novelAbuy Chapter 276 Grassland Tribute
Chapter 276 Grassland Tribute
The ninth day of the eleventh month of the first year of the Qiming era. Minor snow.
The second snowfall in Chang'an was more intense and denser than the one on the day of Lidong (the beginning of winter). From dawn, snowflakes as white as goose feathers blanketed the sky, and in less than two hours, the entire imperial city was shrouded in a jade-like blanket. The double-eaved hip roof of the Taiji Hall was covered with half a foot of snow, and the dragon-head spouts under the red steps were covered with icicles, which gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light in the gloomy sky.
However, the atmosphere inside the Taiji Hall today was even colder than the wind and snow outside—a frozen, oppressive silence carrying the chill of a blade.
Chen Xing sat upright on the throne, his expression calm and composed, but his fingers, resting on his knees, remained motionless for a long time.
Inside the hall, the Vice Minister of War, his voice trembling slightly despite his best efforts to control himself, read aloud an urgent military report delivered over 800 li (approximately 400 kilometers).
"...After the Snow Wolf tribe of the Northern Desert was defeated by His Majesty's personal expedition last year and its wolf king was killed, the remaining forces scattered and the various tribes fought each other incessantly. However, at the end of autumn this year, the Tiele tribe suddenly rose up. Its chieftain Ashina Duobi is brave and skilled in battle, and also adept at strategy. He has successively annexed the Uyghur, Pugu, and Tongluo tribes, and gathered the old Snow Wolf troops, thus unifying the Northern Desert..."
A slight commotion arose in the hall.
"...Ashina Duobi proclaimed himself 'Silifa Khan,' established his headquarters at the Dule River, and commanded 80,000 archers. By the beginning of October, his vanguard had already swept south to Baidaochuan. The palace was completely silent."
After a long silence, Chen Xing spoke, his voice as calm as a still lake: "Eighty thousand archers. I remember that last year when we campaigned against the Snow Wolves, the combined forces of the northern tribes numbered no more than fifty thousand cavalry."
"Your Majesty," Chen Wei stepped forward, his face grave, "the Tiele tribe originally lived west of the Jian River, the farthest from the Central Plains, and has always been at odds with the Snow Wolf. However, I have heard of Ashina Duobi—he is not only skilled in battle, but also in endurance. When the Snow Wolf King was alive, he sent envoys to pay tribute every year, bowing his head in submission; after the Snow Wolf King's defeat, he reaped the benefits and gradually eroded his former master. This man's threat is probably no less than that of the Snow Wolf."
"No less than the Snow Wolves"—this is both high praise and a grave warning. All the officials and soldiers in the palace know that last year His Majesty personally led an expedition against the Snow Wolves, slaying the Wolf King and inscribing the monument on Yanran Mountain, but the Xingqi Army also suffered considerable losses. Now, with the empire newly established, Jiangnan newly annexed, and the equal distribution of land, the imperial examination system, and tax reforms all in full swing, if a major war were to break out again with the new ruler of the Northern Desert at this time—
"Your Majesty," an old minister stepped forward, his voice trembling with pleading, "the Tiele are far to the north of the Gobi Desert. Their southward march to Baidaochuan may merely be a test. Our dynasty could send envoys with an imperial edict, bestow gold and silk upon them, and confer upon them the title of Khan, ordering them to return north. There is no need to hastily ignite war..."
"Grant him a title?" Dian Xiong exploded on the spot. "How many border people has he killed? You want His Majesty to issue an edict granting him a title? Absolutely not! If you want to fight, then fight! I, old Dian, will muster my troops right now and head to the northern desert again!"
"General Dian!" the old minister said urgently, "This year, heavy snow has blanketed the northern deserts, and countless livestock have frozen to death. The Tiele's southward advance is truly to plunder grain. If the court were to open border markets and allow them to exchange horses, cattle, and sheep for grain, they would retreat on their own. Why then should we waste our troops and resources..."
"A border market?" Dian Xiong sneered. "What did the previous dynasty's border markets ultimately lead to? The An Lushan Rebellion! Those barbarians would exchange grain today, iron tomorrow, and cities the day after!"
"You—you're just making excuses..."
"alright."
Chen Xing's voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the chaos like a sharp blade. The hall fell silent instantly.
He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the assembled officials and landing on the swirling snow outside the hall, and further on the vast grassland where he had once inscribed his achievements, but which was now brewing a new storm.
"Issue my decree," he said slowly. "I am aware of the Tiele tribe's southward advance. The garrison at Baidaochuan should fortify their defenses and maintain a scorched-earth policy, awaiting further orders. Chen Wei, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue should convene to prepare provisions, equipment, and supplies, in preparation for my personal campaign after the spring."
"Your Majesty!" the old minister exclaimed.
Chen Xing raised his hand to stop him: "My mind is made up. But—"
He paused, then turned his gaze to Jia Wen: "Prime Minister Jia, the dispatch of envoys can proceed simultaneously without conflict. I want you to select an eloquent and knowledgeable person, well-versed in the border affairs, to go to the Tiele royal court as the chief envoy. Not to sue for peace, not to bestow titles, but to ask—to ask Ashina Duobi, whether he wants to be the master of the northern desert, whether he wants his tribe to survive the snowstorm year, whether he wants… to do a mutually beneficial deal with Xingqi."
A hush fell over the hall. Everyone pondered the weight of the word "ask".
Jia Wen bowed deeply: "This old minister obeys the decree."
---
On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, in Chang'an City, at Chengtian Gate.
This was the coldest day since the beginning of winter. The north wind was like a knife, whipping the banners on the Chengtianmen city tower so fiercely they seemed about to tear apart.
But below the city walls, along both sides of the imperial road, were teeming with people. The citizens of Chang'an braved the biting wind, craning their necks and standing on tiptoe to witness an unprecedented spectacle—
The delegation from the Tiele tribe in northern Mongolia has arrived.
It was not a secret dispatch of envoys, nor a clandestine visit to the gate at night. Rather, after receiving a message from the court's official envoy, Ashina Duobi, as the new ruler of the northern desert, personally led a hundred cavalrymen, traveling day and night, south to Chang'an.
At this moment, this iron-blooded Khan who unified the northern deserts is walking on the imperial road outside Chengtian Gate.
He was about forty years old, not very tall, but extremely wiry, with thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes, and a hideous scar running from his eyebrow to his cheekbone on his left cheek. He wore a sable fur coat of a nomadic hermit, with a gold belt at his waist inlaid with jewels, but beneath the fur coat was a close-fitting old leather armor—the plates were worn smooth and shiny, clearly from years of battle.
He did not ride a horse, nor did he travel in a sedan chair, nor did he even have any attendants to help him. One hundred steps, fifty steps, thirty steps—he knelt down on one knee twenty steps away from the Chengtianmen city tower.
The snow covered his knees.
"Ashina Duobi of the Tiele tribe, by the grace of His Majesty the Enlightened Emperor, has come to pay tribute!"
His Chinese was stilted and his pronunciation clumsy, but every word was clear and powerful, echoing across the quiet square of Chengtianmen.
Chen Xing did not appear on the city wall.
Jia Wen stood in the center of the city tower and delivered the imperial edict: "His Majesty's decree—the northern desert is bitterly cold and snowy, and I am aware that the Khan has come from afar. He shall enter the imperial city to avoid the wind and cold, and will have an audience at the Taiji Hall tomorrow."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great favor!"
Ashina Duobi touched the ground with his forehead, and the snow on his sable fur coat fell in a flurry.
---
The following day, at the Taiji Hall.
This was the grandest and most subtle court assembly of the first year of the Qiming era.
Inside the hall, civil and military officials stood solemnly according to their ranks, the atmosphere as dignified as ever. But many people's gazes kept drifting toward a special area in the center of the hall—a space reserved for the delegation from the northern desert.
Ashina Duobi had changed his attire today. He was not wearing a sable coat or a gold belt, but rather a plain white linen robe, devoid of any embellishments or jewels. There was no sword at his waist, and his braid was devoid of gold ornaments; only the scar on his left cheek stood out starkly in the candlelight of the hall.
He knelt before the throne, bowing three times. His forehead touched the gold brick, and his voice was deep and resonant.
"Your humble servant, Duobi, kowtows to His Majesty the Enlightened Emperor."
"A traitor?" Chen Xing sat upright on the throne, his tone calm. "What crime has the Khan committed?"
Ashina Duobi prostrated himself on the ground, his voice deep and muffled:
"Last month, I was unaware of the Emperor's wrath and allowed my subordinates to march south to Baidaochuan, where they plundered the livestock and provisions of the border people. This is my first crime."
"After I unified the tribes of the northern desert, I failed to send an envoy to Chang'an in a timely manner to request investiture, and instead presumptuously claimed the title of Khan, which is an overreach of my authority. This is my second crime."
"I have come to Chang'an today not to seek credit or reward, but to offer the oath of loyalty of the 80,000 iron cavalry of the Tiele tribe, to defend the northern border and defend against the western invaders for Your Majesty, so as to atone for my past sins."
An uproar erupted in the hall.
The oath of loyalty of 80,000 iron cavalry? This is not a request for investiture, it is a request for surrender—or rather, a request to become a vassal state.
The Tiele tribe had just unified northern Mongolia and was at the height of its military power. Why had Ashina Duobi fallen to this point?
Chen Xing did not respond immediately. He remained silent for a long time, so long that you could hear a pin drop in the hall.
"Raise your head."
Ashina Duobi slowly raised his head and met the gaze of the emperor on the throne.
"I ask you," Chen Xing's voice was not loud, but every word was clear, "did you come here today of your own volition, or were you forced to come by the old, weak, women, and children of your tribe?"
Ashina Duobi's body trembled.
He didn't answer. But his eyes, sharpened like those of a hawk by the harsh winds and snows of the northern desert, avoided Chen Xing's gaze for the first time.
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly froze.
Chen Xing didn't press further. He simply continued:
"This year's snow disaster in the northern deserts has killed 70% of the livestock. Although your Tiele tribe has annexed other tribes, your granaries are empty and the people's hearts are not yet won over. Half of your 80,000 cavalry are generals who surrendered last year and may not truly submit to you. If you start a war with me now, victory will only mean seizing a winter's worth of provisions; defeat will mean that the Tiele main force will be devoured by the remnants of the Uyghurs and Pugu, and you, Ashina Duobi, will die without a burial place."
He paused, his tone flat and matter-of-fact, as if stating a given fact:
"So you came. You dare not gamble on whether I will personally lead the army, you dare not gamble on how many of your 80,000 archers will defect on the battlefield, and you dare not gamble even more on whether your three underage sons will be able to guard your camp after your death."
Ashina Duobi knelt on the spot, his back stiff, without uttering a word.
After a long silence, he touched his forehead to the ground again, his voice hoarse:
"Your Majesty... knows everything."
"I don't know," Chen Xing said slowly. "I only know that the wolves of the northern desert also need to eat. Starving wolves will come south to abduct people, but satiated wolves can guard the sheepfold for their masters."
He stood up, walked to the throne, and looked down at the new master of the grasslands:
"Ashina Duobi, I don't want your 'crime,' nor your 'oath of loyalty'—that Taixu. I'll do a business deal with you."
"This winter, a border market will be opened in Chang'an, allowing your Tiele tribe to exchange fine horses, cattle, sheepskins, and pearls for grain at a fair price. The market will be located north of Yunzhong City. How much your tribe can exchange depends on how much goods you have."
Ashina Duobi suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"At the same time, the court conferred upon you the title of 'Fengyi Khan,' bestowing upon you a golden seal and official robes. The tribes in the northern deserts under your rule will still nominally remain under your jurisdiction, but they must send envoys to pay tribute every year and accept the court's investiture annually. The change of Khan in your Tiele tribe will only take effect with the court's approval."
"In exchange," Chen Xing's voice grew even calmer, "you must promise never to raid south again. Your cavalry must not cross the Yin Mountains. If you break this agreement, I will personally lead an expedition to wipe you out and leave no future trouble."
He looked down at Ashina Duobi, who was kneeling on the ground, and spoke slowly and deliberately:
"Will you take this deal or not?"
The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Ashina Duobi knelt on the spot, like a weathered stone statue. The Tiele warriors behind him, though unable to understand all of the Chinese, sensed something they had never read before in the Khan's stiff back.
That is not submission.
That was a complete nakedness, where even fear had nowhere to hide after being seen through.
After a long while, Ashina Duobi bowed his head deeply. This time, his forehead was pressed against the cold gold bricks, and he did not lift it for a long time.
"Your Majesty, I... bow in gratitude and thank you for your divine grace."
His voice, muffled between the floor tiles and his chest, was as deep and distant as thunder.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to guard the northern border."
---
The meeting dispersed.
Ashina Duobi stepped out of the Taiji Hall and looked up at the gray and gloomy sky. Snowflakes fell on his braided hair, which was not covered by a crown, and on his shoulders, which were no longer tense, and quickly melted.
Behind him, a young guard couldn't help but whisper in Turkic, "Great Khan, are we really... just like this..."
Ashina Duobi did not turn around.
"My name is Duobi," he said in a low voice in Turkic, "not the Wolf King, not the Heavenly Khan. My father was killed by snow wolves, my wife and children were abducted by the Uyghurs, and three thousand of my tribe starved to death last winter—three thousand, can you count them?"
The guard was stunned.
Ashina Duobi took a deep breath of the frigid air, and the heart in his chest, which had been tempered by the wind and snow of the northern desert for forty years, was beating unusually steadily at this moment.
"He wasn't humiliating me," he said, as if explaining to himself, "he was... telling me that there are other ways to live besides dying in battle."
"What's this called?"
Ashina Duobi did not answer. He gazed at the towering palaces of Chang'an, more majestic than any mountain on the grassland, and uttered a single sentence.
The guard did not hear clearly.
"What did you say?"
Ashina Duobi did not repeat himself. He turned around, the hem of his sable coat leaving a deep trail in the snow.
---
That night, at the Wenhua Hall.
Chen Xing sat alone before the imperial desk, with Ashina Duobi's "tribute list" laid out before him. It listed the gifts "presented" by the Tiele tribe: a thousand fine horses, five hundred cattle, three thousand sheepskins, two bushels of pearls, and—an old gold seal engraved with wolf patterns.
That was the "Khan's Seal" bestowed upon the ancestors of the Tiele by the previous dynasty, which Ashina Duobi returned along with it.
Chen Xing stared at the golden seal, remaining silent for a long time.
Jia Wen stood to the side and said softly, "His Majesty made it very clear in the palace today. Ashina Duobi is a man who can bend and stretch, knows when to advance and retreat, and understands the advantages and disadvantages. Using him as a bulwark can ensure peace on the northern border for ten years."
"Ten years." Chen Xing repeated the word, his expression unreadable, whether it was satisfaction or regret.
"Your Majesty," Jia Wen hesitated for a moment before asking, "this old minister has a question. The Tiele have just annexed the northern deserts, and their foundation is not yet stable. If our dynasty were to send troops to conquer them at this time, we might be able to wipe them out completely and eliminate any future troubles. Why, Your Majesty... has granted them such generous terms?"
Chen Xing did not answer immediately. He gazed at Ashina Duobi's golden seal, which flickered in the candlelight, and after a long while, slowly said:
"Prime Minister Jia, you just said 'ten years.' You were quite accurate."
He paused.
"But what I want is not ten years. What I want is—thirty years, fifty years, a hundred years."
He got up and walked to the window. Outside, the night snow in Chang'an City was like millions of white butterflies, swirling and dancing in the wind.
"Killing Ashina Duobi is easy. But after he dies, who will govern the northern desert? The Uyghurs? Pugu? Or will another Snow Wolf King emerge, and another ten years of fighting ensu?"
He turned around and looked at Jia Wen.
"Prime Minister Jia, in the past when we were conquering the world, the enemy was clear, and the battlefield was well-defined. If we won, we won. But now..."
He paused for a moment, which was uncommon for him.
"Now I am the emperor. An emperor cannot only think about winning. An emperor must think about what to do after winning."
Jia Wen bowed deeply and did not straighten up for a long time.
A few days later, Ashina Duobi led his troops back north.
Before leaving, he knelt down to bid farewell once again outside Chengtian Gate, still dressed in plain white linen clothes, still with that silent and iron-like profile.
He requested to speak to the emperor in person. Chen Xing granted his request.
This time it wasn't in the Taiji Hall, but in a side hall next to the Wenhua Hall. The furnishings were simple, with only a small table, two mats, and a charcoal fire.
Ashina Duobi knelt on the mat, remaining silent for a long time. Chen Xing did not urge him, but simply added a new piece of charcoal to the brazier.
Sparks crackled.
"Your Majesty," Ashina Duobi suddenly spoke, in Turkic, but very slowly, as if he were repeating a word, "I... have a son who is seven years old this year. I wish to send him to Chang'an."
Chen Xing looked up at him.
"Whether I enter the Imperial Academy or become a guard for some prince," Ashina Duobi said, his voice hoarse, without raising his head, "I only beg Your Majesty... to let him live."
Chen Xing neither immediately agreed nor refused. He simply looked at the charcoal fire and asked:
"What are you afraid of?"
Ashina Duobi remained silent for a long time.
"...I am not afraid of death." He finally said, "I fear that after I die, the grasslands will return to what they were before. People kill horses, horses eat people, and when they are starving, they migrate south and accept their fate when they are killed. I have fought for twenty years, but I still haven't been able to establish a system that can be passed down."
He raised his head for the first time and met Chen Xing's gaze.
"The 'business' that Your Majesty taught me, I will teach to the elders of the tribe when I return. But I'm afraid I won't teach it well. I only know how to fight, not how to do accounts."
He paused.
"Therefore, I wish to send my son here. He is smarter than me, and he learns quickly."
Chen Xing stared at this grassland man with a scar on his left cheek and a lifetime of military service for a long time.
"Next spring, send someone to escort him here," he said. "I will have Consort Shu keep an eye on the enrollment matters at the Imperial Academy."
Ashina Duobi bowed deeply.
On the day Ashina Duobi returned north, the weather cleared in Chang'an. The snow gleamed brightly in the sunlight. The procession outside Chengtian Gate was small, but of extremely high caliber—Grand Secretary Jia Wen personally escorted him to Ba Bridge on behalf of the Emperor.
Before parting, Jia Wen held Ashina Duobi's hand, pointed to the still incomplete official road from Chang'an to Luoyang, and said:
"Khan, this road will reach Taiyuan next year. The year after that, it will reach Yunzhong. And one day, it will reach Duleshui."
Ashina Duobi gazed at the roadbed stretching to the horizon, saying nothing.
But he did not let go of Jia Wen's hand.
That night, Chen Xing dined with Murong Mingyue in the Lizheng Hall.
After listening to his account of Ashina Duobi sending his son as a hostage, Murong Mingyue remained silent for a moment, then asked:
"Does His Majesty trust him?"
Chen Xing put down his jade chopsticks, looked at the candlestick, and did not answer immediately.
"What he fears is not me, but that no one will be able to succeed him after his death," he said slowly. "He fears that after fighting all his life, the grasslands will still be the same grasslands. Such a person can be trusted."
"How much do you believe?"
"Thirty percent."
Murong Mingyue turned her head slightly.
"Thirty percent," Chen Xing said, "that's enough. I'll decide on the remaining seventy percent myself."
He paused, then suddenly asked, "How was Qi'er's homework today?"
Murong Mingyue was slightly taken aback, but then she understood—her husband no longer wanted to talk about politics.
"Today, the Grand Tutor lectured on the 'Canon of Yao' in the Book of Documents," she said. "After returning to the palace, he asked me whether the 'harmony' in 'harmony among all nations' was achieved through fighting or negotiation."
Chen Xing looked up.
"How will you answer?"
Murong Mingyue smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, I say, we have both. But we must be able to fight first before we are qualified to talk; and only after we talk can we fight less."
Chen Xing looked at his wife's solemn face in the candlelight and suddenly gently squeezed her hand.
Outside the window, snow began to fall again in Chang'an at night.
That night, each of the four halls of Taiji Palace still had a candle burning in its window.
Under the candlelight in the Lizheng Hall, Murong Mingyue was mending a small brocade robe for Chen Qi. The abacus in the Chengxiang Hall continued its steady clatter as Su Xiaoxiao checked the draft calculations for border trade. The lights in the Qiyun Pavilion burned for a long time as Lin Wan'er revised the wording of the elementary textbook "Four Barbarians," repeatedly considering whether the terms "Hu," "Di," and "Rong" were appropriate.
The lights in Fangzhixuan were the first to go out.
Today, Lan Fenghuang brought back a newly cultivated cold-resistant herb from the Imperial Medical Academy, saying she wanted to plant it by the window to see if it could survive the winter. She squatted in the small flowerbed for half an hour, fiddling with it until her hands were covered in mud, and finally planted it. After washing her hands, she leaned against the window and looked at the seedling for a long time, her eyelids gradually becoming heavy.
Aro gently covered her with a thin blanket and blew out the light.
The snow was still falling in Chang'an in the night sky.
That vast and uniform white expanse covered the palaces, the mountain passes, the emperor and the Khan, the soon-to-be-completed road, and the old grudges that had not yet melted away.
Tomorrow, Chang'an will welcome a new tributary envoy—a caravan from the Western Regions' Yanqi Kingdom, which is already on its way.