Chapter 1895: Looking Askance

A staged drama of enfeoffment came to a reluctant close in a somber atmosphere, and the princes who had played their supporting roles each departed with their own thoughts.

Beneath the spring night, the chill wind bit into the skin, bringing boundless clarity. Over at Qianyuan Hall, the palace eunuchs were still clearing away the mess of cups and plates through the night, while over at Chuigong Hall, the echoes still lingered.

Father and son, Liu Xu and his boy, left the palace in silence. Liu Xu did not speak a single word the whole way, his expression stern and looking very heavy-hearted. It was not until they had boarded the carriage, the curtain lowered, and the space was private enough that Liu Xu finally looked at Liu Wenyuan, who seemed to want to speak but hesitated, and said: "If you have something to say, say it directly!"

Liu Wenyuan had clearly been holding it in for a long time. Given permission, he immediately spoke: "Your son believes that Your Majesty's enfeoffment has taken things far too simply!"

Hearing Liu Wenyuan say this, Liu Xu immediately shot him a sidelong glance: "His Majesty has ruled the realm and driven the world for forty years. His wisdom, foresight, and grand strategy—how dare you presume to criticize them here!"

Liu Wenyuan blurted out: "His Majesty is certainly wise, but in the end, he is old!"

"How dare you!" The moment the words left his mouth, Liu Xu could not help but cough once. First he let out the rebuke, then he swung his hand and gave Liu Wenyuan a slap across the face.

This strike clearly held nothing back. The crisp sound of the blow even carried from inside the carriage out to the long street beneath the spring night. Sensing something amiss within the carriage, the horse-drawn carriage slowly came to a halt, and immediately after, came the questioning voice of the guard before the carriage: "Does the Prince have any orders?"

Liu Xu kept a rigid face, his voice almost squeezed out from his throat as he replied: "Nothing. Return to the Prince's residence!"

"Yes!"

When the carriage started moving again, the atmosphere inside continued to be stifling. Liu Xu turned his head, glared at Liu Wenyuan, and lowered his voice, rebuking with exceptional severity: "Do you know what you are saying?"

Meeting Liu Xu's vicious glare, Liu Wenyuan, who had been dazed from the slap, slowly came to his senses, and a trace of tension showed on his face. His words just now had certainly come from the heart, but that single short sentence carried enormous political risk.

His words could easily be interpreted as deceiving the sovereign, as contempt for Emperor Liu's advanced age, or even as directly calling him senile. Although this was merely a private conversation between father and son, one could never be sure that the walls had no ears—at the very least, inside and outside this carriage there were more than just the two of them. For someone like Liu Wenyuan to speak so thoughtlessly, without a second's hesitation, if any malicious person overheard it, then the open spears and hidden arrows from the court would likely come swiftly.

"Your son misspoke!" Thinking of all this, Liu Wenyuan lowered his head and admitted his fault.

Seeing this, Liu Xu's expression finally softened somewhat. Looking at Liu Wenyuan's left cheek, red from the slap, he asked: "Does it hurt?"

Liu Wenyuan shook his head. Liu Xu then said sternly: "In Andong I already required you to be cautious in speech and conduct—how much more so in the capital region? You must always remember: disaster comes from the mouth!"

Pausing slightly, Liu Xu then said slowly: "Some things, you may think them, you may do them, but you cannot say them!"

Hearing this, Liu Wenyuan could not help but look at Liu Xu in surprise. Seeing that his father also wore a pensive expression at this moment, his eyes flickering, Liu Wenyuan cupped his hands and replied: "Yes!"

After this small interlude, Liu Wenyuan thought for a while longer, then spoke slowly: "Your son has absolutely no intention of offending His Majesty. Speaking purely on the merits, your son truly does not hold a favorable view of the enfeoffment proposal His Majesty put forward tonight!"

This time, Liu Xu did not interrupt Liu Wenyuan again, but looked at him levelly, waiting for what came next. Liu Wenyuan, watching his father's expression carefully, gained some confidence at this sight, lowered his voice, and continued: "Your son observes that among the imperial uncles, most are not too willing regarding the enfeoffment. Even someone as open-minded as Fifth Uncle, the Prince of Qi, is unwilling to go to his fief and wants to contend with His Majesty for something. Whether it is the Emishi in the east or the islands of the South Seas, enfeoffing these places is, to the imperial uncles, no different from exile and banishment. Even our Andong is the same in kind.

Compelled by His Majesty's authority, the imperial uncles dare not oppose, dare not even raise objections—they are merely unwilling at heart, reluctant in spirit. Even if the edicts are issued and the states established, I fear that in the future it will only be a matter of form, stopping at nominal status, and may even become a laughingstock across the realm!"

Hearing Liu Wenyuan speak with such conviction, Liu Xu shook his head and said: "This is only your speculation, without much basis! You are not the fish—how do you know the fish's joy? How do you know your uncles are unwilling to be enfeoffed? At least your Ninth Uncle's and Thirteenth Uncle's enthusiasm does not seem feigned. As for your Fourth Uncle, he would never defy His Majesty's will. Never mind enfeoffing Anxi—even if it were a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, he would not furrow his brow!"

"Then what of the five states of the South Seas?" Liu Wenyuan said: "From what your son knows, although those islands are barbaric, some native kingdoms have already formed there. Primitive and crude, savage and backward as they may be, I fear they will not simply dissolve because of a single court edict.

This is different from Great Han merchants going there to trade and cultivate. To establish a feudal state and achieve rule is by no means an easy task. You personally participated in the construction and development of Andong—you know deeply the hardship and suffering involved. Do the imperial uncles have the will to persevere through that? Do they possess the capability to become kings of a nation?

Even for Andong, if not for your more than ten years of unremitting effort and diligent pioneering, your son would not dare hold confidence in His Majesty's enfeoffment either!

Moreover, Andong's development relied on Liaodong at its back and long-term support from the court, combined with Father's tireless toil day and night—only then did it achieve today's results. But the South Seas are far overseas. How much support can the court provide? Can it rely merely on those merchants and settlers who go to sea, on that South Seas fleet, to subdue those native peoples and establish feudal states?

Even if it could, how much manpower, money, and material would the court have to invest to accomplish it? His Majesty's enfeoffment of the various states is meant to stabilize the frontiers, to delegate authority to his sons for action—but the fundamental reason is to lighten the court's burden.

If the enfeoffment instead increases the court's burden and adds to various expenditures, then supporting overseas territories thousands of li away—even as strong as the Great Han is, how long could it last? No matter how thick the family foundation, there will come a day when it is drained dry, and the Great Han may be dragged down with it!

And if the court falls short in support, with the Great Han's current influence in the South Seas, how many feudal states could it support in their establishment?

If the South Seas are like this, then Anxi is the same! And the situation is even more severe! In the South Seas, in the end, they are merely unenlightened barbarian natives—whether by fighting or by suppression, there is still a possibility of success.

Anxi is different. In the west, the Great Han faces an entire civilization, a region with a rich heritage of history and culture, the empire that once staunchly blocked the Great Tang's western expedition. Even if it has declined now, the rise of a new state there is entirely possible.

Just in these past years, to support Sixth Uncle's western expedition, the money and grain the court has expended is several times what was used for Andong's development and security. The further west one goes, who knows what enemies one will face!

And there are the beliefs of those Arabs—utterly incompatible with our Great Han, clashing fiercely. To conquer them—how easy can that be!

Don't look at how Sixth Uncle and the others have achieved good results now—destroying the Kara-Khanids, defeating the allied armies, attacking into the Samanid state, expanding territory by two thousand li—but they are simply too far from the Great Han. Even if the court were to provide some support, the cost would be enormous. To put it bluntly, this is militarism and aggression.

If some unforeseen upheaval arises one day, even with the Great Han's strength, can it provide effective relief from thousands of li away? In Anxi, the Great Han will forever be fighting an enemy's two fists with a single finger!

Enfeoffment, if it is not for consolidating the interior but for expansion and conquest, is truly putting the cart before the horse. From what your son observes of His Majesty's words, this is precisely his intent. If this comes to pass, your son fears that one day the western expedition will become a quagmire in which the Great Han is deeply mired—for the state and for the people, it will not be a good thing..."

Liu Wenyuan spoke in a torrent, and after his entire discourse, Liu Xu was stunned. Frowning deeply for a long while, in a tone that was hard to tell whether it was doubt or fear, or something else entirely, he said, his voice almost trembling: "You are crying wolf!"