Han Shizu

Chapter 2146: Emperor Shizong Chapter 21: King Kang’s Final Song
In the summer of May in the second year of Jianlong (1019), after nearly half a year and a long journey of thousands of miles, King Kang Liu Ye finally arrived at the Western Capital of the Empire. The journey was long and arduous, and for Liu Ye, who was nearly years old, it was a test of both his will and his body.

However, Liu Ye's will was forged through the tempering of time and worldly experiences, so the road ahead was long and difficult, but he walked calmly and relaxedly, without any mental burden.

It was like calming down and completing a rare journey in his life. Along the way, he inspected the military and political affairs of Anxi, inspected his own kingdom, and also observed the military and political conditions in the northwest of the Han Dynasty. When he came across places where he had set foot and struggled in his youth, he would stop and reminisce about the past. When he was moved, he even shed tears.

After entering Gaochang Road and all the way to the interior of the country, every time he arrived in a big city, Liu Ye refused the gifts and greetings from the local government, and only asked them to gather together the local middle and lower-level officials, soldiers, gentry, merchants, and craftsmen to listen to his "preaching" for Kangguo.

In the past, the three Anxi kingdoms often sent envoys and officials to the interior of the Han Dynasty to publicize policies and spread reputation in order to recruit talents. However, how could those humble servants compare with the dignified King Kang who personally gave lectures and invited talents, which was obviously more authoritative and tempting.

Even though many people attended Liu Ye's presentation just to watch the fun, some people were still attracted by the blueprint Liu Ye described. In order to attract talents from the empire, the Three Kingdoms of Anxi had used many means, both overt and covert, black and white, but they were very painstaking.

Of course, as the king of Kangguo, and in public, Liu Ye still had to take the upright path. He focused on Kangguo's "Talent (Popular) Settlement Plan."

As a king who governs millions of people, Liu Ye is well aware of how to impress people. Expanding territory and building achievements are no longer effective for the people in the northwest. Therefore, everything Liu Ye says are the most practical things, and the focus is on the word "interest".

Liu Ye introduced in detail the vast tracts of excellent soil and water, pastures and special products, cities, population and trade owned by the Kangju Kingdom, as well as the kingdom's superior resettlement policy for the Han population.

Of course, similar policy presentations had been made by Kangguo's envoys and officials before, but the effect was different when Liu Ye spoke it himself. At the same time, Liu Ye did not beat around the bush at all, and did not even shy away from talking about money and power. He even clearly stated the economic benefits that a Han Chinese could generate by entering Kangguo.

As long as one is a Han Chinese and goes to Kangguo, the government will give him money, land, oxen, farm tools, and even servants (slaves). All taxes will be reduced or exempted for the first three years, and this is for ordinary Han laborers.

As for those who have knowledge, culture or special skills, the treatment is even more favorable. At the same time, those who have made outstanding contributions to immigration, for example, those who can lead a hundred people to Kangguo can become the head of the camp, those with five hundred people can seek a position as a mayor in the government, and those with a thousand people can become the owner of the camp, in charge of the livelihoods of thousands of people including servants and even the power of life and death.

There is no need to worry that Kangju does not have enough money, food, livestock, and tools. During decades of expansion and plunder, Kangju has seized a large amount of wealth. Excluding internal rewards and normal administrative and military expenses, there is still enough accumulation to meet the long-term implementation of the population resettlement plan.

Of course, there is a limit to wealth and slaves. First come first served, and later ones will get the shortest benefits. This is inevitable. Therefore, those who are determined to go west need to seize the opportunity quickly, otherwise the opportunity will be snatched away by others.
Liu Ye's mobilization speech was not very attractive to the upper-class nobles or the lower-class common people in the northwest of the empire. The former were already the rich and powerful in the country, while the latter only wanted a stable life and enough food and clothing.

However, it has great appeal to the middle class, including clerks, retired officers and soldiers, merchants, craftsmen and other urban people, as well as the restless lumpen proletariat and evil forces.

Kangguo provided an opportunity for them to make a fortune and a platform for class advancement. Some things would require a lot of hard work to achieve under the system of the Han Empire, but in a feudal state like Kangguo, the difficulty of achieving them was reduced exponentially. Moreover, even for the personality charm and solemn promise of King Kang, Kangguo was a place worth visiting.

As long as one is a human being, there is no one who does not want to climb up, and there is no one who does not want to ride on the heads of others to be superior. Those who say they don’t want to have done so have either already achieved it, or they do not have the ability or have not encountered the opportunity. Once they encounter it, what kind of face will they have?
Even if we take a step back and not mention those empty words, the fact that Liu Ye showed a great deal of sincerity was enough to make all the adventurers flock there. That was that Kangguo decided to share the jade industry in Hezhou and welcome Han merchants to mine and operate there.

Due to its special meaning and symbolism, jade has been highly respected in China for thousands of years, and a huge and extremely wide-ranging market has also been born around jade.

Especially in times of peace, from royal nobles to peddlers, no matter what class, as long as they have some assets, basically they will try to get a piece of jade and make it into accessories.

In the Han Empire, even if we count from the Kaibao era, there was overall peace for nearly sixty years. This was accompanied by a surge in population, an increase in productivity, a boom in the commodity economy, and a huge accumulation of social wealth, which naturally led to a great prosperity in the jade market.

The vastness of this market is almost unlimited. The key lies in the scarcity of raw material resources of jade, especially high-quality jade. Where has the source of the empire's largest jade industry chain been in the past few decades?
Without a doubt, it was Khotan! Although the Wuyu River and the Baiyu River did not produce gold, in the eyes of the Khotanese dignitaries, they were two golden waterways flowing with wealth. The various types of jade produced by the two rivers were always in short supply in the Han market.

However, this wealth has been in the hands of the powerful people in Khotan for decades, and outsiders are not allowed to interfere. The huge profits brought by the jade trade are enough to satisfy their luxurious life while also supporting the army and the people.

The jade wealth that Khotan possessed was obviously one of the reasons for its demise. Now, it is Kangguo's turn to control the "jade market" and has clearly stated that it is willing to share it. You can imagine how great the impact will be.
All the words and deeds of Liu Ye on his way eastward, and the waves they caused in the northwest, were naturally reported in full to Emperor Liu Wenji through the intelligence system of the Wude Division.

After learning about the incident, Liu Wenji praised him for his calmness and composure in the face of danger, and also felt sorry for his painstaking efforts, even his willingness to lose face and brag about himself in order to attract people from afar and develop the Kangju Kingdom.

His words and deeds seem to explain why he risked breaking the law and facing the backlash of the empire to annex Khotan, which was also a vassal state. He clearly told the emperor and the court that Kangguo needed to develop, establish itself in the Western Regions, and maintain and consolidate the rule of the Han people.

As an emperor, Liu Wenji could even understand Liu Ye to a certain extent. However, he was the emperor of the Han Empire, the highest ruler of the Han nation. He had to consider the issue from the standpoint of the central court and the framework of the vassal system of the Han Empire.

However, Liu Wenji did not stop Liu Ye from preaching and recruiting people and talents along the way, which led to Liu Ye's trip to Beijing attracting more than 30,000 Han immigrants to Kangju. Of course, this data has not been accurately counted by the official statistics, but the effect is obvious. In addition, the conversion rate of "Kangju citizens" is not high, because half of them are engaged in jade-related businesses.

At the same time, Liu Wenji also suppressed the internal affairs of the court. Because Liu Ye was late, the welcoming ceremony and ceremonial ceremony prepared were just to deal with the facts. More importantly, if you think about it carefully, it is really unnecessary and will only cause criticism.

After more than a decade, Liu Ye once again set foot in the capital of the Han Empire. The last time was when Emperor Taizong passed away. It should be pointed out that when Emperor Kangzong passed away, there were not many princes who went to the imperial capital to mourn and pay their respects in person. There were not many people as overly active as Andong King Liu Wenyuan.

In the case of the Anxi Three Kingdoms, only Liu Wengong, the Prince of Beiting, went to Luoyang in person, but his main purpose was to visit his father, Liu Fang, the Prince of Zhao. As for the brothers Liu Min and Liu Ye, they only sent senior officials with status and qualifications as envoys to Xijing to express their condolences on their behalf.

In the past ten years, how many things have changed and how many sighs Liu Ye has felt, I won't elaborate. However, when the king's old and haggard appearance fell into the eyes of the emperor and his ministers at the center of the empire, they could not help but feel sympathy. Of course, this sympathy was fundamentally due to Liu Ye's identity.

Politics is played with the heart, but it does not mean that the sympathy card and the emotional card cannot be played. It depends on the time and the target. After all, King Kang Liu Ye is the son of Emperor Shizu and the uncle of the current emperor. He is old and it is not easy for him to face the imperial summons without any complaints and travel thousands of miles.

This arduous and long journey in his later years was set off at an unsuitable time, spanning winter, spring and summer. The seasonal changes alone were enough to make people suffer. Even a normal young and middle-aged man might not be able to endure such a journey, let alone the old and ill King Kang. It was only because of the extended journey time that Liu Ye would have died on the way.

Therefore, it is conceivable what kind of image Liu Ye finally appeared in front of the emperor and his ministers. Even though he maintained basic decency, the decadent aura emanating from him always made people feel sad.

In the Guangzheng Hall, the Council of State Affairs, in front of the emperor, the prime ministers, the Ministry of Rites, the Court of Internal Affairs and many other important officials from relevant departments, when Liu Ye unbuttoned his robe and exposed his upper body, revealing the dense marks and scars of various sizes, the emperor and his ministers were obviously shocked.

What is unimaginable is not the trauma or something, but that these scars appear so densely on Liu Ye's body. Everyone knows that the Three Kingdoms of Anxi have been at war for many years, and the three kings have personally led their troops to fight many times. However, as kings and commanders, they would not be like ordinary soldiers, wearing armor and fighting on the battlefield.
But the wounds on Liu Ye's body were enough to explain everything. On the battlefield, swords and arrows were indiscriminate, and the battles of all sizes in Central Asia were not all smooth sailing. Liu Ye faced crises countless times, and he himself could not count how many times he personally led his team to charge and turn the tide of the battle.

These people were sent by Emperor Shizu and were appointed by him. They experienced countless life-and-death crises and shed countless blood and sacrifices. If the court disregards all this and indiscriminately and unreasonably uses those cold and cold vassal provisions to question Liu Ye about his crimes, then, not to mention Liu Ye, the people of the entire Kangguo and Anxi will be dissatisfied!

Compared with these marks of iron and blood, Yuchi Jue's plea seemed even more helpless and tragic. In front of King Kang, the young man didn't even dare to raise his head, as if he was the one who made the mistake.

As for the matter of Khotan's homeland, Yuchi Jue was destined to have only a tragic outcome. Not to mention what the emperor and the ministers thought, King Kang Liu Ye still had a trick up his sleeve. He raised a matter that Emperor Taizu had said to him when he was in power: Although Khotan is called a vassal, its heart is not pure. One day, you will take it for yourself.
No one knows whether Emperor Taizu actually said such words, and it is impossible to find it in the daily records because not all of Taizu's words were recorded. But it is feasible that such words came from Liu Ye's mouth, at least it cannot be completely denied that they happened.

When Liu Ye brought up the towering mountain of Emperor Shizu, to a certain extent, the questioning in Guangzheng Hall became a joke. Let's first prove whether his words are true. For such a result, even a well-mannered emperor like Emperor Liu Wenji couldn't help but look a little ugly when he left.

King Kang Liu Ye once again makes people feel his "rebellious" nature. Following the rules is not his style, and he often puts people in embarrassing situations by taking people by surprise.

To be honest, his behavior is very dangerous and taboo. There are many people who have close relationships with Emperor Shizu, and many of them are still alive. If everyone is bold enough to act and seek profit by holding high the "Emperor Shizu's oral instructions", then the world will be in chaos, and where will the current emperor be?
Therefore, compared with the event of Kangguo's destruction of Khotan itself, Liu Ye's "Emperor Shizu's will" in Guangzheng Hall was a more significant political event. This trend must not be allowed to continue! The core of the empire, the emperor and his subjects, all saw this very clearly, especially Emperor Liu Wenji, who was particularly sensitive to it.

However, just when Liu Wenji was so angry about the "Emperor Taizu's oral order" and racked his brains to think of ways to suppress it in order to eliminate the adverse effects, it didn't take long for him to find that his efforts were in vain.

King Kang was very high-profile when he returned to Beijing, but after he arrived, he was very low-key, which was not like him. This was mainly reflected in his social interactions after he returned to Beijing. To be precise, he had almost no social interactions. He did not meet with any court officials, nobles, or royal relatives except his fourth brother, King Zhao Liu Fang, and he did not visit or contact them to ask them to speak on his behalf in order to completely achieve his goal of annexing Khotan.

Liu Ye had no intention of consolidating his connections with the lineage of King Kang, and he also declined others' offers. Apart from being questioned in Guangzheng Hall, Liu Ye had only taken the initiative to visit Liu Fang.

In Liu Ye's life, probably no one could convince him except Emperor Taizu. Even his fourth brother Liu Fang, who was full of martial virtues, might not show his submission from the bottom of his heart.

However, now that he is older, the arrogance of his youth has been worn away by the years. When Liu Ye met his fourth brother, the King of Zhao, it was probably the first time in his life that he had a truly peaceful conversation with Liu Fang. There was no comparison or utilitarianism, only recounting brotherhood and glorious past events.

During Liu Ye's military career of more than 30 years, he had significant interactions with Liu Fang, especially during the suppression of the rebellion in Yulin. At that time, Liu Ye was a rookie, while Liu Fang was already a successful imperial prince and commander of the royal family. The two brothers talked about battlefields, military affairs, and tactics, and they talked about the suppression of the rebellion in Yulin and the Western Expedition the most.

For Liu Ye, the most gratifying thing was probably hearing for the first time from his fourth brother's mouth praise their pioneering achievements and honors in Central Asia, including recognition and appreciation for him personally.

However, when talking about the matter of Khotan, Liu Fang did not express his opinion. When bidding farewell to Liu Fang, Liu Ye seemed a little disappointed, because he found that even though his fourth brother, who was nearly 70 years old, had shown a demeanor and magnanimity that he could not match.

For someone as proud as Liu Ye, it is very difficult to realize that he is inferior to others. And admitting that he is inferior to others, no matter how free and easy he is, is a blow to his spirit, because it means giving up the persistence called "reluctance" in his heart.

After visiting King Zhao, Liu Ye stayed in seclusion in his old residence in the capital for another two days. Then he prepared offerings and went to pay homage to Emperor Shizu again. However, this time he did not go to the Taimiao. Instead, he went north of the city to Mangshan, cried at the foot of the mountain, and then returned.

Two days later, Liu Ye passed away in the palace of Prince Kang in Luoyang.
The death of King Kang also put Emperor Liu Wenji in a difficult position, and put the court in an extremely embarrassing situation. They had summoned him from a long distance to investigate his crime, but in the end, they failed to investigate his crime, and instead involved an "oral order of Emperor Taizu", and the man died in the capital.

This matter can only be said to be handled too badly! At this point, it is meaningless to worry about the "Khotan Incident" or something like that. Although it is not Liu Wenji's style, this matter still ended in a way that started well but ended badly.

It was impossible for Kangju to annex Khotan with the imperial edict, but the court decided to acquiesce. As for the exiled ruler and ministers of Khotan, they were escorted to Anxi by people sent by the Lifanyuan soon after.

During the reign of Liu Min, the Anxi Kingdom had agreed to allocate a piece of land for the ruler and ministers of Khotan to live in and restore their country. However, the location was decided by the Anxi Kingdom.

Anxi was not stingy. It was a good place, Khorasan, from which three cities and ten towns were carved out. The biggest problem was that most of the people under its rule were Persians, hiding a large number of MSLs. At the same time, it was also a frontier area facing the threat of Ghazni.

Let me expand a little here. After Yuchi Jue arrived in Khorasan, relying on his previous accumulation, partial support from the court and the appeal of the "King of Khotan", he was able to establish a preliminary country with the help of a group of followers, and formed his own army (although it was not large) and administrative agency (although it was just a makeshift team).

But soon after, hard times came. Liu Min's death not only had a huge impact on the Anxi Kingdom, but also caused waves in the Islamic world. The death of the conqueror from the East was a great relief to the people.

Especially the Ghaznavid Dynasty. Mahmud, who suffered a lot at the hands of Liu Min, quickly shifted his attention from India to the north after learning of his death. Recovering the lost territory of Khorasan became his first goal.

As a result, Khorasan fell into fighting and chaos again. "Khotan", a small country with weak arms and legs, was like a fish in the pond affected by the fight between the two superpowers. It was in constant turmoil and faced the threat of the Ghaznavid army and the attacks of the Muslims at all times. It led a precarious life.

In Khorasan, Yuchi Jue lived a "hard life" for three years, miserable and in constant fear. In the end, he even lost his throne, which was usurped by his uncle Yuchi Guanglin, who held military power. If his loyal servant had not informed him in advance, he would have lost his life.

He fled to Hezhong and sought help from Anxi King Liu Wenzhe. However, Liu Wenzhe had just completely suppressed several brothers who challenged the royal power, regained power and maintained domestic stability. He then had to deal with the threat from Ghazni. How could he have the mind to care about Yuchi Jue?

At the same time, Yuchi Guanglin also had foresight to send an envoy to appeal, expressing his determination to follow the Hezhong royal court and fight against Ghazni, and sent his legitimate son to Hezhong as a hostage. Therefore, Yuchi Jue's intention to ask the Hezhong royal court to make the decision fell through. The only thing to be thankful for was that Liu Wenzhe was still decent and did not send Yuchi Jue back to "Khotan" as Yuchi Guanglin requested, but let him go east.

After many twists and turns, Yuchi Jue finally returned to Luoyang. In the end, he relied on the salary bestowed on him by Emperor Liu Wenji out of pity to spend the rest of his life as a "retreat official". Although it was dull, at least it was stable.
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Back to the summer of the second year of Jianlong, the "Khotan Incident" was handled almost with great difficulty. Emperor Liu Wenji had to worry about the infamy of "killing his uncle" falling on his head again. Even though he took preventive measures, similar rumors still appeared. The scope was not widespread, but people's speculation is always difficult to stop.

To be fair, the death of King Kang Liu Ye did eliminate a lot of the impact of "Emperor Shizu's oral order" on Liu Wenji. The death of a person is more effective than any remedial means or measures.

However, don't expect Liu Wenji's reputation to be perfect. Of course, this is also what a promising monarch must experience.

At the same time, the "Khotan Incident" was also a major political setback that Liu Wenji had encountered since he ascended the throne. Not only did he fail to achieve the effect he wanted, but it also caused a considerable adverse impact among the vassal states at home and abroad. The centrifugal trend between the central government and the vassal states was significantly intensified.

However, isn't this the reform that Liu Wenji wanted to achieve? However, what he wanted was to keep the relationship clear and each party well. To achieve this goal, a more effective communication mechanism needed to be established. Because King Kang died in Luoyang, Liu Wenji had to postpone this process.
(End of this chapter)