Pine, Bamboo, and Plum: A Song AAR (MEIOU)

Yo! Didn't mean for it to seem like I vanished again, haha. I actually just got CK2 and got waaaay wrapped up in that, besides irl stuff. I actually made a couple posts in what I'll call a "new AAR" in dubious quotes. This is still my main focus for sure, the CK thing is more... every now and then, when something interesting happens, I might write a small-scale, self-contained post about it. More experimental I guess, I want to fool around with style/voice/etc. Anyway, it's here, should anyone be curious: Tales from the Kingdom of Nafarroa. 1066 start as Navarre; I used tutors to make my heir a Basque Sunni, playing with a goal of converting as much of Europe to Islam as I can.

Minor note, the "tons of rebels" pic in the upcoming post is a composite, but they all happened within like two weeks of the marked date.

@Qorten: Haha, yeah, not looking to keep it going that long. My goal is to keep things moving at a brisker pace, especially since I'd love to port this to Vicky 2... the way I'll prolly go is with a more history book format until the 1700s or so, which will encompass the "golden age" and the beginning of a slow decline. Obv being a player I can hold together an arbitrarily large empire, but I think it'd be more realistic for it to get powerful, then begin to get complacent. Then I can have a few epilogue posts covering everything to 1836 very quickly, then do a sort of "rebirth" in a Vicky game!

@Stuyvesant: Man, that's something I've always wanted to read, but it's such a large body of work that it's daunting to think of. I will get around to it someday though, I read through all of Homelands/Bastions when I first joined and it was (and continues to be) very rewarding.

@mayorqw: GEEZ FINE UGH. Jk, I'm glad you've updated yours as well, I look forward to reading once I make this post!

@PrawnStar, Omen, Sjiveru, JKNUBZ, etranger01, Ashantai: Thank you so much guys! I'm glad to be back and hope my next arcs live up to your expectations.

From the Desk of Wuming Shi*​

Jun 7, 1463
To: Dean Mou Mou, Shanghai University
Thank you for your swift reply to my earlier inquiry. I have carefully reviewed it, and I understand your concerns regarding my application to your fine institution. You are indeed right to worry about the “destruction of academic rigor” that the admittance of a female student may effect. You are justified in your fears that my attending university may make me combative and domineering, ensuring that I will not find a husband and thus will be “bitter, miserable, and alone” until the end of my days. And I certainly sympathize with your apprehension concerning the collapse of traditional society that allowing a woman to receive a classical education may indeed bring about.

However, in the spirit of debate, please allow me to retort. I understand that my mind may not operate on the same level as a man's, but I feel I may be able to make a few, small points in my favor, as difficult as higher thought is for the fairer sex.

I know you have multiple examinations for prospective students. Although your institution was founded a mere thirty years ago, you've already allowed greed and nepotism to creep into your bureaucracy. It's no secret that a student with a powerful family or money for a bribe can take an easier entrance exam, or that a student who may “disgrace” the university takes a test that is nigh-impossible to pass.

I shall take the impossible one. And I will pass. If I do not exceed your expectations, I will hold no grudge and will accept rejection gracefully. I grew up under the best tutors in the kingdom, and I had access to one of the largest libraries. I have done little but study and write since childhood. I doubt you can craft a test that I would fail.

Furthermore, as I'm sure you are aware, I am the second child of Queen Mother Wan'er--incidentally, the woman who established your university--and thus next in line for the Song throne. Although it is far off, should my brother die without issue, the throne would likely pass to my future husband or son. As my brother has yet to take a wife, this possible turn of events cannot be ruled out.

Allow me to make myself perfectly clear. I am willing and eager to prove my fitness for higher learning to you. But if you reject me out of hand without even giving me an opportunity to demonstrate my competence, my vengeance will know no limit. Every single man who had any connection to this matter will suffer the nine familial exterminations. Your parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, wives, siblings, and all other kin will be put to death. Your names will be stricken from the histories, your lands will be given to commoners by lottery, and any students who speak on your behalf will have their tongues removed. Your names will live on as a cautionary tale, a warning that the Great Song Kingdom is not to be trifled with.

I thank you for your consideration of this matter and look forward to your reply.

Zhao Mei

* * *

Jun 24, 1463
To: All Faculty
In light of Zhao Mei's examination scores, she will be attending our university starting in the upcoming term. While she, at her explicit request, is not to be shown any special favor, we wish to warn all staff that any attempt to treat her unfairly will result in strict disciplinary action.
-Dean Mou Mou

* * *


Most Illustrious Zhao Mei, Ruler of the Song Kingdom:

Prime Minister Enbo asked us to draw up a history of your brother's rule, seeing as your attention was focused on other pursuits at that time. Since you obviously have more pressing matters to deal with until the traitors in the realm can be exterminated, I'll keep this report brief.

After Dewang took the throne, your mother largely kept the reins. Considerable gold was poured into improving the infrastructure throughout the kingdom, while the military spent most of its time in Korea. We had an official truce with the new king that the mob in Hanseong put in power, but rebellions and border skirmishes went on constantly. But until 1467, Song did little outside its borders.

Dewang's sole contribution to the realm was in the form of the Hefei Academy for the Arts. Hardly much of a legacy, but it is true that Hefei is quickly becoming a center of culture in our kingdom. In every other respect, Dewang was inept, however well-meaning he may have been. Your mother had been in charge for nearly two decades when she finally forced Dewang to accept his birthright in the hopes he'd grown into it. His mismanagement drained our treasury and destabilized the realm in a few short years.


Abroad, it's impossible to discuss anything before discussing Dai Viet. It's hard to say how they did what they did, be it better training, better officers, or just the simple bloodlust of the southern barbarians. But in 1449 they conquered their neighbor Dali, then crushed the Tibetans in two wars and reached the borders of China. Besides that, Pegu defeated Dai Viet in a minor war, then Champa, winning harbors on the South China Sea.


Yue launched an invasion in 1467 to push Dai Viet back, and Dewang came to our ally's assistance in this endeavor. The campaign was a disaster. Although our armies forced those of Dai Viet to retreat from every battle, our losses were so staggering and so embarrassing that we had no choice but to make a separate peace.


Luckily Yue was able to continue without our aid. But the defeat we suffered crushed morale and likely contributed to many of the disaffected generals who now raise arms against you.

To the north, the precarious situation in Qin finally exploded in 1458. Since its rise to prominence, the Qin in Beijing ruled large swaths of land under Confucian principles, but subjugated the Khalka tribes, making them vassals but allowing them some degree of autonomy. But this couldn't last, and the war still rages between the Buddhist Mongols and their Han Chinese overlords, further complicated by Jurchen incursions into Mongol land. It remains to be seen how this will end.**


The current situation is, to put it mildly, unstable. Armies have risen up against you, both in the heartland and further afield, led by pretenders, discontent bureaucrats, or simply local rabble.


Meanwhile, Zhou, united with us in personal union since your great-grandfather's time, has broken away and chosen an independent warlord as their leader.


Although many have deserted you, we few have not. We trust Prime Minister Enbo's assurances that his tutelage has prepared you to weather this crisis, and that after, you shall lead us to greatness. While many may turn against you, our rightful ruler by blood, due to your sex, know that we stand behind you.***


* * *

Dearest sister,

I wanted to thank you again for going along with my plan. Our father was right, after all, as much of an ass as he was. I'm not fit to rule. If I'd had to continue, our great kingdom wouldn't last another generation. I know this is what we both want, but I feel terrible abandoning you at a time when you'll need friends and allies the most. I'm scared for you. You know what you'll be up against, but still, I feel awful.

I'm sorry, I'm rambling. I can't think straight. I know this will be the last time I'll be able to contact you for a long time, maybe forever. God, how did it come to this?

I leave for Hefei tomorrow morning, and Enbo will announce my “death” that afternoon. I rather look forward to living in obscurity. It will give me more time to focus on my art. Mother has decided to come with me. She'll tell you tonight, with some flimsy excuse about looking out for me. Don't tell her I told you this, but she said it's because she can't bear to see what you'll become.

We're both scared for you, Mei. We know you'll have to do horrible things to stay in power. Just... for your own sake, don't hold back, especially not on account of us. I know it sounds weird coming from me. I was always the gentle one. But whatever it takes, you need to protect yourself. I'm just saying that whatever you do, I'll support it.

Do you remember when you were twelve, and you had just read Ouyang's Book of Tang? I remember that vividly. You asked Mother why Empress Wu did the things she did, why she had so many put to death while at the same time she fostered a golden age of prosperity. Why those below her still wanted her dead while she led the Middle Kingdom to greatness. Mother said, “If a woman is to rule, she must be more ruthless than any man in the realm.”

Mei, that's as true for you as it was for Wu Zetian or Li of Ming. No matter how well you do, there will always be people looking to stab you in the back. All I mean to say is... do what you need to do. There's no shame in it. I know you know all this, I guess it just makes me feel better to write it.

I believe in you, and I love you very much. I hope to see you again someday.

Your brother,
Zhao Dewang

* * *

Official Transcript
Oct 8, 1468
Property of State Affairs - Restricted Access​

Ting Kakin. I must say, this is a most excellent feast. I'm surprised you can engage in such opulence, what with the carnage going on just outside the city walls.
Zhao Mei. Normally I don't. But this is a special occasion, you see.
TK. Oh?
ZM. Of course. You and your associates here have remained loyal despite the many factions arrayed against me. I do wish to reward such... devotion.
TK. Oh, yes, yes. We stand behind you, My Queen. These treacherous rats are nothing b--
ZM. Tell me, Minister. Have you ever heard the story of Zhou Xing?
TK. I don't believe I have, no.
ZM. Zhou Xing was a police official who served Wu Zetian. He had served her well, uncovering many conspiracies against her.
TK. Most commendable.
ZM. Ah, but it eventually came to light that he was organizing a plot against her himself. Empress Wu sent another officer, Lai Junchen, to extract a confession from the man. But Lai knew it would be very difficult to make Zhou confess to his misdeeds. So he needed to take a more subtle approach.
TK. Oh? What would that be?
ZM. Well, one day, Lai invited Zhou to dine with him, saying he had a problem and needed Zhou's advice. While they ate, Lai said, “Many men accused of crimes are unwilling to confess. Do you have an idea on how to get them to confess?” Zhou replied, “That is easy. Take a big urn and set a fire under it. Put the accused in the urn, and surely he will confess everything.”
TK. There are crueler methods of torture.
ZM. Indeed. But the cleverness of Lai was that he discovered the one to which Zhou would most likely succumb. Lai ordered a servant bring in an urn and set a fire under it. Zhou was apparently... unaware that he had been invited to a feast, only to be tortured, until Lai sai... Is something the matter, Minister? You look rather pale.
TK. N-n-no, everything's fine.
ZM. Well, Zhou was unaware until Lai said to him, “I have received secret instructions with regard to you. Please enter the urn.”
TK. Th-that's very--
ZM. You see, I find it a rather... instructive anecdote. But, unlike Empress Wu, I would rather not rely on a subordinate to extract a confession from a disloyal official. And, unlike Lai Junchen, I have no need to ask how to get that confession. I think you'll find, dear Ting, that I have a rather extensive repertoire of... techniques.
TK. B-but... I didn't--
ZM. And besides an inevitable confession, I also need to demonstrate something to the witnesses you have been so kind as to assemble. I would like to show them the horrors I will inflict on any man who even thinks of betraying me.

(End of transcript.)

"Working toward a brighter tomorrow, today."
Department of State Affairs


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*Historians remain divided over which faction Wuming Shi sided with during the Crisis of 1468. Many argue he remained loyal to the Zhao Dynasty, as evidenced by his continued presence in the bureaucracy after the rebellion. Some even go so far as to claim he led a cavalry charge to relieve Shanghai, but these reports are unsupported by primary sources and have largely been discredited. Others say he backed one or more of the competing factions, but then managed to evade capture while continuing his work. A more recent theory supposes he found the whole business uninteresting and instead took a nap.

**((The Qin/Khalka/Jurchen thing is weird. Khalka is a nomadic horde vassalized by Qin, so Khal/Qin don't actually go to war against each other, but Khal gets the automatic wars with other neighbors, and Qin can't join them. Also it's impossible for Qin to integrate Khalka into their realm since "hordes only respond to gold and iron." Recasting Qin's civil war as a fight with Khalka is just a plot thing; I have bigger plans for their story/culture once it ends.))

***((“A Queen Emerges” is a custom event I wrote for her. Besides killing stab/legit/etc and spawning rebels, it sets a flag “untested queen.” [In retrospect, I should have added monthly stab/legit/etc bleed to overcome as well, but didn't think of it at the time.] If/when I get to 100 legit, 3 stab, 100 prestige, and [I think] 2000+ gold, there's an event with a 5-year MTTH that removes the flag. If the flag isn't removed, the next queen gets the “A Queen Emerges” event twice. Was just trying to abstract the fact that a queen regnant would have to prove herself awesome or she'd go down in history as a Matilda of England type.))

Ok, so I couldn't resist getting Mei's story kicked off. So two updates for the price of one!

@mayorqw: Wuming Shi sleeps with his eyes open.

@Dr. Gonzo: Thank you, and welcome! I'll have to check yours out as well. I've still yet to play my copy of DH, but a Mosley England sounds fun whether I understand the game or not!

On October 3, 1468, Prime Minister Enbo Wongyi gathers the entire Song bureaucracy to make an announcement. Zhao Dewang, he tells them, died the night before, going peacefully in his sleep. A wave of murmurs sweeps through the crowd. They immediately understand what this means. Dewang was the only son of Zhao Wongwai, and Wongwai the only grandchild of Wangyi. But now Dewang is gone. The throne is vacant.

Enbo gives the assembled bureaucrats a few minutes to gossip and speculate before demanding their attention again. There is already a new sovereign in the Song Kingdom, he tells them. He pauses, savoring the drama, the anticipation, for a moment. Then he bids them to bow to their new ruler as a figure emerges from the door behind them: Queen Zhao Mei of Song.

The only response the bureaucrats can muster is stunned silence.


Mei knows well enough that the idea of a queen regnant is almost unfathomable to the vast majority of her government, and she knows that it's nothing short of abhorrent to many of them. She'll be lucky to survive the first few years of her reign. Even so, it isn't enough to merely survive. Her great-grandfather shunned his duties for years at a time, yet no one challenged his position. Her father sent his subjects to die in a foreign land by the boat-full, yet no one challenged his position. But, as a woman, it will not be enough for Mei to prove herself a capable ruler. Even then, the attacks would never stop. She learned that much from the history of Queen Li.

No, if Mei expects to ever have peace, she must go beyond “capable.” She must bring glory and power to her kingdom far in excess of any who came before her. She must become so renowned, so respected, that any plot against her is crushed by the multitudes that worry they'll never see another ruler of her capacity again in their lives.

But that comes later. For now, she must focus on the traitors that fill her ranks. Before she can begin to earn respect, she must first instill fear.

Prior to their announcement, Mei and Enbo met to discuss strategy. Enbo had been her tutor as a child, her father figure, so he's the only person she knows she can trust implicitly. And, having been prime minister for the better part of two decades, he knows the people in the government and military better than anyone. Mei instructs him to recommend a military officer and a small group of soldiers and historians whose loyalties are unquestionable, men whose actions Enbo would stake his life on. Mei names the officer, De Wangwei, Marshal of Shanghai. She places the soldiers under his command, creating the Royal Guard, tasked only with the protection of her life. She leaves the historians be until the worst of what is to come is over.


As expected, much of the realm explodes in open revolt within days of her taking the throne. Nearly a dozen different rebel armies rise up, all with different aims. Bureaucrats who seek either to steal her kingdom from her or see the monarch's authority reduced to nothing, foreigners who wish to break Song's grip on their lands, peasants outraged to be living under a queen. Shanghai itself bears the worst of it: the White Lotus Army remains loyal but is forced out of the city.


As the Army regroups for a counterattack, Mei goes into hiding. Her Royal Guard moves her from place to place until Shanghai can be retaken. In the mean time, chaos reigns. Looting and violence run unchecked throughout the city. A mob burns the entire government complex to the ground. The White Lotus returns and crushes the revolters, then moves to reclaim more of the Yangtze valley while the rest of the countryside is ransacked, never venturing more than a day's ride from Shanghai.

Mei sets up a temporary court in an empty grain storehouse. While it would be safer not to make her location known, her position as queen would be in jeopardy if she disappeared from the public eye. With her armies busy crushing open insurrection, she must focus on eliminating the secretive traitors hiding in her ranks. Better to let them come to her.

The first purge is swift and bloody. Some in the government, while not taking up arms, speak out against her reign and her legitimacy. They perhaps believe their own arguments about the frailty and weakness of women, expecting the queen lacks the will to punish the disloyal. Mei has every one of them rounded up for execution. They are brought to a room and dismembered, one by one, while their compatriots listen to their screams and watch in terror. The last man is blinded and released so that he may correct the talk about the queen's “weakness.” All dissent quickly moves underground.

From there, Mei must rely on subtler tactics to root out those who would betray her. Rumors spread that Prime Minister Enbo seeks to usurp the throne and become king himself. Bureaucrats flock to him and declare their support for his cause; Enbo turns the traitors in for summary execution. A small reward and amnesty is offered to any man plotting against her who is willing to name names of co-conspirators. The accused are put under surveillance to confirm their guilt or absolve them of wrongdoing, while those who come forward are surreptitiously put to death.

Despite her mercilessness, Mei is careful to punish as few innocents as possible: not out of any sense of justice, merely because the discontent it would spread would be counterproductive. While it's useful for the bureaucracy to fear her, more than that she needs them to be terrified of being drawn into a plot against her. Over the months, a small, zealously-devoted clique of bureaucrats forms in her government. Of course, very few have come to accept a queen as legitimate at this early stage. Most of them simply see the growing number of vacant positions above their pay grade.

Mei knows full well it isn't enough to simply kill those who would turn on her; she needs to reduce the number of men who turn in the first place. To this end, she revises some of the rules of courtly etiquette that had been standard since Han Lin'er. The heads of the Three Departments are permitted to speak to her familiarly, and their immediate subordinates, the ministers and censors, are to report directly to her.

But all lower bureaucrats are to show her the reverence she believes she deserves. A simple bow will no longer suffice; if they have any occasion to speak to her, they must first kowtow. Since the founding of the kingdom, kings were referred to by the simple, military “Sir.” That will no longer do either. To the multitudes of civil servants, Mei becomes “Her Majesty.” By drawing the second tier of the bureaucracy into her inner circle, while at the same time reviving the quasi-deification enjoyed by the old emperors, Mei hopes to fragment the power base any one man can gather while impressing upon her entire government that they are responsible to her and her alone.

Meanwhile, Mei passes orders to the historians Enbo had gathered on the day of her ascension. They work day and night crafting histories meant to lend legitimacy to the new queen's reign. They write of Han Lin'er, the hero who fought the Mongols to establish the Song Kingdom, then defended it until it could pass to its rightful owner: Zhao Wangyi. They write of Jibi Zhenghu, the brilliant general who crushed the Red Turban fanatics who meant to destroy the Confucian system of government. They write of Li of Ming, the noble and just queen betrayed by the vile usurper, Chenghua, who Heaven then punished with the destruction of the kingdom he had stolen. And they write their opus: “The Definitive Book of Tang.” The work is an in-depth overview of the dynasty, but it pays particular attention to Empress Wu Zetian, one of the greatest rulers the Middle Kingdom had ever known.*

By autumn of 1469, Mei decides she's regained control over enough of the army to begin using it for more than putting down revolts. No number of “agreeable” texts or internal power shuffles can compare to the boon of successful conquests. Naturally, she makes the wayward Zhou her first target. But rather than reuniting its crown with hers, she means to add the rich Yellow River delta to her realm proper.


The White Lotus army crushes Zhou's meager force and lays siege to their cities. Zhou capitulates in summer of 1470.

But Mei has bigger plans than simply bringing a wayward province back into the fold. She intends to prove herself by succeeding where her father failed. She intends to take Korea.

-----
*Mei's “Tang,” now known as “The Revised Book of Tang,” was the third such work covering the era, and all were politically motivated. “The Old Book of Tang,” composed shortly after the establishment of the Later Jin Dynasty, depicted Empress Wu as an able, yet cruel, ruler. The “New” book, written during the 11th-century Song Dynasty, reflected Neo-Confucian sensibilities regarding women and presented her as bloodthirsty tyrant with no redeeming qualities. And the “Revised” book penned during Later Song portrayed her as nearly flawless. Debate continues to this day about which specific passages in the three books are fact and which are fiction, and there is little consensus in the historical community about what Wu Zetian's reign was actually like.

On the other hand, Mei's commissioning of dozens of books, paintings, poems, and sculptures is invariably held up as one of the most extensive and successful pre-modern propaganda campaigns ever devised. Indeed, before the term “propaganda” was imported in the early 20th century, it was common for Wu- and Yue-speakers to refer to such actions as “Mei speech” and “Mei writing.”