“What does Han Qian mean by this? If elder brother hadn’t drunk the hangover remedy soup, wouldn’t Feng Yi have had to take this food box filled with Hepu pearls away?” Princess Qingyang stared at the precious pearls in the food box’s hidden compartment, unable to suppress the waves in her heart as she asked.
Beyond his shock, Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong gave a bitter smile, knowing Qingyang’s guess was correct. The hangover remedy soup was the final test Han Qian used to probe whether he harbored any doubts in his heart.
If he had just now harbored suspicions and didn’t dare drink the hangover remedy soup on the spot, instead having Feng Yi leave it there, then Feng Yi would have casually taken the food box away, and he would never have known such a quantity of Hepu precious pearls was hidden inside.
He picked up a Hepu pearl and examined it carefully by the window.
The saying goes “eight-tenths makes it precious, nine-tenths makes it treasure.” These thumb-sized Hepu pearls were each a full twelve-tenths in size. Each one could be said to be worth a hundred gold pieces.
Opening the other food box, this entire box was made as a hidden compartment, with the finest quality pearls, jade, and precious artifacts stored inside.
Shu’s customs were extravagant. High officials and wealthy magnates all loved playing with rare treasures and curiosities.
Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong had grown up in the Shu palace. After leaving the palace for his mansion, he also associated with literary scholars and had absolutely good judgment. It wasn’t difficult to imagine how astonishing the value of this batch of pearls and jade was—worth three to four hundred thousand strings of cash at least.
And of course he was also clear that after last night’s banquet, Han Qian sending these precious goods into his marquis mansion at this time was to assist him in undertaking the management of affairs in Banan!
Though Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong held the noble rank of marquis, even if he was further neglected by his prince father, the mansion’s guards, maids, and servants added up to six to seven hundred people.
Besides normal stipends and seasonal rewards, the marquis mansion also possessed a total of over fifty thousand mu of estate lands and over a thousand household slaves, with an annual yield of sixty to seventy thousand shi of grain.
If he also counted the properties he had secretly managed over these years, it could always amount to seven to eight hundred thousand strings of cash.
However, these were either grain fields and estates, or warehouses, weaving workshops, or pawn shops. What could actually be directly taken out for gifts was perhaps not even thirty to forty thousand strings in ready cash. After all, there were too many things they had to maintain in secret, with careful calculations needed everywhere, consuming considerable money and grain.
Though he held the noble title of Marquis Zhangxiang, the court ministers and palace eunuchs, even if they wouldn’t show themselves being too close to Marquis Qingjiang Wang Hongyi before his prince father at this time, absolutely wouldn’t casually brush him off either.
If he hoped to have more people speak on his behalf regarding managing affairs in Banan, ultimately it still came down to the method of “money can make ghosts turn millstones.”
When he awoke early this morning, he was still secretly worrying about this matter. He hadn’t expected Han Qian to be like someone who could guess his thoughts at any moment—right now sending Feng Yi to deliver this batch of pearls, jade, and precious goods to his door. This truly could solve his current major problem.
Although Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong could think that this batch of wealth should all be what Third Prince Yang Yuanpu had plundered from Hunan’s eight provinces, not something Han Qian took from his own pocket, the fact that Han Qian could produce such enormous wealth for him to use at once showed extreme boldness. The marquis’s heart was also greatly shocked.
Princess Qingyang was also secretly astonished. Forcibly suppressing the waves in her heart, she picked up several pearls and jade pieces to appreciate. Compared to those precious goods in the palace that various noble ladies regarded as treasured collections, these were no worse at all. She sighed: “Capturing Tanzhou, they really made a huge fortune! A hundred years of Tanzhou’s accumulated wealth, even richer than Shu, has basically all fallen into their hands!”
“Lady Qi likes southern pearls. You select one hundred flawless precious pearls and send them to the palace today. For Nanny Rong, Chamberlain Zhou and the others, also send twelve southern pearls each. Say these were all brought back by us from Jinling, to thank them for their hard work preparing the wedding these past days.” After counting the quantity and quality of this batch of pearls and jade, Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong immediately had Qingyang directly carry the finest batch of pearls and jade into the palace as gifts, saying, “Qi Lun enjoys gambling at liubo. I’ll go see his two gambling friends right away!”
With Lady Qi being favored, naturally she was suspected and excluded by Noble Consort Zhao Hui. Moreover, Lady Qi had nurtured Qingyang with maternal affection. Therefore, the siblings Qi Lun and Lady Qi were the first targets Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong wanted to win over.
Only during these past few years, Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong had to hide his capabilities and bide his time. At the same time, he couldn’t produce sufficiently attractive benefits to win them over, so his relationship with the Qi family was just ordinary.
Qingyang could directly enter the palace and give Lady Qi one hundred supreme Hepu pearls to thank her for her nurturing affection. But if Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong wanted to place fifty to sixty thousand strings worth of wealth into the hands of Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs Qi Lun, he still needed to employ some techniques. Too blatantly, and Qi Lun might find it too hot to handle.
Besides the siblings Lady Qi and Qi Lun, as well as several palace officials and eunuchs in the palace who could show their faces before his prince father, Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong also compiled a list of over twenty people who needed key gifts. These next two days he would have people visit them all…
……
……
“When delivering the hangover remedy soup, Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong had only a moment’s hesitation before drinking it all in one gulp. This shows he has some courage—not wasting your assistance to him. It’s just a pity I couldn’t personally witness the scene when he opened the food box. Otherwise it would definitely have been spectacular!”
Seeing no one else in the room, Feng Yi casually pulled over a chair and sat down. Talking about the circumstances of going to the Marquis Zhangxiang’s mansion to deliver hangover remedy soup, he still felt quite regretful. He asked Han Qian, “Why didn’t you personally hand over these pearls and jade to Marquis Zhangxiang? Or to put it another way, regarding which people Marquis Zhangxiang needs to bribe, we could handle it for him—that would even earn an extra favor!”
Han Qian stood before the window, looking at the accumulated snow in the courtyard. In his heart he was still thinking about the letter Feng Liao had someone deliver last night. Only, that was a letter Feng Liao had sent from Jinling a month ago. At that time things still looked calm and peaceful, yet it made Han Qian even more worried about Jinling’s current situation.
However, thinking that he himself was thousands of li away, with letter transmission requiring at least a month, no matter how worried he was, his reach exceeded his grasp. Right now he still had to first handle affairs in Shudu.
Han Qian turned around and explained to Feng Yi:
“Shu Lord Wang Jian isn’t so easy to deceive. Regarding some matters in Shu, the less we can intervene, the more we should try to intervene as little as possible. Especially the people around Shu Lord Wang Jian—we should try as much as possible not to contact them too much or too deeply.”
Not expecting Han Qian had this level of consideration, Feng Yi thought carefully for a moment and said: “You’re still more thoughtful. No wonder you were stronger than me from the start.”
“Need you even ask?” Han Qian laughed.
Feng Yi said again: “Speaking of which, Marquis Zhangxiang holds the noble rank of a prince. His father has dominated Shu for some years now. How can he still be so impoverished? With just that much wealth, how many people can Marquis Zhangxiang actually win over to speak on his behalf?”
Seeing Feng Yi thought the first batch of pearls and treasures worth three to four hundred thousand strings of cash might not be able to accomplish much, Han Qian laughed heartily and said:
“Your Feng family has controlled the Jianghuai financial networks since the previous dynasty. A hundred years of accumulation is what gave you such great family fortune, nurturing a pampered young master like you who doesn’t know the price of daily necessities. Not to mention the previous dynasty’s Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Suzong twice taking refuge in Sichuan and Shu—just calculate, for Emperors Zhaozong and Xizong alone, how many major and minor wars erupted in Sichuan and Shu? In the past, Shu was extremely prosperous, even surpassing Jianghuai. But even if the powerful clans and aristocratic families of the two Sichuan regions had accumulations, after several decades of continuous warfare, they were all completely devastated. The two Sichuan regions have only had ten-plus years of rest and recuperation under Wang Jian’s control. The population has barely recovered to forty percent of the previous dynasty’s peak. Those new noble powerful clans who rose in Shu alongside Wang Jian—in such a short time, how much accumulation could they have? Now Wang Jian controls Shu and must support over a hundred thousand elite Shu troops. Besides having ample land seized from former regional commanders and powerful magnates, he doesn’t have much money or grain left to reward his subordinate ministers. The annual rewards are even more stingy than our Great Chu—think about it, when His Highness just left the palace for his mansion, how impoverished was he?”
Shu’s customs were extravagant, but ultimately couldn’t compare to the previous dynasty’s peak prosperity.
Combined with Shu Lord Wang Jian’s frugal lifestyle, Shu’s ministers, including Marquis Zhangxiang, all lived quite tight-fistedly. This time Han Qian privately brought pearls and precious goods worth eight to nine hundred thousand strings of cash. Even if for now he allocated forty percent for Marquis Zhangxiang to use, it could still buy over a group of people.
Anyway, this was public funds allocated to him by the Third Prince. Han Qian didn’t feel pained spending it.
Seeing Feng Yi becoming increasingly capable, with thoughts growing steadily more mature behind his usual playful demeanor, aside from matters concerning Emperor Tianyou’s poisoning and his suggestion that the Third Prince stand by and watch, these past two days Han Qian had also more or less explained to him the deeper intentions of their mission to Shu. Even regarding Divine Mausoleum Bureau affairs, there was no need to continue concealing them from him.
This also made it convenient for Feng Yi to be more flexible and adaptable when contacting people like Guo Rong and Marquis Zhangxiang Wang Yong.
Moreover, never mind that Marquis Qingjiang would have people watch him—as chief marriage escort envoy, Han Qian’s identity was even more sensitive than Guo Rong’s.
If he wanted to leave Jinhua Pavilion’s southern courtyard, officials from the Court of State Ceremonial would almost certainly keep watch on him. Besides extremely limited places like the Marquis Zhangxiang’s mansion, Han Qian truly had little room for free movement in Shudu.
Feng Yi, as an attendant without official position by Han Qian’s side, had relatively more convenient access.
Han Qian would also have Feng Yi use this period to frequently appear at Shudu’s wine shops and brothels, making contact with Shu’s officials’ sons and low-level clerks, excavating people who could be bought, and turning them over to Guo Que and the others to slowly develop.
The elite scouts and secret agents that Jinyun Pavilion could truly send into Shu were ultimately extremely limited in number. Even dispatching fifty to sixty elite scouts and elite secret agents—this manpower was still far from sufficient to establish an intelligence network covering Shu.
Intelligence gathering relied more on developing local informants, or even secretly supporting gang forces or merchant associations and brokerages that in the current age were still in embryonic form.