Chapter 2139: Taizong Chronicles 7: Han-Jin Clash, Another Minister Falls

In the ninth month of the first year of Duangong, Feng Prefecture in Shanyang Circuit reported that the Naiman had invaded their borders, attacking Yin'nan Market within their jurisdiction, killing over thirty soldiers, clerks, and merchants, and plundering goods before leaving. This matter was not large; every year in the remote border regions of the Great Han, similar incidents would always occur, and conflicts between Han and barbarians, as well as barbarian border incursions, were endless.

However, the Naiman suddenly baring their fangs at the court, although in terms of losses it was merely a mosquito biting an elephant's leg, still reached the ears of the throne and caused no small stir in the central organs of power.

For the empire's nobles, the Naiman border incursion killing and plundering was a small matter; the real question lay in the reasons behind this act, and the chain of causation could be linked to the Director of State Affairs.

Tracing it to its roots, the origin of the matter still lay with Kangzong. When he had led a hundred thousand troops on his tour of the frontier, at the White Water Conference, Kangzong had promised the Naiman and the Khitan large gifts of wealth and supplies.

However, before this promise could be fulfilled, Kangzong passed away, and thereafter came months of succession struggle. By the time Liu Wenji ascended the throne and the court situation was finally stabilized, more than half a year had already passed.

On the Naiman side, they were still thinking about the Great Han emperor's gifts. Seeing that the court showed no response, they could not sit still, so King Jin Liu Jin sent envoys to the capital in the fifth month of the first year of Duangong to demand what was owed, and this matter was placed on the agenda of those in power.

When it was reported to the emperor for a decision, Liu Wenji conveniently "fell ill," and citing that he had recently succeeded to the throne, was short on experience in statecraft, and had entrusted all state affairs to his ministers, he let the Hall of State Affairs decide for itself, neatly kicking the ball back. In the end, the matter fell upon the shoulders of Director of State Affairs Xiang Deming.

This matter was not easy to handle, and Xiang Deming was greatly vexed. A man weathered by years, he could see the two-sided nature of this affair. For the sake of his own vanity, Kangzong had been generous, but made the imperial court foot the bill—such an approach was inherently unpopular. The Naiman, untaught in civilization, came seeking gifts, humble on the surface but arrogant within. If he agreed, he would surely be harshly criticized for weakness and appeasement, wasting national strength.

However, if he refused, there would certainly be no shortage of people stepping forward to accuse him of breaking promises and failing to uphold the great power's credibility, while also going against the late emperor's will—an act of deceiving the sovereign. In short, as long as there were opponents, there would always be points of attack.

So after several rounds of intense consultation, and with the support of military power-holders such as Li Jilong and Guo Yi, he submitted a memorial to the emperor requesting the dispatch of troops to campaign against the Naiman, citing their invasion of borders, killing and plundering of soldiers and civilians, and affront to imperial majesty.

This was no empty bluster. After the orders were issued, from the Bureau of Military Affairs and the Ministry of War down to the local armies, preparations for the campaign advanced rapidly. Yang Yanlang, as the commander-in-chief, set out north ahead of the main force to establish his command tent at Feng Prefecture.

Accompanying the envoys were a hundred fine horses and fifty each of cattle and sheep as gifts, along with several dozen severed heads, reportedly of the tribal leaders who had "arbitrarily" attacked and plundered, executed by King Jin Liu Jin under military law. They begged the court to consider the ignorant barbarians' lack of understanding and pardon their crimes.

In the end, after the emperor affixed his seal and issued the military order, fifty thousand infantry and cavalry from Hedong, Shanyang, and Yulin were mobilized, with Chief Inspector of the Palace Command Yang Yanlang as commander-in-chief, to campaign against the Naiman.

As for the court's reaction, its arrogance was rather severe—it didn't take the Naiman seriously at all. On the contrary, it used this as an opportunity to launch a new round of political struggle. Being in the midst of it, Xiang Deming could not compromise or show the slightest weakness; he had to remain tough to the end.

And in the end, the Han-Jin war never actually broke out. Seeing that the Great Han court was getting serious, the Naiman's Liu Jin decisively backed down, sending envoys south that winter to explain the border disturbances—misunderstanding, all misunderstanding!

Caught between two difficult choices, Xiang Deming chose the latter. A man who had weathered storms, serving both as general and chancellor, he had forged a formidable character. Even if he were to compromise, it would not be toward the barbarians beyond the frontier, for he had spent half his life in wars of expansion against them, and held an innate contempt for uncivilized barbarians in his bones. The Naiman—what were they?

Of course, Xiang Deming's choice of toughness was not without criticism, but at least it won the support of the "hawkish" nobles at court. However, in the eyes of the Naiman, the court was treacherous and arrogant. Sun Khan Liu Jin flew into a rage upon hearing the news, considering it an insult, and told his subordinates, "If the court won't give it, I'll take it myself."

And the attack on Yin'nan Market in Feng Prefecture was just one of many disturbances on the northwestern border of Shanyang Circuit during the autumn and winter of the first year of Duangong. In fact, there were over a dozen attacks of varying scale, spread across the frontier prefectures and garrisons of Feng, Sheng, Yunnei, Tiande, and others.

So, in the season of high autumn skies and fat horses, the Naiman, who had been quiet for barely over a year, began to move—but this time, instead of stubbornly heading east to make trouble for the Khitan in Mobei, they went south to stroke the Great Han's tiger whiskers.

In fact, after gaining the support of the military meritocracy, Liu Wenji could not possibly oppose it, as that would only put both sides in an awkward position. On the other hand, faced with the wanton border incursions of fierce barbarians, as the empire's emperor, he had to take a stance, or he would lose the people's hearts, which would likewise be detrimental to his rule.

The Jin state's "pitiful" thank-you gifts drew ridicule from the Great Han courtiers, while the several dozen grim severed heads were even more repulsive, profoundly illustrating the savagery and brutality of uncivilized barbarians.

Of course, although the Naiman boldly invaded the borders with great fanfare, all their actions carried a barbarian's caution and cunning. They didn't plunder much wealth, killed few people, and fled at the first contact, quickly vanishing before the local border troops could counterattack. It looked more like a probe by the Naiman Jin state against the Great Han Empire.

Liu Wenji had reservations about this decision. At the start of his reign, stability trumped everything, let alone the great matter of mobilizing troops for war. However, he did not show this concern on his face, merely going through the motions of asking about some military strategy and preparation issues.

At the same time, the court issued an edict to the Khitan in Mobei, ordering them to move west and join the imperial army in attacking the unsubmissive Naiman. With the court taking the lead, the Khitan, who deeply hated the Naiman, naturally had no reason to refuse. Khitan King Yelu Longxu appointed Pishi Xiangwen Yelu Xian as the main general and mobilized troops. However, the Khitan were also shrewd, intending only to fish in troubled waters during the Han-Jin war and take the opportunity to gauge the actual quality of the Great Han Empire's army, for although they made a considerable show of force, they did not actually exert themselves fully.

But in reality, through this contemptible maneuver, the Jin state successfully obtained the court's "understanding," averting a major campaign and avoiding a disaster. At the same time, they showed no intention of giving back what they had plundered from the Shanyang border, and for the several hundred Great Han subjects who had been killed, justice could not yet be obtained.

In the final analysis, the court's resolve to fight a war with the Jin state was not strong either. First, the timing was wrong—launching a major campaign in winter and spring was something military strategists would not do. And fighting a tribal state like the Naiman, too few troops would be ineffective, while too many would exhaust the people and drain the treasury. To achieve real results, one would need to send elite generals and cavalry on a long expedition like the Kaibao campaigns. No matter how one calculated it, it wasn't worth it.

The empire's situation was no longer what it had been in the Kaibao era. The emperor ruled by non-interference in this matter, while Xiang Deming and Li Jilong, who had pushed it forward, bore the responsibility and could not ignore the political consequences of failure. The court had its concerns, and the Jin state had its fears. As King of Jin, Liu Jin feared the strength of the Han army on one hand, and coveted the wealth of the southern dynasty on the other. It had taken him over twenty years to truly unify the Naiman tribes and make them stand as equals against the Khitan of Mobei.

However, twenty years of accumulation seemed far too weak when faced with the vast Great Han Empire. If they only had to face the Han army, they could retreat and fight, employ harassment tactics and guerrilla warfare, and if truly unable to hold on, they could surrender and sue for peace. Compared to the empire, they were barefoot, with fewer burdens, and the harsh environment of Mobei had made them aggressive.

But if the court were to join forces with the Khitan of Mobei, Liu Jin would have to be careful. The Han and Jin were not so familiar with each other, but the Khitan and the Jin state had fought for so many years with countless clashes—they knew each other inside out. This was something he had to guard against.

And so, a war was averted, and the Great Han's borders once again returned to their former peace and tranquility. Han, Jin, and Khitan continued their old ways. However, some things could not be escaped. At least the several hundred soldiers and civilians who had fallen in northwestern Shanyang, and the blood they had shed, profoundly testified to the difference from the past.

This was already the second time in two years that the Jin state had adopted a posture of retreat and compromise toward the Great Han. The first was the peace agreement with the Khitan during Kangzong's hundred-thousand-strong army's tour of the frontier.

But for the Jin state, the storm that occurred in the autumn and winter of the first year of Duangong was of great significance and great lesson. The greatest significance was that it made King Jin Liu Jin's future strategy clearer, and his management of the Jin state more calm and rational.

First, Liu Jin made one thing clear: if the Naiman Jin state wanted to achieve great things, they must first eliminate the Khitan, unify Mobei, then consolidate the steppe, and only then could they march south to contend with the Great Han. This was the successful path by which many powerful heroes and tribes on the plateau had risen to accomplish great deeds. The last one was the founding ancestor of the Khitan, Yelu Abaoji.

Second, on the basis of the first point, they also needed to maintain friendship with the Central Plains empire as much as possible, strengthen trade and exchange, and obtain scarce steppe supplies from the Great Han. While the empire remained strong, raiding and harassing the borders was truly inadvisable—too little gain, too much risk.

Of course, looking at the empire's current situation, realizing the strategy of unifying Mobei would likely face obstacles. The Great Han had changed emperors, and it seemed the entire temperament of the empire had changed along with it. It was an inexplicable change, but one that truly existed. Liu Jin, dominating Mobei and gazing south at the empire, could feel it even from such a great distance.

For the Central Empire, averting a clearly costly and unnecessary war was naturally a good thing, and many courtiers who had previously objected to or even explicitly opposed the campaign against the Naiman were overjoyed.

At the same time, a new round of political struggle unfolded around this matter. This time, it was led by Xu Shilian, who fiercely criticized the decision to "campaign against the Naiman" as reckless and unwise, exhausting troops and wasting provisions, laboring the people and draining the treasury—a waste of national strength. His target was directly aimed at Director of State Affairs Xiang Deming, who had instigated the matter.

Although the war was averted before it began, the preliminary preparations had been real. The mobilized troops could return to their garrisons, the conscripted laborers could go back to their villages, and the unissued uniforms could be returned to the warehouses. But the provisions already transported, and the resources and money consumed in the process, were essentially wasted. The logistical preparations for fifty thousand troops were extremely vast, which also meant the waste was extremely severe.

Therefore, Xu Shilian's attack was not without aim. Regarding the event itself, his words were substantive and struck at the vital points. And not a few courtiers seconded Xu Shilian, such as Left Chief Censor Lu Zongdao, who also submitted a memorial to Liu Wenji, denouncing the decision as improper, harmful to the military and the state, and wasteful of the people's strength.

Unlike previous times, Xiang Deming weathered this storm with composure, because he was not alone. Setting aside why Xu Shilian had launched this denunciation against Xiang Deming, his and those courtiers' and pure-stream officials' attacks angered a group that rarely spoke at court but whose every word could not be ignored: the Bureau of Military Affairs system, or rather, the power-holding military meritocracy.

For them, they could ignore the struggles within the administrative system, but you could not let the struggle spill over into the military. And Xu Shilian and his ilk had precisely overlooked this point. Many contents of their memorials caused great discomfort within the military system.

This campaign that was called off had indeed incurred no small losses, but without those losses, would the Naiman Jin state have bowed their heads and softened? Would their rampant arrogance have receded? At the same time, by the logic of those pure-stream officials, would the military's normal rotations, garrison changes, and training exercises also count as laboring the people and wasting money? Would the court maintaining so many troops and building and renewing so many weapons and warships count as draining national strength?

For the military, "putting the horses out to pasture" was the most detested thing, and they were especially sensitive on this point. And even if one only discussed the decision itself, the campaign against the Jin state was a joint resolution of the Director of State Affairs and the Bureau of Military Affairs. In matters of war, were they—families of generals, men of military background—less knowledgeable than a bunch of civil officials?

The enraged military system was terrifying, and its retaliation came swiftly, its methods direct. Imperial Son-in-law, Duke of Leping, Commissioner of Military Affairs Li Jilong dragged his ailing body directly to Emperor Liu Wenji, with a resolute attitude and stern tone, expressing his dissatisfaction with Xu Shilian and his ilk to the emperor.

He also submitted an impeachment memorial, saying that Xu Shilian and others, ignorant of military affairs, recklessly discussed military strategy, that their words and deeds harbored malicious intent, and that they despised the hardships and merits of the soldiers. To avoid chilling the hearts of the army, he requested that the emperor severely punish them and give the soldiers justice.

Incidentally, Li Jilong also brought up a past matter, saying that during the Yulin Rebellion over thirty years ago, Xu Shilian, as a disgraced scholar, had fought bloody battles alongside the garrison troops at Feng Prefecture, repelling bandits and protecting the people, and through this had gained the favor of Taizong, being promoted step by step, rising swiftly to chancellor.

Those pure-stream officials could be excused, but Xu Shilian had long endured the hardships of the frontier. He should have deep understanding of the soldiers' suffering and the toil of border defense, and should have compassion. Yet today he used a partial view to condemn wholesale, making wild accusations—he must have ulterior motives he could not reveal.

Li Jilong's words were almost a naked accusation that Xu Shilian, under the guise of an "unfinished campaign," was engaging in factional struggle with sinister intentions, his heart deserving of death.

Liu Wenji naturally knew that Xu Shilian's actions contained some personal motives and obvious political intentions, but it was not as severe as Li Jilong described. However, faced with Li Jilong's furious demeanor, he still had to offer kind words of consolation and appeasement, and promised to give the Bureau of Military Affairs and the military an explanation.

In fact, in Emperor Liu Wenji's heart, he did not quite agree with some of the statements and positions of Xu Shilian and Lu Zongdao. Liu Wenji had learned many things from Emperor Shizu since childhood, and one of his deepest insights about policy was that everything had both advantages and disadvantages—one should play to strengths and avoid weaknesses, and absolutely must not use a partial view to condemn the whole.

If one only stared at the disadvantages of every policy and decision, then one might as well not do anything at all—only by doing nothing could one make no mistakes. At the same time, Liu Wenji also had some complaints about Lu Zongdao. He acknowledged the man's integrity and loyalty, but that was not capital for him to attack at will. The emperor of the Great Han was named Liu Wenji, and those who held the great power of the court were the nobles—not everything had to follow the understanding of a mere Left Chief Censor. If his wishes were crossed and his desires opposed, he would submit an impeachment memorial. The Censorate was not Lu Zongdao's private property.

As expected, the "explanation" came!

In the spring of the second year of Duangong, after attending the last Qianyuan Imperial Banquet of his life, Minister of Justice and Chancellor Xu Shilian was demoted. Charged with improper speech and conduct, and reckless negligence, he was demoted to serve as Prefectural Administrator of Yue Prefecture. Yue Prefecture, as one of the three major prefectures of Hubei Circuit, had a suitable climate, abundant fish and rice, and a developed economy—it was the retirement spot Liu Wenji had chosen for Xu Shilian.

But fate did not comply with wishes. Perhaps Xu Shilian worried too much, or perhaps the disappointment of his later years was too hard to bear. Before he even reached Yue Prefecture, while crossing the Yangtze, seeing the mighty river rolling eastward, he composed a poem on the boat. That very night, at the Jiangling post station, he died of melancholy at the age of sixty-seven.

Upon receiving the report from Jiangling Prefecture, Emperor Liu Wenji could not help but sigh with emotion. As a trusted minister by Emperor Taizong's side, Liu Wenji was actually quite familiar with Xu Shilian and admired his perseverance. However, the man was too attached to the past and could not be made use of.

There were other ministers demoted along with Xu Shilian. The one with the highest office and greatest fame was Lu Zongdao, who was transferred to serve as Prefect of Quanzhou. It was rumored that official corruption was rampant there, and it would be just the place for this pure-stream official to go and cleanse things up.