Original subtitles

♫ Raising the wine cup, I toast to the boundless sky ♫

♫ In talks and laughters are vast mountains and rivers. ♫

♫ Love and hate, debt and feuds, have all dissolved. ♫

♫ Where's my soul's hometown and my kindred spirits? ♫

♫ Seasons rolling by, we dream for harvest. ♫

♫ Warriors and warhorses howl across the sky. ♫

♫ If only I could turn into the wind, ♫

♫ to blow away all the pain in mortal coil. ♫

♫ I toast to the blue sky, to courage in solitude, ♫

♫ to migrating gooses, to boats heading home. ♫

♫ With even three thousand days and nights, ♫

♫ Will it be enough to drain this cup I toast to peace? ♫

[Swords into Plowshares]

[Episode 41]

The key to controlling the military governors lies in grasping military, financial,

personnel, and administrative authority.

Among all these powers, military authority is paramount.

Once military authority is reclaimed,

financial, personnel, and administrative authority can all be gradually reclaimed.

This plan to weaken the military governors is a grand strategy that His Majesty and I

have deliberated on for a long time.

Step one: The meritorious ministers and generals of the previous dynasty

will be publicly impeached by the Censorate,

making their crimes known to all.

Some will be executed, others dismissed.

Then, we'll deal with their subordinate officers and departments.

The strong soldiers from their troops will be incorporated into the imperial guards.

The old and weak will be discharged.

Step two: Old comrades and subordinates who contributed to the enthronement

will be handled by you, sir as the Privy Council Assistant Minister, and gradually weakened.

Those who are compliant will be retained, rebellious ones executed.

Step three: Centralize the financial power of all military governors under the Three Departments,

personnel under the Ministry of Personnel and the two central offices,

administrative under the various prefectures and counties.

Is this the plan to weaken the military governors that Your Majesty and Prince have devised?

Exactly.

Is there any problem?

State affairs are not child's play!

Your Majesty seeks the great path,

yet employs underhanded tactics,

and even boasts of emulating Emperor Taizong of Tang.

Do you still know the meaning of "shame"?

Since you intend to weaken the military governors,

why differentiate between previous ministers and the meritorious old comrades from Chenqiao?

With such a major state policy,

if you cannot act with impartiality, not to mention the military governors across the land,

how could even the peddlers and porters around possibly be convinced?

Sima Pu,

do not be ungrateful.

Principles and expediency matter.

Words are easy to say, but when it comes to implementation, there must inevitably be an order:

some tasks are easy, some difficult. So tackle the easy ones first. This is a universal principle.

Ridiculous!

Extraordinary tasks require extraordinary people!

This is what you, Prince, yourself just said!

Now you speak again of worldly common sense.

If everything followed common sense,

at Chenqiao Post,

how could His Majesty have become the Emperor?

Sima Pu!

You...

You are so presumptuous!

This is precisely what I wish to say to you.

You intend to accomplish what has not been done in a hundred years, to create an era of peace and stability.

Then, in handling affairs and governance,

you should not follow the evil precedents of chaotic times!

Wei Zheng said,

"Using bronze as a mirror, one can adjust his attire.

Using history as a mirror, one can understand rise and fall.

Using others as a mirror, one can discern his rights and wrongs."

To correct others,

you need to first correct yourself.

To weaken the military governors, first is to rectify the court.

To govern the previous ministers,

first is to govern your old friends and subordinates.

If those close cannot be managed, how can you manage those distant?

If we first deal with the old subordinates,

and if the veteran generals of the former dynasty rebel,

who will we rely on to suppress them?

Could it be relying on you scholars, who only chatter empty words?

If you act with fairness,

why would they rebel?

Over the Five Dynasties, every generation had rebels.

According to your words,

were they all caused by the ruler's unfair actions?

Is that not so?

Why did Li Keyong and his son rebel against Zhu Quanzhong?

Shi Jingtang was Emperor Mingzong's son-in-law.

Why did he rebel against Li Congke?

The previous dynasty's Emperor Shizong,

if not for the Liu unjustly executing his entire family of one hundred sixty-eight members,

why would he have raised troops in rebellion?

I have not,

seen peace under heaven,

in the plan to weaken the military governors drafted by Your Majesty and Prince.

What fills the pages

are the four words: 'finding fault with others'.

In a peaceful era,

punishments and governance should be lenient.

Two centuries of chaos.

Two centuries of wanton slaughter.

If Your Majesty ends this era, seeks to abolish the regional warlords,

desires to unify the land, and aims to bring peace to the realm,

it cannot be achieved if you rely on killing.

Minister Sima, you are more well-read in the history than I am.

But have you ever seen,

in any dynasty or era,

peace achieved without killing?

Previous rulers may have had shortcomings, but Your Majesty can begin anew.

On what basis?

On the basis that you were born into an era of chaos where one could not survive without killing.

If you cannot set a precedent for this world by not resorting to killing,

then you are not fit to be the ruler of a peaceful age.

I am the Secretariat for a ruler of peace,

not Assistant Minister for a bandit of chaos.

He...

he only has soybean matters in his eyes.

I, the guilty minister Wang Quanbin pay respects to Your Majesty.

Minister Zhao.

Your Majesty.

Has his sentence been determined?

After deliberation by the two Offices,

Wang Quanbin, Military Governor of the Zhongwu Army, Commander of the Xichuan Campaign,

violated orders, indiscriminately killed surrendered soldiers, misappropriated public funds,

caused bandits to proliferate, requiring another mobilization of troops before peace was restored.

Upon being ordered to return, complaints of injustice daily crowded the palace gates,

accusing him of embezzling gold, silver, rhinoceros horn, jade,

coins, and silk totaling over one hundred and sixty thousand and seven hundred strings.

He also opened the Fengde Treasury arbitrarily,

causing a loss of over two hundred and eighty two thousand strings of coins.

Wang Quanbin,

do you understand?

I have failed Your Majesty's grace.

My life is forfeit.

Can taking your life atone for your crime?

Have the two councils deliberated the punishment?

Wang

deserves death.

He should be executed by dismemberment, with his clan exterminated.

His wife and daughters shall be sold to the music bureau.

Your Majesty...

Your Majesty...

Your Majesty...

My crimes are beyond pardon.

My death is just and clear, Your Majesty.

Your Majesty...

I only wish for Your Majesty's heavenly grace to spare my family and clansmen.

Spare?

You still have the face to mention the word "spare" to me?

The lands of Western Shu, over a dozen prefectures and commanderies, were forced by you to rebel again.

How many families were torn apart?

How many died by the roadside?

How many lost all their wealth?

And how many perished in the calamity of war that you single-handedly created?

If I spare you today,

then who will spare those wronged souls you forced to ruin and death?

For your crimes,

if today even one person

dares to tell me there is reason to spare you,

I will spare you.

Your Majesty...

I have something to say.

Sima Pu.

I do not wish to hear you speak now.

Judged by the harm done to the people, Wang's crimes are unforgivable.

But what I want to say is,

the crimes discussed by Minister Zhao and all the other ministers

are not the crimes of Wang alone.

If we speak of guilt, today under this tent, everyone is guilty.

Not only that.

For two hundred years,

every generation of rulers,

nobles,

ministers,

military governors,

officers...

Everyone is guilty.

Have you lost your mind,

or eaten something poisonous?

Two centuries of chaos,

two centuries of wanton slaughter,

two centuries of soldiers running amok,

two centuries of preying on the people,

two centuries are filled with those deeds.

Therefore, Wang, is also like this today.

If Your Majesty can eradicate the two centuries of scattered and chaotic hearts,

and today kill Wang's entire clan, I will have nothing to say.

But if you cannot,

even if my life is also taken,

I must clearly state before you, my sovereign,

that today, those who are guilty are not just me, Wang, alone.

By your reasoning,

then I, the Emperor, am also guilty.

You inherited the chaos of a troubled era,

rising from a soldier to become the Emperor.

How can it be said you are without fault?

Your Majesty, these are mad words slandering the sovereign, showing great disrespect.

He should be judged by the authorities for his crimes.

Your Majesty, he points at you with no subject's propriety.

We, your subjects, request his execution to warn the world.

We, your subjects, request his execution to warn the world.

Since I began leading troops, I have questioned my own actions, which may not be always best,

but I have never committed acts of cruelty against the people.

Rising from a soldier to become the Emperor

was also not my original wish.

Accusing me of this crime, how can your conscience be at ease?

On the imperial decree of Wang's appointment as Commander of the Xichuan Campaign

and the title of Military Governor of the Zhongwu Army,

is there not your seal?

Your Majesty now

is no longer just a soldier.

The Tao Te Ching says:

'He who bears the disgrace of the state becomes the master of the land.

He who bears the misfortunes of the state becomes the king of the realm.'

If everyone has faults, the fault lies with me, the Emperor, alone?

Then everyone in this tent is guilty.

You yourself also stand within this tent.

Are you also guilty?

Since I was born in a chaotic era and now stand again in the court,

how can I say I am without fault?

I have heard it said of Your Majesty

that what you wish to govern is not the crime of one person,

but rather these two centuries of chaos,

of indiscriminate killing, and of the cycle of merit and crime.

To emulate a peaceful age,

one must establish laws of peace.

Good.

You tell me.

What is the law of peace?

With Wang's crimes, even if it were Emperor Gaozu of Han, with his three-article covenant upon entering the pass,

he should have been executed for ten thousand times.

Since ancient times, killing is easy,

but punishing the heart is difficult.

I do not seek to conceal Wang's crimes.

He harms the people, and Your Majesty executes him. This is called upholding the law.

In a time of peace, this would certainly benefit public morals and the people's support.

But you were, after all, born in a time of chaos, and live in a time of chaos.

In chaotic times, killing is easy.

To not kill,

is difficult.

In the days to come, you

must still pacify the broad lands,

and subdue the military governors.

You will likely have to kill many more people.

When you become accustomed to killing,

when all the civil and military officials at court and all the commoners of the land,

become accustomed to seeing you kill,

then killing

becomes the law of the land.

But, then, the peaceful and prosperous age that you desire,

where will it be?

Since Your Majesty has promised me this peaceful and prosperous age,

I

shall consider that I have seen it today.

This age of peace.

I was born in a time of chaos,

once served as an advisor to a military governor,

and now stand in the imperial court.

I

am a guilty man.

I now take my leave and bade you farewell.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Take care, Your Majesty.

Behave yourself!

Move.

Tell His Majesty.

I will wait to see the age of peace he creates.

Hurry up! Report it!

Report to His Majesty!

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty.

Something has happened!

Lord Zhao.

I am here.

Wang's capital crime,

I will bear it for him.

Your Majesty.

I,

who bear the myriad death crimes of the people of the world,

must repay the people of the nine provinces

with an age of life and prosperity.

Wang Quanbin's command banner, I have taken back.

He is demoted and appointed to...

Military Governor of Chongyi,

Regent Observer.

Long live Your Majesty! Long live!

Long live Your Majesty! Long live!

Long live Your Majesty! Long live!

Long time no see.

Come on, have some more.

Have some.

It is the dead of winter.

Your Majesty has summoned all of us to the capital with the military insignia.

Could it be you intend to launch a major campaign?

Comrades, do you remember what day it is today? Do you recall the significance of this date?

Fifteen years ago today,

the Khitan ruler Yelu Deguang

led a force of two hundred thousand men southward to graze their horses.

Du Zhongwei surrendered all of Hebei.

Zhang Yanze pressed his troops against the capital region.

The Shi family emperor was terrified out of his wits. He set a great fire in the imperial palace.

Throughout the court and the country,

everyone was filled with fear and anxiety.

Even with the virtue of Lord Feng

and the wisdom of Minister Sang,

they had no choice but to endure humiliation, bending their knees in submission.

The soldiers and civilians of the entire city were all terrified,

scared out of their wits.

Only you, my comrades,

followed me, enduring the wind and snow,

camping beneath the city walls.

We fought fiercely against that traitor Zhang Yanze for more than ten full days.

Back then,

each and every one of us harbored the determination to fight the enemy to the death.

Who could have imagined we would have a day like today?

Your Majesty is the true heaven-granted emperor,

protected by the six deities, invulnerable to all evils.

Back then, following you, even amidst tens of thousands of troops,

we could charge through them for times.

Zhang Yanze, that traitor who harmed the people, leading a ragtag mob,

what could he possibly do to us?

Exactly! Well said!

Come on!

Bring it over.

Here, drink!

Come on, come on!

Back then at Chenqiao,

it was you, my comrades, who draped this upon my shoulders.

Only then did I achieve what I have today.

Over these years,

I have pondered more than once:

Was it my own good fortune that allowed me to wear this?

Or was it by relying on the strength of all my comrades that I became the Emperor?

Your Majesty is blessed,

and we comrades have also contributed greatly.

Yes, that's right!

What nonsense are you all talking?

Your Majesty responds to destiny, the Mandate of Heaven rests upon you.

How dare we claim credit for Heaven's work?

This is Lord Liu's banner.

I personally tore it down

and then presented it to Lord Guo.

Lord Guo then draped it over

Lord Liu's shoulders.

During the Qianyou Incident,

it was draped over Lord Guo's own body.

At Chenqiao,

you comrades draped it over my body.

Over these years, comrades, you have been promoted and gained wealth.

Noble titles and official ranks, you have all that you deserve.

We are indebted to your heavenly grace.

That's nonsense!

I am the Emperor,

the ruler of all the people.

Compared to me,

the benefits you comrades have received are nothing.

You have become a chancellor.

These few have also become Marshals.

Yet there are comrades who have not even become Marshals.

My comrades have given me so much.

I

am truly ashamed before you all.

Your Majesty speaks too gravely.

We dare not accept.

Your Majesty speaks too gravely. We dare not accept.

Today,

I have nothing with which to repay my comrades.

This great banner, let us take turns draping it over everyone's shoulders.

Let it be as if we share wealth and honor.

Come.

Your Majesty must not.

Absolutely not!

Come on, come on!

I, I dare not.

I, I would sacrifice my life.

Our lives are forfeit.

It's just a tattered banner.

What is it worth?

What's all this talk of your lives?

We dare not.

We dare not.

Today, I wish to bestow this upon you,

yet you all say you dare not.

Then what about tomorrow?

When the officers under your command wish to bestow it upon you,

even you dare not or are unwilling,

I fear you will have no choice but to accept it.

Just as Lord Liu did in Taiyuan,

as Lord Guo did in Chanzhou,

and as I

did at Chenqiao Post.

We would rather die ten thousand times,

than commit such an act of treason!

We would rather die ten thousand times.

Enough.

I have been through this myself.

What is there I do not know?

To don the robe or not,

is it truly up to oneself?

Back then at Chenqiao,

had I stubbornly refused to don it,

even if you all had not pressed the matter,

would the tens of thousands of soldiers outside the tent have let it go so easily?

How many have pinned their hopes of wealth and honor upon you?

Can a simple refusal from you

truly prevent it?

In these chaotic times, a soldier's life is cheap.

If I die, so be it.

But what about my wife and children at home,

my parents and clan?

What wrong have they done?

What Your Majesty speaks of is truly not something a subject should hear.

We are but a group of common men, favored by Your Majesty's grace and entrusted with military commands.

If the unspeakable event you mention were to truly occur,

we would die if we comply, and die if we do not.

Your Majesty is wise, discerning and insightful.

We beg you to grant us

a path to survival.

We beg Your Majesty to grant us a path to survival.

Your Majesty,

the generals

harbor no rebellious intentions.

If mistakes occur in the future,

it is merely because they hold military power,

with authority over life, death, and wealth.

Thus they might be coerced by petty men,

none of it stemming from their true hearts.

I request to resign from my post as Military Governor of Tianping Army and Grand Councilor,

all titles and duties.

I ask to retire

and return home to live out my days.

I request to resign as Military Governor of Baojing Army.

I ask to retire

and return home to live out my days.

We, your subjects, request to resign.

We ask to retire

and return home to live out our days.

What are you all doing?

I was merely speaking my heartfelt words to you.

Why must each of you

go to such extremes?

We have received Your Majesty's grace.

We willingly request to resign.

We beg you to grant it.

We have received profound grace.

We willingly request to resign.

We beg you to grant it.

Do you know

why the Emperor is also called 'Governor of Families‘?

Minister Zhao told me

that during the Three Kingdoms period, Wei's Jiang Ji,

in his On Wan Ji,

he said:

"The Three Sovereigns governed the world as officials;

the Five Emperors treated the world as their family."

The Emperor combines the virtues of both Three and Five, hence he is the 'Governor of Families'.

The Emperor is the realm.

When I was Marshal,

you and I were all comrades.

Now that I have become the Emperor,

then all people under heaven are my comrades.

I cannot fail you,

nor can I fail the people of the world.

In today's world,

how many Military Governor titles are there?

Today, there are four hundred military garrisons.

Those with the title of Military Governor number seventy-five.

I shall list these Military Governor titles by order of precedence.

I have served as Military Governor of Guide Army, ranked first.

Military Governor of Datong Army in Yunzhou is a remote commandery military district, ranked last.

According to our dynasty's system,

a Chancellor's annual salary is three thousand six hundred strings of cash.

The title of Military Governor is noble.

Its annual salary, compared to a Chancellor's, is increased by one thousand two hundred strings.

That would be four thousand eight hundred strings.

That is to say, the Military Governor of Datong Army in Yunzhou, the one at the lowest rank,

receives an annual salary of four thousand eight hundred strings.

Starting from there, for each rank higher, the annual salary increases by two hundred strings.

Then,

what is the salary of the Military Governor of the Guide Army?

Nineteen thousand six hundred strings.

Can this be considered wealth?

This wealth is already extreme.

We

kowtow and thank Your Majesty.

We kowtow and thank Your Majesty.

The Military Governor of Guide Army was the position Your Majesty held before ascending the throne.

We

dare not presume to use that title.

If the position of Guide Army is vacant,

the next in rank is the Military Governor of Taining Army in Yanzhou,

with an annual salary of nineteen thousand four hundred strings.

This wealth is already extreme.

We kowtow and thank Your Majesty for your great grace.

Good.

From today onward,

the authority of the military governors—

to establish offices, appoint officials,

collect taxes, and execute punishments—

I will use this very wealth

to redeem it from the hands of my comrades in the various commands

for the court,

and for the common people of the realm.

I have redeemed it back.

Your Majesty is benevolent and virtuous, ushering in a new era unseen for a century.

You are truly a Emperor of Peace.

You are truly a Emperor of Peace.

[Sima Pu's memorial tablet]

June:

Edict to exempt rent land taxes in the counties of Zezhou and Luzhou.

Edict to exempt the poll tax for three years.

Edict to dispatch Deputy Minister of Works Ai Ying

to offer sacrifices at Emperor Taizu Mausoleum and Emperor Shizong Mausoleum of Later Zhou.

In August: Edict ordering the Chancellor to pray for rain.

And also...

How many edicts and decrees in total have been issued?

From the first month of the first year of Jianlong

to the ninth month of the fourth year of Qiande,

a period of six years and eight months,

there were thirty-six imperial decrees and two hundred and sixteen edicts.

They account for seventy percent of all imperial edicts.

Weizhi, what's your opinion?

In the Marshal's Office, I assisted Mr. Shen in organizing the imperial edicts of past dynasties.

From the first year of Qianfu under Emperor Xizong of Tang

to the third year of Guangshun under Emperor Taizu of Zhou,

spanning six dynasties and fourteen emperors, eighty-eight years, the total number of edicts issued

concerning matters as mentioned above amounts to only eighty-five.

This is less than one-third of those issued by the current Emperor in his six years on the throne.

And compared to Emperor Shizong?

During the six-year reign of the previous Emperor Shizong,

the edicts concerning matters of people's livelihood numbered only one hundred and sixteen.

This is less than half of those issued by the current Emperor over the past six years.

How many edicts concern military governance, appointment of generals, and campaigns?

The current Emperor comes from a military background.

However, the edicts concerning military governance and campaigns

over the past six years total only twenty-eight.

That is less than one-tenth of the total.

What is your view?

Father befriended the current Emperor in humble times.

Your understanding of his character and disposition far exceeds my own.

I dare not speak recklessly.

Speak your mind as you think.

Mother.

Whether the current Emperor governs the country well remains to be seen.

However, judging from these edicts alone, at the very least, the Emperor

is making great efforts.

When speaking with your father,

why must you be so cautious?

Mother,

I think

what Weizhi means is whether he is a good person is unknown,

but he is a good emperor.

What Weizhi does not know,

you do.

I have never known that

such a carefree person as he was,

now that he is emperor,

he has become so... fussy.

Shouldn't an emperor

be like this?

Laozi said,

"Governing a large state

is like cooking a small fish."

Weizhi is right.

I do not know

what he is truly thinking.

But at least

he is very diligent.

[Jiangning Prefecture]

This Emperor of Bianjing

is truly unpredictable in his grace and authority.

What is unpredictable?

Hasn't he already made it very clear?

[Li Yu (originally named Congjia)] What clarity?

[Li Yu (originally named Congjia)] He merely said

[Zhou Nüying, Li Yu's wife, known as Young Empress Zhou] that the people of Southern Tang

[Zhou Nüying, Li Yu's wife, known as Young Empress Zhou] are all the beloved children of Emperor Zhao.

What are you saying?!

In the past, Emperor Taizong of Tang discussed Go with Li Mi and

spoke of "golden corners, silver sides, and the grass belly". [a term in Go about the strategy to conquer the border first]

Emperor Zhao is truly a great ruler.

He secured Guanzhong and conquered Bashu,

holding two golden corners in hand.

If we discuss it in terms of Go,

he should lead his troops north

to sweep away the remnants of Jinyang

and recover the mighty capital of Youyan,

to conquer,

the silver sides of the realm.

Yet, I wonder

if the current Emperor of the Great Song

should be Emperor Taizong of Tang

or Emperor Yang of Sui.

The corners and sides of the realm are already incomplete.

Li Maozhen's rebellion caused one corner of Guanzhong to collapse.

The Sixteen Prefectures changed hands,

and Minister Sang sold away one side.

The realm has been broken for nearly a hundred years.

Back then,

Emperor Taizong and Li Mi,

were not discussing a Go game,

but the three-hundred-year Great Tang.

In today's realm,

where is the Great Tang?

Lord Xu, do you still not understand?

That magnificent and glorious three-hundred-year Go game,

has long been gone.

Is it about the Longxiang Army?

Xue never mentioned it.

What is the true intention

of the Song envoy's visit?

Your Majesty,

Emperor Zhao...

wishes to summon you to Bianjing.

Your Majesty!

Your...

Master Xu.

Save me!

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles stretch towering mountains. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles run surging rivers. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles cry warhorses. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles there are emotions unspoken. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, flowers are blooming along the road. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, gooses are returning to the north. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, we stand through storms. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, we hope for a safe return. ♫

♫ Tens of thousands of miles is not enough, ♫

♫ for a lifetime's sorrows and joys. ♫

♫ Tens of thousands of miles is not enough, ♫

♫ for the endless seas and rivers. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ love will overcome all barriers. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ we are together in life and death. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ the moon shines in the boundless world. ♫

♫ My heart has its hometown to return. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ who is the one crossing the waves with me, ♫

♫ with our hearts unrepentant, through countless lifetimes. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ oceans and lands witness that♫

♫ the world will be safe and sound. ♫

♫ Across tens of thousands of miles, ♫

♫ my heart is unchanging. ♫