Chapter 361: The Xuzhou Affair Concluded

Under the night sky, Longgang City, after only a slight tightening of security, quickly returned to normal. The disturbance within was so brief that the officials and commoners in the city barely noticed it. Like a pool of water swallowing a stone that falls in by accident, ripples spread, then all returned to calm, without a single wave.

However, the military and political officials of Longgang, as well as the accompanying central bureaucrats, did notice something amiss about the night's events—especially when inferring from the results.

The matter of Yang Bin being taken into custody was highly classified. Even though Liu Chengyou had issued a gag order, some leakage was inevitable, so from the next morning onward, rumors began to circulate within the Longgang field headquarters.

The accompanying chancellor Li Tao, puzzled by the cause, could not help but seek an audience and probe indirectly, tentatively questioning Liu Chengyou—but each time, Liu Chengyou brushed it off lightly.

Even so, this allowed Li Tao to confirm one thing: something had happened to Yang Bin. After the shock came great joy.

Speaking of the feud between Li Tao and Yang Bin, there was a history of grievance. Toward Yang Bin, Li Tao harbored deep resentment. Back when Liu Zhiyuan entered the Eastern Capital and first established the Great Han, all financial power was entrusted to ministers like Yang, Wang, and Su, causing their power and influence to blaze fiercely—especially Yang Bin's.

Later, because the founding ministers wielded too much power and ceaselessly attacked one another, destabilizing the political situation, Liu Zhiyuan promoted former Later Jin officials such as Li Tao and Dou Zhengu to serve as a counterbalance.

However, although the results showed some small effect, they were ultimately less than satisfactory. For Li Tao, those two or three years in the Hall of State Affairs were nothing but heartache and tears. Facing the domineering and power-clinging Yang Bin, he was always suppressed completely.

Especially in the early period, within the chancellery's inner circle, he had almost no room to exert himself. Yang Bin even dared, in front of other chancellors and subordinates, to berate and even reprimand him, rarely showing any mercy.

Even up to now—the winter of the second year of Qianyou—this situation had not undergone any fundamental change.

Of course, after Liu Chengyou succeeded to the throne, with the Son of Heaven's overt and covert suppression and weakening, Yang Bin's dominance over the Han court finally began to change.

Though not as "shrewd" as Feng Dao, Li Tao still possessed a certain political vision. He keenly perceived the Emperor's not-at-all-ambiguous attitude toward Yang Bin. Over the course of two years, he resolutely raised the banner of opposing Yang Bin at court, gathered a group of supporters, and with the assistance of former-dynasty remnants like Dou Zhengu and Zhao Ying, finally gained momentum—no longer merely occupying an empty post.

However, no matter how "ambitious" Li Tao was, he could hardly truly overwhelm Yang Bin at court. Not only did the residual prestige of the founding-minister faction led by Yang Bin still linger, but even on Liu Chengyou's side, he would not allow the Great Han's court to be controlled by a bunch of former-dynasty officials.

Although constrained by the long-standing, deeply entrenched prejudice or misunderstanding that made Liu Chengyou and Yang Bin loathe each other at sight, this did not prevent him from keeping a clear head—he would not cross the line just to suppress Yang Bin. After all, the Great Han dynasty was not built by Later Jin remnants like Li Tao.

Previously, when Li, Dou, Zhao, and other remnant officials formed a faction and their momentum rose, Liu Chengyou did not hesitate to curb them. Using the trip to Xuzhou as an excuse, he left Dou Zhengu in Xuzhou—effectively driving him out of the Eastern Capital—and promoted his trusted confidant Fan Zhi to chancellor.

It could be said that at court, Yang Bin was the greatest political enemy and rival in Li Tao's eyes. He was determined to topple him and had confidence in doing so, because in his view, he and the Emperor stood on the same side. When the ruler suspects a minister, that minister is doomed.

Yet Yang Bin's sudden downfall still caught Li Tao completely by surprise. Too sudden, too mysterious—and moreover, it had not even required Chancellor Li to exert any effort. The Emperor had already resolved the problem himself.

Even so, this did not stop Li Tao from rejoicing, and he was already secretly considering how to proceed next. With Yang Bin fallen, it was a dramatic upheaval for the Great Han's court—the development of the political situation at court was certain to undergo earth-shaking changes.

Compared to the itinerary of the northern inspection tour, Liu Chengyou stayed one extra day in Xuzhou—only one extra day. The little ripple of incident at Longgang was not worth Liu Chengyou's steps pausing for too long.

However, before continuing northward, Liu Chengyou issued an edict with certain arrangements for Xuzhou that already spoke volumes. Liu Chengyun, Commandery Prince of Julu, was relieved of his post as Military Governor of Anguo Army, given the honorary title of Director of the Chancellery, and transferred back to the Eastern Capital to be promoted to Chief of the Imperial Clan, managing clan affairs on Liu Chengyou's behalf.

This was essentially a sinecure. The Great Han's clan system, though following the old system, was in practice a blank slate. For one, from Liu Zhiyuan to Liu Chengyou, neither had time to attend to it; for another, the Liu clan of the Han was truly sparse in numbers—just a few cats and dogs here and there.

For three generations, like other official posts, it had existed in name only, without wielding real power. The post of Chief of the Imperial Clan had also become a nominal title bestowed upon meritorious ministers. However, Liu Chengyou's transfer of Liu Chengyun this time actually restored real authority to the position, with the intention of having him shoulder the burden of managing the Great Han's imperial clan.

Long troubled by the complexity, redundancy, and inconsistency between nominal and actual power in the dynasty's official system, Liu Chengyou had long wished to reorganize and reform it—but the times were not yet settled, state affairs were chaotic, and he could not free up his hands. Thus, he could only act according to circumstances, dealing with specific problems as they arose. Just as he had previously rebuilt the censorate system, so too with the imperial clan now.

Regarding the Great Han's official system, Liu Chengyou advocated for the unity of office and function—titles matching reality. This was largely because the problem of redundant officials in the Great Song in his previous life had left too deep an impression on him.

Toward the Son of Heaven's move to strip his power, Liu Chengyun voiced no objection whatsoever. Instead, he behaved with great deference and actively cooperated.

Though not a particularly clever man, he still possessed basic crisis awareness. That secret letter on the cold night—enough to shake heaven and earth—had truly terrified him. Even though he had proactively reported it to the Son of Heaven and extricated himself from the affair, Liu Chengyun remained uneasy at heart. In matters of military and state, nothing was more sensitive than rebellion and treason. And in Liu Chengyun's mind, the Emperor was truly not an easy master to serve.

He did not go directly to the Eastern Capital but was brought along by Liu Chengyou, accompanying the imperial carriage northward on the border inspection tour. Liu Chengyou had not yet dealt with the position of Military Governor of Anguo Army, but given his nature, he would likely choose to abolish the military governorship, establish a Prefectural Administrator, and bring it directly under the central government's temporary administrative system.

The successive wars and disasters had dealt heavy damage to Hebei, severely weakening the region's strength and potential—but correspondingly, its leverage against the central government was also weakened. During this critical period of establishing court authority, this was conducive to the court's control and management of Hebei.

As for the military affairs of Xingzhou and Mingzhou, Liu Chengyou deliberated at length and decided to appoint Gao Huaide as Chief Commander of the Xingzhou Infantry and Cavalry, responsible for reorganizing the Xingzhou army, stabilizing the region, and maintaining public order, pending the court's dispatch of new governing officials. Though the attitude of separating military and civil authority seemed ambiguous, the intent was right there—not spoken, only acted upon.

Regarding Gao Huaide's appointment, an attendant close to the imperial carriage submitted a remonstrance, saying that Linqing Prince Gao Xingzhou was defending Yedu and already commanding Weibo—if Gao Huaide were also entrusted with the military affairs of Xingzhou and Mingzhou, father and son would jointly control four prefectures, and their power might grow too great.

To this, Liu Chengyou made no response, only bestowing some goods upon the remonstrating minister to reward his loyal counsel. What his subordinates could think of, Liu Chengyou had certainly already considered—but if nothing unexpected happened, the old Duke Gao would soon be returning to court to retire.

After passing Xuzhou, probably because the weather was growing colder, the pace of the northern inspection noticeably quickened. Still, they did the same things: observing local conditions, comforting officials and commoners, and reviewing the troops.

Yang Bin had suddenly vanished, yet within the field headquarters, everything proceeded as usual—at least on the surface. And on the road northward, Chancellor Li Tao took over Yang Bin's former functions, stepping onto the front stage to show his face......