Chapter 1666: Yinzhou Rebellion

"Fine! All kinds of demons and monsters are crawling out now—what third-rate trash dares to challenge the court?" In the depths of winter, snow covered the palace city of the Eastern Capital, trembling in the Emperor's furious rebuke: "This Li Jiqian—who does he think he is, daring to rebel against the court? What nerve!"

His anger blazed, the dragon's wrath was great! Facing the Emperor's nearly roaring reprimand, the assembled ministers trembled involuntarily, lowered their heads and played dead, not daring to answer, silently waiting for Emperor Liu to vent.

And the most nervous of all was Wang Yinwu, Commissioner of the Wude Office. He alone knew the bitterness of the matter. He had already realized that he had made a grave mistake, been far too negligent—how could he not have thought that his earlier carelessness would land him in such a predicament?

Just after the winter solstice, Emperor Liu had held a winter solstice banquet at Chongyuan Hall the previous night. The atmosphere had been harmonious enough—celebrating the festival while also summing up the turbulent twentieth year of Kaibao and reassuring the assembled ministers.

Yet only one night later, the Yulin Circuit reported alarming news: Li Jiqian, a Tangut noble and descendant of the Li clan of the Dingnan Army, had launched a rebellion in Yinzhou. Gathering a band of rebels and traitors, he attacked a convict camp beside Mingtang River in the northern part of Yinzhou, freed the convicts, raided villages and towns, swept through the tribes, slaughtered officials, and raised the banner of revolt.

Such a disturbance, to be honest, was nothing much. In past years, from south to north, the Great Han had seen more than one uprising or rebellion. A few years ago, when the policy of sinicizing the barbarian peoples was being implemented, rebel bands of several thousand had appeared—but all had been forcefully suppressed by the court.

Therefore, the rebellion of a thousand or so men that Li Jiqian stirred up in Yinzhou was, by scale alone, truly insignificant. However, the nature of this rebellion was extremely serious.

Emperor Liu's suppression of the Tanguts and his control over the Tuoba Li clan had already become a matter of routine. Yet even so, Li Jiqian had still managed to make such a commotion. What this reflected was clearly that the court itself had problems—whether in oversight or in the execution of policy.

On the other hand, unlike the scattered and disorganized rebellions of various sizes in the past, Li Jiqian was openly challenging the court's ruling order in Yulin, raising the banner of "restoring Xia and Sui, rebuilding the enterprise, and fighting for the Tangut people's independence." The impact of this was enormous.

Such a slogan was extremely seductive and inflammatory to the Tangut tribes of Xia and Sui. No matter how much effort the court had put into border consolidation in the Xia-Sui region over the years, it had not changed one fundamental reality: the main ethnic group of the region remained the Tanguts. By comparison, the Han population had indeed increased, but they were still a minority—and not necessarily of one mind with the court.

Moreover, in recent years the court had implemented some policies toward the minority peoples that could only be called crude. While these had dealt a heavy blow to their traditional privileged classes, they had also bred numerous contradictions and conflicts, arousing Tangut discontent.

The constant conflicts in the Xia-Sui region over the past years were clear proof of this. The Tangut rebellion in Xiazhou back then had been one manifestation of the contradictions erupting.

And the fact that no major upheaval had occurred was also due to the court's overwhelming power and tight surveillance and control—but the discontent had been accumulating all along.

Moreover, after the Tuoba Li clan had been relocated eastward, the Tangut tribes, under the court's policy of divide and rule, had gradually become a heap of loose sand, unable to unite their strength—naturally easier to deal with.

The court had indeed somewhat eliminated the influence of the Tuoba Li clan among the Tanguts, but in less than twenty years, uprooting nearly a century of influence was no easy task.

Add to that the court's changing policies—increasingly tough attitudes, increasingly strict control, and heavy-handed methods—which had begun to make some Tangut tribesmen nostalgic for the days of Dingnan Army rule.

Especially some elderly Tanguts: twenty years ago, life had been comfortable, the entire Xia-Sui region had been their territory. They farmed and herded without harsh restrictions, without Han people seizing their means of survival, without government offices taking a share of the profits from the salt ponds of the northwest.

But now, what was the situation? The people had no means to live, suffering bullying and oppression. The more one had experienced the era of the Dingnan Army, the deeper that feeling ran.

Therefore, most Tanguts in the Xia-Sui region harbored discontent toward the court's rule. Even some newly grown young people could hardly avoid being influenced by the older generation.

Under such circumstances, a direct descendant of the Tuoba Li clan like Li Jiqian returning to the northwest and raising high the "banner of righteousness" could cause—

—an impact that was by no means comparable to anything ordinary.

Furthermore, Li Jiqian's ancestor was Tuoba Sizhong, the "Tangut War God," which was another banner that could be raised to rally the tribes. Even if the Tuoba Lady Li's actual influence over the Tanguts was not as strong as in the old days, doing something that aligned with popular sentiment could still win considerable support.

With all these considerations in mind, how could Emperor Liu not be furious? Li Jiqian himself was naturally beneath Emperor Liu's notice, but this man did carry some "reputation" after all—he was the founder of "Western Xia," after all. Though the situation was fundamentally different from the Song era, it still inevitably made him more vigilant.

What was most infuriating was that he had already been sufficiently wary of the Tanguts, even using the tactic of removing the firewood from under the cauldron—relocating the entire Tuoba Li clan inland and guarding against them strictly—yet such a loophole had still appeared. This made Emperor Liu even angrier.

He could only conclude that someone had not taken his admonitions seriously, that someone had executed his policies poorly, that someone had been negligent and derelict in duty. Combined with all the troubles and disturbances of this year, which had already made Emperor Liu extremely sensitive, all these factors converging together naturally provoked his great wrath.

As for Wang Yinwu, he was even more terrified. After all, regarding Li Jiqian's murder and flight back then, his nephew Wang Xuanzhen had indeed filed a report.

But at that time, his mind had been focused entirely on the Hexi case. Later, the Lu case had thrown him into confusion, and he certainly wouldn't have paid attention to a minor figure like Li Jiqian—he had simply treated it as an ordinary murder-and-flight case.

But the facts proved that he had been completely careless. And in hindsight, Li Jiqian's massacre of an entire family had indeed been unusual in its circumstances. The Emperor had clearly regarded the Tangut Li clan with special attention, and his Wude Office bore supervisory responsibility.

Now Li Jiqian had made such a commotion in the northwest, challenging the court's bottom line, openly betraying the Great Han, and very likely causing extremely serious consequences. How could Wang Yinwu not panic?

When the intelligence from Yulin had come back, Wang Yinwu had already been sitting on pins and needles, and Emperor Liu's reaction had made him even more terrified. Even when he came before the Emperor, he still hadn't figured out how to handle this matter, or how to mitigate his and the Wude Office's responsibility in it.

"What is the Wude Office doing? What is the Xiangzhou government doing? What is the Yinzhou government doing?" Emperor Liu's rebuke continued unabated, his gaze boring into Wang Yinwu: "This villain Li Jiqian had already reached Yinzhou, had already raised the banner of rebellion, and you had no reaction whatsoever beforehand?"

"Your—Your Majesty, your servant is guilty of negligence!" In the dead of winter, facing Emperor Liu's knife-like gaze, Wang Yinwu felt his whole body break out in discomfort, cold sweat pouring out, his words barely coherent as he desperately tried to make amends: "The current situation is still unclear. Your servant has already ordered investigators in Yulin and the prefectures to look into Li Jiqian and the Li clan..."

"Fine, the memorial from the Yulin Circuit has already arrived, and you still haven't even figured out the specifics!" Hearing this, Emperor Liu rebuked even more mercilessly: "Has the Wude Office sunk to this level, become this sluggish? What use are you people?"

"Your servant is guilty! Please punish your servant, Your Majesty!" Wang Yinwu was completely panicked now, unable to find any justification for himself. His legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

Crown Prince Liu Yang, standing nearby, saw Emperor Liu's fury consuming him and hurriedly spoke up to advise: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger and take care of your imperial health. Since the rebellion has already broken out, the priority now is to quickly suppress the disorder and restore peace, so as to avoid greater repercussions!"

Once the Crown Prince spoke, the others finally dared to speak as well. The Finance Commissioner Wang followed with: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger—your dragon body is of utmost importance!"

Zhao Pu naturally could not lag behind and also spoke, though his reaction was relatively calm: "What the Crown Prince says is right. The priority at present is to quell the disturbance and avoid its expansion. The Tuoba Li clan has considerable influence among the Tangut tribes—they must not be allowed to run unchecked, and must be severely struck down!"

Commissioner of Military Affairs Liu Tinghan also took the initiative to report: "After the rebellion broke out in Yinzhou, the local government reacted immediately. Li Jiqian's bandit force numbered less than two thousand and did not cause major damage to Yinzhou city. Wang Shen, Chief Commander of the Yulin Circuit, personally mobilized troops to suppress the rebellion, and the bandit force has already scattered..."

With Liu Yang and several ministers offering consolation, Emperor Liu's anger subsided somewhat. However, upon hearing Liu Tinghan's report, he could not help but rage again: "What about Li Jiqian? Where is his head?"

Liu Tinghan hesitated for a moment, then steeled himself to answer: "After the rebel force scattered, the bandit leader Li Jiqian led the remnants out of the city and fled into the desert..."

"What is Wang Shen doing? He let the bandit leader escape?"

Emperor Liu's gaze was so sharp it made one's heart tremble.