Chapter 2175: Shizong Chronicles 43: Pacifying the Southwest

The rebellion blazed like fire, sweeping across the southwest. Although core prefectures and strategic towns in central and northern Yunnan such as Shanzhan, Lizhou, and Jianchang had remained as firm as rock walls and never been lost, the great southwestern rebellion that engulfed both Yunnan and Guizhou was still enough to keep the court from eating or sleeping in peace.

As far as the court was concerned, what mattered about the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion was not how many barbarian tribes or native chieftains had revolted, how many troublemakers had turned traitor, how many towns had been breached, or how many officials and commoners had died. To be perfectly frank, even if Yunnan and Guizhou were utterly smashed to pieces and every last person there died, it would be of no great consequence to the court — after all, it could hardly shake the very foundations of the empire.

Where did the empire's core ruling region lie? Always in the Central Plains and Hebei. Of course, in the past two or three decades, the southeastern Jiangsu-Zhejiang region, with its rapid economic development and prosperity, had gradually caught up, becoming the most central and most powerful engine sustaining the operation of the empire's ruling order.

As for other places — border regions like the northwest, southwest, Shanyang, and northeast — although they were equally inseparable parts of the empire and played a supporting role, they were ultimately second-rate, serving as the face and symbol of a powerful empire.

Precisely for the sake of this imperial dignity and glory, and to maintain the grand reputation of the "Jianlong Golden Age," the court could not permit rebellion or betrayal to occur. An empire in its prime also had ample strength to suppress violence and quell disorder. For a unified centralized empire, no matter where severe unrest erupted, it meant problems in the empire's governance, and a solution would inevitably have to be sought.

On the other hand, the development of things is universally interconnected. Even if high mountains, dense forests, poisonous insects, and miasmic vapors remained major obstacles to contact between Yunnan-Guizhou and the outside world, the Jianlong era was ultimately vastly different from the past, and connections were growing ever closer.

Even the Great Tang under Emperor Xuanzong had been able to campaign against Nanzhao by force — how much more so could Yunnan and Guizhou, which had been under imperial governance for decades, be brought to heel? At the same time, if the situation in Yunnan and Guizhou remained rotten for long, then the southern prefectures of Jiannan, western Guangxi, and western Hunan — regions whose terrain, climate, ethnic distribution, and governance conditions were highly similar — and even the Tibetans on the other side of the plateau, would inevitably be affected. Expanding the scope further, one would reach the cream of the empire that the court had to protect even at the cost of its own life...

Although the Chuanshu rebellion had passed more than thirty years ago, its lessons and impact still lingered. At least for Emperor Liu Wenji and his ministers, who had personally experienced and witnessed it, they dared not be too careless.

Therefore, for the peace of the southwest and for the empire's governance, it was only natural that the court's attention to the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion soared ever higher. It had to be strangled in its cradle as early as possible, with the impact contained as much as possible within the Yunnan-Guizhou region.

Seeing the disorder expand and the rebel forces spread, while local officials and troops could not contain them, the empire finally began to exert its strength from the central level downward. The edict to march into Yunnan and Guizhou to suppress the rebellion and the formation of the pacification army were formally implemented in the tenth year of Jianlong.

Of course, although the imperial court driven by Liu Wenji could not avoid suffering from some of the sluggish, arrogant "great empire disease," its efficiency in handling matters — especially on major military and state affairs like the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion — would not be so slow and dilatory.

The reason it was delayed until the tenth year of Jianlong was twofold. First, they were waiting, observing, and understanding the development of the rebellion, while hoping that the two circuits of Yunnan and Guizhou could digest and resolve it themselves. Second, after the beginning of autumn in the ninth year of Jianlong, the court had already begun intense preparations for the pacification campaign — stockpiling grain and weapons, mobilizing troops and appointing generals — spending a full half year or more to construct an iron-barrel-like encirclement around the key towns of Yunnan-Guizhou and their surroundings.

Emperor Liu Wenji might not have been well-versed in military affairs, but he understood the overall situation, recognized the big picture, and grasped strategy. Moreover, he was never short of excellent military talents to plan campaigns for him. The three men who chiefly planned the overall southwest military strategy for Liu Wenji were Minister of War Zhang Jian, Xiao Gong — who had been transferred from the Directorate of the Imperial Manufactories to serve as Director of the Palace Administration and Concurrent Academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs — and, most crucially, Deputy Commissioner of Military Affairs Cao Wei.

Cao Wei was also the commander of the southwest pacification campaign, appointed by Liu Wenji as Pacification Commissioner of the Southwest, with overall command over the armies of Jiannan, Hunan, Guangxi, and Yunnan-Guizhou. Cao Wei was also given two deputies: Southwest Patrol Inspector Zhe Weichang and Liangguang Patrol Inspector Cao Keming.

Zhe Weichang needed no introduction — a direct descendant of the Zhe clan, in the prime of his life. The veteran general Cao Keming, meanwhile, was the nephew of Cao Guangshi, Baron of Baizhang, a general who had long weathered the battlefield and possessed strong on-site command and response abilities. Even past sixty, he could still wield a blade and draw a bow, and he had long been stationed in Guangxi.

For a long time, in the eyes of many imperial ministers, Cao Wei's rise to high position and his role as the "standing deputy commissioner" of the Bureau of Military Affairs had been attributed to his résumé and family background. In his military career, although he had participated in several suppressions of internal rebellions, he truly had few achievements that could be presented to convince others.

Of course, this was in fact a common ailment of all military commanders under a peaceful imperial system — birth, résumé, and seniority were the primary basis for promotion, unlike the older generation of generals, where nearly everyone could produce dazzling military exploits. It was only because Cao Wei occupied such a high position that this point was magnified all the more.

Therefore, the southwest campaign was not only a matter of vital importance to the Great Han Empire's governance, but also, for Cao Wei himself, a battle of vindication. And such an opportunity had only truly arrived in the twilight of his life — in the tenth year of Jianlong, Cao Wei was already fifty-five years old...

War is the best school for soldiers and the most efficient training ground. In the process of pacifying the southwest, a batch of young generals gradually emerged — for instance, Yang Wenguang, Tian Sixie, and Ma Changyi, all of distinguished family backgrounds.

Clearly, no matter how much the emperor feared, suppressed, and restrained the military meritocracy, when the state truly faced crisis, in selecting troops and appointing generals, he still inevitably tilted toward them.

There was certainly Liu Wenji's intention to appease the meritorious aristocrats in this, but the pressure of the aristocracy's bone-deep influence over the military was also an important factor. And the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion, to a certain extent, was beneficial to the meritorious aristocrats — at least it let them hold their heads high and enjoy a satisfying turn of fortune!

During wartime, no one dared to openly suppress or restrict them, and on the overall situation, Liu Wenji would not tolerate those who held things back or voiced dissent...

Of course, outside the meritorious aristocracy, there were still elites from humble backgrounds who rose through this, such as the famous Di Qing. Under Cao Keming's command, he first followed him in pacifying the disturbances in Guangxi. Because of his fierce bravery in battle, he was noticed by Cao Keming during his inspections of the troops, promoted two ranks in succession, and became a low-ranking junior officer.

Later, when the army advanced into Yunnan to attack Zuining Prefecture — the gathering place of the rebels who had first instigated the revolt — he now had men under him and performed even more outstandingly. Not only was he brave and daring in battle, but he also understood how to use strategy, observe the situation, and assess strengths and weaknesses. In the end, he personally took the head of the chieftain of the Ayue tribe, thoroughly earning Cao Keming's newfound respect.

After that, Di Qing was unstoppable. Still only in his early twenties, he gradually became the sharpest blade under Cao Keming's command, often thrusting at those stubborn, hard-to-crack rebel tribes.

Before the pacification, Di Qing had been nothing more than a nameless common soldier. After the rebellion was quelled, he had already become a Commander of one army under the Eastern Route Army of the Pacification Command, rising to become a mid-ranking general with outstanding military merit. He was also included on the list of generals returning to court to present their victories, and was permitted to ascend the palace hall and meet the Son of Heaven...

Of course, an experience like Di Qing's — even under the emperor's political inclination to deliberately promote and value generals from humble backgrounds — remained a legend among legends, an exception beyond exceptions.

And his rise to that point was not due to Cao Keming alone as his patron. Di Qing had joined the army at sixteen and spent three years before becoming a squad leader. He was then recommended by Yao Yilu, then Military Commander of Fenzhou, to enter the capital and serve in the Imperial Guard Command of the imperial army.

When the court sought to conquer and pacify the southwest, it naturally could not use only local troops. The Fengsheng Army, in which Di Qing served, was drawn into the southwest, and he was transferred with the Left Wing to serve under Cao Keming's command...

After the southwest campaign, Di Qing's patron became the Son of Heaven of the Great Han. But even though he later became the archetypal figure among the humble-born generals personally promoted by Liu Wenji, before Di Qing's rise, it was still the military meritocracy who had given him his help.

In the military system of the Great Han Empire, the meritorious aristocrats controlled the channels of advancement and firmly occupied the mid-to-upper level positions. But at the grassroots level of the imperial army, it was not a stagnant pool, nor were all aristocrats so narrow-minded and selfish.

Returning to the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion — to pacify it, the court paid an extremely costly price: mobilizing some three hundred thousand soldiers and civilians in total, spending over ten million strings of cash, consuming more than two million dan of grain, and taking over three years.

War was becoming an increasingly expensive affair for a centralized empire. And of all these human and material resources, less than three-tenths were actually used directly for suppressing the rebels; the remaining seven-tenths were invested in the various logistical expenses of sustaining the war...

In the Yunnan-Guizhou pacification, Cao Wei adopted a strategic policy of "military first, politics second, advance slowly and steadily, defeat one by one." After all, he was a minister who had held military command authority in the Bureau of Military Affairs for many years — he had keen vision, broad perspective, and a deep understanding of the essential nature of war as a means.

Therefore, during the pacification, in many places he even employed military threats up front, political appeasement as the main approach, and bribery with benefits afterward. In fact, the so-called "successive rebellions of Yunnan and Guizhou" meant only that the rebellion was widely distributed, involved many forces, and caused severe adverse effects — it was not as if the entire circuit had risen in revolt.

At the very least, the bureaucrats and official troops remained firmly loyal to the court — or rather, loyal to their own power and interests. The Han Chinese strongmen could not possibly be of one mind with the barbarians. They might fish in troubled waters, but they would not follow a single path to the very end. Especially after the court mobilized its great army, many Han Chinese strongmen and local powers actively joined the pacification, contributing men, money, and effort to assist the imperial army in suppressing the rebels.

Even the native chieftains of regions like Shanzhan and Lizhou did not follow those impoverished barbarians and wretched wretches in rebelling against the court. Situated within the core ruling circle of the prefectures, they were more affected, more deeply sinicized, and understood better the power of the court and the principle of its "bottom line."

At the same time, under the empire's rule and in their interactions with the Han Chinese, the benefits they gained were still greater than what they were exploited of. Therefore, among this portion of chieftains, few rebelled and many waited to see which way the wind blew. When the imperial army entered Yunnan, there were many who welcomed them with food and drink and served as guides.

With so many factors working together from three directions, although the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion lasted for some years, its outcome was predetermined. This was inseparable from the powerful strength the imperial court possessed and the fruits of decades of sinicization — this was the tide of the times.

On the military side, Cao Wei played "advance step by step, fortify at every stop" to perfection. Under his overall coordination, several columns of troops cleared out the rebels step by step with a very composed bearing and order.

Yunnan and Guizhou were one chess game, and before placing a piece, one first cleared away the interfering factors outside the board. Cao Wei personally led troops to pacify southern Jiannan, Zhe Weichang stabilized Hunan, and Cao Keming pacified Guangxi. Only after the periphery was cleared and settled, troops and horses gathered, and grain, weapons, and livestock were all prepared, did they formally launch the great advance into Yunnan and Guizhou.

During the advance, Cao Wei also devoted a very large portion of military and civilian manpower to logistical support and to opening and leveling roads. The scale and intensity were so great that word of it reached the capital region and even provoked some snide remarks — people said that Commissioner Cao was leading the court's hundred-thousand-strong army and several hundred thousand civilians, spending millions in state grain and pay, to go build roads in the southwest.

Although the expenditure was enormous, the spectacle unsightly, and the criticism plentiful, the consolidation of transportation was one of the most important factors in the smooth pacification of Yunnan and Guizhou. And many of the road projects undertaken during the war were upgraded into official highways after the rebellion was quelled, becoming thoroughfares connecting the prefectures of Yunnan and Guizhou.

Cao Wei had essentially upgraded the entire transportation network of Yunnan and Guizhou — greatly facilitating internal transport, strengthening external connections, and playing a huge role in promoting the recovery and development of the region after the rebellion.

The Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion dragged on with repeated flare-ups until early spring of the thirteenth year of Jianlong, when the last band of rebels in the Tengchong region was annihilated by the Han army, and only then was it formally declared at an end. For the two circuits of Yunnan and Guizhou, this rebellion was unquestionably a comprehensive and violent devastation.

The economy was paralyzed, all industries languished. Due to the war, the transport of supplies was extremely difficult. Although most cities maintained their defensive security, those who died of starvation were numerous, causing a massive wave of "abandoning the cities" across the two circuits.

The loss of population was visibly severe, but because of the inherent ambiguity of Yunnan-Guizhou's population figures, exactly how many people died was hard to calculate. However, judging from the population registers submitted to the Ministry of Revenue by the two circuits in the fifteenth year of Jianlong, compared to before the rebellion, the registered population had decreased by more than three hundred thousand.

In the mountains and forests of Yunnan and Guizhou, there also appeared numerous ruins of barbarian stockades and Yi towers — empty of people, eerie and terrifying. Before the rebellion, these places had at least had unbroken cooking smoke, if not bustling crowds.

Over the decades, the court had enfeoffed 194 native chieftains in the two circuits of Yunnan and Guizhou. By the thirteenth year of Jianlong, only 61 tribes remained. The more than one hundred that had vanished were either destroyed and wiped out by the court's pacification army or swallowed up by other chieftains during the chaos...

Devastation everywhere, a mess of scattered feathers — such were the ultimate bitter fruits of the Yunnan-Guizhou rebellion. But it was not entirely without positive significance. At the very least, after a vigorous great reshuffling, social resources were redistributed and social contradictions were alleviated. With the enfeoffment of new chieftains, the court's control over Yunnan and Guizhou was in fact strengthened, and the assimilation of Han civilization into the region deepened further.

With Yunnan and Guizhou stabilized, the entire southwest could enjoy another few decades of peace...

In addition, this great upheaval also caused a large number of tribal populations to flow south into the two kingdoms of Pagan and Annam, having a major impact on the governance of both kingdoms. On the Annam side, needless to say, they sent troops to exterminate them, but the extermination was never complete. Gradually they merged with the local population, becoming a restless force active along the border between Guangnan West Circuit and Annam.

As for the kingdom of Pagan, based on their anti-Han stance, those people quickly united with the already-declining kingdom of Pagan to resist the Kingdom of Linhai, allowing it to eke out a few more years of existence.

Later, due to conflicts over land and tribes, and struggles for power, the two sides fell out. After a bout of fighting, the kingdom of Pagan was actually destroyed by them. Of course, the Kingdom of Linhai ultimately picked up the bargain, taking the opportunity to unify the Burma region and complete the unfinished undertaking of its founding monarch, Liu Wenhai.

But those "Li people" who had already put down roots, though they submitted to the Kingdom of Linhai, remained a perpetual northern threat, active in the mountain regions along the Yunnan-Linhai border for over a hundred years...