Chapter 1956: The Crown Prince of the State of Andong

In the winter month, Andong had already completely transformed into a frozen land of bitter cold—the heavens and earth austere and forbidding, all things withered and desolate. Under the immense power of nature, it seemed all things were equal; let alone humans, even the animals had mostly ceased their activities, silently enduring, waiting for the arrival of spring's revival.

Andong possessed dense forests, vast black soil, and abundant mineral resources—truly blessed by heaven. The only thing one could criticize was perhaps this bitterly cold climate.

Of course, compared to those advantages, the survival difficulties brought by the climate seemed less severe—one simply got used to it. But every winter, Andong's development and construction inevitably fell into stagnation, owing to both natural disasters and man-made calamities. The bitter cold was always the time when those savages could no longer restrain themselves and emerged from the mountain wilds, raiding Andong's villages, settlements, manors, and markets for survival.

The Yazi River ultimately could not withstand the onslaught of the severe cold and froze over. The river's thousand-li frozen expanse had become one of Andong's wonders, appearing every year without fail, and in recent years the duration had grown ever longer.

A cavalry unit rode westward along the riverbed, the road winding, occasionally appearing along the riverbank—even those brief glimpses were strikingly conspicuous. Several hundred riders, roughly a battalion of soldiers—enough to serve as an independent combat unit even in the Great Han, and their status and role in Andong was even greater. Of course, whether it was the flood-dragon banner snapping in the cold wind or the sable feathers on each rider's helmet, all indicated their special identity: this was the Andong Prince's Guard.

However, the one leading the unit was not the Great King of Andong, Liu Xu, but the Crown Prince, Liu Wenyuan. Just last month, Liu Xu had formally invested Liu Wenyuan as Crown Prince, presenting the investiture documents and seal, submitting a memorial to the imperial court, and holding an investiture ceremony for the occasion.

Over the past month or so, Liu Wenyuan's presence as the formal Crown Prince of Andong had grown markedly stronger. Beyond the title of Crown Prince, Liu Xu had also given him two additional posts—Deputy State Chancellor and Deputy Chief Commander of Andong's Armed Forces—truly encompassing both civil and military authority. Especially the latter, which meant he practically presided over Andong's daily military and governmental affairs (the post of Chief Commander was temporarily held concurrently by Liu Xu himself).

Liu Wenyuan had been brought to the forefront, shouldering both political and military responsibilities, while Liu Xu retreated to the prince's residence to recuperate from illness. Such an unusual move naturally drew intense attention from Andong's powerful elite. No one was a fool—the formal succession, the delegation of power, and the extensive publicity, each and every one of these reflected something out of the ordinary behind the scenes.

To put it plainly, this was preparation for abdication. Most of Andong's current powerholders were Liu Xu's followers or had received his favor; crucially, they all had a basic understanding of Liu Xu. The Great King had only just passed forty, had always been in the prime of life, full of energy, hating not to handle everything personally—how could he suddenly delegate so much power? Clearly something had happened. Following that line of reasoning, the rumors that the Great King was gravely ill were probably not just idle gossip...

Thus, the Andong political scene, which had just settled down from the chaos of establishing the state's administration, was once again stirred into waves. Those in power fixed their gazes on the prince's residence, those in office focused on the orders from above. The threshold of State Chancellor Geng Jixun's mansion was nearly worn through, as people sought to pry even a word or two of information from Geng Jixun's mouth.

Of course, Geng Jixun was tight-lipped and would not reveal anything; on the contrary, he berated every visitor who came to his door. At the same time, seeing the surging emotions and endless speculation, he suggested Liu Xu make an appearance and deliver a brief speech, which finally calmed things down. Of course, the fundamental reason was that the prince's residence had severely punished several officials who had been scheming for information or neglecting their duties.

Though fraught with stumbling blocks and rampant rumors, in the process the state of Andong gradually completed its transfer of power—at least those civil and military officials in office had gradually grown accustomed to seeing the signature on orders from the prince's residence: Crown Prince Liu Wenyuan.

The heavy snow had stopped, but the wind continued, now howling, now whimpering. The surroundings were a world draped in silver, but the well-bundled riders traveling through it were not lonely. Looking into the distance, another column was moving on the Yazi River's surface—a merchant caravan. The bells on the draft animals rang crisp and melodious. They had apparently also noticed the marching guard and had stopped to bow from afar in respect.

Liu Wenyuan and a dozen or so personal guards lagged behind, reining in their horses by the frozen riverbank, gazing into the distance. The chill of this ice-and-snow world could be breathed freely. Noticing the merchant caravan walking on the ice, Liu Wenyuan rarely showed a hint of a smile and quipped: "Whose caravan is that, daring to make such a grand show walking on the river? Aren't they afraid of stepping into an ice hole?"

"It seems to be the Zhou family's horse train. Walking on the ice saves them considerable time. They've always been bold, and the hirelings under them have never feared death—they'll go anywhere! Their business runs deep; they say every year some of them go into the deep forests by the coast to trade with those Eastern Jurchen." The accompanying guard officer, well-traveled and knowledgeable, observed through the snow haze for a moment before introducing them to Liu Wenyuan.

Hearing this, Liu Wenyuan clearly developed some interest and said: "If what you say is true, then this Zhou family caravan employs some desperate daredevils. Such fearless warriors driven by mere merchants—isn't that a waste?"

The officer shook his head with a smile: "Your Highness, what Andong lacks least is men fond of fighting and daring. If they could pass the military's assessments, who would be willing to sell their lives for mere merchants? Either their physiques don't meet the standards, or they can't endure military discipline. As your subordinate knows, quite a few of the escorts of Andong's famous merchant caravans are soldiers who were discharged from the army..."

Hearing the officer's words, Liu Wenyuan's brow relaxed somewhat. He truly hadn't paid attention to such matters before—after all, even in the military, he only concerned himself with leading troops, training, and fighting. When had he ever considered troop sources or the army's renewal mechanisms?

As the officer said, Andong never lacked brave men, but the cream of them were absorbed by the military, and the army had fixed quotas. Even those eliminated were no mediocre hands. In martial spirit, Andong was absolutely second to none in the entire realm—after all, in this place, those who weren't ruthless couldn't stand firm. Even the farmers tilling the fields could pick up a blade and cut a man down.

Over the years, Liu Xu had pulled people into Andong like a glutton, sparing no effort in scheming for population growth. But among the many factors constraining Andong's population growth, one was the prevalence of private brawling—which had at one point been even more severe than accidental deaths in the harsh environment.

After the establishment of the state of Andong, one of the strictest iron laws was the prohibition of private brawling among the people, with violators put to death—in this regard, one could only fight poison with poison. However, this only curbed large-scale brawling; personal grudges remained impossible to stamp out, especially given the national reality of "if the people don't report it, the officials don't pursue it."

Therefore, despite Andong spending several months of the year in ice and snow, the folk customs there were extremely fierce. Of course, this was the combined result of its unique human, geographical, and historical environment.

Liu Wenyuan couldn't quite connect such deep thoughts at the moment. His bright eyes wandered between the frozen surface of the Yazi River and that Zhou family caravan, and finally he remarked with feeling: "Once the river freezes over, it becomes a broad thoroughfare. In times of urgency, moving troops via the waterway could save considerable effort!"

"Your Highness speaks truly!" The guard officer was clearly elite among Andong's military—though his current position was lowly, his insight was outstanding: "Most of Andong's prefectural cities are built along rivers; following the river, one can reach all the towns directly. However, unless absolutely urgent, it should not be used lightly—the ice surface is hardly uniform, and galloping horses adds even more danger. Once one falls through the ice, it's a disaster beyond recovery..."

"Perhaps we could experiment—after returning to Suihua, summon those caravans that regularly travel the ice and consult them!" Liu Wenyuan instructed, but then followed with a long sigh: "If we ever need to use the frozen river as a route, what kind of crisis would Andong be facing..."

Not delving deeper into that topic, Liu Wenyuan turned his horse and galloped off. Seeing this, the guards quickly followed, and the group soon caught up with the main column. From here to the princely capital was still over two hundred li—they still had a good while of travel ahead.

Liu Wenyuan had been very busy lately—governing affairs, managing the people, commanding the army—refreshing Andong's officials and populace's perception of him as Crown Prince from many angles, while also displaying his talent and sense of responsibility.

This return to Suihua was a triumphant homecoming. Previously, a report had come from Meituo Prefecture on the southeastern border: local Jurchen had risen in revolt, raiding and plundering officials and commoners alike, even breaching a market town and killing one hundred thirty-two Han civilians.

Savage uprisings were a common occurrence, but one that breached a market town, killed so many people, and caused such severe destruction—that hadn't happened in many years.

The prince's residence showed great importance to the disturbance in Meituo Prefecture—so much importance that Liu Wenyuan himself, as Crown Prince, personally led the army to suppress the rebellion.

Liu Wenyuan's toughness was once again displayed in this incident. He completely ignored State Chancellor Geng Jixun's attempts to dissuade him and led five hundred riders personally to Meituo Prefecture.

Of course, the rebellious Jurchen had long since fled clean away, but with the Crown Prince personally going out, how could he return without achievements? Toward Andong's barbarians, Liu Xu had always employed both benevolence and severity, suppression and pacification. In the Meituo Prefecture incident, it was clearly time to use severity.

Liu Wenyuan's method was to seize one thousand three hundred twenty people from among the unregistered barbarians of Meituo Prefecture and its surroundings—and execute them all.

Regarding barbarian disturbances, over so many years Andong had actually formed a set of assessment and countermeasure standards. Theft, robbery, and even ordinary killings could all be treated as routine public security incidents, handled by local authorities.

But incidents like this one at Meituo—breaching a town, killing Han civilians—were regarded as rebellion and treason, requiring the dispatch of troops to suppress, followed by severe retaliation. The culprits were cunning and fled quickly, so compensation had to be sought elsewhere. What Liu Wenyuan employed this time was the most severe and cruelest means of retaliation: "kill one, repay ten."

Of course, there was also the intent of establishing his authority. In Andong, Liu Xu's authority was unchallengeable, and Liu Wenyuan had never harbored such thoughts—but that didn't mean he could tolerate some people looking down on him. During this past period, Liu Wenyuan had felt some friction that made him deeply uncomfortable.

Perhaps owing to the slaughter he had wrought in Meito Prefecture, the returning Liu Wenyuan still gave off a cold and ruthless impression. Only when gazing toward the direction of Suihua did a trace of worry emerge in his hawk-like eyes.