Chapter 456: The Pudao Blade and American-Style Iaijutsu

Yanqi, by the shores of Lake Bosten — at this time it was still called the Near Sea.

And the Kaidu River, the largest tributary feeding Lake Bosten, was at this time called the Dan River.

Just seven or eight hundred meters from where the Kaidu River flows into Lake Bosten, the final memorial rite of Zhang Zhao's journey to the Western Regions was being held here — and it was already nearly over.

The reason this place had been chosen was that it was here, back then, that Pugu Jun had ambushed the last remnant of the Anxi Army led by Guo Sheng, Guo Dalang.

In that battle, more than two thousand descendants of the Anxi Army had set out, and only a few hundred had escaped back. Guo Sheng, Guo Dalang, together with most of the men, had vanished from everyone's sight forever.

Only recently had Zhang Zhao, while sending troops out in all directions to strike down tribes that refused to submit, also had the Yanqi An family help search for traces of those days. As a result, not far from here, a mass grave had been discovered.

The pit was piled with white bones. Skulls alone numbered more than seven hundred recovered, and scattered arrowheads, knife hilts, and small ornaments had also been dug out.

It could basically be confirmed: these were the last Anxi Army of Kucha, who in those days had set out from Kucha toward Xizhou, joyfully going to welcome the imperial envoy of the court.

Zhang Zhao's eyes had already gone red with fury at the scene before him. Hundreds upon hundreds of skeletons lay buried in that pit just like that.

These last soldiers of the Anxi Army had escaped the fierce assaults of the Tibetans, their mighty enemy, only to die in the end at the hands of Pugu Jun.

In his towering rage, Zhang Zhao had the several hundred Gaochang Uyghur chieftains and meritorious officials he had intended to escort back to Jingtie Mountain as mine slaves dragged to the shore of the Near Sea and put to death, every one of them.

In the end a pit was dug and they were buried — the same treatment Guo Sheng, Guo Dalang, and the others had received.

The killing was done, but Zhang Zhao felt not the slightest satisfaction of vengeance. Instead, an indescribable unease rose in his heart.

He sat alone by the Near Sea, gazing at the rolling waves, silent.

After a while, Li Shengtian, also dressed in a simple lan robe, walked over quietly and patted Zhang Zhao on the shoulder.

"Killing has never been a way to ease the unease within. It only lets the thirst for blood take control of you.

It makes you, no matter what you face, think not of how to solve it, but only of killing to be done with it. For any ruler, once he grows accustomed to this, the day of his downfall is not far off.

Erlang, you have been somewhat impatient."

Zhang Zhao looked at Li Shengtian in surprise. These were words the old Li Shengtian would never have said to him.

"How does Uncle know there is some anxiety in my heart?"

Li Shengtian did not answer Zhang Zhao's question. Instead, he pulled him to his feet and gestured for him to walk with him along the Near Sea.

The two walked in silence for several hundred meters before Li Shengtian began to speak again.

"Erlang, do you know what is the hardest thing to do as the ruler of a state?"

Zhang Zhao thought for a moment. "It must be to govern diligently and love the people, to select the worthy and employ the capable, to keep all in their proper offices, to see the finest details clearly, to understand the depths of the realm, and not to be deceived or misled by those below."

Li Shengtian smiled faintly, then shook his head. "Your uncle has reigned since the second year of Qianhua of the Zhu Liang, thirty-one years in all.

In my view, the hardest thing for one who rules over men is to keep his own desires in check.

And the first step in keeping one's desires in check is to refrain from excessive killing. For killing is the best way to solve a problem — once the man is gone, the problem before you disappears.

Once you grow used to this efficient and simple method, the next time you meet a problem, the first thing that comes to mind is: kill!

Kill the troublemakers, kill the disobedient, kill the remonstrators — and in the end, kill anyone with a differing opinion. The surface problem is solved, but the contradiction lies hidden beneath the cover.

Therefore a ruler must be especially wary of the word 'kill.' Even when killing your enemy, you must carefully weigh whether he truly deserves to die."

Zhang Zhao nodded thoughtfully. Li Shengtian might be the ruler of a small state in the Western Regions, but he was still lord over several hundred thousand people, and now ruled over more than a million.

The insights distilled from more than thirty years of governing experience did hold some truth.

Later generations had a saying for this too: 'When you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail.'

"Uncle means that my decision today to kill these three hundred Gaochang royals and meritorious nobles was made somewhat without consideration?"

Li Shengtian slowly shook his head. "These men deserved to die, because their ancestor Pugu Jun committed the fault of abusing slaughter.

In those days, the Anxi Army and its descendants had bitterly held Kucha for a hundred years. In truth they were already at the extreme of hardship, and had long been hoping for someone to lean on.

Pugu Jun, though an Uyghur, could have obtained the support of the great court, and there were sons of Tang among his followers as well.

But he still wanted to save trouble, to solve the problem once and for all — and so his descendants have met with this calamity.

But those seven thousand soldiers of the Gaochang Divine Martial Army — you had ways to deal with them, and did not necessarily have to slaughter them all."

Zhang Zhao felt a slight urge to argue, but in the end did not say it, because Li Shengtian was right.

He had a hundred reasons to kill these men, and a hundred reasons not to kill them, but he had still chosen the most trouble-saving way.

"Your uncle guesses that in Erlang's heart there is surely some anxiety. For in every dynasty, seizing the realm — apart from Emperor Wen of Sui — has never been easy for anyone. The slightest misstep may forge a great error.

But Erlang, you already hold all the lands of the former great dynasty's military governorships of Hexi, Longyou, Shuofang, Anxi, and Beiting. The tribes submit to you, you have many armored soldiers, and swift cavalry besides, and you hold the advantage of terrain.

If things succeed, you march east and enter the Central Plains as master. If they fail, you can withdraw to Yong and Liang, or even seize Guanzhong and wait for the right moment.

So long as you make no foolish moves, who can stand against you?"

Li Shengtian read Zhang Zhao quite accurately. Zhang Zhao was indeed somewhat anxious.

Because although he knew the course history was supposed to take, now that he himself had become a variable, would things change? No one could say for certain.

For example, in history, when Yelu Deguang entered the Central Plains, all quarters submitted to him. Even famous generals like An Shenqi and Fu Yanqing, and even Liu Zhiyuan, had gone in person or sent envoys to the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng, to pay homage to Yelu Deguang.

The reason Yelu Deguang had ultimately been forced to withdraw from the Central Plains was that, after he grew arrogant, he let the Khitan troops run loose in all directions, plundering grain and forage.

But if, under the threat of Zhang Zhao, Yelu Deguang did not grow so arrogant, and truly secured his seat as Son of Heaven over the Central Plains, then Zhang Zhao would have to face a combined Liao and Jin with only the state of Liang.

What unsettled Zhang Zhao even more was that Anxi was far from the Central Plains. Even just to reach Liangzhou, the round trip plus campaigning would take more than a year.

What if Shi Chonggui did not defeat the Khitan several times as he had in history, but collapsed at the first blow — and by the time Zhang Zhao returned, Yelu Deguang had already become Emperor of the Central Plains? What then?

Worry over these things was the direct reason that had driven Zhang Zhao to deal with the Gaochang Uyghur prisoners of war so brutally.

He had no time to slowly win over hearts. He only wanted to resolve the problem quickly and return to Liangzhou.

But when Zhang Zhao told Li Shengtian his worries, Li Shengtian burst out laughing.

"Erlang, you are the one in the maze who cannot see it! In your uncle's view, the hardest part of the Khitan entering the Central Plains is not defeating the Jin army — it is this."

Li Shengtian pointed to the topknot on his own head. Seeing that Zhang Zhao still did not quite understand, Li Shengtian continued to explain.

"Yelu Deguang thinks that because the the the Shatuo Zhuxie clan could enter and rule the Central Plains, his Khitan Yelu clan can too.

But he has forgotten that the the the Shatuo Li and my Khotan Li possess one advantage he does not have: after taking the surname Li, we truly became sons of Tang."

They speak the Tang tongue, study the classics, wear Tang dress, and observe Tang rites — but what about the Khitan themselves? They have not even given up the custom of shaving their heads. Can such men become Son of Heaven over the Central Plains?

Once they enter the Eastern Capital, the Khitan tribes will inevitably regard themselves as conquerors. Would they still be willing to shave their heads and grow topknots? Would they still refrain from harvesting fodder and grain? I fear their arrogance would soar to the heavens!

This is not something Yelu Deguang alone can prevent. So even if the Khitan enter the Central Plains before you return, they will never win the people's hearts."

Truly, the onlooker sees the game clearly. Li Shengtian's words swept the dark clouds from before Zhang Zhao's eyes.

Right! Yelu Deguang's entry into the Central Plains differs enormously from the Manchu Qing's entry into the Central Plains, because the conditions in the Central Plains were completely different.

The difference is so great that the Manchu Qing could even impose the hair-shaving and dress-changing policy, an extreme measure fit for slave-owners — but could the Khitan do the same? Absolutely not!

Because the Manchu Qing could enter the Central Plains only after several centuries of Confucian self-castration had nearly destroyed the military foundation of the Central Plains region.

In the late Ming, even patriotic Confucian scholars who wished to defend home and country could no longer raise qualified fighting men from the countryside. All they had were farmers who knew only how to wield hoes — how could they stand against the Manchu Qing's iron armor?

But this era is different. This is the Five Dynasties period, when martial prowess was at its absolute peak!

Not only were the yabing guards of every military province fierce and eager for battle — even in the countryside, a household without a single man who could wield spear or staff and draw a bow ranked at the very bottom of village society, looked down upon by all.

Thus among the common people, martial strength was regarded as the first duty in protecting one's family, and the popular character was fierce.

Even into the Song dynasty, spear-and-staff societies and archery societies remained countless in every region.

Why was Grandfather Yue able to raise the invincible Yue Family Army so quickly? Was it not precisely because the countryside abounded in stout warriors, because the foundation was good?

Grandfather Yue himself was even one of those country fighting men.

This can also be seen from a weapon popular in the Song dynasty — the podao.

This thing was no standard battlefield weapon, but a rural implement used for private brawls — a folk weapon consisting of a long, wide steel blade mounted on a wooden pole.

Why did it become popular? Precisely because the martial spirit ran rampant through the countryside.

After the great aristocratic clans were destroyed, the authority of village elders and headmen was no longer as great as in the Ming dynasty. So when problems arose, one had to "reason" with the sword in one's hand.

If your family had five or six sons, every one of them strong and sturdy, men who dared to take up the podao and cut people down when trouble came, then your family was in the right.

This also indirectly intensified the subordination of women, because under this law of the rural jungle, the role of women was further diminished.

This Song-dynasty podao was in truth the Colt of later-day America!

Was not podao technique the same principle as the American quick-draw?

If the Manchu Qing had been born into this age, could thirty or forty thousand men have hoped to seize the Central Plains?

I fear they would never even have crossed the Yellow River before the powerful families and common people of Hebei and Hedong beat them to death.

The same applies to the Khitan. Unless Yelu Deguang can suppress the Khitan from top to bottom, make them transform from barbarians to civilized men in an extremely short time, shave off their topknots, and end the tribal system, he absolutely cannot gain a firm footing in the Central Plains.

At this thought, Zhang Zhao turned to Li Shengtian and smiled.

"Thank you, Uncle, for your guidance. Then your nephew will remain here a while longer, and in the meantime summon the tribes north and south of the Zheroman Mountains and the Gold Mountains to come to the near sea and pay homage!"

The Zheroman Mountains were the Tianshan, and the Gold Mountains were the Altai.

Zhang Zhao had originally not intended to convene the tribes of Anxi and Beiting at this time; he wanted to return to Liangzhou as quickly as possible.

But under Li Shengtian's guidance, he cast off his worries about the Khitan and turned instead to establishing his title of Khagan.

Seeing that Zhang Zhao had finally come around, Li Shengtian laughed as well.

"How many men does your uncle need to send? Otherwise some tribes may not send anyone!"

"Please send four thousand elite cavalry, Uncle! I will have Bai Congxin, Murong Xinzhang, Li Cunhui, and Huang Yingda strike out on four routes, and then they will certainly come."

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