Chapter 51

Ma Yi.

Yu Jin hurried into the room and saw Kuaidi Gan, Hou Jing, and others inside; he slowed his steps involuntarily.

“Si Jing, what’s the urgency?”

Since meeting Yu Jin, Li Shuang had always maintained the demeanor of a scholar.

The Wei-Jin style: aloof, self-contained, detached.

When news of the Battle of Feishui arrived, Xie An was playing chess with someone; he glanced at the message and continued playing. Only after finishing did he casually say, “The young ones have defeated the enemy.”

Of course, later he was so delighted he forgot to put on his shoes—that’s another story.

Overall, this composure in the face of great crisis was precisely what scholars like Yu Jin aspired to.

But now, Yu Jin showed none of that poise—he looked as if the sky had collapsed.

In his hand he held a memorial from Luoyang, his eyes frantic, urgently seeking Li Shuang’s opinion.

“What is the Grand Commander trying to do? His three strategies for suppressing bandits—where is the suppression?”

Li Shuang, upon hearing this, asked in return:

“Has the Emperor approved it?”

Yu Jin suppressed his voice, furious:

“The Emperor is young and may not grasp the gravity—how can all the ministers fail to see the danger of these three strategies? Why has no one stopped him?”

That means it’s approved.

Li Shuang relaxed, smiling:

“Why are you so alarmed, Si Jing? If it’s the Son of Heaven’s decree, we simply follow it.”

“This policy that misleads the state and harms the people—who is the traitor who proposed it? The Grand Commander must be senile to have missed such treacherous intent!”

Li Shuang, hearing this, coughed a few times.

Seeing Li Shuang’s reaction, Yu Jin sensed something odd and pressed harder:

“Could these three strategies be the work of the Ma Yi garrison commander?”

Li Shuang said nothing, but Kuaidi Gan and Hou Jing behind him burst out laughing!

“But why?”

The Three Strategies for Suppressing Bandits!

Strategy One: Due to grain shortages in Hengzhou, the entire region shall shift from herding to farming to supply the army.

Strategy Two: The Tiele tribes harbor disloyal intentions; they must be relocated beyond the frontier to prevent unforeseen trouble.

Strategy Three: Conscript livestock and soldiers from Hengzhou’s tribes to relieve the siege of Shuozhou.

Having served so long on the northern frontier, Yu Jin understood the region well. Hengzhou appeared calm, yet beneath the surface churned a terrifying current.

Whether marching or strategizing, stillness was always preferable to motion.

The first strategy seemed wise—but if it were truly viable, why wait until now? As for the second and third, he knew exactly how they’d be carried out.

These three strategies would drive these Hu Ren to rebellion.

Li Shuang, however, was unfazed; he took Yu Jin’s hand and sat down.

“Si Jing, don’t rush—what do you think of the Hu Ren on this northern frontier?”

Yu Jin thought a moment, wanting to find a refined term shaped by Han culture, but could not.

In the end, he summed them up with three simple, plain words:

“Barbarians!”

As Yu Jin spoke, Kuaidi Gan and Hou Jing behind Li Shuang didn’t grow angry—they nodded in agreement.

“They are crude, bloodthirsty, ignorant—a pile of filth. We are the vibrant flowers.”

Yu Jin stared at Li Shuang in surprise, only to see him speak passionately:

“But without this pile of filth, these vibrant flowers would wither, die, and fall into the dust, becoming no different from the filth.”

“Lord, well said!”

Hou Jing clapped behind him; Kuaidi Gan paused, then followed, clapping too.

Yu Jin ignored the two, still puzzled.

“Even if you provoke them into rebellion, what then?”

“If the court never sees the full fury of this northern rebellion, how will it ever recognize the value of our loyalty and righteousness?”

Yu Jin’s eyes widened instantly as he stared at Li Shuang, thinking:

Are you playing this big?

He turned to Hou Jing and Kuaidi Gan—they showed no surprise, as if they’d long grown used to it.

“But what if it spirals out of control?”

Right now, only Po Liuhan Baling is rebelling, perhaps with Wuchuan and Huaihuo. But if these three strategies are enacted, the entire northern frontier and even Guanzhong may ignite. Then, true chaos will engulf the realm.

Li Shuang smiled and poured Yu Jin a cup of tea.

“That’s why you fail to understand the Grand Commander’s deeper intent!”

Yu Jin raised an eyebrow, his voice hoarse:

“He has a deeper intent?”

“Of course.”

“What is it?”

“The chaos? It’s the young Emperor of Luoyang’s decision.”

“...”

Li Shuang asked:

“Why do the Six Garrisons rebel?”

“The court treats foreign enemies as kin, yet regards the Six Garrisons as enemies—oppressing them even more.”

“That’s merely the pretext for Po Liuhan Baling’s uprising. The real reason is Pingcheng’s decline, leaving the Six Garrisons’ needs unmet. The court refuses to acknowledge this, only seeks to suppress—and so the Six Garrisons rise en masse.”

The shift from Pingcheng’s model to Luoyang’s marked the Northern Wei emperor’s transformation from military ally of the northern tribes to true sovereign of the Northern Court.

In Pingcheng’s time, Tuoba Tao and other Northern Wei royals led the military elites of the Six Garrisons north to raid the Rouran and south to seize Liu Song, securing enough plunder to satisfy all.

But after moving to Luoyang, the emperor and the Yuan clan refused to lead anymore—the Rouran were impoverished, the Southern Dynasties no longer plunderable, and the once-proud military elites of the Six Garrisons became beggars.

Especially when contrasted with Luoyang’s aristocratic luxury and the northern frontier’s destitution, resentment festered.

“The entire northern frontier is poor now. We at least have Pingcheng as a base, yet even we struggle. Po Liuhan Baling and Yujiulu An Gui are far worse. Luoyang refuses to supply sufficient qian liang to satisfy the Six Garrisons and the Eastern and Western Tiele—so the rebellion cannot be resolved.”

“Po Liuhan Baling and Yujiulu An Gui are once-in-a-generation generals. With Pingcheng’s weak troops, confronting the Six Garrisons’ tiger-like rebels will end only in utter defeat.”

“So we send every potential rebel within Hengzhou to Po Liuhan Baling and Yujiulu An Gui. It looks like strengthening them—but in truth, it drains their foundations. The poorer they become, the more they rebel; the more they rebel, the poorer they grow. As long as we hold Pingcheng behind the northern and southern Great Walls, and employ divide-and-conquer tactics, they will collapse without a single blow.”

Finally, Li Shuang concluded:

“Myself, Li Daye, and my soldiers shall remain the unyielding shield on the Great Wall, defending against the Six Garrisons’ rebels and the Rouran horde. Our name of loyalty and righteousness shall shine through antiquity and into the ages.”

The room erupted again in thunderous applause.

Yu Jin stumbled out of the room, looked up at the sun, and found it painfully bright.

In his mind, Yu Jin kept reflecting:

Why?

Li Shuang’s words were clearly treasonous—but why did they sound so reasonable?

Yang Kan and Gao Ang returned from training troops and saw Yu Jin’s dazed state; they asked:

“Secretary, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve lost your soul.”

Yu Jin stared at the two men, murmuring:

“I feel... dirty.”