This statement completely infuriated Zhangsun. One must know those stewards were all elite personnel she’d personally selected. Now in Yun Ye’s mouth, they weren’t even as good as a dog. How could this make the proud and arrogant Zhangsun accept it? Pointing at Yun Ye, she said: “Fine, fine! This Empress will go to your house right now and bring that horse of yours to lock in a shop. I want to see how your family’s horse conducts business.” She really couldn’t bring herself to say the word “dog.” When it reached her lips, she changed it to the Yun family’s Wang Cai.
Yun Ye quietly glanced at Zhangsun and discovered she truly was quite angry with him, so he softened his tone: “Your Majesty, please allow me to speak. When your subject observed Huang Shi family’s shops, I discovered they’re very much like a small imperial court—strict hierarchy, strict discipline. The stewards speak in nothing but bureaucratic language. Clearly having need of others, yet they act superior. The goods are poor quality yet priced exorbitantly, and the salespeople have terrible attitudes. Aside from those scrambling to curry favor with the Huang family, who would go there to be insulted? Look around the East and West Markets—aside from the Huang family’s shops, which other family conducts business this way? Last time, a steward from Huang Shi came to the Yun family requesting to sell several of the Yun family’s products on consignment. For Huang Shi’s sake, the Yun family agreed, even supplying ten bottles of perfume. This was unprecedented generosity from the Yun family. In all of Chang’an, only Huang Shi could obtain perfume from the Yun family.”
“First, the Yun family could let this shop earn sufficient money. Second, it could advertise the perfume and raise its status. Who knew that ten bottles of perfume worth six hundred strings only sold for one hundred forty strings? Clearly a Hu merchant was willing to pay one thousand strings, but Huang Shi’s steward insisted on selling to an official at one hundred forty strings cost price, claiming fair dealing with young and old alike. He said the Hu merchant smelled bad and was unwilling to deal with him. What kind of logic is this? Afterward, he continued requesting perfume from the Yun family—and wanted one hundred bottles at once! What does he think perfume is? Slop water? Available on demand? Those ten bottles were already a month’s production.”
“Hmph! Your Yun family sells that stuff so expensively. Even this Empress uses it carefully. What’s wrong with lowering the price a bit?”
“Your Majesty! You’re currently pregnant and cannot use those things, otherwise your subject would have sent them to you long ago. I wish perfume could sell for one thousand strings per bottle—this would benefit both the court and the common people.” Some perfumes contained musk. Even if Yun Ye had eight heads, he wouldn’t dare give them to Zhangsun.
“This is truly strange. This Empress would very much like to know how your Yun family raking in money hand over fist, black-hearted and callous, not caring about others’ lives or deaths, could possibly benefit the country and people. Explain clearly, or this Empress will tie you up in a shop to work as shopkeeper.”
“Suppose the Yun family’s perfume sold for one thousand strings—how many people would buy it?” Yun Ye cupped his hands toward Zhangsun and asked.
“There would be almost no such buyers, because this Empress would order it prohibited.” Zhangsun immediately cut off Yun Ye’s escape route.
“Your Majesty, standing in the nation’s position, what you should do is encourage, not prohibit.”
“You want this Empress to help you conscienceless profiteers? Dream on! I will definitely order it prohibited. I cannot let you profiteers succeed. Otherwise, is there still any law in this world?”
Knowing Zhangsun wanted to save face, Yun Ye felt that discussing law with her was a form of self-torture. The law belonged to her family—she could play with it however she wanted. Yun Ye tried hard not to get angry, telling himself a thousand times: be peaceful, be indirect, don’t squabble with a pregnant woman.
“Your Majesty, think about it. If your subject sells a bottle of perfume for one thousand strings, the first thing to do is pay taxes. Your subject doesn’t oppose imposing two or three times heavy taxation on such luxury items. This way the court would increase tax revenue by five hundred strings. For every additional bottle your subject sells, the court’s tax revenue increases by five hundred strings. Tax revenue can be used to pay officials’ salaries, equip the army, build roads and bridges, provide disaster relief. His Majesty could also build a palace—all good things.”
“Your subject’s five hundred strings can be reinvested in the perfume workshop to continue producing perfume, continue collecting officials’ money, then His Majesty collects taxes again and redistributes this money to officials. This forms a circle that can continue revolving endlessly. The court will never worry about lacking money.”
The relationship of the capital chain must be explained to this couple. Explaining it to Li Er would make Yun Ye angry—better to explain it to Zhangsun.
“This way your Yun family can forever earn black-hearted money?” One could hear Zhangsun was somewhat moved, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to surrender.
“The Yun family would never be misers. The money my family earns will be invested in academy construction, becoming buildings one after another, classrooms one after another. The money will be earned away by other merchants and craftsmen. Of course, they’ll also be taxed by His Majesty.”
Zhangsun said nothing. After a long while, she finally said: “Weren’t you going to see the Great Emperor? Go on. This palace needs to think carefully about your words.”
Yun Ye bowed farewell. Having walked just a few steps, he heard Zhangsun say from behind: “This Empress understands your purpose in coming. Do your duty. As you said, this is your obligation as a subject. Tomorrow, one thousand troops from the Left Militant Guard will escort this palace to inspect Yushan Academy. The mountain cannot accommodate so many people. Five hundred soldiers will stay at the Yun family estate. Arrange these five hundred soldiers properly for this palace.”
Yun Ye turned around and made a deep bow. Without saying a word, he departed.
Yun Ye didn’t notice that behind the holly bushes was a reclining chair where Li Er lay sunbathing, seemingly asleep. Zhangsun sat beside the soft chair. Before she could speak, Li Er’s large hand gently stroked her swollen abdomen as he said softly: “This boy still has reservations. Just now he didn’t mention one important reason—luxury goods can extract money from great families and aristocratic houses, then subsidize it to the common people. After all, these things aren’t items poor families can afford. It counts as another form of robbing the rich to help the poor. So he’s not wrong—the more expensive the perfume, the better. The more expensive, the more it benefits the court and common people. Tomorrow, have that steward of yours go home. The Inner Palace, hmph! Once Yun Ye has taught Ke’er, see if he can be handed over to him. This boy, for Chengqian’s sake, truly spares no effort. Chengqian made a friend worth having!”
Coming out from the Empress’s quarters, Yun Ye felt relaxed all over. Without worries at his back, his steps were much lighter. Just as he turned past Taiji Palace, several burly matrons rushed out from a corner. Grabbing Yun Ye’s hands and feet, they lifted him up. Seeing the red sashes tied around their waists, Yun Ye knew these were female wrestlers who specialized in sumo wrestling performances in the palace, entertaining the nobles. Each was skilled in sumo wrestling with tremendous strength—not something a weak male like Yun Ye could handle. Looking down from above, what rushed toward him were pairs of enormous breasts, appearing and disappearing in their half-open garments.
He quickly closed his eyes. Two of them had reached the horrifying stage of growing beards—better not to look. In the imperial palace, the only one who could run rampant so brazenly was that Great Emperor with too much idle time, so Yun Ye obediently resigned himself to fate.
When his feet touched ground and he opened his eyes, Yun Ye thought he’d arrived at a bandit’s lair. On this warm spring day, the fire dragon in the great hall continued functioning. Li Yuan embraced a beauty in his left hand and held a wine jug in his right, his robes open as he watched two large fat women wrestling naked. Heavy footsteps periodically sounded in the great hall. Seeing wonderful moments, shouts of approval rang out. This wasn’t the imperial palace—this was a damned bandit’s mountain stronghold.
Just as he prepared to flee, Li Chengqian emerged from somewhere, pulling at Yun Ye with a face full of resentment. His face still had rouge marks on it. Damn it, grandfather and grandson playing with flower girls together—how was Yun Ye, such an upright gentleman, supposed to handle himself? Even if your family has Hu blood, this was too uninhibited.
Li Chengqian wiped the rouge from his face most awkwardly and said in a low voice: “Yezi, I was also captured and brought here. Just do me a favor and keep me company for a while. Otherwise, who knows what will happen?”
A drunkard came over. One wine burp made Yun Ye retreat three steps. An acquaintance—Pei Ji! The old fellow’s clothes and cap were disheveled, his beard completely wine-stained. Where could one see even half the usual simple elegance?
Needless to say, because conflict arose between the Dou and Pei families, he’d run here to Li Yuan seeking reinforcements. Thinking of Pei Ying’s miserable state, Yun Ye coldly swept a glance at Pei Ji, found a clean seat and sat down, his face taut, his entire body radiating cold air.
Yun Ye drove away the palace maid who came over to pour wine. Li Chengqian didn’t know what Yun Ye intended to do and was bewildered and at a loss. Yun Ye picked up the wine jug and took a large swig, glaring as he said to Li Yuan: “Great Emperor, this boy came today for gambling debts. Today this boy specially carried thirty taels of gold, precisely to meet with the Great Emperor who, while this boy wasn’t in the capital, is said to have gambled through Chang’an without meeting a match. Can’t weaken this boy’s reputation as foremost of Chang’an’s three scourges or gain the evil reputation of owing gambling debts and not repaying.”
Li Yuan was completely ruined. Now he probably only knew how to pass his days between fine wine and beautiful women. Li Er’s great victory on the grasslands had thoroughly destroyed his last confidence. A son who surpassed him in both civil governance and military achievement, requiring him to look up—proving from the opposite perspective how foolish he was, unable even to see his son clearly. How lamentable.
Li Er now came to pay respects fewer and fewer times. For no other reason than it was unnecessary. With political power gradually stabilizing and no more worries, Li Er began opening his blood-filled maw to devour people. The Dou family was in imminent danger. He was powerless to help, only able to indulge himself even more to numb his occasionally still-clear mind.
Li Yuan burst into wild laughter. Casually flinging away his wine jug, pushing aside the beauty, with great heroic spirit, he kicked over the low table with one foot. Stepping on the table, eyes glaring at the equally fierce-looking Yun Ye, he said: “Boy, you still dare come? You owe me seven taels of gold unpaid, yet you dare boast here. Today let this old man see your abilities.”
Yun Ye was in despair. Li Yuan had simply drunk his brain into disorder. He only remembered last time Yun Ye owed him gold, not remembering the matter of Yun Ye repaying the money. Yun Ye wanted to shout: “This old man wants this disease too!”
Yun Ye threw over a dozen gold ingots into the overturned low table and shouted: “Who else?”
Pei Ji also threw gold in, hiccupping as he said: “How can such a grand occasion lack this old man?”
From a corner, a half-dead voice said: “The Yun family and Pei family are both here. If the Dou family isn’t present, wouldn’t that invite ridicule?”