[Lightscreen]
[There is an old saying that nothing under the sun is new. The power struggles of the feudal age are much the same.
For instance, Emperor Wenzong of Yuan was an oddity, and his Empress was no less so.
Wenzong ceded the throne and then regretted it, poisoning his elder brother in turn. In that palace struggle, his Empress Budashiri colluded with eunuchs to murder Emperor Mingzong's Empress, pushing her into a pit of roasting fire and burning her alive over a slow flame.
Later we know that before his death Wenzong had another fit of madness, declaring that the throne should be given to his nephew.
It is one thing for a dying man to lose clarity of mind. That is understandable. But for Empress Budashiri to lose her senses alongside him is harder to comprehend.
The two of you killed Emperor Mingzong and his consort together, and now you wish to enthrone their son. Were you truly unafraid of death?
And Grand Empress Dowager Budashiri did not stop there. The boy raised to the throne, Emperor Shun of Yuan, was only thirteen. Governance naturally fell into her hands.
Yet this twenty-eight-year-old Grand Empress Dowager found ruling tedious. After some searching, she elevated a man named Bayan to serve as chancellor and manage state affairs. Before long, she was sharing his bed.
This Bayan was, unsurprisingly, another oddity.
Throughout his tenure as chancellor, he adhered to a single principle.
All Han were rebels. All things related to Han culture were calamities.
With great power in hand, Bayan began issuing decrees for Emperor Shun's seal.
The Han lost their states through the civil examinations. Abolish them. The emperor nodded.
The Han practice spear and staff martial arts. Dangerous. Ban them. The emperor agreed.
The Han gather to perform operas. That encourages assembly and political talk. Ban it. The emperor complied.
There are simply too many Han. Let us slaughter all those surnamed Zhang, Wang, Liu, Li, and Zhao. The emperor was about to comply… then stopped.
Emperor Shun was stunned. Are you trying to hasten my death?
At the time, Bayan faced peasant uprisings erupting across the Yuan realm. The extermination of the five great surnames was the brilliant scheme conceived by the highest chancellor of the Great Yuan. One can judge his level from that alone.
Because of this, Bayan and Emperor Shun broke completely. Each found the other incomprehensible. Their conflict grew increasingly open. All of this was observed by Bayan's grandnephew, Toqto'a.
Toqto'a believed his uncle's incompetence would one day bring catastrophe upon their clan. When reckoning came, even execution of ten generations might not suffice. Thus, for self-preservation, he resolved to uphold righteousness by destroying his own kin.
Toqto'a was already Bayan's capable assistant. Once he defected, he and Emperor Shun were perfectly matched. Two intelligent men conspiring against one fool left little room for failure.
One day, Bayan, lover of the Grand Empress Dowager and sole chancellor of the Yuan, leisurely left the city to hunt. Upon returning, he found the gates shut.
The guards had been replaced with unfamiliar faces. From atop the gate, his ever-loyal grandnephew Toqto'a cast down an imperial edict.
From this day forward, you are Governor of Henan. Proceed to your post at once.
Cut off from what passed for his external brain, Bayan was bewildered. He waited outside the gates until nightfall. No one came to receive him. At last he trudged off to assume office.
The governorship was merely a temporary arrangement, buying Toqto'a time to purge the capital of Bayan's faction.
Before Bayan even reached Henan, Toqto'a had requested another imperial edict.
Uncle, your abilities are insufficient even for a provincial post. Nan'en Prefecture in Guangdong lacks a county magistrate in Yangchun County. That suits you well. Proceed there immediately.
In plain terms, exile to Lingnan.
With no alternative, Bayan turned south. Yet the further he traveled, the angrier he grew. Passing through Jiangxi, he died of rage.
Having secured power at last, Emperor Shun's first act was predictable. He expelled Budashiri, the killer of his mother and yet his benefactor in enthronement, stripping her of all honorifics. Soon after, he issued an order compelling her to die.
Toqto'a formally took the position of chancellor and began the final struggle of the short-lived Yuan: the Reforms of Toqto'a.]
---
In the Hall of Broad Governance, Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu exchanged glances. At last, the Song emperor broke the silence.
"Our Great Song was defeated by such a Mongol Yuan…"
What had befallen Song at Yuan hands was known to all. The emotion in his voice was unmistakable.
Each minister had his own thoughts. Curiously, Li Yu, the true ruler of a fallen state, seemed the most composed.
"For me, to live out my days in Bianliang would not have been intolerable. But to have my descendants bow to such an absurd court, I would never consent."
When troubled, Zhao Kuangyin liked to toy with his jade axe. Now he struck its handle lightly against the armrest.
"Not only Congjia. I would never consent either."
"It is fortunate that the Yuan ruler in this telling possessed some sense. Otherwise, who knows how many more Han bones would have been piled up in vain."
He did not believe the Yuan court could truly exterminate five entire surnames. Yet if such a decree had been issued, tens of thousands might well have died in the initial chaos, with many more driven into exile.
As for the Yuan succession, its disorder surpassed all imagining. Even with hindsight provided by later generations, Zhao Kuangyin could not fathom the Mongols' confidence in rejecting Sinicization. Could a man entrusted with the governance of the realm truly propose slaughtering half the populace by surname?
Then there was Emperor Wenzong yielding the throne and killing his brother, and the Empress enthroning the son of the woman she had murdered.
The more he reflected, the more his temples throbbed. At last he ground out:
"The Hongwu Emperor did well."
Zhao Pu stepped forward to reassure him.
"Your Majesty need not worry. I have said it before and must say it again. Civil and military must not be neglected. Thus shall our Song unify Huaxia."
"And if there is anything worth learning from Mongol cavalry…"
Zhao Kuangyin nodded.
"Just as King Wuling of Zhao adopted Hu dress and mounted archery to resist his foes, so may I follow suit."
"However, Mongol cavalry is but strength of a moment. To lead centuries ahead, one must study gunpowder. That is not the Yuan's strength."
Qian Chu could not help but add:
"The prosperity of Yuan commerce largely inherited from our Song. I request leave to expand our maritime trade."
His grandfather Qian Liu, famed for waterworks, had been called the Dragon King of the Seas in the Two Zhe regions. Qian Chu dearly wished to make that title worthy.
Zhao Kuangyin nodded. He had long considered such measures. The dramatic rise of Northern Song commercial taxes, even surpassing land revenue, was hard to ignore.
Yet instinct told him nothing was wholly without harm. After much thought, he resolved to experiment in select regions, as Jia Sidao once had when constrained in reform.
One must know both benefit and cost. Only then is stability secured.
…
Li Shanchang had read the History of Yuan. The names were awkward, the records terse, but none of that troubled him.
When he first heard of Mongol Yuan history from others, he had been shocked. Reading it himself shocked him again.
Even now, hearing later generations recount it, that shock had not diminished in the slightest.