She nods. "It worked. The rebel soldiers—really just farmers—were spooked by the 'evidence' that the heavens supported the female Emperor, and at the same time, they lost their leadership." A large part of this success was that no one would suspect someone of falsifying a sign from the heavens, because doing so would be inviting divine wrath onto oneself. That is why only Qi Yan, who has no attachment to the religion of the Wei people, could think of it. "They were adrift and uneasy, and looking for a way to back out without punishment. That is when we offered amnesty. Her Majesty wrote a letter granting a full pardon to the bearer, with her seal, and we distributed hundreds of copies throughout the city. That takes care of the second aim, to return the rebels smoothly to society. And as for the third aim—to reassert authority—the amnesty had a time limit. If the rebels took the letter and returned home, their crimes were pardoned, but if any still remained after one month, the Emperor would send a huge army to crush them and punish their families. Of course, we never had the resources to send the army." She smiles, and goes in for another bite of falafel with tahini.
"There was just one other part to this plan, which I implemented without consulting with the Emperor. I gave orders that anyone carrying the amnesty letter was entitled to a nourishing meal of pork, mantous and vegetable soup. Over the meal, I spoke with them to determine the true cause of the rebellion. The flooding was bad, but the kingdom went to great lengths to send money for disaster relief—that is exactly why we couldn't finance a war. It turned out that the officials distributing the disaster relief were corrupt. They made the rationed porridge too thin, more water than grain, and the rice that was distributed directly to the families was mixed thoroughly with sand. We punished these officials harshly, distributed more relief funds, and hired the reformed rebels to rebuild the homes lost in the floods.
"So, that is how we took back a walled city, without throwing away resources on a prolonged siege." She pauses, suddenly aware that she has been lecturing excessively. This is something Nangong Jingnu would make fun of, if she were here; Qi Yan's heart aches fiercely. "Does that help?"
no subject
"There was just one other part to this plan, which I implemented without consulting with the Emperor. I gave orders that anyone carrying the amnesty letter was entitled to a nourishing meal of pork, mantous and vegetable soup. Over the meal, I spoke with them to determine the true cause of the rebellion. The flooding was bad, but the kingdom went to great lengths to send money for disaster relief—that is exactly why we couldn't finance a war. It turned out that the officials distributing the disaster relief were corrupt. They made the rationed porridge too thin, more water than grain, and the rice that was distributed directly to the families was mixed thoroughly with sand. We punished these officials harshly, distributed more relief funds, and hired the reformed rebels to rebuild the homes lost in the floods.
"So, that is how we took back a walled city, without throwing away resources on a prolonged siege." She pauses, suddenly aware that she has been lecturing excessively. This is something Nangong Jingnu would make fun of, if she were here; Qi Yan's heart aches fiercely. "Does that help?"