After hearing Yun Ye’s words, Zhangsun helplessly supported her forehead with her hand, unable to bear watching the scene any longer. All these distant relatives of the Li family had already stood up. The Ninth Elder trembled as he pointed at Yun Ye and said, “I wonder how large a business venture you would be willing to undertake? This old man can mobilize the clan members to pool together funds—we might be able to gather the amount you require.”
“Up until now, this junior has only conducted three business deals. The first was constructing Yushan Academy, the second was building Yuezhou City, and the third was casually building this Great Emperor warship for His Majesty when I had nothing else to do. It seems that not a single one of these projects could be completed with a hundred thousand strings of cash or a hundred thousand silver coins.”
Zhangsun’s head ached. She was already regretting bringing Yun Ye over to handle these clan members’ requests for making fortunes. Yun Ye clearly intended to anger one or two old men to death.
The Ninth Elder listened carefully to Yun Ye’s words, then cupped his hands and asked the Empress, “Your Majesty, are the words this young man speaks factual?”
Zhangsun raised her head and said, “Although his words are disrespectful, what he says is not incorrect—it is indeed so. The Academy, Yuezhou, and the Great Emperor were truly his handiwork. This is precisely why this palace entrusted everyone’s money to him. The goods you desire, he can likely provide them all, and he will guarantee their quality. On this point, his reputation is excellent.”
“This old man only wishes to ask where this Great Emperor warship is worth a hundred thousand strings of cash. Young man, if you cannot explain this matter clearly, this old man will certainly debate it clearly and plainly with you before His Majesty.”
It was merely a ship—no matter how enormous, it couldn’t be worth a hundred thousand strings of cash. This was the Ninth Elder’s most direct perception. According to their understanding, this was already a massive sum of funds that could influence a nation’s rise or fall. When Li Yuan raised his rebellion, his startup capital was merely sixty thousand strings of cash. Due to blocked information, they were almost completely unfamiliar with the rapidly changing Great Tang.
Yun Ye pointed to the spot where the old man’s cane rested and said, “The carpet beneath your feet was crafted by a Persian master artisan. It is not an ordinary wool product, but cashmere. In Persia, there has always been a saying that ‘an inch of cashmere equals an inch of gold.’ The value of this enormous carpet is seven thousand silver coins, which is the seven thousand strings of cash you mentioned.”
The old man was shocked. He lowered his head to examine it carefully. Jinyang was also a half-agricultural, half-pastoral region, so how could he not know the preciousness of cashmere? After clearly seeing that the carpet beneath his feet was truly woven from cashmere, he couldn’t help but retreat two steps and sit down in his chair.
Yun Ye then pointed to the chair beneath the old man’s backside and said, “There are eight of these chairs you’re sitting on, plus the square side table where you placed your wine pot. They are all made from the most precious huangtan wood. This type of wood is extremely difficult to obtain—it’s very rare to find large-sized material. This is because after growing for a long time, huangtan becomes hollow inside, making it difficult to produce planks and square timber. This junior believes that the bright yellow color of huangtan best embodies the imperial family’s dignified magnificence—even better than purple sandalwood. The Great Emperor is His Majesty’s vehicle, so this type of wood must be used. Therefore, in the Southern Seas, His Highness Prince Wei conquered sixteen nations before we could collect enough wood to make these chairs and side tables. What do you say these chairs are worth?”
Cold sweat streamed down the Ninth Elder’s forehead. This matter involved Prince Wei’s reputation—Yun Ye absolutely would not lie about such things. Then there was only one possibility: these several chairs were truly priceless treasures. In his distracted state of mind, the tea bowl he held in his hands fell onto the chair and shattered into four or five pieces.
Yun Ye sighed and said, “With that slip of your hand, three thousand strings of cash have vanished. Master craftsman Wu Yannian of Xing Kiln exhausted his heart and blood, and only on the eve of his death did he finally comprehend the secrets of the porcelain kiln. He personally fired this set of one pot and eight cups of white porcelain. Look how thin it is—like cicada wings. When struck, it produces a metallic sound. After water is poured in, the pine and crane longevity design at the bottom of the bowl seems to come alive. After Wu Yannian finished firing this set of porcelain, before he could pass on his techniques, he died from exhaustion of his heart and blood. I spent three thousand silver coins, plus the charcoal production technique, to obtain this porcelain set. Now it is no longer complete. This peerless treasure has become an extinct masterpiece.”
Yun Ye painfully closed his eyes. He didn’t know what Zhangsun was thinking, actually using this set of cups to entertain this group of country bumpkins. This was truly a reckless waste of precious things. That damned Wu Yannian—why get so excited over firing a set of cups that he didn’t even leave behind a single word of instruction?
Not only was the Ninth Elder stunned speechless, even Zhangsun herself was half-believing and half-doubting. She glanced at her own tea bowl, then looked at the bowl shattered into several pieces. Seeing Yun Ye’s pained expression, she instructed Hong Gu to summon the eunuch in charge of porcelain. She intended to personally ask whether these tea bowls were truly so valuable.
After the eunuch entered, before he could even pay respects to Zhangsun, he saw the broken tea bowl. He let out a miserable cry and came crawling and tumbling to the chair, picked up those few porcelain fragments, held them in his hands, and wailed loudly, continuously saying, “I cannot survive, I cannot survive! This is Wu Yannian’s final masterpiece! Oh Heavens above, I cannot survive!”
Hong Gu stepped forward and slapped the eunuch across the face, which finally roused the eunuch from his maddened state. He prostrated himself before Zhangsun and continuously kowtowed, begging for his life to be spared.
“It is not your fault. This palace will not punish you. I only ask you what the value of this set of porcelain bowls is.”
The eunuch in charge of porcelain was himself knowledgeable about porcelain. Upon hearing Zhangsun’s words, he said through his tears, “In reply to Your Majesty, this set of porcelain bowls cannot be priced at all. There is only this one set in the world. When Hong Gugu initially questioned whether Marquis Yun’s quoted price of three thousand strings of cash for the porcelain bowls was extortion, this old servant told Hong Gugu at the time that the palace had gotten a tremendous bargain. I was referring to this Pine and Crane Longevity porcelain bowl set.”
Hong Gu’s mouth fell wide open. Items sent by Yun Ye were never inspected by the palace. At the time, she had only found the price absurdly high, so she asked the old man in charge of porcelain and received the answer that it was very valuable, so she didn’t inquire further. She never imagined it would actually be this set of porcelain bowls.
“Your Majesty, this old fool was reckless and damaged priceless porcelain bowls. Please punish me, Your Majesty.” The Ninth Elder and a large group of old men all prostrated themselves on the carpet to plead guilty. This time they had truly made fools of themselves—as guests, they had destroyed their host’s treasures.
Zhangsun had Hong Gu help these old men up and said with a smile, “We are all relatives—even if bones are broken, tendons remain connected. Though the tea bowl is precious, how could it compare to the depth of our affection? You absolutely must not be like this.”
The old men who had caused trouble also had no face to linger at Zhangsun’s place. After apologizing, they withdrew. Seeing that they still seemed to harbor anger, Yun Ye called out loudly, “Be careful when you exit—the entire door is made of hualiu wood and cannot withstand forceful pushing.”
The Ninth Elder stumbled, and after a eunuch opened the door, only then did he slowly walk out. Not a single person touched those two doors, fearing that if the doors were damaged, it would be blamed on them.
Seeing that all the old fellows had left, Yun Ye quickly opened all the windows, complaining to Zhangsun, “How can Your Ladyship endure this smell? You didn’t even know to open the windows for ventilation.”
Zhangsun snorted and said, “They are all old men in their seventies and eighties who cannot withstand the cool breeze from the lake. Did you think everyone is as heartless and carefree as you? Today you used extravagance to send away these old men—perhaps they will raise even more excessive demands. They are all people who exerted great effort during the founding of the nation. His Majesty will not refuse their modest requests.”
“You don’t understand—they have no learning, no martial prowess, but they are the foundation of my Li family. The Ninth Elder’s three sons all died in battle on the battlefield. Although they did not establish any great merit, when my Li family raised their rebellion, they were the most loyal followers and the group least likely to betray.”
“Every household has children who died in battle. When the dynasty was established, because they had no remarkable achievements, when rewards were distributed, their titles were not high—most received minor titles like Viscount and such. Yet they harbored no resentment and continued to guard the ancestral tombs at Jinyang. The Grand Emperor and His Majesty both swore oaths never to fail them, so His Majesty and I are always especially lenient and accommodating toward them. As long as their requests are not excessive, we will agree.”
“They have stayed in poor remote areas year-round with blocked information. In recent years, seeing that Great Tang has become wealthy, they feel that their own and their clan members’ lives have not changed much, so they asked these several clan elders to come to Chang’an to ask His Majesty to point out some ways for them to make money. As you well know, His Majesty is not only the sovereign of Great Tang but also their clan chief. Making clan members prosperous is the clan chief’s duty. Didn’t you back then exhaust all efforts wanting to make Yun Family Village prosperous? It’s the same principle.”
Yun Ye nodded and said, “This is indeed so. These people’s relationship to His Majesty is equivalent to the common people of Yun Family Village’s relationship to this humble subject—all are foundations that naturally cannot be damaged. However, having them earn a fortune is easy; wanting them to be prosperous for generations is difficult. With talented people, even a poor mountain valley can produce a golden phoenix. Without talented people, even if you give them a gold ingot, they will still go hungry.”
Zhangsun looked at the lake surface outside the window and said, “This palace naturally knows these things. But as you saw them, the Ninth Elder is already the most intelligent clan member, yet in your presence he didn’t even have the qualifications to contend—he was frightened into helplessness by just a few of your arguments. They are all people who have never seen grand occasions, so it is difficult.”
Yun Ye suddenly laughed. Zhangsun said angrily, “What is there to laugh about? Are you very proud of frightening away several old men who have never seen the world? All these years of teaching you to respect the elderly, and you haven’t learned a thing.”
“Your Majesty, this humble subject is not laughing at those several old gentlemen. I am laughing at how our master and disciple pair have been too self-satisfied.”
Zhangsun turned back to look at Yun Ye and said, “Speak—how have we been self-satisfied?”
“Your Majesty, this humble subject once told this story to His Majesty before. It’s about a peasant woman and her husband sitting on a field ridge imagining what kind of life Your Majesty and His Majesty live. The peasant woman said that Your Majesty certainly eats scallion pancakes every day, all year round without stopping. The peasant man said His Majesty certainly carries a golden hoe to dig the earth every day.”
Having only reached this point in the story, Zhangsun laughed uncontrollably, Hong Gu also laughed until she could barely breathe, and the other palace maids laughed even more, swaying back and forth.
After finally suppressing her laughter, Zhangsun said, “If you deliberately mock this palace, just try it. Now what is the reason for making this comparison?”
“Your Majesty, this humble subject just discovered that one thousand strings of cash in Your Majesty’s and this humble subject’s eyes is different from one thousand strings of cash in those subordinates’ eyes. We thought that according to their merits, those people would want a palace, but actually they only want a blue brick and large tile house. We thought less than a million strings of cash could not satisfy them, but actually with ten thousand strings of cash they would be extremely satisfied.”
Zhangsun clapped her hands and said, “This is indeed so. Let them make their own requests—if too simple, we’ll double it; if excessive, we’ll reduce it. This truly is a good method. This way we both win people’s hearts and do not damage His Majesty’s dignity.”