Chapter Sixty-Six: Factional Strife

Song Qiqiu’s residence also stood by the Qinhuai River, though it lay in the southwest corner of the imperial city, close to the Imperial Academy and steeped in a richly cultivated atmosphere. Prince of Qi Li Jingsui first went to Song Qiqiu’s house, only to learn that Song was not in. According to the servant at the gate, he had gone to Xiangxia Monastery to burn incense.

Li Jingsui thought it over, then went to find Feng Yansi.

Feng Yansi’s residence was not far from Song Qiqiu’s, likewise near the Imperial Academy; two streets’ turn brought one to the door. When he heard that the Prince of Qi had come calling, Feng hurried out to receive him. In truth, within Feng Yansi’s heart, Prince of Qi Li Jingsui was not the ideal choice for heir, but Li Hongji treated the old ministers with open hostility, whereas the Prince of Qi was mild by nature; thus Feng Yansi, Song Qiqiu, and the others had shifted their support to Li Jingsui.

After welcoming the prince inside and ordering tea to be served, the two sat and talked idly. And what should they speak of, if not the hottest matter of the day? The struggles at court, though bloodless, were no less brutal than war. Feng Yansi had spent the better part of his life in the treacherous currents of officialdom; how could he fail to understand the game?

When the Prince of Qi told him of his conversation with the emperor that day, Feng Yansi was stunned. He simply could not believe the prince would do something so foolish. Was this not like lifting a stone only to drop it on one’s own foot?

Li Jingsui explained, "Minister, this is Yang Lian’s plan, and by all appearances, it has worked."

Feng Yansi let out a sigh. The prince’s status made it awkward for him to refuse outright, so he could only say, "Yang Lian—do you mean the Yang Lian who broke the siege of Changzhou, won the emperor’s favor, and bears the same surname and name as the former crown prince of the previous dynasty?"

"Yes, that is him," the prince said.

Feng Yansi sighed again. "Prince of Qi, I have heard something of his background, but he is only a man of arms, with no experience in political struggle. Why do Your Highness trust him so greatly?"

Li Jingsui smiled. "Though Yang Lian is young, he is steady in his work. So far, he seems not to have made any serious blunder."

"Not having blundered before does not mean he will not blunder now, nor in the future." Feng Yansi countered without ceremony. He had his own standing.

Li Jingsui hesitated slightly. "That may be true, but I also feel that if things proceed according to Yang Lian’s reasoning, our chances of success are greater."

Feng Yansi shook his head and scoffed. "To speak bluntly, Prince of Qi, this man happened to relieve the siege of Changzhou, and because many officers and commanders of the Divine Martial Army died in battle, he was able to fill the vacancies. But he is still young; perhaps he is skilled in warfare, yet he will fall far short when it comes to political struggle."

"Now that the emperor has suppressed the memorials of Han Xizai, Xu Xuan, and the others, and is unwilling to punish Chen Jue, Feng Yanlu, and the rest, that alone proves His Majesty is already displeased with Han Xizai’s faction."

"At a time like this, we must strengthen the emperor’s resolve, and not allow Han Xizai, Xu Xuan, Sun Sheng, and the others to keep misleading him. If we wait until the emperor has made up his mind, it will be too late." As Feng Yansi spoke, he drew a memorial from his sleeve and said, "Han Xizai has organized a joint petition, and I shall do the same. Let us see whose camp is larger, and whose strength greater."

Li Jingsui took the memorial and looked it over. Besides Feng Yansi’s name, it bore the names of Zha Wenhui, Gao Shensi, and others, but Song Qiqiu’s name was absent.

"This... does that not seem improper?" Li Jingsui asked, his heart full of unease.

"What is improper about it? The Han faction is arrogant and overbearing. If we let them continue unchecked, that would be the true impropriety. I mean to strike back and make them understand that though I am old, I will not let them run wild and sabotage the pillars of the state." Feng Yansi said. In truth, like Han Xizai, he had once been a retainer of the princely court when the sovereign was still crown prince; but Han Xizai was proud and haughty and never got along with him. The two often quarreled, and their relations were deeply frayed. Though later the crown prince ascended the throne and entrusted them both with important duties, their relationship never improved.

Li Jingsui sighed. He felt powerless before Feng Yansi’s decision. After all, Feng Yanlu was his relative, now imprisoned in the imperial dungeon; how could Feng Yansi not be anxious? Seeing that he could not persuade him, Li Jingsui spoke with him a while longer, then rose to take his leave.

He then went to Song Qiqiu’s residence to see whether the minister was there, but Song still could not be found. Li Jingsui was in no mood, so he had someone inform Yang Lian and then returned home.

When Yang Lian received the news, he could not help but sigh. Feng Yansi was after all an old hand in the Great Tang court, a chancellor standing high above the rest; how could he be moved by a mere commander like him? Since matters had come to this, they could only be left to fate.

In the midst of misfortune, there was at least one fortunate thing: Prince of Qi Li Jingsui heeded Yang Lian’s advice and remained silent in this factional struggle. As for Song Qiqiu, that old fox also began to feign illness in this life-and-death contest, and on several court days he excused himself on the grounds of sickness.

Though Yang Lian was not qualified to attend court, news still kept reaching him, and the most accurate reports came from the prince. Han Xizai, Xu Xuan, Sun Sheng, Chang Mengxi, and others submitted memorial after memorial of impeachment; the Vice Director of the Censorate, Jiang Wenwei, even spoke bluntly in court, saying that if rewards and punishments could not be made clear, then the institutions of the dynasty would surely decay, and the state would cease to be a state.

Li Jing was already furious over Jiang Wenwei’s memorial, and when he heard Jiang vent such insolence in court, he flew into a rage and wanted him executed. Had Han Xizai, Xu Xuan, and the others not pleaded for mercy, Jiang Wenwei would have lost his head. In the end, Li Jing demoted him to be a junior military officer in Jiangzhou.

With Jiang Wenwei disgraced, Feng Yansi thought he had found an opening and launched a counterattack. Unexpectedly, Han Xizai accused Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu, Chen Jue, and others of forming cliques for private gain and usurping power to the harm of the state. The arguments in court spread into the streets as well. In taverns, Yang Lian repeatedly heard common people voicing deep dissatisfaction with Feng Yansi, Feng Yanlu, and the rest, and he already knew how the contest would end.

As expected, two days later the emperor at last made his decision: Chen Jue was exiled to Qizhou, Feng Yanlu to Shuzhou, and Feng Yansi was also implicated. After a furious denunciation from the emperor, he had no choice but to resign in disgrace. Out of consideration for his former service in the princely court, Li Jing appointed him Grand Tutor to the Heir Apparent. Yet no crown prince had been established at the time, so it was nothing but an empty title.

As for Li Zhenggu and Gao Shensi, their original judgments remained unchanged. Gao Shensi, however, had grown weary of this sort of life and took the initiative to retire and return to his native place. After some consideration, Li Jing granted his request. The factional struggle at court temporarily drew to a close. Han Xizai’s party had gained the upper hand, while Feng Yansi had been crushed and forced to yield up the office of chancellor. The Han faction’s victory filled Han Xizai with exultation; he threw open his banquet hall and celebrated the triumph with Xu Xuan, Sun Sheng, and the others.

Yang Lian continued to live quietly, training his soldiers each day according to his own regimen. Prince of Qi Li Jingsui came to see him and sighed again and again. Had Feng Yansi listened to Yang Lian back then, how could he have fallen to such a pass? But regret was useless now. Yang Lian could only smile.

In mid-May, news arrived from the Central Plains that the Khitan, having already destroyed the Jin dynasty, were preparing to return north under the leadership of Yel Deguang. Long before the Great Tang and the Kingdom of Wuyue had faced one another off in Fuzhou and Suzhou-Changzhou, the Khitan had wiped out Later Jin and taken Shi Chonggui alive. Because the Khitan had burned, killed, and plundered throughout the Central Plains, resistance arose among the local people. Every day, many Khitan died violent deaths.

Yel Deguang sent troops on several occasions to suppress the unrest, but the people of the Central Plains, relying on their familiarity with the terrain, played cat-and-mouse with the Khitan. Yel Deguang suffered severe losses. Then, with the weather turning warm, the Khitan—long accustomed to the bitter cold of the north—found their soldiers increasingly unable to adapt, and all urged a return to their homeland. Yel Deguang himself also felt unwell, and in the previous month announced his withdrawal.

When Yang Lian heard this news, he immediately became animated. He thought it over carefully and realized that after Later Jin was destroyed by the Khitan, Liu Zhiyuan, who held Taiyuan, had swiftly taken the Central Plains almost without firing a shot. Yet the hastily established Later Han lacked a solid foundation; once Liu Zhiyuan died of illness and the crown prince succeeded him, it was replaced by Guo Wei in merely two or three years.

Because Liu Zhiyuan had founded his realm by driving out the Khitan with the support of the people of the Central Plains, he encountered no worthy rival. But with the Five Dynasties fractured among rival warlords, even if Liu Zhiyuan seized the Central Plains, popular support would remain unstable. If the Great Tang were to march north, it could surely achieve great things.

As commander of the Divine Martial Army, Yang Lian was a fifth-rank official and already possessed a certain measure of authority. He immediately drafted a memorial and laid out his thoughts: the Great Tang should send troops north, needing only fifty thousand elite soldiers to advance along the Grand Canal, seize Luoyang, Bianliang, and other key places before the great men of the Central Plains could do so. Once the lands of the Central Plains south of the Yellow River were secured, a detached force could capture Shandong. Then the Great Tang would possess a screen for the two Huai regions—able to defend if it retreated, able to seize the Hebei lands if it advanced. If opportunity allowed, it could even strike from Henan into Guanzhong.

Given the present chaos in the Central Plains, Yang Lian believed it would be easy. At the very least, Henan and Shandong could be taken. Yet several days after the memorial was submitted, there was still no response, and he did not know where it had been blocked.

Thinking it over, Yang Lian went in person to seek out the Prince of Qi and explain the matter. He intended that even if he could not persuade the emperor to send a large army into the Central Plains, he must at least send more than ten thousand men northward; there was still a glimmer of hope.

Prince of Qi Li Jingsui now trusted Yang Lian completely. At the very least, judging from this recent factional struggle, Yang Lian’s prediction had proven correct. He did not know that Yang Lian had merely seen through Li Jing’s intentions, and that was why he had made such a proposal.

Li Jingsui hastened into the palace to speak to Li Jing about this matter. After hearing him, Li Jing felt a faint premonition of misfortune. The war with Wuyue had left him thoroughly frightened. If he could not even defeat Wuyue, how could he contend with the great powers of the Central Plains? And that was the Khitan who had destroyed the Jin dynasty!

Li Jing hardly hesitated before rejecting the prince’s suggestion, and instead asked about the spring hunt. It was already somewhat late to speak of a spring hunt, after all, because this struggle at court had wasted so much time. Li Jing was in a terrible mood and wanted to go out for a change of air.

Prince Li Jingsui said that everything had nearly been prepared. The hunt would take place at Mount Zhong, famed as the place where Jinling’s beauty and splendor were nurtured. Mount Zhong covered more than sixty li in circumference, and its highest peak rose over one hundred thirty zhang. The forests were thick, and there were many animals within. With the coming of warm weather and blossoming spring, they had already grown fat, making it an excellent place for a hunt.

At this, Li Jing was greatly pleased. After some thought, he set the date of the spring hunt for five days hence.