Chapter 429: Trouble at the Elbow and Armpit

In recent years, An Sishun, the Hedong Jiedushi, had not been having an easy time of it.

Around mid-eleventh year of the Tianbao era, Huangfu Weiming, the Jiedushi of Youzhou and Pinglu, submitted a memorial to the court, claiming that An Sishun harbored rebellious intent and sought to collude with the Tujue and some of the Tiele people to establish himself as the Khagan of the Tujue! The court should have him arrested and interrogated!

An Sishun was a Sogdian of Turkicized background, merely bearing a name from the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu, and was not of the same ilk as the Liangzhou An clan, who had already cultivated connections at court.

To say he wanted to "rebuild the Tujue," though absurd, was not entirely without basis.

Upon learning of this, An Sishun submitted a memorial in his own defense, declaring his unwavering loyalty to the court, while accusing Huangfu Weiming, who was stationed in Hebei, of being the one truly plotting rebellion.

It was a dog-eat-dog situation, with neither side having any hard evidence.

This kind of sordid business was, in fact, already commonplace in the Tang border armies. From killing a mid- or low-ranking officer over a disagreement, to accusing and framing a colleague of rebellion, it was all just the crude infighting of soldiers.

If someone were truly planning to rebel, they'd grab a sword and march straight for Chang'an! Who would go around shouting accusations and trading insults with their colleagues!

Brother Ji was well aware of this, but still flew into a rage in front of the court officials, and dispatched eunuch army supervisors to Hedong and Hebei respectively to "verify" the claims. Once the eunuchs arrived, both An Sishun and Huangfu Weiming "compensated" these supervisory eunuchs until they were thoroughly satisfied.

After the eunuchs returned to court, they told Brother Ji that both men were loyal to the state, and that because their defense zones were adjacent, various minor disputes had accumulated into friction, leading them to report and smear each other, a common occurrence in the military.

Brother Ji expressed satisfaction with the investigation's results, merely issuing an edict reprimanding the two men, without any actual punitive action.

In the autumn of the eleventh year of Tianbao, Huangfu Weiming again memorialized the court, saying he wished to campaign against the Khitan but lacked sufficient troops, and requested the court to deploy reinforcements from nearby.

Perhaps knowing that military forces were difficult to mobilize from the Tang border garrisons everywhere these days, Huangfu Weiming thoughtfully offered a "small suggestion":

The land of Hequ, located on the eastern side of the Hetao loop (at the border of Shaanxi and Ningxia, within the loop), was the junction between the jurisdictions of the Shuofang Army and the Hedong Army, far from the front lines and ordinarily free of hostilities.

Previously, when the Tongluo tribe, one of the Nine Surnames of Tiele, the Abusi clan, came to surrender to the Great Tang, the court settled them there as a city-flank tribe. Among them, there were over fifteen thousand men skilled in horsemanship who could mount up and fight at any time.

Why not transfer the Tongluo tribe to Yingzhou to join forces with the Youzhou and Pinglu garrisons in a northern campaign against the Khitan?

Brother Ji agreed without a second thought, waving his hand and granting approval!

Why would he agree?

Because such a move would clearly intensify the conflicts among the several Jiedushi in the north! Huangfu Weiming really knew how to play the game!

Transferring a city-flank tribe from the junction of Shuofang and Hedong to Youzhou would simultaneously offend both the Shuofang and Hedong garrisons. That way, they would have no way of joining forces with the Youzhou side.

If the border garrisons had conflicts, they would have to rely on Brother Ji's mediation. In this way, the influence of imperial power smoothly extended to the border garrisons.

As for the Tongluo tribe itself, Brother Ji didn't care in the least. They were just a tribe of Hu who had come to surrender, who cared whether they were happy or not!

However, while Brother Ji and the court didn't care, the people involved cared very much.

Abusi, the chief of the Tongluo tribe, was alarmed when he learned of this, and hurried to Taiyuan City to discuss countermeasures with An Sishun, the Hedong Jiedushi.

The court's transfer order had already been delivered to his hands. Should he go, or not?

This matter was truly difficult.

If he went, he'd be at the mercy of others, with a worrying fate. If he didn't, his arm couldn't twist the thigh.

"Lord An, Jiedushi, what do you think should be done about this matter?"

In the study of the Hedong Jiedushi's yamen, this Tiele man, originally named Abusi, whom Brother Ji had granted the name Li Xianzhong, asked in a fawning manner.

"The imperial will cannot be defied! This matter is difficult!"

An Sishun sighed deeply. This Hedong Jiedushi, now past fifty, had been feeling deeply weary of late.

Over in Shuofang, waves had recently risen from calm. The former Jiedushi Li Guozhen and the Agricultural Colonization Commissioner Zhang Qiqiu had both been dismissed. Fang Chongyong, Commander of the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army and Prince of Pingxi, had descended on Shuofang with elite imperial guards, replacing Li Guozhen.

Right upon arrival he clashed with the Uighurs, fighting a major battle at Feng'an City that ended in a crushing defeat for the Uighurs! Even the Uighur Yabgu was captured!

If Fang Chongyong were merely skilled in battle, that would be one thing. The problem was that this bastard was deeply calculating.

First sending Li Guozhen to Hedong to "scout the way," and then, almost immediately after, dispatching his own trusted confidant for secret talks, his intentions were plain to see!

But no matter who it was, An Sishun's attitude was the same: ignore them!

An Sishun understood very well what the Sage in Chang'an was wary of these days, and Hedong was a very sensitive place.

An Sishun did not want the Son of Heaven to think that he, the Hedong Jiedushi, liked to mingle with ambitious people. Avoiding suspicion, avoiding suspicion, in such matters, one could only say that those who understood, understood. What shouldn't be done must not be done, one touch and you're dead.

If he helped Fang Chongyong with joint defense today, and tomorrow this Prince of Pingxi rebelled, then wouldn't he also have to "go along with it"?

Once that opening was made, the consequences would be endless.

Of course, there was no need to tell Abusi about these messy affairs.

"Lord An, Jiedushi, that place in Hebei, we're strangers in an unfamiliar land. The Tongluo tribe has worked the land of Hequ for years, and now they want us to abandon our developed fields. This, this, this... that's not appropriate, is it?"

Abusi asked with a face full of grievance.

In all fairness, it was indeed quite inappropriate!

An Sishun also felt a bit of sympathy for Abusi. Just to make a living in the Great Tang, he'd even changed his name. Over the years, whenever the Tang border garrisons had matters to attend to, Abusi always provided men when men were needed; when money was lacking, he still provided men.

"How about this: simply pretend you know nothing of this matter and stall for time. Drag it out, and the Sage may well forget about it.

Huangfu Weiming doesn't lack troops. He's just short of a luckless fool to serve as a puppet and take the beatings at the front."

An Sishun gave Abusi a piece of advice, which could be summed up in one word: lie low!

Stay put if at all possible. As long as the court doesn't have a massive army bearing down, then just keep lying low.

Right now, those chancellors and ministers in the central government had a whole pile of headaches to deal with. Raising money when funds were short, dealing with the aftermath of droughts and locust plagues, dredging waterways, and so on, all required their attention.

They truly couldn't spare the time for a "tiny shrimp" of a problem like Abusi.

An Sishun was no fool. He had already seen through Huangfu Weiming's intentions, and had also figured out Brother Ji's intentions.

Brother Ji was simply idle in governance now, afraid of trouble, and would avoid acting whenever possible.

Huangfu Weiming said that Abusi's tribe could be mobilized from nearby to Youzhou or Yingzhou, and since Abusi's Tongluo tribe was a city-flank tribe, they weren't part of the regular army establishment.

Brother Ji wouldn't feel any pain using them, nor would he have to haggle over matters of establishment.

So this matter was simply pushed through "going with the flow."

As long as Abusi lay low, making excuses and prevaricating to avoid going to Hebei, eventually the court would either not be in a hurry and forget the matter, or, under Huangfu Weiming's urging, find someone else to help.

Lying low was also a kind of wisdom! When you had seen through the situation, in many cases "lying low" was even the best solution.

"Is Lord An, Jiedushi, saying that I should keep finding excuses, saying it's inconvenient to go to Hebei, and stall for a while before deciding, is that right?"

Abusi asked in confusion. It had to be said, this was quite far from what he had been hoping for.

According to Abusi's thinking, An Sisun should be the legitimate one to issue a "transfer order" to him, conscripting Abusi's tribe, and then he could shake off the trap set by Huangfu Weiming.

But An Sisun's method is clearly a bit of "none of my business, hanging it high," unwilling to take responsibility.

"Although your department spans the two towns of Shuo Fang Hedong, and most of it lies in Hedong's Hequ region, dealing a lot with Hedong here, your military registration, however, is in Shuo Fang.

This Jiedushi has no authority to issue you a direct military order."

An Sisun sighed helplessly.

This is the court's "balance of power" method: although most of Abusi's tribe's territory falls under the jurisdiction of the Hedong military governor, they were given a Shuo Fang military registration.

Thus, whether Shuo Fang or the Hedong military governor wants to stir trouble, there is an additional invisible shackles on them.

Of course, having a military registration does not mean one has joined the army.

It merely indicates that if something happens, one can obey a summons. Where the registration is, one follows that region's summons.

A similar system inherited from early Tang's "fan shang", where a person's registration does not mean he is in the army.

For example, soldiers from Guanzhong who go to serve in a border town keep their registration in Guanzhong. Whenever a paper transfer order comes from Guanzhong, the soldiers with Guanzhong registration can be moved, rather than obeying the local military‑civilian commander's orders.

These are all old Tang "rules", only Abusi, an outsider, does not quite understand these twists and turns.

But An Sisun, who has been in Longyou town serving in the army since childhood, understands perfectly! Issuing a military order to Abusi is a great taboo for the court and even the Sage.

"So, if one goes to Shuo Fang and asks for a military order, does that mean one can avoid being transferred to Hebei?"

Abusi asked excitedly. From An Sisun's words just now, he noticed something that seemed "very interesting."

"This move is not improper, but…"

An Sisun nodded slightly, about to speak but stopped. He actually wanted to say that the Tongluo tribe, which shares ancestry with the Uighur, is also one of the nine Tiele surnames. Going to Shuo Fang at this critical moment is truly a good timing!

Anyway, since Abusi wants to go to Tou Tie, An Sisun lets him go, letting him be beaten by reality, so his mind will clear.

At that moment, the study was pushed open. Several of An Sisun's trusted followers entered, subtly shielding him; behind them stood a squad of imperial‑guard‑styled Qiu Ba, and a eunuch dressed in red palace robes.

"An Sisun, someone has accused you of treason. The evidence is solid, the Sage is enraged; come with us back to Chang'an to defend yourself before the Sage."

"Your post is temporarily assumed by the acting Jiedushi! The imperial edict is here!"

The eunuch produced a yellow silk scroll bearing the imperial edict and said bluntly.

"Treason?"

An Sisun, with a surprised face, retorted, still in a bewildered state.

"No need for idle talk; whatever the matter is, say it in front of the Sage. I am merely a messenger for the Sage."

"Attendants, seize him!"

Before he could argue, the eunuch ordered the imperial guards behind him to arrest An Sisun.

"You…"

An Sisun saw his own followers, those who always swore to live and die with him, involuntarily step back a few paces, keeping distance, and his heart turned to ash.

He offered no resistance.

"May I ask, you say I plotted treason—do you have evidence?"

An Sisun looked at the eunuch and asked in a deep voice.

"You know best what you have done yourself. As the saying goes, argue after you have seen the Sage!"

The eunuch clearly did not care how An Sisun replied, and without further discussion ordered his men to take him away.

"Who are you?"

The eunuch looked at Abusi and questioned, his tone unusually harsh.

"Hu Shang, I am just a Hu merchant, doing business with An Sisun."

Abusi forced a nervous laugh, thinking to himself that things were not good.

"Then get out quickly!"

The eunuch, unwilling to make things more complicated, waved his hand toward the study door.

Abusi, as if granted a pardon, gratefully nodded to several of An Sisun's trusted followers, thanking them for not exposing his identity, then hurriedly slipped out of the military governor's office.

Not until he left Taiyuan City did Abusi still feel that the world was absurdly farcical!

He, whose life was insecure and had to relocate to Hebei, was temporarily safe. The Hedong military governor An Sisun, who an hour earlier was a high official, was instead taken down by the court!

"Right, go to Shuo Fang! Must go to Shuo Fang!"

Abusi recalled An Sisun's reminder, seeming to grasp a lifeline.

……

In the winter of the eleventh year of Tianbao, Huangfu Weiming submitted a memorial stating that An Sisun harbored rebellious intent and could not serve as Jiedushi. He also presented evidence: a handwritten letter from the then Pinglu military governor An Lushan to the then Hedong military governor An Sisun!

In the letter, An Lushan said he had already found a prince in the court to serve as a "backer."

At that time, the An clan would jointly support this backer to ascend the throne, cause trouble in Hebei and Hedong, and achieve the merit of "riding the dragon," how splendid would that be!

Moreover, this was not a rebellion against Tang, but the current Sage was no longer useful, and it was time for a young, vigorous, wise and mighty prince to take the throne.

An Sisun replied that the matter was absurd, without elaborating.

But clearly, loyalty is not absolute; absolute disloyalty is!

An Sisun had not presented An Lushan's letter to Ji Ge, already harboring ill intent!

As the saying goes, "a lie repeated a hundred times becomes truth." Huangfu Weiming kept attacking An Sisun, accusing him of treason, yet could not produce concrete proof.

Thus the central officials and Ji Ge treated it as a dog‑versus‑dog joke.

However this time was different; the letter Huangfu Weiming sent was said to have been "found" in an inconspicuous corner while cleaning the military governor's office. Although An Lushan had mysteriously disappeared, he was most likely dead.

Yet past treason is still treason, because that "ambitious" prince, the backer behind An Lushan, is still alive!

This struck Ji Ge's reverse scale!

Loyalty cannot be questioned; once loyalty is questioned, decisive action must follow.

Either the border will have to rebel, or the emperor will preemptively eliminate them.

Ji Ge is a master of scheming; naturally it's impossible for An Shun to find an opportunity. Directly send eunuchs to lead troops to seize him—it's like a swift sword cutting through tangled hemp!

So, could it be that An Shun actually never received a letter from An Lushan, and all this was fabricated and framed by Huangfu Weiming?

The answer is that it's indeed possible, but Ji Ge doesn't dare to gamble!

For Ji Ge, his own power and personal safety come first. As for which dog is framed, that's not within his consideration; in short, everything puts safety first.

Besides, An Shun and An Lushan, in terms of clan ties and personal feelings, are indeed family, half-brothers bound by close fraternal ties! An Shun cannot deny this.

The Hedong deputy military governor, named Han Xiu lin, was formerly part of Wang Zhongsi's troops, so he smoothly served as acting Hedong military governor.

However, the fact is that the Tang dynasty has shifted from order to chaos, with frontier garrisons' forces restless, and Han Xiu lin lacks the ability to handle the complex situation.

As for who should succeed as Hedong military governor, the court is in an uproar.

Some say that the Northern Direction Military Governor Fang Chongyong could also serve as Hedong Military Governor, after all, when he previously served as Grand Envoy of the Western Regions, he had successful experience coordinating many regional commands.

But some also recommend Hebei Pinglu Deputy Military Governor, Lulong Army Commander Tian Chengsi.

At this extremely sensitive juncture, nobody dares to speak definitively, and the thorny problem has been tossed back to Ji Ge's lap.

(End of chapter)