Chapter Forty-Six: The Collapse of the Backing

Pei Min had grown fond of tea while living in the twenty-first century. Yet after crossing into this age, he found that tea drinking was not common in Youzhou, and tea leaves were not easy to obtain. Only after arriving in Chang'an did he finally begin to drink it again. To suit local custom, he even chose mint from among the seasonings of spice, cream, lard, and the like, selecting only what pleased his own taste.

Tea in this age did not possess the dry-fried richness of later times, but when joined with cool mint, its bitterness carried a trace of refreshing chill, and the natural sweetness that followed the tea's own astringency was not far removed in flavor from Longjing, Mengding, or Biluochun.

All of this had happened only in the past few months, yet Princess Taiping had investigated even such trifling details. Deeply impressed, he also understood her purpose at once: she was showing him the breadth of her power.

"Excellent tea," Pei Min said with an unruffled smile. "I am especially devoted to tea, and I am particularly fond of mint. Your Highness the Grand Princess has truly prepared things with extraordinary care."

Seeing that Pei Min was neither afraid nor intimidated, Princess Taiping became even more pleased. She nodded and said, "I have always liked to promote young talent, especially gifted men such as you who know, even at a young age, how to borrow momentum. It is impossible not to feel an especial fondness for you. The re-examination by the Ministry of Personnel will be here before long. I wonder what office you favor, Young Master Pei. I know you are estranged from the Pei family and wish to raise your head in triumph. If you are willing to serve me, I can grant you the office of Supervising Censor. What do you think?"

Pei Min's heart gave a sudden leap. He was almost moved by the offer, and inwardly exclaimed, "How formidable!"

Princess Taiping's words were delivered with exquisite skill, each line carrying a deeper meaning than the last. First she declared that she most loved to promote young talent, preemptively making him a promise. Then she pointed out that he had borrowed her influence to deal with Hui Fan, while at the same time displaying her own broad-minded generosity and using her enthusiasm for talent as the explanation for why she had investigated him. After that, she allowed him to choose the post he liked, and finally she stated plainly that he was at odds with the Pei family and offered him the office of Supervising Censor.

Each step connected to the next, the lure of profit carried to its absolute limit.

The Pei clan was a towering colossus. If Pei Min wanted to make the Peis regret their behavior, or even strike back at them and make them pay, he would never be able to do so without a certain standing at court. Yet such standing did not simply fall from the sky; it required merit, seniority, influence, and all manner of other things.

Even as a successful candidate in this year's examinations, he would enter official life starting from the lowest ninth rank. With the strength of a thousand-year-old clan like the Peis, even if they were no longer what they once had been, they would not fear some petty ninth-rank official. But the office of Supervising Censor was different. The rank itself was not high, merely a position of the lower eighth rank, yet its holder supervised the many officials, toured the prefectures and counties, corrected judicial affairs, maintained the dignity of court ritual, and could directly impeach before the emperor any official who broke the law, abused his power, or proved incompetent. In real authority, it was no less weighty than the office of a fourth- or fifth-rank minister.

Once Pei Min became Supervising Censor and truly set out to cause trouble for the Pei clan, it would be enough to give them a severe headache.

Princess Taiping thought so highly of him that she was willing to offer such benefits.

It was a pity that Pei Min knew history. Though he could no longer remember the exact date, he was certain that within this very year Princess Taiping's faction would be swept away by the Xiantian Coup launched by Li Longji, and the Tang dynasty would from that point onward stride into a glorious age that seemed almost dreamlike.

At this moment, binding himself to Princess Taiping was little different from courting death. Besides, he had no intention of lingering in Chang'an for long.

Pei Min was quick-witted and did not choose to fall out with Princess Taiping on the spot. He said, troubled, "I am afraid I must disappoint Your Highness. While my parents live, I should not travel far. My mother is still in Youzhou, and I have never had any intention of making my home in Chang'an. Besides, I have already made an arrangement with Commander-in-Chief Xue. Once I pass the examinations, I will return to Youzhou and serve under him."

Princess Taiping was slightly taken aback, then understood at once. "Quite so. You likely do not know yet that Commander-in-Chief Xue Na has already been removed from office. He is now a private citizen, and by calculation he has probably already returned to his native home in Hedong."

"What?" Pei Min's expression changed abruptly. Thinking of the military plan Xue Na had devised from his offhand remarks, a plan for a surprise attack on Liaodong and Liaoxi, he asked in a tremor, "Could it be that the commander-in-chief has been defeated?"

Princess Taiping smiled. "No, nothing of the sort. You may put your mind at ease. Using your strategy, the commander-in-chief successfully recaptured Liaodong and Liaoxi. The land route to the Andong Protectorate has now been opened as well, and the northeast is secure."

"Then why was he punished?" Pei Min felt a flicker of excitement. In his memory, Tang's recovery of Liaodong and Liaoxi had been an achievement of the flourishing Kaiyuan era. Yet now, before Li Longji had truly come to power, Xue Na had already recovered the Liaodong and Liaoxi lost in Empress Wu's time. There was no question that this merit had his share in it. His arrival had, for the first time, altered the course of history on a significant scale. And yet, if Xue Na had won, why had he still been reduced to a commoner?

He looked at Princess Taiping in confusion.

Princess Taiping smiled faintly and explained the answer to the question in his mind.

It turned out that the culprit was discord between commander and generals. Indeed, this had also been the key reason Pei Min had opposed Xue Na's expedition in the first place.

The troops Xue Na had personally raised had already been ruined by Sun Quan. The soldiers sent to campaign in Liaodong and Liaoxi had been drawn from other prefectures and military commands. They were not of one mind with Xue Na and had their own little designs.

On this expedition, Xue Na personally led eighty thousand troops, advancing cautiously step by step and striking Luzhou by land, while the governor of Dingzhou, Cui Xuandao, the general Li Sijing, and Du Binke led more than ten thousand troops by water and land into the Andong Protectorate, launching a surprise attack on Liaodong and Liaoxi from their encampment.

Xue Na's strategy succeeded. His iron-barrel defense held off the attacks of the Khitans and the Xi. Meanwhile, Cui Xuandao, Li Sijing, and Du Binke split into three forces: one column attacked Yingzhou by surprise, one column attacked Luzhou by surprise, and the last struck at the sheep and horses of the Xi and the Khitans. All three columns won their first engagement. Cui Xuandao and Li Sijing successfully took Yingzhou and Luzhou, while Du Binke slaughtered more than a hundred thousand sheep and horses, until blood stained the grasslands.

It should have been a rare and brilliant victory. But Cui Xuandao and Li Sijing were not satisfied. They believed that the Khitans and Xi, cut off from their supply lines, were already helpless and could be pursued in full victory.

Du Binke could not restrain them, and in the emergency could do nothing but send word to Xue Na.

Xue Na was so alarmed that he immediately dispatched five messengers in succession to carry his military order forbidding any advance. Still uneasy, he personally set out with more than ten guards, traveling day and night to Luzhou to prevent disaster. As expected, Cui Xuandao and Li Sijing showed no respect for Xue Na, ignored his orders, and insisted on acting according to their own will.

Xue Na arrived in time to stop their foolish decision, and in a fit of rage he had Cui Xuandao and Li Sijing flogged thirty times each.

When their men heard of it, unrest began to spread, and signs of mutiny appeared.

For the sake of the greater situation, Xue Na executed all the officers who were stirring up trouble. Cui Xuandao and Li Sijing, having incited their subordinates to rebellion, were executed as well.

Cui Xuandao was from the Cui clan, and Li Sijing had a considerable background as well, being of the Longxi Li family. The Cui family and the Li family took turns denouncing Xue Na.

Although Xue Na had won great merit, he was also charged because of this and reduced to the status of a commoner.

Pei Min was a little stunned. The very backer he had counted on had collapsed just like that.

This was essentially forcing him to continue muddling through in the muddy waters of Chang'an.