Chapter 1267: Making a Feint to the East While Attacking in the South

Kunming, Wuhua Mountain.

Li Dingguo, Prince of Jin of the Shun, had already kowtowed before the coffin of Li Guo, the Shun Taizong, offered up great incense, and burned paper money. Now he sat upright in the Hall of Hanging Robes, attending the deliberations of state.

The Shun still maintained the power structure of the Emperor hanging his robes and ruling through non-action, the Crown Prince overseeing the army, and the Eight Princes deliberating on policy — and for that they had to thank the Great Ming, had to thank Zhu Cilang! If not for the Great Ming under Zhu Cilang glaring at them like a tiger, this lot would have fallen upon each other long ago.

And now, the Eight Princes, the Crown Prince, and the Emperor all had to talk things through properly. Even with the dispute over advancing south versus marching north, even with the factional divisions between the Shun and the Xi, no one dared tear off all pretense and start an armed brawl.

Li Dingguo had also come to recognize the situation and no longer opposed the southward advance. Instead, together with Sun Kewang, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi, he had proposed a plan to march west into Ü-Tsang, to replace the original northern expedition.

Although Sun Kewang, the big boss of the Xi faction, had not stated his position, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi were all in agreement, so Sun Kewang's intent was plain enough.

Li Laiheng, dressed in mourning hemp and wearing a look of grief, sat upon the dragon throne. As he listened to Li Dingguo lay out the Xi faction's westward strategy, what he was thinking of was seizing territory and entering India — the Xi faction's push onto the plateau was most likely a bid to grab a piece of territory for themselves!

At present, the three military-governor commands of Ava, Syriam, and Arakan in Burma were all under the control of the Shun faction, and all were commanded by trusted men of Li Laiheng and Li Jicheng. The military governor of Ava was Gao Yigong, the military governor of Syriam was Song Yaowen, and the vice military governor of Arakan (the military governor of Arakan was the former King of Arakan, with no real power at all) was Luo Ke. Add to that Gao Yidao, who was garrisoned in India, and they basically held a monopoly over the whole line from Burma to the east coast of India.

So the Shun dynasty's southward-advance strategy was in fact just seizing territory on behalf of Li Laiheng and Li Jicheng, father and son.

Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Yuan Zongdi, and Liu Fangliang — the four princes of the Shun faction — knew this perfectly well. But after all, they were old ministers who had followed Li Zicheng in conquering the realm, and they had the great merit of having enthroned Li Guo and Li Laiheng, so they need not worry about failing to share in the profits of the southward advance. Therefore they all supported it.

And among the four princes of the Xi faction, only Li Dingguo had a few estates in Ava in Burma — these estates were not counted within Li Dingguo's eighty thousand shi, being the spoils of his southern campaign against Burma. The other three princes had no estates in Burma, but instead held quite a few landed estates in western Sichuan and western Yunnan. Moreover, the fubing military households settled on the Chengdu Plain, right up against the western Sichuan highlands and Ü-Tsang, were mostly the old deployments of the Xi army.

All those who could reap great profit from the campaign onto the plateau were, without doubt, the four princes of the Xi faction.

Moreover, Ü-Tsang actually bordered directly on India. If the four Xi princes could take the territory of Ü-Tsang, they could just as well invade India and make a fortune!

By this time Li Dingguo had finished speaking. The Eight Princes deliberating in the hall, the Crown Prince overseeing the army, and the other ministers all looked toward Li Laiheng, the ruler who hung his robes and ruled through non-action, waiting for him to ask questions — according to the "ancestral system" of Shun court deliberations, Li Laiheng should next solicit the opinions of the deliberating princes, and then ask the opinion of the Crown Prince overseeing the army. If the princes and the Crown Prince were in agreement, then he, the ruler who hung his robes, should nod and act accordingly.

But this "ancestral system" was not very good, and besides, there had been no such rule in the time of the Exalted Emperor, the Great Founder. It needed changing. These were no longer the days of the late emperor on the throne.

Now, the Son of Heaven of the Shun had money. He had just taken out eight million taels of silver to buy people's hearts — now he needed to see whether he had actually bought them.

Having made up his mind, Li Laiheng said in a grave voice: "The westward strategy — it exactly suits Our will!"

What?

Exactly suits Our will?

Weren't you supposed to hang your robes and rule through non-action?

All eight princes in the Hall of Hanging Robes were stunned!

Li Jicheng was the first to react. He rose to his feet and shouted: "Imperial Father is sagely and wise!"

"Your Majesty is sagely and wise!"

The civil and military officials in the Hall of Hanging Robes also shouted in unison. These fellows had just received money from Li Laiheng and Li Jicheng, and moreover had all sent out sons and nephews to join the second wave of the plundering expedition, so of course they had to give Li Laiheng and Li Jicheng, father and son, a bit of face.

"Your Majesty is sagely and wise... cough cough cough!"

The one shouting "sagely and wise" while coughing was old Master Liu, Liu Zongmin, Prince of Han. Whether His Majesty was sagely and wise or not, he did not know, but the Crown Prince (Li Jicheng) was certainly very sagely and wise — the Western dancing girl he had given him was truly passionate as fire, could sing and dance, and most importantly, could bear children!

The flocks of wives and concubines in Liu Zongmin's princely mansion had not produced a single child in eight years, yet this Western dancing girl had been there less than two months and was already pregnant!

"Your Majesty is sagely and wise!"

Yuan Zongdi, Tian Jianxiu, and Liu Fangliang — the other three princes — also rose and bowed.

Sun Kewang also stood up, bowed to Li Laiheng, and said: "Your Majesty is sagely and wise!"

Li Laiheng smiled and nodded at Sun Kewang, saying: "Old Father-in-Law need not bow. Please, sit down quickly!"

Sun Kewang's daughter had married Li Laiheng, making him the Shun dynasty's State Father-in-Law, so Li Laiheng counted him as one of his own.

Once he had declared his position, the three princes Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu, and Ai Nengqi could hardly keep insisting. They had no choice but to rise and bow to Li Laiheng, shouting "Your Majesty is sagely and wise!"

And just like that, the unreasonable Eight Princes' Deliberation was broken by Li Laiheng!

It seemed his eight million taels had been very well spent!

"The westward march onto the plateau and the southward advance into India can proceed simultaneously!" Li Laiheng then began his "imperial autocracy" again. "However, the Zhu family's people-harming bandits are no ordinary lot. Zhu Cilang is encamped at Wuhan, claiming to lead the imperial army in person. Do the deliberating princes have any good strategy?"

"Your Majesty!" Liu Wenxiu took up the question and answered, "This subject has a plan that can break the Zhu bandit's personal command of the imperial army."

"Oh? What plan is that?"

"It is the plan of making a feint to the east while attacking in the west!"

"How does one make a feint to the east and attack in the west?" Li Laiheng asked.

"Naturally, by matching imperial command with imperial command!" Liu Wenxiu said. "Your Majesty may emulate the late emperor's eastern campaign, going forth to encamp at Yong'an and stand in confrontation with the Zhu bandit."

"Go forth to encamp at Yong'an?" Li Laiheng frowned slightly.

To be honest, he did not want to leave Kunming!

Kunming was now on the verge of becoming the center of the Shun dynasty — even Chongqing's status had declined sharply. How could he bear to leave this foremost of places and go off to Yong'an?

Moreover, the Crown Prince Li Jicheng still had to advance south into India. If he left Kunming for Yong'an, then would Kunming not be left empty?

If anything went wrong, the Shun realm could be overturned.

"Imperial Father need not go forth in person!" Li Jicheng knew his father's mind and immediately suggested, "One of the deliberating princes can go forth to war in Imperial Father's place, while outwardly it is announced as the imperial command in person."

"This..." Li Laiheng's gaze swept over the eight deliberating princes. Li Dingguo had to hold the northern line, Ai Nengqi had to take charge of the westward march, Liu Wenxiu had to coordinate from the center, Sun Kewang had to manage court affairs, and Liu Zongmin was in poor health. That left only Liu Fangliang, Yuan Zongdi, and Tian Jianxiu who could go out.

At that moment Tian Jianxiu rose of his own accord: "Your Majesty, let this subject make the journey to Yong'an!"

"Good, good," Li Laiheng said with a smile. "When the Exalted Emperor was alive, he relied greatly upon the Prince of Sui. With the Prince of Sui going forth to war, We are at ease."

At this point the Grand Military Advisor Song Xiance stepped out of the ranks and memorialized: "Your Majesty, this subject still has one plan."

Although this Grand Military Advisor could divine and calculate, he was not versed in military strategy, so after Li Guo took the throne he had gradually been marginalized — Li Guo trusted Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu more.

Now a new sovereign had ascended, and the rules seemed to have changed a little... he had to seize the moment!

"What clever plan does the Grand Military Advisor have?" Li Laiheng asked.

"This subject suggests that the new reign title adopt the four characters 'Dongping Daxing,' meaning Your Majesty's eastern campaign wins a great victory and pacifies the southeast!"

"Dongping Daxing..." Li Laiheng savored it and found it quite good. The Great Ming's reign title was Hongxing, which also had a "xing," and the Shun's was Dongping Daxing, which likewise had a "xing" — and a "Daxing" at that. The more prosperous the name, the more flourishing the fortune!

"Good! The new reign title shall be Dongping Daxing!" Li Laiheng said. "Proclaim it to all under heaven. Next year we change the era to the first year of Dongping Daxing! After the Lantern Festival of the first year of Dongping Daxing, We shall march east to war and fight a decisive battle against the Zhu bandit's false dynasty! All lands belonging to the Zhu bandit that are taken by the Shun's heavenly troops shall be exempt from taxes for three years, and the land shall be equalized. We shall ensure that the common people of the southeast who till the land shall own their land, that every person has food to eat, and every person has clothes to wear! This is the bequeathed will of the Exalted Emperor and the Taizong Emperor!"

(End of Chapter)