Chapter 421: Calling Himself Grandson, Not Subject

In the Daning Palace at Kaifeng Prefecture, the Eastern Capital, Empress Li—oh, no! Now she should be called Empress Dowager Li.

Shi Jingtang's bones were not yet cold, but this empress dowager had very tactfully moved into the Yanshou Hall, which symbolized the empress dowager's status. Her only request was to bring Shi Chongrui, just over a year old, to live with her.

Feng Dao was still that same Feng Dao—slippery, cowardly, utterly without conviction.

Late that very night, after Shi Jingtang passed away, Shi Chonggui received word from the palace and immediately led his yabing guards to Feng Dao's residence.

In less than a minute, Feng Dao smoothly made his decision.

What imperial favor, what charge to care for the orphaned heir—none of it mattered as much as his own life and the lives of his family.

Feng Dao immediately declared his willingness to serve Shi Chonggui, then followed Shi Chonggui to the Daning Palace.

Right after that, Jing Yanguang, the Chief Commander of the Palace Guard who controlled the Daning Palace's military forces, also threw open the palace gates and went over to Shi Chonggui.

This Jing Yanguang had long been displeased by the Khitans' wanton humiliation of the Later Jin's imperial troops, and Shi Chonggui happened to dislike the Khitans as well—the two hit it off at once.

At once, with Jing Yanguang's support secured, Feng Dao and the others falsified the hour of Shi Jingtang's death, pushing it back by two hours.

Those two hours were meant for Shi Chonggui.

Under Feng Dao's arrangement, Jing Yanguang's act of opening the palace gates late at night to let Shi Chonggui in was rewritten as Shi Jingtang, knowing his end was near, urgently summoning Shi Chonggui to the palace.

Then, before the sickbed, in the presence of Jing Yanguang and Feng Dao, he promoted Shi Chonggui to Prince of Qi, concurrently holding the post of Palace Attendant.

This Palace Attendant was not the Palace Attendant and Gentleman Attendant office that Zhuge Liang mentioned in his "Memorial on Dispatching the Troops." Even as Palace Attendant and Gentleman Attendant, men like Fei Yi at the time dared to meddle even in Liu Shan's taking of concubines.

Shi Chonggui's Palace Attendant post, ever since Emperor Wu of Han expanded its powers, had been the most important office in the central government. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties it held sole authority and was called the chancellor among chancellors.

The meaning conveyed by this appointment was that Shi Jingtang intended to pass the throne to Shi Chonggui.

And this also matched what most people guessed. At a time like this, who would pass over a twenty-seven-year-old Shi Chonggui and choose Shi Chongrui, just a year and a half old?

Sure enough, by the next day, none of the assembled officials voiced any objection to Shi Chonggui's succession, and Shi Chonggui, in mourning dress, performed the ritual of three refusals and three yieldings before the bier in the Daning Palace.

He also declared with deep emotion that he was too grief-stricken to change the reign name, and would continue using Shi Jingtang's Tianfu era.

At this moment, Shi Chonggui, to be honest, still had some clarity. He knew that the empire Shi Jingtang had "left" him was hardly a quality asset.

To the north, the Khitans watched with tiger-like intensity, waiting for his next move.

To the northwest, Zhang Zhao's Liang state was like a tiger or leopard hidden in shadow, ready to pounce and bite at any moment.

To the southwest, Meng Chang of the Meng Shu state was intent on vigorous governance, constantly eyeing the Later Jin's Guanzhong region.

To the south, although Li Bian of the Southern Tang had lost his ambition to expand, the Southern Tang, counting the former Wu state, had always been the best-developed among the many lords.

The Central Plains were ravaged by war, but the Southern Tang was peaceful and prosperous. If Li Bian suddenly rose to vigor, he could bring considerable strength to bear.

So Shi Chonggui was still humbly seeking the opinions of his ministers, asking everyone to discuss how the matters ahead should be handled.

Feng Dao was the first to step forward and respond. Because Shi Chonggui had come to him first, Feng Dao had dramatically become the first high minister to support Shi Chonggui, and immediately gained the new emperor's favor, being enfeoffed as Duke of Yan and additionally appointed Grand Commandant.

"At this time, our Great Jin still has three parties that must be dealt with immediately. To the north, the Khitans—a hundred thousand iron cavalry are there. With what ritual should Your Majesty treat the Khitan ruler?

To the northwest, the Liang state—it originally returned to the nation, then turned back again. The King of Liang, Zhang Zhao, has considerable talent and ambition, commanding tens of thousands of elite troops as he eyes Guanzhong. He must not go unobserved!"

Shi Chonggui nodded. Right now, the greatest external threats to his Great Jin state were precisely the Khitans and the Liang state.

"Then what of the third party? Has the Grand Commandant perhaps left one out?"

Feng Dao hesitated for just a moment, then continued: "Yang Guangyuan in the Western Capital, though originally a meritorious minister of the late emperor, has always been fickle, and his conduct is even more brutal. Your Majesty should make plans for him early."

Normally, given Feng Dao's smooth and cautious nature, he would not have said such a thing.

But this Yang Guangyuan had by now successfully made himself loathed by man and ghost alike.

The father and his two sons, in the Western Capital Luoyang, freely killed officials, commoners, and passing merchants, merely to plunder their wealth.

The yabing guards of the three garrisons of Heyang below them followed suit, turning Luoyang into a place so deserted it was like a ghost town—even more unwelcome than Du Chongwei, whom the people called the Plague Marquis.

At this moment, seeing that even Feng Dao was calling for Yang Guangyuan to be dealt with, a host of civil and military officials piled on.

Everyone declared outright that Yang Guangyuan deserved death. But, contrary to expectation, it was Jing Yanguang, usually given to impassioned speeches, who had a different opinion.

For he knew well that although Yang Guangyuan had incurred heaven's wrath and the people's resentment and truly deserved death, he had also raised the yabing guards of the three garrisons of Heyang to be fierce and formidable, and had won the support of those yabing guards under his command.

Because the Western Capital Luoyang and its surroundings were in fact shared between the Yang father and sons and the yabing guards and yabing officers of the three garrisons of Heyang.

If several thousand yabing guards loyal to the Yang father and sons were to don armor and defend the Western Capital region, that was not something the court's armies could easily wipe out.

Right now, Shi Chonggui had just ascended the throne. If warfare dragged on, trouble could easily arise.

Therefore Jing Yanguang quickly stepped forward, saluted Shi Chonggui, and said: "Your Majesty, in my view, Yang Guangyuan has not yet shown signs of rebellion, and we should not act too hastily.

Moreover, for Your Majesty, newly ascended to the throne, to kill a meritorious minister of the previous court would likely harm Your Majesty's reputation.

The Defender of Yedu, Lord Du, is Your Majesty's paternal uncle by marriage and a veteran minister trusted by the late emperor. Better to transfer Lord Du to the Western Capital as Defender, and transfer Yang Guangyuan to Yedu as Defender. Presumably he would be quite willing.

Feng Yu, the Secretariat Drafter at Shi Chonggui's side, frowned and spoke: "Yedu is a flourishing place of the nation, with a large population, and is the northern gateway of the Eastern Capital.

If a man like Yang Guangyuan goes to Yedu, the harm would be far greater than in the Western Capital Luoyang. I would not advise Your Majesty to do this."

Jing Yanguang, hearing this, gave a cold laugh. This Feng Yu was the younger brother of Lady Feng, the principal wife of Shi Chongyin.

Lady Feng was quite beautiful, and after Shi Chongyin was killed by Li Congke, she had rolled into bed with Shi Chonggui.

Now that Shi Chonggui had just ascended the throne, Feng Yu was actually getting uppity.

"Whenever a Military Governor transfers garrisons, I have never heard of anyone being able to bring several thousand armored soldiers along with the transfer.

When Yang Guangyuan leaves the Western Capital Luoyang, at most he can bring three to five hundred men. When he reaches the vicinity of the Eastern Capital, Your Majesty can then reassign him as Military Governor of Pinglu.

If Yang Guangyuan agrees, that is Your Majesty's magnanimity, granting him a way out. If he does not agree, wiping him out would be as easy as turning over one's hand."

"Excellent!" Shi Chonggui said, imitating Shi Jingtang's former manner as he patted the armrest of the throne in admiration.

Jing Yanguang's plan was indeed good, dispelling two of Shi Chonggui's worries at once.

First, Yang Guangyuan's treacherous intentions.

Second, Du Chongwei, as his paternal uncle by marriage, was stationed at the critical post of Yedu, and to this day had not sent anyone to congratulate him on his accession.

If he could use the opportunity of resolving the Yang Guangyuan matter to move Du Chongwei out of Yedu, that would also prevent trouble from arising.

With the Yang Guangyuan matter discussed, it was now the turn of the Khitans and Zhang Zhao of Liang, but everyone, with tacit understanding, refrained from mentioning the Liang state.

Because everyone present was an old fox, they could also see that although Zhang Zhao's words were fierce, what he opposed was Shi Jingtang declaring himself a vassal to the Khitan and ceding the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan-Yun — he had not said he opposed the court.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao's opinion happened to coincide with that of many people in the Daning Palace, such as Jing Yanguang.

Of course, part of the reason was also that before Zhang Zhao so clearly and unmistakably opposed Shi Jingtang's betrayal of the country, the persona he had built was extremely successful.

In the eyes of the great majority of people, this King of Liang who had suddenly risen in Hexi was a man steeped in the character of the Great Tang.

The loyalty, righteousness, benevolence, and goodness he upheld were, in this era, utterly out of place.

If one went back two hundred years, to the time when the Great Tang was flourishing, they would have been exactly fitting.

So in their hearts, these people actually regarded Zhang Zhao as one of those men of old — Wang Zhongsi, Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi.

In the silence, it was still Feng Yu who spoke first. "Now that His Majesty has ascended the throne, the envoy to the Khitan to announce the mourning should be dispatched.

That the late Emperor served the Khitan as a father was not, in truth, a matter of great shame, because in former years the Khitan's Ascended-to-Heaven Emperor Abaoji once swore brotherhood with Emperor Wu, and the Empress Dowager in the palace is Emperor Wu's granddaughter.

Although the late Emperor was older than the Khitan ruler Yelu Deguang, serving him as a father was precisely in accordance with the bonds of ethics and the order of relations.

Therefore your servant suggests that Your Majesty continue to serve Yelu Deguang as a grandfather, and that our Great Jin, until its wings are full-grown, should continue as before to declare itself a vassal to the Khitan."

When Jing Yanguang on the left heard this, he grew even more displeased. He immediately glared at Feng Yu, and Shi Chonggui's expression also showed some displeasure.

Because the lesson of his adoptive father Shi Jingtang, who had been ridiculed by all under heaven for serving the Khitan as a father, was still before his eyes. In former days, Shi Chonggui had himself been one of those who opposed serving the Khitan as a father.

Now to be required to continue treating Yelu Deguang, a man in his thirties, as a grandfather — he was certainly very unwilling in his heart.

Jing Yanguang below saw Shi Chonggui's unwillingness and immediately stepped forward. Standing tall, he addressed Shi Chonggui with fervent passion, speaking freely and at length.

"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains, the Supreme Dignity of the Nine and Five. The Khitan are nothing but rotten Xi barbarians beyond the frontier. Had the Great Tang not declined and given the Khitan their chance, they would not even have been able to threaten the Central Plains — before the military governors of Fanyang and Lulong in former years, they would have had to bow and scrape.

Your servant holds that although our Great Jin has not unified all under heaven, it occupies the rich lands of the Central Plains, with ample armor and ample grain. In but a few years, we have come to possess a hundred thousand whetted swords.

With such resplendent national might, to still serve the Khitan as a father would be to invite the ridicule of all the states under heaven and damage Your Majesty's dignity.

Your servant proposes: if it is for the sake of conserving strength and building up power, declaring vassalage is acceptable, but calling Yelu Deguang a grandfather goes too far!"

Jing Yanguang's speech stirred Shi Chonggui's heart to surging emotion, and he felt immensely gratified.

"What Lord Jing has said accords exactly with my own intent!"

It must be said that Jing Yanguang, who often kept company with Shi Chonggui, was very much of a matching temperament with him. Shi Chonggui felt that every word Jing Yanguang spoke struck straight into his heart.

As for whether to declare vassalage to the Khitan or not — he actually did not care very much. He simply did not want to call Yelu Deguang his grandfather. This was a matter of face.

Feng Dao sighed deeply in his heart. He turned to look at He Ning, who sat slightly behind him to one side, and He Ning was likewise on the verge of a long sigh.

Because Jing Yanguang and Shi Chonggui had actually both gotten the direction wrong.

Whether to declare vassalage to the Khitan and whether to call Yelu Deguang a grandfather were actually two separate matters. And the former was far more important than the latter.

Because declaring vassalage to the Khitan was a matter of state, while calling Yelu Deguang a grandfather was a private matter between Shi Chonggui and Yelu Deguang.

As Feng Yu had said earlier, in terms of ethics and generational order, Yelu Deguang was indeed of Shi Chonggui's grandfather's generation.

For Shi Chonggui to call Yelu Deguang a grandfather was not, in fact, so very humiliating.

What was most critical and fatal was rather the vassalage, because for the Jin state to declare itself a vassal to the Khitan had, on the basis of legal principle, already all but destroyed the legitimacy of the Later Jin as master of the Central Plains.

For example, although Shi Chonggui had now proclaimed himself emperor, if one investigated deeply, this proclamation of himself as emperor was self-claimed, because Shi Jingtang's status as Son of Heaven of Jin had been conferred by the Khitan.

If he, Shi Chonggui, had not received investiture from Yelu Deguang, then he could not be called the Son of Heaven of Jin!

He Ning also saw Feng Dao looking toward him. He knew that this matter would have to be brought into the open by him.

Because with Feng Dao's slickness in handling affairs, since he saw that even He Ning could not bear it, Feng Dao would absolutely never step forward to raise this matter himself.

So He Ning, as Commissioner of Military Affairs, could only step out of the ranks, look at Shi Chonggui, and speak.

"Your servant's view differs slightly from that of Commander Jing.

If Your Majesty wishes to wash away the late Emperor's shame, the weight of the matter actually lies in whether to declare vassalage or not. Whether to serve Yelu Deguang as a grandfather is truly Your Majesty's private affair, but declaring vassalage is an affair of state.

As Zhang Zhao of Hexi said, serving the Khitan as a father was a fault, but declaring vassalage to the Khitan is a shame for ten thousand generations!

Your servant earnestly begs Your Majesty, for the sake of all under heaven, to exercise restraint and forbearance. You may send an envoy to the Khitan to declare yourself a grandson, but not a vassal."

After He Ning stepped out of the ranks, a great wave of civil officials and military officers immediately came forward to second He Ning's words, because this was correct.

Shi Chonggui thought it over privately and found that He Ning's words did indeed make sense.

The urgent matter now was to take the legal principle out of the Khitan's hands and into his own.

He, Shi Chonggui, did not want to be spoken of by others as a Son of Heaven invested by the Khitan. He was a proper and legitimate Son of Heaven of the Central Plains.

As for calling Yelu Deguang a grandfather, that could be slowly resolved later.

So Shi Chonggui nodded. "Then let one matter not trouble two masters. Commissioner He, I hereby commission you to form an envoy delegation and go to the Khitan.

Select many eloquent and persuasive men to go, and notify my grandfather Yelu Deguang of the late Emperor's passing!"

At the words "grandfather," Shi Chonggui let out a cold laugh, and everyone understood his intent.

In truth, there were some people today who had wanted to urge Shi Chonggui to continue declaring vassalage to the Khitan, but at this moment they could no longer bring themselves to say it.

Feng Dao sighed inwardly. If they wished to avoid war with the Khitan, their words were useless — they would have to summon Sang Weihan back.

Because in former years at Jinyang, Shi Chonggui had greatly respected Sang Weihan.

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