Chapter 1171: Southwestern Native Chieftains

Chuigong Hall was Emperor Liu's residence in the Luoyang palace city, a newly built palace as well, likewise situated on the central axis of the imperial city, positioned toward the rear, between the outer court and the inner palace.

Compared to Qianyuan Hall's grandeur and splendor, Chuigong Hall, though slightly less imposing, was far more livable. After residing there for a time, Emperor Liu quickly adapted and was quite satisfied.

Midsummer had already arrived, and some time had passed since Emperor Liu's large-scale westward relocation to Luoyang, yet the court, from top to bottom, had still not fully settled. The placement of residences was a minor matter; the principal problem lay in politics.

Although both court and country knew that Emperor Liu's move was tantamount to relocating the capital, knowing was one thing—serving as officials, conducting affairs, and living in the new capital still required a certain period of adjustment.

Especially those who had always held reservations about the capital relocation felt extremely uncomfortable in their hearts, and this psychological state manifested itself as turbulence in the court.

Although the officials who had traveled west had all taken up residence in the various ministries and bureaus and, under Wei Renpu's leadership, begun to perform their respective duties, their efficiency was far lower than it had been in the Eastern Capital, and a great many matters had suffered delays or errors during this period.

This situation irritated Emperor Liu somewhat. He refused to believe that merely changing locations would make things impossible to do well, and firmly believed that a small portion of officials were using such means to "demonstrate" against him.

Consequently, before long, several officials were demoted and reduced in rank for negligence of duty. Of course, it was not all stick and no carrot—Emperor Liu also had Crown Prince Liu Yang and Wei Renpu jointly organize a court conference to summarize the chaos following the court's relocation to the Western Capital, reassuring people's hearts while also issuing warnings, in hopes of correcting the situation.

These matters, in truth, were still not the greatest problem. What gave Emperor Liu the most headache and trouble was the question of the status of the two capitals, which involved a division of power.

Both capitals were to be treated equally. The current situation was that the Western Capital had a grand court and the Eastern Capital a small court—so what were the officials of the various ministries in the Eastern Capital supposed to do? They could hardly be kept around to eat idle rice.

Emperor Liu had originally intended to emulate the Ming dynasty's system of northern and southern capitals, having the Eastern Capital administer a portion of the circuits and prefectures on its behalf. However, Luoyang and Kaifeng were simply too close together; in terms of radiating influence over the empire's territory, they clearly overlapped, and the difference from the northern and southern capitals was also great.

Moreover, if Kaifeng were to administer certain circuits and prefectures—the nation's most essential regions, the seats of finance and taxation, all lay to the east—if affairs of the circuits and prefectures east of the passes all had to go through the Eastern Capital, then what position would that leave the Western Capital in?

In the short term, the problem might not be great, after all, the Eastern Capital had been the capital of the Great Han for twenty years, and many affairs had formed a kind of inertia. But given enough time, problems would inevitably arise—and major ones at that.

This was also the reason Emperor Liu had always harbored certain doubts about the two-capital question from the very beginning. The empire's center could only ever be one. Perhaps one could look at where the emperor was, but when it came to central authority and the interests of so many people above and below, even Emperor Liu could not simply do whatever he pleased.

Thus, after repeated deliberation, Emperor Liu ultimately decided on a nearly compromise solution: the regions east of Kaifeng, Henan, and the Lianghuai area would temporarily fall under the Eastern Capital's jurisdiction, while the empire's center of power would be clearly vested in the Western Capital.

Of course, the power held by Kaifeng had been drastically curtailed, essentially limited to civil administration. Core powers like financial authority and the military still had to be firmly grasped in the central government's hands.

The one who explicitly voiced opposition to this was the emperor's maternal uncle, Li Ye, who submitted several memorials to Emperor Liu, feeling that this arrangement was superfluous and prone to generating contradictions, wasting resources, reducing administrative efficiency, and being detrimental to the court's unity and stability...

Uncle Li did have political foresight, but his remonstrance was useless—Emperor Liu would not listen. Achieving everything in one stroke was something Emperor Liu had also considered, but he obviously had far more things to weigh, and it was not as if he would never return to the Eastern Capital.

Still, having made an arrangement he was not entirely satisfied with, Emperor Liu felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart as well.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Duke of Qin requests an audience!"

"Admit him!"

Liu Xu, with his jade belt and broad ceremonial cap, entered the hall with composure, performed the rites and paid his respects. Accompanying him into the hall were two other men, dark-skinned and burly, who, despite wearing court official robes, gave off a somewhat incongruous impression. Of course, it was not the men themselves that seemed out of place, but the fierce, wild temperament they carried.

Emperor Liu's attention was not on his eldest son, however. He studied the two men kneeling in the hall. Clearly, this was their first time in the imperial capital, their first time entering the imperial palace. In such a majestic hall, before the Great Han emperor who seemed like a heavenly deity, they prostrated themselves on the ground, appearing as if they could not lift their heads or straighten their backs.

"These are Yang Bushe, Prefect of Bo Prefecture, and Hei Ding, Prefect of Qian Prefecture!" Liu Xu introduced them to Emperor Liu.

Emperor Liu was not surprised. Raising his hand with a smile, he said, "You two need not stand on ceremony—rise!"

"We thank Your Majesty!" The two native chieftains from the southwest spoke Mandarin quite well, though it was laced with heavy accents.

"I have heard of you both. In recent years, the southwest has enjoyed peace and stability, thanks in no small part to the assistance of loyal, enlightened lords such as yourselves!" Emperor Liu said.

Upon hearing this, both men beamed with joy. Though they still dared not look directly at Emperor Liu, seeing the Son of Heaven's attitude so kind, their courage grew considerably. After all, they had once been local magnates of the southwest region, and once the initial tension of their first audience with the Son of Heaven passed, they became much more at ease.

Yang Bushe, the current head of the Bo Prefecture Yang clan, said with both excitement and reverence: "Though your servants dwell in remote barbaric lands, we have been subjects of the Central Kingdom for generations. Our hearts yearn for imperial civilization. To be able to serve the sage Son of Heaven and the court is our fortune, and to be accepted by the court is even more our blessing!"

"Haha!" This Yang Bushe certainly knew how to speak. Emperor Liu was greatly pleased.

"Since the end of the Tang dynasty, the situation in the southwest has deteriorated, nearly breaking away. The Yang clan has held Bo Prefecture for nearly a century, pacifying the tribal people and suppressing the disloyal—great merit for both state and people." Emperor Liu's words were full of recognition for the Bo Prefecture Yang clan.

"These are all things your servants ought to do!" Yang Bushe responded.

The Yang clan's hereditary tenure as Prefect was not actually a product of the native chieftain system implemented by the Great Han, but after its implementation, they became the most powerful and influential native chieftain force in the southwest region.

And in the Great Han's process of transforming the southwest into native chieftain territories, the Yang clan had indeed actively catered to the court's policies, contributing great effort in assisting the court's campaigns to pacify and suppress the various southwestern barbarians. Of course, it was only natural that they took the opportunity to expand their power and increase their influence. As for Hei Ding, he was the former chieftain of the Ayong barbarians, also a major clan of the southwest region, and naturally received an official appointment as Prefect of Qian Prefecture.

Looking at the two men, Emperor Liu said in an encouraging tone with a smile: "From now on, the order and security of the southwest will require the joint maintenance of the court and all native officials. If you lords do not fail the court, the court will certainly not fail you!"

Upon hearing this, the two immediately declared their eternal loyalty to the court and to the Great Han. Emperor Liu graciously accepted this, though he did not truly believe it in his heart. Still, after so many years of cultivation, a new ruling order in the southwest had been essentially established, and the native chieftains who had reaped great benefits from it would naturally safeguard it diligently.

Hei Ding then said with great fervor: "Should any of the southwestern tribes dare rebel against the court, your servant will surely lead the young men of my clan to attack and annihilate them, cutting off their heads!"

Yang Bushe then seized the opportunity to say: "Your Majesty, although most of the Qianzhong region has submitted, there are still some who harbor divided loyalties. Especially the Luomin people, who command the multitudes of the Nine Streams and Eighteen Caves, repeatedly creating incidents, defying the court's authority, refusing to submit to governance—this truly does not benefit the stability of the southwest. I humbly request that the court maintain vigilance!"

Hearing this, Emperor Liu smiled and immediately said: "With a minister like Yang thinking so much for the court, I can rest assured about the governance of the southwest!"

That was what he said, but he gave no direct response to the request. The Luomin that Yang Bushe referred to were the Yi people living in the southwest region. The Bo Prefecture Yang clan had deep conflicts with them, having fought repeatedly in the past and accumulated deep grievances. Three generations of the Yang clan had harbored ambitions to pacify them, but had never achieved it.

By now, those Yi people had naturally also submitted to the Great Han and had likewise been divided into various large and small native chieftaincies. However, this time they had sent no representatives to the capital. Yang Bushe was taking the opportunity to sow a little discord, so that if conflict arose in the future, he might win support.

And with Emperor Liu's shrewdness, how could he fail to see through this motive? In the court's governance of the southwest, division was the goal. Conflicts and contradictions could be cultivated, but directly stepping in to take sides was out of the question.

The southwest had finally entered a relatively peaceful and tranquil situation—why would he casually break it? As for the contradictions between the Yang clan and the Yi people, he would simply watch. As long as it did not affect the overall stability of the southwest, he would meddle as little as possible in other matters.

Moreover, while there were indeed some among the Yi who were fickle in their submission, was the loyalty of Bo Prefecture truly wholehearted? Some words were simply worth listening to and nothing more.

This time marked the first occasion that southwestern local magnates had entered the court to have an audience with the emperor, and it was also a manifestation of the court's progress in governing the southwest. Just like when the Miao and Yao chieftains of Hunan had entered the court in years past, Emperor Liu greeted both men with smiles from beginning to end, and at the end, even kept them for a meal together.