Chapter 2158: Shizong Chronicles 26: The Chancellor of the Northern Court

Before the majestic and imposing main gate of the Prince of Zhao's mansion, accompanied by a dull sound, the heavy doors slowly opened, and Liu Wengong, the King of the Northern Court, walked out. Under the blazing sun, his features were hard to make out, but from the way he turned back to look, one could sense a touch of melancholy and reluctance.

As the eldest son of Prince Zhao, Liu Fang, Liu Wengong was also the one most resembling his father—at least in appearance. The bearing he had developed over years of kingship was likewise extraordinary.

Time waits for no man. Unbeknownst to himself, Liu Wengong was now nearly fifty years old, with a few strands of white streaking his temples. This time, he had personally traveled east to the Han capital, not only to attend the Assembly of Princes, but also to make one final effort—hoping to bring his elderly father back to the Northern Court, so the family could be reunited and enjoy familial bliss together. Yet, judging from his demeanor, he had clearly failed.

The sound of the mansion's gates closing snapped Liu Wengong back from his immersed thoughts. When he looked up again, the purple-red door panels had completely shut, the intent of seeing off a guest unmistakably clear.

Before the gates, the royal carriage, attendants, and guards waited quietly. A middle-aged official with a long beard and a hint of pride in his brows stepped forward quickly, bowing with a salute: "Your Majesty!"

Looking at the man, Liu Wengong took a deep breath, then gently shook his head and said in a deep voice: "The Northern Court can only rely on ourselves!"

Hearing this, the middle-aged man did not seem particularly surprised, merely responding in a tone of regret: "Yes!"

To be fair, although they were father and son by blood, and Liu Wengong had always held Liu Fang in reverence, the two had ultimately not seen each other for over twenty years. Under the mighty force of time, whatever feelings remained between them were bound to be discounted.

Moreover, the relationship between the two was not simply that of father and son—there was also the state and royal authority involved. And once power was implicated, matters tended to become complicated.

And Liu Wengong's intention in inviting Liu Fang, this great Buddha, back to the Northern Court, had a more important purpose: to once again borrow his old father's influence within the Great Han Empire. After all, Liu Fang was already seventy years old, with little time left—who knew when he might pass away...

In fact, Liu Wengong could not help but feel some resentment toward his father Liu Fang at times. Despite holding such high power and prestige in the empire, and knowing full well the Northern Court's weakness and backwardness among the three Central Asian states, he had long refused to proactively provide the Northern Court with "within his means" assistance.

In the early years, when the Anxi Protectorate was divided, the Northern Court had come out at a disadvantage. That the state now enjoyed a relatively prosperous outlook was entirely the result of Liu Wengong's thirty years of painstaking management and development.

For Liu Wengong, if this trip could bring Liu Fang back to the Northern Court, all he needed was some packaging and publicity—he wouldn't dare claim elsewhere, but at least in the empire's northwest, it would stir up considerable response. Look at how Uncle Kang had done it two years ago—and wasn't Prince Zhao's banner far more eye-catching than Prince Kang's? It would be enough to draw another wave of population and talent to the Northern Court.

But although Liu Fang was old in years, his mind was not clouded. He saw through Liu Wengong's intentions at a glance and resolutely refused. For the Great Han Empire, Prince Zhao had persisted and held fast his entire life, until it had become almost an obsession. The older he grew, the firmer his resolve—it was not something Liu Wengong or the state of the Northern Court could shake.

To cut off Liu Wengong's hopes entirely, Liu Fang even told him not to come to the Prince of Zhao's mansion again in the future, nor to send envoys during festivals. He only needed to serve well as a vassal and devote himself to governing his state...

Father and son, Prince Zhao and his heir, were people of two completely different eras, with vastly different experiences. Especially after establishing his own state and undergoing the baptism of the YSL holy war, Liu Wengong found it even harder to understand Liu Fang's bone-deep, unshakable devotion to the empire.

Therefore, facing his old father's firm refusal, aside from disappointment, all that remained was a sigh of regret. As he mounted the royal carriage to return, suppressing the restless agitation in his heart, Liu Wengong looked down at the middle-aged man attending at his side and instructed in a grave tone: "Zifu, proceed according to your strategy. Culai Hall is to operate at full capacity, recruiting from all directions—rank, wealth, honor, money, grain, land, and houses—nothing is too much to give, as long as people come!"

"Your servant obeys Your Majesty's command!" The middle-aged man's spirits lifted greatly upon hearing this, and he bowed respectfully.

The middle-aged man's given name was Zhang Han, with the courtesy name Zifu. He was a native of Huayin, Huazhou, within the Pass. Because he was born in the cold month of the twenty-seventh year of Kaibao (989), he was named accordingly. From childhood, Zhang Han did not engage in productive work, and was known throughout his hometown for his chivalrous spirit. He was free-spirited and resourceful. As he grew older, he became diligent in his studies and achieved success in learning. He had also participated in the prefectural examinations, but failed time after

time—let alone the higher-level imperial examinations.

The fundamental reason was that, in the increasingly entrenched upper-class environment of the empire, a pure commoner like Zhang Han—without family background, without a master, without connections—found it very difficult to rise. Additionally, Zhang Han was proud of his talents, and despite his humble origins, he had a stiff backbone, refusing to humble himself before others, especially those he considered "sitting idle and eating their fill."

At the same time, while the court's selection and cultivation of mid-to-high-level talent emphasized practical ability rather than judging solely by the quality of essays, at the grassroots level and in broader foundational fields, it placed greater weight on examinations of basic scholarship and literacy. And in this regard, Zhang Han was not one to follow rules and procedures step by step.

In the first year of Duangong, Zhang Han took the prefectural examination for the last time. Had he passed, he would have had the opportunity to go to Luoyang for the spring examination of the second year of Duangong. For a man like him, only on a higher and larger stage could he display his true talents and abilities, and only then would he have a better chance of being appreciated and promoted. However, he was eliminated once again. At that time, Zhang Han was already twenty-six years old.

After that, Zhang Han completely gave up on the path of entering officialdom through the imperial examinations, choosing instead the route of "clerk to official"—a path with a very low ceiling. Relying on the reputation he had accumulated in his hometown in his early years, along with having studied books, passed the provincial examination, and being proficient in arithmetic, he secured a position as a tax clerk in Nanwei Township, Huayin County.

Strictly speaking, the empire's system had not completely shut its doors on Zhang Han. Although the position of township tax clerk was humble, in the local grassroots, it was still a position with status, standing, and power.

However, Zhang Han considered himself a flood dragon that could only swim in shallow waters, and a mere tax clerk could not possibly allow him to display even one percent of his talents. At the same time, Zhang Han had a strong personality. During his tenure as tax clerk, he loved to right wrongs, writing legal complaints for people, adjudicating lawsuits—while holding the post of tax clerk, he was doing the work of an administrative assistant.

In tax collection, he also liked to strictly follow the tax laws, and from time to time, he would take actions to show compassion for the poor. This naturally displeased his superiors and higher-ups. Furthermore, in his efforts to plead for the people, he offended the local gentry.

Unsurprisingly, Zhang Han served as tax clerk for less than four months before being dismissed. He was even brought to the county office by the County Magistrate, accused of "unclear tax accounts and suspicion of embezzlement," and given ten strokes of the board. Those ten strokes thoroughly beat out Zhang Han's loyalty to the Great Han Empire.

Of course, for a unified empire in its prime, the personal fortunes and will of a down-and-out scholar like Zhang Han were utterly insignificant. And someone as proud and aloof as Zhang Han was also miserable for a long time afterward.

However, he was a man who knew how to adapt. Since the proper path of the court was blocked, he naturally sought another route. The opportunity for change came to Zhang Han in the autumn of the second year of Duangong, when he made the acquaintance of a man—Zhu Tao, a protocol officer subordinate to the Court Ceremonial Commissioner of the Northern Court state.

This Zhu Tao was a local of Huayin. His father had once served as a clerk in the county office, and some thirty-odd years ago, he had been transferred to Anxi as a "support clerk for the western regions." When the Protectorate was divided into three states, he came under the Northern Court, and thereafter his family "settled permanently" in Changming City (originally the Kara-Khanids' Yiji Wugu City; after the Kara-Khanids were destroyed, it was renamed Yang City in memory of Yang Yanzhao's merits, and then, after the Northern Court was established, Liu Wengong renamed it Changming City as the royal capital).

With this background, although Zhu Tao was born in Huayin, he was a genuine Northern Court man raised in Changming City. He was relatively ambitious, building on his father's foundation to go further—from a minor scholar clan that had migrated west, he successfully entered the core ruling stratum of the Northern Court state. Thanks to his considerable learning, knowledge, and eloquence, after being assessed by Liu Wengong, he was granted the position of protocol officer.

This protocol officer was a very important figure within the Northern Court's state system, with authority and access to resources beyond the ordinary. His primary duty was to recruit talent and attract population for the Northern Court.

Among the many vassal states of the Great Han Empire, the "Han population" was a matter of great importance to all of them. But differences in national conditions and strength led to differences in each state's policies in this regard.

And the first to elevate population to the height of national strategic development was precisely the Northern Court state. In the more than ten years since the end of the YSL Second Eastern Expedition, the Northern Court had increased its investment in this area even further.

Liu Wengong established the Court Ceremonial Commissioner, staffed by trusted ministers, operating in the imperial capital region to oversee this matter, responsible for opening and maintaining high-level connections. Beneath him were several protocol officers responsible for the specific recruitment efforts.

In the most recent fifteen or sixteen years, through the activities of the two-tiered officials of "Court Ceremonial Commissioner—Protocol Officer,"

coupled with Liu Wengong's unsparing support, the Northern Court state had recruited over 80,000 people from Han territory. Adding natural growth and arrivals through other channels, the Northern Court's core population finally broke through 250,000 in the second year of Jianlong.

It was hard to imagine that this was the result of nearly thirty years of effort, back and forth. The difficulty of pioneering could well be imagined. At the same time, due to inconvenient overland transportation and the question of the Northern Court's attractiveness, the cost the Northern Court paid in this regard was enormous—Liu Wengong had nearly exhausted his strength to attract population.

When Zhang Han was at his lowest, Zhu Tao, the Northern Court's protocol officer, happened to be returning home in glory to pay respects to his ancestors. He inadvertently heard of Zhang Han's deeds and was immediately intrigued. After learning about his background and experiences from the side, he prepared gifts and personally visited his home.

After a round of conversation, although he also detected Zhang Han's arrogance, he was even more drawn to his talent and insight. After several exchanges, he finally extended an invitation to him. As for Zhu Tao's intentions, Zhang Han had long since seen through them. But even as a castoff of the empire's system, Zhang Han remained extremely proud. He did not agree outright, only promising to go take a look at the Western Regions.

In the autumn of the second year of Duangong, Zhang Han, together with his good friend Hu Dong (also a down-and-out scholar), set out on the journey to the Northern Court state. Along the way, they witnessed the Hexi Corridor and the scenery of the northwest, observed Zhu Tao, this protocol officer beneath the King of the Northern Court's throne, and witnessed a grueling, slow migration journey of several hundred settlers.

Setting aside everything else, at the very least, one could feel from Zhu Tao a spirit of the Northern Court's sovereign and ministers striving to develop their state. That winter, they arrived at the Northern Court and entered Changming City. Zhang Han and Hu Dong took a good look around this "Han city" that had risen from the desolate barbarian lands of the Western Regions. Even in the depths of winter, even in the freezing cold, even if it wasn't so bustling, Zhang Han felt a stirring of emotion from deep within.

Compared to everything he had seen and experienced in Huazhou and within the Pass, here, thousands of li away in a foreign land, the spirit displayed by the Han people here, that radiant brilliance uniquely belonging to Han civilization, was so moving.

Later, through Zhu Tao's introduction, Zhang Han and Hu Dong were granted a personal audience with Liu Wengong. After an assessment, Liu Wengong was overjoyed. He found that both men were men of talent, especially Zhang Han. Over the years, Liu Wengong had received many talents from Han territory, not a few of them from famous schools or prominent clans, but none had given him the special feeling Zhang Han did. His quick wit, resourcefulness, insight, and learning were such that Liu Wengong, searching the entire Northern Court up and down, could not for the moment find anyone to compare with him.

Without any hesitation, Liu Wengong requested that Zhang Han and Hu Dong enter the Northern Court government as officials, to assist him in accomplishing a great enterprise together, and stated that he would surely entrust them with important positions. However, faced with Liu Wengong's earnest invitation, Zhang Han still did not accept at the first moment. Hu Dong was somewhat tempted, but seeing his friend hesitate, he too did not express a stance.

In fact, Zhang Han had given considerable thought to his own future—that was, to serve in one of the three Western Regions states. However, his first target was the state of Anxi. This was also the first choice of many Han talents venturing into the Western Regions, after all, Anxi had better territory, greater national strength, and better treatment.

The Northern Court state, painstakingly and with exhausting effort and expenditure of money and grain, recruited a population that still couldn't match Anxi's normal population policies. That was the gap between the two states. Facing Liu Wengong, Zhang Han also stated plainly: the Northern Court's temple was too small, its population too sparse, its land and water conditions mediocre, its development potential limited—even if one devoted one's entire life, it would be difficult to achieve anything.

Liu Wengong felt quite wounded by Zhang Han's assessment, but he had to admit the words made sense. In the end, he couldn't even find words of persuasion to keep him. Liu Wengong did not press Zhang Han, only continuing to show his sincerity. During the winter Zhang Han lingered in Changming City, he repeatedly summoned him to the royal palace for banquets and discussions, and after every exchange, he would let out a long sigh, because Zhang Han's intention to leave was firm.

In the spring of the third year of Duangong, Zhang Han took his leave of Liu Wengong. He stated that he would continue westward, and did not hide his destination, saying he wanted to try his luck in Anxi. Although disappointed, Liu Wengong still did not press him, and even personally saw him off, presenting him with horses, clothing, travel expenses, and official credentials.

At parting, Liu Wengong said to Zhang Han that how tall a building could be built depended on how solid the foundation was. The Northern Court's development might be limited, but if he could live another twenty years, he would lay another twenty years of foundation for the Northern Court...

Liu Wengong's words, moving as they were, also served as an answer to Zhang Han's original reasons for refusing him. However, Zhang Han remained unmoved. Nevertheless, he did suggest that his good friend Hu Dong stay, letting Liu

Wengong not leave completely empty-handed.

Zhang Han's departure left Liu Wengong deeply disappointed, to the point of taking to his bed ill for several days. And it was at this time that the newly defected Hu Dong told him that Zhang Han would surely return...

When Liu Wengong asked why, Hu Dong said that he knew this good friend well. Although proud and aloof, with lofty aspirations, he was not a man devoid of reason and feeling. Though the man had left, his heart had already stayed behind.

Liu Wengong took Hu Dong's persuasion as mere consolation, but in the following year, he hoped and waited at every moment, even sending men specially to wait by the banks of the Ili River.

That wait lasted another year and more. In the early summer of the first year of Jianlong, Zhang Han, who had traveled west, returned to Changming City just as Hu Dong had said—travel-worn and ragged, but in remarkably good spirits.

Liu Wengong was naturally overjoyed. Seeing Zhang Han, he grasped his hand and was silent for a long time, even unable to hold back tears. To this, Zhang Han explained that he had intended to stay the previous year, but given that his understanding of the Western Regions was too shallow, he had gone to Anxi—not to seek employment there, after all, who there knew him?

Zhang Han's purpose had been to conduct research and understanding of the Central Asian situation and conditions. After more than a year of traveling and observing, he felt himself ready to serve the Northern Court and offer strategies to Liu Wengong.

From the first year of Jianlong, Zhang Han formally joined the Northern Court state. Initially appointed as a records clerk, he carried out a comprehensive reform and reorganization of the Northern Court's institutions, laws, and regulations. On the basis of "taking Han as the guiding principle," he made some adaptations to suit local customs, in order to better integrate the local tribes and indigenous peoples.

At the same time, with keen insight, he helped Liu Wengong perfect the state's development institutions. In terms of institutions, if one only spoke of written provisions, the imperial center had plenty of models to draw upon—but whether they suited Beiting, a vassal state, how to implement them, and whether they could achieve the intended effect, that was not so easy. This deficiency was precisely what began to be truly remedied only after Zhang Han's arrival.

By the autumn of the second year of Jianlong, having affirmed Zhang Han's practical abilities, Liu Wengong ignored the criticism and directly appointed him Chancellor of Beiting, entrusting him with governance and the planning of development strategies.

Under Liu Wengong's rule of Beiting, Zhang Han prudently refrained from interfering or commenting on military matters, but in other areas he was not so reserved. What Zhang Han approved of most was the policy of recruiting talent and attracting population.

Building upon the "Chongyi-Dianke" system, Zhang Han carried out another reform—the "Culai Hall" was established on his recommendation. In fact, it was an espionage agency of Beiting targeting Anxi, Kangju, and the Great Han. Besides gathering intelligence on all fronts, it also served to recruit various talents for the state of Beiting.

At the same time, regarding the enrichment of the Han population, Zhang Han also proposed new ideas, putting forward new requirements and methods in terms of regions, targets, channels, and means—including some "special measures." For instance, the human trafficking trade that Zhang Han had heard about from some Han merchants.

Back then, in view of the military pressure from the YSL direction, Liu Wengong chose to withdraw troops from Haidong, shifting Beiting's development focus to domestic affairs and redirecting the direction of expansion northward. Zhang Han likewise expressed support for this, but while supporting it, he also noted that the north was bitterly cold and difficult to develop, yet if one sought long-term prospects, Beiting's future still lay in the lands of Anxi and Kangju...

That's right—the ultimate form of the grand development strategy Zhang Han devised for the state of Beiting was to move against the two brother states of Anxi and Kangju, and even toward the east. Of course, this required waiting, required the most opportune moment, and could only be hoped for by future generations.

After all, the state of Beiting was still very weak at present; aside from the north, there was no neighbor it could contend with. But sheltered within the protection of its "brothers," it could steadily develop and accumulate strength. The central empire would eventually decline, and the two states of Anxi and Kangju faced pressure from YSL—how the situation would change in the future was unknowable, but it was something to look forward to.

And from this strategy of "internecine strife" that Zhang Han proposed, one could see what kind of man he truly was—so much so that even Liu Wengong felt he was wielding a double-edged sword.

But watching Beiting gradually show signs of prosperity after Zhang Han took charge of governance, he could only suppress that tremor of alarm in his heart. For this vassal conference, Zhang Han was able to accompany Liu Wengong to the capital. Passing through Huazhou, he swaggered back to his hometown to visit his family. The County Magistrate who had once beaten him with rods was still there, and Zhang Han mercilessly ridiculed him. As for the local gentry who had once offended him, they came bearing gifts, trembling with fear, to

apologize and beg for forgiveness.

As for the new agreement reached at the conference, in Zhang Han's view, it would provide broader space and convenience for Beiting's population strategy...