Chapter 1237: The Current State of the Tangut

Only a day later, someone came from the prefectural city, calling directly at the door, conveying the prefectural office's order to summon Xu Xuan to teach at the Zhihé Academy. Feng Guang's efficiency was thus demonstrated. Xu Xuan's reputation was, after all, considerable; for the upper classes, someone who could offend the Emperor and still escape with exile instead of death was something of a marvel.

Making him an official might be highly debatable, but with his vast learning, serving as a teacher posed no problem at all. Moreover, with Emperor Liu's words on record, the invisible shackles on Xu Xuan had been effectively removed, and the Fengzhou authorities could employ him boldly without risking political repercussions.

Faced with the prefectural office's invitation, however, Xu Xuan relapsed into his old ways, putting on airs of reserve and refusing outright, claiming he was a man under sentence, fit only to be an old shepherd, and dared not mislead the young, and so on.

But the dispatched messengers cared little for that. Acting directly on the Prefect's orders and paying no heed to Xu Xuan's affectations, they simply hoisted him onto a cart and practically carried him back to the prefectural city to report completion of their mission.

For Emperor Liu, Xu Xuan was of no consequence whatsoever—he was only mentioned because it happened to come to mind. When Feng Guang, noting that the Emperor had spoken of Xu Xuan a couple of extra times, asked whether he should receive him, Emperor Liu refused outright.

Why see the man? To look at his sour face, admire his literati pride, or listen to his self-righteous seditious talk? Emperor Liu had no interest whatsoever.

By the time Xu Xuan was "invited" to Fengzhou city, the imperial entourage had already set out once more, leaving Fengzhou and turning south along the Yellow River to inspect Xia and Sui. Leaving Fengzhou, what they experienced was still desolation; seeing it with his own eyes, Emperor Liu realized that the Hetao Plain, once so fertile, had already undergone obvious desertification.

Though he did not investigate in depth, the bleak desolation radiating from the vast desert at the heart of Hetao left a deep impression on Emperor Liu. He therefore issued an edict directly from field headquarters, ordering tree planting to consolidate soil and water, circulated to all prefectures along the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and raised the standards for timber harvesting once again, strictly prohibiting indiscriminate logging.

In the more than ten years since peace had been restored in the northwest, reconstruction work had been carried out in various places, with rapid recovery of construction and massive building projects—the demand for timber and building materials naturally had a broad market.

And the northwest region was not lacking in great timber and fine wood; Emperor Liu had taken note of these circumstances. In earlier years, because Tibetan magnates within Qinzhou had extensively harvested trees for profit, Emperor Liu had already imposed restrictions specifically targeting that matter.

Now, though he had personally made the journey, he had no idea how much effect his decrees would have, for there was no baseline for comparison.

But all he could do was urge and admonish, and impose some restrictions. After all, vegetation was essential material for the people's livelihood; in the face of survival, environmental destruction could only be relegated to a secondary consideration.

Of course, Emperor Liu had to strictly prohibit the indiscriminate logging carried out to satisfy grand construction projects. And the first to be reined in were the bureaucrats, nobles, wealthy merchants, and those tribal groups.

In any case, through Emperor Liu's numerous decrees and opinions over the years, later historians studying the period would surely recognize and praise his farsighted protection of soil and water in the upper Yellow River region......

Heading south from Fengzhou, the roads were relatively easy to traverse and much smoother, though sparsely populated and desolate in every direction—a hundred li without a trace of human habitation was the norm.

On the Yulin circuit, Yang Ye, Wu Tingzuo, Wang Shenqi and others took the initiative to lead men out to greet the imperial entourage, and Emperor Liu received them at Lingzhou. Lingzhou was also a major gateway into the Hexi Corridor; since Duke of Xing, Shi Hongzhao, had been posted there to govern, nearly twenty years of major development had passed.

By now, it was not only a major military center of the northwest, but also an economic center. Though it had not become a circuit seat, its political status was no lower than that of any circuit-level seat in the northwest.

With Lingzhou secure, it could radiate influence over the entire core region of the northwest. It was an extremely important link in the Great Han's northwestern military system, serving a pivotal role, a cornerstone city for maintaining stability in the northwest.

By the seventh year of Kaibao, the military and civilian population under Lingzhou's jurisdiction had already surpassed one hundred thousand, with five thousand permanent garrison troops, half of them cavalry.

And it was only upon reaching Lingzhou that Emperor Liu truly witnessed the appearance of a Great Han northwestern city—a different vista, a different prosperity. Reviews, meetings, inspections, visits—from the start of the western tour at Yunzhong to Lingzhou, he had already traveled a full two thousand li. In this major northwestern stronghold, Emperor Liu stayed a sufficiently long time—ten days.

Toward important ministers such as Yang Ye, Wu Tingzuo, and Wang Shenqi, Emperor Liu's attitude was as always: recognition plus encouragement. At the same time, he held a secret meeting concerning affairs with the Liao, making plans for future military campaigns. The Emperor's desire to look north and strike was stirring, and he made no effort to conceal it, which excited Yang Ye and Wang Shenqi, who had long harbored such ambitions.

At the same time, Emperor Liu also set aside time to receive the Tangut tribal chieftains who had come west with Yang Ye and Wu Tingzuo, to show his reassurance. As the main component of the Yulin circuit's population, if the Tangut were at peace, Yulin would be at peace; if Yulin were at peace, the northwest would be tranquil.

Emperor Liu was well aware of this, and so, under a series of policies of division, assimilation, and checks and balances, the Tangut tribes of the northwest had already been largely brought to heel. Compared to when the Li clan of the Dingnan Army held power, the cohesion of the Tangut people had greatly diminished; on the contrary, under the Great Han's overt and covert stirring, the trend toward fragmentation had become even more pronounced.

Of course, this effect was achieved under the Great Han's strength and sufficient military deterrence. And from the bottom of his heart, toward these Tangut people entrenched in the northwest, Emperor Liu had always harbored a mentality of wariness, even disgust.

The primary reason was that the Tangut had taken root in the Xia-Sui region for too long, forming their own history, culture, and customs—all of which were the foundation and basis for a people's rise.

With the northwestern territories fully recovered, Xia-Sui had become the heartland of the northwest. In one's own heartland, to have such a people, such a force—how could Emperor Liu not regard them with suspicion and gravity?

And as for the Tangut themselves—was their deference and submission to the Great Han sincere? Emperor Liu had thought about this question: absolutely not.

One only needed to simply compare the difference before and after submitting to the court. In the past, they were independent and autonomous, without overly harsh constraints, without household registration management, tribal people did not have to be forcibly relocated or split apart, there were no spring and autumn taxes, and no compulsory corvée labor that had to be performed......

The various policies the Great Han court had implemented in the Yulin circuit, though gradual, were like a rope constantly tightening, binding the Tangut and suppressing their space for freedom. In their trade with the Han, their horses, cattle and sheep, and green-white salt had once yielded large profits; now that advantage was gone, and many tribes that did not produce grain had to pay a greater price than before to trade for the grain they needed to survive.

From every aspect, the Tangut's days were no longer as comfortable as before. The gap between this and what the court had previously proclaimed was considerable.

But things having come to this pass, the Tangut no longer had much capital for resistance. Not to mention the deterrence of the northwestern garrisons; within Tangut society itself, after the Li clan and several great families had all been relocated away, the remaining Tangut were like scattered sand, and without the ability to unite their strength, they could not stir up any major disturbance.

In the past few years, there had indeed been unrest, but it had all been ruthlessly suppressed by Yang Ye.

Now, the Son of Heaven of the Great Han was touring the northwest and had not forgotten to personally receive representatives of the Tangut tribes—this was granting them considerable face. Faced with this, the Tangut had no choice but submission, but praise, but hymns of eulogy.

When the Emperor amiably inquired about the Tangut tribes' livelihoods, customs, and social relations, they had to put on smiling faces and respond with utmost deference, praying for the Emperor's blessings and favor.

And even if they were ever so submissive, offering humble words and tribute, Emperor Liu's wariness toward them had never diminished. What could be certain was that under the Great Han's dominance, for a long time to come, the Tangut could only live at its mercy......