Character Index
Housekeeper Li: Formerly Matron Li, Kayla's loyal servant.
Hu Qing/Liang Hongfei: Lord of the Liang clan, Kayla's friend and former retainer.
Zhao Chao: Kayla's bodyguard, brought onboard by Hu Qing.
Zhou Mingda: The Sixth Princess, her maternal grandfather is the Uyghur chieftain, who is also the unofficial leader of the steppe tribes (Tiele people).
Princess Ashina: Princess of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, Kayla's bride-to-be
Right Secretariat An: Right Secretariat of Rites, he is part of the diplomatic delegation to welcome Princess Ashina.
Tabuyir: A Senior Investigator of the Imperial Investigation Bureau, he is originally from the steppe tribes.
Captain Jiang: A Captain of the Imperial Guards. He got married to a palace maid he was in love with thanks to Mingda (and Kayla's) help.
Ke Yongqian: Hu Qing's retainer, formerly Kayla's retainer.
Sun Ruhui: Left Secretariat of Justice and Kayla's supporter.
Tao Qian: One of Kayla's bodyguards, recommended to her by Hu Qing.
Investigator Qiu: An Imperial Investigator under Tabuyir's command. Part of the escort party. Introduced this chapter.
Investigator Mi: A young Imperial Investigator under Tabuyir's command, also part of the escort party. Introduced this chapter.
Qiu Yun/Yun'er: A young girl assigned to Kayla as a personal serving maid by Housekeeper Li.
Chen Caichun: Chamberlain in the Court of Judicial Review and Kayla's supporter.
Lady Lin: A divination mage who was murdered after revealing her prophecies of the future to Kayla. Was a coworker of the Imperial Princess.
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The delegation headed Northeast, the capital city growing smaller behind them. The roads near Luoyang were busy, merchants and travelers alike watching with interest as they passed by. They were headed towards the Taiyuan Commandery, after which they were going further Northeast to Youzhou before turning Northwest to reach the border. Altogether, it was almost 1500 kilometers worth of travel.
Kayla had wondered at the somewhat roundabout route before setting out. She didn’t mind the extra distance, but it seemed a lot faster to just follow the roads directly Northwards. Housekeeper Li had quickly dispelled any doubts Kayla had.
“The smaller roads are in much worse condition, and much less safe. Moreover, you’d have to pass through several mountain ranges that way. Even the official post stations aren’t as well-maintained in those parts. Better to take the well-traveled road, my lord,” Housekeeper Li had explained.
That’s fine by me, we’ll end up going faster if the roads are in good condition, so the time will probably balance out anyways. Moreover, this path takes me through the major hubs along the way, so why not?
Kayla glanced outside the carriage window at where Hu Qing was chatting with Zhao Chao on horseback. The only problem she had with the arrangement was that it left her too little time in the border region before the Princess’ arrival. The delegation would only arrive a day and a half before the Princess’ bridal procession did, leaving Kayla with too short a turnaround.
Mingda had assured Kayla that a representative from the Uyghur would come south to meet the delegation before they arrived, but that wasn’t enough.
Hu Qing could get there way faster than I can. If Hu Qing could make contact on her behalf, then Kayla’s work would be cut out for her.
Could he do it though?
Kayla evaluated Hu Qing for a moment. The civil officials along the way were one thing, but military officers were the same throughout time and space. There was no way that the battle-hardened soldiers of the North would be satisfied by some clever rhetoric or persuasion from what they saw as a fragile brat that only got his position by nepotism.
Hu Qing was a different matter altogether. Sure, some people might look upon his instatement as a Lord with doubt, but a trained fighter could easily recognize him as one of their own.
Yeah, he’ll manage.
It was also possible that Hu Qing would get to see much more than Kayla–though their pace was fast, they weren’t exactly going incognito. They would be staying at post stations along the way and switching out for fresh horses–more than enough warning for any officials to hastily sanitize the roadside to avoid getting investigated.
Kayla waited until they had made it a good distance from the capital. The delegation stopped for a meal, and Kayla gently shook off Right Secretariat An’s attempt at starting a conversation to slip aside. Both Tabuyir and Captain Jiang pretended not to be keeping an eye on Kayla until Hu Qing came over to join her.
“Carriage ride stifling you?” Hu Qing asked cheerily. “You could switch to horseback later on if you want, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Your muscles would ache for days if you rode for a few hours.”
“I’m good, thanks,” Kayla said drily. “I’m just glad I have a carriage of my own. I don’t think I could deal with Right Secretariat An in close quarters for that long.”
Hu Qing bit down a laugh.
“Listen, Hu Qing, our delegation is still going to take several days to get to the border,” Kayla said, getting straight to the point. “I won’t have enough time at the pace we’re going. When we get a little closer to the border, can I trouble you and Ke Yongqian to go ahead first to make contact on my behalf?”
She’d briefly brought up the idea before her departure, but Sun Ruhui had suggested waiting a little to sound things out. If the delegation was under strict discipline, having Hu Qing leave could land them in a lot of legal hot water. But it didn’t take Kayla long to read the mood once they had actually set out. She could send Hu Qing away if she wanted, no one would say so much as a word about it.
“It’s dangerous,” Hu Qing replied.
“I know, I’ll send Zhao Chao and Tao Qian along with you–”
“For you,” Hu Qing cut her off. “If something happens, you can’t even run away properly. A half-starved village wench would run faster than you.”
“That’s not true, and even if it were, that comparison is unnecessary,” Kayla said with great dignity. “I’ll be fine. Please, Hu Qing. I need your help.”
Hu Qing shook his head. “I think you need me here more than you need me to make niceties with the Northerners.”
“Dude, look around,” Kayla said, gesturing at the rest area. “I have so many guards that it’s crowded. What are you worried about?”
“They’re not loyal to you. Especially the Investigators, I don’t think all of them are happy about having a new Director,” Hu Qing replied. “If something goes wrong, they'd rally to Tabuyir instead of keeping you alive. Same goes for Captain Jiang's men. You can’t expect any of them to really put their lives on the line for you.”
“I don’t trust any of them,” Kayla said quietly, her voice so low that only Hu Qing could hear. “Tabuyir and Captain Jiang are great, but I can’t rely on them. Come on, Hu Qing, we’ve talked about this before and you were fine with it then. You’re the only one I can trust this to.”
Hu Qing shook his head but didn’t refuse. "That was before I saw what kind of security was being assigned for the trip. If I go, I won’t take anyone with me. You need the guards way more than I do.”
“I don’t need everyone. At least take Ke Yongqian–” Kayla glanced up as Right Secretariat An called her name. To her annoyance, the man was making his way over towards her.
“Damn,” she muttered. “You know what, let’s talk in my carriage later.”
“Sure,” Hu Qing agreed. Kayla nodded at him and left to answer the Right Secretariat.
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A young Imperial Investigator shaded his eyes with his hand, watching from where he was hidden by the tree branches as three Imperial Guards conspicuously scouted out the area. He turned towards the middle-aged Investigator next to him.
“Investigator Qiu, those Imperial Guards really are eye-catching, aren’t they?” The young Investigator asked, a note of amusement in his voice.
Investigator Qiu shook his head with a smile. “They’re our colleagues for this trip, Investigator Mi. Don’t mock them.”
“Ha, colleagues,” Investigator Mi chuckled. “They don’t even understand how to lower their voices. Those lumbering meatheads need to shout out everything they do at the top of their lungs to make sure it gets through those fancy helmets!”
“Alright now,” Investigator Qiu said in a warning tone without offering any real rebuke. “Let’s just do our best to work together with them properly.”
“We can’t even communicate with each other properly, how are we supposed to cooperate? Hey, Investigator Qiu, if they’re still around at the end of the trip, shall I teach them a few of our codes? I doubt they’ll be in shape to learn though,” Investigator Mi said lightly. “Those coddled young masters will be worn out by the trip even if nothing happens.”
Investigator Qiu shook his head but didn’t discourage his younger colleague from his shit-talking. He was the one who recruited Investigator Mi from the streets when the younger man was still a teen, and knew there was no real malice behind the words. He glanced down at his communication talisman and nodded at Investigator Mi.
“Investigator Liu and Investigator Zhang are done sweeping the West side, let’s also head back,” Investigator Qiu said.
Investigator Mi sighed. “Back to Minister Zhao’s group? No thanks, I’ll do another sweep.”
“Hey, he’s not just the Minister anymore. He’s our Director now,” Investigator Qiu reminded him. “Even in private, the walls have ears. You’d do well to watch how you address him.”
“Some Director,” Investigator Mi grumbled. “Since when has the Bureau ever had a Director who can’t even fight? It’s not like he’s some experienced senior either, that kid’s younger than me!”
“By four months,” Investigator Qiu shot back. “And you’re one to talk when an old man like me hasn’t even complained yet!”
“I’m just saying!” Investigator Mi threw his hands up in exasperation. “Doesn’t it piss you off that he got the position when so many qualified people were declined? Our boss hasn’t been promoted in years!”
Investigator Qiu reached out and smacked the younger man’s head. “He’ll never get promoted if brats like you can’t keep your mouths shut,” he chided. “Senior Investigator Tabuyir’s deeply trusted by Director Zhao, his time will come soon enough. But not if you fuck things up for him.”
Investigator Mi scoffed. Investigator Qiu reached out grabbed onto the scruff of his collar, yanking the younger man closer.
“I’m not joking around here, kid. This isn’t about experience, this is about politics. The Emperor didn’t just appoint us a new Director just for laughs. That position’s been empty for years for a fucking reason. Talk shit about the Imperial Guards if you want, but don’t you dare make our boss look bad with your mucking about. You hear me?” Investigator Qiu demanded.
Investigator Mi gave him a petulant look. “I’m not deaf,” he said sullenly. “Plus, it’s not like I’m stupid! I wouldn’t say this in front of people outside of our unit!”
“You can’t say it even if it’s people from our unit,” Investigator Qiu said in exasperation. “Come on now, how old are you already? Stop acting like a child.”
“Sure, it’s my fault for not being an old geezer halfway to his grave,” Investigator Mi replied sarcastically. The older man grabbed onto his earlobe and twisted it viciously.
“Ow ow ow, fuck! Let go!” Investigator Mi squeaked. “I get it, okay?”
Investigator Qiu let go, smoothing down the younger man’s robes. “Good,” he said firmly. “Let’s go back.”
Sulking spectacularly until they returned to the delegation, Investigator Mi begrudgingly complied.
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Hu Qing sprawled across his half of the carriage, ignoring Yun’er’s scandalized look when she happened to glance in through the curtains from the front of the carriage. Though the privacy spell blocked sound, it didn't block people from seeing inside.
“Do you think you can handle it?” Kayla asked Hu Qing, finishing off her extremely thorough rundown of who she needed him to meet and what to say to them.
He shrugged. “Why not? So long as I don’t agree to anything outside of what you specified, we should be fine, right? Plus, the Sixth Princess’ relatives are the ones making the introductions. If you just need me to socialize with them, it should be fine. I doubt they’re half as uptight as the folks from the capital anyways.”
“Good,” Kayla said, sighing in relief. “I don’t want to leave anything up to chance. If anything happens en route, I won’t have enough time to develop any ties in the North before the Princess gets here, and I don’t want to do anything where the Khaganate’s people can openly spy on my actions. I’ll only be able to sleep at ease if I can leave this to you.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Hu Qing said easily. “Do I really need to take Ke Yongqian with me though? You could use an extra guard.”
“Absolutely. There’s no way I’d let you go off alone,” Kayla replied. “We’ve got plenty of enemies who’d love to see us dead, and not just from this side of the border.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever fought someone from the Khaganate,” Hu Qing said. “How good do you reckon the Turks are?”
“Don’t go seeking out a fight,” Kayla warned him.
“I wasn’t going to,” Hu Qing said unconvincingly.
Kayla shook her head in exasperation. “Anyways, before you head North, I want to make sure you know what we’re aiming to do and why.”
Unlike the highly-educated Sun Ruhui and Chen Caichun, Hu Qing had little knowledge of economics and history beyond the very basics he'd been taught as a child. Though Hu Qing was privy to her strategy meetings, things that were skipped over in discussions because they were obvious to Sun Ruhui and Chen Caichun might not be so obvious to him.
Hu Qing straightened up in his seat, fixing Kayla with a serious look. “It’s because of what’s going to happen in the future, right?”
Kayla nodded. “Remember after I came back to the capital from Lady Lin’s place?”
Hu Qing’s face darkened. “Yes, I remember.”
“I may be able to prevent the political upheaval Lady Lin foresaw, but the natural disasters and the invasions are unavoidable. We need to take precautions, and the only way we can do that is to cull the clans’ growing power and reorganize the military,” Kayla said. “This marriage I’m entering will buy us some time with the Khaganate–it might even give us an opportunity to mitigate some of the military conflicts, but there will be war.”
“Why are you so certain of that? They only invaded in the future you saw because they saw an opportunity with all the upheaval at court, would they really try if we were prepared for them?” Hu Qing pointed out.
Kayla shook her head. “It will definitely happen. Even if they know they can’t win, they’ll still keep going even if they only make minute gains.”
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“That’s stupid as hell,” Hu Qing protested. “Taking on a war you can’t win is asking for a mutiny!”
“Perhaps. But they would still invade,” Kayla said. “It’s not about making gains, but survival. Another Cold Age is coming–an extended period of arctic weather after so many years of mild winters means that the Northern parts of the Khaganate would become unlivable after a period of population growth. That means too many people and too little food in too small a space. It wouldn’t take long for plague and starvation to be rampant. And then what? The only real way for the state to survive would be to import food and export people. But where would they get food? The cold weather would also affect our grain yields–there wouldn’t be any surpluses to sell. The Western Khaganate would also be facing similar troubles, and any grain coming in along the Silk Road would become ridiculously overpriced once merchants realize the situation. The only real option they have is to invade.”
“Why wouldn’t they invade the Western Khaganate instead? Can’t you just persuade the Emperor to offer a little military support and set them off in a different direction?” Hu Qing demanded. “Those two are always fighting anyway.”
“No, that won’t work. Remember, Central Asia would also be affected by the change in climate. In terms of military strength, the Eastern Turkic Khaganate isn’t what it once was, while the Western Turkic Khaganate has been absorbing plenty of new Persian recruits and techniques, thanks to the strife in the crumbling Sassanian Empire. My father-in-law-to-be would be desperately trying to avoid a fight with them, why would he invade? Between us and the Western Turks, we’re much easier targets,” Kayla replied.
“That’s true enough. There might not even be anyone left to resist them in the North–they say that the last Cold Age emptied out nine houses out of every ten in most northern provinces, and families were exchanging children to cannibalize,” Hu Qing said heavily. “It might be exaggerated since so much time has passed, but these tales usually have some basis in truth.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Kayla agreed. “If the North becomes unlivable, there would be hordes of refugees coming into the Middle Plains. We’d be in the same predicament as the Eastern Khaganate, really, if not worse off.”
“Then we really need to reorganize the military,” Hu Qing said. “I’ve seen a good number of soldiers in my line of work, and they’re good, hardy men. But the officers…now that’s a different story altogether. Corruption in the military is just as bad as in court, if not worse. The court is at least under the foot of the Son of Heaven, but at the borders, the sky is high and the Emperor is far away–they can act with impunity.”
“Not just the military, the clans are also a huge problem,” Kayla said. “It really all comes down to redistributing resources–a dynasty starts going downhill when too much wealth and power becomes concentrated in too few hands, and those hands stop paying their due share of taxes. The clans and local gentry barely paid any taxes under the previous taxation system despite holding large amounts of fertile farmland, and now, even with the double-tax system, they misreport their yields to pay as little as possible. When we try to tax them by the number of tenant farmers, they present the tenants as land-owning farmers and add the tax burden to existing rents. Between the military’s corruption and the clan’s tax evasion, this dynasty’s hurtling towards ruin even without all the troubles we have ahead of us.”
“Then that’s an awful lot of moving parts to consider,” Hu Qing muttered, breathing out sharply. “Cutting off someone’s path to fortune is like killing their parents, they’ll see you beheaded in the market square if you try.”
“I’m also a little at a loss for a solution,” Kayla admitted. “But one of the most glaring problems is that we don't have enough funds to make ample preparations. That’s also why I’m taking so long with the investigation into the Grand Duke’s crimes. I mean, I could’ve finished it in the last few weeks if I really wanted to–all the evidence is pretty clear-cut, you know? I’m not making the arrests yet because I haven’t figured out a way to squeeze the money out of them. Even if we seize the assets of the implicated officials, it wouldn't even cover half the amounts they embezzled.”
Hu Qing nodded. “They’ve redirected the funds, haven’t they?”
“Exactly. Most corrupt officials didn’t just keep assets under their own name, but under the name of a son, or even a grandson, or perhaps scattered amongst relatives and in-laws. Some of them were fools who didn’t care how much they dirtied their hands, but most of them were careful enough so that even if they were sentenced, there wouldn’t be enough evidence to warrant the seizure of his clan’s full assets, only his personal share. That’s the problem here. Even if I arrest them, not much money will come out of it,” Kayla said.
Kayla had Chen Caichun drafting up clauses that would allow her to retrieve all misdirected funds, no matter whose name they were under, but even the brilliant young woman was having trouble piecing together enough legal grounds to make it work. Kayla could only hope that Caichun would power through.
“But you still have to arrest them,” Hu Qing said questioningly.
“Of course. I just need to either figure out the legalities, or figure out some way to present their crimes as serious enough that I can seize their household assets. But there’s a limit to how far I can go without sparking unintended consequences,” Kayla replied. “The path ahead of us is still very long. The last thing I’d want to do is to set a precedent that can be abused by someone who doesn’t want to do the right thing.”
Hu Qing nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
“But we’re talking about a full-scale invasion, and years worth of bad crop yields in the North. That’s an insane number of refugees and soldiers to feed and clothe, my lord. Even if you seize the assets of every single person implicated by the Grand Duke’s crimes, it still wouldn’t be enough,” Hu Qing said.
Kayla let out a deep sigh. “I know. A cup of water can’t put out the flames of a burning wagon. I only wish more clans had been implicated, but most were too careful to take much damage.”
“Then how are you going to deal with them? Officials come and go, but landowners stay there forever. If you push them too hard, they’ll actively worsen the situation until you’re forced to either give in or the local administration collapses on itself. And you can’t get enough money just by investigating corruption. What does the Emperor even expect you to do?” Hu Qing asked incredulously.
“If we really want to see this through, then it’s not impossible. The first step is severing the ties between the military and the clans, and the easiest way to do that would be through pitching them against each other. There’s a few ways we can do that, but my marriage is a great start. We’ll have peace for a good few years before we see another conflict. No one else will attack us when they know that we can mobilize our full resources rather than keeping back a good chunk to ward against the Turks, and as long as we don’t start shit with anyone, that means the military’s got no conflict, and no means of upwards mobility.”
She glanced at Hu Qing to see if he was following along. He gave her an affirming nod.
“All the Emperor has to do is show his consideration towards the military while allowing the court to lean more heavily towards civil officials, and discontent between them will naturally arise. At the same time, he can remove generals from posts in which they have camaraderie with the locals and the soldiers by promoting them to positions in a different place. Everyone can get a little promotion, but no one gets to stay where they’ve been established or bring their soldiers away,” Kayla said. “Does that make sense?”
“But if there’s peace, there would also be a lot of discharged soldiers who can become absorbed by the clans as private militia,” Hu Qing pointed out. “There’s a lot of soldiers posted up North who don’t have lands there, and they’ve been stationed at the border for a while by now. If they go home, they’ll likely find themselves out of a farm, if not also out of a wife. That’s a lot of disgruntled folks with military training that the clans will be eager to grab up.”
“Who said we’re discharging the veterans? The Khaganate will become a problem again, they won’t have a choice,” Kayla said grimly. “Of course, we can absorb a lot of refugees and the like to mitigate the damage, but invading us is really their only option for surviving as a sovereign state.“
“I don’t think the country can sustain such a large army in peacetime,” Hu Qing replied. “There’s still years before the invasion. And you’re already short on money and resources, how are you even going to pay for them?”
“I know, that’s the problem!” Kayla threw her hands up in frustration. “I’ve been thinking it over, and there’s a few ways that work rather quickly. Emperor Wu of Han and a ruler in the Great Qin to the west of the Persians both used the method of proscription to cull the powerful and the wealthy, but it's an ugly method and it's more trouble than it's worth.”
Seeing his look of confusion, Kayla hastily launched into an explanation.
“Emperor Wu of Han issued tax reforms that drastically increased taxes for the rich, but it only resulted in an uptick in tax evasions. He then issued a decree that allowed anyone to report tax evasion. The one who made the report would get half the noble’s assets, and the treasury got the other half. The noble in question would be punished and stripped of his position. This was one of the ways in which he got the copious war funds required for fighting the Huns,” Kayla said.
Hu Qing’s brow furrowed. “I thought the Han Dynasty had a major clan problem even after Emperor Wu.”
“They did,” Kayla agreed. “The policy worked, but not for long. Only about forty years after Emperor Wu had died, the clans had all but regained their full power. It took a certain degree of centralized power to make this kind of thing work, and Emperor Wu had done plenty of damage to the throne’s hold by killing the Crown Prince and whatnot. That’s how Huo Guang managed to become regent for so long. As for the Great Qin, they had a ruler who proscribed his enemies by allowing anyone who killed them to take part of the estate, while the rest of the assets would be confiscated or auctioned by the state. Things got pretty corrupt though.”
“Doesn’t sound like your type of thing,” Hu Qing said mildly.
“Even if it were, it’s not that easy to carry out without a strong grasp on the military,” Kayla replied. “The other way would be to sell nobility titles or official positions. It creates plenty of problems, but it solves plenty of them too. A lot of rich merchants would become nobles or part of the court–it’s the perfect way to spark infighting and weaken both the established clans and the newcomers. But there’s also a risk that the established clans would lend money to help people buy positions and establish themselves as major patrons of a political network, or that they would simply buy up the positions for their own relatives.”
Hu Qing gestured outside the window towards a foreign merchant watching the delegation curiously from the side of the road.
“We have so many merchants. Can’t we tax them?”
“Sure, of course. We already do. But raising taxes on trade means that we see less of it,” Kayla replied. "There's no telling if we might end up crippling the economy instead."
“What about government monopolies? Didn’t previous dynasties have monopolies on salt and steel? We could do the same,” Hu Qing said.
“We could, and not just on salt and steel,” Kayla said, her mind flitting to the Song Dynasty. “Alcohol and tea are also huge earners. If we could set up a government monopoly, the revenues would be huge. But we’d have to raise prices if we want to turn a profit and make up for the costs of buying out everything, even if we forced the sellers to accept less than market value. We’d end up with inflated costs of living. Even if the Treasury fills up, that money will be worth less.”
“Can’t you enforce a monopoly without buying them out?” Hu Qing asked.
“In wartime, maybe, but in peacetime? We have no revolts to quell or crises at the borders, how could we justify straight-up robbery?” Kayla pointed out.
“Then what are you going to do?” Hu Qing asked.
“I don’t know,” Kayla said honestly. “But we’ll figure it out somehow. For now, let’s just focus on establishing our connections in the border region. Just don’t forget what the true goal is.”
“I’ll see it done,” Hu Qing promised. “I’ll depart after we get out of Taiyuan, I should get there at least two days earlier than you.”
Kayla nodded, giving him a grateful smile. “Thank you, Hu Qing. I’ll leave it to you.”
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Cultural Notes
洛阳/Luoyang: Capital of the Wu Dynasty. Known as the Eastern Capital during the Tang Dynasty, where the actual capital was Chang'an.
太原府/Taiyuan Commandery: One of the major transport hubs in the Tang Dynasty.
幽州/Youzhou: A major transport hub in the Tang Dynasty, located in modern-day Beijing.
Border with the Khaganate: Though the borders changed often, the point where Kayla is convening at with Princess Ashina is close to modern-day Hohhot (regional capital of Inner Mongolia, China).
Kayla's route north: This followed the well-traveled paths that brought her Northwards along the Taihang Mountain ranges, and then Northeast to go around the Wutai Mountains before heading Northwest. This was a little roundabout, but it avoided going through huge mountains and was mostly flat. There weren't even too many rivers to cross, making it a popular travel route.
驿站/Post office: In Ancient China, this referred to stations where official couriers were fed, lodged, and rested or exchanged their horses. It was also used by traveling officials. Without modern-day communication technologies, these post offices allowed important messages to be delivered at impressive speeds.
小冰河时期/Little Ice Age: A Chinese phrase used to refer to periods of Arctic weather in Northern Asia that usually led to Southwards invasions by nomad tribes, depopulation of Northern China, and catastrophic crop failures due to the cold. Usually also led to the crumbling of dynasties as well. Similar to the Little Ice Age seen in medieval Europe. In Chinese history, Little Ice Ages appeared during the end of the Shang Dynasty and beginning of the Zhou dynasty (this goes all the way back to preceding the Warring States era and the unification of China under the Qin dynasty), and then again at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty (during the Three Kingdoms era), one took place during the end of the Tang Dynasty and throughout the turbulent Five Dynasties era until the beginning of the Song Dynasty, and then again during the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty. All of these followed the pattern of invasions from the North, huge numbers of casualties from starvation, plague, and war, and then long stretches of internal strife.
Decline of the Sassanian Empire: During early the Tang Dynasty, the Sassanian Empire/Eranshahr went through a period of great turbulence due to the Sassanian Civil War (628 to 632) and Arab invasion, and was eventually conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate (632 to 654). The Rashidun Caliphate also fragmented due to inner strife, and parts of the former Sassanian Empire also rose in rebellion, many regions alternating between independence and submission through the following centuries. Due to the distance and how confusing things were to keep track of, most people in the Tang Dynasty continued to call Persia by the name "波斯/Bosi" (pronounced similar to Pars).
十室九空/Of ten houses, nine are empty: An Ancient Chinese proverb used to describe the aftermath of war or disaster in which the population is devastated, often to the point where only about ten percent survived or remained where they were instead of becoming refugees.
易子而食之/Exchanging children to eat: Cannibalism during famine existed in Ancient China, as it did elsewhere in the world. This practice was recorded by some historians in Ancient China to describe how bad things had gotten. Historical records of great famines state that every bit of bark and grass within the region of natural disaster had been eaten by desperate people, and every wild animal hunted down. When even that wasn't enough, people began to eat mud to avoid starvation, but though the mud filled their stomachs, there was no nutrition in it and often made people sicker, resulting in more deaths. When things got truly desperate, cannibalism began to occur, first by cannibalizing those who had already died of hunger, and then getting to the point where people cannibalized the living. Families were recorded to have exchanged their children with each other to kill and eat, being unable to bear eating their own children. When the dynasty was functioning properly, disaster relief usually arrived in time to prevent this kind of thing, but if the government was already corrupt and the dynasty in decline, then natural disasters were often exacerbated by those circumstances.
中原/Middle Plains: Refers to the fertile plains near the Yangtze river, believed to be the cradle of Chinese civilization.
天子脚下/Under the foot of the Son of Heaven: An Ancient Chinese proverb referring to being in close proximity to the Emperor, or to be in the Imperial Capital.
天高皇帝远/The sky is high and the Emperor is far away: An Ancient Chinese proverb describing the inability of centralized rule to administer efficiently in distant regions.
均田制/Equal field system: A taxation and land ownership system in which most land was owned by the government and then equally distributed to individual families, who then paid tax on it. It worked well for a time, but aristocratic families began buying up land (though they were theoretically unable to do so) and most farmers became tenant farmers instead of landowners in their own right. The taxation system also fell apart by the mid-Tang dynasty after the An Lushan Rebellion that devastated the government's control.
两税制/Double tax system: A tax system that emerged in the aftermath of the failure of the equal-field system, in which landowners were taxed on the yield of their crops and number of tenants instead of as a single entity. This allowed the government to levy taxes despite the monopolization of land by landlords, but fell apart due to the inability of the government to keep track or effectively survey the country on a continuous basis as necessitated by this system. Came into use in the late Tang Dynasty and continued through the Song Dynasty.
断人财路如同杀人父/Cutting off someone’s path to fortune is like killing their parents: A Chinese saying.
弃市/Abandoned in the market: A term used to refer to being beheaded and having your corpse displayed in the public market.
杯水车薪/A cup of water can’t put out the flames of a burning wagon: A pre-Qin proverb that means a small remedy can't fix a huge problem.
Tang Dynasty military system: Originally, soldiers were meant to farm where they were stationed, and fought for one season a year, farming and training for the other three. But this fell apart when too many soldiers were needed on a continuous basis to be stationed somewhere or used in a war. Instead, people became full-time soldiers who didn't farm or own farmlands.
Proscription in the Han Dynasty: Refers to the 算缗 and 告缗 policies that calculated taxes based on assets and allowed people to report tax evasion respectively. Those who committed tax evasion were treated as enemies of the state and had their entire clan's assets confiscated. Informers could also get up to half the estate (though usually they got way less). This was primarily used under Emperor Wu of Han, who aggressively funded his wars against the Hun nomads. Though originally in a beholden position where the Han Dynasty was vulnerable to Hun invasions, Emperor Wu chose to launch attacks into Hun territory instead of only defending. He is somewhat of a controversial person, lauded for both establishing the Han as a military power and quelling further threats from the Hun, but also criticized for harsh internal policies and his fondness for war (he was at war for most of his rather long reign).
Great Qin as Ancient Rome: Ancient China had made contact with Ancient Rome at a few points in time, and for some reason, Rome was known as the Da Qin/Great Qin, though I'm not sure how they got this pronunciation. Kayla is referring to Sulla's proscriptions during the late Roman Republic.
巫蛊之乱/Witchcraft Scandal under Emperor Wu of Han: In Emperor Wu's late years, he became extremely superstitious and paranoid. Some people made use of this to supplant the Crown Prince and place Emperor Wu's youngest son on the throne (the kid was barely a toddler at the time) by accusing the Crown Prince of witchcraft and forcing him into rebellion. The Crown Prince's rebellion failed, and the Crown Prince and his mother the Empress committed suicide. Thousands of people were executed in relation to the case, including several of Emperor Wu's own children. In the aftermath, realizing he had been played, Emperor Wu also executed everyone involved in the Crown Prince's downfall before dying and leaving the throne to his youngest son, who was then eight years old.
霍光/Huo Guang: A powerful regent and official during the Han Dynasty, he was left as the protector of Emperor Wu's young successor, but maintained power for decades to come. Though he himself was a rather upright and capable man, his family members were corrupt and arrogant. After Huo Guang died of natural causes, the Emperor immediately got rid of the entire Huo clan.
卖官卖爵/Selling positions and titles: A practice used in Ancient China to fill the Treasury at times of financial crisis.
盐铁官营/Government monopolies of salt and steel: Established during the Han Dynasty but fell out of use in the Tang Dynasty, but later came back into use in the later Tang Dynasty due to facing a financial crisis.
Government monopolies of tea and alcohol in the Song Dynasty: In the later Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, monopolies of tea and alcohol were established in addition to salt and steel. While this enriched the state, it also led to severe inflation and lowered the state's buying power.