The fleet gathered more and more. Looking at the entire seaside, one could truly say masts and sails stood like a forest. There was just one big problem—all the ships were empty. Sun Rengshi said with a sinister laugh that he obeyed the emperor. His Majesty had said to have Marquis Yun fill the ships and sail them back to Shandong, where naturally a great army would provide support.
Fill them with what? Loading stones was clearly unfeasible—he’d be stoned to death by Li Er upon return. This year the harvests in Henan and Hebei were poor, and Li Er had already exempted these two circuits from taxes. Now he was eagerly waiting for Yun Ye to return with ships full of grain and treasures. So this was how acting with expedience worked.
Forget about Lingnan—Feng Ang sent people with a hundred thousand dan of grain and a shipload of pearls, jade, and gemstones, then withdrew to Guangzhou and kept his head down, hiding at home preparing to watch Yun Ye’s joke. As the person involved, Yun Ye was the last to know that not only did he have to send back each family’s profits, but he also had to procure grain locally.
Li Er was like this—either he didn’t act, or when he did, he did big things. Knowing he wanted to drain Lingnan’s wealth all at once to buy himself time, an impoverished Lingnan could wait for any arrangements. Previously, emperors had moved all wealthy households to Chang’an to prosper the capital’s economy—for instance, Emperor Wu of Han had done this. Now it wouldn’t work. The nation had just begun to stabilize, and turmoil was undesirable. Yet he urgently wanted to become an emperor for the ages, preparing to eliminate all surrounding enemies so he could in the future loaf around in the rear palace waiting to die, passing a few leisurely years. Where would the money come from? It just so happened that Yun Ye said Lingnan had much money, much grain, and foolish people. He remembered this land that belonged to him that he’d almost forgotten. Aside from exiling a few officials to Lingnan, there had been no other investment. He hoped barren land could also bear abundant fruit. Now it was time to pick the fruit.
“Damn it, my reputation as Yun the Skinner is now firmly established.”
Li Anlan quickly stroked Yun Ye’s chest and back as he panted with anger, afraid he’d become ill from rage. Since accompanying Yun Ye to the seaside, nothing had gone smoothly. Generals speaking various dialects had all gathered in the main tent—this one wanting grain, that one wanting supplies, and several saying their ships were damaged and needed repairs, also saying the ships’ bottoms had too many barnacles and needed to be pulled ashore to scrape off the seaweed and shells. Most critically, each one came with various wretched appearances. Rather than call them soldiers, one might as well call them beggars. Though Great Tang military uniforms weren’t attractive, at least they covered the body, but these men were practically bare-bottomed.
However, after seeing the soldiers, Yun Ye laughed. Great Tang had just been founded through a hundred battles. Though the soldiers were poor, they hadn’t yet laid down their killing skills. After merely giving the military leaders new uniforms, they beat their chests vowing to share Marquis Yun’s worries and solve his problems.
The hemp cloth used to deceive natives all became the soldiers’ clothes. The hundred thousand dan of grain Feng Ang sent in advance had already become military provisions. After Sun Rengshi organized the headcount, he told Yun Ye he was now a grand commander leading twenty thousand men.
After training in the harbor for a full month, Lingnan’s poisonous sun had turned Yun Ye into a dark-skinned native—only his white teeth remained.
They couldn’t wait any longer. In another month the monsoon would begin. There wasn’t much time left for Yun Ye. The grain Hong Cheng had plundered was still across the strait. According to him, there were five million dan, but this wasn’t certain. He hadn’t left men to guard it—leaving too many meant no manpower to organize attacks, leaving too few meant they’d be torn to pieces by natives. So exactly how much remained was unclear. Now Yun Ye needed to procure grain anew.
Leaving Li Anlan behind to prepare military supplies for the army’s return journey, he himself led the fleet out in full force, descending like locusts upon the opposite side of the strait.
Two days of sailing—the azure sea gave Yun Ye tremendous comfort. Ahead, dolphins led the way, and behind, seabirds gathered in flight. In the crystal-clear seawater, fish of all colors could be seen everywhere.
Liu Jinbao tied rope to arrows and continuously shot fish with his bow, with poor results. Growing angry, he wanted to find some big ones to try. Yun Ye forbade him from killing dolphins.
Dongyu, who followed Yun Ye everywhere, looked at Liu Jinbao with contempt, leaped with his body, and plunged into the sea. This fellow swam faster than fish in the water. With a fierce dive down and surfacing again, he had a fish in his mouth and one in each hand. Tossing the fish onto the ship, he grabbed a cable and in three moves climbed up the enormous Mulan vessel, grinning foolishly with his ugly mouth.
Following the coastline, the mangrove forests grew lush and verdant. Emerald green and azure blue formed two distinct dividing lines. Such beautiful scenery wouldn’t even appear in dreams in later generations.
Only after the warships crossed the strait did Yun Ye learn that Jiaozhou actually had a Grand Commander of Jiaozhou with the title Duke Tanguo, named Qiu He—he’d never heard of this person. Jiaozhou administered ten provinces, and opposing him was a man called Li Jiao, the governor of Rinan Province. Two visiting cards lay on the ship, leaving Yun Ye baffled.
“Marquis Yun, Qiu He submitted to the court in the fourth year of Wude. Li Jiao was defeated by us before pledging allegiance. When this subordinate came, His Majesty told me to ask—where have over ten years of taxes and tributes gone? Why have they not been submitted to the Ministry of Revenue?”
Sun Rengshi explained to Yun Ye with a sinister laugh.
“So that means we can legitimately demand grain?”
“Two surrendered generals—under the marquis’s威authority, they’ll surely bow their heads obediently and won’t dare talk back. Our twenty thousand troops have come killing in overwhelming force. If they don’t give a satisfactory account, that won’t do. These three hundred-plus ships must all be filled.”
“Old Sun, I’ve always judged a gentleman’s heart with a petty man’s mind, so I always feel that only things grasped in my own hands are truly mine. I don’t know if your army can help me control them—I want them unable to move. What I need, I’ll take myself. Once I’ve taken enough, I’ll go home. What do you think?”
“The marquis has great insight. This subordinate believes that since His Majesty wants to empty Jiaozhou, we naturally need to advance along the coastline—Jiao, Feng, Ai, Xian, Yuan, Song, Ci, Xian, Dao, and Long—ten provinces. Jiaozhou governs Jiaozhi, Huaide, Nanding, and Songping counties. These prosperous places cannot be missed.” Hearing Sun Rengshi’s account, Yun Ye deeply agreed.
Powerful military force caused Jiaozhou to open its embrace in an instant. After guaranteeing Qiu He’s person and property wouldn’t be violated, this Duke Tanguo ordered all his territories opened. The money and grain Hong Cheng had previously stored here were all loaded onto warships one by one. Now the various treasuries were so empty that rats could run races in them.
After seeing the three-season rice, Yun Ye continuously cursed Heaven. Whose rice grew more fiercely than wild grass? Growing rice was so simple it was outrageous. One only needed to strip off a handful of mature rice grains, throw them on the ground, and after three months, come back to harvest. Soldiers from farming families clutched the rice and wouldn’t let go—this was an enormous treasure!
The natives here thought Yun Ye’s great army had come to steal women. They sent their dark-skinned wives and daughters to the mountain forests, not allowing them to return until the Tang army left. Later they discovered they had no interest in women—they only cared about robbing grain, watching with the gaze one gives fools as the Tang people joyfully used precious hemp cloth bags to transport away all the grain. Meanwhile, the rice in the fields was about to ripen again.
A rat falling into a rice bin—this was the Great Tang soldiers’ sentiment.
Qiu He also felt the same. What Jiaozhou lacked least was grain. That cautious young marquis had no need to confine himself. The new harvest season had arrived—next year the granaries would be piled full again. Could it be that Great Tang lacked grain to such an extent?
This was the first time Great Tang soldiers set foot on Jiaozhou’s interior. If this powerful force could be used by him, wouldn’t Linyi, this mortal threat, be within easy grasp?
Yun Ye was trapped in a pile of numbers, unable to extricate himself. A newly made abacus was clicked by him like heavenly music. Others hearing it would say it was cacophonous, but Yun Ye loved hearing this sound. Each movement of the beads meant another batch of grain had entered the ship’s hold.
“No time to see any Duke Tanguo. Right now I wish I could split myself in half. Who has time to jaw with him?”
“Marquis, he says there’s a place you haven’t gone. If you went, not to mention grain, even treasures would fill all the ships under your command.” Liu Jinbao licked his lips and advised Yun Ye.
Yun Ye thought for a moment, stopped his work, leaned on the soft couch, and after thinking said, “What he seeks is nothing but expansion. Now, going south, Li Jiao blocks his way. Developing eastward, there’s Linyi. So he simply wants to use our power to achieve his purpose. I don’t mind being used. Being useful means we have value. However, I really want to know—can he afford the payment? Tell him a hundred thousand taels of gold is my price for dealing with Linyi. Li Jiao is a subject of Great Tang—I won’t make a move against him.” Having said this, Yun Ye continued throwing himself into his busy calculation work.
Once power is in hand, orders are carried out—this was Yun Ye’s characteristic. Not utilizing the smallest power to its maximum was dereliction of duty. That Great Tang’s navy was so impoverished and destitute—even Heaven couldn’t bear to watch.
The thick Loess Plateau made Great Tang, heavy as thick earth, always neglect its longing for the azure. Now it was time to shift focus toward the ocean.
Thinking of these things, Yun Ye put down his pen. If one was going to be a bandit, might as well go all the way. Delivering an armed-to-the-teeth military force into Li Er’s hands would surely have greater effect—he was the most professional bandit.
Qiu He couldn’t produce a hundred thousand taels of gold, but he said Linyi had it. As long as the great army conquered Linyi, they would definitely gather enough gold—it was said their king’s palace was encrusted with gold.
Sun Rengshi, Liu Renyuan, and a large group of commanders began to covet this. Unfortunately, Qiu He spoke too late. The monsoon was about to arrive. No matter how much Yun Ye regretted it, he had to return home. Otherwise, the most severe punishment awaited him.
Coming, they were light as swallows; returning, they were slow and plodding. Under Yun Ye’s repeated warnings, much grain was left on the shore. Qiu He angrily and disappointedly threw the jade token in his hand into the grain pile, then without even a glance, returned to his Jiaozhou city.
Cooked rice, rice porridge, bamboo tube rice, rice balls, rice cakes—various ways of eating rice rapidly spread throughout the fleet. Salted fish with rice always left them unable to forget. Looking at the most enormous vessel in the fleet, Liu Renyuan’s heart churned like huge waves. Strong ships and sharp swords could make a nation submit and bring back countless riches—what a legend this was!
Sun Rengshi, however, reminisced about every bit of his time in Jiaozhou. His chest was filled with pride. Looking at his subordinates busily coming and going, wiping the deck, thinking of that city encrusted with gold, he couldn’t help muttering to himself, “That’s being saved for me!”