vermilion robes, a plain leather belt, black‑hide shoes—typical official attire.

Because Fang Chongyong was also dressed in a red official robe, matching the other's attire, he had to step out of the crowd to inquire.

Keeping a low profile is proper; there's no need to make a scene.

"But Censor Fang, in person?"

The middle‑aged man before them asked very politely.

Fang Chongyong gave a slight nod, crossed his hands in a salute and said, "Indeed, it is I. May I ask who you are…".

"I am Xue Shangtong, Prefect of Wei Zhou, and have been waiting here for Censor Fang for some time. I have prepared a welcome banquet at the government office; please, Censor Fang and your party, feel free to show your faces."

Xue Shangtong said warmly.

Fang Chongyong also smiled, nodded, crossed his hands in a salute and said, "Thank you for your generous hospitality, Prefect Xue, please lead the way."

Hearing this, Xue Shangtong visibly relaxed, laughed heartily and said, "Ah, Censor Fang, you're too modest—this way, this way."

Xue Shangtong showed no airs, leading the way ahead on his own, causing Pei Xiu and the others behind Fang Chongyong to gasp in amazement.

Guan Chongsi recalled being repeatedly turned away at the docks in Chang'an, while Fang Chongyong was always received wherever he went, and he couldn't help but sigh that people are not the same—those born in the same year may have different destinies, some live while others die.

In fact, if it were an ordinary Prefect, Fang Chongyong would surely have declined a bit, offering a casual laugh to brush it off. After all, hurrying on the road is urgent; official business abroad is not tourism, and delays often lead to serious trouble!

"Prefects, you know, the Great Tang has over three hundred prefectures and over three hundred Prefects—where do you rank?"

But with this Xue Shangtong, Fang Chongyong could not be negligent. The reason lay in his surname Xue, not in his office.

Why so? Because the Xue Shangtong family can be called a "Prefect family," with an impressive background.

Xue Shangtong's great‑grandfather was Xue Shou, one of the Eighteen Scholars of the Qin Prince's Mansion who followed Li Erfeng in conquering the realm. Incidentally, Xue Shou's father was Xue Daoheng, a Sui‑dynasty Imperial Historian Vice Minister, also renowned, with a deep family pedigree.

Xue Shangtong's grandfather was also remarkable: Xue Yuanchao, who served as Chancellor and literary leader during the reign of Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi of the Great Tang. Xue Yuanchao's aunt was Xue Jieyu, a consort of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan of Tang.

Xue Yuanchao married a daughter of Prince of Chao Li Yuanji and also Lady Li, the Lady of Jing County. Lady Li bore three sons—Xue Yao, Xue Yi, and Xue Jun; Xue Shangtong is a descendant of Xue Jun.

Even without considering ability, the lineage alone could frighten anyone.

Leaving aside Xue Yuanchao's other sons, consider the branch of Xue Jun.

Xue Shangtong's father, Xue Jun, was Prefect of Cishi, need not be mentioned; Xue Shangtong's elder brother Xue Xiantong is Prefect of the same prefecture, Xue Qitong is Prefect of Cishi, his younger brother Xue Jitong serves as a secretary‑scribe in Chang'an, and Xue Zhen Tong is a judicial officer in Qizhou.

In other words, Xue Shangtong's four brothers are either Prefects or central officials, not to mention his many cousins!

All of Xue Yuanchao's grand‑sons bear the name pattern "Xue * Tong," differing only in the middle character, making them highly recognizable. Although Fang Chongyong does not know Xue Shangtong personally, a name like Xue * Tong has become a "legend" in the Tang bureaucracy, a joke spread everywhere; it's hard not to be recognized because the name is so distinctive.

Upon hearing the name, Fang Chongyong knew this Prefect was someone he must never offend without cause! Only if the other party deliberately provoked him would he consider retaliation.

Now Xue Shangtong warmly invites Fang Chongyong to a banquet at the Wei Zhou government office—how could he refuse?

When the party arrived at the government office, Fang Chongyong saw that the main hall had several tables hastily arranged, laden with local Wei Zhou delicacies, mainly lamb and flatbread, with few vegetarian dishes.

After the banquet began, Fang Chongyong could not figure out what Xue Shangtong was scheming, so he kept trying to get close, exchanging empty pleasantries.

After three rounds of wine, Xue Shangtong suddenly changed tone, calmly asking, "Censor Fang, are you here because of the escaped households of Wei Zhou?"

"It could be, it could not be."

Fang Chongyong tapped the table with his index finger and said meaningfully.

Hearing this obvious hint, Xue Shangtong pretended not to hear it, continuing to invite everyone to eat and drink. After the banquet ended, Xue Shangtong lodged Fang Chongyong's party at a post‑station inn outside Xiangwu County and then invited Fang Chongyong alone to his private residence to "appreciate calligraphy and paintings."

……

In a quiet, elegant courtyard of Xiangwu County, inside a side chamber where no one was in sight, Xue Shangtong tugged Fang Chongyong's sleeve and whispered pleadingly:

"Please, Censor Fang, give me a hand! I will repay you greatly in the future!"

Xue Shangtong, who is twenty years older than Fang Chongyong, cares not at all for his own face.

"How could I possibly save you?"

Fang Chongyong asked with curiosity, still not understanding what Xue Shangtong intended. With the Xue family's lineage, it seemed they didn't need a Fang to rescue them, right?

"Since the Tianbao era, the people of Wei Zhou have fled in great numbers; local magnates have abandoned their fields for pasturing. Since I took over as Prefect of Wei Zhou, the number of households in the prefecture has dropped from over twenty‑thousand to less than twelve‑thousand."

"If the court were to investigate, this mess would be too rotten for me to bear!"

Xue Shangtong spoke, his voice trembling with tears.

"Why are Prefects such a trap? Why do officials in the Tang bureaucracy try to avoid being sent out as Prefects? Because there are far too many inexplicable pitfalls!"

In the Tang dynasty, a prefecture, aside from the capital region and the oversized "fu," was classified into upper, middle, and lower tiers. During the Kaiyuan era, there were four Fu, six Xiong, ten Wang, ten Jin, 190 upper prefectures, 29 middle prefectures, and 189 lower prefectures.

Any prefecture with a household count below 25,000 was classified as a lower prefecture, with no lower limit.

Thus Wei Zhou has always been, without doubt, a lower prefecture.

In reality, the "lower prefecture" label is merely the court's laziness in not further subdividing. It's like the difference between scoring 59 and 0 below a passing line of 60.

If one truly subdivides, there are lower prefectures that border the middle tier with just over twenty‑thousand people, and there are "sub‑lower prefectures" with only a few thousand households, not even matching the population of a single county in an upper prefecture.

Moreover, the "upper‑middle‑lower" division is not fixed. As populations shift, a middle prefecture may become lower, and a lower may become middle or even upper. Each time the Tang administration conducts a household census, the classifications change.

The number of households in a prefecture is a crucial "hard metric" for evaluating a Prefect. If, during a Prefect's term, there is no war or disaster, yet the household count not only fails to increase but keeps decreasing, can that Prefect still be considered successful?

The Ministry of Personnel responsible for assessments does not turn a blind eye!

The issue Xue Shangtong raised is the "population migration" problem that the Tang dynasty has been unable to discuss publicly since its founding, a "unspeakable secret" that can ruin ordinary people.

Based on what he had seen on the road, Fang Chongyong understood intuitively, yet pretended ignorance and asked, "Prefect Xue, why do you say that?"

"Since the Han dynasty, the strong troops have all come from the Left Frontier. The four commanderies of the Left Frontier have supplied the state with large numbers of soldiers.

However, since the court began sending the Long March Youth to the front, their families have all been relocated to border towns. Wei Zhou could not escape this; many households followed the Long March Youth westward to Lanzhou, Hezhou, Linzhou, Shan Zhou and the like, where they were settled.

The households lost from Wei Zhou cannot be replenished by the court, and no people are willing to go to Wei Zhou to clear new land.

Now fewer and fewer Wei Zhou residents are willing to farm, and the court has even opened pastures here; the whole of Wei Zhou is fast becoming a pasture.

"Pasturing does not require so many people; households will shrink, which is obvious."

Xue Shangtong, true to his "official family" background, laid out the reasoning flawlessly, making the predicament crystal clear.

Originally, Wei Zhou had little flat land and much mountainous terrain, making it a region of both farming and pasturing, but the local topography still favors grazing; only officials seeking achievements would encourage agriculture.

If the local population is large, then they must open "slope fields" on the hillsides; these fields are the predecessor of terraced fields and are far less efficient to farm than terraces. Flat land does exist, but the plain area in Wei Zhou is less than ten percent.

Which people receive the flatland fields is self‑evident.

If the local population is small, then this is a pastoral zone; the hillsides can be used for grazing cattle and sheep and are very convenient. However, a pastoral economy cannot support that many people—what do the surplus people do? Do they laboriously clear slope fields, or go elsewhere to earn a living?

Wei Zhou has both economic models, complementing each other; at any given stage one model simply dominates.

When people are many and land is scarce, slope fields can be opened in the mountains to grow wheat and beans. But clearing those mountains requires massive labor and yields results slowly. If better options exist, locals would rather migrate and earn a living elsewhere.

When a garrison soldier is converted to a recruited soldier, Wei Zhou's economic ecology is completely altered. Households have all moved to border towns, and the barren hillside lands have been bought by local magnates, who can switch from farming to herding, while the lives of smaller families become difficult.

Moreover, the court has opened a ranch here to supply the palace with cattle, horses, sheep, and other livestock, further squeezing the space for independent farmers to become herders. It would be strange if local households did not flee; becoming a weaving household in Chang'an is better than farming in Wei Zhou!

In this situation, there is no question of good or bad. Whether it is good or bad depends on for whom. Discussing only good versus bad without a subject often yields the wrong answer.

Local interests must submit to the state's overall interests; whether Wei Zhou's changes are good or bad for the Great Tang is another matter, but for Xue Shangtong it is definitely a bad thing!

Fang Chongyong also understands that if large mineral deposits are discovered here in the future, Wei Zhou will become a mining economy, unable to grow anything, and everything will revolve around mining.

The state is the greatest, then the locality, and finally the individual.

So the question now arises: if the court audits Wei Zhou's households and finds that a few thousand households are missing during Xue Shangtong's tenure, will they think it is caused by Xue Shangtong's "tyranny"?

At the very least, a charge of "misgovernance" cannot be avoided.

For an official family like Xue Shangtong's, not extorting the people is already a rare virtue; how could they tolerate falling into a pit without doing anything harmful?

It is inevitable that they will find a way out of the pit.

Fang Chongyong suddenly realized that Xue Shangtong was after his role as an inspecting Censor! Fang Chongyong's current trip, accompanied by his subordinates, made Xue Shangtong think that his office was going to take the prefect's banner in Wei Zhou!

In fact, Fang Chongyong is just passing through; if Xue Shangtong did not come out to receive him, he might not have entered Wei Zhou City at all!

"I will draft a memorial to inform the court officials of the situation in Wei Zhou; Censor‑in‑Chief Zheng Shuqing and I have some acquaintance. However, whether the Censorate listens is beyond my guarantee."

"Originally, I was only passing through Wei Zhou; I still intend to go to Shanzhou to recruit soldiers."

Fang Chongyong said to Xue Shangtong in a low voice, his tone inevitably becoming a bit restrained and conservative.

"I see."

Xue Shangtong nodded slightly, sighing with relief yet feeling rather regretful.

The good news is: although Fang Chongyong's party holds the rank of inspecting Censor, they are not here to investigate him and bear no hostility toward him.

The bad news is: eventually someone will come to investigate him; for now it is only temporary safety.

"Then I entrust it to Censor Fang. Whatever mission Censor Fang has in Shanzhou, I will certainly lend a hand."

Xue Shangtong crossed his hands and saluted Fang Chongyong, saying.

"To be honest, I really need to ask Prefect Xue for a favor."

Fang Chongyong put away his smile, steadied Xue Shangtong and said seriously.

"Censor Fang, please speak."

Xue Shangtong bowed and asked.

"It is like this: I wish to buy some sheepskin from Prefect Xue, and the quantity is rather large."

Fang Chongyong said somewhat apologetically.

"Sheepskin? How many?"

Xue Shangtong asked in puzzlement; Wei Zhou does not have much else, but as for sheepskin, there is as much as one asks for.

Fang Chongyong extended a finger and made a 'one' gesture.

"One hundred sheets?"

"That's easy. I will directly give these one hundred sheepskins to Censor Fang."

Xue Shangtong said generously.

"No, it is ten thousand sheets! I need them for the soldiers of the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army's uniforms."

Fang Chongyong laughed.

"Ten thousand sheets, the items are not hard to obtain; it's just the quantity that's large."

After speaking, Xue Shangtong fell silent, pondering.

Sheepskin is extremely common; although the amount Fang Chongyong wants is not small, it is only relative. Wei Zhou's public and private sectors together raise several hundred thousand sheep, so producing ten thousand sheepskins is no difficulty—after all, if the other side pays, it is merely a business!

If no money is given, the matter cannot be handled.

"All right, but it will take some time; it cannot be done in the next two days."

"No problem; I need it for recruitment, so it is not urgent today."

Fang Chongyong nodded and said.

His request is ordinary, because sheepskin is originally a material for making winter military uniforms. As a military envoy of the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army, asking Xue Shangtong this is entirely commonplace.

"Um, but Censor Fang must understand that Wei Zhou has few households and no workshops to de‑hair the sheepskin. So when the sheepskin arrives, it cannot be de‑haired, and you will still need to send people to process it."

Xue Shangtong's expression turned uneasy as he muttered.

"All right, all right, these are minor matters."

Fang Chongyong chuckled.

……

Shanzhou, Shanzhou City, in the study of the Longyou Jiedushi's office.

Longyou Jiedushi Du Xiwang was examining a top‑secret letter sent by a eunuch from the palace on Li Longji's orders, and felt as if he were about to faint.

Because the matter is of great importance, the letter did not travel through the Chang'an‑to‑Longyou relay system; it was delivered directly by a palace eunuch.

Moreover, its confidentiality is extreme— not even Fang Youde knows about it, let alone Fang Chongyong.

In the letter, Li Longji informed Du Xiwang of an event that will greatly affect the situation on the north‑western frontier! It has not yet spread, but it will eventually become known to all under heaven.

A few days ago, a major military coup occurred within Tubo, and the Zhanpu who had ruled for decades was killed!

The Tubo Zhanpu Chidezu Zhan, while overseeing a horse race at Yazuobei in the Sun Boju‑governed Su Bi region, was killed by Sun Boju's chief Zhu Lang Meise and Mo Dongzebu. Immediately, Tubo's vassal state Su Bi, i. e., Sun Boju, launched a rebellion, declaring independence from Tubo.

At the critical moment, the Imperial Guard commander responsible for garrison duty in the Tibetan Supi region, Enlan Dazhalu Gong, led the Imperial Guard troops directly under the Tibetan new Zanpu Chisong Dezan and, with the speed of a thunderbolt before one can cover one's ears, annihilated the rebels in the Supi region; Sunboruzhu Lang Meise and Mo Dongzebu were beheaded, and the rebellion was quelled.

The Supi Sunboruzu uprising began, but it was only half a bottle of champagne, and in the end they still lost everything!

But this wave isn't over yet!

The Supi region differs from other parts of Tibet: not only is its territory the largest, but the original tribes not yet invaded by Tibet also enjoy considerable independence, and they still retain their own king, namely the Supi King.

The Supi King wields great influence in the Supi region, but the management of Sunboruzu is handled by the Ruzhu; thus, the Supi King cannot act directly, nor can he use the Supi region's resources to oppose the Tibetans.

The Supi King, lacking a Zanpu, had long been dissatisfied with Tibet's exploitation of Supi's wealth and troops, and therefore sought to take advantage of the unrest in the Supi region to stir up something.

He also knew that with his own strength he could not defeat the Tibetan Imperial Guard, so he planned to lead his troops to defect to the Tang and then use the strength of the Tang border forces to give himself a tiger's skin.

Thus the Supi King sent someone to deliver a letter to Li Longji, agreeing that in the near future he would bring his direct-line troops, departing from Chahan City by Qinghai Lake, passing through Stone Fortress City, and then proceeding from Stone Fortress City to the critical node of Shancheng on the Longyou border (Xining).

At that point, the Tibetan army will surely pursue their troops, so Ji Ge demanded that the Longyou Military Commissioner Du Xiwang send troops to meet and support the Zanpu.

It is mandatory, with no room for negotiation!

Because of the internal turmoil in the Supi region, Tibet is precisely at the moment to shift its contradictions outward, and will inevitably use this opportunity to integrate the Supi region's resources. Ji Ge believes that, taking advantage of his illness to threaten his life, now is the perfect time to strike a blow against Tibet.

Opportunity must not be missed; time will not come again.

In the letter, Ji Ge's tone was extremely stern, a command and demand rather than a suggestion. Du Xiwang had no doubt that if the matter were botched, Ji Ge would surely exterminate his Du clan.

The kind where corpses are hung on the Chang'an city wall for public display.

But when exactly will that Supi King without a Zanpu arrive?

For secrecy's sake, he said nothing at all!

Du Xiwang fell into anguish, feeling as if his head were about to burst.

(End of chapter)