Chapter 2114: Taizong Chronicles 1: A Young Lord Rules the State, Half a Year of Peace

In the first year of Pingkang (1007), with the conclusion of a grand enthronement ceremony in the Hall of Qianyuan, the Great Han Empire completed the succession of the imperial throne and the transfer of power, at least in terms of legal principle and righteous mandate.

When Liu Wenpeng, who had not yet fully shed his boyishness, sat upon that supreme throne and received the homage of imperial clansmen, high ministers, and envoys from all vassal states, even though he had rehearsed countless times beforehand, when the moment truly arrived, facing such a vast spectacle, this youth still felt ill at ease and nervous from the bottom of his heart.

He who would wear the crown must bear its weight. At this moment, he had not yet truly enjoyed the supreme power and prestige of the Emperor, yet he already felt the immense weight of the rivers and mountains of the realm pressing down upon his shoulders, making it hard to breathe.

A state without a mature ruler was a "novel" matter for the entire upper echelon of the empire, after all, nearly sixty years had passed since such a situation had last occurred.

When Liu Wenpeng sat upright upon the imperial throne, nearly all the ministers and officials widened their eyes, observing this new sovereign. It was naturally a moment of universal attention, but among the many gazes there could not help but be curiosity, scrutiny, and even doubt, for no one knew what this young Son of Heaven could bring to the Great Han Empire, nor whether he could bear the heavy responsibility of leading the empire.

Even the meritorious nobles and the veteran ministers of the Yongxi era adopted a cautious attitude toward this young Son of Heaven. They had long been accustomed to having an authoritative and imposing Emperor above their heads—whether strong-willed or lenient, wise or willful—there was always a backbone that could make the final decision.

Suddenly, having it replaced by a young Emperor whose depths could not be fathomed and whose pulse could not be read, was hard for people to adapt to all at once. After entering the Pingkang era, how this new sovereign-minister relationship would be managed was a subject worthy of deep study for both sides.

There was no doubt that over the past sixty years, the entire empire had undergone a process in which imperial power outweighed ministerial power, step by step climbing to the pinnacle of imperial authority. But it could be foreseen that from the moment the new sovereign ascended the throne, this situation would begin to change.

The enthronement ceremony in the Hall of Qianyuan was merely a ritual and a performance announcing to the world that a new Emperor had succeeded. Those meritorious nobles and high officials of the empire who prostrated themselves in reverent worship would not, simply because their knees touched the ground, submit wholeheartedly to the new sovereign. Even Emperor Taizong had not achieved that at the start of his reign, let alone a youth like Liu Wenpeng.

What they worshipped was the Emperor of the empire—a system and consensus constructed and perfected over sixty years by the two reigns of Shizu and Taizong, encompassing everyone within it. As long as one remained within this system, as long as this mechanism continued to function normally, then whoever sat in that position would receive the homage of all ministers. Otherwise, they would suffer the rejection of the entire system and national consciousness.

Also a young Son of Heaven, the new Emperor Liu Wenpeng was clearly far more at ease than his grandfather Emperor Shizu had been at the start of his reign. At the very least, he did not need to fight tooth and nail for power, did not need to labor tirelessly day and night to manage the state, and did not need to worry day and night about questions of life and death.

Under normal circumstances, he only needed to rule by non-interference, and the entire realm would lie at his feet. Even if he governed through inaction and ended his reign without great achievements, he might still earn the good reputation of a "wise and enlightened" Son of Heaven.

And perhaps Liu Wenpeng's greatest stroke of luck was that his father was Emperor Taizong. During his lifetime, his father had used fourteen years to rectify a series of problems from the mid-to-late Kaibao period, greatly alleviating the various social contradictions that had accumulated since the founding of the state, leaving him an external environment of security and an internal situation of stability—a grand celestial dynasty.

And regarding the succession of the empire, Emperor Taizong had considered matters even more thoroughly, arranging nearly all the funeral affairs before his death. Among them, the most important matter was undoubtedly the arrangement of the assisting ministers.

Zhang Qixian, Murong Defeng, Li Hang, Li Jilong (who succeeded as Commissioner of Military Affairs after Gao Qiong's death), Xiang Deming, Kou Zhun (transferred to Minister of the Right after Annam was enfeoffed as a state), Wang Xuanzhen, with the three imperial princes—Prince Zhao Liu Fang, Prince Lu Liu Ai, and Prince Yan Liu Zhao—holding watch. With such a team of assisting ministers, there was no need for them to work in perfect harmony; as long as they maintained a consistent pace on the major direction, it would be sufficient to keep the court, the empire's interior, and its exterior under control.

It was precisely because everything was guided by Emperor Taizong's posthumous edict that the court maintained basic stability and relative balance before and after the new sovereign's enthronement, rather than being a mess of troubles as when Liu Yang had succeeded.

In those days, the situation had been special after all—Shizu had died abroad, leaving no posthumous edict. More importantly, although Shizu's death and Taizong's death were both earth-shattering events, the shock they brought had already caused ideological confusion, and the two were not comparable.

And after Emperor Taizong Liu Yang's decade-and-more of persistent rectification and improvement of the system, the Great Han Empire's politics had already matured sufficiently, become stable, and trended toward rationality.

From a historical perspective, the Yongxi era led by Emperor Taizong Liu Yang was a transitional period for the Great Han Empire, linking the past and the future—an extremely important stage of development.

Under Liu Yang's painstaking efforts and vigorous governance, the Great Han Empire passed through a considerable period of peace, tranquility, prosperity, and strength. With the assistance of a host of renowned Yongxi ministers, Emperor Taizong personally sketched out a magnificent historical tableau of a flourishing age.

What it inherited from above was the great, magnificent martial age personally created by Emperor Shizu; what it passed down below awaited the young Son of Heaven Liu Wenpeng and the powers-that-be of the empire's upper echelon to open. And behind that door, whether what greeted the empire's scholars and common folk would be a new flourishing age, a period of good governance, or even an age of chaos, remained to be tested by time.

As time entered the Pingkang era, the Emperor changed, the reign title changed, and history turned a new page. At the same time, the empire's upper class did not change, the high ministers holding power in the Hall of State Affairs did not change, and the governing style inherited from the Yongxi era did not change.

At the very least, it could be said that in the first half of the first year of Pingkang, the entire Great Han Empire seemed to be still operating according to the precedents of the Yongxi era, driven by inertia and even instinct, in politics, military affairs, economy, and people's livelihoods alike.

Emperor Taizong was gone, but the rules and systems he left behind continued to guide the new dynasty's sovereign and ministers for a long time, and also constrained everyone within the system. Until someone stepped forward to break this inertia and balance.

The young Son of Heaven Liu Wenpeng possessed neither Emperor Shizu's great talent and bold vision nor Heaven's mandate, nor did he match Emperor Taizong's years of accumulation and unyielding perseverance. To be frank, he did not have the ability to keep the great ship of the Great Han Empire on a steady course—at least at the start of his reign, he lacked such means and strength.

Therefore, he could not, like his grandfather and father, actively and rapidly establish his own authority and inject his will and ideals into the empire's upper echelon.

Following the established rules, ruling by non-interference, and being a peaceful Son of Heaven was not without merit as a "broad highway." However, that possibility was extremely slim. In the autocratic system of the Great Han Empire, the Emperor held too much dominance, and the empire's political ecology had long been infused with the gene of "strongman politics." Even those refined and cultured high officials and Confucian scholars, when they fought in the arena of imperial power, would bare their claws and fangs, ferocious and terrifying.

Therefore, the peace of the Pingkang era lasted only about half a year. During those six months, the young Emperor Liu Wenpeng sat high upon the throne, learning and trying how to be an Emperor, yet he could not fully enjoy all the power of the supreme ruler of the Great Han Empire. Matters of state and military were all handled by the Yongxi assisting ministers, and national policies and decrees were all issued by the Hall of State Affairs. In the words of those assisting ministers, the Son of Heaven was young and still needed to study, understand principle, and learn governance; as for state affairs, the old ministers would handle them in accordance with Emperor Taizong's posthumous edict.

Not to mention what Emperor Liu Wenpeng thought of this—the young Son of Heaven, having succeeded not long ago and with his authority not yet consolidated, could in fact exert little influence over the empire's maturely functioning mechanism. He was in a state of holding a precious treasure without knowing how to use it.

And the one who could least tolerate this situation of ministerial power overshadowing imperial power, and who acted first, was the Murong clan matriarch who had been elevated to Empress Dowager. It was Empress Dowager Murong who personally shattered the upper-echelon power structure that Emperor Taizong had constructed to safeguard Liu Wenpeng.

In the seventh month of the first year of Pingkang, in collusion with Murong Defeng, Minister of the Left (in reality, the Empress Dowager forced him, acting willfully, and Murong Defeng had no choice but to comply), she gathered a number of court officials to discuss the matter of the "system of enfeoffed kings proceeding to their fiefs."

Besides targeting the King of Annam Liu Wenhuan, the King of Lin Yi Liu Shu, and the King of Andong Liu Wenyuan, who had lingered in the capital after finishing their mourning visits, the main targets were the two princes sitting high in the Hall of State Affairs—Prince Zhao and Prince Lu. These two younger brothers, two imperial uncles—one had been Director of the Secretariat for fifteen years, the other was Grand Tutor and Assistant Chief Minister—both wielded enormous influence in military and civil affairs. Especially Prince Zhao Liu Fang, a figure whom even Emperor Taizong had once greatly feared, let alone the Murong clan.

In the eyes of the Murong clan, the power held by outside ministers could be tolerated for the time being, but the two princes absolutely could not be allowed to remain long at the center of power, otherwise they would pose a great threat to Liu Wenpeng's throne. And the reason for initiating the discussion of the "proceeding to fiefs system" was that both princes had enfeoffed territories.

Although Liu Fang's title of King of Beiting had been passed to his heir Liu Wengong, in everyone's minds he was still the first-generation King of Beiting—that had been conferred by Emperor Shizu, and no one could take it away. As for Prince Lu Liu Ai's fief, it was in the tenth year of Yongxi when Emperor Taizong once again initiated enfeoffment, distributing the sons of Emperor Shizu to the South Seas Archipelago (the Philippines), Borneo (Kalimantan), and other newly colonized territories of the South Seas merchants.

However, they had been given fiefs without being forcibly driven out to sea to take up their posts and personally manage them. What Empress Dowager Murong wanted was clearly to implement and enforce the "proceeding to fiefs system" that had been established by Shizu and perfected by Taizong.

Once this proposal was put forward, it naturally caused a stir throughout the court. Since both sides had "legal principle" to support their positions, naturally each held their own views. Several enfeoffed kings who had already proceeded to their fiefs early, though they very much wanted to stay in Luoyang to watch the excitement, fearing they might be caught in the crossfire, took their leave of the young Emperor and departed the capital that autumn.

As for the two princes, Prince Zhao and Prince Lu, who were the Empress Dowager's main targets, they made different choices under the pressure of public opinion throughout the court. Liu Fang took the initiative to submit a memorial requesting retirement due to old age—though he had long since yielded the title of King of Beiting to his eldest son—and therefore requested to go to Mount Mang to guard Emperor Shizu's tomb.

Prince Lu Liu Ai, on the other hand, claimed illness. Since he was "sick," he yielded his post and authority in the Hall of State Affairs, and he could also temporarily forgo going to his fief in the distant South Seas islands. At this point, Empress Dowager Murong was basically satisfied.

To be fair, relying solely on Empress Dowager Murong and Murong Defeng, it would have been very difficult to completely suppress the two princes, for they were not made of clay. However, in this process, quite a few forces had entered the fray.

The fundamental reason was that there was no small number of people who harbored doubts about the two princes, especially Prince Zhao Liu Fang. He was one of the "Four Great Princes" under Emperor Shizu—that halo, no matter how many years later it was brought up, still shone brightly, and after entering the Pingkang era, it became even more precious.

Such an imperial uncle—of noble status, outstanding merit, deep seniority, and great renown—assisting a young lord alongside the high ministers brought tremendous pressure to those around him.

It was precisely because of this latent consensus that when the momentum grew, Liu Fang felt as though the entire court had abandoned him. Showing weakness and retreating was not Liu Fang's nature, but he was also a man approaching sixty, with no intention of contending with others. For the stability of the court, taking a step back was his choice to prioritize the greater good.

In comparison, Prince Lu Liu Ai harbored a trace more unwillingness. But once public opinion had been stirred up, and Fourth Brother Liu Fang refused to take the lead in striking back, he too could only choose to swallow his anger for the moment and bide his time.

Empress Dowager Murong's motive for ousting the two princes was understandable, and her methods were not particularly skillful, but in the end she succeeded. However, in terms of the outcome of this matter, it did not allow the young Emperor to truly grasp the reins of power—the Great Han's authority was still shared among the Yongxi assisting ministers.

Second, she had offended the enfeoffed kings of the imperial clan, led by Prince Zhao and Prince Lu. Although they had been enfeoffed far away, their roots were still in the Great Han. They still bore the surname Liu and were descendants of Emperor Shizu, yet they were treated as "outsiders"—this clearly invited estrangement and divided hearts.

As for these two outcomes, Empress Dowager Murong could not yet attend to the latter, while the former prompted her to take further actions. Having succeeded once in interfering in governance, there would be a second time, and a third.

In the second half of the first year of Pingkang, Empress Dowager Murong, in the Emperor's name, generously bestowed promotions and appointments upon some of the Murong clan's younger members, basically granting offices according to age and generation. There was no doubt that this was a crude and unsightly method.

Not to mention whether Empress Dowager Murong's actions of inserting Murong clan members and protégés into the court could truly strengthen imperial power and consolidate Liu Wenpeng's throne, what was certain was that this crude interference in governance also angered the veteran ministers of the Yongxi era, provoking much criticism and dissatisfaction at court.

And this dissatisfaction reached its peak when Empress Dowager Murong attempted to dismiss Zhang Qixian from his post as Director of State Affairs and push Murong Defeng into the position. The backlash came from this.

The assisting ministers' resistance also had legal principle to support it. Setting aside the matter of the Empress Dowager's interference in governance, her words and actions were completely challenging the system of assisting governance that Emperor Taizong had established. Although Zhang Qixian, in terms of talent, virtue, prestige, and seniority, was not sufficient to completely overawe the assembled high ministers and veteran officials, he was the core of the assisting ministers designated by Taizong. Now, before this mechanism had even operated for a full year, someone wanted to replace its core.

This absolutely could not be tolerated. How could the dignity of Emperor Taizong be challenged by a mere woman! Of course, the fundamental reason was still a struggle for power.

The counterattack from the assisting ministers came in mid-spring of the second year of Pingkang, triggered by the death from illness of Murong Defeng—the most clear-headed and capable member of the Murong clan, who served as chancellor and Minister of the Right.

During his lifetime, Murong Defeng had desperately maintained stability within the court, bridging the contradictions between the Empress Dowager and the Yongxi assisting ministers. But not long after his death, a political campaign against the Empress Dowager's interference in governance was launched.

Of course, no matter how much criticism Empress Dowager Murong's previous actions had drawn—even if one denounced it as "a hen crowing at dawn"—she had at least acted in the Emperor's name, and her legitimacy was beyond doubt. At the same time, for ministers to offend the Empress Dowager was a grave transgression. For the Yongxi assisting ministers, this decision was not easy to make, and this extremely difficult action had to be initiated by a more suitable person.

Some thought of Prince Zhao, but unfortunately Liu Fang would not even acknowledge them. In the end, it was the "recovered" Prince Lu Liu Ai who led a group of ministers in submitting a memorial, carrying out a "palace move" petition (coercion).

Even into the second year of Pingkang, Empress Dowager Murong still resided in the Hall of Kunming, and what Liu Ai and the others sought to achieve was to request the Empress Dowager to yield the "Phoenix Hall," allowing the central palace (Empress Yang, granddaughter of Yang Ye) to take her rightful place, while the Empress Dowager would, according to precedent, move to the Hall of Ciming.

Of course, this was by no means merely a matter of moving from one bedchamber to another. More importantly, it was to sever the Empress Dowager's hand in interfering with governance and cut off her connection with the outer court. When Prince Lu Liu Ai came forward on behalf of the imperial clan, and the high ministers and officials united, a weak young Son of Heaven could not prevent any of this from happening.

And behind the successful palace move that stopped Empress Dowager Murong from arbitrarily interfering in court politics, the Emperor's authority was also invisibly weakened. It could be imagined that once the Empress Dowager's words no longer carried weight, the newly promoted Murong clan members and protégés she had elevated were subsequently purged, driven out of the court one by one.

The result was that the power of the Great Han Empire fell completely into the hands of an assisting-minister bloc formed by Prince Lu Liu Ai, Zhang Qixian, Li Hang, and other Yongxi assisting ministers. This bloc might not have been very solid, but for a period of time, it was indeed they who steered the direction of the Great Han Empire. And after the previous storm, the Emperor's influence over the assisting ministers had at one point fallen to nearly zero.

Throughout the entire political storm that occurred in the upper echelons of the empire's central government from autumn of the first year of Pingkang to spring of the second year, the Son of Heaven Liu Wenpeng had basically only watched coldly from the sidelines, truly powerless to intervene.

But at the same time, the young Emperor's heart was quietly accumulating more and more resentment—at the very least, his imperial uncle and the chancellors should not have bullied and pressured the Empress Dowager like that. She was his mother!