Chapter 651: The Man Who Pacified Nanzhong Anew After Seven Hundred Years

Having handed the entire governance of Hunan over to Guo Wei, Zhang Zhao truly did not interfere any further.

Pacifying the people of Tanzhou, allocating grain, isolating those sick with dysentery, restoring order in the city, and even rebuilding the grassroots government offices of Tanzhou — Zhang Zhao left all of it alone.

I, Sage Zhang, am presently busy gathering up the few talents that Ma Chu still possesses.

Among the Eighteen Scholars of the Tian Ce Prefecture from the era of Ma Yin through Ma Xifan, the only ones who could truly be called learned were Tuoba Heng, Li Honggao, Li Hongjie, He Zhongju, Liao Kuangtu, and Xu Zhongya.

Of these, the brothers Li Honggao and Li Hongjie had already been killed by Ma Xi'e. He Zhongju and Liao Kuangtu had long since submitted to Zhang Zhao. The only ones who had not yet come over were Tuoba Heng and Xu Zhongya.

Of the first two, He Zhongju had the talent of a regional administrator, a thoroughly qualified local governor, fully capable of serving as a province's Chief Minister. Liao Kuangtu was accomplished in both civil and military affairs and could serve as a border garrison commander.

Of the remaining two, after Zhang Zhao summoned Xu Zhongya and spoke with him at length, he discovered that this man's abilities were very similar to those of the brothers Li Honggao and Li Hongjie, who had been killed by Ma Xi'e.

In administrative affairs he was merely ordinary, and in military matters he was even less versed, but in drafting documents, composing edicts on another's behalf, and establishing rites, music, and institutions he had extraordinary ability. He was a thoroughly qualified Hanlin Academician and Drafter of Edicts.

As for Tuoba Heng, he was a man of very great ability — a conclusion Zhang Zhao had reached even before meeting him.

For whether it was a Jingnan minister like Sun Guangxian, or Ma Chu ministers like Liao Kuangtu, Zhang Shaodi, and He Zhongju, all held this view.

Even when leading the army south, Feng Dao had told Zhang Zhao to his face that Ma Chu's Tuoba Heng was a talent fit for a king's left hand.

This was because in years past Tuoba Heng had accompanied Ma Xifan to the eastern capital Luoyang to pay court to Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang, and Feng Dao had thus come to know something of Tuoba Heng.

Tuoba Heng's original surname was Yuan; he changed it to Tuoba to avoid the taboo on Ma Yin's father, Ma Yuanfeng.

Er — that doesn't seem quite right. It should be said that he was of the Tuoba surname to begin with.

In any case, after much wandering, this descendant of the Tuoba Xianbei had, at the end of the Tang, changed back to Tuoba, a surname of such special significance.

This man had followed Ma Yin as an aide even before Ma Yin entered Hunan. After Ma Yin founded his state, he became the de facto chancellor, with the title of Puye.

In Ma Xifan's time, Ma Chu abolished its state institutions, and Tuoba Heng's Puye became a Tuiguan, but he remained the chief administrator of Chu's government and became the foremost of the Eighteen Scholars.

After Ma Yin's death, Tuoba Heng continued to assist the brothers Ma Xisheng and Ma Xifan.

However, by the latter part of Ma Xifan's reign, the ruler grew increasingly extravagant, overturning the state policy of light corvée and low taxes to restore the economy that Tuoba Heng had designed for him, and because of Tuoba Heng's unceasing remonstrances, he swore never to see him again.

But Ma Xifan did not strip Tuoba Heng of all his power, because he still knew who it was that kept Ma Chu standing.

So when Ma Xifan fell critically ill, he immediately summoned Tuoba Heng and entrusted all of Ma Chu and Ma Xiguang to him.

It was only that Ma Xifan had chosen his moment too late — or perhaps he had not expected to die of illness so quickly — with the result that Tuoba Heng, having received the charge, had not yet had time to seize power before Ma Chu's most critical moment of decision arrived.

Although Ma Xifan's dying command was that his younger brother by the same mother, Ma Xiguang, succeed him, Tuoba Heng, Zhang Shaodi, Yuan Yougong, and others still advised enthroning Ma Xi'e, in order to avert civil strife in Ma Chu.

But they could not prevail over Li Honggao, who held the real power, and in the end this calamity came to pass.

This was not because Tuoba Heng lacked talent; it was precisely because he had talent, but Ma Xisheng and Ma Xifan were neither of them capable rulers, and instead found the correct-minded Tuoba Heng irritating, so that Tuoba Heng was never able to put his abilities to use.

Zhang Zhao asked Tuoba Heng for his strategy to stabilize Ma Chu, and Tuoba Heng answered fluently, as if of one mind with Zhang Zhao, proposing to continue the policies of Ma Yin's era, to take back the powers of the various yabing guards, and to turn instead to governance by civil officials.

Looking across the whole realm, although this is an age of military men, the places where the scourge of soldiers rising against their lords is most severe are in truth only a few houses: the Central Plains, Qian Yue, and Wang Min.

Meng Shu, the Southern Tang, and Ma Chu had a foundation for civil governance, because in these three states the yabing guards were not especially rampant, and civil officials held considerable power from the center down to the localities.

Of course, this also meant that the fighting strength of these three states' armies was far inferior to that of the Central Plains court, where the military men ran rampant.

Seeing that Tuoba Heng had talent, Zhang Zhao then revealed to him the native-official system he had designed.

But unlike Sage Zhang's full expectation that Tuoba Heng would completely approve, Tuoba Heng did indeed praise the native-official system highly, yet he held no expectation that it could be implemented right now.

Facing Zhang Zhao's self-satisfaction, Tuoba Heng sat upright on a brocade stool, amid the ruins of the Nine Dragons Hall that still leaked wind and rain from time to time, and said to Zhang Zhao.

"Your Majesty's native-official system must have drawn on the Later Han's strategy of pacifying the southwestern barbarians, but it is too lenient, and without military force as its foundation, it is like duckweed without roots.

Think back over these several hundred years: the man most successful at settling the various barbarians and governing the lands of Nanzhong was none other than Zhuge Wuning.

In the era of the Shu Han, he personally led a great army to pacify Nanzhong, appointed members of the great local clans as officials, and enabled Shu Han to obtain in full the soldiers, wealth, and goods of Nanzhong, steadying the state of Shu after the catastrophic defeat of Emperor Zhaolie at Xiaoting. His merit could not be greater."

Zhang Zhao laughed heartily, then looked at Tuoba Heng with some puzzlement. "Since you know that Zhuge Kongming pacified Nanzhong by this very method — using lenient measures to win over the barbarian chieftain Meng Huo and the others, then appointing the local barbarian chieftains as officials, after which Nanzhong never rebelled again — does that not precisely prove that my native-official system is effective?"

"Who told Your Majesty these things? This is a crime of deceiving the Son of Heaven, and deserves beheading!"

No sooner had Zhang Zhao's words fallen than Tuoba Heng on the brocade stool suddenly blazed with fury. He sprang to his feet and shouted sternly, his voice and expression both severe.

But immediately, Tuoba Heng realized he had lost his composure.

This was not Ma Chu, and the man before him was not the Martial and Solemn King Ma Yin who trusted him, but the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains, whom he was meeting for the very first time.

And so after his outburst, Tuoba Heng at once prostrated himself on the ground in terror.

"Your servant has been insolent, committing a breach of decorum before the throne. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Zhang Zhao was stunned by Tuoba Heng's shout, and inwardly began to understand why Ma Xifan had not employed Tuoba Heng.

This man had learning, but he was upright to a fault, too rigid, hot-tempered, and not pleasant to listen to. A ruler without a certain breadth of tolerance could not bear a subject of this sort.

Of course, what kind of man am I, Sage Zhang? I am an enlightened sovereign for the ages! He could certainly bear it.

And what Zhang Zhao was even more curious about was: he had not said anything wrong just now, had he? Why had Tuoba Heng reacted so strongly?

Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo seven times and released him seven times, finally winning him over, and Nanzhong never rebelled again. Even in later ages, the minority peoples of Yunnan still made offerings to Chancellor Zhuge. Was that not correct?

"Rise, rise! I have never punished a man for his words. Tell me, why did you just now say someone should be beheaded?"

Since he was curious, he naturally had to ask for the answer, so Zhang Zhao quickly told the prostrate Tuoba Heng to rise.

Tuoba Heng sat back down on the brocade stool. Perhaps knowing how dangerous his rashness just now had been, he now appeared more restrained, but also more like a subject in audience with his sovereign.

"This commoner lost his composure just now because everything Your Majesty said was erroneous, and I at once felt that someone had deliberately deceived Your Majesty."

It seemed that what he had said was indeed somewhat wrong, but no one had certainly deceived Zhang Zhao. If one insisted there was someone, then it would be Luo Guanzhong and the director of the CCTV Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Of course, at this time Luo Guanzhong would not appear for several hundred more years, and CCTV was even more out of the question. Zhang Zhao could not blame these people, nor could he name them.

So Zhang Zhao thought for a moment, then said to Tuoba Heng: "I read it in the Huayang Guo Zhi. Could there be errors in it?"

At this, Tuoba Heng's eyebrows shot up, and he looked ready to erupt again, but he immediately restrained himself, then coughed somewhat awkwardly before speaking to Zhang Zhao.

"Chang Qu was a great talent of Shu. But in his later years, writing history was not his original intent. It was because, despite the great merit of persuading Li Shi, ruler of Cheng Han, to surrender to the Jin, he met with discrimination and exclusion from the southern émigré clans of the Jin court, and with no hope in office, he returned to write history.

He had great merit but no generous reward, and his heart was full of resentment. Therefore, in the Huayang Guo Zhi's Records of Shu, Records of Nanzhong, Book of Li, and so on, although he trimmed the excesses and filled the gaps in the history of the southwest,

many of the records contain words of praise for the regimes and talents of Shu. Your Majesty may read this book as history and as a record of local customs, but if you accept all of it as true without reflection, then you will be in error."

Well then! Tuoba Heng had spoken with restraint, but to Zhang Zhao's ears, it was practically pointing at his nose and saying he read books without thinking or discernment.

Sage Zhang took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the small bit of displeasure in his heart.

Sure enough, being a sage ruler who humbly accepts remonstrance is no easy task.

You'd have to be the kind of tyrant who sentences anyone criticizing him to his face to five years or more of fixed-term imprisonment.

Anyone who submits a memorial criticizing me gets three years or less of fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention, public surveillance, or deprivation of political rights.

And anyone who slanders me in the marketplace or court, whose words reach my ears, gets fifteen days or less of administrative detention — now that's the kind of tyrant who's most comfortable to be around.

Honestly, lately I've been using a source-switching app to read and follow updates — source switching, multiple reading voices, works on Android and iOS.

Fine. Sage Zhang managed to put on a smile tinged with a bit of surprise.

"I rose from the northwest, and in my youth I read little. So whenever I had books to read, I could only seize the time and read them quickly — indeed I lacked discernment. Quickly, tell me: where exactly does the Huayang Guozhi go wrong?"

Zhang Zhao's response actually made Tuoba Heng feel embarrassed. He was deeply moved too — he had not expected the Emperor to love reading so much, to be so magnanimous, and to respect scholars so highly. He was instantly and profoundly touched.

"Your Majesty is truly a genuine lord of men! I am but a latecomer of shallow learning, and I would not presume to say that Chang Qu, Chang Daojiang's, magnificent work contains any errors.

But when Your Majesty just said that King Zhuge Wuning pacified Nanzhong with benevolent governance and that Nanzhong never rebelled again — that is indeed somewhat inaccurate."

"Speak, then!" Zhang Zhao waved his hand grandly. As long as someone was correcting his errors, Sage Zhang was absolutely welcoming.

And inwardly he felt a small measure of relief — good thing he hadn't brought up the "seven captures and seven releases" earlier, or he'd have been torn apart.

Tuoba Heng cupped his hands, cleared his throat, and said: "Your Majesty, when King Zhuge Wuning pacified Nanzhong in those days, he did not actually practice benevolent governance. On the contrary, he used thunderous measures.

He divided his forces into three routes, pressed and killed the rebel leaders Yong Kai, Zhu Bao, and others. Every rebel general and mutinous commoner he encountered was exterminated without exception. There was not the slightest trace of conciliation.

After the rebellion was largely quelled, he established the Pingyi Laijiang Area Command in Nanzhong to garrison it. He opened up Nanzhong's mineral deposits on a grand scale, collected the wealth and goods of every commandery, and recruited the brave and fierce men of Nanzhong to form the Wudang Flying Army. He took everything Nanzhong had, and Shu Han's annual revenue increased by at least thirty percent.

Because of this, the people of Nanzhong suffered bitterly. No sooner had King Zhuge Wuning returned north than rebellion erupted again.

That is why I say Your Majesty's belief that Shu Han conciliated Nanzhong and that Nanzhong never rebelled again is incorrect."

"So that's how it is." Zhang Zhao stroked his chin. "Zhuge Kongming did not practice benevolent governance, and the various peoples of Nanzhong still resisted. Then how did Shu Han ensure that Nanzhong was firmly held?"

In truth, once one reached the position Zhang Zhao now occupied, benevolent governance had become something that could be switched on and off as needed.

So what interested him most was what inspiration he could draw from Zhuge Liang's pacification of Nanzhong.

Tuoba Heng, seated on the brocade stool, cupped his hands again and said: "Shu Han's pacification of Nanzhong employed no more than six strategies.

First, strike the rebels with thunderous measures — kill their backbone, capture their followers, never show the slightest mercy — so that even if they rebel, they can never become a prairie fire.

Second, treat the various peoples of Nanzhong differently: strike the disobedient barbarian tribes, and put the Han great clans of Nanzhong to important use.

Take Meng Huo, for example — he was no barbarian chieftain. In fact, the Meng clan was a great Han clan of Nanzhong. Shu Han employed them heavily, and distributed the captured tribesmen among these great Han clans to be controlled separately.

Third, recruit all the brave and fierce men of Nanzhong's various peoples, binding them to one's side with high office and generous pay for one's own use — such as the Wudang Flying Army.

Fourth, summon the talented and learned men of the great Han clans to serve in the central government.

Fifth, establish commanderies and counties in Nanzhong, promote culture and education, and spread the great Way of the sages, so that their hearts turn toward the Central Plains civilization.

Sixth, widen the post roads, connecting Nanzhong to the Han heartland, strengthening ties and making it convenient to suppress rebellion at any time.

With these six strategies, even though Shu Han was constrained by the great enterprise of the northern expeditions and could only act hastily, it still made the various barbarian tribes of Nanzhong unable to resist, able only to have their fat and marrow used by Shu Han.

Your Majesty now follows Heaven's will and the people's hearts. If you employ these six strategies together with the native-official system, you shall be the great sage lord who, after Shu Han, settles Nanzhong once more for all under Heaven."

Zhang Zhao rose abruptly. He had long felt that the "seven captures and seven releases of Meng Huo" and the idea of "winning hearts first" were somewhat simplistic.

After all, the various peoples of Nanzhong governed themselves — why would they want to find themselves a father? You come knocking on their door and then try to win their hearts? Win my ass!

It had to be: first beat them into submission, exploit them, make them afraid to resist — and only then bestow favors.

From this, Zhang Zhao also noticed another phenomenon: the great native chieftains of later-era Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Chongqing.

For example, the founder of the Xie clan chieftaincy of the Zangke barbarians — that is, Xie Xian, the ancestor of the present-day Xie clan of Guizhou.

Though called a native chieftain, he was actually from Dancheng County in Hebei. He was sent by Wang Mang to administer the Guizhou region, and was finally enfeoffed as a native official by the central court.

Peng Shichou of the Yongshun Peng clan chieftaincy was from Jizhou in Jiangxi.

Tian Xianzong, ancestor of the Tian clan chieftaincy of Sizhou, was from Lantian in Shaanxi, and went to the region during the Kaihuang era of the Sui dynasty.

Yang Duan, ancestor of the Yang clan of Bozhou, was from Taiyuan in Shanxi.

Ma Dinghu, ancestor of the Ma clan chieftaincy of Shizhu — the family Qin Liangyu married into — entered Shu during the Jianyan era of the Southern Song, claimed descent from Ma Yuan, and was from Fufeng in Shaanxi.

Examples like these are too numerous to list. Those famous great chieftain clans almost all have a Han ancestor.

Though some of these claims are fabricated attachments, it cannot be denied that this reflects the general trend of people's hearts and the influence of culture.

Why, in later ages, did the various ethnic compatriots of the southwest get along with the Han as harmoniously as one family? This subtle, gradual influence — this policy of step-by-step permeation — deserves no small credit.

At the present time, such a policy may seem somewhat cruel, but for the formation of a unified Chinese nation, its contribution is undeniable, and later generations have likewise benefited.

But at this thought, Zhang Zhao suddenly clapped his hands with a sharp crack, looking utterly dejected.

"A pity! How infuriating! The strategy exists, but I cannot use it now!"

Tuoba Heng's eyes lit up, and he praised him again: "Your Majesty is truly a sage lord! What I feared most was that Your Majesty would want to use this native-official strategy now — because the time has not yet come.

The barbarian chieftains west of Lake Dongting, such as the Peng clan, have not yet been subdued. To enfeoff them as native officials now would likely backfire.

If, ten years from now, all under Heaven is settled, and the native-official system is then used to control them, Nanzhong can return to the nation! Even the territory of the Tonghai Army Military Governor can be recovered."

The Tonghai Army Military Governor — that was the Kingdom of Dali. The Duan clan of Dali rose to power precisely by being enfeoffed as Tonghai Army Military Governor by the Later Jin.

"Then for now, how should Peng Shichou and the others be handled?" Zhang Zhao finally asked.

Tuoba Heng looked at Zhang Zhao and said in a clear voice: "Your Majesty may follow the old precedent of Ma Xifan — nurture them with favor and generous rewards. Once all under Heaven is settled, those who can return to the nation and understand the greater good may be permanently established as native officials. Those who fail to recognize Heaven's timing can be conveniently pacified."

"Good!" Zhang Zhao also shouted. He had originally planned to wait for Peng Shichou and then have Guo Wei go and win over the various barbarian tribes. But now it seemed Tuoba Heng's suggestion was more appropriate.

He would return to the Central Plains immediately, unify all under Heaven as quickly as possible, then come back to settle the northern steppe and conciliate the southern barbarians.

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