Chapter 1579: The

After a brief discussion with Zhao Pu and Cao Bin, decisions were made quickly, orders were issued, and two teams of relay riders, carrying sealed command documents and tally tokens, rode out through the rain, galloping northward at speed, heading separately for Shanyang and the northern road of the Yan Mountains.

In response to the death of the Khitan ruler Yelu Xian, the mourning delegation Emperor Liu dispatched was truly grand — one might even call it enormous. A full eight thousand Han cavalry, fully equipped, with two horses per man, advanced in two columns, their objective aimed directly at the Onon River.

In the Shanyang direction, the valiant general Kang Baoyi led five thousand troops northward, with Yang Ye's second son Yang Yanlang accompanying him. This was the main force, and also the army meant to draw attention.

The other column set out covertly from Linhuang Prefecture, led by Cavalry Commander Cao Guangshi. Cao Guangshi was a native of Ya'an in the Jiandao Circuit, a man of the Yi people, a local strongman. When the imperial army pacified Shu, the rebellions in Shu had also spread to Yazhou, and his family had been destroyed by their enemies.

Cao Guangshi fled carrying his mother on his back, escaping with his life. Seeking revenge, he sought out Guo Jin, who was at the time suppressing the Lao people's rebellion in southern Chuan, and presented him with a map of Yazhou along with an account of the local power structure, volunteering himself as a guide for the Han army.

Guo Jin was at that time in southern Chuan, in the thick of the killing, with the rebellious Shu army and the Lao people both having largely submitted. Upon learning of the situation in Yazhou, his interest naturally surged.

He took an immediate liking to Cao Guangshi, who had come to him voluntarily. After hearing his story and testing his talents and strategies, he judged him a man of ability, and decisively dispatched a deputy general with a portion of troops, with Cao Guangshi leading the way into Yazhou to suppress the rebellion.

The result needed no elaboration — settled within half a month. Cao Guangshi then killed all his enemies, along with their entire clans. This was probably the reason Guo Jin saw something of himself in Cao Guangshi — both were ruthless men...

After Chuanshu was pacified, Cao Guangshi formally joined the Han army. For his merits in assisting the pacification of Yazhou and Lizhou, he was appointed Military Commander of Yazhou. Naturally, Guo Jin's recommendation played a part in this, and he also introduced him to Xiang Xun.

Later, when Guo Jin took up his post in the northwest, he thought of Cao Guangshi, who had suppressed the rebellion in southern Chuan, and submitted a memorial requesting that he be transferred to his command. From that time on, Cao Guangshi followed Guo Jin in leading troops in the north.

During the northern expedition, he also advanced with Guo Jin into the Western Regions, destroying the Khitan of the Western Regions and decisively defeating the Kara-Khanid army. It was then that many people came to realize that this man from the southern tribes really could fight, and that even in the north he showed no signs of being out of his element.

After the northern expedition, Cao Guangshi had become a core general of the Han army, and his Yi identity had become a symbol of the Great Han's all-embracing tolerance and Emperor Liu's willingness to employ people without regard for background.

With Guo Jin's recommendation and Xiang Xun's endorsement, Cao Guangshi was transferred from west to east, appointed Chief Commander of the Linhuang Prefecture garrison, guarding the northern reaches of the Yan Mountains' northern road, becoming the foremost general under Dong Zunhui. Now that Emperor Liu wanted to take advantage of the situation to make trouble for the Khitan of Mobei, he naturally thought of Cao Guangshi, stationed at Linhuang Prefecture.

Eight thousand Han cavalry was naturally a formidable force, but compared to the overall strength of the Mobei Khitan, it was still nothing to write home about. In ordinary times, a Han army of this scale going north was nothing more than routine raiding, plundering for supplies. Li Jilong had gone north five times previously, and his largest force had been no more than four thousand riders.

But the Mobei Khitan had problems of their own. Since they had shown a crack, it was inevitable that the Great Han would bare its fangs and take a bite. If nothing were done, Emperor Liu's thoughts would not be at ease.

The reason Zhao Pu and Cao Bin approved of the Great Han dispatching troops, besides the modest scale of the operation, may also have been a matter of indulging and humoring Emperor Liu.

However, even after the order to dispatch troops was issued, a special instruction was still given to Kang Baoyi and Cao Guangshi leading the expedition: this northern campaign was meant to stir up the situation in Mobei — fight when able, withdraw when outmatched, seek no merit but avoid fault, and prioritize preserving the strength of the troops.

Such an instruction fully reflected the Great Han court's "stirring the pot" nature. Of course, regarding the northern operations, the Bureau of Military Affairs gave clear autonomous command authority, allowing Kang and Cao to make decisions on the spot. After all, this was a long-distance expedition — with the vast grasslands and boundless deserts, even if the court wanted to micromanage, it lacked the means.

At the same time as the military orders were issued, the Wude Office, the Military Intelligence Office, and even the Palace City Office — the Great Han's intelligence agencies — all sprang into action, and a flood of intelligence on the Mobei Khitan began to converge on the Eastern Capital.

The Palace City Office had also dispatched a batch of secret agents to the Mobei Khitan,

Few in number and modest in scale, but they did exist. This was a continuation of the earlier operation to send men into Mobei to search for traces of the expeditionary army.

Later, Zhang Dejun simply established a dedicated spy unit targeting the Mobei Khitan. Of course, its primary purpose was to please Emperor Liu — after all, as long as the Khitan were not destroyed, Emperor Liu would not be at ease, and as a loyal hound, Zhang Dejun was very attentive to his master's feelings.

On the other hand, it was also an expression of expanding the Palace City Office's influence outward. After all, since its founding, the Palace City Office's intelligence-gathering scope had been limited to the two capitals, and its main duty was merely monitoring public sentiment in the Eastern Capital. But anyone with even a modicum of ambition would not bind their own hands and feet, and Zhang Dejun was unwilling to be "trapped" in the capital.

Therefore, in recent years, the Palace City Office's informants and agents had been spreading out beyond the capital, establishing surveillance networks in the major cities. This was naturally somewhat overstepping their bounds. Emperor Liu had noticed it, and Zhang Dejun had also reported it. Emperor Liu's attitude was to have no attitude — in reality, it was tacit approval.

Of course, in matters concerning the Mobei Khitan, the Wude Office still held the dominant role. After all, they had been operating there for a long time, commanded more resources, and had a broader reach.

Looting a burning house, fishing in troubled waters, stirring up wind and rain — these were also things the Wude Office excelled at. The instructions Wang Yinwu received from Emperor Liu were also very clear: besides continuing to spy on and gather intelligence about the Khitan, he was to continue implementing policies of co-opting and dividing them. Even though the Great Han's ethnic policies had cut off the possibility of most Khitan tribes coming south to submit, there would inevitably still be wavering ones — maintaining friendly relations with the Great Han Empire was still quite tempting.

The Great Han was employing multiple means simultaneously, which would obviously bring more variables to the situation in Mobei. And Emperor Liu probably felt this was somewhat an overreaction — when speaking with Zhao Pu, he even asked whether doing so was a bit unkind.

Zhao Pu was somewhat speechless at Emperor Liu's question. The military and political orders had already been issued, the open spears and hidden arrows were all prepared, and when discussing the matter, Emperor Liu's animated, beaming expression had been so vivid...

However, Emperor Liu's habit of wanting to have it both ways was nothing new. Faced with Emperor Liu's feigned "embarrassment," Zhao Pu still had to wear a spring breeze on his face and, against his conscience, offer words of comfort, saying things like the Great Han and the Khitan were mortal enemies, and with such an opportune moment at hand, one naturally should stop at nothing — His Majesty should not bear any moral burden, and so on.

Zhao Pu's answers and explanations had always satisfied Emperor Liu.

The death of Yelu Xian had touched the nerves of both nations. The future development of the Khitan situation was as yet unknown, but on the Great Han's side, a new round of military reform had quickly begun.

The reason Emperor Liu was unwilling to make major adjustments to the frontier armies was not only to maintain the stable implementation of the policy toward the northern barbarian peoples, but also because the threat of the Mobei Khitan was one of the reasons.

Once the possibility of external threats decreased, internal reforms could naturally be pushed forward with greater peace of mind. After several more discussions with military and political ministers, a decision was finally reached to reform the Great Han's military system.

Though it was called military reform, at its root it was still a fiscal problem. Of course, Emperor Liu had always been cautious in military affairs, and given his attitude, he would never cripple his own martial strength merely due to fiscal pressure.

Therefore, Li Jilong's proposal received Emperor Liu's approval. The result of the discussions was that henceforth, the Great Han's military system would shift from a purely volunteer recruitment system to a combination of volunteer and conscripted service. In concrete terms, the massive number of soldiers on the rolls would be substantially reduced.