Chapter 305: Proclaiming Edicts to Carve Stone

The Regional Commander of Liaodong received Jia Cong's battle report and was overjoyed; he immediately dispatched fast horses to reward the troops and ordered Jia Cong to escort the captured prisoners and war spoils back to camp.

On the day Jia Cong returned to camp, Liang Liang Chengzong led the garrison of Yafu Pass out ten miles to welcome him.

Only upon seeing the wounded and captured Li Man, the mangled corpse of Dong Shan, and over a hundred live Jurchen prisoners did Liang Liang Chengzong truly grasp the magnitude of the great victory at Qingyuanji—how utterly it had eradicated the Jurchen chieftains' valor and permanently ended the Jurchen threat to Liaodong.

He also heard that Jia Cong had rejected his subordinates' suggestion to build a heap of skulls to boast of victory, instead burying the enemy leaders' corpses deep and erecting a plain green stone stele without inscriptions as a warning—victorious yet humble, fierce yet restrained.

This youth, martial yet magnanimous, his bearing unmatched by common men—could it truly be that the bloodline of the Marquis of Rong had not yet faded, and that the winds of fate were rising once more…?

In his youth, Liang Liang Chengzong had suffered five defeats against the Mongol Tumens, yet never had he witnessed a victory as dazzling and historic as Qingyuanji.

Yet this youth, not yet of age for martial training, had served in the army for only half a year, yet repeatedly achieved miraculous feats—truly astonishing; even the great generals of antiquity could not surpass him.

The entire Yafu Pass celebrated for three days; every soldier guarding Liaodong's frontier rejoiced at the great victory at Qingyuanji.

Amid the tumult of a thousand-li campaign and the jubilation of Qingyuanji's triumph, the whispered tales of the young general's romantic entanglements became lighthearted gossip, tinged with goodwill.

The battle report was, as usual, urgently delivered to court by Deputy Minister of War Peng Runan and Commander of the Left Army Chen Yi.

Thus, during those days of victory banquets, Jia Cong was repeatedly drunk by a host of fervent Liaodong officers who pressed wine upon him.

Each of them would return safely home to reunite with parents, wives, and children long separated; for every soldier who had staked his life on the frontier, this was the greatest fortune and grace.

Love Shenjing, Great Zhou Imperial Palace, Qianyang Palace.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao received the battle report of Qingyuanji's great victory ten days after the battle ended.

For they knew that after Qingyuanji, the Jurchen clans could no longer avoid decline—they would no longer have to fight to the death against the Jurchens, nor live in dread of death at any moment.

At this moment, Jia Cong's prestige within Yafu Pass and throughout the Liaodong army soared to an unreachable height.

And each time, it was Ai Li who escorted him back to the Military Affairs Office; all who saw this naturally paid it no mind.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao read the report of Qingyuanji's great victory and was overjoyed—he had not expected that after Jia Cong's first merit at Yafu Pass, he would now achieve such a decisive, annihilating triumph.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao, upon reading the report of Qingyuanji's great victory, was overjoyed; he had not expected Jia Cong, after securing the first merit at Yafu Pass, to achieve such a decisive triumph at Qingyuanji.

They all knew Ai Li had accompanied Jia Cong into battle, followed him through months of campaigning, and helped crush the Jurchens; the two shared profound "affection."

As Regional Commander of Liaodong, Liang Liang Chengzong personally penned the official report of Qingyuanji's great victory, supplementing the standard record, and dispatched several trusted captains to deliver it day and night to the Love Shenjing.

Many in the Liaodong army knew Jia Cong came from the Lady Rongguo Jia family, one of Great Zhou's supreme noble houses; having now achieved such glorious merit, his future upon returning to the capital was boundless.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao had reigned for over a decade and seen countless brilliant talents, yet never had he encountered a figure like Jia Cong.

He carefully studied Liang Liang Chengzong's report on Qingyuanji's great victory: the triumph owed much to Jia Cong's foresight, resolve, and ruthless ferocity in battle.

Yet without the perfect alignment of timing and terrain, this battle could never have achieved such a glorious outcome.

Youthful brilliance, mastery of both civil and military arts, unparalleled military genius—all these were remarkable enough; but the fortune and timing he embodied were rare in the world.

He reflected on the Four Princes and Eight Dukes of past generations, or even the rising star Shi Ding, the Marquis of Marquis Zhongjing—all were exceptional men of their age, yet none displayed such an aura…

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao recalled Jia Cong's memorandum on pacifying the Jurchens; the Five Methods of Pacification had once stirred his blood.

The first of these five methods—the foundation upon which the other four depended—was to eliminate the ringleaders, eradicate the powerful clans, and extinguish their martial spirit.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao had not expected that Jia Cong, in such a short time, had personally risked his life to enact the most crucial of his Five Methods.

The emperor's grand project to bring the thousand-li lands of white mountains and black waters beyond the frontier under Great Zhou's map would now be within reach; Jia Cong had truly blazed the trail for him!

The Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao's governance beyond the passes, which would soon bring the thousand-li lands of white mountains and black waters into the Great Zhou's maps and charts, was a feat Jia Cong had truly pioneered with tireless effort.

Filled with joy and excitement, Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao urgently summoned Grand Secretary Cai Xiang, Minister of Rites Guo Guo Youchang, Minister of Personnel Chen Mo, and Marquis of Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding to court.

He issued edicts he had long pondered and brewed in his mind—edicts that would surely stir the winds and shake the realm!

First, he ordered Deputy Minister of War Peng Runan and Marquis of Marquis Zhongjing Shi Ding to select twenty thousand elite troops from the Five Armies and regional garrisons to garrison beyond Liaodong's frontier, suppress remnants, and purge the last rebels.

Second, he ordered the Minister of Personnel to select capable administrative officials from across the realm to enter the frontier, establish prefectures and counties, and govern the people.

Third, he ordered the Ministry of Rites to draft imperial edicts for envoys; once the army had occupied the frontier and the civil officials had established governance, a special envoy would be dispatched to Outer Mongolia, Oros, and Goryeo—Liaodong's northern neighbors—to proclaim Great Zhou's pacification of Liaodong, declare that all nations must respect their borders and cease raids.

Fourth, he ordered the Ministry of Rites, in coordination with the Imperial Academy, to select from across the realm scholar-officials and teachers willing to serve in the frontier for the sake of civilizing the people; they would be granted official rank or eighth-rank status according to merit.

Fifth, he ordered the Neiwu Prefecture to encourage imperial merchants to establish branches and workshops in Liaodong, facilitate trade between the interior and frontier, and recruit Han civilians and Jurchen women and children as laborers, providing them livelihoods.

Sixth, he ordered the Bureau of Buddhist Affairs to select virtuous Buddhist monks and Daoist priests to enter Liaodong and build temples and monasteries, spreading the teachings of Buddhist and Daoist peace.

Seventh, he ordered the Director of the Ministry of Personnel's Bureau of Merit Evaluation to personally travel to Liaodong to record the battle achievements of all troops in pacifying the Jurchens, and ordered Jia Cong, Director of the Firearm Supervision, to bring relevant officers back to the capital for imperial honors.

Eighth, he ordered the Ministry of Rites to plan a grand ceremony of prisoner presentation at the Wumen Gate in June, and to offer sacrifices to Heaven at the Qianyang Palace's Hall of Heaven, proclaiming to Heaven, Earth, and ancestral spirits the glorious achievement of pacifying the barbarians and expanding the realm.

Ninth, he ordered the Ministry of Rites to compose an official record of the entire pacification of Liaodong and the details of Qingyuanji's great victory, to be engraved upon the plain green stone stele erected by Jia Cong—to warn the wicked and instruct future generations!

Grand Secretary Cai Xiang, standing beside him, felt his shock deepen with each edict.

The emperor's decrees nearly perfectly matched Jia Cong's Five Methods of Pacifying the Jurchens; he had not expected the emperor to take such profound heed of the youth's words.

And the emperor's order to have the Ministry of Rites inscribe a record of merit upon the plain stone stele erected by Jia Cong—this was the emperor's way of proclaiming to the world the grand achievement of crushing the Jurchens.

Yet it also, implicitly, elevated Jia Cong's merit to a dazzling height—this was nearly equivalent to the glory of carving stone at Yanran in Han times.

Could the emperor truly not have realized this? With his profound wisdom, it was impossible he had not.

Perhaps the emperor did not compare Jia Cong to Han's great generals, but rather saw in him the spirit of ancient sovereigns who expanded the realm…

The emperor meant to use the glorious military triumph of pacifying the Jurchens to carve stone in record—to proclaim the radiant might of the Emperor Jia Zhao court.

Perhaps His Majesty was not comparing Jia Cong to the famed generals of Han, but rather inspiring himself with the achievements of ancient sovereigns who expanded the realm.

His Majesty seeks to commemorate his glorious military triumph over the Jurchens with an inscribed stele, proclaiming the resplendent might of the imperial court.

(End of Chapter)