Chapter Ninety-One: Street Corner Talk

“Have you heard? Among the people who helped Li Gui in this rebellion, there were even men from the Western Turkic tribes.”

“Men from the Western Turkic tribes? Then Li Gui may truly be rising this time. Those steppe warriors never fight with any regard for their lives.”

“Isn’t that so? In recent years His Majesty seized a vast stretch of land from those Turkic people and established Latter Water County there. If Li Gui truly succeeds in rebelling this time, I’m afraid those lands will have to be returned to the Turks.”

“Whether Latter Water County ends up back in Turkic hands does not worry me. What worries me is this: if Li Gui really succeeds in rebelling, won’t we be forced to pay land taxes again, just as before?”

“That should not be a concern. Hasn’t our Governor already led troops to suppress Li Gui? I’m sure victory will come swiftly.”

“Our Governor is personally leading the campaign? Good heavens. On the battlefield, blades and spears show no mercy. May those steppe men not wound our Governor.”

“That need not trouble us. I heard that our Governor is a divine being descended to the mortal realm to save us miserable souls. How could an immortal be harmed by mortal weapons?”

“What you say is not without reason. I also heard that in the days when the enlightened Emperor campaigned against Goguryeo, the price of rice in the imperial capital nearly tenfolded. A few years ago, when our present emperor launched his own campaign against Goguryeo, rice in the capital also rose by nearly ten times. Yet look at this time: our Governor has sent troops west to suppress Li Gui, and the price of rice in our commandery has scarcely moved.”

“Ah, that is only because your information is out of date. This time, when the army set out, there were indeed some grain merchants who tried to hoard supplies and drive up the price. But the officials overseeing the market discovered it in time and fined them until they were ruined. That is what deterred the merchants from trying to inflate prices, and kept the rice market steady. Otherwise, how could those profiteers possibly have passed up such a chance to make war profits?”

“You speak of those officials? I know them. They are men who do real work, though they are a little too unforgiving.”

“It is not that they are unforgiving. I have heard our Governor say that the law shows no favoritism. The statutes of the realm have already drawn the forbidden line. So long as we do not cross it, anything else is permissible. But once one touches the law’s forbidden ground, punishment is certain. That is what they call strict enforcement and firm prosecution of violations.”

Such conversations were common in the essays written under Li Wenyuan’s rule. Under the guiding principle that speech was not a crime, the people gradually cast off the old taboo that warned them never to discuss state affairs. They also began expressing their views on current events in public settings. Moreover, due to the special geography of the western frontier, merchants and caravans from many countries passed through the region. After experiencing the area’s growing prosperity and its comparatively favorable tax policies, some merchants chose to sell goods in the west rather than carry them all the way to the imperial capital, shortening the time spent on the road.

At the same time, Li Wenyuan encouraged local merchants in the west to take over the goods brought by foreign caravans and then ship them onward to the central plains for profit. As a result, many merchants not only resold foreign goods in the central regions, but some even carried western specialties abroad. Although such efforts had not yet borne much fruit in the short term, Li Wenyuan firmly believed that as more people ventured outward, the vision of his subjects would grow broader, along with their capacity for tolerance and creativity.

Without meaning to, Li Wenyuan had, before anyone noticed, accomplished a kind of Renaissance. Quietly and gradually, he helped the people under his rule break free from the shackles that had bound them for nearly a thousand years. It was Li Wenyuan who granted his subjects powers that other rulers were unwilling to bestow. Thus the farmers under his rule gathered around him out of gratitude, the merchants around him out of profit, and the army in his hands around him out of honor. Faintly, the idea of a nation had already taken root in the minds of all the people under Li Wenyuan’s governance, awaiting only time to nurture it into growth.

Of course, that was a matter for later. At present, Li Wenyuan was still laboring at the forefront, striving to secure the remaining four commanderies for his title as Governor of the Western Regions. His earlier victory over the Turkic cavalry was, under his special instruction, also published in the newspaper. Naturally, by Li Wenyuan’s deliberate control, the report appeared at the very same time that Yang Guang received Li Wenyuan’s memorial announcing victory.

After receiving the news, Yang Guang was overjoyed. He immediately approved Li Wenyuan’s request to establish the so-called special zone in the western regions, which amounted to giving Li Wenyuan legal recognition for creating a semi-autonomous administration there. This also greatly stirred the noble houses of the Guanzhong and Longxi region. They too submitted memorials to the emperor, asking that such special zones be introduced in their own territories, but all were brushed aside by Yang Guang with a single, indifferent sentence:

“If you can defeat Turkic cavalry with the same number of infantry, then I shall approve a special zone for you as well. Otherwise, say no more.”

So those nobles of Guanzhong and Longxi also sent their spies to the western regions, eager to discover how Li Wenyuan had crushed Turkic cavalry with equal numbers. But under Li Wenyuan’s deliberate restraint, the newly introduced firearm troops, still a novelty, were not widely publicized. Instead, the entire merit of the great battle was placed upon the shoulders of the heavy blade infantry, which in turn spurred the noble houses to begin gradually adopting the armor and great blades used by those troops within their own militia forces.

As for revealing the existence of his heavy blade infantry, that invaluable weapon against cavalry, Zhang Juntai also felt it was somewhat inappropriate, fearing that it might become a major obstacle when competing for the Central Plains in the future. Li Wenyuan, however, was entirely unconcerned. He knew the weaknesses of those cumbersome iron coffins all too well, while the nobles knew nothing of them. When the day came and they truly faced his army, Li Wenyuan had every means to crush them with ease.

After handling the Turkic prisoners and reporting his achievements to Emperor Yang Guang, Li Wenyuan also obtained the detailed statistics from the battle: the firearm troops suffered no fatalities, and the few wounded among them were only lightly injured and would not be delayed from the next campaign. The heavy blade infantry, however, had indeed suffered some losses. Among the Turkic cavalry there were no shortage of agile men, and more than a dozen heavy blade soldiers were struck by blunt weapons wielded by those barbarians. Some had their breastplates crushed so deeply that they suffered severe internal injuries and were forced into retirement. Li Wenyuan found this deeply regrettable.

After all, no armor in this world is one hundred percent perfect; even heavy armor cannot withstand the shock of blunt-force impact. Fortunately, his domain already had a complete set of welfare policies for retired soldiers, which lessened somewhat the guilt he felt over those who were forced into retirement by injury or who fell on the battlefield.

The end of chapter.