“General Fan, this humble official has already made preparations. These past days, your subordinate has thoroughly investigated the military finances. This humble official believes that directly paying those barbarians with goods and money is inappropriate. We should hand these matters over to merchants to handle.”
Fan Hongyi glanced at Tian Yuanyi and said coldly, “The army lacks fierce fire oil. What else can we do if we don’t do this? Hand it over to merchants? Are we supposed to pay merchants their profit too?”
“General, please calm your anger. What this humble official wants to discuss is the local government’s methods, which naturally differ from the military’s way of doing things. You may have forgotten that all people under heaven must pay taxes. How could merchants be exempt?”
“We obtained fierce fire oil directly from the barbarians’ hands. This matter provides no help to local finances. Even if we were to collect taxes, we could only collect once. If we handed these matters over to merchants to handle, not only would we not spend a single coin and still obtain the fierce fire oil the army needs, we might even have substantial revenue.”
“Not just us—even the officials in Guanzhong could benefit from this. This place is a production area for fierce fire oil. Collecting summer taxes and autumn levies is perfectly natural and right. The court allows commoners to pay in kind as conversion. Naturally, we can convert these things into fierce fire oil. This way, the fierce fire oil the army needs will no longer be a problem.”
“You surely don’t know how expensive a barrel of lamp oil sells for in Chang’an, do you? This is a very lucrative commodity. Throughout the entire Western Regions, a great many people depend on it for their livelihood. Everyone swarming to refine oil is improper. The court needs to exercise control and strengthen management. Several tribes have already fought over competing for oil springs. I heard people even died.”
“What our Beiting needs now is peace and stability. Hasn’t the General been painstakingly suppressing bandits everywhere for precisely this purpose? Since they themselves have no way to coexist peacefully, our officials need to step in and mediate. Pacifying local security is an essential task that any government office must undertake. Therefore, we need to nationalize all the oil springs, then sell them to tribes with strength, letting those tribes without strength work for others. This way, everyone is happy. Everyone has food to eat. Merchants can also purchase the oil springs and hire those idle barbarians to work for them. What we need to do is collect taxes, sell the oil springs, and prepare barrels for storing oil. The rest has nothing to do with us. Merchants, tribes, commoners—they’ll automatically form a balance. It’s been this way since ancient times. General Fan, what do you think of this approach?”
Fan Hongyi looked at Tian Yuanyi again and said, “No wonder the Commander regards you favorably yet is unwilling to get too close to you. I, Old Fan, was puzzled about this. Now I know. Dealing with people like you shortens this old man’s lifespan. We soldiers who eat military rations truly shouldn’t get too close to you lot. You go handle the matter. If you need troops, this old man will dispatch them for you. If you can get the money the army spent back into the accounts as soon as possible, this old man will play dumb and ask no questions.”
Tian Yuanyi smiled until his face was full of wrinkles. How could he not know about these petty underhanded dealings of local government? Having risen from a low-level clerk himself, he had studied for decades how to maximize the use of government authority. These were merely minor tricks.
As soon as Fan Hongyi left his room, a large crowd of people surged in. The ingratiating expression on Tian Yuanyi’s face immediately disappeared. He coughed once and said to the roomful of people, “Since all the prominent figures of Tingzhou are here, let’s make things clear. The Five Tribes Commandant just came, preparing to expand the fierce fire oil production area once again. The army lacks this material. The General is even preparing to issue orders to transfer fierce fire oil back from Yumen. Just think—once fierce fire oil is everywhere in Beiting, do you still plan to make your fortunes?”
“Once the General designates fierce fire oil as military supplies, who would dare transport even one pound of fierce fire oil from Beiting into the interior? Everyone knows what kind of official the Five Tribes Commandant is, right? Once a resolution is formed, wanting to modify it is harder than ascending to heaven.”
“This official begged repeatedly before the Commandant and made guarantees. Only then did the Commandant dismiss the notion of expanding oil refining. By the way, doesn’t holding the army’s money in your hands feel burning hot?”
“Military Advisor Fan, just speak plainly. Simply for your righteous deed today, we dare not forget your great kindness. As long as you can help my tribe preserve those five oil springs, everything is negotiable.” A big-bearded barbarian covered in jewelry and jade ornaments spoke first. The others also chimed in one after another.
Tian Yuanyi nodded solemnly and said, “The army needs three thousand jars of fierce fire oil monthly. This is fixed. There’s no room for personal considerations, no reasoning to discuss. If something goes wrong with this oil, this official estimates a ground full of people will die, including this official himself. I beg you all—there absolutely must not be any mishaps. As for the remainder, the General didn’t speak of it, the Five Tribes Commandant didn’t ask about it. That means it’s ours to allocate ourselves. If everyone wants to live well, it lies in the remainder of this oil.”
“Ha ha, I, Old Tian, don’t have the courage to demand oil money from the General. I wonder which of you has such boldness?”
Tian Yuanyi looked at those barbarians and Tang people with worried, bitter faces, then said with a smile, “Converting three thousand jars of fierce fire oil into field taxes and commercial levies—I wonder if you still have any objections?”
A Tang merchant bowed and said, “Military Advisor Tian, this humble person dares to ask—will the tax payment receipts from here be effective when passing through Yumen Pass?”
“Yes, but only for Yumen Pass.” Tian Yuanyi answered decisively. That merchant also wore a face full of smiles. He didn’t need to transport the fierce fire oil to Chang’an. He only needed to transport it to Dunhuang to complete the transaction. As long as he could enter Yumen Pass, that meant his tax quota would be entirely fulfilled.
“If that’s the case, then it’s excellent news. This old fellow will take five hundred jars from these three thousand jars of fierce fire oil.”
Once one person claimed some, immediately countless people wanted to claim shares. Those who were too slow and didn’t claim any could only pay high taxes. The barbarians, after receiving promises that their property wouldn’t be threatened, were actually quite generous in their spending. The money that had flowed out from Yun Ye was slowly flowing back. Fan Hongyi was very satisfied with this.
“The north wind rolls the earth and white grass breaks; in the barbarian sky, snow flies already in the eighth month. Suddenly as if a spring wind came overnight, a thousand trees, ten thousand trees with pear blossoms bloom.” Yun Ye stood at the window reciting poetry. The verses were beautiful and elegant. Even Tian Yuanyi revealed an intoxicated expression. Yuan Shoucheng, lying on the bed, also stopped his moaning. Outside the window, white snow flew in profusion. Snowflakes connected into sheets, covering heaven, earth, and the human world.
“Young man, this old man has returned alive, and the snow worm—this old man has also brought one back for you. Although obstructed by wild men and unable to see the true face of Heavenly Lake, this old man believes this trip wasn’t taken in vain. Come spring next year, you absolutely must accompany this old man on another trip.”
Yuan Shoucheng coughed once. He had been heavily struck on the arm by a monkey on the snowy mountain and still showed no signs of improvement. Yun Ye personally examined the snow worm. Ye Tuo really hadn’t lied. It just wasn’t more than one zhang long. This one was relatively small. Yun Ye pried open the snow worm’s mouthparts and discovered circles of teeth growing inside. Being bitten by such a thing would absolutely bring more bad luck than good.
Liu Jinbao, a dagger clenched between his teeth, was dissecting the snow worm. Very strangely, inside the snow worm’s belly there were no remains of any wild beasts—only some emerald green moss. Could this thing eat grass?
Peeling away the red flesh on the outside, the ring-shaped muscles inside were as white and lustrous as snow. Yun Ye had Liu Jinbao cut off a piece and feed it to a dog. After observing for quite a while, he confirmed this thing was non-toxic.
Since it had no poison, that meant humans could also eat it. After stir-frying a plateful, Yun Ye tasted a bite and immediately fell in love with the flavor of this thing. It was somewhat like crispy cartilage, very chewy when eaten. After he had eaten the entire plate, he discovered that everyone was looking at him with a kind of awestruck gaze.
The cartilage was stir-fried with red chili peppers after being cooked, then a large handful of Sichuan peppercorns was added to create fragrance. Without even eating it, that rich aromatic smell indicated it was an absolutely exceptional delicacy. Na Rimu always ate whatever her husband ate and never fussed. After eating a little, she began frantically competing for more. Liu Jinbao was the same. Tian Yuanyi hesitantly picked up a little. After eating it, his chopsticks never stopped again.
Master Wu She tasted it sparingly, nodded, then went to the back courtyard to busy himself with his own affairs. Yuan Shoucheng and his remaining four disciples looked miserably at the group of people feasting heartily there, unable to say a word. It was precisely this worm that had strangled an old Daoist priest to death. Nearly all the bones in his body had been broken. When they rescued him, the entire person was like a bag of meat. Internal organs continuously flowed from his mouth. He had almost vomited out all his blood.
Of the fifty barbarians, only three returned alive. The cries of the wild men triggered an avalanche. Just as everyone was fleeing in panic, barbarians were continuously grabbed by those wild man-like things and thrown to the bottom of cliffs. If not for the ropes and grappling hooks Yun Ye had prepared for Yuan Shoucheng and the others, they might have been completely annihilated. Their own efforts had only brought back a plateful of good food for Yun Ye.
“This thing can’t be called snow worm anymore. We need to give it a nice-sounding name. How about calling it snow dragon? A worm—no matter what—won’t give people an appetite. Come spring, we’ll also go catch some and send them back to Chang’an as local specialties to present to His Majesty. Every year, the Yun family must pay tribute on His Majesty’s birthday. It’s too costly. Sending this thing would be good. Snow dragon—it tastes good, and His Majesty will surely like it.”
Once Yun Ye’s chatterbox opened, everyone began talking nonsense, each one smugly satisfied, preparing to go to the snowy mountains come spring to catch worms, capture wild men, then go to Heavenly Lake to enjoy the scenery.
“Na Rimu will go too. In April and May there are very many butterflies there. The largest butterflies are bigger than palms, with brilliant colors that look extremely beautiful.”
Yun Ye smiled and patted the head of Na Rimu, who was laughing while rummaging through the plate looking for meat to eat. He laughed very happily.
“Marquis Yun, are you not at all worried about encountering these monsters? They truly will eat people.” Yuan Shoucheng felt that Yun Ye was really being too careless.
“We won’t. Old sir, as long as we don’t go up the snowy mountain during these worms’ mating season, there won’t be any problems. I just saw that this worm’s sexual organs on its body are exposed. This thing is about the same as snakes. Only during mating season will they expose this thing. Ha ha, no wonder it turned red—it was in heat. You disturbed their propagation. Who else would they fight desperately with if not you?”