Chapter 1136: Matters Concerning Xiazhou and Suizhou

"Is it still raining?" Inside Wansui Hall, it was utterly quiet. Liu Chengyou was silently reviewing the memorials submitted by the various departments when he suddenly looked up and asked.

The Emperor's single sentence put the attending palace attendants on edge. A palace eunuch immediately went to check, then quickly returned to whisper to Yan Tuo, who in turn reported to Emperor Liu: "His Majesty, the cold rain has not stopped, but it has already lessened considerably!"

Emperor Liu nodded—no wonder he could barely hear the sound of the rain. Just then, Shi Xizai, an Academician of the Chongzheng Hall, came to seek an audience, and he was summoned in. Over the past two years, Shi Xizai had advanced further, taking charge of Chongzheng Hall's affairs and becoming a true hidden chancellor.

"Ningji has come—have a seat!" Emperor Liu still held Shi Xizai in considerable regard.

The officials at court were of all sorts, not lacking in mediocre petty men, nor wanting for modest gentlemen, and Shi Xizai was one of the few gentlemen able to reach high office.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" As always, strictly observing the rites, Shi Xizai gave his thanks and only then took his seat.

His body still bore traces of rain and dew, shrouded in obvious moisture. Seeing this, Emperor Liu immediately ordered Yan Tuo to serve him a bowl of hot soup. Looking at Shi Xizai, Liu Chengyou said: "This rain has fallen continuously for several days and still shows no sign of stopping. The Bian River has already risen. I wonder how the river conditions are—I hope no disaster of a breached levee or collapsed dike occurs..."

"Your Majesty's concern is well founded. The central government has already issued proclamations to all circuits, ordering the prefectures and counties along the river to strictly patrol and remain on guard!" Shi Xizai said.

"On the court's side, we should dispatch some special censors to go down and make inspections!" Emperor Liu instructed.

"Yes!"

"What urgent matter brings you here, Minister?" Liu Chengyou asked.

Shi Xizai presented a memorial, saying: "A report from Xiazhou: the various Tangut tribes have successively sent envoys expressing their submission. Wang You held a banquet at Xiazhou, inviting the chieftains of all the tribes to confer, representing the court in swearing an oath of alliance with them. All the tribes have expressed their willingness to forever submit to the Great Han and serve the court loyally. With this, Xiazhou and Suizhou are entirely pacified."

"This counts as good news, I suppose!" Emperor Liu's reaction to this was rather subdued, as he said: "But as for matters of sworn oaths—we keep our word, yet how strong a constraint can they be on barbarian tribes? When the Great Han is strong, they naturally bow their heads and claim vassalage. Can I really expect them to remain loyal forever?"

Seeing Emperor Liu's cold tone, Shi Xizai was momentarily at a loss for how to respond, and could only echo: "Your Majesty speaks truly. The barbarians fear might but do not cherish virtue. Now the various Tangut tribes, fearing the Great Han's power and compelled by military force, are vying to express submission—they are not to be trusted lightly."

Liu Chengyou smiled slightly, and as he opened the memorial, he asked: "As for implementing Han governance and paying taxes and tribute—how have these Tangut people responded?"

"They agreed to everything!"

"They agreed that readily?" Liu Chengyou said with amusement.

"It is said that during the oath-swearing, Commander Yang sent a thousand armored soldiers to maintain order!" Shi Xizai replied.

After years of understanding and familiarity, the sovereign and ministers of the Great Han had long reached a common understanding: when it came to the problems of Xiazhou and Suizhou, the Dingnan Army was easy to deal with—the hard part was governing the several hundred thousand Tangut people.

Unlike the scattered Tangut tribes spread across the He-Long region, the Tangut settlements in Xiazhou had been established there for a long time, possessed relatively high cohesion, and after nearly a century of management by the Tuoba Li clan, they fully possessed the foundation to produce an independent political entity.

It was only because the Great Han, a fierce tiger at their side, had forcibly interrupted their process of independence, even strangling that possibility. One should know that in official history, even facing the Zhao Song dynasty, the establishment of Western Xia was only achieved after more than half a century of bitter struggle and conflict with the Great Song.

Now, regarding the initially recovered Xiazhou and Suizhou and the Tangut people living there, Liu Chengyou's first priority was to eliminate any possibility of independence and to weaken the century-old foundation that the Dingnan Army had built.

Previously, at Liu Chengyou's direction, after comprehensive consideration and repeated deliberation by the gentlemen of the Hall of State Affairs, a set of post-war measures and governance strategies for Xiazhou and Suizhou had finally been produced.

Basically, it was adjusted within the framework suggested by the imperial uncle Li Ye—after all, that suited the Emperor's wishes and was also the ultimate goal of the court's recovery of Xiazhou. It was just not as hasty as Li Ye had sought, not achieving everything in one step.

However, even if the measures were relatively mild, there was one fundamental bottom line: the Tangut people had to be truly incorporated into the greater governance system, had to submit to official administration, and had to pay taxes to the court.

With this premise established, there was greater room for negotiation on other matters. The Tangut people could retain their own customs and practices—there was no need to forcibly push changes in dress and appearance—but the implementation of the Great Han's laws and institutions was an imperative that could not be avoided.

To appease the Tangut people, the court also granted certain concessions, such as collecting no taxes whatsoever for three years. The various Tangut tribes were still permitted to exist in their tribal form, with their original chieftains managing them, while the court selected those who were obedient and bestowed official positions upon them. As for the green and white salt that the Tangut people relied upon, the court would not directly seize it, but would send salt supervisors to provide "guidance," while simultaneously strengthening trade and economic ties between the Tangut and Han peoples.

Overall, toward the Tangut people, the court adopted a policy of appeasement—stabilizing the situation while gradually assimilating them. In later ages, the meaning of appeasement had become weakness and surrender, despised by all, yet its original intent was by no means blind retreat and compromise—it was merely a policy that took the overall situation into account.

Wei Renpu and the other chief ministers were seasoned and prudent in statecraft. With the overall situation settled, it was understandable that they did not wish to adopt hasty policies or excessive measures, lest they create unnecessary complications.

Emperor Liu understood this as well, and thus endorsed their thinking. Of course, the most important thing was that the ministers deeply understood the Emperor's goal of absorbing and digesting the Tangut people, and they were all striving in that direction.

With this understanding, reaching a consensus with Emperor Liu was not difficult.

In comparison, toward the Tuoba Li clan, they were not so courteous—all members within three generations, whether of the direct or collateral line, were to be relocated entirely, with no room for negotiation whatsoever.

After deliberation, it was decided that all members of the Li clan from Li Guangrui on down would be relocated to Hebei. Between centralized resettlement and dispersed resettlement, centralized was ultimately chosen—for no other reason than ease of management. The destination of the relocation was Xiangzhou.

Yinzhou and Suizhou, unsurprisingly, quickly surrendered and submitted one after another. After all, since Li Guangrui—who had previously shown the most toughness and possessed the strongest strength—had surrendered, what other choice could they have? They all behaved obediently.

After the four prefectures of Xiazhou and Suizhou were fully recovered, the court's post-war orders arrived in succession without any delay. Yang Ye and Wang You proceeded to implement them according to the court's policies and guidelines, combined with the specific local conditions.

The matter of relocating the clan naturally stirred strong discontent within the Tuoba Li clan. Attachment to one's homeland was not unique to the Han—the Tangut people were equally reluctant to leave their native soil.

Especially the Lady Li—they were already "new Tangut" who had departed from the traditional nomadic production methods. Moreover, carrying out a large-scale relocation of the Lady Li was no simple matter. Their complaints were widespread, and on top of that, the Tuoba had originally been a major Tangut tribe, with the Lady Li's direct line having flourished and multiplied since Li Sigong. The family alone was a huge crowd of people—one can imagine the difficulty of moving all of them out.

Of course, when one is the fish and meat on the chopping block, no matter how much resentment and dissatisfaction existed within the Li clan, in an era when the Han army ran rampant, they were not permitted more choices.

Yang Ye had received the Emperor's authorization—those who complied would prosper, those who resisted would perish. His war blade had yet to be properly bloodied.

On the other hand, there was the matter of handling the original Dingnan Army troops. In this regard, far greater caution was required—no matter could cause more severe destruction than problems arising within the military.

The combined forces of the four prefectures of Xiazhou and Suizhou numbered over ten thousand men. Among them, all those of Han registration were retained in full. Of the elite and capable backbone of the army, one portion was selected to fill out the tribal units and garrison in place, while another portion was transferred to the imperial army in the Eastern Capital for deep assimilation.

The remaining six thousand or so were all relocated externally—nominally transferred away. This time it was not an inward relocation, but dispatch to garrison Shanyang. Song Qi, serving in his post at Shanyang, had been asking Emperor Liu for manpower from time to time—this time he would be given a great gift.

Six thousand Dingnan soldiers were not simply six thousand troops—they included their entire families, old and young—a full six thousand households. For a border region, that was enough to populate several counties.

In this way, having dismantled the Dingnan Army piece by piece, regardless of what others thought, he himself felt considerably more at ease.

Of course, Emperor Liu also knew full well that things would by no means be easy, and that the Tangut people would not truly be so obedient and submissive. Barring the possibility of outright rebellion, the Great Han's rule over Xiazhou and Suizhou would still have to endure considerable trials.

It would depend on the abilities of Wang You and Yang Ye. Obviously, what most tested Yang Ye in this pacification of Xiazhou and Suizhou was not his ability to command troops in battle, but his ability to coordinate relationships and handle mundane affairs. So far, he had done quite well—Yang Ye was a commander with a sense of the overall situation.