Li Er’s enthusiasm for the excursion remained undiminished. Those suffering from seasickness would have to continue enduring their misery. Only after the Great Emperor entered the vast misty expanse of Dongting Lake did it finally have the feeling of a dragon entering the sea. Five sails caught the wind fully, raising the Great Emperor’s speed to its maximum.
Yun Ye hid behind Li Er, unwilling to expose himself before others. The eyes of those meritorious nobles on the ship were all bloodshot now, including Li Er himself. Just now, when the giant warship passed Junshan, Li Er casually asked whether this island was still in the government’s hands. The honest Guan Tinglong very straightforwardly told everyone that Junshan had already been sold to the Yun family.
Upon hearing this fact, Li Er glared resentfully at Yun Ye once and said nothing more. Anyone could see that the Emperor was very displeased. Li Er’s expressions generally were not revealed, but when it came to Yun Ye, his joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness were obviously displayed on his face. He was waiting for Yun Ye to give him an explanation. He had finally settled the land controversy in Chang’an with great difficulty, yet at this time Yun Ye was extensively acquiring land in Yuezhou. This clearly showed no regard for his painstaking efforts.
Yun Ye had no intention of explaining. The plains of Junshan were of no use to him whatsoever. Originally, it was Guan Tinglong who forcibly stuffed it into his hands. Rather than calling it a treasure land, it would be better to call it trouble. If Li Er truly was unwilling to sell Junshan to the Yun family, Yun Ye decided to surrender all the plain land. The plains were of no use to him—the best tea leaves all grew on the mountains. The plain land was all used to settle refugees. He had earned himself a notorious reputation, yet Junshan still belonged to those fishermen. It was somewhat unjust. Guan Tinglong would explain clearly on his behalf. These people hadn’t even heard the rest of Guan Tinglong’s words clearly—if he explained himself, it would only make things worse.
“Your Majesty, selling Junshan to Marquis Yun is one of this humble subject’s political achievements!” Guan Tinglong stroked his beard and proudly reported his merit to Li Er.
“Oh?” Li Er turned his head to look at Guan Tinglong and said, “Selling such a large island that is like a human paradise to a private individual—I very much want to hear where exactly your achievement lies. Could it be that you sold it for a great deal of silver?”
“Your Majesty, not only did this humble subject not receive a single coin for Junshan Island, but on the contrary, I expended a large amount of labor, constructing roads and docks on the island. I also promised that within three years it would enjoy the same tax exemption benefits as Yuezhou. Only then did I persuade Marquis Yun to take over Junshan Island. Your Majesty, you may not have understood clearly. Let this humble subject put it this way: Junshan is Yuezhou’s greatest burden. It is far from Yuezhou, far from the lakeshore, sparsely populated, and a breeding ground for mosquitoes and insects. If the prefecture city needs to govern it, it requires tremendous manpower and material resources. The output compared to the investment is simply not worthwhile. If not governed, this island would immediately become a thieves’ den. Moreover, to reduce ship disasters on Dongting Lake, the prefecture city constructed a lighthouse on the highest peak, Mount Laojun. This way, merchant ships coming down the Yangtze River can also navigate at night, which greatly benefits Yuezhou’s shipping. What Your Majesty now sees is Junshan’s extraordinary beauty, but you do not know that the mosquitoes and flies on this island cover the sky at dusk. When Daoist Sun traveled south, he personally landed on this island and told this humble subject that this island was the source of Yuezhou’s epidemics. Except for being transformed from waste to treasure in Marquis Yun’s hands, no one else has this ability. This humble subject puts his words here: which high talent is willing to take it over? This humble subject will immediately go change the documents. When that document was signed back then, it was this humble subject who used force and chicanery, relying on my old face to get it done. I wonder which gentleman is willing to take it over?”
Guan Tinglong also perceived that something seemed wrong. He had been laughing and joking at first, but toward the end his tone became increasingly severe.
Yun Ye smiled and cupped his hands toward everyone, indicating his agreement with Guan Tinglong’s statement. Li Er never knew what embarrassment was. Just moments ago he had been petty-mindedly calculating his own gains and losses, but in this moment he changed to an approving expression. Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and the others were the same. Yun Ye had originally thought his own face was thick enough to mix in at court, but now it seemed far from sufficient.
He felt somewhat melancholic. After all these years together, he still had not obtained pure trust. Perhaps this kind of monster called an emperor had never trusted anyone. They were all power monsters. Zhu Yuanzhang said it well: “With golden cups we drink together, but white blades show no mercy!” Only this phrase could truly explain the emperor’s mentality.
In Yuezhou City, there were guard posts every ten steps and sentries every five steps. Yellow earth paved the roads and pure water sprinkled the streets. Countless officials from over a hundred wards set up incense tables at the market entrances, covered with offerings, to welcome the Emperor—the same ceremony as welcoming the Kitchen God. Yuezhou’s ward markets differed little from Chang’an’s, except they lacked high ward walls and the bells and drums for curfew.
In the end, Guan Tinglong did not place the Emperor’s temporary palace in a watery hollow. Instead, he selected the best piece of land beneath Dulong Peak, which was also Yuezhou City’s highest point. It resembled Taiji Palace. Unlike Wanmin Hall, it had no upturned flying eaves. The entire structure was built entirely of bluestone—simple yet grand, hidden behind tall trees, quite secluded.
Eunuchs and palace maids who had arrived early had already cleaned the entire palace spotlessly. Zhangsun Chong, as the guard officer, specially waited at the palace gate to welcome the Emperor’s arrival.
Li Er descended from the magnificent sedan chair. Every time he passed through a ward market, he drank a cup of wine, ate a bite of the offerings, and chatted a few words with prominent figures and elders. By the time he reached the palace gate, he was already somewhat intoxicated.
For some unknown reason, after the Emperor entered the temporary palace, Zhangsun ordered the palace gates closed. Behind closed doors, who knew what they were pondering? The petition of ten thousand people and the celebration ceremony that Guan Tinglong had prepared had no place to be used.
Yun Ye and Li Tai waited at the back gate for the Emperor and Empress. Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui also wore everyday clothes. This was the Emperor’s temperament—he disliked grand welcoming ceremonies and specifically enjoyed secretly spying on people’s private affairs. He had done this more than once or twice. Deceiving outsiders like Guan Tinglong was possible, but trying to fool Yun Ye, Li Tai, Fang Xuanling, and Du Ruhui was somewhat difficult.
After waiting only a short while, they saw Duan Hong dressed as a servant appear at the back gate. Immediately after, Hong Gu, already in her thirties, came out from inside with her hair tied in two buns. More than ten burly men in blue robes passed in front of everyone as if nothing was amiss and dispersed into the small alleys ahead.
Li Er very ostentatiously wore a set of black robes and stepped out of the palace gate, followed by Zhangsun wearing a conical hat. Li Er was not at all surprised by the formation before him. With a wave of his hand, the group followed the alley and merged into the bustling Yuezhou City.
Kicking door posts, picking at paint, drawing up a bucket of water from a well to taste—sometimes he even ordered those blue-robed men to pull up a flower or plant from a flowerbed to study carefully.
“This tree has been growing for at least five years.” Li Er looked at the pine tree in the guard’s hands, waved his hand to indicate it could be thrown away, but it was already too late. Two fierce-looking fellows walked over and very politely demanded that Li Er pay fifty large coins for the pine tree. These two men were the constables of Yuezhou City.
Seeing those guards about to get angry, Yun Ye quickly pulled out a silver coin and placed it in the big man’s outstretched hand. Only then did the big man nod and say, “Just looking is fine—why pull up trees? The soil layer in the city is thin. It’s not easy to grow a tree successfully. You’re all well-dressed gentlemen, yet you’re even more inconsiderate than those country bumpkins.”
Having said this, he still seized that small pine tree from the guard’s hands, found a shovel, and replanted it. Only then did he swagger past Li Er. Yun Ye had been breaking into a cold sweat for these two the whole time. Just now when they picked up the shovels, at least ten crossbows had been aimed at their vital points.
“Your Majesty, these things cannot be faked. Please stop picking at the paint on people’s memorial arches. This memorial arch belongs to Old Man Liang’s family. They would never be sloppy about things on their storefront. You can see many people are already giving us dirty looks. If you want to see Yuezhou City’s level of prosperity, you only need to visit Yuhua Street to know. There’s no need to inspect like this.”
“You don’t understand. Observe the large from the small. Back then, the court consumed a full five hundred and sixty thousand strings of cash in Yuezhou. Although a large part of it was what you seized from the tiger’s mouth, I still must inspect Yuezhou, because building such a purely new city is an unprecedented undertaking. It is a benchmark for Great Tang’s future construction of new cities. There can be no carelessness.”
“On Yuhua Street, if not imperial family shops, then your shops. Just by looking at the account books, one knows the degree of business prosperity. The imperial family’s silk gauze and cotton cloth, the raw silk and tung oil from Qing Que’s fief, various treasures and spices from your Yun family, iron goods from the Zhangsun family, medicinal herbs from Minister Fang’s family, grain shops from Minister Du’s family—I have already investigated these. These are not the focus of my visit to Yuezhou. What I want to see is Yuezhou’s people’s livelihood—to see the true living conditions of the common people here.”
“This city is a grafted city. As long as it doesn’t bring calamity to the nation and harm the people, it can already be considered successful. Its location is special—it is the lock and key of the Yangtze River, the gateway to Dongting. For the Two Lakes region to completely transform and for the common people to benefit from it requires such a great city to drive development. Administration, people’s livelihood, taxation, law, and garrisoned troops—all these vital points need to be examined one by one.”
“Looking from the large perspective, one cannot see clearly. I built this Yuezhou City not to make the meritorious nobles wealthy, but to see, after the nobles take away the greatest profits, how much the common people can gain.”
Yun Ye bowed his head to receive instruction. Regarding these political matters, he actually was not clear. Li Er and Fang Xuanling were the great experts. On Yuhua Street, one could indeed see wealth and prosperity, but one could not see Yuezhou’s true face. Li Er was right—whether a city is good or bad cannot be judged by just a few large merchants. The dark side behind prosperity is what truly needs to be cared about.
On Shuiyun Street lived families who all made their living from water transport. The bluestone slabs had been smeared with spilled tung oil until their original appearance could not be seen. Barefoot men with naked upper bodies constantly shuttled through this street. The heavy cargo on their shoulders and backs bent their bodies slightly. Although the work was heavy, their faces showed unconcealed satisfaction. The Emperor had come, and merchants from various places were competing to take advantage of this opportunity to stock goods. Merchant ships at the dock stretched as far as the eye could see. What did a little tiredness matter? After sleeping, their strength would grow back again.
Li Er stopped to watch those porters tremblingly transport cargo, looking at the pigs and sheep being unloaded from the ships. He was very satisfied. Seeing laborers struggling to drive the livestock, occasionally being knocked over by a pig, he laughed with great delight.