Chapter 1310: The Advantage Is Too Great, the Confidence Too Strong

The original inspection plan was for Emperor Liu to pass through Hebei, inspect Wuqing Harbor, then take the dragon boat south to land at Denglai, and thereafter tour the military, political, and civilian conditions of Henan.

However, this plan came to an end after reaching Wuqing. For one thing, having gone out to sea and experienced the maritime scenery, Emperor Liu was unwilling to place himself in further risk.

For another, due to the major shift in the northern campaign situation—Liaodong having been secured—Emperor Liu's attention was wholly focused on the war. His imperial carriage halted along the Yan Mountains route, intending to supervise and urge from nearby, and to more conveniently support the northern expedition forces at close range.

Therefore, without lingering longer at Wuqing Harbor, the field headquarters struck camp and set out, with Youzhou Prefecture as the destination. As if by some cycle, through various changes, in the end—just as twelve years prior—Emperor Liu visited Youzhou in person to oversee the northern campaign.

After some hurried travel, he arrived at Youzhou City on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. Though the journey was taxing, he could still celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together with the gentry and commoners of Youzhou. Of course, it was also because the war had entered a lull, which gave Emperor Liu the mood and interest to observe the festival.

Still, this was ultimately wartime, and everything was kept simple—just enough to convey the sentiment. Emperor Liu merely ordered the authorities to post notices to the gentry and commoners of Youzhou, expressing the Son of Heaven's good wishes to the subjects of the Yan Mountains, while also lifting the wartime curfew for one night.

As for the officials and clerks of the Yan Mountains, such as Chu Zhaofu, Song Xiong, and other principal officers of the Administration Commission, they had already been received and spoken with at Wuqing. As for the other Youzhou officials, they were simply called together and given a lecture, allowing them to behold the Son of Heaven's august countenance with their own eyes—and that was that.

Speaking of it, Youzhou City—which had once haunted Emperor Liu's dreams for a full decade—this was only the second time in his life that he had come to it in person. A full twelve years had passed, and the changes in Youzhou City were naturally enormous. Even Emperor Liu, a man of vast experience, felt a sense of fresh novelty.

The city walls were still the same city walls; what had changed was mainly the people—the scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. In matters of urban development, it turned out, one had to credit the Han.

In the past, due to the destruction wrought by the Great Han's early wars, and later because it lay on the front line of Han–Liao confrontation, Youzhou's development had been greatly suppressed.

When Youzhou was still under the governance of the Yan princedom, counting the military, its population was under one hundred thousand. But after the success of the first northern expedition, when it formally returned to imperial administration, with surrounding defenses consolidated and the border threat greatly reduced, Youzhou seemed to shed an invisible yoke and achieved leapfrog development.

As the capital of the Yan Mountains, with the court's support, it became the undisputed political, military, and economic center of the northern frontier. Combined with its advantages in geography and transportation, these all became the foundation for Youzhou's rapid growth.

Thus, when Emperor Liu came to Youzhou again, what he saw was a thriving scene of dense population, converging merchants and travelers, and flourishing crafts. Chu Zhaofu had previously reported that by the beginning of the eighth year of Kaibao, Youzhou's permanent population had already climbed to over 210,000—this had recovered to the peak level under Liao rule, and there remained enormous room for further growth.

Of course, because of the northern expedition war, Youzhou at this time could not possibly be unaffected—on the contrary, it was affected the most. Vast amounts of human, financial, and material resources were being channeled toward the war effort under official direction, which in turn caused shortages of civilian goods.

The most direct manifestation was the rise in prices of daily necessities such as grain, rice, oil, salt, noodles, meat, cloth, and firewood, making life somewhat difficult for ordinary gentry and commoners. Of course, every disadvantage has its advantage—the market's hunger stimulated more merchants to come, and with great enthusiasm, they racked their brains to transport a large quantity of goods to Youzhou City within limited shipping capacity, meeting the livelihood needs of Youzhou's residents.

Such prosperity was not what Chu Zhaofu and other governing officials wanted to see. The endurance of the Great Han's people was strong, but it was ultimately limited. Half a year was manageable, a year was a stretch, and by the second year it would slide into depression. If the time dragged on longer, the people's livelihoods would inevitably become dire and difficult, and once popular resentment accumulated to a certain level, unrest would appear...

And to support this vast northern campaign, the court could not simultaneously maintain the enormous consumption of several hundred thousand troops at the front while also guaranteeing a harmonious and stable life for the people in the rear.

Therefore, the governing officials were unwilling to see the Great Han remain in a state of large-scale war for an extended period. The closer one was to the battlefield, the heavier the officials' anxieties became.

Such was the case with the Yan Mountains route—even in the past twenty-plus years, the people of Youyan had faced turbulent times for nearly half of that period, bearing the negative impacts of war to varying degrees.

But having grown accustomed to the good days of recent years, the people had developed inertia, their expectations for life had risen, and their tolerance had clearly declined compared to before. If the war truly brought back the turbulent and uneasy days of old, no one would accept it. If that were to happen, one would have to be mentally prepared for popular fury to boil over.

Regarding these concerns, Chu Zhaofu had raised them with Emperor Liu—not that he had any objection to the northern campaign, but merely as a cautious reminder. If Emperor Liu truly cared about the livelihoods of the Great Han's people during wartime, he would have to consider these matters.

Chu Zhaofu and Zhao Pu were officials who came from the same governor's staff, both having been recommended back then by the late Marquis of Huayin (posthumously conferred in the first year of Kaibao), Liu Ci. Their ability and insight were naturally considerable.

Moreover, it was precisely because the Liaodong victory had laid the foundation and the basic objectives of the northern campaign had been achieved that Chu Zhaofu dared to offer such suggestions to Emperor Liu.

Otherwise, if the front were still locked in fierce combat with no breakthrough in the situation, Chu Zhaofu truly would not dare to make such "negative" remonstrances to Emperor Liu, lest he earn an impression of being weak and pedantic.

As for Emperor Liu, he was calm and rational most of the time. With his experience in launching so many large-scale wars in the past, and having personally inspected the situation this time, he had a fairly clear understanding of the people's livelihood conditions. And Chu Zhaofu's remonstrances were not without reason—he took them to heart.

Therefore, with Liaodong initially secured, although Emperor Liu still had thoughts of continuing the advance to take all of the Northeast and completely destroy Liao's rule, deep down he also harbored—if only faintly—some inclination to stop here and end the war. It was just not obvious.

With this great Han–Liao war having reached its current extent, the Great Han was reporting victory after victory and reaping every advantage, while Liao was stretched thin and clearly on the decline. Even if Emperor Liu did not press the pursuit relentlessly, would Liao be willing to let the matter rest?

Ending the war was not something that depended solely on the Great Han's unilateral will. For Liao, Liaodong was already lost, losses across all fronts exceeded 200,000 troops, the loss of able-bodied men was beyond counting, the entire Northeast situation was precarious, and Mobei, Monan, and the Western Regions had all suffered war's ravages as well.

If the war ended under the current circumstances, Liao's losses would be the entire Northeast and the Western Regions' territories, half its population and army. Not to say "back to before liberation," but at least it would be beaten back to the original form of a nomadic empire. Having suffered such a great loss, how could it swallow its shame and humiliation?

Standing from Yelu Xian's position—he had been emperor for less than a year, and the once strong and vast Great Liao Empire had fallen into such a miserable and pitiful state—how could he endure in silence? With his succession to the throne already contested, how could his position possibly remain secure?

On the other hand, ending the war and letting the Great Han recuperate for two or three years—stockpiling grain, training troops, digesting the fruits of victory, and recovering from the negative effects of this great war—when the next northern expedition came, it would likely be a true mass exodus beyond the passes, striking directly at Linhuang.

With the situation between Han and Liao having developed to its current stage, Liao's future was destined to slide downhill. This was the general trend. Without some earth-shattering upheaval, Liao's ending would hold no surprises.

There was no helping it—history had already proven that when a unified Central Plains empire rose, paired with a powerful emperor, the decline of nomadic forces was inevitable. And Emperor Liu's Great Han Empire would continue to prove this historical law.

Of course, up to now, ending the war was merely a faint inclination on Emperor Liu's part—this thought even occurred to him only occasionally.

Regardless, the Great Han was far from the point of being unable to sustain itself. The substantial foundation accumulated in the past gave him sufficient capital to continue this war.

In comparison, if even the Great Han's people were feeling livelihood pressure, then how difficult must it be for Liao's tribes and herdsmen? They were likely facing a survival crisis.

This point could already be glimpsed through certain intelligence. The timing Emperor Liu chose to launch this war was extremely unkind to Liao—its domestic agricultural and pastoral production had suffered severe disruption. As autumn turned to winter, what kind of survival conditions the tribes under Liao's rule on the northern grasslands would face was almost predictable.

As for the Great Han, even if the entire north had its production and farming delayed or affected by this great war, there was still the entire southeast, the two lakes region, and Chuanshu.