Chapter 727: Where Does the Fate of the Khitan Lie?

In Kedun City, inside a rather large but very crude room, the flames of pine-oil torches flickered unceasingly, casting the hall in a sinister atmosphere of shifting light and shadow.

Yelu Pode sat in the center, and on the low table before him lay a whole roasted fat sheep, weighing no less than twenty or thirty jin.

Besides the whole roast sheep, there were also several plates of sliced wild onions, apples, and snow pears to cut the grease, as well as a bowl of sauce for added flavor.

Fine wine was of course indispensable. Yelu Pode took a great gulp, and his eyebrows practically flew up in delight.

"Khotan purple wine worth a thousand in gold! This is tribute goods — the Son of Heaven is truly generous."

Across from Yelu Pode, Yelu Xiuge — who had now become Sage Zhang's adopted son — and Yelu Pode's own adopted son Yelu Xidi sat watching Yelu Pode eat and drink heartily with pained expressions.

"Lord De, since the Sage intends to spare your life, why must you seek death? We have fought in bloody battle to this day; we have already done right by the Khitan nation."

Yelu Xiuge fell silent for a moment, then could not help speaking up to persuade him. In his view, Yelu Pode truly did not need to die.

Yelu Pode also fell silent for a moment. Only after a long while did he tear a leg from the roast sheep on the low table and begin gnawing at it.

No one spoke. They all waited until Yelu Pode had finished the leg of mutton and drunk another bowl of purple wine. Only then did he let out a long sigh and speak.

"If one could live, who would wish to die? Xiuge, you are now the Emperor's adopted son. You must take note of how this Shaoming Sage differs from other emperors."

Yelu Xiuge immediately cupped his hands in salute. At the fact that he had gone from a prisoner to the Emperor's adopted son, he still felt somewhat dazed even now.

What? You speak of national enmity and family hatred.

Don't joke. Never mind Yelu Xiuge, a man from beyond the frontier accustomed to clinging to powerful thighs — even a man of the Central Plains educated in orthodox Confucianism, faced with such an opportunity to spiral upward from his station, would surely kneel and kowtow.

Then are there people who would rather die than surrender, who can hold fast to the righteousness in their hearts?

There are! That would be Wen Tianxiang, Duke Wenzhonglie.

At the very least, one would need the character of the Three Loyalists of Lingnan — Zhang Jiayu, Chen Bangyan, Chen Zizhuang. Ordinary people cannot achieve that.

So Yelu Xiuge had long since mentally knelt in surrender, though he barely kept his face composed. Now, hearing that Yelu Pode had insights to impart, he immediately held his breath and listened attentively.

Seeing Yelu Xiuge like this, Yelu Pode felt reassured. Henceforth, no matter what became of the Khitan people as a group, his adopted son Yelu Xidi and his clansmen would have someone to protect them.

Feeling considerably more at ease, he spoke: "From ancient times to the present, among the emperors of every dynasty, many have been called heroes. Our Khitan people's founding ancestor, the Ascended-to-Heaven Emperor, and Emperor Li of the Zhuang Temple could both be counted as heroic rulers.

Such mighty rulers also spoke of diligent governance and loving the people, of benevolence and virtue. But when it came to action, they cared nothing for the lives of the common folk below. As long as a matter could be accomplished, no matter how many died, those people were no more than ants in their eyes."

As he spoke, Yelu Pode drew a breath. "This Shaoming Son of Heaven alone — I have seen it clearly — he truly wishes to treat the common people below better.

In all his actions, if harm might come to ordinary folk, he is invariably cautious and hesitant. Sometimes he would rather take a detour and suffer loss himself than bring disaster upon even a single farmer or tenant.

This is a true lord of men, a lord of men like the Great Dynasty's Emperor Taizong Wen."

Yelu Xiuge was still too young. Although historically he was a very capable and renowned minister, at sixteen years of age he could not yet digest what Yelu Pode was saying.

So Yelu Pode gave a bitter smile and said to Yelu Xiuge: "It is fine that you do not understand now. You only need remember that the difference between the Shaoming Son of Heaven and ordinary emperors is this — in time you will understand."

Yelu Xiuge nodded as if he half understood, then looked at Yelu Pode and asked: "But what does this have to do with Lord De having to die?"

Yelu Pode silently drained another great bowl of purple wine. "Although our Khitan rose beyond the frontier, at first we did not come into great conflict with the Central Plains as the Xiongnu and Turks did.

In truth, we were less like a foreign steppe khanate and more like a strange separatist military province left after the collapse of a great dynasty.

There were conflicts with the Central Plains, but they amounted to little — they fought among themselves often enough as well. There were many Han who served our Khitan nation, and many Khitan who served the military provinces of the Han lands.

But after Emperor Li of the Zhuang Temple prepared to enter the Central Plains, all of this changed.

The two great wars between Jin and Liao, and the Battle of Luoyang, were all fought in the Central Plains. The common people of Henan and Hebei who died or suffered because of this numbered in the millions.

Especially the grass-beating raids upon entering the Eastern Capital — that went too far!

Therefore, the soldiers and officers who had followed into the Central Plains back then were either killed by the Zhou people, or tried by the Zhou state and sent to hard labor.

Of the officers who followed Emperor Li of the Zhuang Temple into the Central Plains back then — Yelu Dilie, Xiao Han, Xiao Shilu, and others — even Yelu Wuzhi, the Great Ti Yin and Right Xiangwen whose talent and standing far exceeded mine, died. That wretch Zhao Yanshou was the Shaoming Son of Heaven's in-law through his children, and even he did not survive.

Now I alone remain. Even if the Son of Heaven could pardon me, whenever he saw me in the future, he would always be reminded of the sins our Khitan people committed in years past.

If I do not die, then at some unknown time, I will drag everyone down with me.

Only when I am dead can you, like the the the Shatuo of old, cast off this identity of frontier barbarians and become Han — just as the Xianbei Murong clan and the the the Shatuo Zhuxie clan did."

This, Yelu Xiuge could still understand. Even Yelu Xidi understood the reasoning.

Yelu Pode was using his own life to end an era. Once he was dead, the remaining young generation of Khitan could shed their burden and survive within the great Central Plains dynasty.

The two wept around Yelu Pode for a while longer, then, driven out by Yelu Pode, walked toward the door. Just as they were about to leave the room, Yelu Pode suddenly called out to stop Yelu Xiuge.

"Whether our Khitan people can continue to survive, whether we can become like the the the Shatuo Li clan — that will depend on you."

Yelu Xiuge paused for a moment, then silently nodded.

The the the Shatuo Li clan was able to become Han, to become the imperial clan of a great dynasty, precisely because of the merits of Emperor Wu, Li Keyong, accumulated over generations.

Now that he had become the Emperor's adopted son, whether the Khitan could integrate as the the the Shatuo Li had would have to begin from this identity of his.

After watching the two walk out, Yelu Pode cast one last, deeply reluctant glance at this world, then drew a deep breath. Without the slightest hesitation, he thrust the long dagger in his hand fiercely into the left side of his neck, and just before consciousness vanished completely, he wrenched it hard once more.

Blood sprayed out. A few breaths later, Yelu Pode's massive body collapsed with a thud.

At that moment, a hidden door in the room suddenly opened, and out walked a eunuch dressed in the robes of an inner attendant.

Behind him stood two men recording with brushes — one a scout of the Brocade Guard, the other a clerk of the Central Secretariat's Terrace of Documents.

Even though blood was still flowing from Yelu Pode's neck and the man was beyond any doubt dead, the eunuch first checked for breath, then felt for a pulse. Only after confirming that he was truly dead did he nod and stand up.

"He was a man of understanding after all. A pity — had he not been born Khitan, he could at least have served as a Minister of one of the Six Boards, or a Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs."

"Captain Wang, Clerk Zhang, let us submit the record of this conversation. These Khitan should be usable now."

Snowflakes drifted down one after another. Although they almost melted into mist the moment they touched the ground, it still signaled that winter on the steppe was about to arrive.

It was already the beginning of the tenth month, and the weather had grown quite cold.

Zhang Zhao sighed. When the army had marched beyond the frontier it had still been the eighth month, and to lighten the burden, they had not brought padded winter clothing at all.

The reason they could still hold on now was that most of the Zhou army was equipped with cloth-faced iron armor.

Though it could not compare to padded clothing, it was certainly far better than the iron lamellar armor that was freezing cold to wear, the kind the Protector-General's troops suffered in. This was also what Zhang Zhao relied on to dare continue the eastern campaign after crushing the Zubu people.

But if it got any colder, that would be truly impolite!

The cotton in this cloth-faced iron armor had been pounded solid, and iron plates were attached inside. It looked like a padded greatcoat and seemed able to ward off the cold, but it really could only ward off a tiny bit. In another ten days or so, the army would no longer be able to hold out.

So Zhang Zhao did not linger in Kedun City at all. Instead, he divided the army to pursue the enemy in all directions, while he himself personally led the elite troops to chase the largest group of routed soldiers — it was said that Shulu Ping was among them.

Zhang Zhao gave a cold snort. This time, he would make sure that old crone of an aunt — too stubborn to die — went in peace to join Abaoji.

Eh! Something seems off. She's not his aunt now, but his old sister-in-law!

"Sage, word from the front: the lads of the Hawk Strike Unit have surrounded the fleeing Khitans by a great lake. From a distance they look to number twenty or thirty thousand."

"Sage, scouts from the south report they encountered a force of several hundred riders. After questioning them, they've basically confirmed it's the vanguard officer of the Third Route Army — the Troop Supervisor of Datong Prefecture, the son-in-law of the Zhe clan, Lord of Ganquan."

Zhang Zhao was briefly taken aback. So this Zhe Deyuan really had blundered straight eastward — how had he drifted so far off course?

(End of Chapter)

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