Chapter 730

Inside the dim tent, Shulu Ping sat upright. Suddenly the door curtain was violently flung open.

The two warriors in the tent started to draw their knives, but the moment they saw who had come, they stopped their hands at once, hesitated a moment, then of their own accord withdrew to either side.

The several maidservants attending Shulu Ping also ran to the sides in alarm, prostrating themselves on the ground and not daring to raise their heads.

"Xiao Gan, Xiao Siwen, Yelu Dinian, Han Kuangye, Han Kuangmei — fine! All of you are people close to Us.

Han Kuangsi didn't come, I see. It seems he alone still has a shred of conscience." Shulu Ping seemed to have long known this day would come, and so showed not the slightest alarm.

Han Kuangmei gave a cold chuckle. "The Holy Mother wrongs my elder brother. If he had come too, then who would have lured Boli Yi out to be killed? He is a man the Shaoming Son of Heaven has named for death."

Shulu Ping's face changed color abruptly. Boli Yi, dragged down with her, could be said to be her last support. Without Boli Yi, the hundred thousand people here would collapse at once.

"Your Han clan has received boundless wealth and honor in our Great Khitan, living better than most of the ruling clans themselves. To betray us today with such venom — have you no conscience left at all!"

Han Kuangmei sneered. "What does the Holy Mother take the Khitan state for? Do you imagine that you yourself are the Khitan state?

My Han family has eaten the Great Khitan's salary, but we have also served the Great Khitan faithfully to this day.

Now we are plainly at the end of our rope, yet the Holy Mother still wants to drag everyone down to die with you. Do you really think we can't see it? You know death is certain, and you want to use the lives of these hundred thousand to pin the royal army here by Lake Boli, all to wait for a great blizzard and make them suffer heavy losses!"

Shulu Ping's words had stirred some guilt in a few of them, but Han Kuangmei's words very cleverly shifted the terms, cutting the Khitan state apart from Shulu Ping herself.

Zhao Yanjing, behind Han Kuangmei, also jumped out and shouted, "When the Ascended-to-Heaven Emperor passed away, and you forced more than a hundred Khitan and Han ministers to their deaths, did you know this day would come? If we speak of venom, who is more venomous than you who cut off your own wrist!"

Zhao Yanjing was the son of Zhao Siwen, a famous Han general of the Liao state, and a distant kinsman of Zhao Kuangzan — he could be counted as Zhao Kuangzan's uncle.

He had originally been frightened by Zhang Zhao's execution of Zhao Yanshou and dared not come over, but now with Han Kuangmei building the bridge, Zhao Yanjing and a whole group of Han ministers immediately turned.

In fact, there were quite a few Han ministers around Shulu Ping, all of them staying with her only because they believed Zhang Zhao was going to slaughter every Han minister who had served the Khitan.

Zhao Yanjing's words at once stirred a common hatred. There was no helping it — in the old days, in order to keep holding power after Yelu Abaoji's death, Shulu Ping had killed far too many people.

Most of Yelu Abaoji's trusted confidants had been killed by her, and the Han ministers who had followed Abaoji suffered especially heavy losses. Their descendants naturally bore Shulu Ping a grudge.

They had originally thought Zhang Zhou would not accept them, and so could only follow the road to its dark end. Now that Han Kuangmei had opened a path, they were certainly not willing to die alongside Shulu Ping.

"Why all this talk? Everyone together — the Son of Heaven doesn't want her alive." Han Kuangye gave a cold snort and led the way toward Shulu Ping. The rest followed at once.

Shulu Ping knew death was certain and no longer struggled. She watched coldly as Han Kuangye and the others twisted a white silk cord around her neck, and even as she was strangled until her face turned purple, she only let out a few soft grunts — a picture of sheer ruthlessness.

In the third year of Shaoming, 948 CE, on the seventh day of the tenth month, the Wrist-Severing Empress Dowager Shulu Ping of the Khitan state was strangled to death by the kin and ministers she trusted most, on the shore of Lake Boli.

At the same time, Han Kuangsi led four of the chieftains of the eight Dilie tribes and hacked Boli Yi — whom Zhang Zhao had declared unpardonable — and his three sons to death with a flurry of blades at a banquet.

With this, the matter was at last brought to a perfect resolution.

After Han Kuangsi, Han Kuangmei, Yelu Dinian, Xiao Siwen, and the chieftains of the Dilie tribes kowtowed and begged to surrender, Zhang Zhao issued an edict.

He proclaimed a pardon for all Han people who had served the Khitan, enfeoffed Han Kuangsi as Earl of Khotan and Han Kuangmei as Earl of Fengyi, and granted rewards to all the rest who had surrendered.

On the eighth day of the tenth month, Zhang Zhao ordered the monks of the Six Dharma Sect to hold a great rite on the shore of Lake Boli. Whether great or small chieftain or ordinary herder, anyone willing to convert to the Six Dharma Sect and able to recite, even stumblingly, one of the four great scriptures of the sect would be released at once.

Not only would they not be killed, their original property would be returned, and they would be allowed to return to their homeland to graze. Any who refused would be driven out at once.

The monks of the sangha that Shulu Ping had painstakingly built up to refute the scriptures of the Six Dharma Sect also announced a collective conversion to the Six Dharma Sect, acknowledging the Supreme Heaven's authority to interpret the Dharma in the mortal world.

For Zhang Zhao, whose ambition was to establish a Six Dharma religious region across the entire steppe, these hundred-odd monks were an excellent aid.

After all, the Six Dharma Sect's preaching monks had to go to the steppe, and up onto the plateau, and even out to the river regions — their manpower was nowhere near sufficient.

These monks knew the steppe well, and many were even from the steppe tribes themselves. They could be put to use immediately.

But Zhang Zhao did not intend to use them right away. What Zhang Zhao was considering was that the construction of Chengde Prefecture was now basically complete.

He intended, in the spring of next year, to convene at Chengde Prefecture a great Dharma assembly attended by all the steppe tribes, and put these monks through another round of training.

Then he would also summon all the steppe tribal chieftains and have them honor him as Tengri Khagan — that is, the Heavenly Khagan.

This carried extraordinary significance. Zhang Zhao's current title, Nijue Yinli Khagan, had in fact been conferred by the tribes west of the Yanran Mountains and north and south of the Gold Mountains (the Altai Mountains).

The tribes of the southern and northern deserts and of both sides of the Great Xianbei Mountains had not participated at all.

This time, Zhang Zhao intended to do it all in one stroke — have all the steppe tribes jointly acclaim him and directly take the title of Heavenly Khagan that Emperor Taizong of Tang had once held, becoming the complete form.

The fighting could be considered over, but Zhang Zhao's work had only just begun.

First he summoned Yelu Dinian, Xiao Siwen, and Xiao Gan, and reassured these Khitan nobles who had surrendered last.

These three could all basically be counted as civil officials. This was not surprising, because any Khitan with even a little fighting ability had either been killed by the Zhou army or had directly come over, like Yelu Sizhong. Those remaining were certain to be men of little martial worth.

And it was precisely such Khitans that Zhang Zhao needed.

Because Zhang Zhao could not suddenly produce so many qualified civil officials to take up posts throughout the entire Andong Province.

But now that Murong Xinzhang had begun his campaign against Wang-surnamed Goryeo, he needed large numbers of officials in Andong Province to provide him logistical support.

In addition, the vast northeast and outer northeast, with all the Shiwei, Jurchen, and other tribes, also needed people to win them over and administer them. Appointing some Khitans as officials of the new dynasty was only proper.

So Zhang Zhao's attitude toward these men was very good. When Xiao Siwen raised the point that tens of thousands of Khitan and Xi commoners had been brought to the Great Xianbei Mountains by Shulu Ping, but that they actually still hoped to return to western and eastern Liao, Zhang Zhao nodded and agreed.

Smiling, he said to the three men, "You know as well that We have always wished to be like the Great Dynasty's Taizong the Civil Emperor — emperor not only of the Central Plains, but also of the peoples of the steppe and the pine deserts.

So long as you Khitans submit sincerely, then allowing the common people who wander abroad to return to their homeland is only proper.

Let it be so. We can promise this: after the Khitan, Xi, and other peoples return to their homes, if their fields have already been distributed by the Prince of Liaoyang to meritorious officials, then We will permit and have the government organize these people to reclaim new land.

The court's Ministry of Revenue will also take the lead, together with the money houses, in granting these people interest-free loans, and they may also be exempt from taxes for three years, or until they have repaid their loans, before taxes are levied."

Xiao Gan, Xiao Siwen, and the others prostrated themselves on the ground. Yelu Dinian, who had always been prone to tears and was scorned by Shulu Ping as not being like a Khitan at all, was even more drenched in tears as he kowtowed and said in a trembling voice,

"Your servant, on behalf of a hundred thousand commoners of all peoples, kowtows in thanks for Your Majesty's grace. So long as Your Majesty does not pursue our past crimes, the Khitans are willing, under Your Majesty's rule, to leave the Hu ways and return to the Han, and be Your Majesty's loyal children forever."

Yelu Dinian was also a fine minister for the herdsmen. He knew that in eastern and western Liao, what was lacking was not land but population and the means of production.

Before the Khitan state collapsed, the Khitan ruling people numbered at most three hundred thousand. Add the Han and Bohai people, and it was no more than seven or eight hundred thousand. The various Shiwei and Jurchen in the deep mountains and old forests probably totaled less than a hundred thousand.

This amount of population, spread across the vast lands of eastern and western Liao and even the great territories to the east and north, could truly be called extremely sparse. Therefore, so long as there was support from the court's means of production and tax policy, land was not lacking.

"Well said. It is precisely such loyal children that We need." Zhang Zhao reached out and personally pulled Yelu Dinian to his feet.

"Between Us and you all, between Han and Khitan, there was never any deep enmity.

Your ancestors have had dealings with the Great Dynasty since the Northern Dynasty's Gao Qi. Had it not been for the Yan traitors bringing ruin to the realm, we would have been one family long ago.

In former days, the Later Dynasty's Emperor Wu and the Ascended-to-Heaven Emperor swore brotherhood, and We too once swore brotherhood with the Stern Emperor — that is clear proof.

These years of strife were in truth nothing but the Stern Emperor's insatiable greed. He held all of Liao, gained Yan-Yun, and still was not content, insisting on entering the Central Plains to wreak havoc. We had no choice but to raise troops and chastise him."

Now that Emperor Li and the others have passed away, and Shulu Ping has also been executed, the debts die with the people, and all enmities are ended.

Dinian and Dejiang, you may rest assured in serving the new dynasty, and you may also tell the Khitan, Xi, and other tribal peoples.

So long as they do not oppose the Great Zhou, they may return without worry. I give my imperial word: past matters will never again be pursued, and the court will treat the Khitan and other peoples no differently from the Han.

Zhang Zhao spoke with deep sincerity, and he truly meant it.

Yelu Dinian, Xiao Siwen, and the others were deeply moved, and at the same time the great stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground.

If even half of what Zhang Zhao said could be carried out, then their Khitan, Xi, and other peoples would still be able to survive.

At the very least, those of the upper stratum could still come to serve as officials in the new dynasty. They could no longer hold themselves high above others as before, but modest wealth and modest rank would still be assured.

After seeing off Yelu Dinian, Xiao Siwen, and the others, Zhang Zhao summoned all the chieftains of the Dili Eight Tribes.

But now there were no longer eight tribal chiefs, because Boliyi had already been killed, one other chief had died on the battlefield, and two more had gone missing. Thus only four of the eight Dili tribal chiefs knelt before Zhang Zhao.

Toward these fellows, Zhang Zhao showed no pleasant expression at all.

The reason he had earlier spoken kindly to soothe Yelu Dinian, Xiao Siwen, and the others was that, although these men were called barbarians from beyond the frontier, their way of thinking was in fact no different from that of Han people.

Yelu Dinian and Xiao Siwen were both learned men who had read the Confucian classics. Both bore the marks characteristic of cultured men of the Han lands: they had courtesy names, and they could even compose a few lines of doggerel verse.

People like these should be treated the same as Han officials serving under the Southern Tang or Southern Han, which was why Zhang Zhao had spoken kindly to soothe them.

They could also understand that this was a bestowal of grace, and knew how difficult it was for an emperor like Zhang Zhao to make such a promise. They would not take it as a sign of Zhang Zhao's weakness.

But if Zhang Zhao had spoken such words to the true steppe chieftains of the Dili Eight Tribes, then although they would now feel they had received favorable treatment, the moment Zhang Zhao left they would immediately conclude that Zhang Zhao needed something from them, and had been forced to act that way.

Not having been beaten painfully enough, their hearts would involuntarily give rise to thoughts of independence.

"They fear might but do not cherish virtue" — that is roughly the case here.

So the moment Zhang Zhao saw them enter, he berated them harshly, cursing them from their beliefs to their character to their conduct, leaving them utterly drenched in abuse.

At the same time, faced with the present situation, Zhang Zhao directly reduced the Dili Eight Tribes to four.

The four tribes that were split off became Zhang Zhao's direct subordinates, placed for the time being under the command of Bayegusi, the first to submit. They were no longer called Dili people, but were named the Uduqi Personal Guard Thousand-Household.

"Uduqi" is a Turkic word meaning thigh or thighbone. Using this word as a tribal name carries roughly the same meaning as the Chinese phrase "a minister who is as the thigh and arm."

The chiefs of the four Dili tribes fell silent for a moment. They realized that Zhang Zhao intended to create division among the Dili Eight Tribes.

Well, not exactly division — rather, he was creating a class of people above others within the Dili Eight Tribes.

One could imagine that in the future, among the Eight Tribes, which had originally been essentially a single whole, the herders of the Uduqi Personal Guard Thousand-Household would surely lord it over the other four tribes. The richest pastures and the finest rewards would all belong to the Uduqi Personal Guard Thousand-Household.

After some years, these herders who had received the benefits would no longer be Dili people, but would become Uduqi people.

When the time came for the other four tribes to betray the Supreme Heaven, they would first have to weigh carefully whether they could defeat these Uduqi people loyal to the Supreme Heaven.

But even knowing this would be the result, they dared not object. Having just barely escaped with their lives, how could they dare to bargain now?

Seeing that even this they could endure, Zhang Zhao simply pressed his advantage, demanding that among the four Dili tribes, every headman who controlled more than one hundred households must send his eldest son to Chengde Prefecture to study the Dharma.

While studying, they would also be ordained as monks, and would learn how to serve the Supreme Heaven. Only after completing their studies could they return to the steppe to inherit the family estate — and it must be they who inherited it.

This was also a deadly demand, but the four tribal chiefs had already yielded once, so they no longer cared about yielding a second time.

Seeing that they agreed, Zhang Zhao then soothed them with gentle words, bestowing some salt, sugar, tea, and brocade, and sent them down to wait.

They would wait until Zhang Zhao had ordered the pastures, people, and livestock to be redistributed, and only then could they return to their tribes.

At the same time, Zhang Zhao glanced at the extremely well-behaved Bayegusi in the distance. The fellow had a bit of petty cleverness, but having been discriminated against by his father since childhood, he had developed a people-pleasing personality.

Such a personality certainly could not make a ruler, but assigning him a military supervisor (a monk official) to temporarily help Zhang Zhao establish the Uduqi Personal Guard Thousand-Household would be no problem.

The key point was that if he later proved tactless, with such limited ability he would also be very easy for Zhang Zhao to replace.

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