The great victory at Menqu Slope was of profound significance – it was not merely a matter of gaining or losing a single city or stretch of land. The elite forces of the Li clan had been completely annihilated there, and more than half of the Western army’s encampment had gone up in flames. With matters having reached this point, the overall course of the war could be said to have undergone a fundamental shift.
In the government hall, before the assembled officials, some were overjoyed while others were struck with alarm. Standing among the ranks of court ministers, Li Zengyu was gripped by an inexpressible sense of shock; his face turned deathly pale in an instant.
In order to place greater pressure on the Sovereign, they had submitted their remonstrative memorials in advance. At this moment, although they found no opening to speak and had not voiced their plea for the emperor to turn back in front of everyone, the situation had in fact already become irreversible. What final fate awaited Li Zengyu and the others would depend entirely on how far the Emperor intended to go.
Yet the Emperor herself did not hurry to bring up the contents of those memorials. After draping Tao Jing in a brocade robe, she even had a seat arranged for him at the front, and spoke with him at length about matters on the front lines.
What Tao Jing had said just now was only a broad outline. In his heart he felt deep gratitude toward the Sovereign, and since he now had the chance to explain the matter in detail to the high ministers at court, he was eager to take the opportunity to give full expression to the Emperor’s formidable power.
“Even before the main army set out, Her Majesty had already laid down the plan for bringing Tai Province to submission. My father acted in accordance with that design…”
He went on, slowly recounting how the emperor had driven wedges of suspicion among the four great clans of Tai Province, forcing Wang You into a position where she could no longer hold the city; how the Western forces were lured into extending their lines farther and farther, until at last they suffered a crushing defeat as a result.
Most of those standing within the government hall were civil officials. Such mastery of strategy – devising plans within the tent and securing victory a thousand miles away – they had known only from books. Now, seeing it unfold before their very eyes, they were truly dazzled and entranced.
Wen Yanran smiled faintly. “I am no expert in military affairs. All that I have thought or said amounts to nothing more than armchair strategy on paper. It is only thanks to the exertions of the officers and soldiers in the field that such a great victory could be achieved.”
Ever since Zhong Zhiwei departed with the Iron Armor Battalion, responsibility for the defense of Wu’an had fallen into Song Nanlou’s hands. He was naturally present in the government offices at this moment. In the past, having had no intention of entering official service, Song Nanlou’s temperament had been rather unrestrained; now, however, with Attendant Song entrusted with affairs of state and with himself holding military command, he had instead grown noticeably more solemn. In his movements he allowed himself not the slightest overstep. Even so, for all of Song Nanlou’s self-discipline, when he heard the Emperor’s words just now, his expression still stiffened – he could not help but suspect that claiming to be “no expert in military matters” was in fact standard equipment for top-tier talents…
Tao Jing, for his part, felt that the Sovereign was deliberately seeking to wash away the shame of the Tao clan’s past defeat. That was why her words were so modest, why she intended to credit the entire achievement to the soldiers at the front. Unable to restrain himself, Tao Jing once again broke into tears.
Wen Yanran spoke a few gentle words of reassurance, and then – quite unexpectedly -set about attending to matters of governance.
Seeing this, Li Zengyu felt as though his entire heart had been plunged into icy water. In the past, when the Sovereign kept herself shut away, spending his days in the rear offices in the company of palace eunuchs, they had only lamented how difficult it was for their intentions to reach the imperial ear. Yet today, with the Emperor making a rare public appearance and applying herself in earnest to affairs of state, they instead found themselves wishing he would return to his former habits at once and retreat back to the rear offices.
However, the first matters Wen Yanran dealt with were not those of Wu’an. Earlier, in Dan Province, many city commanders had fled at the first rumor of impending war; moreover, because the Jianping vanguard had previously performed poorly in battle, the Wu’an authorities had not had the chance to punish those officials. Wen Yanran, however, had not forgotten them. Several days earlier, he had already summoned the Censor-in-Chief, He Tingyun, from Jianping.
He Tingyun was born into the He clan, whose standing was only a notch below that of the Song, Yuan, and Cui families. Ever since the day she personally slew Wen Jiangong in the mourning hall, she had remained firmly in imperial favor. Her conduct was exceedingly severe: regardless of how exalted the other party’s status might be, she dealt with matters exactly as the law required. Though still young, her manner already inspired fear; in private, some said her style was overly harsh, bearing the stamp of a “cruel official.”
As for those who abandoned their cities, He Tingyun proposed differentiated punishments. Those who surrendered outright or fled in secret with their wealth and families while the Western army was still far away, abandoning everything without resistance, were to have their city commanders judged guilty of a capital offense and barred from office for life; their subordinate officials were to be sentenced to penal servitude. Under the laws of Great Zhou, what was termed a “capital offense” could in fact be redeemed with an enormous sum of money – ironically, it was the lifelong ban from office that struck a far more devastating blow.
As for those officials who knew they could not possibly withstand the enemy, yet before withdrawing had made proper arrangements for the populace and taken with them the city’s various records and grain stores; as well as those who, pressed for time and unable to organize the supplies, instead put all documents and materials to the torch – He Tingyun held that, although such men had not fought to the death, they could still be said to have fulfilled their responsibilities to a certain extent.
After all, most of these people were officials left over from the reign of Emperor Li. For them to display this degree of diligence and loyalty to their posts was, in truth, already quite unexpected.
Beyond these cases, the situation in Dan Province included two cities that were especially unusual. One was called Dongzhi City. Although the county magistrate fled in advance, the county deputy remained behind. She was the daughter of a prominent local household, firm and resolute in temperament. She dispersed what remained of her family’s wealth to recruit brave men, organized the populace into militias to defend the city, and repeatedly went up onto the walls herself to encourage the people. Astonishingly, she has held out to this very day. At the time, Li Huaidao did intend to take the city, but Tao Jia’s forces had retreated too far, and Li Huaidao was anxious to pursue them. When he realized that Dongzhi City could not be captured quickly, he had no choice but to abandon the attempt for the time being and detour around it.
The other was a county seat called Shunhui. Its magistrate was easygoing and unconventional in temperament, yet treated the people under his rule very well. When the Western army approached, he stated his terms outright: if they could capture Dan Province, he was willing to surrender, on the condition that the populace not be harmed; if they failed to take Dan Province, then Shunhui could offer only limited strategic value, and whether it surrendered or not would make little difference.
This man’s good fortune lay in the fact that the one he encountered was not Li Huaidao, but Wang You – and in the end, he too was spared.
He Tingyun was meticulous in her work. Regarding these two individuals, her stance was that the Dongzhi county deputy should be rewarded for her merits, while the magistrate of Shunhui – though at fault – had been able to protect and reassure the populace during wartime, and could therefore be retained at a lower post.
Wen Yanran patiently went through each of these decisions, checking them one by one. In fact, she was still rather unfamiliar with the laws of Great Zhou, so for the most part she deferred to He Tingyun. From time to time she would ask for the opinions of the other court ministers, though many of them were already distracted, utterly incapable of responding.
Since officials were to be dealt with, it was inevitable that one would ask about their reputations and performance evaluations. As Vice Minister of Personnel, Li Zengyu was repeatedly named. Though inwardly consumed with fear, he dared not show a trace of it.
Once the dispositions of the Dan Province officials were decided, Wen Yanran glanced at the attendant standing beside her. Chi Yi carefully presented a wooden box containing the memorials from the court ministers.
The county office was unusually silent; outside, only the wind could be heard, along with the soft rustle of the emperor flipping through the memorials. After a moment, Wen Yanran laughed lightly. “You are quite concerned for my safety, it seems.”
At this point, Li Zengyu could only steel himself and say, “The fate of the state of Great Zhou rests upon Your Majesty alone…”
Wen Yanran replied, “Precisely because the fate of Great Zhou rests upon me, there must be no retreat.”
Her tone was not particularly harsh, yet it carried a weighty authority that chilled the heart. Li Zengyu could not stand and had no choice but to kneel and beg pardon.
Wen Yanran shook her head slightly, disbelief in her voice. “When my ministers face danger, they actually submit memorials urging me to leave.”
Originally, only a handful had been kneeling. At these words, most could not help but fall prostrate to the ground.
The game system, having been cruelly battered by reality, had now been forced to disable many functions; otherwise, under the current circumstances, Wen Yanran would certainly have received a “[Prestige +10]” system notification in a single day.
Wen Yanran spoke slowly: “After the chaos in Tai Province long ago, the Wang, Li, Lao, and Fuhe clans gradually grew powerful, and their actions became increasingly greedy and violent – this matter the Ministry of Personnel ought to know.”
Li Zengyu’s face turned deathly pale. He wanted to speak, but no words could come; all he could do was bow his head again and again.
Wen Yanran paid him no mind and continued, “The hearts of the people in Dan, Tai and the surrounding prefectures have never leaned toward the Western Tribes. Even if they were to reach Menqu, they should be inspiring morale and recovering lost territories. If I were to leave, the local great clans would inevitably become unsettled. Following me eastward, Dan Province’s strength would be left hollow. The Western Tribes, who could not have taken this land before, would then be able to occupy it with ease. By urging me to depart, you are effectively handing over the two prefectures to them.”
Earlier, when Li Zengyu had spoken privately with Gao Changjian, he had thought the man lacked the bearing and authority of a great clan. Now he realized that every word Wen Yanran had spoken came from the heart. Overcome with regret, he wished to beg pardon – but the Emperor would not give him the chance. Instead, she simply pointed to the name of Cui Xinjing and ordered her to step forward.
Wen Yanran smiled. “Minister Cui, your literary talent is exceptional. Write for me a memorial, so that the world may see the manner in which the court ministers abandoned their cities and fled.”
Cui Xinjing stepped forward and bowed deeply, her posture solemn. She understood in her heart that among the many scholars in court skilled in prose and poetry, the reason she had been given this opportunity was entirely because of her previous mission to Tai Province as an imperial envoy. Yet she also knew that once she wrote this memorial, both her own reputation and that of the Cui clan would be widely celebrated, but she would inevitably offend many aristocratic families, including the Lis.
Gradually, a resolute determination grew in her eyes. In a great clan like the Cui family, the children who entered official service strove for nothing less than a name remembered in history. Now that such an opportunity lay before her, how could she hesitate merely for fear of personal danger?
Meanwhile, in the county office, Li Zengyu’s mood was entirely different from Cui Xinjing’s. Having served as an official for many years, he now truly understood what it meant to regret something too late. Among the aristocratic families, reputation mattered above all. Once the disgrace of handing over the two provinces became widely known, the best he could hope for was to be berated as foolish and incompetent; his family would also be implicated. From that point on, it seemed unlikely that the Li clan of Jianzhou would see another official rise to fifth rank or higher for at least a decade or two.
Because Li Zengyu had served in the Ministry of Revenue, many officials had once benefited from his patronage, and there had been a degree of goodwill between them. Yet at this moment, he did not yet realize that once Cui Xinjing’s memorial was circulated throughout the realm, many of those very officials – grateful for past favors from the Lis – would sever all ties with him by resigning from office.
Wen Yanran acted decisively, immediately ordering Cui Xinjing to compose the memorial. She had not been entirely certain how to deal with those officials, but fortunately she could rely on the counsel of loyal ministers. She had previously written to Yuan Yanshi, delicately asking how to handle the officials who opposed her continued presence in Wu’an. The Emperor’s inquiry was subtle, and Yuan Yanshi’s reply equally so. As a seasoned court minister, he understood the strategic significance of Wen Yanran remaining at Shangxing Pass. He did not oppose her plan, but tactfully suggested that she prioritize reassurance, so as to stabilize the thoughts of the subordinates.
Wen Yanran agreed with the plan to steady people’s hearts. Yet since the loyal ministers considered gentle persuasion the main approach, she had no qualms about leaving the court officials with the impression that she could act with ruthless severity when necessary.
