Chapter 111
Chapter 111
[Li Erfeng Becomes Wanyan Gou – 31]
His Majesty had destroyed Jin!
He had destroyed Jin!!
Destroyed Jin!!!
Li Gang felt as though a club had struck him over the head. His mind went completely blank. He stumbled several steps backward without managing half a word, then toppled flat onto his back. The moment he hit the floor with a thud, he burst into wild laughter like a madman!
Was the shock and joy in Zong Ze’s heart any less intense?
He saw Li Gang fall hard enough to shake the floor and wanted to help him, but both feet might as well have taken root. He could not move. His lips twitched from time to time, his expression caught somewhere between laughter and grief.
His fingers loosened, and the letter fluttered to the floor. He did not even notice. He simply stood there, lost in joy.
A court official heard strange sounds from inside the government office. He announced himself from outside, but when no one responded, he had no choice but to enter and investigate. The moment he pushed open the door, he received quite a shock.
Chancellor Li sat sprawled on the floor, one hand clenched into a fist as he pounded the ground and laughed. Marshal Zong stood rigid a short distance away. Tears filled his eyes, but the delight on his face was unmistakable.
The official muttered uncertainly, “Chancellor Li?”
Li Gang remained on the floor, laughing. He ignored him.
The official tried Zong Ze next. “Marshal Zong?”
Zong Ze did not respond either.
The official’s sense that something was terribly wrong grew stronger. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the letter at Zong Ze’s feet. After a moment’s hesitation, he went over and picked it up.
His expression changed before he had read halfway. He tore through the rest ten lines at a glance. By the end, his entire face had flushed crimson. He clapped both hands together and laughed, beside himself with joy. “Ah! It’s done! Jin is destroyed! The Humiliation of Jingkang has been avenged!”
He dropped the letter and staggered outside. So overwhelmed was he that he tripped over the doorframe and pitched more than a yard through the doorway.
Zhu Shengfei, Zhao Ding, and several others were walking in that direction. When they saw him fall from a distance, they could not help laughing. “He has always been a steady man. What could have happened to make him rush around like this?”
Then they sent an attendant to help him.
Before the attendant could reach him, the official scrambled to his feet. Looking deranged, he clapped his hands, laughed, and ran off across the courtyard.
Zhu Shengfei realized something was amiss and hurriedly ordered men to stop him. He approached and demanded, “What happened? Why are you behaving like a lunatic?”
The official did not answer. He only laughed and clapped, mumbling, “Destroyed… destroyed…”
Zhu Shengfei questioned him several more times, but the man only repeated the same word over and over.
Growing anxious and infuriated by his subordinate’s disrespect, Zhu Shengfei roared, “You damned animal, what was destroyed?!” Then he slapped the man across the forehead.
The official finally caught his breath. After spitting out a glob of phlegm and collecting himself, he cried in rapture, “Chancellor Zhu, Jin is destroyed! His Majesty destroyed Jin! The Humiliation of Jingkang has been avenged!!!”
The words shook Zhu Shengfei to his core. His knees buckled, and he nearly fell. “His Majesty destroyed Jin?!”
“Yes! His Majesty destroyed Jin!”
Zhu Shengfei had heard him perfectly well. But overwhelmed with delight, he asked again, desperate to hear the answer one more time. “His Majesty truly destroyed Jin?!”
“Yes,” the official declared in a ringing voice. “Jin has fallen. The Humiliation of Jingkang has been avenged!”
Every expression in the courtyard seemed to freeze, as though an immortal had cast a spell that rooted them in place. Only after a long moment did everyone abruptly come back to life.
Laughter and cries of amazement erupted together. The violent emotion could come only after despair had given way to hope, after the first glimpse of dawn. Before long, the laughter turned to choked sobs and wailing. From the chief chancellors down to the lowest officials, not one person was spared.
Zhu Shengfei threw himself to the ground and wept until he could barely speak. “Emperor Taizu! Late Emperor! The Humiliation of Jingkang has been avenged. You may rest in peace in the underworld! Long live His Majesty! Long live our sagely Son of Heaven!”
When news reached the inner palace, Empress Wei was naturally overjoyed, as was Empress Dowager Meng. But for Empress Dowager Zheng, Noble Consort Cui, and the other consorts who had endured the Jingkang Incident, the good news brought an even more overwhelming mixture of shock and joy.
When a palace attendant arrived with the message, Empress Dowager Zheng was listening to an opera with several noble Consorts Dowager. She sat stunned for several breaths, then tears began pouring down faster than she could wipe them away.
As Mother of the Nation, how could she not have grieved to see the rivers and mountains shattered and her children plunged into disaster?
Every last humiliation had been inflicted by the Two Sages and the Jurchens. Now the Two Sages were dead, and His Majesty had destroyed Jin as well. How could they not rejoice?!
“Heaven protected us. Our ancestors protected us!” Empress Dowager Zheng and the others cried from the depths of their hearts. “Ultimately, it was His Majesty’s wisdom. Only a peerless sovereign such as he could avenge the nation’s humiliation and settle its blood debt in three years!”
When word that Jin had fallen and the Humiliation of Jingkang had been avenged reached the common people of Dongjing (Kaifeng), the entire city became an ocean of joy.
It was neither New Year nor any other festival, yet firecrackers exploded from one end of every street to the other. Families without firecrackers at home rushed to the shops to buy them as soon as they heard the news.
The street vendors abandoned their businesses. Beaming with delight, they handed out the fruit and snacks from their stalls, then hurriedly packed up and went home to share the rare good news with their families.
Yet sorrow could not be hidden behind all that happiness. Those who had lost family in the Jingkang Incident or the wars quietly prepared paper money and offerings. Carrying baskets, they went to graves and told their departed loved ones the news, hoping they could enter their next lives in peace and no longer worry about the affairs of the mortal world.
Li Gang laughed for an entire day until his mouth went crooked. Zong Ze, Zhu Shengfei, and the others were much the same. They grinned at everyone they saw. The muscles in their faces grew stiff and sore, but even the pain made them happy.
A few days later came word that Yue Fei’s army had received Western Xia’s surrender, bringing that kingdom to an end as well. The people of Dongjing grew more exhilarated than ever, and jubilation filled the heavens.
Jin might have been the greatest bastard in the minds of Song’s people, but Western Xia had been no friend either. How many wars had Song and Western Xia fought over the years?
Western Xia had even taken a vicious bite out of Song during the Jingkang Incident. Now that people heard the kingdom had fallen, how could they not leap with joy?
Even Empress Dowager Meng, who usually devoted herself to Buddhist cultivation, temporarily emerged from her prayer hall and began moving around the inner palace again. When she saw Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Wei, she said, “It is not that I have failed to cleanse myself of worldly desire or grown attached to the mortal realm. But good news has followed good news of late. I fear even the Buddha himself would have trouble meditating through it all.”
Li Shimin had set out with the army on his personal campaign in the third month. By the sixth, he returned to the capital in magnificent procession, bringing the imperial families and officials of Jin and Western Xia in chains.
It was the height of summer, and the sun blazed overhead. Yet the court officials and imperial consorts showed no irritation as they stood beneath the scorching light. Every face was wreathed in smiles. Commoners waited on both sides of the city gates. The instant they glimpsed the army’s vanguard approaching the capital, they could no longer contain themselves. Cries of “Long live His Majesty!” rose loudly enough to shake the heavens.
When Li Shimin arrived, he first paid his respects to the two empress dowagers. After receiving the obeisance of the officials, he had the Jin and Western Xia captives presented at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. He then bestowed rewards upon those who had earned merit and scattered coins at the palace gates so the people of Dongjing could share in the celebration. There was no need to recount every detail.
Jin and Western Xia had both ceased to exist. The surviving people of Liao had not yet managed to establish Western Liao, and no obstacle remained along the road to the Western Regions. The only enemies left before Song were Tubo in the southwest and Dali in the south.
Those two states, however, were perceptive. They had watched Song’s new emperor smash Jin and Western Xia to pieces with a few casual blows. How could they dare pretend not to notice? In the seventh month of that same year, both sent envoys to Dongjing, offering to become Song’s vassals and present annual tribute.
Li Shimin intended to expand his territory, but he saw no need to rush.
To speak frankly, compared with the wealth and prosperity of the Central Plains, calling Tubo and Dali impoverished backwaters would hardly have been unfair. The farther south one traveled, the less development the Central Plains dynasties had undertaken. As for the Tibetan Plateau…
There was little profit to be gained from conquering it, and its development would consume an enormous amount of effort. Better to wait. The wars against Jin and Western Xia had only just ended. Li Shimin believed it was time to slow down and let the violently churning machine of Song rest for a while. At the same time, the empire needed to digest the fruits of victory from destroying both kingdoms.
Naturally, officials were dispatched to take possession of the two states’ territories and establish local administration. Li Shimin also personally decided how to dispose of their final emperors and imperial clans.
In all fairness, he was not a narrow-minded man. In his previous life, even after the Alliance at the Wei River, he had spared Illig Qaghan when Eastern Turkic fell and its ruler was captured.
As the conquered ruler of Western Xia, Li Qianshun had voluntarily opened his gates and surrendered. He could receive the same treatment as Illig Qaghan. As for his imperial clan, those who had participated in wars against Song would be executed, while the rest would be reduced to commoners.
Defeat was not rare. The fall of a kingdom was not rare. Even the humiliation of a defeated imperial family was nothing unusual. Yet the Jurchens had carried their depravity to a degree without precedent or equal, trampling the princesses of the fallen Song into the mud and subjecting them to horrors beyond description.
Treat me with courtesy, and I will repay it tenfold. But you bastards trampled Our soil and slaughtered Our people, then violated Our sisters and abused the imperial house to such a degree-and still expected to live?!
Delusional!
Li Shimin had dragged out those two bastards Qinzong and Huizong and cut them to pieces. How could he spare these Jurchens? After presenting the captives at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, he had them paraded through the streets for three days. Then he ordered Zongbi and Zongpan, the last two emperors of Jin, along with Zongfu, Zongmin, and every other Jurchen who had participated in the Jingkang Incident or the invasions of Song, to be taken to the public execution ground and put to death by lingchi in vengeance for the old national humiliation.
At the same time, he ordered every Jin male aged twelve or older to be beheaded. All the rest were enslaved by the state.
When Empress Dowager Zheng and the imperial princesses heard, they inevitably shed tears again. Compared with before, however, those tears were joyful.
At court, meanwhile, a dispute arose over the fates of the Jin emperors’ consorts, Jin’s princesses, and the women of its imperial clan.
The hardliners argued for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Song should imitate Jin and register them as prostitutes. The moderates insisted that the Chinese realm was a land of ritual and propriety and could not lower itself to the level of barbarians. Jin was already destroyed, and Zongbi, Zongpan, and the others had all been killed. There was no need to make life difficult for the women. Reducing them to commoners would suffice.
Li Shimin rested his chin on one hand and listened as the officials argued fiercely below. They failed to reach any conclusion. When he returned to his sleeping quarters, he asked Empress Wei, “How do you think they should be dealt with?”
Empress Wei was startled. “This is the business of the outer court. Why does Your Majesty ask me?”
Li Shimin smiled. “You are a woman. Perhaps your view will differ from the officials’.”
Empress Wei hesitated for several moments before answering, “Ultimately, I suppose it depends on where one stands.”
She sighed. “If Your Majesty asks me as the Empress, then I am more inclined to agree with Officials Cui, Li, and the others. For the dignity of the realm, we should release them. But if I put myself in the place of the imperial princesses taken north, or the common women who suffered sexual violence, then perhaps I would care about none of that. If I may speak selfishly, Your Majesty should not ask those who never endured such torment. You should consider what the victims themselves might think…”
At last, Empress Wei laid her hand over her husband’s. “In the end, Your Majesty must decide for yourself what should be done.”
In his previous life, Li Shimin had supported Empress Xiao of the previous dynasty with the honors due a Zhaoyi. Somehow, the gesture had even inspired a romantic rumor about them. Heaven only knew how enormous the age gap between him and Empress Xiao had been!
But he had supported Empress Xiao to show the realm that Tang had legitimately inherited Sui. It was meant to demonstrate the rightful orthodoxy of the Li-Tang dynasty, not to display kindness and certainly not because of some salacious affair.
The consorts and princesses of Jin and the other women of its imperial clan were different.
The men of Jin’s imperial clan had behaved like uncivilized animals. Forget leaving themselves a path of retreat-they had not left so much as a crack. How could they expect anyone to show mercy to their families?
After listening to Empress Wei, Li Shimin found several new thoughts occurring to him. It would be inappropriate for him to ask the women directly, so he sent his wife to sound out Empress Dowager Zheng.
When Empress Wei arrived, several imperial princesses born to Empress Dowager Zheng happened to be visiting. They hurriedly rose to welcome the Empress.
Empress Wei chatted with them pleasantly for a time. After drinking a cup of tea, she tactfully raised the dispute that had taken place at court that day. Sure enough, the imperial princesses began to weep again.
Princess Jiade was the eldest among them. She wiped away her tears and said apologetically, “I have lost my composure and made a spectacle of myself before the Empress.”
Empress Wei hurried to comfort her.
Princess Jiade twisted a handkerchief between her fingers, tears still glimmering in her eyes, and shook her head with a faint smile. “I know what I ought to say if I wished to sound dignified and magnanimous, but I cannot force out the words. The civil officials outside make it all sound so easy. With one sentence-‘The barbarians know nothing of civilized teaching; the Central Plains naturally will not behave as they do’-they turn the page and put it behind them. But what of us sisters? What of the women who endured so much suffering? Because the Jurchens were uncivilized, they could treat us like brothel women and violate us for their pleasure. Because Song is a land of ritual and propriety, we should forgive the Jurchens and treat them with courtesy? If we repay injury with virtue, then how are we to repay virtue?!”
Princess Chengde could not keep from crying either. “Sister-in-law, call me petty if you wish. I hate the Jurchens. I hate them to my bones!”
She clenched her teeth, hatred blazing in her eyes. “I hate the Jin men who violated me, and I hate Jin’s women too! They may never have violated me themselves, but as the families of Jin’s imperial clan, they shared in every honor and every loss. Did they not also lie atop Song’s body and feast on its flesh and blood?! They did not violate our bodies, but did they abuse us any less? Of those who never made it home, half were tortured to death by men and half by those women. We were not treated as people. We were animals with two legs who happened to speak in human voices!”
The other imperial princesses bowed their heads and wept. Princess Jiade took Empress Wei’s hand and said slowly, “It is true that we sisters carry hatred in our hearts. It is equally true that we are grateful to His Majesty. To speak honestly, when we saw Jin destroyed and those animals put to death, we felt happier than we ever have in our lives.”
Her voice softened, but her expression grew solemn. “His Majesty has his own difficulties. He must maintain a balance. The realm does not contain only women like us, but officials and common people as well. He has already done more than enough and done it better than anyone could ask. Whatever he decides, he should carry it out. We sisters understand. We feel nothing but gratitude toward him and not the slightest resentment.”
Empress Wei was deeply saddened by her reasonableness. She stayed a while longer, speaking gently and offering comfort, before taking her leave and returning to the sleeping quarters.
When Li Shimin heard his wife recount Princess Jiade’s words, emotion and sorrow filled his heart. He remained moved for a long time. Finally, he summoned an official and ordered, “White silk or poisoned wine. Let them choose for themselves.”
The official stared in surprise. “Your Majesty, the court has not yet reached a conclusion.”
Li Shimin glanced at him. “What did you just call Us?”
The official blinked. “Your Majesty?”
Li Shimin acknowledged it with a sound and said, “Go carry it out.”
The official: “…”
He could only bow. “Yes.”
Li Shimin sighed and asked his old companions in the shared space, “Does this count as doing something wrong?”
Ying Zheng said, “No.”
Emperor Gaozu said, “No.”
Liu Che said, “No.”
Zhu Yuanzhang said, “No.”
After a pause, Zhu Yuanzhang added resentfully, “I still think you should have skinned Zongbi and the others. Why wouldn’t you listen to me? You could have compromised-skin half of each man first, execute him by lingchi, then skin the other half!”
Li Shimin: “…”