When the Yun Family’s true eldest daughter married, naturally guests filled the gate. The pomp of the previous two girls’ marriages was far inferior to Daya’s. Yiniang didn’t mind—she was just busy being happy for Daya. But Runniang, who had always been proud, was quite unhappy. Seeing the twelve palace flowers arranged one by one on the red lacquered tray—both the style and craftsmanship far superior to what she had when she married—her eyes reddened somewhat.
Qin Lao’er softly consoled her beside her, “Madam, this is something that can’t be helped. You’re a cousin by marriage, and your late father-in-law wasn’t an official either. These palace flowers representing military merit—you couldn’t use them even if you wanted to. Daya is different. She’s elder brother’s legitimate daughter, so she can enjoy these honors. If you want these palace flowers, wait until I personally retrieve them for you from the battlefield. Only palace flowers like that will be glorious for you to wear. Right now, you just need to take good care of the child in your belly. You’ll have them in the future.”
Only then did Runniang show a smile. Stroking her protruding belly with a face full of maternal love, she very much hoped the child would crawl out of her belly right now.
Dan Ying had been groomed by Madam Cheng to look heroic and spirited. Riding on a large black horse, he truly was a man like jade, a horse like a dragon. As soon as he reached the market, he drew a wave of cheers. Behind his ear was pinned a huge palace flower—who knows who selected it—in a peony style. Looking from behind, you couldn’t see his head. The bright red festive garment on him—one had to praise that he was truly the best clothes rack. However, his face wasn’t powdered, which inevitably left something to be desired.
Dan Ying taking a wife was almost a legend. The shopkeepers in the market all knew that he was originally a poor young man who killed pigs and sold meat. His ancestral graves had produced green smoke, and only then did he marry the lord’s legitimate eldest daughter. Compared to poor boys in stories, he was even more inspirational. Many tenant farmers pointed at Dan Ying, continuously telling their own children that as long as they strived, in the future they would always be able to win a beauty. After seeing the Yun Family’s dowry, they unconsciously added another phrase—a big golden pig indeed.
There really was a big golden pig lying on a tray. Whenever distinguished official households of sufficient rank married off their eldest daughters, they would have this thing. Four people carried the dowry, grimacing—this was also custom. Even if this golden pig only had a layer of gold paint with wood inside, they still had to display expressions of being unable to bear the weight.
The Yun Family naturally didn’t need to fake it. Grandmother Yun spent eight hundred taels of gold in one breath to craft this pig. The mold was personally carved by Lishi. Lying on the tray with an endearing naive appearance, it was very auspicious.
Yun Ye and Xinyue sat beside Grandmother, their expressions somber as they received the newlyweds’ grand ceremony. Grandmother was so happy she couldn’t speak. Yun Ye warned Dan Ying that if he didn’t treat Daya well in the future, his legs would definitely be broken.
After hearing Yun Ye’s extremely meaningless waste of words, Xinyue’s performance could be called excellent. An elder sister-in-law is like a mother—she not only consoled Dan Ying and instructed Daya, but all the auspicious words at the wedding were exhausted by her.
When Gou Zi outside the courtyard loudly recited the bridal urging poem and copper coins were scattered like raindrops, Yun Ye carried Daya on his back and sent her to the carriage. Dan Ying prepared to return to Luoyang overnight—several hundred people there were waiting to celebrate. This journey would be enough to show off for several hundred li. The large boat was already prepared, Daya’s new attendant maids were also in position. The Yun Family had never had a tradition of providing dowry servant girls.
Sending the tearfully weeping Daya to the Ba River bank, Yun Ye waved his hand and turned to leave the riverbank. Hearing the boatmen’s leaving-shore chant, his heart felt very uncomfortable. Old Cheng was quite sentimental and said a sentence, “Seeing excellent sons and daughters marry—Old Dan, even if you had any resentment, it should be pacified now, shouldn’t it?”
Whether Dan Xiongxin was happy or not, Yun Ye didn’t know. The various rural deities in the city like the Five Direction Gods, White Horse God, Jade Lady God, Child-Giving God and such local spirits met with disaster. They were all expelled from Chang’an by those deities with great backgrounds. Laojun Temple was undergoing major construction. The imperially decreed construction of Ci’en Temple was also undergoing major construction. A Zoroastrian temple in Chongning Ward also quietly began preparations—the scale was said to be considerable.
Yuan Tiangang spent a large sum to buy a screen from the Yun Family. Then Daoist immortals began inexplicably increasing—each one had an origin, and the lineage was consistent. Day and night at Laojun Temple, craftsmen created statues without stopping—some with kind brows and good eyes, others with fierce and vicious appearances. At the same time, in Shu, the Hell Palace of Yama was also beginning to take shape.
It was just adding sand. The Daoists very shamelessly referenced many Buddhist concepts, while Buddhism also began adding strong Daoist elements. The barbarian appearance with eagle noses and deep-set eyes on the original Buddha statues was gradually diluted. Guanyin was unreasonably beautiful. When barbarian monks asked about it, people would say Guanyin had thousands of transformations—a man changing to a woman’s body wasn’t strange. They were all good deities and Buddhas who educated the world. Ugly appearances were unsightly.
The scriptures Xuanzang brought back were actually tree leaves, also called palm leaf scriptures. These things weren’t durable for storage and needed dry, ventilated places to store. If insects ate them, Xuanzang would go mad.
Who knows who said there was beauty of wild geese returning to sand on a wasteland in Chang’an city. Thus the monks planned to build a brick pagoda there. Currently they were everywhere soliciting donations for bells on the pagoda’s eaves and corners. It was said that as long as the wind blew and the bells rang, that was one prayer. The bells you donated would carry your wishes to the deities and Buddhas.
The Yun Family had many daughters. In the future, one here and one there would be worrying—they needed something to remember them by. Grandmother Yun stubbornly believed hanging bells was a rare opportunity through the ages. One level of flying eaves would hang exactly twelve bells. The Yun Family monopolized all the bells on the ninth level.
Originally thinking copper bells would be fine, the same size as those hung on ox necks would be good. It wasn’t until Grandmother went to the storehouse to move silver that Yun Ye learned the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda’s bells must be silver. The monks found copper bells disgraceful. Mainly because gold didn’t sound good when struck, otherwise they would definitely use gold.
In Yun Ye’s memory, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda always had copper bells. How did they become silver? Each one must weigh a net nine taels and nine qian. Even copper bells were said to inexplicably disappear constantly. Hanging bells made of silver—wasn’t this deliberately inviting thieves?
“Ptui ptui ptui! Ye’er, quickly petition the Bodhisattva for forgiveness for such damnable words. Who would steal bells from a Buddhist pagoda? Wouldn’t they fear being cast into hell to suffer? To be reborn as livestock in the next life?”
Actually, Yun Ye wanted to steal them. In later generations, people who wouldn’t even spare potted plants displayed in squares—would they be indifferent to a pile of bells made of silver? This had nothing to do with how much money he himself had. He just couldn’t stand the spendthrift style of hanging silver on flying eaves to listen to it ring. Great Tang’s rice price now was only seven copper coins. How much rice and flour could this silver buy?
Speaking of this matter with Fang Xuanling, Old Fang always chuckled and said, “Prosperous Tang, Prosperous Tang—there should always be some atmosphere of wealth and nobility. The court doesn’t lack that bit of silver. The Wa Kingdom, in order to send more envoys to Tang, sends silver every year. The silver equals the weight of the people. Right now, this old man is planning to see if students from Goguryeo, Silla, and other foreign tribes can also be handled this way. This old man calculated—it can save the court quite a bit of silver. The Ministry of Revenue’s currency is preparing to be issued. Naturally, reserve funds like gold and silver are better the more the better.”
“You’re already collecting tuition?” Yun Ye was so surprised he almost thought Fang Xuanling had also come from later generations.
“This is natural. Gold and silver have prices, but learning is priceless. Since they all want to learn something from Great Tang to take back, paying silver is inevitable. Schools everywhere need repair. The grain for official school students also needs to increase. The court’s budget in this area is very limited. Whatever we can subsidize, we subsidize—better than nothing. The Wa Kingdom princess said if Yushan Academy can accept the envoys to Tang, the silver will be doubled, and it will be settled annually with fair dealing. Consider it, consider it.”
“Prime Minister Fang, forget the Academy. Even if they exchange with gold, I won’t do it. That the Wa Kingdom is willing to pay such a heavy price shows their country’s will to reform is very resolute. What’s taught at the Academy are all deadly subjects. It’s better not to leak them. From now on, I’ll strongly blockade the Academy’s books. High-end learning will definitely not be allowed to flow out of the Academy one step.”
Hearing Yun Ye speak solemnly, Fang Xuanling put down the brush in his hand and said to Yun Ye strangely, “This old man has always been very curious—why does Marquis Yun always harbor such ill feelings toward people from the Wa Kingdom, Goguryeo, Silla, and Baekje? Speaking of them, they could also be considered large countries. But you and I both know clearly that if Great Tang truly develops murderous intent, they’ll be difficult to escape calamity. For such countries, there’s no need to guard against them so much, right?”
“At bottom, the greatest calamity for our Central Plains is the barbarian tribes on the grasslands. They are the trouble at our hearts. These surrounding countries, although annoying, are merely scabies and ringworm—no need to take them so seriously, right?”
Yun Ye was speechless. In this era, Goguryeo and the Wa Kingdom were overall benign. They were full of good feelings toward Great Tang. From large things like cities and palaces to small things like food, clothing, housing, and transportation—all were strenuously following Great Tang’s footsteps. Compared to those disasters on the grasslands, they were indeed much more harmless. Fang Xuanling wasn’t wrong. Because of Yun Ye’s concerns, Fang Xuanling had specially carefully considered the threats these countries posed. In the end, he discovered that aside from Goguryeo which must be eliminated, other countries had no need to be dealt with. No matter from which aspect, the losses would outweigh the gains. As long as they respected Great Tang from their bones, maintaining the status quo was the best result.
Yun Ye couldn’t speak of crimes the Wa Kingdom hadn’t yet committed. In Great Tang, not to mention Wa Kingdom troops stepping on the mainland—even if they harmed merchant ships at sea, they would be pursued with no road to heaven and no door to earth. They wouldn’t rest until killed. It had always only been Great Tang merchants bullying others. One rarely heard of Great Tang being bullied by others.
Especially these past few years, even if a dog died, they would question other countries’ kings. When Hou Junji hunted around someone’s palace, a hunting dog died. He really grabbed that country’s king by the neck and asked what to do about it. He extorted much wealth and brought it back. As a result, he was accused by the military adjutant. The Emperor issued an edict to scold him and that was the end of it.
Five years ago, the Empress still wore skirts that rose above her ankles. Now? She still dressed the same way, only the material she used and the hanging ornaments—one didn’t dare calculate. The huge blue gemstone on her head could blind people’s eyes under the sun.
Had Great Tang become prosperous? Then why did news of famine in distant places continuously arrive?