Han Shizu

Chapter 2159: Sejong 35: Andong Incident
For Emperor Liu Wenzhi, the Kingdom of Andong had long been a thorn in his side. When he was still a prince, he did not have a good impression of Andong. He had seen Emperor Taizong worried and distressed about the situation in the Kingdom of Andong many times.

When he succeeded to the throne, the Kingdom of Andong caused him countless troubles in places beyond the reach of ordinary people. King Liu Wenyuan of Andong could hardly restrain his challenge to Taizong's direct lineage, and most of the criticisms and rumors about Liu Wenji in the past ten years were probably from Andong.

Liu Wenji seldom had a positive response to this kind of situation, but not getting angry didn't mean he was not clear about it. He not only saw through the situation, but also kept it in mind, waiting for an opportunity.

To be precise, Liu Wenji was waiting for the right time. After ten years of management, his throne was consolidated, the imperial power was established, the military and political power was basically in his hands, and the development of the empire and its internal conflicts returned to a good state.
On the other hand, Liu Wenyuan, the King of Andong in the sixth year of Jianlong, was almost 58 years old. If Liu Wenyuan was in his prime, with his ambition and temper, he might do anything once he was pushed into a corner, but at this age, even if Liu Wenyuan wanted to make trouble, he had to consider the Kingdom of Andong and his princes and grandchildren.

Emperor Liu Wenji was ten years younger than Liu Wenyuan, and to put it bluntly, he was taking advantage of his age and waiting for ten years. If a few more years passed, Liu Wenji would be even older, and by then, even if he had the will, he would not be able to do it.

Therefore, some things can only be done in a specific window. Once missed, it may be forever. In fact, from the line of "Xia Song - Wang Qinruo - Emperor", we can see some problems.

Otherwise, the evil of human trafficking has existed in the empire for a long time, and local spontaneous crackdowns have also been going on for many years. Why did such a huge wave arise after an action and a memorial from a small inspector like Xia Song?
The key point is that even though the Andong Kingdom in the Jianlong era had various contradictions and problems, its unprecedented prosperity in a thousand years had already posed a de facto threat to the empire. Among all the vassal states, Andong was very different!
Emperor Shizu spared no effort to provide aid to Andong and support its development in order to consolidate the northeastern border of the empire. More than half a century later, the empire hatched a prosperous country in the east of the sea, and the barbarians in the northeastern border basically surrendered, but they were replaced by a greater threat.

From the perspective of the center, the Kingdom of An Dong must be weakened, even if it is aimed at the 8 troops it has maintained for many years. You, An Dong, are not like the three kingdoms of Anxi. You are facing serious external threats and religious wars. Do you need so many standing troops in the northeast? What is the intention?

Therefore, the turmoil in the sixth year of Jianlong was inevitable! This was also a major outbreak of the accumulated conflicts between Andong and the imperial court since the founding of the country more than 30 years ago.

Xia Song's memorial was not a secret. Even before it reached the capital, some people in the central government had already discussed it. The emperor, as expected, attached great importance to it and convened a meeting in front of the emperor. It was an enlarged meeting. In addition to the prime minister of the Political Affairs Hall, the participants also included the royal family, representatives of nobles, and ministers of various ministries.

As for the black industry, everyone has a single opinion, but when it comes to An Dong, the attitudes are clearly divided. Some people remain silent, some are vague, and some are emotionally angry and criticize.
There are countless precedents that prove that so-called meetings are just a formality, especially in this era of monarchy. The larger the scale and the more people there are, the more gossip there is, and it is difficult to make any substantial progress in the handling and resolution of events.

The truly important decisions might have been made long ago in the closed-door meetings between the emperor and the prime ministers, and the tone might even have been set in the Chongzheng Hall. Holding such a meeting was mostly just for reputation and righteousness, to appear more popular.

In the discussion before the Emperor in Guangzheng Hall, two resolutions were finally reached. The first was to further clarify the criminal nature of the illegal trade of "trading to Han people", increase the penalty, and intensify the crackdown. In the future, local governments, especially those along the coast, were required to rectify related affairs and protect the Han people.

This is, of course, just a political attitude, or even a propaganda slogan. After all, as long as imports and exports are normal and profits remain high, there will always be people who break the law. At the same time, if we really want to crack down effectively, it is far from enough to rely on the imperial court's decree and the self-consciousness of local officials.

The second point was to demand that Andong give the court an explanation for this matter. More than 200,000 Han people were sold to Andong as goods, which was simply outrageous and unacceptable. In order to show the court's anger and attention to this matter, Liu Wenji even sent the envoy Xiao Jing to Suihua to announce the decree in person.

With the spies An Dong had arranged in the empire, especially in the capital, even in Suihua, they were very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared. Even before Xia Song's memorial, An Dong King Liu Wenyuan had already received the news that the human traffickers running the An Dong route were not just the dozen or so caught by Xia Song. The rest of them quickly hid or fled to Suihua City, which could bring them warmth, after the arrival of winter.

Liu Wenyuan was initially annoyed, but he didn't take it seriously. In his opinion, it was not a big deal. However, because it affected Anton, he paid some attention to it.

However, as public opinion intensified, especially the condemnation in the court became more and more sharp, Liu Wenyuan began to realize that something was wrong. However, he still did not take any action, and did not even respond to some of the "concerns" and "questions" from the capital. He just silently observed and examined the development of the situation, even with a sense of watching a show.

Therefore, as soon as the decision of the Guangzheng Palace came out, it spread to Andong at a flying speed. Then, in the Suihua Palace, Liu Wenyuan was furious! This is too much!
In response to this incident, Liu Wenyuan also urgently convened a meeting of the top military and political officials in Andong, and all the Andong dignitaries involved in the human trafficking were present. Then, the top officials in Andong were also very excited and furious, cursing Xia Song as a traitor and even insinuating that the emperor was incompetent.

In the eyes of the powerful people in Anton, it is not only Anton that is engaged in human trafficking. The countries in Southeast Asia are the largest export destinations, and those overseas feudal states are even more unrestrained in this regard.

However, the other countries in the court did not ask or fight, but came to Anton. Such scheming intentions are obvious! For decades, the court has been prejudiced against Anton and has repeatedly suppressed him. In the past, it was restrained, but now it doesn't even want to pretend. Do they really think Anton is made of clay? Even a clay man can get angry!
As a result, the Council of State Affairs turned into a grievance meeting, and all kinds of trivial matters were dug up by the "good memory" of the Andong nobles. In the minds of many Andong nobles, they came to the bitter cold land of Andong in response to the imperial edict of Emperor Taizu and the call of the court to expand and strengthen the border.

After decades of hard work by two or three generations, the results were finally achieved. Just when life was just getting better, the imperial court set up such obstacles. Their ancestors were the founding fathers of the empire, and they also worked hard for the consolidation and stability of the northeast of the empire. Without them, there would be countless rebellions and chaos in the northeast.
However, even though they complained, they were not ready to turn their words into actual actions. It was far from that point. But Liu Wenyuan, the King of An Dong, had tested the attitude of the upper class of An Dong through such a meeting. In dealing with the suppression of the imperial court, everyone had basically the same idea. Over the years, those who were willing to stay in An Dong and developed to the point of having the current power and status, their hearts must be with An Dong.

The result of the high-level meeting in Andong was that Andong should be tougher. You can't take advantage of the righteousness of the court and do whatever you want to Andong. Andong is a kingdom conferred by Emperor Shizu, not Taizong, and certainly not you, Liu Wenji.

Therefore, when the Lifanshi represented the imperial court and traveled thousands of miles to Suihua City, he did not even meet Liu Wenyuan. He gave no face to this angel of the imperial court and did not take him seriously at all.

Of course, judging from the results, Xiao Jing's trip was not in vain, and he did not fail in his mission. He brought back dozens of heads with "brand names" from Andong to Beijing. Didn't the court have to give an explanation? This is the explanation!

Dozens of heads were killed by Anton according to the list of criminals drawn up by the court. However, Liu Wenyuan would not do anything that would destroy his foundation. The names were those names, but the people were not those people. Instead, they were some death row prisoners in Suihua Prison. Liu Wenyuan did not use any means to cover up this.

The imperial court was furious when it received such a reply. I knew that King Anton was arrogant, but I didn't know he was so arrogant. He didn't take the imperial court seriously at all. How could this be tolerated?

Ministers represented by Kou Zhun immediately stepped up their condemnation of Andong, advocating some severe and tough measures to suppress Andong's arrogance. Liu Wenyuan's performance also made some upper-level officials in the court who were originally neutral dissatisfied. Even if they were emotional, they could not ignore the agreement between the vassal and the courtesy of the vassal.
If some severe measures were taken as Kou Zhun and others suggested, there would be a lot of opposition within the court, and great resistance, especially from the military nobles. In this world, there is nothing more powerful than the army. If you want to be tough, you must deal with the military nobles.

Of course, Liu Wenji's tough measures did not include military means for the time being, and he was more accustomed to using political means to solve problems. So, he used his old trick again. Liu Wenji issued an edict to tour the north and summoned Andong King Liu Wenyuan to Youzhou for questioning.

The content of the edict was tough and harsh, but the emperor's decision to go north in person was also a face-saving decision for Liu Wenyuan. However, Liu Wenyuan did not "understand" the emperor's intentions, and sent an envoy to reply: I am old and weak, and I have a foot disease. I cannot travel far, please forgive me, Your Majesty.

In fact, Liu Wenyuan's reply also included a half sentence: If Your Majesty is interested, please move to Suihua. However, such a reply was really unkind to a minister, and the clerk who was responsible for drafting it did not dare to write it down.

But even so, Liu Wenji was completely enraged by Liu Wenyuan, and immediately launched a northern tour. Compared with the southern tour a few years ago, there was much more noise. Fifty thousand imperial guards accompanied him in the capital, and some people believed that he was going to the north.
In response to the emperor's northern tour, Liu Wenyuan reported again that the Jurchens were in turmoil and invading the border, and he requested to suppress the riots. On the edge of Liaodong Road, the Wanyan and other Jurchen tribes also rioted, and some even invaded the state border to kill and plunder.

Things are developing step by step in a suffocating direction.

In the autumn of the sixth year of Jianlong's reign, when the emperor was on a northern tour and arrived in Youzhou, he received a secret report from Wanyan Shilu, the governor of Songmo, or a counterattack: Prince Andong intended to rebel!

(End of this chapter)