Chapter 1884: Sabotage from the Court

"After all these years, the stalwart sons of the Great Han remain as sharp as ever, never diminishing the might of our Central Kingdom—still that invincible army!" Having heard Liu Yang's report, Emperor Liu broke into a smile once more and remarked with an appreciative tone: "Issue a decree to the Bureau of Military Affairs and the Ministry of War to assess the merits of the soldiers in this battle—where merit is due, commend it; where honors are due, confer them!"

"Yes!" Liu Yang replied with a cupped-fist salute.

"Next, what does Liu Min intend to do? The Battle of Yang City was a great victory, but it seemed won a bit too easily. Given Liu Min's temperament, I fear he won't be satisfied with the current results and simply withdraw his troops!" Emperor Liu asked again.

At the question, Liu Yang chuckled lightly: "Your Majesty truly understands our sixth brother! Before this campaign was launched, the Anxi Protectorate General made all preparations, intending to use half a year to accomplish the goal of recovering Yang City and the surrounding regions usurped by the remnants of the Kara-Khanids.

However, the progress was somewhat unexpected—the Battle of Yang City ended too quickly, and in less than a month, Harun's army collapsed like mud.

Therefore, the Anxi Protectorate General has decided that after a brief rest, it will dispatch troops westward, joining forces with Li Jilong's army to advance on Talas, defeat the Arab coalition, and seize the vital town of Talas—both to avenge past humiliations and to use Talas as a base for dealing with the coalition in the future. If so, we can march west to campaign against the Arabs when advancing, and defend at our borders when retreating!"

Hearing Liu Yang relate the Anxi Protectorate General's plan, Emperor Liu's brow furrowed involuntarily as he pointed out: "Changing the operational plan on the fly and expanding the campaign's objectives—can this succeed? If I recall correctly, Yang City is a thousand li from Talas. Even if the eastern operations go smoothly with minimal losses, wouldn't such a redeployment overextend the troops? Can the soldiers of Anxi bear it?"

Emperor Liu had always been tough and somewhat aggressive in foreign affairs, but the moment he spoke, a conservative flavor seeped through. Liu Yang couldn't help but steal a careful glance at Emperor Liu, thinking to himself that perhaps His Majesty was truly getting old…

In fact, before coming to report, Liu Yang had discussed this matter with his trusted ministers. Regarding the plan for Anxi to continue the war after Yang City, quite a few people held opposing views. In their eyes, the current war in Anxi brought no practical benefit to the Great Han, and Anxi would only devour the Great Han's money, grain, and troops like a bottomless pit.

Due to the continuous wars in the west over these years, overland east-west transportation had been paralyzed and trade routes severed, causing even the Silk Road—that golden passage—to decline considerably, even affecting the economy and livelihoods of the western circuits and prefectures. It was truly more loss than gain.

Anxi was simply too far away, and the court's ability to control it was too limited. Ceasing hostilities, resting troops, and nurturing strength was the correct strategy. Rather than pouring money, grain, and armies into the west where little benefit could be seen, it would be better to invest overseas, into the vast South Seas region—at least there one could see actual shiploads of wealth coming in from abroad, ships docking at shore…

And what did Anxi have? Aside from a host of foreign powers and fervent Muslim zealots, there were countless wars, bloodshed, and sacrifice. Now that the great victory at Yang City had been won, the Kara-Khanid remnants eliminated, and the situation restored to what it was before the Muslim coalition's eastern expedition, it was time to stop. Why provoke another great war? With the Han army's organizational and operational model, the cost of waging war in Anxi was simply too high.

What the Anxi Protectorate General wanted to attack was Talas—hardly a favorable place. Not to mention other adverse factors, the Battle of Talas over two hundred years ago, with Gao Xianzhi's disastrous defeat, was enough to give one pause. All in all, it was more loss than gain—quit while ahead…

Of course, behind these objections, it wasn't that these Crown Prince faction bureaucrats had become completely conservative and closed-minded. Such recommendations were inevitably influenced by their positions and perspectives.

This was still influenced by Emperor Liu's enfeoffment of Liu Shu. The Crown Prince faction ministers had long harbored a certain wariness toward the special military-political status of Andong and Anxi—especially Andong. As Emperor Liu's intention to enfeoff became a reality, their vigilance grew even stronger.

In many people's view, since Annam had already been split in half to establish the Kingdom of Linyi, the enfeoffment of Andong and Anxi was only a matter of time. Otherwise, why would Emperor Liu have granted such heavy authority to the two Protectorate Generals? This itself ran contrary to the principle of centralized power that Emperor Liu had practiced for decades.

Now everything could be explained—Emperor Liu harbored intentions of enfeoffment and had long since included Andong and Anxi within the scope of his considerations.

Under this premise, if the court invested large amounts of money, grain, and troops into the Anxi campaign, that would be fighting for Anxi rather than proceeding from the interests of the Great Han court. Making a purely rational calculation based on interests, one should not continue pouring excessive resources into Anxi.

Once Anxi established its own state, it should be like the recently promulgated regulations for the founding of Linyi—required to be self-sufficient. Its politics, military, economy, and culture could and should align with the court, but it could not continue to depend on the court's sustenance.

Regarding the founding of Linyi, it wasn't simply a matter of Emperor Liu issuing an edict and being done with it. Everything from territorial division, prefecture and county establishment, official appointments, military deployment—all aspects of national institution-building—required the court's guidance and implementation.

Emperor Liu knew this unpromising son well. If everything were left to Liu Shu to handle, the Kingdom of Linyi would likely end up a laughingstock. Therefore, the emperor father had arranged everything regarding the state's founding affairs down to the last detail. All Liu Shu needed to handle himself was the disposal of property and arrangement of personnel under the Duke of Chu's mansion.

And among the regulations for Linyi's establishment, there was one very important principle: after the state was founded, the court would cease its blood-transfusion-style support. Aside from maintaining unity in politics, military, and diplomacy, everything else was left to its own discretion. It wouldn't be left to perish, but it must survive on its own. Only on this basis did enfeoffing vassal states have any meaning.

This same regulation applied equally to Anxi and Andong. In fact, some ministers were already impatiently hoping that Emperor Liu would resolve the Anxi and Andong issues as soon as possible, defining the status of the two princes and two Protectorate Generals, so as to avoid the current situation where the two Protectorate Generals were allowed to suck blood from the Great Han's body.

Just look at Anxi these past few years. Since the western campaign against the Kara-Khanids began, so much money, grain, troops, and weaponry had been invested, draining national strength—but what did the court get in return? Only a half-ruined Gaochang Circuit. And that was only because Emperor Liu had taken a knife to the Anxi Protectorate General's overly vast jurisdiction; otherwise, even Gaochang Circuit might not have ended up in the court's hands. Of course, this point was clearly the speculation of certain people standing from their own personal interests.

Therefore, when Anxi signaled its intention to march westward and continue fighting, those ministers were deeply displeased at heart. Considering all aspects, they held opposing views. Among them, some opinions were quite constructive—namely, to wait until Emperor Liu enfeoffed Anxi before making further calculations. At that time, the Prince of Wei could fight however he pleased…

Liu Yang was well aware of his ministers' concerns, but he could not heed them. The fundamental reason was simple: Emperor Liu was the one in charge now, and everything had to follow Emperor Liu's wishes.

No matter how many ideas those below had, going against the imperial will would only bring trouble upon oneself. This was the conclusion Liu Yang had drawn from over thirty years of being a crown prince under Emperor Liu's constant discipline.

Therefore, regardless of what thoughts or opinions he held about the Anxi campaign, Liu Yang no longer had the inclination to offer frank remonstrance as he had before. It was useless and would only displease Emperor Liu—there was simply no need.

Moreover, while Liu Yang was conservative and sought stability on one hand, it didn't mean he was pedantic. Didn't he too harbor ambitions of expanding the realm? It was just that the emperor father had already done everything, at no small cost, and what this crown prince needed to do was mostly just clean up after Emperor Liu.

Besides, Liu Min was his full brother by blood. This fraternal bond—even if only for Empress Fu's sake—meant Liu Yang had to treat him with special regard.