Chapter 2004: Even Brothers Settle Accounts Clearly

It was clear that Duke of Liang, Liu Ye, was deeply dissatisfied with the current military and political landscape in Anxi and his own position within it. In his early years, whatever decisions Liu Ye made, his goal was to establish merit and achieve fame.

But this mindset gradually changed over time, roughly starting from when Emperor Liu's enfeoffment plan was officially launched, and Liu Ye escorted his mother, Consort Qin Xiang, on her second journey to Anxi.

In Liu Ye's view, the situation in Anxi over the past year or more had been a "pre-enfeoffment period," and Liu Ye had subconsciously already regarded himself as the king of an enfeoffed state.

This estate of Anxi had a share belonging to him; he only needed to wait for the final division of the family property. Since it concerned his vital interests, he naturally had to keep a close watch to avoid being shortchanged. Logically, during the waiting period, one ought to make some preparations!

Yet the actual situation was that Liu Min, as the head of Anxi, showed no preparation whatsoever, not even a hint of it, as if he had never received the old emperor's edict.

Liu Ye's dissatisfaction was specifically reflected in the matter of say within Anxi's internal affairs, which was firmly controlled by Liu Min. Although Liu Min had given him a task—overseeing those auxiliary troops, an army of over ten thousand men—which could be considered showing importance and giving ample respect.

But everyone knew that Anxi's foundation lay in the Western Expedition Army. The so-called auxiliary troops lacked combat effectiveness, their loyalty was questionable, and there were also some of Liu Min's trusted officers and advisors "assisting" them—how could Liu Ye be content with that?

Without strength in hand, there is no confidence in the heart. Setting aside those empty titles, up to now, the only thing Liu Ye could truly rely on in Anxi was a following of just over a thousand men. Even for these followers, logistical support had to be supplied by the Governor-General's Office. The taste of being controlled by others was unpleasant, and independence was even more important to someone of Liu Ye's status. How could he be content with the status quo!

Liu Ye's following was mainly composed of three parts: the guard corps the old emperor had assigned him, the attendants of the Duke of Liang's mansion, and the Yao people. Liu Ye's mother, Consort Qin Xiang, was a Yao woman, presented to the old emperor by Qin Zaixiong, the Marquis of Hongjiang.

With such a blood connection, although Liu Ye had never set foot on the land of his "mother's clan," his reputation among the Yao people in the Xiang-Qian region was very prominent. Yao leaders like Qin Zaixiong had been continuously publicizing this relationship to highlight their difference from other barbarian minorities. We Yao people have a prince of imperial blood—do you have one?

Over the past decade or more, because the Marquis of Hongjiang, Qin Zaixiong, knew how to handle people, Liu Ye's relationship with the Yao people had been continuously improving and strengthening. When Liu Ye entered military service, he already had a Yao guard by his side. Before Liu Ye traveled far to Anxi to take up his fief, he also recruited three hundred strong warriors from among the Yao people active in the capital region to accompany him to Anxi.

And the experience of staying in Anxi these days had also made Liu Ye more deeply realize the importance of strength, as he tried every means to enhance his influence and say in affairs.

In the Governor-General's Office, with Liu Min's suppression, it was difficult to break through. So Liu Min dispatched his subordinates and Yao guards back to the homeland to engage in activities, mainly in two aspects: one was to seek support from the imperial court, and the other was to find ways through the Yao tribes.

The ultimate goal was to relocate Yao people from the homeland to settle in Anxi. To achieve this goal, cooperation from both sides was needed. According to Liu Ye's plan, just giving him a few tens of thousands of Yao people—or even a few thousand—would be enough for him to establish a foothold in Anxi and accomplish something.

Liu Min saw all of Liu Ye's emotions and actions, and Liu Fang also understood them clearly. And compared to Liu Ye, was Prince Zhao Liu Fang's heart any more at ease?

Just as Liu Ye said, whether in the imperial clan or at court, Liu Fang's seniority and prestige far exceeded Liu Min's. And Liu Fang's arrival was, to Liu Min, like a shark barging into his own territory—how could he not be wary? Over the more than ten years of the Western Expedition, Liu Min had put in tremendous effort. Anxi's current achievements were soaked with his blood and toil. At the same time, Liu Min, like a fierce tiger, had developed a territorial consciousness that brooked no intrusion.

Therefore, toward Liu Ye, this young tiger, he could still afford some space. For the sake of appearances, handing over the auxiliary troops for him to command was no big deal.

But toward Liu Fang, it was no exaggeration to say he was strictly guarded against and defensively sealed off. The most crucial military power was firmly held in his own hands, and he would never relax his grip in the slightest. If Liu Ye was a young tiger, then Liu Fang was a fierce "man-eating tiger."

After all, Liu Fang's capital was simply too formidable! The "Four Great Princes" of the early years, the "Prince Commander" of the Kaibao era—even setting aside his political and military influence within the Great Han, just in Anxi alone, the mere name of Prince Zhao carried enormous weight.

Liu Fang had held command in the northwest for many years with great prestige, and the main composition of the Anxi army was also the border troops, militia, and soldiers of the various northwestern circuits. It could be said that these soldiers of Anxi, even if they had never served under Liu Fang, still had a bond of shared history with him from those days.

When he first arrived in Anxi, quite a few Anxi generals had taken the initiative to welcome him, their respect and joy almost impossible to conceal. In terms of influence, relying on the merits of his command of the Western Expedition, Liu Min could contend with Liu Fang, but he could not completely overpower him—and that was only within the territory of Anxi.

One should know that when Liu Min first went to the battlefield, he was just a young brother following beside Liu Fang. Even nominally, Liu Min had been adopted out and was no longer counted as an imperial prince, so there was a natural disparity in status.

Now, although they were again stirring the same pot, the roles of master and subordinate had been reversed! Liu Min was naturally extremely vigilant, and was Liu Fang's heart any more comfortable?

Liu Fang was well aware of Liu Min's wariness and resistance toward him. It was just that all along, he had only watched silently, said nothing aloud, and taken no action, avoiding conflict as much as possible.

This was naturally not because Liu Fang had grown weak. He was a commander who had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. At the pacification of Yulin, he had been ruthless in killing, and resilience had been a label stuck on Liu Fang for decades.

The main reason for adopting this attitude of silence and yielding was that Liu Fang was unwilling to see brothers turn against each other! Toward enemies, Liu Fang could show no mercy, but he was unwilling to use his ability and strength against his own family.

There was an undeniable fact: if Liu Fang truly wanted to stir things up, it would absolutely not be something Liu Min's petty tricks could handle. Setting aside other matters, the Anxi Governor-General's Office was still a member of the Great Han system. Institutionally, it was still subject to supervision by the Luoyang court. Even if that supervisory capacity had become very weak, the concept of righteous cause was extremely important in the Han cultural system, especially when backed by sufficient strength.

And in the Great Han, between Liu Fang and Liu Min, whose status and prestige were higher? The answer to this question went without saying! If Liu Fang raised his voice in Suiye, which side the current Anxi soldiers would stand on was anyone's guess.

With capital and strength, Liu Fang's reaction of yielding could perhaps only be described as putting the overall situation first. The Western Expedition had reached this point at an extremely heavy cost. How could Liu Fang bear to let external enemies exploit a rift between brothers, letting more than a decade of hard-won achievements flow away like water!

Likewise, Liu Min also understood the seriousness of the problem and knew well the strength and prestige of his fourth brother Liu Fang. Therefore, while he guarded against him, he remained very restrained, and on the surface, his respect for Liu Fang never fell short.

And wasn't Liu Min's series of reforms and changes in Anxi also a way to strengthen his control over Anxi, in preparation for the future, so that when the enfeoffment came, he could claim the largest share of the fat?

The problem had already emerged. Restraint ultimately could not solve the problem. Once restraint failed and things erupted, the consequences would only be more severe.

The fact of the matter was that among the three brothers Liu Fang, Liu Min, and Liu Ye, discord had already arisen. Emperor Liu's "enfeoffment" wind blowing through Anxi, sending princes in droves to Anxi, had not formed a united force but instead, with the passage of time, had led to division and estrangement.

The situation of internal entanglement in Anxi had grown increasingly serious. Tracing it to its root, the problem still lay with the old emperor—for no other reason than wishful thinking.

The reality was that Anxi had been won by Liu Min leading the Western Expedition soldiers through bloody battles. Although the court's support accounted for a large proportion, his command was also indispensable.

With a single thought from Emperor Liu, he wanted to enfeoff Anxi, letting brothers Liu Fang and Liu Ye enjoy the fruits of more than a decade of pioneering. Unless Liu Min were a sage, he could not be without resentment.

One should know that even over in Andong, when territory and population were slightly ceded to the Raole Kingdom, people like Liu Wenyuan were quite dissatisfied. It was not strange for similar grievances to appear in Anxi.

At the same time, it was also Emperor Liu's fault for not giving clear instructions beforehand—he had not established the priorities in Anxi, had not clearly defined Liu Fang's role, and had not even developed a mature plan for Anxi's enfeoffment. Under such circumstances, however many problems and contradictions arose, they were all within reason.

If there had been no enfeoffment business, just the Western Expedition, the brothers might well have been able, as they were twenty years ago, to work together with one heart, through fire and water, to build shared achievements.

Or alternatively, if the enfeoffment had been clearly decided from the start and the territories divided up, then there would have been no such trouble either. With the overall situation settled, even if Liu Min had some dissatisfaction, could he really resist? At that time, the three brothers would have had no choice but to huddle together for warmth, struggling and striving together to survive in Anxi.

But the reason Emperor Liu had not directly enfeoffed as he had with Andong and Raole was that he felt the timing was not yet mature. But what constituted "mature"? In the final analysis, it was that Emperor Liu felt Anxi's current territory was too small.

The court's development and management of Anxi was more like opening a "branch company" to be divided among his sons as compensation. If the court, the "parent company," continued to invest resources heavily, supporting the Western Expedition and expanding the scale of the "Anxi branch company," then things could continue as expected.

But the court's policy shift came almost in an instant. Suddenly one day, a letter arrived from Luoyang: the court was giving up the Western Expedition—you all play by yourselves for now.

The result was naturally a chain reaction; the contradictions among the Liu "Three Kings" were only one part of it.

To be sure, the Central Asian region offered vast horizons—heading west, there was great potential. But the current situation was that Anxi's pie was only this big, yet three kings had to divide it—how could that work?

And once the family was divided, to join forces and work together—in an ideal state, the future might be promising, but in actual implementation, how difficult it was! Even between blood brothers, accounts must be settled clearly!

Once upon a time, Liu Fang and Liu Min had marched north together on campaign, venturing far into Mobei, riding light into the far frontiers, braving life and death, returning from a hundred battles. And Liu Ye back then had begged to join the punitive campaign to suppress rebellion, taking Liu Min as his model, wanting to be a young hero. At Yulin, he had also served under Liu Fang's command.

Yet now, the relationship among the three brothers had reached such a delicate state—thinking about it was truly sigh-worthy.

Liu Fang was indeed sighing deeply, his face full of melancholy. Immersed in his thoughts about the Anxi situation, Liu Fang was suddenly interrupted by a surprised cry of joy: "Your subordinate pays respects to the Prince!"

Looking up, he saw on the left side of the street an officer in the armor of a deputy general, saluting him with a face full of reverence, unable to conceal the joy on his square features.

Liu Fang was slightly startled. He looked the man over and found he had no impression of him. Sitting on his horse, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Your subordinate is Yang Fu, Deputy Commander of Ganzhou!"

Without waiting for Liu Fang to ask, Yang Fu poured out his entire situation in one breath. Strictly speaking, this was another of Liu Fang's former subordinates. Back when Liu Fang was stationed in the northwest, he had toured Ganzhou and inspected the troops. At that time, Yang Fu had been young.

Learning that the man was from Hexi, a trace of reminiscence involuntarily appeared in Liu Fang's weary eyes. Hexi! The Great Han! The time he had spent in Anxi was not as long as when he had campaigned far into Mobei back then, but Liu Fang already missed the Great Han and his parents terribly.

In Anxi, Prince Zhao truly was not happy!

Encountering Yang Fu on the road was, for Liu Fang, always a matter worth being pleased about. He immediately invited him back to his residence, eager to learn about the current situation in Hexi to soothe his longing.