novelAbuy Chapter 119 Parents' Hearts Across North and South
Chapter 119 Parents' Hearts Across North and South
The Khitan Southwest Route Pacification Commissioner followed the Central Plains' system of regional military governors, and its chief official was called Da Xiangwen, who served as the supervisor of all government offices.
Lu Bugu is a transliteration; his Khitan name was Yelü Lu Bugu. He was a cousin of Yelü Abaoji, and he assisted in the creation of the Khitan script. He was an important minister of the Yelü clan.
Knowing the matter was of great importance, he dared not delay and immediately dispatched a guide to escort Zhao Ying to the capital.
Upon receiving the report, Yelü Deguang excitedly told his mother, "My son had just received the envoy sent by Mengshi Lang, and it has indeed come to pass. This is the will of Heaven."
"The emperor has been having a lot of dreams lately."
Shulu Pingyuan was not as excited as his son, and said slowly.
"Two days ago, after your afternoon nap, you said you had a daydream. There was a beautiful, divine being with a flower crown, dressed in white, wearing a gold belt, holding a mace, and accompanied by twelve strange people. A black rabbit jumped out and into your arms."
Shulu Ping said calmly, "I didn't take it to heart back then, but how come it's come true today?" (Note 1)
Yelü Deguang smiled awkwardly: "Mother, this time it's not a dream, the envoy from Hedong has really come."
Shulu Ping didn't take it too seriously: "Since the envoy has arrived, let him in and hear what he has to say."
The chief envoy Zhao Ying and the deputy envoy He Fu paid homage to Shulu Ping and Yelu Deguang, presenting them with a knife as a token of their trust and a memorial.
The two men prostrated themselves in reverence, and when they rose, their words were impassioned and passionate.
"Li Congke murdered the emperor and seized power, incurring the wrath of both gods and men, and should be punished by Heaven."
Shulu Ping remained indifferent and noncommittal, refusing to give an answer no matter how much Zhao Ying pleaded. He casually fiddled with the large pearl inlaid on his sash, revealing no trace of his true thoughts.
When Zhao Ying had spoken until her throat was dry and she had repeated the same words several times, Shulu Ping waved the sleeve of his robe that concealed her severed right wrist and ordered someone to take her away and wait for news.
Yelü Deguang, who had been listening intently for some time, couldn't wait any longer. As soon as Zhao Ying and the other courtiers withdrew, he couldn't help but say, "Zhao Dejun also sent envoys the other day, and the garrisons of Hedong and Youyan both came to offer tribute. Isn't this a golden opportunity for our clan to take control of the Central Plains?"
"Are you tempted to take control of the Central Plains now?"
Shulu Ping showed no mercy to her son: "Two years ago you said the same thing, and what was the result? I heard that when you went to war to offer sacrifices to Heaven, there was a brave man who caught a flying goose with his hand. Has he returned?" (Note 2)
Faced with his mother's sarcastic remarks, Yelü Deguang looked ashamed and said, "Your son is incompetent, repeatedly losing troops and failing to fulfill Father's long-cherished wish."
"Ha, your father's long-cherished wish, what a good reason."
Shulu Ping sighed and said, "You are thirty-five years old now. You have been unable to realize your ambitions all these years. How could I not know that you want to achieve something to surpass your father?"
Just as Yelü Deguang was about to defend himself, Shulü Ping interrupted him, throwing out a pointed question.
"If you truly succeed in occupying the Central Plains, who in the country can suppress your prestige? Your mother will have no choice but to relinquish power to you."
Yelü Deguang immediately knelt down and said that his mother had misunderstood and that he had never had such a thought.
Shulü Ping seemed to be filled with emotion: "I'm almost sixty years old. The entire Khitan Kingdom will be yours sooner or later. Is there not a single sincere word between mother and son?"
Yelü Deguang immediately knelt down and swore to the heavens that he was appointed by his mother and that Shulü Ping was acting as regent entirely of his own free will. He believed that his mother should make all the decisions on important state affairs.
"Even if Mother were to pass the throne to my younger brother Li Hu today, I would have no complaints."
As soon as Yelü Deguang uttered those words, he immediately regretted them, wondering if he had overdone it. What if his mother went along with it and actually did it?
"Get up. The throne of our Great Khitan is not something I, your mother, can give to whomever I want."
Yelü Deguang breathed a sigh of relief and was about to get up when he heard Shulü Ping's next sentence. The content was plain and simple, but it struck him like a thunderbolt.
"Have you forgotten that your elder brother is still in the Central Plains? If you lead your army south, and the Tang people recognize him as the ruler of the Khitan, and escort him directly to the capital, what do you think will happen?"
If Shulü Ping firmly stands by my side, with her in charge in the capital, even if Yelü Bei returns, he won't be able to cause much trouble. But once my mother changes her mind…
The lingering heat of July had not yet dissipated when Yelü Deguang was immediately drenched in sweat, realizing his predicament.
If he insists on heading south without the support of Shulü Ping, his throne may not be secure, let alone conquering the Central Plains; it would be a joke.
Yelü Deguang knelt down again: "Your Majesty's thoughts are far more profound than mine. I will leave everything to Your Majesty's decision."
Get up.
After giving her ambitious son a gentle nudge, Shulu Ping'an comforted him, saying, "Your elder brother is a great lover of Han studies. If he were to become the ruler of the Khitan, he would surely appoint Han officials to reform customs and traditions, which would cause conflict with our Khitan nobility. If things go wrong, it could destroy our clan's foundation. That's why we chose you to inherit the throne. Even now, I still believe that the decision we made was the right one."
"Your son understands. He will do as Your Majesty wishes and reply to the messengers of Shi Jingtang and Zhao Dejun."
Yelü Deguang stood up and stood respectfully to the side, waiting for Shulü Ping to make a decision.
"This is not impossible, but we should not be hasty."
Empress Dowager Shulü Ping remained calm and composed. This iron-fisted ruler of the north slowly said, "Since you are still willing to listen to your mother, you might as well wait a while and not rush to agree to either side."
"Not only that, you must also send envoys to the emperor of the Central Plains to show your willingness to establish friendly relations."
"Right now, Shi Jingtang is in dire straits, while Zhao Dejun wants to take advantage of the situation. All you need to do is stall and wait for the right price; under pressure, they'll definitely compete to offer even higher prices!"
However, even someone as ruthless as Shulü Ping and as greedy as Yelü Deguang could not have imagined what a grand gift Shi Jingtang would present!
……
Upon receiving the imperial decree to transfer him, Gao Xingzhou rushed back to Luzhou from the front lines to take over from Huangfu Li.
Luzhou had 64,276 households during the Kaiyuan era, and as many as 17,800 households during the Yuanhe era. Now that it has been restored, its population is four times that of Yanzhou, and its military strength was nearly 40,000 at its peak.
After completing all the tasks, Gao Xingzhou sat quietly in the main hall of the government office, deep in thought.
This was not his first time here.
Twelve years ago, Li Cunxu executed Li Jitao, the acting governor, and dispatched 30,000 troops from Luzhou to garrison Zhuozhou.
Junior officer Yang Li, who had been treated well by Li Sizhao and his son for generations, was indignant that his son had been executed. He gathered more than a hundred followers and attacked the east gate of the city, scaring away the deputy envoy and the supervising officer. He then resorted to the traditional trick of calling himself the acting governor and leading the army and civilians to submit a petition requesting the imperial insignia.
The imperial court dispatched Li Siyuan to suppress the rebellion, and Gao Xingzhou was also in the army.
At that time, Huo Yanwei was the deputy commander-in-chief, Yuan Xingqin was the chief commander, and Zhang Tingyun, the commander of the left and right Imperial Guards, was the vanguard.
The vanguard reached Shangdang at dusk. The resting troops had just settled down when Zhang Tingyun led more than a hundred elite soldiers across the moat and up the city wall. The defenders could not resist them, and soon broke through the gate and locked it, allowing the rest of the army to enter.
The city fell in one day, and at dawn the next day, Li Siyuan and Yuan Xingqin arrived. The city had already fallen, and they captured Yang Li and more than ten of his accomplices alive and sent them to the capital, where they were all executed by dismemberment in the marketplace.
Gao Xingzhou made a wasted trip without exchanging a single arrow with the enemy.
After the war, because Luzhou was a formidable city with deep moats, people dared to occupy it and cause chaos. Li Cunxu ordered the city walls to be leveled and issued an edict to all provinces to remove the city defenses.
Whether other cities strictly followed the rules is another matter, but Luzhou complied without exception, thus becoming an undefended city.
Gao Xingzhou had already learned of the rebellion of Zhang Lingzhao in Ye City. He guessed that in addition to the matter of Huangfu Li, there was also an intention to prevent the rebel troops from breaking out of the city and fleeing from Ye City into Fukou Pass to occupy the area.
Now that I'm in charge, I have nothing to worry about.
As early as the reign of Li Keyong, Li Sizhao, the second of the Thirteen Protectors, was stationed in Luzhou as a bridgehead to resist the Liang Kingdom's invasion of Hedong.
In the Battle of Huliupi, Li Sizhao turned the tide after Zhou Dewei's death. Shortly afterward, the Khitan launched a major invasion, and the two armies clashed at Wangdu, where Li Cunxu's life was saved.
At that time, Yelü Abaoji personally led a large army to launch a surprise attack, surrounding the Jin army in multiple layers. Li Cunxu personally led the charge, charging and attacking several times, and the enemy formation remained unbroken.
Li Sizhao, weeping, led three hundred cavalrymen in a flanking attack against the encirclement. They charged and fought their way through dozens of battles, forcing the Khitan army to retreat. He then escorted Li Cunxu back. Following this, a fierce battle ensued on horseback, resulting in the capture and killing of thousands. The pursuit continued to Yizhou, where countless felt coats, tents, sheep, and horses were seized.
It was the first month of the lunar calendar, and the weather was cold. Heavy snow fell for ten days in the north, accumulating to a depth of five feet on the plains. The Khitans were short of food and fodder, and men and horses died on the roads. The dead were numerous and endless. This was a great defeat that Yelü Abaoji had never suffered in his life.
Three months later, this brave general unfortunately died in battle at the gates of Zhenzhou.
Li Sizhao, along with Zhou Dewei, Li Siyuan, Fu Cunshen, and others, was a pillar of the Jin army, holding Luzhou for fifteen years and commanding several thousand soldiers.
He was a man of strong character and initially had a fondness for alcohol. Li Keyong tried to persuade him to quit, and he never drank again for the rest of his life.
When he was entertaining his generals on the city wall before battle, an enemy arrow struck his foot. He secretly pulled it out to reassure the guests, who remained unaware and continued drinking as before. Such was his perseverance.
Unfortunately, compared to their father, Li Sizhao's sons were considered inferior, even calling them "dog sons" was an understatement. After Li Sizhao's death, his sons slaughtered each other, leaving only Li Jizhong as the leader, who now resides in Taiyuan City.
"If a son is unfilial, or if a father raises a son without teaching him, it is the father's fault."
Gao Xingzhou couldn't help but think of his unruly eldest son, hoping he wouldn't end up like that.
When Gao Huaide reached his rebellious age, he knew all too well that scolding and disciplining him would have little effect, and would only make the father-son relationship cold and distant.
Recalling his son's childhood appearance, Gao Huaide was innocent and carefree, often following behind him, looking up with his little face and asking all sorts of questions.
Playing and frolicking with him, teaching him martial arts and spear techniques, and learning horsemanship, Gao Xingzhou gradually let go of his son's hand as he led him on horseback. Watching his son gallop on horseback, Gao Xingzhou felt very satisfied.
Who would have thought that his son had become a completely different person, spending his days idly and carefree. No matter how earnestly he was advised or how sternly he was reprimanded, he would only let it go in one ear and out the other, unwilling to open up to his father.
When did things become like this between me and my son?
Gao Xingzhou was deeply puzzled, and a sense of frustration and powerlessness welled up within him.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts and signed the document appointing Gao Huaide as the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Household Department. After all, a son is a son; if he didn't pass on his legacy to him, who else could he pass it on to?
Gao Xingzhou thought that if there was enough time, he might be able to see his family again. Once the chaos in Yedu was quelled, he would have to rush back to the front lines in Taiyuan.
However, he ultimately failed to wait for his wife and children to come from Luoyang, and thus began a long and agonizing separation.