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[Buluhan did not lose her wits without cause. More importantly, she had secured the support of Ananda, Prince of Anxi, who at the time commanded one hundred fifty thousand elite troops.
Yet before the two could set their plans in motion, Haishan, the powerful nephew of Yuan Chengzong who also held heavy forces, led his army south toward Dadu. With thunderous momentum he launched a coup, executed Empress Buluhan and Prince Anxi Ananda alike, and later ascended the throne as Emperor Wuzong of Yuan.
Whether Yuan Wuzong's accession was legitimate we may set aside for now. But the coup he initiated stands among the most consequential in Chinese history.
For the Anxi Prince Ananda whom Yuan Wuzong executed was a devout Muslim. Whenever he marched and encamped, he first established an Islamic mosque. Under his command, the entire force of one hundred fifty thousand soldiers converted to Islam.
At the time, Empress Buluhan's temporary control of power rested upon her promise to secure the throne for Ananda. Had Haishan not intervened, it is reasonable to infer that Buluhan would ultimately have been no match for him.
If Ananda had become emperor of Great Yuan, then from the perspective of world history, an Islamic emperor would almost certainly have exerted every effort to Islamize the realm. And once a region completes Islamization, it is rarely reversed.
Without Haishan's intervention, if I were speaking with you today about Huaxia's history, I might have to begin from Muhammad's enlightenment in the cave.
Yet Yuan Wuzong resembled Yuan Chengzong in one respect. Whether he was a good emperor we may debate, but he was certainly among those who lived most comfortably.
Where Yuan Chengzong scattered silver, Yuan Wuzong scattered official hats.
The "official advancement" method we mentioned earlier reached its extreme during his reign. In his second year, the central government was already overcrowded.
Fourteen Zhongshu Ling held office simultaneously. Thirty two Privy Councilors worked at the same time. A spectacle rarely seen across ages.
As for the subordinate institutions, the Branch Secretariat and the Branch Censorate, Yuan Wuzong promoted one thousand one hundred officials within a single year.
From ancient times to now, when historians speak of the Yonghui Reign under Emperor Gaozong of Tang, there is a general consensus. It bathed in the residual grace of Zhenguan. Simply put, it consumed the dividends of Zhenguan.
Yuan Wuzong's indulgence had a similar cause. Another legacy left by Kublai began to exert its power. The Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou.
Many people confuse it with the Sui and Tang Grand Canal. Here it is worth clarifying.
The Sui and Tang canal was not solely the canal of Sui. The Tang dynasty's contribution was indispensable. Tang relied upon this canal to gather resources from north and south to supply Guanzhong. Connecting north and south was an additional function. Its original intent was far higher than mere indulgence.
The canal Kublai reconstructed was simpler in purpose. Without the need to supply Guanzhong, it straightened and shortened the route. Its function as a north south transport artery became even clearer.
The Mongols who founded Yuan and the Semu peoples under their rule possessed mercantile traditions. The Jiangzhe region in the south had flourished in trade since the Tang. The Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou became the final piece of the puzzle in commercial revival. Yuan Wuzong was a direct beneficiary.
Yet whether the Sui and Tang canal or the Beijing Hangzhou canal, it is not fitting to attribute their glory solely to Emperor Yang of Sui or to Kublai.
Only the laboring people can create such miraculous works.]
For Li Chengqian, today's revelations were overwhelming.
There was much he did not understand. Yet his mother's feelings for him, and the feelings between his father and mother, he understood clearly.
His mother's early death, his younger brother later being called Emperor of Tang, his father's reluctance to speak in detail of him, all struck his heart little by little.
But when he saw with his own eyes that magnificent river stretching from north to south, and then watched its waters fade, the riverbed dry, and countless laborers excavating the channel, he suddenly felt that his earlier entanglements were no longer so important.
At that moment he recalled the sentence his father often spoke.
"The people are water. The ruler is a boat. Water can bear the boat. Water can also overturn it."
Was not Yang Guang, distantly related to him, overturned by that very river?
Li Shimin patted his son's shoulder, greatly gratified.
"Remember it well."
"So when Father sent your son away from the capital, was it to let your son see the waters of the realm?"
This time Li Shimin remained silent for a long while. So long that Li Chengqian wondered if his father had not heard.
"Chengqian, we who stand within this age dwell upon an unceasing battlefield."
His voice grew slightly hoarse and, rarely, carried a trace of drifting.
Li Chengqian watched as his father raised a hand and pointed toward the map of the world.
"Mountains, seas, rivers, lakes, deserts. All serve as supports upon that battlefield. Yet as time passes, such supports grow ever less reliable."
"When that time comes, state against state, tribe against tribe, even those bewitching religions, will grapple at close quarters. There will be no space left for retreat."
"You must remember. The emperor is commander. The people are soldiers. A commander must cherish and protect the soldiers, yet must never refrain from using them. And the commander must lead from the front."
Li Chengqian did not fully comprehend, but he bowed.
"Your son will remember."
Li Shimin nodded.
"Engrave it in your heart. Never forget. When you return from Hebei, I will speak to you of what the Marquis Wu called the window of opportunity."
Seeing his son nod in half understanding, Li Shimin quietly sighed.
Looking upon the overview of the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal, he suddenly felt that this was the true sword of the Son of Heaven. He also found himself thinking further upon that window of opportunity.
The Tuyuhun Khan Fuyun, captured by Li Jing during the campaign, had been observed secretly for nearly a year by palace attendants. He appeared truly mad.
As an emperor versed in war, Li Shimin had discussed matters deeply with Li Jing. They both believed that destroying Tuyuhun by gunpowder and annihilating it by swift cavalry raid were entirely different in significance.
Fine horses can be bred. Cavalrymen can be trained. Sharp blades can be purchased. Wealth can be plundered.
But now? The ratio of gunpowder requires knowledge of alchemy and minerals. Casting cannon demands master craftsmen and great workshops. From mining ore to cultivating mathematical skill, to calculating the mixture of metals in the cannon body, the necessary investment cannot be said to be beyond Tuyuhun's means. It can be said that they cannot even comprehend it.
And once the fleet at Zhuyai is completed, once cement production advances and surplus appears, Tuyuhun will never again have a chance to rise. From the small one may see the great. So it is with the contests of the world.
Nourish the people through agriculture. Let the people pursue learning. Apply learning to practical use. Through such use strengthen farming, strengthen the army, secure geographical advantage. In the end, as with the present Zhenguan, the strong grow stronger, the weak grow weaker. And once the window closes, such disparities are nearly impossible to reverse.
Thinking of that future battlefield where hundreds of states and thousands of peoples contend together, Li Shimin felt his heart stir with longing.
Within Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang, temporarily subdued by Empress Ma, remained puzzled.
"What does this 'Temple of the Net' mean? And how does Emperor Yang of Sui enter it?"
He had earlier visited the museum of the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal. Among its collections he had seen a painting titled Record of River Opening that left a deep impression. Yet he had not found the original online.