Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 51: The Name of Loyalty, Shining Through the Ages
Mayi.

Yu Jin hurried into the house and saw She Digan, Hou Jing and others were also in the house. He didn't slow down his pace unconsciously.

"Si Jing, why are you so anxious?"

Ever since Li Shuang met Yu Jin, he has always maintained the demeanor of a scholar.

The style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was pure and self-contained.

When the news of the results of the Battle of Feishui came, Xie An was playing chess with someone. He took a look and continued playing. After the game, when someone asked him about it, he said lightly, "The children have defeated the enemy."

Of course, he was so happy that he even forgot to wear shoes, but that’s another story.

Generally speaking, this kind of composure in the face of great events has always been pursued by scholars like Yu Jin.

But at this moment, Yu Jin did not have this kind of temperament at all, as if the sky had fallen.

He held a document from Luoyang in his hand, his eyes were panicked, and he anxiously asked Li Shuang for advice.

"What is the Grand Commander planning to do? The three strategies he presented to us were not meant to suppress bandits at all."

After hearing this, Li Shuang asked back.

"Has His Majesty approved it?"

Yu Jin suppressed his voice and said angrily:

"Your Majesty is young and perhaps doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation. Can't the ministers see the dangers of these three strategies to suppress the bandits? No one has tried to stop them!"

This is criticism!

Li Shuang felt relieved and said with a smile:
"Si Jing, why do you need to do this? Since this is the emperor's will, we just need to do it!"

"Which traitor came up with this policy that harms the country and the people? The Grand Commander must be senile, how could he not have noticed this villain's sinister intentions?"

After hearing this, Li Shuang coughed a few times.

Seeing Li Shuang's expression, Yu Jin sensed something fishy and his voice became sharper.

"Could it be that these three strategies for suppressing the bandits were the work of the governor of Mayi?"

Li Shuang said nothing, but in the room, She Digan and Hou Jing were the first to laugh!
"But why?"

Three strategies to eliminate bandits!

Strategy 1: Hengzhou is short of military rations, so the policy of converting pastoralism to farming will be implemented throughout the region to meet military needs.

Strategy 2: The Chi-Le tribe has ulterior motives and should be moved outside the Great Wall to prevent any unexpected events.

Strategy Three: Requisition the livestock and soldiers of the Hengzhou tribe to lift the siege of Shuozhou.

Yu Jin had been in the northern border for so long that he was quite familiar with the situation there. Hengzhou might appear calm, but within it lay a formidable undercurrent.

Whether marching or making plans, it is better to be still than to move.

This first strategy seemed like a good one, but if it could be implemented, would we have to wait until now? As for how the second and third strategies would ultimately be implemented, he already knew.

If we implement these three strategies, won’t we be forcing these barbarians to rebel?
Li Shuang didn't care. He took Yu Jin's hand and sat down.

"Don't worry, Sijing, what do you think of the Hu people in the northern border?"

Yu Jin thought about it. Deeply influenced by Chinese culture, he wanted to come up with a more elegant word to describe them, but he couldn't think of one.

Finally, I summarized it in three simple and plain words:
"Barbarians!"

When Yu Jin said this, She Digan and Hou Jing behind Li Shuang were not angry, but nodded instead.

"They are rude, bloodthirsty, ignorant, and just a pool of mud, while we are bright flowers."

Yu Jin looked at Li Shuang in surprise, only to see him say excitedly:

"But without this pile of mud, this bright flower will wither and fade, eventually falling into the dust and becoming just like the mud."

"My lord, well said!" Hou Jing clapped his hands from behind. She Di was stunned for a moment, then followed suit and started clapping as well.

Yu Jin was too lazy to pay attention to these two people and was still a little confused.

"What can we do if we force them to rebel?"

"If the imperial court doesn't see the turmoil in the northern border, how can it know the value of our loyalty and righteousness?"

Yu Jin opened his eyes wide for a moment, looked at Li Shuang, and thought to himself:
Are you playing so big?
Looking at Hou Jing and She Digan again, he found that their reactions were indifferent, as if they had already gotten used to it.

"But what if it doesn't work out in the end?"

Right now, only Po Liu and Han Baling are rebelling, with at most Wuchuan and Huaishuo towns involved. But if these three strategies continue, I'm afraid the entire northern border, including Guanzhong, will erupt in flames. By then, the whole world will be in chaos.

Li Shuang smiled and poured a cup of tea for Yu Jin.

"This is why you can't understand the Grand Commander's profound meaning!"

Yu Jin raised an eyebrow, his voice a little hoarse.

"Does he have a deeper meaning?"

"nature!"

"What's the deep meaning?"

"Even if there is chaos, that was the decision made by the little emperor of Luoyang."

"..."

Li Shuang asked:

"Why do you think the Six Towns rebelled?"

"The imperial court treated foreign enemies as if they were its own relatives, but the Six Garrisons as its enemies, and treated them even more harshly."

"This was just the pretext for Po Liu Han Baling's rebellion. The real reason was that Pingcheng's decline had led to its inability to meet the needs of the Six Garrisons. The imperial court was unwilling to acknowledge them, but only wanted to suppress them, which ultimately led to the Six Garrisons' uprising."

The transition from the Pingcheng model to the Luoyang model meant that the emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty changed from the military leader of the northern tribes to the true ruler of the Northern Dynasties.

During the Pingcheng period, Tuoba Tao and other members of the Northern Wei royal family could lead the military merit families of the Six Garrisons to plunder the Rouran in the north and seize the Liu Song in the south, obtaining enough wealth to satisfy everyone.

But after arriving in Luoyang, the emperor and the Yuan clan were no longer willing to take the lead. The Rouran became poor and the Southern Dynasty could no longer rob them. The Six Garrisons and other former military families became beggars.

Especially when comparing the luxurious life of the nobles in Luoyang with the impoverished days of their poor relatives in the north, it makes people even more dissatisfied.

"The entire northern border is impoverished. We have Pingcheng as our support, but we're still struggling. Po Liu Han Baling and Yu Jiulu Anagui are even worse off. Luoyang is unwilling to provide enough money and food to satisfy the people of the Six Garrisons and the Eastern and Western Chi-Le tribes, so this won't resolve the Six Garrisons Rebellion."

"Both Po Liu Han Baling and Yu Jiu Lu Anagui were exceptional generals. Using the weak troops of Pingcheng to attack the ferocious bandits of the Six Garrisons will ultimately lead to disastrous defeat."

"So, we'll send all those potential rebels in Hengzhou to Po Liu Han Baling and Yu Jiu Lu Anagui. It might seem like we're strengthening their strength, but in reality, it's weakening their foundation. The poorer they are, the more they'll rebel, and the more they rebel, the poorer they become. As long as we rely on the North and South Great Walls, hold Pingcheng, and sow discord among them, they'll eventually collapse."

Finally, Li Shuang concluded:
"I, Daye Shuang, and my soldiers will always be the staunch shield guarding the Great Wall against the rebels of the Six Garrisons and the Rouran army. Our reputation for loyalty and righteousness will shine through the ages."

Warm applause broke out in the room again.

Yu Jin walked out of the house in a daze and looked at the sun in the sky, which felt so dazzling.

Yu Jin kept reflecting in his heart:

why?
Li Shuang's remarks are clearly treasonous and rebellious, but why do I feel they make so much sense?
Yang Kan and Gao Ang had just returned from training. Seeing Yu Jin's distraught look, they couldn't help but ask:

"Join the army, what's wrong with you? Why do you look like you've lost your soul?"

Yu Jin looked at the two people in front of him and murmured:
“I feel dirty!”

……

(End of this chapter)