Chapter 98: To Speak of Liaodong, One Cannot Speak Only of Liaodong

Zhu Youjian's words — "This day I have gained Master Sun, as Emperor Gaozu gained Zifang, as Emperor Guangwu gained Deng Yu" — crashed like a boulder into the long-weathered, still-as-ancient-well waters of Sun Chengzong's heart.

For a moment, this sixty-four-year-old veteran minister was actually dazed.

On his face, that complexion dark as ripe jujubes seemed to flush faintly red.

Shock, doubt, dawning comprehension, bewilderment — in the end, all these tangled emotions merged into an inexpressible surge that set the long, coiling beard upon his chest faintly quivering despite himself.

He had long been idle at his home in Gaoyang; the Capital Gazettes he received were mostly weeks or months old, and this journey to the capital had been days of breakneck riding straight into the palace — he knew virtually nothing of this new sovereign's disposition or manner.

This blast of "Han-ancestor spirit" crashing over him was truly more than he could bear.

But at last, when he saw Zhu Youjian's two hands gripping his own, felt that force that brooked no doubt, and gazed into those eyes brimming with earnestness and trust, all the shock and doubt dissolved like smoke.

A scalding warmth called "recognition of worth" washed through his graying hair and beard, and the eyes of this old man — who had spent half a life in frustration and long since grown indifferent to glory and disgrace — grew faintly hot.

"Your Majesty…"

Sun Chengzong's voice came out slightly hoarse. At once he moved to pull his hands free and prostrate himself: "Your Majesty bestows such excessive praise — this subject is ashamed, utterly unworthy!"

"Master Sun, no need for such ceremony!"

Zhu Youjian tightened his grip and steadied him firmly, not letting him bow down.

That resolute strength made Sun Chengzong freeze once more.

He heard Zhu Youjian say with utter sincerity: "I have only just ascended the throne. The routine memorials and reports all contradict one another; no consensus can be found. Though I wish to discern clearly, I still struggle to tell loyal from treacherous."

"That is why I just now tested Master Sun with three questions — it was truly a matter of necessity, and I hope Master Sun will forgive me."

With that, he actually cupped his hands and inclined his head slightly toward Sun Chengzong.

That cupped-hand salute, though only a slight bow, weighed heavier than Mount Tai in Sun Chengzong's eyes.

The emperor, apologizing to a minister!

The last trace of misgiving in Sun Chengzong's heart dissolved completely. He hurriedly sidestepped to evade the gesture and returned the salute with solemnity: "Your Majesty speaks too gravely! Discourse between sovereign and minister is ever the norm. Your Majesty's breadth of strategy has taught this subject much as well."

He understood completely now.

This new sovereign before him, a mere seventeen years old, was nothing at all like his elder brother who had likewise ascended the throne so young.

Both had taken the throne before reaching twenty — but could this one be a born Son of Heaven?

Zhu Youjian laughed heartily, took Sun Chengzong by the arm, and with warm familiarity guided him over to the enormous sand table in the center of the hall.

"Since my accession, I have pondered the Liaodong affair day and night. Yet what I have thought differs considerably from the prevailing view at court. Today is the perfect chance — I ask Master Sun to take his axe to my thoughts."

"This subject listens with all ears," Sun Chengzong said solemnly, his gaze turning to the sand table.

After that succession of courtesies, tests, and apologies just now, he had already placed Zhu Youjian in a position he had rarely encountered in all his life.

Zhu Youjian paced before the sand table and picked up the long wooden pointer.

With a dip of his wrist, the pointer aimed at the eastern side of the sand table.

"The Liaodong affair in earlier days was always framed around a three-sided disposition: the front at Ning-Jin in the left of Liao, Lushun in the south of Liao, and Dongjiang in the right of Liao."

"Further out, the west of Liao relied on Jizhou, Yongping, Tianjin, and the western barbarians as its rear support; Lushun relied on Denglai in Shandong as its rear support; Dongjiang relied on Joseon as its rear support."

"Is this correct?"

Sun Chengzong nodded silently.

The Great Ming's strategic disposition against the Later Jin, despite years of back-and-forth, had indeed followed this core logic.

Zhu Youjian's pointer drifted slowly leftward across the sand table and came to rest on the region representing the various Mongol tribes.

"However — this time the Hutun Rabbit Khan has shifted westward, and the momentum is now set. We can no longer treat the western-barbarian matter as simply one piece with the west of Liao."

"We must guard against the Tiger Khan throwing his full strength westward, and at the same time guard against the barbarian chieftain exploiting this to probe westward. Therefore, this so-called three-sided disposition must add one more side — 'the Mongols' — and become a four-sided one. Is this correct?"

Sun Chengzong's gaze sharpened. Stroking his beard, he nodded: "Your Majesty's earlier deductions strike straight to the heart. To list it as a separate side and plan a response — it is indeed necessary."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Zhu Youjian's mouth, but the pointer suddenly withdrew from the sand table and tapped lightly against his own palm.

"And yet — today I do not intend to discuss this four-sided disposition, how to move troops, how to assign commanders."

Sun Chengzong was taken aback.

Zhu Youjian turned, his gaze deep and distant.

"When I was still in the princely residence, I read Master Sun's Art of War, and came upon this line: 'The highest form of warfare is to attack the enemy's plans; next, to attack his alliances; next, to attack his army; the lowest is to attack his walled cities.'"

"On first reading, these words truly struck the ear like thunder."

"Yet since my accession, reading this passage again, I have come to feel that these are merely the words of a general or commander — not the words of an emperor!"

Sun Chengzong felt a jolt deep within. He kept silent, only listening with still greater concentration.

He heard Zhu Youjian speak out in a ringing voice that echoed through the empty hall, carrying an authority that brooked no dissent.

"As I see it — to settle the Liaodong affair, one must not look only at Liaodong!"

The pointer in his hand shot out abruptly and landed hard on the spot in the sand table that marked Ligdan Khan's position.

"And to settle the Nine Frontiers, one must not look only at the Nine Frontiers!"

The pointer traced rapidly along the winding line of the Great Wall defenses on the sand table, and at last, with heavy and steady force, came to rest on the tiny mound of earth that represented the capital!

"The calamity of a state lies not merely in the strength of external foes, but above all in the rot of internal governance. When the skin is gone, to what can the fur attach?"

He spun around abruptly, his blazing eyes fixed on Sun Chengzong, and spoke each word with deliberate weight:

"Therefore — how Liaodong is to be fought depends, in the final analysis, on… what the Great Ming now needs that fight in Liaodong to be!"

"Does Master Sun agree?"

These words burst like a thunderclap inside Sun Chengzong's mind!

Through the haze, he seemed to sense something — an ominous premonition, yet tinged with a strange, nameless excitement — that set his heart pounding faster despite himself.

But he still steadied himself, cupped his hands, and said: "Your Majesty's words are like a sagely edict — deeply illuminating."

Zhu Youjian smiled and turned to signal Gao Shiming.

Gao Shiming, who had been standing in attendance all this while, understood at once. He bowed, drew a thin booklet from his sleeve, and presented it with both hands.

"Master Sun, take a look at this first."

Sun Chengzong felt a flicker of doubt, but still accepted it with solemn formality.

The booklet had no cover and was very light in the hand. He slowly opened it.

A single glance, and his pupils contracted slightly.

…This subject passed the examinations in the fifth year of Tianqi, passing through Zhenyang in Henan…

…This subject passed through Liaodong and saw a certain general's family residence…

…This subject saw the Central Ward Troops and Horses Office…

…This subject, in the provinces, saw bandits rising like swarming bees…

Case after case, incident after incident, a vast and varied catalogue.

No specific names were mentioned, yet every detail was piercingly real, as if it had happened only yesterday, as if it were right before his eyes.

Sun Chengzong's breathing gradually grew rapid.

He turned the pages faster and faster. Those hands, long seasoned by war and steady as boulders, could not help trembling slightly.

He understood!

He understood completely what this young monarch meant!

This new sovereign was not like the Tianqi Emperor!

He no longer intended to place Liaodong above all else!

To purge the realm, to rectify the civil service, to patch and mend this empire that had already begun to rot from the roots — that was the true, urgent priority in his mind!

The booklet was very thin, and Sun Chengzong finished reading it quickly.

Slowly, gently, he closed the booklet. For a long moment, he remained silent.

Zhu Youjian's voice drifted up at that moment, unhurried, carrying a note of pressing inquiry.

"Master Sun, what, in your judgment, is the most critical matter for the Great Ming realm as a whole at this moment?"

Sun Chengzong was silent, wordless.

Within his heart, a fierce battle raged between heaven and man.

He was sixty-four years old this year. His hearing was gradually failing, and his body was beset by all manner of ailments.

He did not know how many more years he had left to live.

The first half of his life had been hardship and frustration, his talents unrecognized.

He had barely passed the examinations at forty-one, only to encounter the Wanli Emperor's withdrawal from governance, and sat in the Hanlin Academy for sixteen years.

Not until he was fifty-seven, when the late Emperor ascended the throne, did he truly step onto the stage of history — as Imperial Tutor.

And the very first matter he took on when he stepped onto that stage was the Liaodong affair!

To this day, more than six years later, all his thoughts and reflections, all his nightly obsessions, were of Liaodong alone!

In his earlier exchange with His Majesty, they had spoken of the Battle of Liuhe, lost through impatience.

But within that impatience, was there not also Sun Chengzong's own impatience?

Had it not been for that eagerness to establish merit and achieve greatness, why else would he, the moment he received the edict recalling him to office, have disregarded his age and flown to the capital on horseback?

The annals of history stretch long. If one truly tallied his achievements, he had never even served a single term as County Magistrate.

The sole accomplishment of his life worthy of praise, the sole thing that could earn him a place in history, was the Liaodong affair, and that alone!

And yet…

The words and sentences from that booklet surfaced again in his mind.

Those refugees, those corrupt officials, those decayed armaments, those festering foundations…

Sun Chengzong's expression flickered between shadow and light. In the end, all his inner struggle resolved into a long, drawn-out sigh from his chest.

He raised his head, his gaze clear and limpid, as if washed clean of all personal gain and loss, leaving only a heart wholly devoted to this nation.

Facing Zhu Youjian, he bowed deeply.

"In reply to Your Majesty, the foremost matter for the Great Ming today is the reform of internal governance."

"The Liaodong affair, though urgent, is not so urgent as… the decay and exhaustion within!"

Zhu Youjian, hearing this, clapped his hands in a sigh of admiration, his eyes full of gratification and keen appreciation.

"Master Sun indeed embraces the whole realm in his heart, his vision far-sighted. We are deeply comforted!"

—Sun Chengzong, this additional question, you have passed it too!

He turned his head and called out to Gao Shiming: "Bring the screen in!"

"As commanded."

Sun Chengzong turned to look and saw several junior eunuchs, with the utmost care, carrying an enormously large screen as they slowly entered the hall.

Zhu Youjian smiled faintly and extended a hand toward Sun Chengzong in a gesture of invitation.

"Master Sun, please step forward."

"And observe… Our strategy for Liaodong!"