Li Zhi held his food tray and looked with grief and indignation at the young panda clinging to his leg and refusing to leave. Good pandas should be like those big pandas in the bamboo forest breaking bamboo to eat, not clinging to his leg and crying out for cake.
Even a fool knew that the academy’s food now was vastly different from before. According to graduated senior students, in the past, one portion of braised pork was not only enough to satisfy one’s cravings but could also be packed in a bamboo tube to take home for one’s elderly father to have with wine. Now, although the braised pork was still just as delicious, those tender, falling-apart meat chunks had disappeared. You had to rummage through the potato chunks for a long time to find a piece of hidden pork belly.
The cake was the same. In the past, it was said each student could get a very large piece. Now, there was only a fist-sized piece.
Li Zhi had a soft nature and never knew how to refuse others. He had already given his milk to this chubby little panda, and just now it had accidentally seen this piece of cake spread with jam again. Oh heavens! Cake day only came once a week. He had been looking forward to it for so long. Li Zhi loved sweets and was unwilling to give the cake to the panda, but this silly creature clung to his leg without letting go, crying “ah-oh, ah-oh” and bumping Li Zhi’s thigh with its plump head, looking pitiful.
When Li Zhi’s gaze met the panda’s glossy black eyes, Li Zhi sighed deeply. Using his fork, he speared the cake and placed it on a bamboo leaf. The panda immediately released his leg and sprawled on the ground eating the cake.
Li Zhi also found a table, set down his tray, and began eating. Damned potato and glass noodle stew—stuck together like snot. He struggled not to think about this glob of stuff, mechanically shoveling it together with rice into his mouth. One had to fill one’s belly, right?
Chang’an and Longyou produced abundant potatoes, so they also produced abundant glass noodles. This year’s potatoes had achieved another bumper harvest, with astonishingly cheap prices, so the academy purchased large quantities of potatoes as the students’ primary foodstuff. There were already vague rumors that the academy was planning to take aim at student meal subsidies. Li Zhi also knew some students were collecting materials on this matter, preparing to take the academy’s logistics department to court.
Protecting their right to eat meat—this was the slogan the student council raised. Freedom rights had already been stripped away by the academy, choice rights had also been stripped away by the court. The matter of romance rights simply couldn’t be mentioned. Now the students were indignant and planning to defend their final right.
Zhang Jianzhi rushed over energetically carrying his tray, slapped the food tray on the table, and sat across from Li Zhi. The little panda saw the cake on Zhang Jianzhi’s tray and again cried “ah-wu, ah-wu,” going over to hug Zhang Jianzhi’s leg. Zhang Jianzhi wasn’t Li Zhi though—with one lift of his leg, that panda flew into the bamboo grove.
Zhang Jianzhi was graduating this year and was already an internally designated official of the Prince of Jin’s residence. This year, the eleven-year-old Li Zhi would establish his princely residence and office next year. His closest officials were all selected by himself. Zhang Jianzhi had been selected for him by Lan Ling. This impoverished youth, after nearly four years of forging at the academy, had become a handsome and talented person. His work style was also extremely tough. As a student council director, he had always been famous at Yushan Academy for daring to stand up for students.
He looked at Li Zhi’s messy food tray and placed his cake on Li Zhi’s plate. His future master was extremely intelligent and also had a very good heart—his nature was just too soft. However, as a prince, such a nature was actually excellent.
Li Zhi wanted to refuse. Zhang Jianzhi said, “You eat it. I’ve helped in the academy’s kitchen for a full four years, changing from a fire-tending worker to a head chef. All kinds of delicacies pass through my hands. You also know the kitchen’s custom—there are always some losses. Actually, they all get lost into us cooks’ bellies. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, I eat some. Eat quickly. Today’s potato and glass noodle stew was made by Fat Liu. The potatoes should have been fried in oil. This guy skipped that process, so it became the paste-like stuff it is now.”
Only then did Li Zhi abandon the potato and glass noodle stew. He specially rinsed his mouth before beginning to enjoy the delicious cake.
“Weishan, regarding the student council confronting the academy logistics this time, you must not participate. Not only can you not participate, I won’t participate either. Chengliang, Yanfeng—I’ve also told them not to participate. What’s this about the academy withholding money from students’ mouths? This was caused by His Majesty’s imperial decree. He believes students’ lives are too good now and worries they won’t be able to endure hardship in the localities in the future, so the meal subsidies were reduced. Being able to eat the current meals is actually already the academy subsidizing us. I work in the kitchen—how could I not know these things? Now managing the academy isn’t the kindly Master Li Gang, nor the smooth Marquis Yun, much less the opportunistic Xu Jingzong, but Master Yuanzhang. His elderly person’s nature is fierce as fire, hating evil like an enemy. How could his eyes tolerate a grain of sand? You watch—this time Pang Yuhai and the others will definitely suffer a huge loss. I estimate the academy will have several more decorative rock gardens.”
After Li Zhi swallowed the last bite of cake, he asked Zhang Jianzhi, “General Meng, since you know the reason, why not tell Pang Yuhai and the others? We’re all students—our interests should be aligned. Watching them suffer misfortune while we stand by with folded arms isn’t the conduct of gentlemen.”
Zhang Jianzhi laughed and specially stood up to cup his hands, saying, “If Your Highness has such thoughts, even if Zhang Jianzhi serves Your Highness for his entire life, he’ll be content. I did tell Pang Yuhai. I even showed him the kitchen’s procurement documents. The result? He still doesn’t believe it.”
“Your Highness, actually Pang Yuhai doesn’t care whether the academy withholds meals or not. Masters Yuanzhang, Yushan, Lishi, Jinzhu, and Yanling—which one isn’t a person of illustrious trustworthiness and virtue? Suffering such suspicion is very unreasonable, but Pang Yuhai still insists on doing this precisely because he doesn’t care about success or failure. What he cares about is his identity as student leader. For this, he’d rather go build decorative rock gardens. This makes students trust him even more. So this is a method Pang Yuhai uses to consolidate his position. It’s not worth mentioning.”
“Since the academy was established, only one student has been expelled—that was Ma Zhou. Hou Jie’s entire family was imprisoned in the Court of Judicial Review because of rebellion. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review repeatedly requested the academy expel Hou Jie, but the academy sternly refused. Master Li Gang said this child Hou Jie absolutely couldn’t be a rebel. Being imprisoned now is merely being implicated by his father. Master Yuanzhang even personally went to the Court of Judicial Review once to visit Hou Jie. He had Hou Jie open his garments to check whether there was any torture or forced confession. He also told the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review that when His Majesty returns, the academy will appeal this matter to the court.”
“So, Your Highness, we won’t participate in Pang Yuhai’s matter, but we must participate in Hou Jie’s matter. The one who rebelled was Hou Junji, not Hou Jie. Through this matter, Your Highness can make your voice heard without any danger, because dealing with Hou Junji has already reached consensus in court. But dealing with Hou Jie—probably not necessarily. His Majesty himself doesn’t want to let the Hou family line end. No matter what, he and Hou Junji fought side by side for many years. For the sake of the realm, dealing with Hou Junji has already caused His Majesty extreme pain. To completely exterminate his entire family goes against the longstanding magnanimous spirit of the Zhenguan era. So this matter has great room for mediation.”
“Furthermore, Hou Junji didn’t truly raise an army, and his thousand-mile walk back to the capital from the grasslands has already expressed his remorse. Crown Prince His Highness, Duke Yiguo, Duke Luguo, Duke Yingguo, Duke Langya, Duke Zhengguo, Duke Luguo, Marquis Yun—all these people have deep friendships with the Hou family. Whatever sentiment they come from, they must speak out to protect the Hou family’s household. If Your Highness at this time submits a memorial in the name of not extinguishing a person’s descendants, you will definitely establish good relations with the people mentioned above and also make His Majesty look upon Your Highness with new eyes. Your fiefdom isn’t exactly a prosperous place.”
Li Zhi propped his chin with his hand and said, “Why am I so poor? My third brother is rolling in wealth, my fourth brother is also rolling in wealth. Little Yin, Little You—they’re also very wealthy. Among the princes, I’m the poorest. Next year I’ll establish my princely residence and office. My wealth doesn’t even compare to Gao Yang’s or Lan Ling’s. Although Mother Empress says she’ll give me some assistance, you also know that my Mother Empress has always been impartial. Even if she gives me some money, it won’t be too much. Consort Yang gave all her private savings to Little Yin. Consort Yin also gave her private savings to Little You. That guy Little You is about to marry Yun Ya and will immediately come into a huge windfall. In the future, following me, you all won’t have many good days.”
Zhang Jianzhi laughed so hard he rocked back and forth, laughing loudly and saying, “Her Majesty the Empress naturally won’t give you much money, but don’t forget—your eldest brother and fourth brother are great tycoons. Born of the same mother as you, when a younger brother establishes his princely residence and office, reaching out to them is precisely a good opportunity. I hear your fourth brother discovered a spice island in the Nanyang with Marquis Yun this time. He definitely won’t lack money. When the time comes, just open your mouth wide like a lion.”
Li Zhi said somewhat shyly, “This isn’t quite proper, is it? My fourth brother nearly lost his life searching for the spice island. For me to enjoy the fruits without effort isn’t very appropriate. I’ll be laughed at.”
“Your Highness, if you don’t open your mouth, they’ll blame you instead. As long as you speak up, I guarantee Crown Prince His Highness and Prince of Wei His Highness will definitely give you the greatest help. When the time comes, catching a rabbit while gathering grass—who knows, you might not even let Marquis Yun off.”
Li Zhi looked at the cunning Zhang Jianzhi with some delight and some embarrassment, saying, “Although Marquis Yun is my brother-in-law, there’s no official title. Extorting from him—isn’t that going too far?”
Zhang Jianzhi cackled with laughter, saying, “A nominal brother-in-law is still a brother-in-law. This kind of relationship is perfect for extortion, and you must strike ruthlessly and poisonously, because this is a one-time deal. When Marquis Yun gives money, you absolutely cannot take it.”
“Why not?” Li Zhi’s age was still a bit young after all. For a moment, he didn’t understand the key points and asked in surprise.
“Why? After taking the money, with a poor place like Jinyang, it’ll be spent quickly. No amount would be enough. Doesn’t the saying go ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’? We need to get the skill of catching fish from Marquis Yun, not one or two fish. Only then will we have endless fish to eat. Your Highness, remember—Marquis Yun is too cunning. When the time comes, you must be resolute. I’ll be beside you cheering and encouraging you. At that time, we’ll have our voice in court, and substantial benefits in secret. When we’ve obtained enough money, you’ll also graduate. We’ll go to the fiefdom and display our abilities to the full. We won’t rest until we build the fiefdom into an earthly paradise!”
Li Zhi’s eyes squinted into slits with laughter. He himself had no great ambitions. Having several powerful brothers didn’t seem to have any downsides. The throne had nothing to do with him, so there was no conflict of interest with his brothers. Building his own fiefdom well and living a carefree life would also be an excellent choice.