Han Shizu

Chapter 2172: Emperor Shizong Chapter 48: The Eighteenth Year of Jianlong

In the winter of the 15th year of Jianlong's reign, Empress Dowager Xiao died of illness in Yuehua Palace in Luoyang at the age of 80. Emperor Liu Wenji was on his way back from Fengshan at Mount Tai when the bad news spread to the east. He cried bitterly and even had convulsions, and the camp was shaken.

In addition to being overwhelmed with grief over the death of Empress Dowager Xiao, Liu Wenji also felt an unspeakable sense of guilt. The problem lay with the matter of Fengshan, as Empress Dowager Xiao had clearly opposed him holding this grand ceremony.

Based on this, it was difficult for Liu Wenji not to think about whether the Queen Mother was angered to death by him. Even if there was only a one percent possibility, it was enough to make Liu Wenji regret it.

At the same time, forty years later he returned to Mount Tai, as an emperor, to offer sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth and the spirits of his ancestors with his literary and military achievements. He should have been full of pride and glory, but the actual experience was not so good.

The Monument of Emperor Taizu's Merits standing on the top of Mount Tai was more majestic and solemn than Mount Tai itself, and made Liu Wenji feel humble. Liu Wenji was still proud, and when he stood under the monument, he could not help feeling ashamed.
Therefore, although the Fengshan Ceremony was successfully carried out and concluded as scheduled, Liu Wenji felt somewhat regretful when he reached the top of Mount Tai. The death of Empress Dowager Xiao exacerbated this guilt, and even gave rise to the mentality of "the sins of all the people are imposed on me".

After returning to Luoyang, Liu Wenji held a sensational national funeral for Empress Dowager Xiao, on a scale far greater than that of the death of Empress Dowager Murong. He asked the Cabinet Grand Secretary Zhu Qi to write a biography for her, describing her wisdom, loyalty, dignity, and virtue, and at the same time gave her the honorific title of Empress Xiao Zhangming.

Throughout her life, Empress Xiao had contributed a lot to Liu Wenji's growth and achievements, especially her key advice on some key matters. Her death was also the last reminder to Liu Wenji, and it played a great role.

At least since the Fengshan ceremony in the 15th year of Jianlong, Liu Wenji put away his irrepressible complacency and boasting of his achievements until his death.

In April of the 16th year of Jianlong, Privy Councilor Cao Wei died of illness. Old Duke and Privy Councilor Yang Yanlang died in the palace in the 13th year of Jianlong. Cao Wei, for his merits in conquering the southwest, was promoted to Privy Councilor after returning to the court.

After Cao Wei's death, the emperor appointed Zhe Weichang, the chief military officer of the Palace Guard, to succeed him. He also promoted Dong Congyan and Xiao Hui, the two commanders who defeated the Jin Dynasty, to the positions of deputy privy envoys, and re-established the military command management system of the Han Empire.

However, this arrangement also led to the deepening of contradictions within the military command system. Cao Wei was fine, as he had the merits of the southwest to make up for it. No one could challenge him as the Privy Councilor in any aspect. But Dong Congyan was not convinced by Zhe Weichang's words, although he was from the same famous family. Just one point, which one is more important, the merits of the southwest or the merits of the desert north?

Starting with Cao Wei, the valve for another round of high-level changes in the empire seemed to be opened. In the autumn of the 16th year, the prime minister and Minister of War Cao Liyong was dismissed. He served as prime minister for less than a year.

The reason Cao Liyong was dismissed from his position as prime minister can be summed up in four words: he became arrogant because of his favor. As Liu Wenji's confidant and a close minister, he also had the capital to be arrogant. This was a manifestation throughout his career as a central government official, but the degree of manifestation varied in different periods.

However, once one loses his sense of propriety and has no boundaries, it is easy for "favor" to turn into "anger", causing trouble. Long before he was appointed as prime minister, Cao Liyong often boasted about his close relationship with the emperor, and liked to share "little stories" from his time in the palace when he drank some wine.

When he succeeded in Fengshan at Mount Tai, he boasted that he had accomplished another merit for the emperor, and became even more arrogant and lazy. When he was in high spirits, he would be rude in front of the emperor, but he liked to boast about his achievements, especially the "merit of Fengshan", which annoyed Liu Wenji even more.
Cao Liyong was lucky. If it was Liu Wenji in the period before Fengshan, with his mental state, facing this situation, it would be questionable whether he could survive. Fortunately, Liu Wenji finally took into account the decades of relationship between the monarch and his subjects and left him a decent life.

Because the people in Qingtang (Xining) were unstable, Cao Liyong was sent as the governor of Qingtang to take charge of the situation and maintain public order. Qingtang was the area that was recovered by General Yang Tingzhang during the reign of Emperor Shizu when he pursued and suppressed the remaining Uighurs in Ganzhou.

In terms of administrative division and military defense, Hexi and Longyou were responsible for them respectively. The Qingtang area east of Qinghai Lake belonged to the jurisdiction of Longyou Dao, but for more than 60 years, the management focus of Longxi Daosi was limited to Hehuang, and as for the further west, it was actually in a relatively weak state.

However, due to the court's attention to the northwest, elite troops were stationed there, so there had been no major chaos. However, in the past twenty years, several Tibetan forces have slowly emerged in the Qingtang area, some of which use faith to confuse people, and some use ethnicity to gather troops, such as the evil monk Li Lizun and the leader of the Miaochuan tribe Wen Buqi.

Of course, while the two were growing their power and expanding their influence, they also did not forget to show their obedience to the Longyou government, paying tribute every year and actively communicating in the name of tea-horse trade, thus maintaining stability.

However, in the past few years, both forces have become restless. The struggles among the Tibetan tribes in the Hehuang region have become more frequent and fierce, and the old order has begun to be disrupted. The Longyou Dao government has taken some actions and sent troops to suppress the rebellion, but it was only effective for a while. Gradually, the situation in Hehuang and Qingtang has also been reported to the emperor.

Before Cao Liyong left for the west, Liu Wenji summoned him and invited him to a meal. He also recalled the past with rare emotion. Finally, he said, "I intend to maintain a long-term friendship between the monarch and his subjects, but your past performance is disappointing."

Although you are over sixty years old, you are still an old horse in the stable. Qingtang is not a good place, and the Rongdi cannot be easily conquered. If you can wake up, pursue your old aspirations, and make new achievements, and conquer Hehuang, you will still have a place in the Zhaolie Temple in Tokyo and the Hall of Meritorious Officials in Xijing.

When leaving the palace, Cao Liyong's eyes were still red. The emperor's heartfelt words touched him deeply. Cao Liyong had great ambitions since he was young, and wanted to serve the country and the king. Although he was arrogant and arrogant, his loyalty to Liu Wenji was unswerving. With his strong character, he was determined to die when he was demoted.

Liu Wenji's words not only gave up his original "plan", but also made him seriously reflect on his mistakes, keep his original intention in mind, and vow to pacify Qingtang and restore peace to the Hehuang Pass in order to repay the emperor's kindness.

Cao Liyong fully embodies the principles of "correcting mistakes" and "ambitions are not limited by age". Since going west to Qingtang, Cao Liyong has devoted himself to the pacification of local tribes, dividing and winning over them politically and severely attacking them militarily, spending the rest of his life on the plateau.

During the years when he was the governor of Qingtang, he successively subdued the tribes of Li Lizun and Wen Buqi, exterminated their clans and dispersed their people, which further accelerated the degree of sinicization of the Qingtang area and laid a solid foundation for the subsequent more prosperous and active tea-horse economy of Qingtang.

Cao Liyong eventually died of a stroke while inspecting the Haixi region, just as Liu Wenji had agreed with him when he left Beijing. He left with his head lowered and returned to the court with his head held high. He was honored as a meritorious official and enjoyed long-lasting worship.

After Cao Liyong, Liu Wenji appointed the Palace Supervisor Xiao Gong as the Minister of War and made him prime minister. Liu Wenji was cautious with this talented and capable minister of Khitan origin for twenty years before he openly promoted him to a high position in the Council of State and allowed him to display his talents.

From Zhang Jian, Cao Liyong, to Xiao Gong, the habit of having civil officials in charge of the Ministry of War was completely formed. Of course, these three were not just literati, but civil officials who were familiar with military strategies.

In the summer of the 17th year of Jianlong's reign, Ding Wei was dismissed from his post. In name, he retired due to illness, but in reality, someone anonymously reported Ding Wei's crimes in his early years, including forming a clique to attack dissidents, persecuting loyal officials, and being treacherous and damaging the country. Combined with some negative information about Ding Wei kept by the Imperial City Bureau, Liu Wenji could no longer tolerate this old minister.

Of course, the deepest reason was that Ding Wei also committed the same taboo as Wang Qinruo did in the past, as he was in league with the eunuchs. However, Ding Wei was a very smart man, and he was also very good at guessing the emperor's mind. After being summoned to the palace by the emperor for some "special" questions, he fell ill again the next day and submitted a petition to beg for his remains.

At this time, Ding Wei no longer cared about the position of Shangshu Ling, even though he was so unwilling and sighed in his heart. However, he was also very clear that if he did not retreat at the right time, he would not be able to keep the wealth and glory of his brothers and nephews.

On the other hand, he was neither able nor willing to go to the northwest to suffer like Cao Liyong. In contrast, leaving the court with a little regret, withdrawing from the forefront of history, and placing hope on future generations is not necessarily a bad thing.

In the autumn of the seventeenth year, with the appointment of Minister of Works Wang Zeng as the Governor of Liangzhe Province, the three ministers who had advocated Fengshan were all dismissed from the central government of the empire. This could be regarded as a gesture of Emperor Liu Wenji.

In the 18th year, with the promotion of Lu Yijian, the Salt and Iron Commissioner, to the Finance Commissioner and Li Zhaoxian, the Hedong Provincial Governor, to the Censor-in-Chief, the political structure of Liu Wenji's later years of rule was officially formed.

Emperor Liu Wenji, in the eighteenth year of Jianlong, was already sixty years old. Whether as an emperor or simply as a human being, he was inevitably approaching his final days.

Appendix: The ministers of the Han Empire in the 18th year of Jianlong—Zhongshu Ling Xuchang Wang Liu Yao, Shangshu Ling (Prime Minister) Chen Yaozuo, Shangshu Pushe Zhang Jian, Minister of Personnel Zhang Shixun, Privy Councilor Zhe Weichang, Finance Minister Lü Yijian, Supervisor Li Zhaoxian, Minister of War Xiao Gong, and Minister of Rites Zhu Qi.

(End of this chapter)