Suzhen also looked over.
Their gazes didn’t even meet—just a single glance—yet her heart inexplicably jumped.
Another old acquaintance!
But how could he be with Quan Feitong?
Of course, they must have learned of Ying Yan’s matter through some channel. But Lian Jie and others absolutely couldn’t show themselves, so this person had come forward to try to salvage the situation!
Seeing her look over, he politely returned her glance, his eyes seemingly without much turbulence, not acknowledging their acquaintance.
Suzhen understood—though they had some friendship, this setting was completely inappropriate for recognition.
Beside Wei Chenghui, Ying Yan suddenly stood up, gritting his teeth, “Sangzhan!”
Wei Chenghui was startled.
Li Zhaoting, sensing something unusual, let his peripheral vision linger on him momentarily, then said, “Minister Quan has come? Why don’t you approach?”
Only then did Quan Feitong smile and speak, “Seeing Your Majesty handling family matters, this minister dared not disturb.”
The Prince of Jin’s consort smiled, “Minister Quan, please come dine with us.”
Quan Feitong expressed thanks and approached with the young man. Li Zhaoting asked, “And this is?”
With just one look, he sensed this person’s hidden sharpness—definitely not a simple character, incomparable to that Ying Yan.
Quan Feitong smiled, “I was about to recommend him to Your Majesty. This is the young chieftain of the tribe where the court will soon excavate the great mines—Sangzhan.”
“Oh, so Young Master Sang’s visit this time is for?” Li Zhaoting was alert. Though Wei Chenghui and Ying Yan hadn’t said explicitly, he knew Ying Yan had major conflicts with his tribe.
Sangzhan smiled slightly, “Hearing that the nation and Your Majesty have need, this humble citizen naturally came to… offer the mines. Since this mine should be offered by me, it’s rather more appropriate. Some people have already been expelled from the tribe. Your Majesty is wise—if the court followed such persons, it might give people cause to say the nation was forcing people into difficulty.”
“What a fine Sangzhan! If you were willing to offer the mines, you wouldn’t have obstructed in every way originally. Your Majesty must not trust him—this person only considers his own interests and wants to keep the mine deposits for himself. That’s the truth!” Ying Yan sneered angrily.
“You must be misremembering. What I said was the mine could be opened, but must be dug slowly and not excessively, or it would cause mountain collapse—a great danger. Your Majesty, regarding the court’s garrison, my tribe and several other tribes have lived there for generations. My tribe is manageable, but other tribal groups deeply love the land and may not be willing to relocate. If the court is too hasty and doesn’t explain with reason but uses force, the result would only be a massacre of the local people.” Sangzhan responded word by word, his manner composed and unhurried, without the other’s agitation.
“Slowly?” Wei Chenghui smiled, “Young Master Sang, this mine is requisitioned by the nation for disaster relief. The mine can wait, but military supplies and starving people cannot. These disaster victims are currently surviving on thin rice water. I’ll speak bluntly—with your approach of slow and limited mining, by the time this mine is offered, the people of those several major prefectures will all be dead.”
Quan Feitong made tsk-tsk sounds, “Marquis Wei is truly loyal and devoted. Your Majesty isn’t even anxious yet, but you’re anxious first.”
Wei Chenghui knew he was mocking him as “more Catholic than the Pope,” but laughed instead of getting angry, “I consume the ruler’s salary and worry about the ruler’s concerns. Minister Quan flatters me.”
He didn’t believe Li Zhaoting would slow the mining progress for this person’s talk of “explaining with reason”!
“Young Master Sang, it’s not that I’m forcing people into difficulty, but that national crisis demands it. If other tribes refuse, the court can only use the court’s methods. Sacrifice the small self to complete the greater self.”
Indeed, Li Zhaoting spoke. Though not explicitly mentioning massacre, that was precisely his meaning, his tone hard without any room for compromise.
Seeing Quan Feitong frown slightly, Wei Chenghui exchanged smiles with Ying Yan.
Quan Feitong opposed him, thinking he’d brought something precious, but apparently it wasn’t working out that way.
But Sangzhan showed no fear, nor the usual scholarly young master’s temperament. He clasped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, since this humble citizen dares come to offer mines, I certainly won’t put Your Majesty in a difficult position.”
“Compared to a thousand tribespeople, tens of thousands of disaster victims in the prefectures are indeed more important. However, whether small self or greater self, each side represents Your subjects—none should be sacrificed.”
“Your Majesty’s current difficulty is needing both to resolve military supply concerns and ease the hunger of disaster victims. If this mine is quickly excavated, the treasury could first be used for the starving, with mining revenues later supplementing military supplies. But expanding military supplies is fundamentally because neighboring countries intend invasion. What if… there were no war to fight?”
His posture was composed, his eyes flowing with light, asking word by word with a smile.
Suddenly the entire scene fell silent. Li Zhaoting gripped the table and slowly stood, looking at this plainly-dressed young man.
“This isn’t the place for such discussion. Young Master Sang, accompany me to the imperial study.”
“I request Your Majesty’s private audience—this humble citizen dares offer mines and a strategy to avoid war!”
The two looked at each other, speaking simultaneously.
Everyone was again amazed and couldn’t help looking at this young man several times.
Li Zhaoting extended his hand in invitation: “Young Master Sang, please! Minister Quan.”
Sangzhan thanked him. The two walked out together, with Quan Feitong noting Wei Chenghui’s slightly changed expression and following with a smirk.
Ying Yan slumped back onto his stool, pupils rapidly contracting. This Sangzhan had never been underestimated before, but he had never feared him. Today, however… he always felt this Sangzhan was completely on a different level from him, seeming strange and frightening…
In the imperial study.
Chess pieces were placed on the desk.
Without preamble, Li Zhaoting drew three pieces from the container—one white, two black—and placed them on the table.
Sangzhan glanced and quickly curved his slender fingers to tap the white piece, “This is Zhou.”
Then he pointed to the other two pieces, “Chu and Wei.”
“Chu and Wei are both major agricultural trading nations, long-time enemies. Chu’s old emperor recently died and a new ruler ascended—a brave man, a warmonger. Taking advantage of Zhou’s disasters to attack, not necessarily to destroy Zhou completely, but certainly to gain benefits. Your Majesty must have guessed that the Wei king is cunning. Though Zhou and Wei are now related by marriage, Wei definitely won’t help Zhou, hoping to profit from Chu’s attack on Zhou. If Zhou can damage Chu, then attack Chu; if not, there’s no loss.”
“Correct. I guessed this, the Chu king also guessed this, so Chu will attack Zhou without restraint. Given the general trend with interests at stake, how can war be avoided!”
“No, Your Majesty. What if Chu believes Wei and Zhou have secretly joined forces, and this is merely luring the enemy deep, with the two armies combining to destroy Chu together?”
“Young Master, I’ve already considered this method, but this new Chu king is said to be suspicious by nature and quite clever. How could he be deceived?”
“The Wei king won’t help Your Majesty, but Wei’s Chancellor Miao is Your Majesty’s father-in-law. Wouldn’t a father-in-law help his daughter and son-in-law?”
“Chancellor Miao cannot persuade the Wei king in this matter.”
“No need to persuade. Your Majesty need only do three things. First, invite Chancellor Miao to Zhou to request aid. Since Chancellor Miao isn’t the Wei king, he naturally cannot agree to send troops early to assist. Your Majesty should have scholars and literati spread this knowledge throughout the world. Second, have Chancellor Miao’s personal attendant quarrel with the Chancellor. When the Chancellor moves to kill him, the attendant escapes by chance. Third, the attendant flees to Chu territory and secretly reports to the Chu king.”
“The attendant, harboring resentment, secretly reports to the Chu king that this is actually Wei and Zhou’s plan. Wei outwardly makes many excuses refusing to help Zhou, but has already made secret pacts with Zhou for covert alliance, waiting for Zhou to invade? Through this deception, the Chu king would believe it instead. Excellent!”
Facing the chess board, their rapid exchange of words was like lightning and arrows—in less than half a cup of tea, the matter was settled.
Li Zhaoting’s eyes shone brilliantly as he clapped Sangzhan’s shoulder, “Young Master Sang is a once-in-a-century military talent! I accept this mine offering and place the relevant Ministry of Works personnel under your command. You arrange the speed.”
“Thank Your Majesty.” Sangzhan bowed slowly, something flashing briefly in his eyes.
“You have rendered great service to me. What reward do you want?”
“This humble citizen’s tribe has also recently suffered flood damage, though not as severe as the major prefectures—”
Li Zhaoting had wondered why someone of his evident status wore rough clothes. Now understanding and seeing he wasn’t putting on airs, he was quite pleased. Before the other finished speaking, he immediately said, “Then I’ll reward you with a hundred taels of gold. This strategy is worth far more than a hundred taels, but with disaster at hand, we cannot be extravagant. I hope Young Master Sang won’t find it too little.”
Sangzhan appeared very pleased, “That Your Majesty rewards me is already great fortune. This humble citizen thanks Your Majesty on behalf of the tribe.”
Li Zhaoting’s heart felt greatly relieved. Looking at Quan Feitong, he said, “Minister Quan has good judgment and has assisted me again.”
Quan Feitong had been playing with chess pieces nearby and smiled at this, “Just blessed by Your Majesty’s good fortune.”
The three conversed further, getting along very well. Li Zhaoting asked where Sangzhan was staying to send the reward later. After Quan and Sang departed, Li Zhaoting called Si Lanfeng over. Si Lanfeng was about to congratulate him when he heard him say, “First send someone with the reward. When night falls, go personally and summon Sangzhan back to the palace.”
“Your Majesty, this is…” Si Lanfeng didn’t understand.
“This person is no ordinary fish in a pond. I want to put him to great use, but before we’ve reached agreement, I can’t let Quan Feitong know.”
Si Lanfeng immediately understood, “Good talent is encountered but not sought. Your Majesty intends to cultivate this Sangzhan as another power base to check Quan and Wei?”
“Exactly. A three-legged stance is most stable.” The Emperor’s eyes shone with keen light as he spoke slowly.
On the palace path, Quan Feitong glanced at Sangzhan.
When this person had visited him, he learned from him that when his nemesis Ying Yan had left that day, knowing he would certainly return, Sangzhan had bribed one of Ying Yan’s confidants to receive news of the mine offering immediately.
Today’s discussion revealed this man was not only thoughtful but possessed great talent. His lips curved slightly as he said, “I say, Sangzhan, with all your abilities, even as a tribal chieftain, you’re just maintaining local security—such waste. After today’s meeting, Your Majesty will certainly recruit you. But good birds choose their trees. If you’re willing to assist me, when I achieve great things in the future, I’ll give you position second only to mine. You’re intelligent and should understand this is something Li Zhaoting could never do. If he uses you, it’s only to balance court forces.”
Sangzhan stopped walking, his brow moving slightly as if thinking. Then he heard the other say, “If you refuse, I’m afraid I’ll be displeased. Once I’m unhappy, my mouth becomes loose. If I accidentally let slip before His Majesty that you seem to have designs on his Concubine Shu, that would be unfortunate.”
“This person doesn’t know what Your Excellency means. You must be mistaken.”
“Mistaken? When we arrived earlier, that drama was perfectly timed. I didn’t have anyone announce us, so no one noticed, but I saw very clearly—your first glance at her, tsk tsk, those eyes… so intense, so jealous as if you wanted to devour her alive. Though you concealed it well, it was just an instant.”