Chapter 1701: Rectifying the Northwest

The second hall of the Yanzhou prefectural office, originally where Prefectural Administrator Liu Fang conducted his work, had already been taken over by someone else. Though Yanzhou was remote in the northwest, full of poor and desolate lands, this prefectural office was truly grand, the majesty and bearing of official authority displayed to the fullest.

Seated behind the heavy and costly official desk was Wang Xuanzhen. After receiving Emperor Liu's approval, Li Chongju boldly appointed Wang Xuanzhen, whose current official post was Chief of the Wude Office's Yulin Circuit, concurrently serving as Northwest Patrol Inspector.

A Chief of the Wude Office might not amount to much, but the Northwest Patrol Inspector was something special. The Great Han's official system had undergone several changes over the years—abolishing the old and establishing the new—while also retaining some titles from the late Tang and the Three Dynasties.

When the Patrol Inspector was mentioned, the first thing that came to mind was the Patrol Inspectorate, one of the three headquarters of the imperial army. Yet Wang Xuanzhen's Northwest Patrol Inspector position had no connection whatsoever to the Patrol Inspectorate.

Like the past Pacification Commissioners and Comfort Commissioners, this was a temporary appointment, commissioned by the Emperor, holding the authority to act at one's discretion. Simply put, he was an imperial envoy, except that the Patrol Inspector leaned toward military matters.

Over the past several decades, the court had dispatched Northwest Patrol Inspectors on several occasions. The first was the late Duke of Dai, Zhe Congruan, originally sent to quell the Wild Pheasant and Cattle-Killing tribal rebellions active in Ning and Qing Prefectures.

Clearly, Wang Xuanzhen's appointment as Northwest Patrol Inspector, heading to the northwest, carried a special mission. What drew even more attention was Wang Xuanzhen's identity—when the Wude Office's harsh enforcers were combined with the Patrol Inspector appointment, what kind of impact that would produce was truly chilling and unsettling.

When the imperial decree was issued, many in the Eastern Capital's court openly opposed it, including Chancellor Zhao Pu, who argued vigorously on principle—but Emperor Liu simply would not listen.

And indeed, as it turned out, after Wang Xuanzhen arrived in the northwest, he sharpened his blade, showing no mercy and no restraint, swinging the butcher's knife at the northwest officialdom.

Given that over the past two years, the northwest had been turbulent, with repeated upheavals and major cases cropping up endlessly—even the rebellion of Li Jiqian—Emperor Liu's dissatisfaction with the northwest's military, administrative, and popular conditions had risen to an intolerable level.

Earlier, due to the Lu case, there had been a major purge of the Hexi officialdom, but it remained insufficient. As for the northwest's chaos, aside from the deep-rooted ethnic contradictions, from the perspective of the government, collusion between officials and merchants, and between officials and gentry, was severe in scope and vile in nature. Wang Xuanzhen was sent to the northwest in the role of a street sweeper.

Previously, because of the Kara-Khanid envoy case, Wang Yinwu had dispatched a large number of Wude Office agents and a Wude Battalion company to the northwest to investigate, continuing to this day. This time, Wang Xuanzhen went north, bringing another batch of elite officers and strong soldiers.

It could be said that the northwest region was now a gathering place for the Wude Office's finest, and also the place of their most frequent activity. Their mission, besides monitoring the localities and investigating lawlessness, corruption, and greedy officials, was most importantly to track down and eliminate those plotting rebellion and sedition.

When Wang Xuanzhen went to the northwest, besides bringing people, he also brought authority. In addition to the special privilege of directly arresting officials below the prefectural level, in urgent matters he could also request local garrison troops to cooperate—Emperor Liu had directly issued imperial edicts to the northwest's local garrisons and militia commanders.

It could be said that Emperor Liu had unleashed a fierce tiger. In the more than thirty years since the Wude Office's founding, this was the first time it had held such privileges. This violated the political rules of the past several decades and broke political tacit understandings, but at the same time it proved that regarding the northwest's situation, Emperor Liu's patience had reached its limit—he was even willing to accept the consequences and carry out this rectification.

Over the past year or more, Emperor Liu had been having people investigate the northwest's situation, seeking the root of its instability. The final conclusion reached was that, aside from the disaffected Tangut tribes, the most critical factor was the corruption and negligence of the government.

The court had been managing official discipline for decades, but it always treated symptoms rather than the root cause. There were plenty of officials who paid lip service while acting otherwise below. It wasn't enough to just arrest a few corrupt officials. After observing the northwest's changing situation for a year, Emperor Liu finally made the painful decision to carry out a thorough rectification and clarification of the northwest.

Regarding the problems of Li Jiqian and the Tangut people, Emperor Liu had already prepared for the worst, and the same went for the northwest officialdom. As for Wang Xuanzhen, who had survived the "Wang Yinwu Incident," having finally obtained a chance to display his talents and turn his fortunes around, he clung to it desperately.

Over the past few months, Wang Xuanzhen's Northwest Patrol Inspector team had achieved brilliant results. Among the officials Crown Prince Liu Yang planned to support for the Anxi region, quite a few were those implicated in this political upheaval.

These people did not deserve death—some had even suffered misfortune through no fault of their own. Liu Yang exercised his specialty of benevolence, granting them leniency, exiling them to the Western Regions, giving them a chance to atone for their crimes through merit—it was also a means of appeasement. In fact, Liu Yang was also paying the price for Emperor Liu's rash and willful decisions.

Over several months, a large number of officials and gentry in the northwest officialdom had fallen on hard times. The effect was significant—from top to bottom, all became solemn and cautious. The former arrogance and aggression turned into law-abiding restraint, and the atmosphere changed greatly.

But equally, the adverse impact caused was enormous. Everyone in officialdom felt endangered and complaints were widespread. From the government to the common people, no peace was gained from this; instead, because of the Wude Office's "arbitrary actions," things became even murkier. Even some normal administrative order of the government was disrupted. The Great Han was not short of people willing to be officials, but adjustment and integration took time. Emperor Liu's will was too strong, and the Wude Office's methods were too extreme—this only intensified the unease and chaos.

The Wude Office was like a stick stirring the cesspool, making the northwest stink to high heaven, churning up the filth that had settled over decades. And the situation showed signs of developing in the direction of what had happened in Chuanshu, Jiangzhe, and Liangguang in years past.

Regarding all this, the court was not lacking in men of insight. Zhao Pu had once gone to see Emperor Liu, using the Shu rebellion of that time as an example to remonstrate with him. He said that when the army pacifying Shu had acted wantonly, causing great chaos, to settle the Shu rebellion, the court had not blamed the officers and men who pacified Shu, prioritizing stability, and it was by relying on them that order was restored.

Now, with upheaval in Yulin and the northwest situation worrying, the overall situation required the military and civilian officials of the northwest to cooperate and stabilize the region. Even if Emperor Liu was dissatisfied with the northwest's ills, he could follow the example of the Shu pacification—wait until the disturbances were settled, then carry out rectification. There was truly no need to act with such haste.

Zhao Pu's words made good sense, and Emperor Liu understood this, but he found it somewhat hard to accept. The present was not like those years, and Emperor Liu's mentality had long since changed.

Therefore, while acknowledging Zhao Pu's advice and granting him rewards, in action he still insisted on a strong hand. In Emperor Liu's own words: could the court be wrong in clarifying official discipline, fighting corruption, and suppressing rebellion?

If taking down dozens or even a hundred officials caused the northwest to boil over, that precisely proved the necessity of it. It would be a good chance to see just how many domestic thieves and traitors to the state were hidden in the northwest, how many rebels and seditionists, and also to see who were the true loyal ministers and who stood with the court as one.

More than thirty years ago, when the Han was weak and the Liao strong, Yelu Ruan had led a great army south. He had resolved to smash all of Hebei to pieces and raised troops to resist. How grim the situation had been then! What was today's northwest compared to that?

In fact, this still followed Emperor Liu's consistent style—at critical moments, he liked to act against the current. The greater the pressure, the more it strengthened his resolve.

Of course, resolve only meant preparing for the worst. If the northwest were truly turned upside down, that wasn't what Emperor Liu was aiming for. On the court's side, besides Liu Yang keeping watch and helping with the aftermath, corresponding preparations had also been made in the northwest. Prince Zhao, Liu Fang, had moved from Liangzhou to Chang'an, taking command in Qinlong.

Guannei was the hardest-hit area of the rectification, and the Guannei Circuit was the true core and essence of the northwest's four circuits. As long as Guanlong did not erupt in great chaos, the northwest could not descend into turmoil. Never mind that Yulin hadn't even erupted yet—even if it truly did, it would only be a minor ailment.

Moreover, with the Han as it was today, the court's authority was at its peak. Even if local troublemakers emerged endlessly, when the court made up its mind, those daring to resist were ultimately a minority.

On the other hand, there was Wang Xuanzhen himself. Though he held great power, in actual execution he had not been excessively wanton. Though the scope of his strikes was broad, he had not overly harassed the common people.

The concerns some court ministers worried about mainly referred to the hearts of officials, the military, powerful clans, and merchants—having nothing to do with the common rabble.