Chapter 1364 - 1291: You’re Being Foolish
Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help sighing. "Righteous Brother, you’re being foolish!"
"Lady Jujube wasn’t killed by you, so why did you send out troops to kill Liuxiu? If you’d just had the murderer who killed his mother seized and brought to him, the hatred between father and son could have been dispelled. How would things have ever come to this?"
Liu Kun deeply agreed, looking at Tuoba Yilu with a hate‑iron‑for‑not‑becoming‑steel expression. "Righteous Brother, you’re being foolish!"
Tuoba Yilu: ...
Because before he sent out troops he’d never considered that he might lose. He was marching for something very clear; he and Zhao Hanzhang both knew perfectly well what that was. It was probably only Liu Kun who still hadn’t caught on.
Tuoba Yilu fell silent and stopped talking.
Liu Kun looked at him, then at Zhao Hanzhang, and decided to be the one to break the silence. "Your Majesty, how do you think this matter should be handled most appropriately?"
Zhao Hanzhang asked him, "Righteous Brother, what do you think?"
Liu Kun probed, "Since father and son are both in the Capital City, why not let Your Majesty act as mediator, to help father and son let bygones be bygones?"
Zhao Hanzhang turned her head and asked Tuoba Yilu, "Righteous Brother, what is your view?"
Tuoba Yilu was silent for a moment, then bowed and said, "I beg Your Majesty to take charge and mediate."
Only then did Zhao Hanzhang nod. "Very well, I shall be that go‑between."
Tuoba Yilu and Liu Kun both let out a breath of relief.
Zhao Hanzhang turned and instructed Lai Qing, "Go invite Ji Shizhong, Ming Zhongshu, Governor Zhao, and Governor Zu to come over."
Lai Qing accepted the order and went out to summon them.
Zu Ti originally didn’t want to come. Today, after all, was the great day of Zhao Hanzhang’s accession; it ought to be cheerful and festive. But his sovereign seemed to rather enjoy overtime—just before the palace banquet, she was actually still handling state affairs.
But when he thought that this was an opportunity to wipe out Dai Country, Zu Ti went anyway.
The court ministers filled a whole hall. There weren’t many people, but all were key pillars of the state. Once national affairs had their approval and deliberation, the matter was basically settled.
Zhao Hanzhang invited them to sit, then had them deliberate on how to deal with Dai Country.
Zhao Hanzhang said, "Since I am to mediate, we must at least draw up a plan before we talk with Liuxiu. While everyone is here, and the palace banquet hasn’t yet begun, let us discuss it."
Tuoba Yilu shifted on his seat uneasily and said, "Your Majesty’s authority is awe‑inspiring. Just issue an order forbidding him to bear resentment against me, then dispatch a troop to escort me back to Ping City. Given Your Majesty’s prestige, what need is there for any plan?"
Zhao Hanzhang: "Why does that make me sound so much like a muddle‑headed ruler?"
Zhao Ming sneered, "Your Majesty is no muddle‑headed ruler, but clearly the King of Dai hopes to make Your Majesty act like one."
Tuoba Yilu: "Zhao Ming, do not slander me!"
Liu Kun’s wits finally returned at this point. He immediately grabbed Tuoba Yilu and whispered, "Elder Brother, if you want our eldest nephew to cool off, you have to give up something. Otherwise, if Your Majesty goes to negotiate armed with nothing but words, won’t you be dumping all that hatred onto Her Majesty?"
He suggested, "You and Your Majesty should submit a memorial, establishing our eldest nephew as Princely Heir."
Tuoba Yilu’s expression changed again and again, and for a moment he said nothing.
Zhao Ming mocked from the side, "Looks like the King of Dai truly takes Your Majesty for a muddle‑headed ruler. Transferring all the hatred onto Her Majesty is one thing—anyone with a bit of sense would refuse. But for him to insist like this shows he clearly thinks Her Majesty is a fool."
Zhao Hanzhang: "...Uncle Ming, if you’re thirsty, have some tea first."
Even though he was on her side, to her ears it sounded like he was using the excuse to curse her. She hadn’t done anything bad to him recently either.
Ji Yuan glanced at the still‑hesitating Tuoba Yilu, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Majesty, private is private and public is public. The resentment between father and son can be reconciled, but the casualties among Dai Country’s Soldiers and common folk caused by their struggle, and even the disturbance brought to the frontier’s Anding, cannot go unpunished."
"Moreover, killing wife and destroying son, trampling human ethics—this is a grave moral evil. Even if in the end father and son are reconciled, the moral corruption fostered by the King of Dai cannot be left without punishment."
Ming Yu and Zu Ti voiced their support in unison.
Ming Yu said bluntly, "Whether they, father and son, can reconcile is none of my concern, but the explanation due to the subjects of the realm must be given. If we do not impose a heavy penalty this time, won’t fathers across the land who cannot stand their sons simply kill the mothers, then force their sons to die, leaving the entire household property to be inherited by the youngest child?"
Zhao Hanzhang’s brows creased slightly as she looked toward Tuoba Yilu. "King of Dai, Ji Shizhong and Ming Zhongshu speak with considerable reason. We must not allow one family’s affair to corrupt the morals of the world."
Tuoba Yilu’s face changed dramatically, and he stared sharply at Zhao Hanzhang. "Then what does Your Majesty intend to do?"
Zhao Hanzhang turned the question back to Ji Yuan and Ming Yu. "What punishments do you all believe are fitting?"
Ji Yuan said, "All disasters stem from the title King of Dai Country. I implore Your Majesty to revoke the King of Dai’s noble rank, then ask Tuoba Liuxiu whether he is willing to reconcile with the King of Dai. If he is, we may refrain from pursuing the crime of their unauthorized troop deployments. If he is not, then both must be prosecuted for a grave offense."
Liu Kun, who had had several contacts and cooperations with Tuoba Liuxiu, quickly said, "No. Tuoba Liuxiu’s temper is extremely violent. Put it that way, and I fear he will refuse reconciliation and instead commit treason."
Zu Ti said, "Is our vast Hua Country afraid of one Xianbei brat rebelling? Your Majesty, I petition to send troops into Dai Country. In my view, that Dai Country could give rise to such disorder clearly shows a lack of civilizing instruction. I request that Dai Country be merged into Jizhou; I am willing to personally go and instruct the common people."
A glint of amusement flashed in Zhao Hanzhang’s eyes, but the next instant she became solemn again, looking seriously at the others. "What do you all think?"
Zhao Ming raised his hand. "I second the motion. Yu State is willing to dispatch three hundred scholars to accompany Governor Zu into Dai territory to civilize the populace."
Ji Yuan and Ming Yu also raised their hands. "We second!"
Tuoba Yilu’s face was full of furious shock, then slowly cooled. He flung off Liu Kun’s hand on his arm, rose directly to his feet, and looked coldly at Zhao Hanzhang upon the dragon throne. "I actually forgot—you’re a wolf‑hearted schemer. How could I have believed that bastard nonsense from Liu Yueshi, thinking that on the very day you first ascended the great treasure of the throne, when your mood was best, you might help me. Hmph. You won’t help me, and you won’t help that unfilial wretch either. You want to swallow Dai Country outright, to swallow my Tuoba Xianbei!"
Zhao Hanzhang’s face hardened. "King of Dai, before this Dai Country was named Dai County, a county‑state of Youzhou. Governor Liu divided off Dai County for you out of pity for the Xianbei Clan who had come from afar and needed a place to recuperate. Three years ago, when I enfeoffed Dai County to you, it was because in my heart I regarded the Tuoba Xianbei people as brothers and sisters, hoping they could live in peace and contentment in Dai Country."
"But can they live in peace and contentment now?" Zhao Hanzhang demanded, "The Xianbei people, the Di Clan and the Jie Clan living in Dai Country—what kind of days are they living? Have you treated them as your own subjects, your own brothers and sisters?"
Tuoba Yilu: "How have I not?"
Zhao Hanzhang pulled out an official document from the left side and slammed it down, angrily asking, "Is this how you’ve done it? Last year’s cold wave—I took pity on the herdsmen. Even though we had just come through the Jiangnan campaign and had to manage the Yellow River, I still squeezed out twenty wagon‑loads of grain and ten wagon‑loads of cloth from the national treasury for Dai Country. Yet scarcely ten days after these supplies entered Dai Country, they appeared in Jizhou, being sold at exorbitant prices."
"Because of the solar eclipse sent by heaven and the flooding in the third month, you’ve been itching for war. This year you added fifty thousand new Soldiers. Under your rule there are fewer than one hundred thousand households, yet you have two hundred thousand troops. That amounts to at least two adult males from each household in the army—fathers and sons, brothers together in the same camp. In your ranks there are nearly ten thousand Soldiers as tall as cart wheels. Did you think that because I am only Sect Master and you are a tributary state, I would know nothing?"