That later term "strategic retreat" was quite well phrased.
But remembering the words "the bandit forces greatly pressed" recorded in the History of Yuan did not feel nearly as pleasant.
After passing that unpleasant mood along to his fourth son with a smack to the back of the head, the Ming emperor's spirits brightened considerably.
The matter of collating and correcting the History of Yuan was urgent.
…
"Chengqian, do you remember my humiliation at the Wei River?"
Li Chengqian remembered it all too clearly. He instantly recalled his father of those days.
With a voice like thunder, commanding him to remember the shame inflicted by the Turks. With stern rebuke, insisting he understand the threat of the steppe peoples.
Whenever border troubles were mentioned, Li Chengqian's heart would tremble. He even developed curiosity about the Turks. How could they force his father, who seemed almost divine, into defeat?
Fortunately, those circumstances were soon reversed.
His father no longer lashed out at him like a storm. The oft cursed Jieli Khan had been captured and brought in. Li Chengqian had seen him once. In a fine residence, yet reeking of mutton stench, nothing like the heroic ruler he had imagined.
Li Chengqian nodded.
"General Li, by Your Majesty's command, marched out. In a snowy night raid he pursued the fleeing north, defeated the enemy in one battle, and captured their chieftain, raising the prestige of Tang."
Li Shimin laughed loudly.
"In front of General Yaoshi, do not mention the word 'old.'"
Then he asked again:
"At that time the main army was outside. How did I conduct myself? Did I harbor suspicion toward General Yaoshi?"
There had been none.
In truth, Li Chengqian remembered that his father's worries never appeared in court. Governance proceeded as usual.
Even in concern, he only feared harsh weather for the army. He never spoke of General Li holding troops to build personal power.
Thinking of this, Li Chengqian glanced unconsciously toward Yuchi Jingde. It was said that when this general first surrendered to his father, many urged his execution. Yet his father overruled them and appointed him commander.
By rights he should have recalled Yuchi's battlefield fame. Instead, the words Xuanwu Gate rose first in his mind.
Li Shimin, unaware of his son's thoughts, now spoke with genuine emotion, hands clasped behind his back.
"For a ruler, trust is foremost. Lose trust in generals and you lose battles. Lose trust in ministers and the state declines. Lose trust in history and you destroy yourself. Lose trust in the people and you sever yourself from the realm. One must be cautious in word and deed."
These words jolted Li Chengqian awake. He remembered that not long ago his mother had said his father ordered the court diarists to record the events of Xuanwu Gate truthfully.
The classics had teachers. Military strategy had teachers. But these matters were often avoided by those around him.
Perhaps, when he returned from Hebei, he could ask his father directly.
---
[Lightscreen]
[Toqto'a was poisoned to death in 1356. Though Yuan still nominally had twelve years left, it had already entered garbage time.
Whether it was Emperor Shun indulging in esoteric "dual cultivation," or military strongmen dominating court while drinking, killing, and defiling the palace, none of that likely interests our viewers.
So let us fast forward to the part where we hammer nails into Yuan's coffin.
This dynasty, whose territory was unprecedentedly vast, why did it lose the realm?
Scholars across generations have debated this. We mentioned some earlier.
Shallow sinicization, reckless issuance of paper currency, bloody power transitions, river management triggering the Red Turban uprising. Many conclude that had these been solved, Yuan might have lasted a few more years.
A few more years, not a few hundred.
This shows even they know these were causes, but whether they were the primary cause is another question.
On this matter, Zhu Yuanzhang, who personally swept Yuan into the dustbin, likely has the most authority.
A common saying now is that Zhu believed "Yuan lost the realm through leniency."
At first glance it sounds as if Yuan nobles were magnanimous and only the ungrateful masses rebelled.
This statement appears in the Hongwu seventh year edition of the Huang Ming Baoxun. But read in context, Zhu's "leniency" did not mean benevolence toward the people. It meant lax law.
To understand this, combine it with the Chenghua era collection of Liu Ji's writings, which quotes, "The Hu Yuan lost through leniency. I pacified China. Without severity it could not be done."
Also the Hongwu engraved Huang Ming Zuxun preface, which speaks of "reforming Yuan's policy of indulgence."
In essence all mean Yuan law was so loose it became neglectful and permissive, not compassionate.
If anyone still insists Yuan was benevolent, Zhu's parents and siblings who starved or died of illness might have something to say.
Similarly, the great scholar Song Lian wrote in the History of Yuan that "Yuan's penal code found its merit in kindness." This seems praise.
Yet he immediately added, "Its fault lay in laxity and lack of restraint."
Here kindness had nothing to do with mercy. It meant inaction.
The most typical example was the tax farming system. The empire was parceled out, cooperating with local elites and strongmen. As long as taxes were paid, the center did not interfere. Hence Yuan emphasized administrative recruitment over the civil examinations.
The danger was obvious. Landlords could abuse and officials would not intervene. Officials could abuse and the center would not intervene. Central authority had no enforcement locally. Even Emperor Renzong's so called Yan You reforms failed and were abandoned.
Looking further back, when Emperor Chengzong tried to rectify officials, a casual investigation uncovered more than eighteen thousand corruption cases.
In such an environment, Fan Mengduan with merely five men annihilating a local administrative core and ruling at will seems less surprising.
There was also the Qingfu Alliance in Yanshan, Jiangxi, one of the earliest large scale counterfeit currency operations. Its founder Wu Youwen drew both the underworld and officials into his network. Everyone knew it was a counterfeit hub, yet it operated freely for over a decade.
We can quote the Chairman's words: "To govern a country is to govern officials… If they are shameless, corrupt, and lawless, and the state cannot punish them, the realm will fall into chaos."
Yuan's grassroots governance was the worst among dynasties. It perished because of lax official discipline.
Thus Zhu's claim of lax law and neglected governance, combined with shallow sinicization and reckless currency, roughly forms the primary cause of Yuan's fall.
With that, this episode finally turns the page. Next episode: an unprecedentedly complex state.]