Chapter 680: Jiannan Sichuan and the Three Prefecture Chieftains

Just as Pei Yuan and Yin Zhengqi were coordinating with each other to tighten military discipline, Feng Dao sought out Mu Zhaoyi and Li Hao, the representatives of the Later Shu civil officials.

Li Hao had originally served as Yin Zhengqi's advisor, but after returning to Chengdu, Li Hao was mercilessly mocked by everyone in Shu, and that old allusion about the family that had produced surrender memorials for generations was naturally pinned on Li Hao.

Moreover, Yin Zhengqi was busy tightening military discipline and had no time to attend to the feelings of civil officials like Li Hao, which caused these Shu civil officials, who had originally wanted to come out and serve the new dynasty, to shrink back again in the end.

Now Feng Dao, as the leader of the literary world under Heaven, was naturally the best person for such matters, for among men of letters, reputation was still greatly valued.

Feng Dao first took the initiative to call upon Li Hao and Mu Zhaoyi in person, putting on a full show of deference, and afterward held a grand banquet in the Later Shu palace, the Xuanhua Palace, inviting famous scholars from all over Shu to attend.

In the warmth of wine and conversation, Feng Dao brought out Zhang Zhao's imperial edict and announced that ten men would be selected from among the Shu literati to take part in the compilation, proposed by Pei Yuan and led by Feng Dao and Sun Guangxian, of the state histories of the four dynasties — the Great Tang, Zhu Liang, the Later Tang, and the false Shi Jin — as well as the local gazetteers of the three states of Nanping, Ma Chu, and Meng Shu, plus Hexi, Longyou, Anxi, and Beiting.

Of course, most importantly, this grand gathering of literary culture was also preparing to hold a great debate in the divine capital, Luoyang.

They would discuss the schools of Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, and Daoism, and discuss the religions of Buddhism, Daoism, Manichaeism, the Daqin faith, the Dashi faith, and others.

Feng Dao also announced at the banquet that the court would establish a Jixia Academy in the Jinshan Palace on Mount Beimang in Luoyang, emulating Duke Huan of Qi, and would invite all men of talent and learning under Heaven to the Jixia Academy to exchange ideas and speak freely.

At the same time, schools of speculative debate would be opened in five places in Shu: Chengdu Prefecture, Zizhou, Bazhou, Fuzhou, and Kuizhou.

The talented and learned men of Shu would jointly recommend those of ability to travel to the Central Plains for study, and all their food and lodging expenses would be borne by the court.

Compared with the Central Plains, because Meng Chang had always pursued a policy of suppressing the power of the Military Governors just as Zhang Zhao did, the status of the literati in Shu was in fact equal to that of the military men, or even slightly higher.

It was just that Meng Chang's method of suppressing the military men was still very different from Zhang Zhao's.

Zhang Zhao achieved it by constantly changing the political structure, intermarrying with the military men on a large scale, and granting titles of nobility, military rank offices, and prime farmland.

But Meng Chang had actually taken the path of Li Cunxu, directly using his personal confidants to replace the Military Governors in wielding power, and as for Military Governors who refused to obey, he simply killed them.

And for the most part, he lured people into the palace and hacked them to death, which had quite a bit of the flavor of Kang Mazi's spiritual communion.

This was also, in fact, the primary reason why the combat strength of the Shu army collapsed in this timeline and in history several decades later.

If the Lord of Meng did not take the soldiers seriously, why should the soldiers give their lives for the Lord of Meng?

At the time, when Zhang Zhao received in Chang'an the report on the situation in Shu sent by Yin Zhengqi and Ma Zhaoyuan, he directly burst out laughing.

He, Sage Zhang, held so many "weapons" for suppressing military men, and yet he still operated with the utmost caution, from time to time even strengthening some military men's power, playing at a wave-like decline.

Meng Chang's Shu state already had weak military fortune, and he still dared to imitate his former father Li Cunxu — he was simply courting death.

However, it was also thanks to Meng Chang's divine operations that the Shu state, which held the security of mountains and rivers on four sides and had a population of four million, was able to be toppled within ninety days.

At the banquet, when the higher-ranking Later Shu literati heard the news that Zhang Zhao was going to emulate Duke Huan of Qi and establish a Jixia Academy, they were immediately overcome with wild joy.

They had feared that Zhang Zhou would not value culture and education, in which case they would have been in dire straits; now that the Sage in Luoyang also wanted to promote culture and education, they were completely at ease.

At the end of the banquet, Feng Dao raised his wine cup and offered a toast to the Shu literati: "When I left Chang'an, the Sage said that he wished to prosper the great dynasty together with the talents of Shu.

I, Feng, also wish to say to you all: since the decline of the great dynasty, and especially since Wang Jian of the Former Shu carved out his own territory, Shu and the Central Plains have become two states.

But you all should know that since ancient times, carving out territory has been unjust; an unbroken golden chalice is the true path that we scholars pursue.

I only hope that you will set aside the prejudices in your hearts and the foolish loyalty of serving a separatist lord, and offer counsel for the unification of all under Heaven, and serve the Heavenly Dynasty of the Sacred Zhou."

The literati, after all, were more capable than mere military men of accepting the idea of great unity, because this was what Confucianism pursued.

Hearing Feng Dao speak thus, most of the Shu literati, who had originally still felt some estrangement toward the Zhou state, were quickly able to set aside the prejudices in their hearts.

The hall was filled with voices of praise and declarations of resolve, all saying that they had long been loyal in heart to the court and were willing to offer counsel for the court.

There were even thick-skinned ones who recommended themselves on the spot, asking Minister Feng for his patronage.

Pei Yuan listened from behind and gave a cold laugh; beside him, Huang Fei, nicknamed Huang Yang'er, the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrest captain, handed a stack of name lists to Pei Yuan.

These were the first batch of screened names of great clans around Chengdu who had incited the surrendered Shu troops to cause trouble, or even tried to win over Zhou troops to make trouble.

As for the wealth of Shu, apart from the royal Meng clan and the meritorious officials and imperial in-laws of the Shu state, it was the high officials and great clans of Shu who occupied the most territory.

According to the order Zhang Zhao had given Pei Yuan when he set out, at least one-third of these people were to be purged; otherwise Shu could never be made stable.

Those who knew their place would have only their family property purged; those who did not would lose their lives as well.

After roughly glancing over the list and finding no major problems, Pei Yuan had Huang Fei continue the investigation, while he himself met with the veteran Shu generals Zhao Tingyin, Shi Jun, and others to reassure them.

As for the wishes of Zhao Tingyin, Shi Jun, and the others to return to their hometowns in Daibei and Hedong to visit their families, he expressed that he would certainly memorialize the Emperor, and he also relayed Zhang Zhao's decision regarding the disposition of the surrendered Shu troops.

On the eleventh day of the sixth month of the third year of Shaoming of the Sacred Zhou, 948 CE, after the imperial commissioners Pei Yuan and Feng Dao arrived in Shu, the situation in Shu finally stabilized.

After deep consideration, Zhang Zhao added the circuit as an administrative unit to the existing four-tier system of province, prefecture, county, and district.

This was mainly aimed at the complex situation in Shu.

Shu was vast; if Yin Zhengqi alone were left to guard it, he would not be able to manage it all.

If Shu were split into two provinces, it would be even more detrimental to the stability of the people's hearts in Shu and to governance, so adding a circuit made it more convenient to divide and govern.

Zhang Zhao first decided to leave Yin Zhengqi to guard Shu, abolishing the structures of the Shu-Pacification Field Headquarters and the Shu-Quelling Field Headquarters, and replacing them with the establishment of the Jiannan Sichuan Province.

Yin Zhengqi was made Acting Bearer of the Battle-Axe, Commander-in-Chief of all military affairs of the circuits, prefectures, and counties of Jiannan Sichuan, Chief Minister of Jiannan Sichuan Province, and Defense Commissioner of Jiannan Sichuan Province.

Acting Bearer of the Battle-Axe meant that Yin Yaozi held the power of life and death over ordinary civil and military officials.

Commander-in-Chief of all military affairs of the circuits, prefectures, and counties of Jiannan Sichuan meant that the personal armies and imperial guards entering these circuits, prefectures, and counties could all be mobilized by Yin Yaozi.

The post of Defense Commissioner of Jiannan Sichuan Province also gave Yin Yaozi command authority over the province's garrison troops as well as the civilian sworn-follower braves and long-march braves.

One could say that great power was monopolized in his hands.

In addition, Zhang Zhao specially appointed Shen Wenbing, Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to enter Shu as the Administrative Commissioner of Jiannan Sichuan Province, to assist Yin Zhengqi in handling all administrative affairs of the entire province.

At the same time, four circuits were established under Jiannan Sichuan Province.

Among them, the Jiannan West Sichuan Circuit was composed of Qiongzhou (Qionglai), Meizhou (Meishan), Yazhou (Ya'an), Mianzhou (Mianyang), and Zizhou (Santai), with the Pacification Office stationed in Yazhou.

The Jiannan East Sichuan Circuit was composed of Langzhou (Langzhong), Rongzhou (Yibin), Rongzhou (Rongxian), Guozhou (Nanchong), Luzhou, and others, with its seat in Rongzhou.

The Hanzhong Circuit, in addition to the original Hanzhong, also had Lizhou (Guangyuan) and other places assigned to it, with Xingyuan Prefecture as the seat of the Pacification Office.

The remaining territory, including the entirety of later Chongqing Municipality plus the two cities of Bazhong and Dazhou in Sichuan, formed the Ningjiang Circuit, with the Pacification Office stationed in Kuizhou, the former seat of the Meng Shu Ningjiang Army Military Governor.

Doing this not only allowed the pacification commissioners of the four circuit Pacification Offices to share Yin Zhengqi's administrative burden, enabling the new dynasty's orders to reach more deeply into the grassroots, but also allowed them to suppress all four directions.

Having divided the circuits, Zhang Zhao changed Yazhou to Ya'an Prefecture, and appointed Cui Huxin, who was from Liangzhou, as Pacification Commissioner of the Jiannan West Sichuan Circuit, Governor of Ya'an Prefecture, and Military Supervisor of Ya'an Prefecture.

He ordered him to use the resources of more than half of the Chengdu Plain to pacify the surrounding barbarian natives, to preside over the work of the Six Dharma Sect entering western and northern Sichuan, and to guard against a counterattack by the old Tibetan nobility on the plateau and the various lamas against the Six Dharma Sect.

The old name of Nanxi in Rongzhou (Yibin) was restored, and it was called Nanxi Prefecture.

Guo Rong was appointed Pacification Commissioner of the Eastern Sichuan Circuit of Jiannan, Governor of Nanxi Prefecture, and Military Supervisor of the Nanxi Prefecture troops, and was ordered to continue expanding the salt mine operations in Rongzhou, north of Nanxi Prefecture.

In fact, Gongjing County in Rongzhou already had large salt wells left from the Han dynasty, such as the Fushi Well and the Dagong Well, but Zhang Zhao knew that much more remained undeveloped.

Because this place was Yibin in later times; after the Yuan dynasty, Yibin's salt industry was able to supply all four provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, and Guizhou, and even gave rise to a salt-gang cuisine within Sichuan cooking—it was by no means limited to its present scale.

Zhang Zhao believed that as long as Guo Rong developed the salt mines of later Zigong, this place would immediately prosper.

At the same time, salt, as a strategic resource, could be used to deter and to a certain extent control the Kingdom of Dali to the south; one must know that the Kingdom of Dali at this time was extremely short of salt.

Moreover, Zhang Zhao was also preparing to throw Pei Yuan's eldest son Pei Quanli, his own two sons Zhang Xiancun and Zhang Xianyu, and the little black bear Zhang Liechao and the rest, all into Nanxi Prefecture.

Let them get a good tempering; I, Sage Zhang, will not simply wave a jade axe and give up western Sichuan, northern Sichuan, and Yunnan.

At the same time, stationing the Pacification Commission headquarters of the Ningjiang Circuit in remote Kuizhou was precisely at Guo Wei's request.

At present, Guo Que'er had basically pacified all the recalcitrant forces throughout the Hunan province and was preparing to begin developing the land of western Hunan.

Zhang Zhao established the Ningjiang Circuit in Kuizhou precisely so that the resources of this large region could be used to develop the areas of northern Guizhou and western Hunan to the south.

And Zhang Zhao also assigned Guo Wei a good helper: he appointed Zhe Deyi as Pacification Commissioner of the Ningjiang Circuit, Prefect of Kuizhou, and Military Supervisor of the Kuizhou Prefecture troops.

There was just one problem here: Zhe Deyi had originally been a Chief Minister in Shuofang Province, but in Jiannan-Sichuan he was only a Pacification Commissioner.

The man already had battle merit; not promoting him would have been one thing, but actually demoting him was surely indefensible.

So Zhang Zhao could only adopt the method of a high rank paired with a low post, adding Zhe Deyi as a Palace Attendant, while at the same time settling Zhe Deyi's own Yong'an Garrison of the imperial guard in place locally.

And he promised that after northern Guizhou and western Hunan's various peoples were stabilized, a suitable candidate from the Zhe family would be selected to serve as Pacification Envoy in northern Guizhou—in effect, a native chieftain.

As for the Hanzhong Circuit, Zhang Zhao simply let Erzhu Jing, who had rendered great service, remain in office.

He also changed Xingyuan Prefecture to Hanzhong Prefecture, appointing Erzhu Jing as Pacification Commissioner of the Hanzhong Circuit, Governor of Hanzhong Prefecture, and Military Supervisor of the Hanzhong Prefecture troops.

Having the Hanzhong Circuit encompass Jianzhou, where Jianmen Pass was located, and Lizhou, where Yang'an Pass was located, was precisely to prevent military rebellion or separatist rule from arising again in Shu.

As long as Jianmen Pass and Hanzhong were both under court control, no matter how Shu fell into chaos, it would be useless.

Although it was already the sixth month, the cold wind of northwestern Sichuan still howled and swept in all directions, blowing the snow grit from the high mountains down into the valleys, then mixing it with the damp dust of the ground and whirling it everywhere.

The moment Pei Yuan opened his mouth, this icy, earthy smell immediately poured into it, sending Sage Zhang's trusted confidant into a fit of heart-rending coughing.

"Duke, not far ahead is Songzhou City. The several dozen great and small chieftains and headmen of the Qingtang, Western Qiang, Black Yi, and White Yi from the three prefectures of Song, Wei, and Fu are all waiting in the city for Your Grace's arrival."

The speaker was Zhe Buzhi, eldest son of Zhe Bu Jiashi, Governor and Military Supervisor of Tianshui Prefecture. Ever since the great Tibetan clans of the three prefectures of Song, Wei, and Fu had shown interest in submitting, Zhe Buzhi had, under the monastic title of Liangzhou Chief Buddhist Superintendent of the Six Dharma Sect of Hexi, begun making contact with the headmen of the three prefectures.

No sooner had he spoken than the long, drawn-out sound of ox horns rang out among the mountains.

Before long, the elite cavalry of the Right Yulin Guard escorting Pei Yuan had just formed a defensive formation when a large force appeared in the distant valley, suddenly advancing under a host of multicolored banners.

It turned out that the several dozen headmen and chieftains of the three prefectures had actually come out of Songzhou City to welcome them.

The welcoming party was extremely large, numbering at least several hundred people.

As soon as they drew near, Pei Yuan looked at Li Cunhui, signaling him to stand down the alert.

Because everyone in the approaching party wore Tibetan-style loose robes with wide sleeves, and many even had strips of brocade piled all over their bodies; even the guards wore no armor, but instead had one or two strips of colored silk cloth wrapped around them.

Wearing no armor naturally meant they harbored no other intentions; they had indeed come to welcome him.

Li Cunhui waved his hand, and the drum and horn players of the Right Yulin Guard immediately sounded the welcoming horn as well, then struck up the drum music that symbolized the Celestial Court of the Central Plains.

Hearing the horn, the elite cavalry of each command donned their ceremonial battle robes and cloaks in the four colors of great red, deep purple, gold, and silver-white, and took up ceremonial swords, spears, axes, and battle-axes, looking thoroughly awe-inspiring.

The two sides first exchanged identification through messengers, and after identities were confirmed, the several dozen chieftains and headmen, escorted by their sons, nephews, or personal attendants, came before the imperial envoy.

Pei Yuan lightly pressed his horse's flanks and was the first to ride out, with Zhang Zhao and Zhang Cheng beside him.

Both men carried round shields hidden on their persons; at the slightest sign of trouble, they could immediately protect Pei Yuan and withdraw.

At the same time, the thirty divine archers of the Hanshan Command behind them all held divine-arm crossbows in hand, ready at any moment to strike first.

But there was not the slightest mishap; the several dozen Tibetan, Western Qiang, Black Yi, and White Yi headmen and chieftains, with the help of a few Han merchants who moved among the three prefectures such as Songzhou acting as interpreters, came forward one after another to pay their respects.

However, they merely paid their respects; they did not prostrate themselves in homage.

This gave Pei Yuan a small twinge of regret, so he narrowed his slender eyes slightly and, with the hand behind his back, made a gesture toward Li Cunhui.

Li Cunhui understood instantly and immediately ordered the signalman beside him to wave the red triangular pennant three times—this was the signal to fire the pear-blossom guns.

'Boom! Boom! Boom!' Dozens of thunderous reports, accompanied by golden flames, scared the souls out of the chieftains and headmen of the various peoples before Pei Yuan in this cold, howling dawn.

They were not by nature a timid lot, but they truly had never seen a fire-powder gun—er, or perhaps one should call it a firework.

Moreover, with the spread of the Six Dharma Sect, many of them actually believed that a true deity had appeared in the Han lands, so they had no doubt that this was the sublime sorcery of that Han deity.

In an instant, several hundred people threw themselves to the ground, and some of the more devout even kowtowed on the spot, chanting the scriptures of the Six Dharma Sect.

Pei Yuan was thoroughly delighted; had the occasion been appropriate, he would very much have liked to laugh aloud three times.

At the same time, Pei Yuan felt sorry for Feng Dao. Before Feng Dao had even reached Songzhou, he had been stricken with splitting headaches and flushed cheeks, and had fallen ill outright, forcing him to return to Yazhou.

Even during the Great Tang period, the Tibetans and Western Qiang of Songzhou and the other places had never been as submissive as they were now.

For a Confucian scholar with a strong desire to expand the realm, to be unable to come and enjoy such a scene was indeed a great pity.

With a mixture of regret and a sense of accomplishment, Pei Yuan rode at the head, advancing through the midst of the kowtowing chieftains and headmen of the three prefectures, with a large retinue of eminent monks and great worthies in Six Dharma Sect robes following behind.

Amid wave after wave of Buddhist chanting, several Han interpreters shouted at the top of their lungs in excitement.

"Luozhi of Songzhou in Great Tibet, leading the chieftains of all the tribes, respectfully welcomes the imperial envoy of the court and the Rinpoche of the Six Dharma Sect into Songzhou City!"

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