Chapter 312: The Eastern Capital Becomes the Western Capital

The battle that decided Lanzhou's fate was over in a single morning.

Because the Li family that had been driven off could hardly be called Lanzhou's rulers in the first place — historically, they had not even been able to outplay Wang Tinghan of the Jincheng Wang clan, so how could they withstand a fierce assault by a warrior like Ma Shacai?

At this moment, Ma Shacai sat upright in the main seat of the Lanzhou Prefect's office — a seat that had originally belonged to the head of the Wang family.

But ever since the the the Shatuo Li clan had overwhelmed the Jincheng Wang clan from within, no one had sat in that seat, because neither side would accept the other.

Wang Tinghan and Wang Tingbi, the brothers, along with Sulun Xing, headman of the Sulun family, all knelt properly before Ma Shacai.

Ma Shacai was also glaring at these fellows who had only come out to help at the very last moment. In Ma Shacai's eyes, although they had finally contributed something today, they were still nothing more than fence-sitters who followed whoever was winning.

But now that the overall situation was settled, fence-sitters who followed the winning side were still quite useful.

Ma Shacai knew that Zhang Zhao wanted not only the submission of Lanzhou's various factions, but also real control of Lanzhou. Lanzhou would inevitably, like Liangzhou, have its prefecture and county administration restored.

So after the Sulun and Wang families had been properly frightened and given a good dressing-down, the two County Magistrate posts under Lanzhou would still have to go to men from their two families.

However, the decision was certainly not Ma Shacai's to make. He was qualified to lead troops into battle, but asking him to sit in the position of Lanzhou Prefect and consider the overall situation would be asking too much of him.

Wang Tongxin suddenly felt someone poke him from the side. He turned slightly and saw it was actually his maternal uncle, Jia Yanchang.

Jia Yanchang's eyes were narrowed, his face neither sorrowful nor joyful, looking utterly unruffled — but his left hand, hidden behind his back, was pinching his nephew's waist with all his might.

You're making things hard for me, Fat Tiger! Wang Tongxin was never very quick-witted to begin with. He was completely baffled, with no idea what his uncle was trying to do.

Ai! Jia Yanchang sighed deeply in his heart. His nephew's brain, it seemed, was beyond all hope.

Left with no choice, Jia Yanchang moved a little closer to Wang Tongxin. Taking advantage of the moment when Ma Shacai was speaking with Wang Tinghan of the Jincheng Wang clan, he slowly whispered into Wang Tongxin's ear, word by word.

"At this very moment, you should speak up to Commander Ma: before the Minister of Works sends someone to Lanzhou, someone must take up the heavy responsibility of Lanzhou Prefect, arrange the pursuit of the the the Shatuo Li clan and the Tangut Pochou clan remnants, and pacify the Wang and Sulun families.

If Commander Ma does not wish to be worn down by paperwork, your uncle can share some of the burden."

Only then did Wang Tongxin understand what his uncle was after. So Jia Yanchang had his eye on the post of Lanzhou Prefect.

Although the Lanzhou Prefect of today was not necessarily the Lanzhou Prefect of tomorrow, with that on his record, once the Minister of Works unified Hexi and Longyou, would he ever lack for official posts?

Wang Tongxin and Ma Shacai had both come out of Zhang Zhao's personal guard, the Hanshan Unit. They had followed Zhang Zhao through campaigns north and south, and had been comrades-in-arms for four or five years, so there was naturally no need for such scruples in their speech.

When Ma Shacai heard Wang Tongxin's words, he was overjoyed. He had been worrying about finding someone to arrange Lanzhou's affairs.

Originally, according to Zhang Zhao's arrangements, the abbot of Lanzhou's Weiyan Temple, the eminent monk Dinghui, was to assist Ma Shacai in controlling Lanzhou.

But after Ma Shacai entered Lanzhou city, he found that Master Dinghui did not seem very willing to involve himself in Lanzhou's worldly affairs.

Moreover, Wen Chongle had also reported Master Dinghui's earlier hesitation, so Ma Shacai was even more reluctant to let Master Dinghui participate in Lanzhou's affairs.

Two days later, Ma Shacai and Wang Tongxin each led three hundred cavalry out of the city to purge the direct-line headmen of the the the Shatuo Li clan in the vicinity of Lanzhou.

Erzhu Jing, meanwhile, led four hundred armored soldiers to garrison Lanzhou city, controlling its four gates and all key buildings.

Jia Yanchang stroked the few strands of goatee under his chin, so pleased that his eyebrows seemed about to fly off his face.

Speaking of the Guiyi Army, ever since it had been trapped holding only the two prefectures of Guazhou and Shazhou, it had been in a situation of too many monks and too little gruel.

The two prefectures of Guazhou and Shazhou were only so much territory, and their output was only so much. Even if all the posts of Prefect, Chief Clerk, Marshal, Case Reviewer, and Administrative Assistant were filled, there still were not many official hats to hand out.

He, Jia Yanchang, had toiled away and in the blink of an eye was already past fifty, yet all he had gotten was a watered-down, mass-issued Chief Escort Officer title, responsible for the Guiyi Army's foreign affairs and tribute missions — he had not even landed a substantive County Magistrate post.

And now, the post of Prefect of an upper prefecture, whose registered households were only a few tens of thousands fewer than Guazhou and Shazhou combined, had suddenly fallen onto his head.

The taste of power — tsk tsk — though only temporary, still gave Jia Yanchang a heady, intoxicating delight.

"Second Young Master Wang, for the first matter, I must ask your honored father to bring out the golden seal of the Lanzhou Prefect appointed by the imperial court!

Your family did not send anyone to Liangzhou last year. Presenting the golden seal may let the Minister of Works' thunderous anger subside for the time being."

When Wang Tinghan heard Jia Yanchang bring up the matter of their family not sending anyone to Liangzhou last year, his heart jolted with alarm, and he was filled with regret.

If only they had known — last year they should have sent Fourth Brother in disguise no matter what. But it was too late to say so now, and this was indeed a stain on the Wang family.

"The Prefect speaks rightly. The one who saved the common people of Lanzhou is Minister of Works Zhang, and the entire Wang family is willing to follow the Minister of Works' commands!"

Seeing that Wang Tinghan was reasonably cooperative, Jia Yanchang nodded with satisfaction. "I have heard that these the the Shatuo falsely claimed to be of the imperial clan — a crime of the greatest evil — and that they have confidants hidden both inside and outside Lanzhou city. Second Young Master may temporarily serve as Lanzhou Marshal, and the heavy task of investigating the the the Shatuo traitors shall be entrusted to you!"

"Many thanks, Prefect! Wang Tinghan will devote himself utterly to the task!" Wang Tinghan was a shrewd one; he immediately understood that Jia Yanchang was giving him something sweet.

The Jincheng Wang clan had been suppressed by the Li family for so many years that a deep, bitter hatred had long formed between them.

Now that Jia Yanchang wanted him to investigate the Li family's agents inside and outside Lanzhou city, that was handing him the power of life and death over the Li family.

Who was a traitor? Who was not? That would all be for him, Wang Tinghan, to decide.

Those who had offended the Wang family, even those with Wang family blood on their hands — not one of them would escape. At this thought, Wang Tinghan's eyes nearly turned red.

"The Marshal must also understand: once the ice and snow melt, the Minister of Works will surely come to Lanzhou in person. Exercise proper restraint in all matters!"

Jia Yanchang looked at Wang Tinghan, whose expression was gradually turning agitated, and spoke a cold warning.

Wang Tinghan felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over his head. He recovered from his excitement and cupped his hands toward Jia Yanchang.

"Many thanks for the Prefect's reminder!"

Having settled Wang Tinghan, Jia Yanchang turned to Sulun Xing, who had been standing by with his hands at his sides the whole time.

Toward this local magnate — the only one in Lanzhou who had sent men to Liangzhou — Jia Yanchang was considerably more amiable.

"I also have a matter that requires the Sulun family's efforts. Would the headman be willing to accept it?"

"Whatever the command, the Sulun family will carry it out with all its strength!" Sulun Xing cupped his hands. Their family had been the first to submit. Although they had hesitated for a moment during the battle at Weiyan Temple, it was of no great consequence.

"Apart from the the the Shatuo rebels and the Tangut Pochou clan, Lanzhou still has several dozen tribes, large and small. The headman may send men to each tribe to explain the situation, and make clear that whoever dares aid those two families can wait for the great army to arrive and destroy their household and exterminate their clan!

Furthermore, in the fifth month, when the Minister of Works arrives in Lanzhou, the chiefs and headmen of all tribes, large and small, must come to Lanzhou to await the Minister of Works' rewards and appointments.

Whoever makes excuses, resists, or opposes in this matter — you shall make their heads roll!"

In Jia Yanchang's view, overawing the surrounding barbarians came down to just two things: combining grace with severity, striking at one group while winning over another.

What had just happened was grace combined with severity. Next came the striking. The the the Shatuo, as the chief plotters against the Minister of Works, would certainly be hit with a heavy fist.

They numbered fifty or sixty thousand, with over a hundred chiefs and headmen among them, which meant at least a thousand people would be implicated and beheaded.

This was the customary method of the age: if you did not kill a batch of people, others would surely think you did not dare.

As for the Pochou clan Tangut, that would depend on whether they played along. If they did, only the chief culprits would be executed; if not, at least several hundred or a thousand would have to die.

As for which group to win over, it mainly depends on whether the Wang family knows what's good for them.

They can forget about the Li family's fields — in fact, they will certainly have to offer up some of their own property as well. Only after doing all this will they be worth winning over.

Of course, these are the conditions in Jia Yanchang's mind. How it ultimately turns out will depend on the Military Governor's wishes.

The Central Plains, Bianzhou, early 937 — the same time Zhang Zhao was debating whether to strike the Ganzhou Uyghurs first or take Lanzhou first.

Shi Jingtang, at the head of his trusted ministers and the surviving civil and military officials of the Later Tang's eastern capital Luoyang, entered Bianzhou from Luoyang under the escort of the former Hedong Military Governor's yabing guards, now the Great Jin imperial guard.

The moment he entered the city, Shi Jingtang moved into the former Later Liang palace in Bianzhou and announced the abolition of Luoyang's title as eastern capital, renaming it the Western Capital. Bianzhou was elevated to Kaifeng Prefecture, becoming the eastern capital of the newly established Great Jin dynasty.

In fact, before Shi Jingtang moved the capital to Kaifeng, Kaifeng had already served as the capital of the Later Liang.

The Later Tang had chosen Luoyang as its eastern capital merely to show that they were the legitimate successors of the Great Tang. In reality, even after several generations of Later Tang emperors had repaired and restored Luoyang, it still could not compare with Kaifeng.

The biggest reason was that Luoyang's location was too far west. In earlier times, Guanzhong was rich, and Luoyang had the natural defenses of mountains and rivers, allowing it to link Guanzhong, Henan, and Hebei. At the same time, money, grain, and goods coming from the southeast all had to pass through Luoyang to reach Guanzhong.

This made Luoyang the most important transportation hub in the Central Plains. Apart from the early days of the Great Tang, Luoyang had always been wealthier than Chang'an and had a stronger commercial atmosphere — for this very reason.

But the chaos of the late Tang, especially after the fall of the Great Tang, left Guanzhong ruined, with not one person in ten remaining. Luoyang instantly lost the most crucial support for its geographical advantage.

Moreover, in 885 it was burned to the ground by Sun Ru, a great general under Huang Chao, and from then on its status plummeted. After the Tang fell, the canals leading to Luoyang were also blocked, causing Luoyang to completely lose its advantage of connecting all directions.

And Luoyang's last remaining vitality was extinguished by Shi Jingtang himself. After the Hedong troops and Later Tang rebels such as Yang Guangyuan entered Luoyang, they nearly turned Luoyang into a wasteland.

On top of that, to pay the Khitan their reward for 'lending a hand,' Shi Jingtang stripped everything from the area around Luoyang. Five or six out of every ten residents left, and even the prefectural and county treasuries were emptied. It could no longer serve as a capital.

"Vice Minister Pei, the Sage is drinking with Chief Minister Sang in the palace and has sent this old servant to invite you."

"Please wait a moment, Officer Song. Allow me to wash and dress." Pei Yuan smiled faintly, his etiquette beyond reproach.

If Shi Jingtang was in such a hurry to summon him to the palace, then it was highly likely that something had changed in Yecheng. Fan Yanguang, it seemed, could no longer hold himself back. This was his chance to break free.

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