Chapter 294

The envoy, filled with high hopes, was met with a harsh rebuff by the island officials. Soldiers were even sent to bind him, and a grievous charge was laid upon him: slander against the imperial family. The envoy was so frightened his legs nearly gave way. Could it be that the great ships had been built by one of the imperial princes? His guess was not entirely wrong. Not long before, the emperor of Great Liang had proposed in court to adopt Wang Xiujin as his son. Though the ministers had opposed it vehemently and the matter had come to nothing, one thing was certain: the emperor greatly valued Wang Xiujin.

The envoy and the officials from the eastern kingdom who had come with the fleet were all escorted to the capital. The returning soldiers from the great ships came as well. Wang Xiujin remained behind in the shipyard, having some matters to settle, and did not return with them. At the city gate, the soldiers escorting the envoy party met soldiers waiting to pass through. Since some on both sides knew one another, they exchanged greetings and a few words. Hearing that the people being brought back were envoys from the eastern kingdom, the soldiers from the great ships cast them a cold glance and swiftly reported it up the chain of command, where the news reached Li Lishan.

After hearing the purpose of the eastern envoys’ visit, Li Lishan walked over, lifted the envoy for a look, and before the man could even cry out, flung him to the ground. “Enter the city.”

The soldiers of the great ships immediately formed ranks. The whole column at once displayed its formidable bearing. The air of grim killing intent struck with great force. The envoy, who had intended to lament and protest his innocence, was so frightened that he swallowed his voice. It was not until the entire procession had entered the city that he finally exhaled. Just now he had been so terrified he did not even dare breathe, nearly suffocating himself. He asked the soldiers beside him who that man had been, but they only glanced at him indifferently. He did not even know who the man was, and he still dared harbor wicked thoughts. No one answered his question. Their task was simply to escort these people to the capital and then return to the sea to continue guarding the maritime defenses. The envoy took the soldiers’ silence as rudeness and felt thoroughly slighted, seeming to forget that he was no longer a guest, but a criminal.

Li Lishan had Liu Qing lead the troops back to the camp, then returned to the residence to change clothes before entering the palace. Once home, he heard of the emperor’s intention to recognize Wang Xiujin as an adopted son. Li Lishan frowned, then set the matter aside. He briefly reported to his grandfather on what had happened at sea, along with some of his thoughts regarding air defenses. Old General Li merely nodded and told his grandson to go into the palace and make his report to the emperor. The rest could wait until he returned.

Xiao, who had been on the same great ship, entered the palace before Li Lishan and reported the figures he had recorded, presenting an honest account of what had been discovered at sea. Of course, he also mixed in some personal opinions. Since the emperor already had designs on conquering the eastern kingdom, Xiao magnified some of the kingdom’s conduct. After hearing him out, the emperor’s dislike of the eastern kingdom deepened.

When Li Lishan later came to report, the Son of Heaven asked how long it would take to subdue the eastern kingdom with the current number of warships. Li Lishan was frank enough. “This general has never led troops in battle, and cannot speak to that.”

The emperor was delighted. “If I were to command you to lead an army against the eastern kingdom, would you have confidence?”

“I would not,” Li Lishan answered honestly.

“Oh? And why is that?” The emperor was quite surprised, with a trace of displeasure in his heart.

“This general does not know how many troops the eastern kingdom has on its islands, nor how strong its fortifications are, nor what their arms may be. To charge in blindly would mean eight hundred enemy losses for one thousand of our own.” Li Lishan clasped his fists and bowed as he answered.

The emperor nodded. Compared with those generals who would agree without a moment’s thought and boast that victory was certain, the people of the Li family spoke as they saw fit, whatever was in their hearts. Setting aside that trace of displeasure, he said, “I command you to…”

When Li Lishan left the palace, he carried the emperor’s task: within fifteen days, he was to write a plan for bringing the eastern kingdom to submission. Upon returning home, he went straight to his grandfather’s room. He could not quite fathom the emperor’s intention. Could it be that he truly meant for him to lead troops against the eastern kingdom? Old General Li was very satisfied with his grandson’s honest answer. As for the emperor’s words, even he could not discern their meaning. In principle, if the Li family were to campaign, it would not be the eldest grandson who would be given supreme command. If it were the eldest grandson alone, dissatisfaction in court would certainly arise. “Just write it for now. Even if it means tailoring a wedding dress for another, it does no harm.”

In the days that followed, Li Lishan wrote his plan with great seriousness. In court, opinions on how to deal with the eastern envoys who had been escorted into the capital were surprisingly unanimous. Since the emperor had no affection for the eastern kingdom, and the eastern kingdom had repeatedly offended imperial authority, it would be better to do as had been done with the barbarians: take the eastern islands for our own use. As for where the islanders would be relocated, what had that to do with them? Even if they were driven into the sea, it was they who had brought this upon themselves.

There was no point in speaking of the old saying that envoys are not slain in time of war. This was not a time of war between armies. The envoy had attempted to slander a key minister of the court. Was that the will of the eastern king, or the envoy’s own idea? How could the envoy dare say it was the king’s order? He could only bear the blame himself. He did not even live to see the autumn reckoning; he was dragged straight to the Meridian Gate and beheaded as a public warning. After the common people heard the charge against him, they cursed him during the punishment procession, hurling rotten vegetables and spitting upon him. Some even brought chamber pots and poured them over him, while chanting, “You wanted to frame the imperial merchants? First let us bathe you in filth.”

No one could say what feelings swirled in the envoy’s heart inside the prison cart on the street. Perhaps he regretted taking the blame? Before the execution, he shouted, “For the Great Eastern Kingdom, loyalty to the Heavenly Sovereign! Long live the Great Eastern Kingdom!” He shouted it in the language of Great Liang. When word of this reached the palace, the emperor gave a cold smile, his body radiating a vicious chill.

By the time Wang Xiujin arrived in the capital, he had already heard that the envoy had been executed. The soldiers at the city gate repeated the story with great relish, and even asked Wang Xiujin when they would strike the eastern kingdom, saying that if it were possible, they too wanted to go and kill a few eastern kingdom men. Wang Xiujin listened in a haze, laughed it off, and steered the conversation away. After returning to the residence, he found that even the servants there were discussing it. Some even said that if they could join the army, they too would like to go to the eastern kingdom and kill the enemy. Wang Xiujin found it strange. Why had there suddenly been such hostility toward the eastern kingdom? Was it all because of what the eastern envoy had said? Once back in the courtyard and seeing that Li Lishan had not gone to the camp, Wang Xiujin changed clothes while asking what had happened.

“The emperor made public the eastern kingdom’s previous acts, including its attempt to buy over high ministers of the court and overthrow Great Liang.” Li Lishan set down his brush and looked at the plan he had finally completed, wondering whether it would meet the emperor’s eye.

“The ministers did not object?” Wang Xiujin felt that if such a thing were to be announced to the people, the ministers in court would surely jump up in opposition.

“The emperor had made up his mind. How could the ministers stop him just by objecting?” Li Lishan thought it made little difference whether the common people knew or not. “Besides, before he died, the eastern envoy was still crying out ‘long live’ and so on. The emperor did not immediately send troops to flatten the eastern kingdom, so there is still some measure of restraint in him.” Li Lishan did not mention that the ministers who had opposed the decision in court were rewarded with dozens of strokes by the emperor; those who survived were lucky to be alive, while two whose health was poor had already been sent below.

“The envoy probably felt humiliated and, with no chance to change his mind, wanted to drag a few people down with him in death. It’s just that there will probably be many buried with him.” Wang Xiujin felt that the envoy had shouted those words on purpose. He could have used the eastern tongue; why had he chosen a language understood by everyone in Great Liang? He must have meant to provoke war between the two realms, and in doing so he added another pretext for the emperor’s campaign. Li Lishan agreed with Wang Xiujin’s view.

When the envoy’s final words reached the eastern kingdom, the emperor there, whether from rage or fear, toppled straight out of his chair. His face flushed red and his hands trembled without cease as he roared at the ministers to wipe out the envoy’s entire clan. Keeping only a few venerable ministers behind, he asked how they might declare loyalty to the emperor of Great Liang. The ministers looked at one another. In truth, the most effective way would be to offer the sovereign’s own head to the emperor of Great Liang; that might stabilize the kingdom.

“Why not send the crown prince to Great Liang as a hostage?” To offer the ruler’s head was something the sovereign would never agree to. One minister could think of no better idea and proposed this compromise, though he did not know whether Great Liang would be satisfied.

Sending the crown prince was something the eastern emperor could not bear. “Then offer the princess.”

If the Great Liang emperor could be enthralled, then the eastern kingdom would still have hope of one day entering the Central Plains. To this day, the eastern emperor had not given up on the lands of the central continent and still clung to hope.

The ministers exchanged glances and gave barely perceptible shakes of the head. They could understand the ruler’s meaning, but to offer a princess at such a time was to push her into a pit of death and drag the eastern kingdom into the abyss with her. In their hearts there rose a wish to rebel. But now was not the time for chaos. If disorder broke out, Great Liang would very likely seize the chance to send troops, and they still remembered the might of those great ships on the sea not long ago.

Wang Xiujin changed clothes and entered the palace. He did not mention the sea. What ought to have been said had already been reported by Xiao and Li Lishan; there was no need for him to repeat it. He simply explained matters concerning the shipyard. The Son of Heaven nodded, quite satisfied that two more warships could still be produced before the end of the year, and even more pleased with Wang Xiujin’s efficiency. If the ministers in court were as efficient as he was, the imperial treasury of Great Liang would surely be far richer.

“Previously in court, I mentioned that I wanted to take you as my adopted son, but your father and the other ministers opposed it. Those men—the thoughts in their heads are all too rigid. If you had other ambitions, would you still be sending money into the treasury?” The emperor spoke with a smile, yet Wang Xiujin was chilled through. He could not tell whether the emperor was warning him or had some other purpose.

“This subject...” Wang Xiujin’s reaction was to kneel. Before he could even finish, the emperor cut him off.

“Get up, get up. I truly mean nothing else. I only feel that giving you another layer of identity would make things easier for you, so you can serve me better and put more silver in my treasury.” The emperor waved a hand.

Yet Wang Xiujin did not rise. “As a subject and servant of the ruler, one should devote every effort to serving the sovereign, fulfill one’s duty to the utmost, and dare not harbor any other thoughts.”

It was all lofty and proper, and even Wang Xiujin found it somewhat syrupy, but it was exactly the sort of thing those in power liked to hear.