Chapter 2167: Shizong Arc 35: The Andong Incident

For Emperor Liu Wenji, Andong had long since become a thorn in his side. Even when he was still an imperial prince and grandson, he had never held a good impression of Andong; he had many times seen Emperor Taizong troubled and distressed over the situation in the Andong state.

After he ascended the throne, in places beyond the sight of ordinary people, Andong had caused him no small amount of trouble. Andong King Liu Wenyuan's challenge to Taizong's direct line was almost impossible to restrain, and of the various criticisms and rumors that had accompanied Liu Wenji over the past decade, probably half originated from Andong.

In response to this situation, Liu Wenji rarely gave direct replies, but not lashing out did not mean he was not clear in his heart. Not only did he see through it like a blazing fire, but he kept it long in his memory, always waiting for an opportunity.

To be precise, what Liu Wenji was waiting for should be an opportune moment. After ten years of management, his imperial throne was consolidated, imperial authority established, military and political power basically held in his hands, and the empire's development as well as internal contradictions had all recovered to a favorable state...

On the other hand, in the sixth year of Jianlong, Andong King Liu Wenyuan was already approaching fifty-eight years of age. Had Liu Wenyuan been in his prime, with his ambition and temperament, once pushed to the brink, he was capable of anything. But at this age, even if Liu Wenyuan wanted to stir up trouble, he had to consider Andong itself as well as his princes and grandsons.

And Emperor Liu Wenji was a full ten years younger than Liu Wenyuan. To put it bluntly, he was exploiting the other's old age, and what he had been waiting for was precisely these ten years. If a few more years passed, Liu Wenji would also be older, and by then, even if he had the intention, he might lack the strength.

Therefore, some things could only be done within a specific window; once missed, perhaps forever. In fact, from the line of "Xia Song—Wang Qinruo—the Emperor," one could already see some problems.

Otherwise, the malady of human trafficking was not something that had existed in the empire for just a day or two. Local governments had been cracking down on their own initiative for years. Why, then, did it happen that only after Xia Song's single inspection and single memorial did such a huge wave arise?

The key lay in the fact that in the Jianlong era, the Andong state, despite all its contradictions and problems, had achieved a prosperity unprecedented in a thousand years, which had formed a de facto threat to the empire. Among all the vassal states, Andong was vastly different!

Emperor Shizu back then had spared no expense in aiding Andong, supporting its expansion, intending to consolidate the empire's northeastern border defenses. Yet half a century later, the empire had hatched a great eastern sea state. The barbarians of the northeastern frontier had basically submitted, but what replaced them was an even greater threat.

From the perspective of the central government, Andong had to be weakened. Even just considering its standing army of 80,000 men maintained year-round, some action was necessary. Your Andong was not like the three states of Anxi, which still faced severe external threats and religious wars. In that corner of the northeast, did you need so many standing troops? What was your intention?

Thus, the storm of the sixth year of Jianlong inevitably arrived! This was also the first major eruption of accumulated contradictions between the court and the Andong state in the more than thirty years since its founding.

Xia Song's memorial was no secret matter. Even before it reached the capital region, people in the central government were already discussing it. And the Emperor, unsurprisingly, attached special importance to it, convening an imperial court conference on the matter—and an expanded one at that. Besides the chancellors of the Hall of State Affairs, attendees included members of the imperial clan, representatives of the meritorious nobility, and ministers from various departments.

As for the black industry, everyone spoke with one voice, unanimous condemnation. But when it came to the part involving the Andong state, attitudes clearly diverged—some remained silent, some were vague, and some were emotionally indignant, condemning in speech and writing...

Countless precedents proved that so-called conferences were merely going through the motions. Especially in this era of autocratic monarchy, the larger the scale, the more people, the noisier the talk, and the harder it was to make any substantive progress in handling and resolving the matter.

The truly important decisions had likely already been made in closed-door meetings between the Emperor and the chancellors, and even in Chongzheng Hall, the tone had already been set. Convening such a conference was more for the sake of legitimacy and righteousness, to make it appear more in line with public sentiment.

And in the imperial discussion at Guangzheng Hall, the final resolutions formed were just two. First, to further clarify the criminal nature of the illegal trade in "selling Han subjects," increase sentencing severity, strengthen crackdowns, and require local governments—especially coastal governments—to rectify related matters and protect the people of the Great Han.

This, of course, was merely a political stance, even a propaganda slogan. After all, as long as normal import and export could proceed, and as long as profits remained high, there would never be a shortage of those willing to defy the law. At the same time, to truly mount an effective crackdown, relying solely on a single imperial edict and the self-discipline of local governments was far from sufficient.

The second point was to demand that the Andong state give the court an accounting on this matter. Over 200,000 subjects of the Great Han being sold as goods to the Andong state was simply appalling and utterly intolerable... To demonstrate the court's anger and gravity regarding this matter, Liu Wenji even dispatched the Commissioner of Frontier Affairs Xiao Jing personally to Suihua to deliver the edict.

With the intelligence network Andong had deployed throughout the empire, especially within the capital region, even from far-off Suihua, they were well-informed. In fact, as early as when Xia Song first submitted his memorial, Andong King Liu Wenyuan had already received the news. The human traffickers running the Andong shipping route were not just the dozen or so families Xia Song had caught; the rest had, as the bitter winter descended, quickly gone into hiding or fled to Suihua city, where warmth awaited them.

In response, Liu Wenyuan's initial attitude was one of annoyance, but he did not take it very seriously, and in his view, it was really not much of a big deal. It was only because it affected Andong that he paid it a certain degree of attention.

However, as public opinion grew increasingly heated, especially as the denunciations in the imperial court grew sharper, Liu Wenyuan began to sense that something was wrong. But still, he made no move, not even replying to the "concerns" and "questions" coming from the capital region. He merely silently observed and examined the development of the situation, almost with an air of watching a show.

Therefore, as soon as the decisions from the Guangzheng Hall imperial conference came out, they spread to Andong at lightning speed. Then, inside the Suihua royal palace, Liu Wenyuan flew into a rage! This was going too far!

In response to this matter, Liu Wenyuan also urgently convened a high-level military and political meeting of Andong. Those Andong nobles involved in the human trafficking trade all attended. Then, the Andong high echelons were also seething with indignation, furious beyond measure, cursing Xia Song as a treacherous villain, and even insinuating that the Emperor was benighted.

In the eyes of Andong's nobles, it was not as if only Andong was engaged in human trafficking. The various states of the South Seas were the biggest exporters, and those overseas vassal states were even less restrained in this regard.

Yet the court asked no questions and launched no crackdowns against all those other states, but came specifically after Andong. Such calculated intent was plain for all to see! For decades, the court had harbored much prejudice against Andong and repeatedly suppressed it. In the past, they had at least shown some restraint, but now they did not even bother to pretend. Did they truly think Andong was made of mud? Even a clay figurine has a spark of anger!

Thus, the council meeting turned into a grievance session. All sorts of stale, moldy old affairs were dug up by the "well-remembering" Andong nobles. In the minds of many Andong nobles, they had come to this bitter, cold land of Andong in obedience to Emperor Shizu's edict, responding to the court's call to open up and fortify the frontiers.

Decades of hard work by two or three generations had finally borne fruit, and life had just begun to get better, yet the court was now placing obstacles in their way. Their ancestors were founding heroes of the empire, and they too had devoted heart and soul to the consolidation and stability of the empire's northeast. Had it not been for them, who knows how many barbarian rebellions and Yi disturbances there would have been in the northeast...

However, complaints were complaints. It was not yet to the point where they would turn their loud talk into actual action—far from it. As for Andong King Liu Wenyuan, through this meeting he had made a small probe of the attitudes of Andong's upper echelons. On the matter of responding to the court's suppression, everyone's thinking was still basically aligned. After all these years, those willing to stay in Andong and who had developed to possess their current power and status—people and families alike—their hearts were certainly with Andong.

And the conclusion reached by the Andong high-level meeting was that Andong should be tougher. It was not as if, just because the court held the moral high ground, it could take whatever it wanted from Andong, molding it this way and that. The Andong state was a kingdom personally enfeoffed by Emperor Shizu—not by Taizong, and certainly not by you, Liu Wenji.

Thus, when the Commissioner of Frontier Affairs, representing the court, traveled thousands of li to Suihua city, he did not even get to see Liu Wenyuan's face. They completely refused to give face to the court's imperial envoy, not deigning to pay him the slightest regard.

Of course, judging by the results, Xiao Jing's trip was not in vain. He could be said to have fulfilled his mission. He brought back to the capital several dozen heads, each tagged with a "nameplate." You want an accounting from the court? Here is your accounting!

The several dozen heads were all of those whom Andong had dealt with according to the list of guilty officials the court had provided... Only, Liu Wenyuan would never do something that destroyed his own foundations. The names were those names, but the people were not those people—they were some death-row prisoners from the Suihua prison. On this point, Liu Wenyuan's side had not even bothered to use any means to cover it up.

One can imagine how enraged the court was upon receiving such a reply. They had long known the Andong King was arrogant and overbearing, but they had not expected him to be this reckless. He did not put the court in his eyes at all! If this could be endured, what could not?

A group of ministers, with Kou Zhun as their representative, immediately intensified their denunciations of Andong, advocating severe and tough measures to suppress Andong's rampant arrogance. And as for Liu Wenyuan's behavior, many upper-level court officials who had originally held a neutral stance were also greatly displeased. No matter how much resentment one had, one could not disregard the covenant between the imperial house and its vassals, nor the rites of a subject...

If measures as severe as those proposed by Kou Zhun and others were truly adopted, there would also be much opposition within the court, with great resistance—especially from the military merit nobility. In this world, there was nothing more powerful than the military. To be tough, one had to win over the military merit aristocrats.

Of course, Liu Wenji's tough measures did not yet include military means; it had not reached that point. At the same time, he was still more accustomed to using political means to solve problems. Thus, he pulled out the old trick he had used many times before: Liu Wenji issued an edict for a northern inspection tour, summoning Andong King Liu Wenyuan to Youzhou for questioning.

The content of the edict was worded harshly and sternly, but the Emperor's decision to personally head north was also a show of face to Liu Wenyuan. However, Liu Wenyuan did not "appreciate" the Emperor's consideration, and instead sent an envoy to reply: "Old in years and weak in body, afflicted with a foot ailment, I cannot travel far. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."

In fact, in Liu Wenyuan's reply, there was half a sentence more: "If Your Majesty is so inclined, please deign to come to Suihua." However, such a reply truly lacked the propriety of a subject, and the secretary responsible for drafting it did not dare to record it.

But even so, Liu Wenji was thoroughly enraged by Liu Wenyuan. He immediately launched the northern inspection tour, and compared to the southern tour a few years earlier, the commotion was far greater. Within the capital region, 50,000 troops of the imperial army accompanied him. One might even believe he was going on a northern campaign...

As a response to the Emperor's northern tour, Liu Wenyuan's side submitted another memorial, saying that the Jurchen were causing disturbances and invading the borders, and he requested permission to suppress the rebellion and quell the violence. And sure enough, along the border of the Liaodong Circuit, disturbances had indeed broken out among Jurchen tribes such as the Wanyan, with some even invading prefectural territory to kill and plunder.

Step by step, matters developed in a suffocating direction.

Just then, in the autumn of the sixth year of Jianlong, as the Emperor's northern tour brought his imperial carriage to Youzhou, he received a secret report from the Songmo Protector Wanyan Shilu—or rather, a counter-accusation: the Andong King intended to rebel!