Han Zhe didn’t believe Yun Ye would do something so absurd. Would a magnificent marquis of the Celestial Dynasty lower himself to become a notorious pirate? How could there possibly be such an unreliable person in the mortal world? Studying the jade pendant to figure out where the White Jade Capital was—that was what a mature man should do, not wearing stinking clothes to raid native city-states, taking away their last loincloth or their last mouthful of food.
Having always believed he came from a family of madmen, Han Zhe was now quite certain that compared to Yun Ye, his own family wasn’t crazy enough.
While studying the jade pendant, through the glass window he could clearly see Yun Ye holding his young son, feeding him. The child was very mischievous—for every mouthful fed, he would spit it out. On average, after feeding three mouthfuls, the child would swallow one. When the child completely stopped eating, Han Zhe witnessed a horrifying scene—that bowl of rice contaminated with who knows how much of the child’s saliva was rapidly swallowed by Yun Ye. Judging by his face full of smiles, it indicated no discomfort whatsoever.
Han Zhe felt somewhat nauseated. This wasn’t a normal phenomenon. Yun Ye, like himself, had a strong obsession with cleanliness. You only had to see how many times a day he washed his hands to know this habit was deeply ingrained. How could he be completely unconcerned about his child’s saliva?
What he didn’t know was that Yun Ye had been forced into this by the terrifying personal hygiene conditions in the Longxi army. Previously, he hadn’t been so particular either. No matter how crude he’d been before, at most he wore underwear for two extra days or didn’t wash his socks for a day or two—that level of slovenliness. It was completely incomparable to those in the army whose beards and hair were crawling with lice—that kind of extreme grossness. To prevent himself from becoming like that, he began gradually loving cleanliness, and became increasingly extreme about it. As for eating his own son’s leftover food, that was completely without pressure for him.
Han Zhe discovered he didn’t understand Yun Ye well enough. The pirate game he thought was a joke yesterday—this fellow was actually making active preparations for it. He saw the Yun household’s general disassemble the Eight-Ox Crossbow into a pile of unrelated items and tie them together with some wood. They were also continuously collecting fire oil, preparing countless straight and round little wooden sticks, bundling them and piling them on shelves in the corners. They called it firewood, but even ghosts knew that once you attached feathers and arrowheads to these things, they became bundles of sharp arrows.
Could he really be planning to become a pirate? Han Zhe thought uncertainly.
“Yun Ye wants to travel the Great Tang for three years. Guanyin Maid, this is a bad omen. This boy wants to escape from this nest of troubles that is Chang’an. I don’t understand—what’s the difference between three years from now and now? When encountering difficulties, one should face them head-on. What’s the point of hiding? So useless, and running away for three whole years.”
Li Er saw Yun Ye’s memorial requesting leave. Seeing that Yun Ye was actually requesting three years’ leave made him very dissatisfied, especially after seeing that Fang Xuanling had approved it, his anger flared up even more.
“Your Majesty, what else can Yun Ye do? Now the Great Tang presents a flourishing scene of national peace and prosperity. If he counterattacks, this subject also believes he would have ways to counterattack. This way, the disputes of the court would inevitably spread to the localities. This hard-won golden age might very well die prematurely. It’s better for him to take a step back. Someone has to yield eventually. Yun Ye yielding like this requires much more courage than counterattacking.”
Since Yun Ye was mentioned, Zhangsun rarely helped the Emperor analyze the situation. The Empress hadn’t said such words in quite a long time. Li Er, suddenly hearing the Empress actually respond, said with a smile: “You have such confidence in your own disciple? Don’t you know? That petty fellow is about to empty Chang’an city. Apart from firewood, rice, oil, and salt, whose prices haven’t moved, all other prices have skyrocketed. I heard pork prices have exploded to twice their original cost. When the neighborhood folks argued with the butcher, who knew his reasons were more sufficient than theirs, and he even threatened them saying if they want to buy, do it quickly—who knows, it might increase again tomorrow.”
“If Your Majesty is worried, just issue a document to stop it. Why use it to disparage this subject? Pork can’t even reach Your Majesty’s dining table.”
“I’ve eaten plenty of pork these past few years too. I don’t care if he hauls everything to Yuezhou. As long as it’s on the Great Tang’s territory, it’s all mine. I’m just speaking casually. Government affairs, when you get down to it, are all about advancing and retreating. I just feel Yun Ye is retreating too harshly—don’t let him retreat until he loses all his confidence. Guanyin Maid, tell me what this boy is really thinking? I always feel this big step backward of his is probably not simple.”
The Yun Family members kept their mouths tight. Outsiders didn’t yet know about the whole family going on a journey. Everyone could understand the tenant farmers splitting off to go to Yuezhou—with a large family and great fortune, branches must spread. Whether a large or small family, everyone eventually had to take this step.
The Yun Family’s fief was only two thousand three hundred mu—this was already the limit for a Marquis, even a bit much. But no one in court ever seized on this point to fiercely attack Yun Ye, because this matter couldn’t withstand investigation. As long as you put the field acreage numbers out in the open, everyone’s backside was dirty. Even Linghu Defen, who hated Yun Ye most, didn’t dare grab this little tail.
It wasn’t strange that Yun Family members kept flooding toward Yuezhou. Many families in the capital were doing the same—the Cheng Family, the Qin Family, the Yuchi Family, all were like this. Only the Niu Family hadn’t moved. Instead, they exchanged Yuezhou assets for the other four families’ assets in Chang’an. Old Niu said his family had few people and couldn’t manage everything.
Chang’an’s marketplace was very depressed. There were many people but few goods, yet prices were expensive. Wei Zheng’s carriage traveled through the West Market. All he heard were sounds of cursing. Merchants laughed hehe and let you curse, but as soon as you mentioned price, they bit down firmly—fixed price, no negotiation.
“These days, wanting to eat a bite of tofu has become a luxury wish. Only the Zhang Family is selling it, and the price is thirty percent more than before. If the Ji Family and the Lu Family who sells dumpling tofu hadn’t gone to Yuezhou, who would give the Zhang Family a second glance?”
“There’s no helping it. Chang’an isn’t a good place to do business. Going to Yuezhou is appropriate too. If my leather workshop didn’t have to stay near the grasslands, I’d go to Yuezhou too. I heard that there, as long as you can physically endure it, you can stay open continuously for a year without anyone asking questions. In Chang’an? Once that broken drum sounds, we have to close. If you’re a bit late, those damned Wuhou will whip you.”
“Rich people have all gone to Yuezhou. What’s left in Chang’an are either the wealthiest or paupers. The things we sell, the nobles look down on, and poor families can’t afford. There’s no way to do business. Once Yuezhou city is completely built, we might as well go to Yuezhou too. We’re people who need to eat—we have to follow the customers.”
For the first time, the ancient city of Chang’an was being impacted by an outlying city. This was unacceptable to the always-proud people of Chang’an. Whether you accepted it or not, the facts were laid before you. Unable to resist the great tide, you could only drift with the current.
Previously, there had been debate about whether the capital should be in Chang’an or whether Luoyang would be more convenient. This discussion had never stopped over the years. Now it seemed there was another option—Yuezhou. It only circulated among the common people; official families just laughed it off. This was truly absurd nonsense. When Yun Ye originally designed Yuezhou, he never thought it would become the capital. This was a purely commercial city—compared to Chang’an, it lacked some solemnity and grandeur.
Wei Zheng planned to pass through Zhaoguo Ward to return home. Previously, this place was filled all day with the clanging sounds of iron being hammered. Today when he entered, these familiar sounds were gone. The entire ward was eerily quiet, full of garbage everywhere. Wind blew in through the gate openings, rags danced with the wind, like a ghostly realm.
A stooped old man searched through the garbage for usable waste. Seeing an official carriage approaching, he quickly stepped aside. The carriage stopped beside the old man. Wei Zheng lifted the carriage curtain and asked: “Old brother, where have all the people in Zhaoguo Ward gone? Why have all the blacksmith shops disappeared? Why are there only empty houses?”
“Replying to the official, they’ve all left. They all went to Yuezhou to make their fortune. The ward chief also left—I heard he went to Yuezhou. There, an entire street will be iron workshops. Everyone gathering together makes business easier. They can look after each other and take on big orders too, so they all left. They sold the property here to the Dugu Family. I heard they plan to demolish it and build gardens. People came to look yesterday. Now in the ward, only this old man remains to open and close the gates.”
Wei Zheng thanked the old man, his fists clenched tightly. He knew that this great depression in Chang’an couldn’t recover without five to seven years. Yun Ye was extracting Chang’an’s essence to replenish Yuezhou’s vitality. Yuezhou enjoyed everything ready-made. Those shops could open for business immediately upon arrival. If merchants wanted bulk materials, apart from Yuezhou, no other place could provide them.
He was punishing all the people of Chang’an city. Just because of those rumors, he viciously accomplished this step. Yuezhou’s original plan wasn’t like this. They had planned to vigorously develop fisheries, sericulture, and tea—the main purpose being to avoid conflict with Chang’an’s industries and achieve strong complementarity.
One in the south, one in the north, achieving mutual supplementation and interdependence, ultimately reaching the goal of prospering together. Back then, he had admired Yun Ye’s development plan immensely. Common prosperity was the good remedy that could make the Great Tang’s national power rapidly ascend.
What was this now? Chang’an filling Yuezhou? What had been agreed upon initially was that even if they had to draw away part of Chang’an’s industry, it would be done gradually. It wouldn’t become empty overnight. Just to punish those who muttered about you a couple times behind your back, you completely overthrew the previously agreed strategy. Taking advantage of the Emperor’s desire for Yuezhou to quickly prosper, you did something so conscienceless.
People shouldn’t act this way. You can’t vent your anger on the common people. This is the heart and bearing an official should have, and also the bottom line for a person to maintain their true heart and integrity. Yun Ye, how could you do this?
Others weren’t clear about it, but Wei Zheng was very clear. Merchants relocating was only the first step—the evil consequences would gradually manifest. Without workshops, many people who previously lived off workshop income would have nothing to eat. They could only go to noble families’ farmlands to till the soil. Chang’an’s tax revenue would sharply decrease. It would be impossible to produce much money to improve Chang’an’s environment. The consequence this led to was that Chang’an would become dilapidated. If the national treasury didn’t provide money, a dilapidated Chang’an wouldn’t be sufficient to shoulder the responsibility of being the capital. Perhaps Luoyang would become the next national capital.
And a Chang’an that wasn’t the capital—Wei Zheng didn’t dare imagine to what degree it would decline.