Chapter 766: End of the Northern Tour

The pacified region was mostly mountains and hills, with transportation still not particularly convenient, but compared to the sprawling foothills of the Taihang Mountains, it was far better. From the pacified region, passing through Shouyang, it took three days before finally reaching the destination of Taiyuan.

Nearly a decade had passed since he had last been here—this was Liu Chengyou's return to Jinyang. Though in his childhood he had followed Liu Zhiyuan to many places, Jinyang had always been a city buried deep in his memories, holding too many profound recollections. Returning once again naturally stirred a wave of emotion.

Jinyang's city walls had grown even more solid, the streets had clearly been widened considerably, and the population had become increasingly prosperous. It had to be said, much of the credit went to his uncle, Liu Chong, in the early years. The former princely residence remained unchanged, kept very clean, and the courtyard where Liu Chengyou had once lived showed almost no change at all. The Taiyuan Palace had fallen into considerable disrepair, maintained only with simple repairs—with Liu Chengyou's edict in place, the Taiyuan authorities had not wasted manpower or resources on extensive renovations.

The tour of Hedong had three purposes.

First, to offer sacrifices to Heaven and to the ancestors, and to honor the Hedong soldiers who had sacrificed their lives to establish the Great Han. As the place where the Great Han had risen, its very foundation, many among the court and in military and political circles held special feelings toward it and regarded it with particular importance. Of course, Liu Chengyou was the exception—what he carried in his heart was the entire realm, and what he valued more was Hedong's military and political utility.

Second, as in Hebei, to inspect and examine local governance. Since the fifth year of Qianyou, after Hedong's administrative reform, the court had made tremendous adjustments to the prefectures and commanderies west of the Taihang Mountains and east of the Yellow River. But over the years, he had essentially seen Hedong only through memorials, and he needed to witness it with his own eyes.

In the early years of the founding, Hedong had been the most stable rear area of the Great Han. During Liu Chong's tenure as garrison commander, because of mutual suspicion between him and the court, governance gradually fell into chaos, with reckless militarism, triggering a series of adverse reactions. It was only after Liu Chong's power structure disintegrated and the court reclaimed authority and restored proper governance that the prefectures of Hedong slowly returned to the right track. The separation of military and civil administration was implemented, and the resulting stability in civil affairs and public order greatly promoted Hedong's development.

However, compared to the Central Plains and Hebei, in recent years Hedong's development had begun to lag behind the overall situation. The reason was simple: insufficient population. At the founding of the state, several hundred thousand soldiers and civilians had moved into the Central Plains, causing a massive loss of Hedong's population, and the impact of this had grown more pronounced with each passing year.

Of course, as the seat of the circuit and the heart of Hedong, the pearl of the Jinzhong Plain, Taiyuan Prefecture remained one of the Great Han's foremost prefectures.

Third, there was Hedong's military border defense. Although in recent years the Great Han's northern defense focus had always been on Hebei, the defensive preparations on the Hedong side had never been relaxed. It was simply because of Hedong's geographical advantages that the defensive pressure there was much lighter. The three armies of Baoning, Ninghua, and Dingxiang were like three strong floodgates, firmly restraining the Khitan beyond the frontier. Indeed, if the Khitan chose Hedong as their main direction for a southern invasion, Liu Chengyou would laugh himself awake.

As the emperor's beloved trusted general, Yang Ye had been stationed in the Dai region for eight years now—a rarity even in the Great Han army. To inspect the border defenses, Liu Chengyou had also made a special trip north to Yanmen, personally examining in person the famous strategic pass of Yanmen Pass.

Toward Yang Ye, Liu Chengyou's attitude was as always, seemingly never having changed—encouragement and commendation—which made people wonder what Yang Ye had done to deserve such high regard from the emperor, undiminished year after year. Yang Ye himself felt the same way, only sincerely assuring Liu Chengyou that he would devote himself wholeheartedly to guarding Yanmen.

Liu Chengyou's stay in Hedong was not short; it was not until early May that the imperial entourage departed from Taiyuan and set out on the journey back to the capital. According to plan, they would depart from Taiyuan, pass through Fenyang Prefecture, travel through Jin and Jiang, cross Hezhong Prefecture, ford the Yellow River at Fengling Ferry, then pass through Shanzhou and Luoyang before returning east to Kaifeng.

This was the very route Liu Zhiyuan had taken when he led Hedong's main forces to contend for the Central Plains. Retracing it also carried the meaning of recalling the past and appreciating the hardships of founding the enterprise. Though in reality, Liu Zhiyuan's journey back then had been quite easy—the big battles were in Hebei, the small ones at Heyang and in the Central Plains, and most had essentially been fought and finished by Liu Chengyou and Shi Hongzhao.

As for Liu Zhiyuan, aside from forcing the surrender of the garrison at Jiang, he had simply accepted surrenders and defections all along the way, being effortlessly welcomed into the Eastern Capital to rule over the realm. Of course, in the court's propaganda, things could not be described as they truly were. During the march, there was always something to be mined and highlighted—emphasizing Gaozu's virtue and prestige, and how the whole realm had followed him.

Hezhong Prefecture, Yongji City—this name came from the renaming of "Hedong City" after the suppression of Li Shouzhen's rebellion.

Though many years had passed, traces of fierce fighting still remained on Yongji's city walls. After all, with a great battle of a hundred thousand troops, military relics could always be found inside and outside the city, telling of the flashing blades and gleaming swords of those days, of rivers of blood.

Back then, the Hezhong rebellion had not lasted very long. Liu Chengyou had personally led the campaign and, with overwhelming force, swiftly extinguished it, so that Li Shouzhen and his son were destroyed a mere three months after raising their troops. Yet the soldiers and civilians killed and wounded had been considerable.

After eight years of stable development, the people of Hezhong had clearly recovered from the trauma of war. Bordering the Yellow River, serving as a transportation hub, and enjoying the benefits of the Xie salt, Hezhong had thereby become one of the Great Han's few wealthy prefectures, remitting vast amounts of taxes and revenue to the court every year.

West of Yongji City, the great river surged fiercely in its summer flow, making Puban Ferry look none too safe. At the ferry landing, the once-formidable rebel western stockade, preserved because of the rebel general Zhou Guangxun's voluntary surrender, had been converted into ferry facilities. It had now developed into a market town attached to Yongji City, bustling with people and thriving with activity.

Walking through various places, Liu Chengyou found his memories and emotions stirred more and more.

"I still remember when I led the great army to extinguish Li Shouzhen's rebellion. At that time, I had been on the throne for barely half a year—the Shu bandits had just been repelled, the Liao turmoil was not yet over, the Tangut were making moves, and the Great Han's realm faced the danger of collapse. Even now when I think of it, I cannot help but feel lingering fear, and cold sweat on my back!" Standing on the bank of the great river, feeling the hot wind, with the city and town as his backdrop, Liu Chengyou recalled and lamented.

"Li Shouzhen and his son were of jackal and serpent nature, wolf-hearted and dog-lunged, ambitious and reckless, boldly raising troops to rebel against the court. Yet they did not know that Your Majesty, wise and brilliant, had long seen through them. Your Majesty personally led the campaign with thunderous efficiency to crush them!" Li Shaoyou praised.

The events of that time were not so distant, but from the mouths of this sovereign and minister, things had already changed in flavor. In fact, Li Shouzhen's rebellion back then had partly been provoked by Liu Chengyou's own pressure—he had treated Hezhong as the "chicken" to be slaughtered, setting an example to intimidate the realm.

History, for the most part, is altered and embellished in this way. For Liu Chengyou, it was dressed up prettily, showing the beautiful side to him and to posterity alike.

"However, when I chose to personally lead the campaign back then, nearly the entire court opposed it. Though I had confidence in certain victory, there was also an element of gambling! Reflecting on it now, I did take a risky move. At that time, the state's finances were strained; to campaign against Hezhong, soldiers and civilians had to exert every effort. Had the suppression failed, or had the war dragged on, the Great Han would have been in danger..." Liu Chengyou began discussing the situation of that time with Li Shaoyou.

"Your Majesty is favored by Heaven's mandate. With plans laid beforehand and preparations complete, that already secured five-tenths of the chance of victory. The soldiers' dedication added another two-tenths, and Your Majesty's personal leadership added two more. As for the Hezhong rebellion, though urgent, it was ultimately a single corner resisting the entire realm. To harbor hopes of luck—how could that succeed? Destruction was the natural outcome!" Li Shaoyou said.

Li Shaoyou was very good at calculating. By his arithmetic, Liu Chengyou had at least a ninety percent chance of suppressing the rebellion...

"Your Majesty, urgent report from Guanzhong!" While Liu Chengyou and Li Shaoyou were conversing, Guo Tong suddenly came looking for him, walking hurriedly with an anxious expression. His opening words made Liu Chengyou's heart sink slightly.

Taking the urgent memorial and quickly scanning through it, it was an urgent report forwarded from the Eastern Capital—Shu surrendered soldiers in Guanzhong had revolted, dragging commoners along with them, breaching cities and killing officials, with the disaster spreading across three counties.

His originally calm expression immediately darkened, and the memorial in his hand was gripped tightly.

Seeing this, Li Shaoyou could not help but ask: "Your Majesty, what has happened?"

After thinking for a moment, looking at Li Shaoyou, Liu Chengyou said to him: "Brother You, it seems you cannot return to Kaifeng with me. You, as Administration Commissioner of Guanzhong, should hasten to take up your post!"