Chapter 239: The Longyou Scheme Runs Deep

When Zheng Shuqing hurried to Xingqing Palace, he saw Li Longji outside the Hua'e Xianghui Pavilion, chatting and laughing with the favored "Lady of Guo," looking as though they were conversing most happily.

Beside the Lady of Guo was a child of three or four years old — precisely the rumored illegitimate son of the Lady of Guo, Yang Xing.

Of course, calling him Li Xing would also do.

The Lady of Guo's husband had been transferred by Brother Ji years ago to serve as an inspector in another region, and had inexplicably died abroad. The child borne by this widow was naturally an illegitimate son. Brother Ji gaining a son in his old age — what fortune, what joy — giving such a name was perfectly understandable.

What Brother Ji's mood was at the time, Zheng Shuqing could well imagine. But anything further, he dared not think too deeply about.

To Zheng Shuqing's surprise, the moment Brother Ji saw him, he dismissed the Lady of Guo and Yang Xing, then brought him to the study in the Qinzhengwubenlou, where the two discussed important matters.

After taking their seats, Li Longji laughed heartily and said:

"My Left Minister and Right Minister — one drinks wine while on duty, the other wrote a wrong character in his memorial — each fined five thousand bolts of silk. If even the chancellors are like this, then the court's discipline truly does need a good rectification.

What difficult matter has my beloved minister encountered? Even the chancellors accepted their fines; I would like to see who is so blind."

Hearing these words, Zheng Shuqing did not know how to reply.

The emperor before him styled himself a "sage sovereign," but was in reality a scoundrel — lenient with himself and strict with others. His words were fine to listen to casually, but one must never take them seriously. Whoever took them seriously would ultimately meet great misfortune.

"To reply to the Sage, it is actually nothing major. I simply led elite soldiers of the Divine Strategy Army to conduct surprise inspections outside Chang'an, checking whether the attire of those young lords of the Five Mausoleums conformed to court regulations, and then a small disturbance arose."

Zheng Shuqing said cautiously, not daring to look up at Brother Ji.

"Oh? So there are indeed people who know no propriety! It's nothing more than a lining of reddish-yellow fabric underneath a brocade robe — what is there to make a fuss about? Just accept the fine and be done with it. This sort of thing I anticipated long ago.

My beloved minister, simply carry out your duties. Whatever goes wrong, I will cover for you. As for the fines to be paid, not a single bolt of silk may be short. No matter who it is — even my own imperial sons and grandsons — my beloved minister need show no leniency."

Brother Ji laughed heartily and said.

In his heart he thought: the "inspection strategy" proposed by Fang Chongyong is truly brilliant! Specifically seizing on trivial matters and punishing them to the fullest, yet never escalating things to a matter of principle.

In a word — as long as you have the money to pay, it's no problem at all!

Brother Ji believed that court officials and aristocratic clans enjoyed the protection and privileges of the state. Now that the Longyou region was short on military funds, making them bleed a little was not excessive, was it?

All under heaven is the king's land. Making these people pay money was showing them respect!

In Brother Ji's view, the problem Zheng Shuqing spoke of was simply not a problem at all!

"I thank the Sage for his understanding. Then I shall go and handle it, dealing with the matter impartially."

Zheng Shuqing clasped his hands in salute, preparing to leave the Qinzhengwubenlou.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Brother Ji called Zheng Shuqing back.

"Uh, the people you arrested this time — hmm, I mean those improperly dressed young lords of the Five Mausoleums — are there many? How many?"

Brother Ji asked, his expression hesitant.

"To reply to the Sage, not very many — just over a hundred or so."

Zheng Shuqing said without his face flushing or his heart skipping a beat.

"Over a hundred — that is indeed rather many..."

Brother Ji muttered to himself, also startled. He had not expected that a random sweep would catch so many people!

"Sage, these people are not easy to release. If they are released, then when the Inspection Institute arrests people in the future, its word will carry no weight."

Seeing that Brother Ji was somewhat hesitant, Zheng Shuqing hurriedly offered his advice.

A new official lighting three fires — it was all for the sake of establishing authority. Otherwise, who would listen to what he said in the future?

"So be it, let it be done this way."

Brother Ji nodded. Though he knew Zheng Shuqing would stir up a huge mess this time, he still wanted to see how things would turn out in the end.

"Send the collected fines to Lanzhou in Longyou as quickly as possible. The King of Supi wishes to surrender to our Great Tang, and the Tibetans will certainly not let the matter rest."

Brother Ji reminded him with a stern face.

"To reply to the Sage, I have a subordinate skilled in accounting and calculation. Entrusting this matter to him would not be difficult."

Zheng Shuqing said modestly.

He knew full well his own weight and measure. Moreover, he was now thoroughly frightened by Brother Ji, terrified that the other man might conclude that he, Zheng, was "adept at managing finances."

Brother Ji gave a slight nod and waved his hand, signaling Zheng Shuqing to withdraw.

"Skilled in accounting and financial management?"

After Old Zheng left, Li Longji fell into thought. He thought of another person — that difficult errand could be entrusted to this person to handle.

……

Fang Chongyong had no way of knowing what was happening in Chang'an, and he certainly never expected that the "inspection" operation's first blow would land on Li Linfu's head.

Fang Chongyong was in Longyou scheming over a major undertaking: preparing for war against Tibet!

Before departing, Du Xiwang had also handed the letter of surrender from the King of Supi to Fang Chongyong. This made Young Master Fang, who had been wanting to lay low through his term, cry out in dismay.

If the King of Supi was feigning surrender, that would be one thing. But if he was genuinely surrendering to Great Tang, it would give the Tibetans a perfect pretext to send troops.

When two nations go to war, there must be a just cause for taking up arms.

If the name is not right, the words will not ring true; if the words do not ring true, the matter will be hard to accomplish. Many times, a minor incident on the border between two nations would be infinitely magnified into a pretext for war! Its influence must never be underestimated.

The King of Supi had already lost real power in the Supi region. The one actually managing the civil and military affairs of the Supi area was Tibet's Sunboru — the Ruzhu was the true head of local military and civil administration.

The King of Supi was merely a mascot who could participate in policy discussions, with no power to govern, let alone any trusted retainers of his own.

If the King of Supi surrendered to Great Tang, at most it would slap the face of the Tibetan Tsenpo, and then let the Tang Emperor and the officials and nobles satisfy their vanity.

Nothing more than that. It would bring no substantive benefit to Great Tang's border defense, nor could they prop up the King of Supi to establish some "Kingdom of Supi."

The King of Supi was also a slave owner — he had no popular base of support. The harsh natural conditions were also something Great Tang could not afford to endure or sustain.

Since the Tibetans themselves had never fully conquered the Supi region, playing the game of war in this vast, sparsely populated, and harsh-climate territory yielded too poor a return on investment. It would be better to spend the resources on music and revelry — at least one could hear a sound.

Even the Tibetans, who lived close by and did not fear altitude sickness, felt this way. Great Tang had even less reason to put in effort for no reward.

Therefore, the King of Supi's surrender to Tang was, for the Longyou border army responsible for receiving him, a completely thankless task.

If done well, that was only to be expected — the King of Supi had "seen the greater good" of his own accord; it was not because the Longyou border army had goaded him into it.

If done poorly, the Longyou border army would be branded as incompetent — unable even to protect the people who came to surrender. Who would surrender to Great Tang in the future?

Someone will definitely have to take the blame when the time comes.

If it were only this, it would still be acceptable—merely having the Longyou border army receive the Supi King and his retinue. The crux of the problem was that the Supi King's defection to the Great Tang gave the Tibetans a perfect excuse to send troops into Longyou! And the direction of the Tibetan advance would be Longyou!

After the Supi King rebelled, the Tibetans would immediately send someone to the Great Tang to demand his return, telling Jige to hand the Supi King over at once!

If Jige were willing to swallow this grievance, then he wouldn't be Jige!

Handing him over was impossible. Not only would they not hand him over, Jige would even lavishly bestow titles and rewards upon the Supi King to slap the Tibetans in the face and set a model example.

Of course, this was also something the Tibetans fully expected—they had been worrying about having no excuse to declare war!

The Tibetans would immediately propagate internally: why did the Supi King rebel? Because the Great Tang was inciting Tibetan nobles to rebel—no wonder the Supi King was enfeoffed as a king or marquis as soon as he arrived in the Great Tang.

They had colluded beforehand!

If you show no benevolence, don't blame me for showing no righteousness—then let's flip the table! Let's settle this with blades and swords on the battlefield!

And the biggest unlucky ones would be the Longyou border army, facing the brunt of the Tibetan military might head-on, with no way to reason at all.

Fang Chongyong could guess that the Tibetans' view of the Supi King was as clear as watching a fire—they knew and pretended not to know. Perhaps they had been waiting for this very opportunity!

The Supi King had not yet arrived, so the Longyou border still maintained relative calm, and Fang Chongyong, like a hamster preparing for winter, was going all out to actively prepare for war.

This was the last tranquility before the storm!

The Tibet of today was no longer the Tibet before Wu Zhou. Their military strategy and deployment had become quite sophisticated and could not be underestimated.

The border between Tibet and the Great Tang was very long. Before Wu Zhou, when the Tibetans fought, every dongdai sent its able-bodied men to the front to form ranks and fight, while the elderly, women, children, and slaves worked in logistics at the rear.

The advantage of this was fighting wherever they went, reducing logistical pressure to a certain extent.

However, the drawback was equally obvious: once the front line faltered, the Tibetan cavalry could flee, and the infantry also had a chance to escape, but the logistics personnel in the camp had no way to run at all! This dragged down the overall marching speed.

So before Wu Zhou, the Tang army exploited this characteristic of Tibetan marches to win many battles.

However, things changed significantly later on.

During their prolonged standoff with the Great Tang, the Tibetans formed three major war-sourcing bases, which could also be called three major logistics bases.

In each campaign, the Great Minister would organize certain dongdai that were poor at fighting to undertake the "Nangxia" tasks, responsible for army logistics and management of spoils. Other dongdai skilled in battle would provide combat troops for external offensives.

Simply put, the Tibetans had formed three "major military districts," each capable of independent operations. This situation was similar in effect to the Great Tang's Jiedushi system, emerging at roughly the same time, and could be seen as a new strategy adopted by the Tibetans in response to changes in battlefield conditions.

Whichever direction they intended to strike, they would dispatch troops from the corresponding "military district"—in this regard, they were no different from the Great Tang.

The westernmost launching point was the Qaidam River basin in western Qinghai from Fang Chongyong's previous life. That is, centered on the Dulan and Xiangride areas, plus the Buha River basin west of Qinghai Lake.

The main directions of attack were the Great Tang's Ganzhou, Suzhou, Guazhou, and Shazhou, threatening the security of the Hexi Corridor. Of course, the Tibetans could also head directly west, crossing the Altun Mountains to attack the southern fringe of the Western Regions, threatening the Anxi Protectorate.

The Hexi Jiedushi Prefecture and the Anxi Jiedushi Prefecture jointly dealt with the Tibetans on this route. A few years ago, it was they who had crossed paths with Fang Chongyong and fought him on the battlefield.

The central launching point was in Gonghe, Xinghai, Guinan, and other places from Fang Chongyong's previous life—the vast region of the Shazhuyu River, Daheba River, and Mangla River basins. The main direction of attack was the junction of He and Long—Shanzhou, Guozhou, Liangzhou, and other places.

The Longyou Jiedushi Prefecture, where Fang Chongyong was stationed, directly faced the military might of the Tibetans on this route.

The easternmost was the two prefectures of Henan and Guoluo in Qinghai, Jiuzhi in Gannan and Aba Prefecture in northern Sichuan. The direction of attack was the eastern part of Longyou—Hezhou (currently still the southern part of Lanzhou), Taozhou, Diezhou, Minzhou—as well as Songzhou and Maozhou in Jiannan.

The Longyou and Jiannan Jiedushi split their forces to deal with the Tibetans on this route.

Among them, the direction of the Longyou Jiedushi Prefecture could be called the most core zone of conflict between the Great Tang and Tibet!

So early that morning, as previously agreed, Fang Chongyong gathered with the military commissioners of the various Longyou border armies for a meeting to discuss major affairs.

The other armies each sent their military commissioner, but the Anren Army sent dozens of people—nearly all the officers in the army assembled here. It looked strange no matter how you viewed it.

However, the people from the Anren Army, apart from Military Commissioner Geshu Han, could not enter the main hall for the meeting and could only wait in the courtyard of the prefectural office. All around were soldiers of the Lintao Army's personal guard, armored and armed to the teeth with swords—the atmosphere was extremely solemn and murderous!

"I have called you military commissioners here today primarily to announce one matter."

Inside the main hall of the Jiedushi Prefecture, seated in the Jiedushi's principal seat of Longyou, Fang Chongyong spoke with a calm expression, stern and unsmiling.

None of the many military commissioners present uttered a sound, all waiting for what came next. Vaguely, they all sensed that something major was about to happen!

"This Jiedushi previously reported many matters of the Longyou border garrisons, including the Anren Army mutiny, to His Majesty. His Majesty replied with just four words: handle at discretion.

Therefore, I now announce the decision regarding the disposition of the Anren Army and its officers and soldiers."

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked at Geshu Han, wanting to hear what this unlucky fellow would have to say.

Because Geshu Han was the military commissioner of the Anren Army—no matter how the Anren Army was dealt with, he would be the most affected person!

Moreover, this acting Jiedushi did not seem to be discussing with them soldiers, but was directly informing them of the outcome with a firm attitude.

"However the Jiedushi wishes to deal with the Anren Army, your subordinate has no objections."

Geshu Han said, gritting his teeth.

"General Geshu understands the greater good—truly a model for our Great Tang border army."

Fang Chongyong said with a sigh.

Then he looked around at everyone and said with a pained expression:

"The Anren Army mutinied over unpaid wages, disregarding border defense, abandoning their garrison and scattering in flight, thoroughly ruining the reputation of the Longyou border army.

A bad apple cannot be kept. Therefore, this Jiedushi now announces the revocation of the Anren Army's designation.

Its soldiers and officers shall all be incorporated into the other armies of Longyou. Specific details will be conveyed to you by someone this Jiedushi sends tomorrow."

As soon as these words came out, it was earth-shattering!

Let alone Geshu Han, even a general like Gai Jiayun who had already knelt before Fang Chongyong as a loyal dog was shocked to the point of his ears buzzing!

This "acting Jiedushi" was simply too audacious—he was treating a chicken feather as an arrow of authority!

Under Great Tang military law, a border Jiedushi had the authority to establish new designations at the border garrisons and could also revoke existing designations, but had no power to expand the establishment.

In short: a Jiedushi could create new army designations and revoke old ones.

However, even long-service veterans were recorded in the Ministry of War's rosters—each man in his own slot. A Jiedushi had no way to add men to the Ministry of War's rolls!

The court's military pay for the border garrisons would not include a single extra copper! Unless the emperor issued an order, certified by the Secretariat-Chancellery, and then executed by the Ministry of War to increase troop numbers.

Increasing the troop count in the Ministry of War's rosters was not impossible, but the process and procedures were a great hassle—hard to accomplish and very time-consuming, far beyond what a single Jiedushi could manage.

Adding or removing designations, however, a Jiedushi could decide "with a single word."

In the historical records from Fang Chongyong's previous life, after Geshu Han captured Shibu Castle, he executed a series of combined maneuvers to expand the borders in Longyou, then newly established ten armies including the "Divine Strategy Army."

However, the newly added troops were approved only because Ji Ge strongly pushed for it; it's not Geshu Han's own merit.

If we also count the series of "armies" established by Guo Zhiyun in Longyou during the early Kaiyuan period. For a Jiedushi to abolish army garrison designations or establish new ones is not as simple as eating and drinking; at least it's not so difficult that one must repeatedly seek approval from the court.

However, Fang Chongyong is merely an acting Jiedushi! You, an acting Jiedushi, have no idea, wanting to take on this foolish troublemaking task?

In the main hall of the Longyou Jiedushi's office, silence lingered for a long time; then Geshu Han finally clasped his hands in salute to Fang Chongyong and asked, "Fang Jiedushi, should we first report this to Chang'an and wait for the imperial edict before making a decision?"

As soon as he said that, all the officers in the main hall turned their gazes to Fang Chongyong, wanting to see how this Fang Jiedushi would handle the situation.

"Geshu Han, you have great gall, daring to collude with the Tubo people and cause chaos in our Longyou frontier!"

Before Fang Chongyong could speak, Wang Nande, who had remained silent all along, rushed forward and punched Geshu Han to the ground!

Immediately thereafter, he rained punches and kicks upon Geshu Han.

Geshu Han, not to be outdone, rose and the two grappled together, the scene instantly descending into chaos.

"Enough! You are military officers, not street ruffians from Chang'an—stop this at once!"

Fang Chongyong shouted loudly at the two who were grappling.

The two were held back by the other officers, glaring at each other in silence.

The surgery went smoothly, but now his spirits are not good; it's hard to put into words, so let's leave it at that.

(End of chapter)