Needless to say, Cheng Chumo was also going to Loulan. The Yun Family had many warehouses, and Yun Ye had a hobby of collecting strange and peculiar items. This python skin bag was very suitable for desert travel—not only could it hold things, but most importantly, it could prevent insects, ants, and poisonous creatures. If you tied the opening tight and filled it with air, it could even be used as an air bladder.
There were many pythons in Lingnan, and the Yun Family’s merchant caravans had collected many python skins. Di Renjie, Gou Zi, and Tie Dan all needed bags like this. As for Cheng Chumo, he preferred the snakeskin horse pack. Cheng Chumo also went to the armory and took two powerful hand crossbows. He didn’t tell Yun Ye where he was going, and Yun Ye didn’t ask—military regulations still had to be observed. When Cheng Chumo met with Di Renjie and the others, they would naturally know why they were going to Loulan.
“I’ll prepare everything for you. This time you must listen to me. Take everything you can—they’re all useful things, not one can be spared. Of all the unlucky places to go, you have to go to that godforsaken place. Clearly, they’ve been treating the people there like livestock, yet they still have to pretend to value them highly. Be careful—never conflict with the border troops. If you provoke the murderous intent of those killers and they fold you up in that godforsaken place, it would be too worthless. Even if we kill all the border troops afterwards, it won’t help.”
Cheng Chumo selected a cartload of items. As he mounted his horse, Yun Ye, who had come out to see him off, gave him this reminder.
“Hehe, don’t worry. I grew up in military camps since childhood—I understand military camp rules. If something unexpected happens, I still have the ability to retreat unscathed. Our families are all military households. Although the border troops are lawless, they wouldn’t dare lay a hand on me even if you gave them the courage. Father said that as long as I can bring the Academy people back completely intact, it will be a great merit. As for other matters, naturally someone will provide answers.”
Yun Ye nodded. With Cheng Chumo, Di Renjie’s safety had an additional layer of protection. This was good. Many of Cheng Yaojin’s subordinate generals were serving as generals in the Western Regions and were very familiar with the place, unlike Yun Ye’s subordinate generals who were useless once they came ashore. Although the old master hadn’t led troops in recent years, his prestige remained. In military circles, no one dared look down on this old general with his illustrious military achievements.
In his past life, Yun Ye knew that the disappearance of Loulan was a very great mystery—many people had died without figuring it out. Now that the people of Loulan had just disappeared, perhaps some clues could be found.
However, this had nothing to do with him. Li Er had recently been paranoid, seeing everyone as a potential rebel. Whenever there was something suspicious, he wanted to get to the bottom of it. The palace had changed greatly. Some old acquaintances from before had disappeared. Now when entering the palace, if you went to the front hall you only knew Yan Song, and if you went to the rear palace, you only knew one person—Duan Hong. You didn’t recognize any of the other palace maids or eunuchs. Last time, when he sat on the white jade railing to rest a bit, a eunuch holding a whisk came over to chase him away. Although the eunuch was beaten up, the fellow still insisted that Yun Ye come down from the railing, saying while covering his face that that section of railing was his responsibility.
Who knew what Li Er was thinking? Being with the meritorious nobles seemed to give him no sense of security at all, yet when he walked alone on the main streets, sniffing here and looking there, he had not the slightest worry. When the mood struck, he would even sit at the base of a ward gate and chat idly with old men sunbathing, cursing together at the knights riding past for raising dust.
Xiao Wu made a pot of pickled vegetables, vermicelli noodles, and white meat for Di Renjie. The Great Tang’s cabbage didn’t grow large—no matter how it grew, it never looked like the future’s dozen-jin heads. The greenish things were only palm-sized. Yun Ye had wanted to eat pickled vegetables, so before winter he’d pickled a large jar. Although it also turned sour, after eating it once, Yun Ye didn’t like it at all. Originally, he could simmer it into a milky-white sour soup, which was his favorite. Now the greenish stuff made him lose his appetite just looking at it.
But the Yun Family people really liked it. In previous years, the family also pickled preserved vegetables, but the taste was a hundred and eight thousand li inferior to what the family head pickled. Especially Di Renjie—he most loved eating pickled vegetables, vermicelli noodles, and white meat, and never tired of eating it. Xiao Wu’s taste was somewhat like Yun Ye’s—she wouldn’t eat anything unless it had complete color, aroma, and flavor.
Holding a bowl of noodles, he squatted under the eaves waiting to watch it snow. Xiao Ya twisted her waist as she passed in front of him. The ugly girl finally knew how to dress up. Wearing a waist-hugging pale yellow襦裙, with a pure white fox fur coat over it, she actually made the ugly girl look beautiful. Xiao Ya’s enormous activity level had created her exquisite figure. Who knew if she’d used some kind of divine device—her chest, which ordinarily didn’t show at all, actually had some fullness now. “Women adorn themselves for those who appreciate them”—this was the truth.
After finishing a bowl of rice, the snow still hadn’t fallen. Xiao Ya had already walked back and forth three or four times. Yun Ye irritably threw the rice bowl on the ground and said to Xiao Ya in bad humor, “I’ve seen it—very pretty. You’ll enchant Li You to death. Can you wear a bit more? What family’s young lady runs around everywhere with a bare neck? Aren’t you afraid of catching cold from the wind?”
Xiao Ya immediately pounced over and clung to Yun Ye’s back acting spoiled. She was showing her bare neck to her brother precisely because sister-in-law was holding her dowry and wouldn’t let her use it. There was a string of pink pearls she wanted to wear right now.
“It’s already called a dowry—what are you scheming now? Who ever heard of wearing a pearl necklace for warmth? It’s about to snow. Outside it’s so cold you can’t even stretch out your hands. If you catch cold from the wind, how will you go deliver food to Li You?”
Xiao Ya left dejectedly, very properly taking her brother’s rice bowl away with her. Yun Shou, leading two household servants, prepared to go out. Seeing his father in the corridor, he said loudly, “Father, your son is going to inspect the estate. A heavy snow is about to fall, and several newly arrived families haven’t finished building their houses—they’re living in grass sheds. Your son is going to see if they’re sturdy or not.”
This had to be permitted. My son knows to care about our family’s tenant farmers, although I know the possibility of him running to the hillside to chase wild chickens is greater. Old Qian, standing to the side watching, was very moved. He wiped his eyes and said to Yun Ye, “Your Lordship, look—this is our family’s young master. At such a young age, he already knows to worry about country and people. The entire estate’s people are enjoying blessings following our family. Within a hundred years or so, our family will only prosper.”
Hearing these words, Yun Ye only wanted to cry. Throughout the world, the tenant farmers were living vigorously and energetically, while only the meritorious nobles and officials lived in constant trepidation. Li Er advocated that officials be frugal—even the free midday meal was eliminated. He also said that having charcoal braziers in rooms was too warm and could easily make officials develop lazy attitudes, so the coal supply was reduced by half. When Yun Ye went to the Ministry of Personnel to handle affairs, he discovered that the clerks there were all frozen like turtles, their long runny noses dripping as they wrote crookedly.
Could it be this was the New Life Movement? The Ministry of War office under the Ministry of Personnel’s jurisdiction had come to Yun Ye’s turn for duty watch. Originally, several Vice Ministers could handle the rotation, but these fellows were all on sick leave. Who knew if they were really ill—each one claimed to be old and frail. So the strong and vigorous Lingnan Navy Commander Yun Ye, who had been slacking off for years and never gone to watch duty at the office, now sat high in the main hall. The Minister of War was Du Ruhui. The old gentleman was extremely busy—he couldn’t even manage all the Secretariat affairs, so generally he didn’t manage the Ministry of War’s trivial matters. Handling practical affairs were several Vice Ministers of War. Yun Ye also held this nominal official rank.
Peng Wenshou, a Director in the Armory Bureau, came over carrying a large stack of documents and placed them on Yun Ye’s desk, saying, “To have Marquis Yun presiding over the Ministry of War is truly this humble official’s blessing. These documents have been here for some time now. If they’re not reviewed soon, I fear they’ll cause trouble. Longzhong, Hexi, and Huainan armories are all reporting emergencies. This subordinate official worries that the府兵 training at the start of spring will be affected.”
“Old Peng, you’ve been the Armory Director long enough. This isn’t our first or second time dealing with each other—we’re brothers stirring the ladle in the same pot. Tell me honestly, what the hell are those three bastards Han Yuan, Lu Chengqing, and Yang Hongli up to? What are they hiding from? Tell me honestly, and I’ll handle some official documents according to the actual situation. If you conceal things, I’ll immediately have a stroke and can only go home to recuperate quietly. I know that if matters aren’t resolved, the one who suffers is you, not me. The rod will strike your buttocks and won’t concern me one penny.”
Peng Wenshou seemed to know Yun Ye would ask this. He said helplessly to Yun Ye, “Your Lordship, last year because of the Hou Junji affair, His Majesty cut the armory budget by ten percent. This time what was cut wasn’t like before—cutting empty allocations—it was a solid cut. Everyone eats military rice. For the sake of Hou Junji’s family’s lives, we held our noses and accepted it. But this spring, the Ministry of Revenue directly intercepted ten percent of our Ministry of War’s budget, causing insufficient military equipment supply. Liaodong, the Western Regions, and the grasslands—these three places absolutely cannot lack military equipment. Prince Jiangxia is using troops in Nanzhao, so military equipment can only be fully supplied, not owed. Who dares not fully supply the Sixteen Guards’ military equipment? So Longzhong, Hexi, and Huainan—these three places’ armories can only be empty as rats run through them.”
“With nothing to give people, these three places press urgently. The Commandants are already clamoring to submit memorials to His Majesty to appeal, wanting to ask if all that missing military equipment was embezzled by the Ministry of War. This matter was a deal made between the Ministry of War and those big shots—it really can’t be put on the table for discussion, so Vice Minister Han, Vice Minister Lu, and Vice Minister Yang can only claim illness.”
Yun Ye laughed. If it were other matters, he wouldn’t dare make decisions recklessly, but involving Hou Junji and the Sixteen Guards, Yun Ye felt very confident making decisions. The Sixteen Guards never lacked military equipment. He himself had come from the Left Martial Guard—how could he not know the inside story? The Directorate of Imperial Manufactories’ weapons had always prioritized arming the Sixteen Guards. These budgets didn’t belong to the Ministry of War but belonged to the imperial Privy Treasury’s budget. Zhangsun had seemed to become interested in government affairs these past two years, and the Privy Treasury’s power was growing larger and larger. Others might think Zhangsun’s ambition was at work, but Yun Ye knew all this was Li Er manipulating things. He planned to conquer the world once, then buy it once.
Yun Ye had Peng Wenshou find the armory supply documents for these three places. On them, he approved the authorization to transport supplies. Then he found the Sixteen Guards’ documents and rejected their request for military equipment. Then he closed the documents and handed them to Old Peng.
Peng Wenshou opened them, glanced at them, and asked Yun Ye in surprise, “Not giving the Sixteen Guards even one piece of military equipment?”
“Not giving. Not one piece. If they want military equipment, let them come ask me for it. I approved this—I’m responsible!”
How could Peng Wenshou not know the fact that the Sixteen Guards didn’t lack military equipment at all? He gave Yun Ye a deep bow, then clutching the documents, quickly walked out. He wanted to settle this matter as quickly as possible to avoid trouble.