Holding the Emperor Hostage : Chapter 5: Disloyalty

“Who is this Shentu Yang?”

Inside Chongde Hall, Yin Shuhuai looked at the memorial submitted by Chancellor Huo Yan and could not help asking curiously.

The eunuch Zhuang Wuwei, who had been attending to him all along, bowed and replied: “This person is the legitimate eldest son of the Lord of Yan. Fifteen years ago, the Xiongnu raided the borders…”

Zhuang Wuwei was meticulous in thought, thorough and considerate. He knew that although Yin Shuhuai was the emperor, he had been demoted to commoner status by Emperor Li due to his congenital foolishness, and had wandered among the common folk for sixteen years without receiving proper imperial education. Even after being brought back to Luoyang by Zhang Jian and placed on the throne, he was confined within the deep palace. Apart from the grand court assemblies on the first and fifteenth of each month, he had virtually no opportunity to interact with court officials and was not well informed about court affairs. Therefore, when introducing Shentu Yang to His Majesty, he also took the opportunity to explain the background of the Lord of Yan.

When the founding emperor of the Yin Dynasty was conquering the realm, he had enfeoffed four kings of different surnames. They were King Qi Gao Liang, King Zhao Jian Rang, King Huainan Wu Qi, and King Yan Shentu Fei. Later, King Qi Gao Liang and King Zhao Jian Rang were executed along with their entire clans for plotting rebellion. King Huainan Wu Qi fled with his family to the Xiongnu, and the remaining clan members were also executed to the last person.

In an instant, only one of the four kings of different surnames remained. The founding emperor’s most valued strategist privately advised the founding emperor that those who were not of the Yin house would inevitably have different hearts. For the sake of the rivers and mountains and the altars of soil and grain, the Yin Dynasty ought to abolish the kings of different surnames, inherit the commandery and county system of the previous dynasty, and emulate the rites of Zhou by enfeoffing imperial princes as regional lords to assist the Son of Heaven in guarding the realm. From this came the foundational principle of the state: no one not surnamed Yin could be called king, and no one without military merit could be enfeoffed as marquis.

At that time, King Yan Shentu Fei, the sole survivor, somehow heard of this news and voluntarily submitted a memorial requesting that the emperor revoke his title as King of Yan and reduce him to a full marquis.

The founding emperor was benevolent and virtuous. He believed that given the King of Yan’s achievements, reducing him to a full marquis would truly be burying a meritorious subject. Moreover, the king of a different surname had committed no fault, yet voluntarily requested to be demoted to a full marquis. This would cause the people of the world to criticize the emperor as being harsh and ungrateful, unable to tolerate meritorious subjects. Thus he rejected the King of Yan’s memorial.

After receiving the emperor’s reply, the King of Yan fell silent for half a year, then wantonly extorted merchants in his fief, forcibly buying land from local powerful clans at extremely low prices, accepting bribes and selling offices for personal gain… When the imperial censor who was inspecting the area heard of this and reported it to the court, the founding emperor was furious and originally intended to issue an edict stripping him of his kingship and abolishing his state. But out of consideration for the King of Yan’s hard earned merits, he stripped him of his royal title and reduced him to duke, confiscated all the bribes and forcibly purchased lands of the Lord of Yan, and compensated soldiers with military merit but no land.

It is worth mentioning that the Yin Dynasty inherited the previous dynasty’s twenty grade military merit nobility system, which originally had no ducal rank. The founding emperor, in order to pacify the people’s hearts, specially enfeoffed him as Lord of Yan after abolishing the kingship, intending to distinguish the King of Yan’s achievements from those of other full marquises.

It was precisely because of this that the Lord of Yan was the only duke in the Great Yin Dynasty who possessed a fief state.

Thereafter, the Yin Dynasty was passed down for over six hundred years, and the ducal title of the Lord of Yan was also inherited for six hundred years. It was passed down from generation to generation, with sons and grandsons all guarding the Yan territory for the Yin Dynasty.

“…Some also say that the strategist who advised the founding emperor back then was actually the Lord of Yan himself. At that time, the Yin Dynasty had only one king of a different surname left him. As the saying goes, a common man is guiltless, but possessing a jade is his crime. He worried that after the court eliminated the other three kings of different surnames, they would come for him next. So he actively proposed stripping kings and abolishing states, but actually this was advancing by retreating.”

When Zhuang Wuwei spoke to this point, he could not help but sigh with deep emotion: “The Lord of Yan was truly a divine man.”

Yin Shuhuai was dumbstruck, practically listening in a daze.

No, did nobody sense that something was wrong?

The court wanted to reduce the power of the regional lords, and the King of Yan wanted to protect himself. So the ruler and subject put their heads together and decided to specifically target the merchants and powerful clans within the Yan fief, right?

When it came to playing people, these feudal rulers and subjects really knew their stuff. Even something like reducing the power of regional lords, which was bound to cause a falling out, they managed to turn into a spectacle. In this back and forth, neither of them suffered losses. The only ones hurt were the local merchants and powerful clans, right?

Didn’t the local merchants and powerful clans sense that something was wrong?

Yes, of course some did.

It was just that the first generation Lord of Yan set the precedent, and every subsequent Lord of Yan who inherited the title, without exception, feared that the merchants and powerful clans within the state would recover their strength, and would suppress them from time to time. Until the previous generation Lord of Yan took the throne, the merchants and powerful clans of Yan finally found their chance for revenge. They took advantage of the occasion when Emperor Li passed away and the Lord of Yan returned to the capital to pay his respects, and collaborated with the Xiongnu from inside and outside to break through Yan.

These traitors probably did not expect that after the Xiongnu broke through Yan, they did not station troops to occupy the territory, but chose to carry away most of the common people, money, grain, and treasures along with them. As the wealthiest noble class in Yan, those local powerful clans and great merchants who had invited the wolf into the house naturally became part of the wealth as well.

“The Lady of Yan and the heir apparent Shentu Yang were abducted by the Xiongnu during that campaign,” Zhuang Wuwei said in a soft voice. “It is said that the current Lady of Yan had very close dealings with those powerful clans back then. There are also rumors that the local merchants and powerful clans conspiring with the Xiongnu in a inside outside collaboration was something this lady knew about as well. That is why she begged the Lord of Yan to bring her and her son back to Luoyang to visit her parents’ home.”

Whether the rumors were true or not, nobody knew. In any case, fifteen years later, Shentu Yang led eight hundred men in fighting through the Xiongnu and returned to Yan. The first major thing he did upon his return was to kill that mother and son pair at the old Lord of Yan’s funeral.

Yin Shuhuai listened to this old tale, mentally filled in a melodramatic drama, and could not help clicking his tongue in wonder. “If the rumors are true, this Shentu Yang is quite understandable.”

From being the high and mighty heir apparent of the Lord of Yan to becoming a slave of the Xiongnu, setting aside how many humiliations and hardships he must have endured among the Xiongnu over the years, one only needed to look at the fact that he came back while the Lady of Yan did not, to know that the lady’s fate must not have been good.

“I wonder what happened to that lady?”

Zhuang Wuwei also sighed: “Who knows? But for a noble lady of the Yin Dynasty to fall into the hands of the Xiongnu, her end must have been very tragic.”

Yin Shuhuai let out a long sigh. Looking at the memorial submitted by the Chancellor, he could not help but feel sympathy: “This Shentu Yang is already so miserable. Why does the Chancellor still want to send troops to attack him? Can’t they just enfeoff him as the Lord of Yan? After all, he is also the heir apparent of the Lord of Yan.”

The Yin Dynasty governed the realm through filial piety and fraternal duty. Although Shentu Yang’s act of killing his stepmother and younger brother was shocking, if it was to avenge his mother, it was quite excusable.

Yin Shuhuai remembered that the Han Dynasty had a professional rebel. He seemed to also be called the King of Huainan. He killed Shen Yiji with a hammer to avenge his mother, and Emperor Wen of Han did not punish him.

Most importantly, this man could fight the Xiongnu! Although Yin Shuhuai did not know how far this fictional dynasty was from the Five Barbarians’ Chaos, taking history as a mirror, one could know the rise and fall. With such a fierce and brave general guarding the frontier, even if the entire court was holding positions without doing their jobs and forming factions for private gain, at least the frontier could be kept peaceful.

He had to admit, the tale of Shentu Yang leading eight hundred slaves in fighting through the Xiongnu had given Yin Shuhuai a mysterious confidence in him. This could not be blamed on him. It was simply that the number eight hundred in history was too magical.

Such as Huo Qubing leading eight hundred men straight to the Xiongnu nest, Zhang Liao leading eight hundred men to charge the hundred thousand strong army of Sun Quan, Li Shimin leading eight hundred government troops in a confrontation at Xuanwu Gate, Zhu Di leading eight hundred men in rebellion during the Jingnan campaign… Every dynasty had heaven sent fierce men who formed an inseparable bond with the number eight hundred. This inevitably made Yin Shuhuai firmly believe that Shentu Yang was also such a fierce man.

However, Yin Shuhuai’s burning enthusiasm was extinguished by a bucket of cold water poured over his head.

“…Shentu Yang has deployed thirty thousand troops at Shangdang and Henei Commanderies. The Chancellor suspects he has disloyal intentions.” Zhuang Wuwei looked at His Majesty, who had suddenly developed a love for talent, and explained even more patiently.

Yin Shuhuai smiled but said nothing. This Huo Yan, based solely on Shentu Yang’s deployment of troops at Shangdang and Henei, concluded that he had disloyal intentions. Did all these rebels have radar for identifying their own kind?

Yin Shuhuai did not doubt Huo Yan’s intuition for identifying rebels from afar. After all, the Chancellor had experience in this area. Yin Shuhuai was merely curious whether the general Huo Yan sent to suppress the rebellion could defeat Shentu Yang.

“What if he can’t win?” Yin Shuhuai muttered to himself.

He looked at Huo Yan’s memorial requesting the appointment of Jiang Yang as General Who Suppresses Rebels, to lead one hundred thousand troops to Yan to suppress the rebellion. “Is the Commandant of the Palace Guards very good at fighting?”

Zhuang Wuwei cautiously said: “The Commandant of the Palace Guards once served as General of Agile Cavalry. In the fifteenth year of Yong’an, the Commandant of the Palace Guards followed Grand General Huo Yan in attacking the Xiongnu and achieved glorious military merits, being enfeoffed as Marquis Who Stabilizes the North.”

Yong’an was the reign title of Yin Shuhuai’s cheap father, Emperor Li. During Emperor Li’s reign, he exhausted the military and was fond of grand achievements, repeatedly campaigning against the Xiongnu with abundant results. Yin Shuhuai was very curious that such an impressive person had the posthumous title “Li” chosen for him.

As they say, killing the innocent is called Li; being cruel and lacking in familial affection is called Li; being stubborn and ruthless without propriety is called Li; supporting evil and violating righteousness is called Li; having a long tongue that brings disaster is called Li; being violent and disrespectful without propriety is called Li… This was truly a malicious posthumous title. From this, one could see how much shadow the high pressure rule during Emperor Li’s reign had cast over the noble families and civil and military officials of that time.

As Yin Shuhuai listened to Zhuang Wuwei’s account, he suddenly wanted to read Emperor Li’s daily records of words and deeds.

Hearing His Majesty’s request, Zhuang Wuwei’s face immediately changed. The historian sitting in the corner also turned ashen, looking at Yin Shuhuai as if he had seen a foolish and unprincipled ruler.

“…This is not the conduct of a wise ruler.” Zhuang Wuwei cautiously advised, then immediately lowered his eyebrows and softened his eyes, changing the topic in a gentle tone: “Your Majesty should just approve the Chancellor’s memorial. The Chancellor concurrently holds the position of Grand Commandant. Even without Your Majesty’s approval, he can mobilize troops, prepare provisions, and appoint generals. Why should Your Majesty go against the Chancellor for the sake of an outsider a thousand miles away who has nothing to do with you?”

Yin Shuhuai glanced at Zhuang Wuwei and smiled faintly: “You are right.”

Yin Shuhuai picked up the jade seal without chipped corners and gold inlay, and stamped it on Huo Yan’s memorial. Then he patted his stomach. “Since things have come to this, let’s have lunch first!”

If not for Zhuang Wuwei’s reminder, Yin Shuhuai had almost forgotten that he was still a puppet emperor at others’ mercy. The slightest misstep and he could be deposed, or even poisoned. His own little life was still hanging by a thread, so there was no need to worry about other people’s lives.

If Shentu Yang was truly a heaven sent fierce man of the eight hundred, he would not be wiped out by the one hundred thousand strong army sent by the court. If Shentu Yang was not a fierce man, yet dared to act so recklessly before his position was stable, then dying would just be dying.

After all, in such a world, human life was the least valuable thing.