Spring quickly passed. Wu She brought Yun Ye some good news—Wu Se’s son had actually struggled through spring alive, and his spirits were even becoming increasingly robust. Although his appearance was still as aged as ever, his withered, gaunt face now had a luster to it, like tree leaves after spring rain. Perhaps this was vitality.
Government affairs were always tedious. In the mountains of Hailing County, bandits who occupied the mountains as kings had appeared. The Governor of Yangzhou wanted to mobilize militia troops, and moreover stated in his memorial that it would be best to thoroughly kill these bandits to eliminate future troubles.
Yun Ye unhesitatingly approved the deployment of a thousand militia troops on the document transferred to him. However, those being dispatched were not Yangzhou militia but rather the neighboring Chuzhou militia. But these people must capture the bandits alive as much as possible. The reason was that those bandits were former militia soldiers, moreover people who had withdrawn from Goguryeo.
People who had experienced life-and-death hardships had witnessed too much slaughter and death, so they would greatly treasure their own lives. How could they possibly do such a self-destructive thing? And who would be clearer than them about how terrifying the court’s army was?
Rebelling when the Great Tang’s military power was at its peak was actually equivalent to suicide. Yun Ye was very interested to know what reason had given these veterans the idea of occupying the mountains as kings.
The official document said these hundred or so people had served in Goguryeo for four years and were extremely vicious bandits. They had killed a local famous wealthy household, abducted several women, and once attempted to attack Hailing County to establish a foothold. As a result, they were jointly repelled by the county magistrate and local gentry, and finally had no choice but to retreat into Solitary Mountain for self-preservation?
After Yun Ye obtained a map and glanced at the map of Hailing County, he slammed his fist on the desk. Hailing County was flat as far as the eye could see, with many lakes and swamps within its borders, but no mountains. The nearest mountain was in Jingjiang—a tiny hilltop, hardly a place to hide people. If before this was only suspicion, now it was certain—these people had been forced into rebellion. Where had the military acumen of battle-hardened veterans gone? Entering swamps or lakes would be a hundred times better than defending on a mound of earth. This was a posture of waiting for others to come exterminate them.
“Summon Marquis Liancheng Zhang Jian for me!” Yun Ye picked up the maps scattered on the ground and placed them back on the desk. He instructed the clerk, then sat behind the desk waiting for Zhang Jian. These people were all his subordinates—let’s see what he had to say.
In no time, Zhang Jian walked in with a chuckle, cupping his hands toward Yun Ye: “Brother Buqi, long time no see.”
“Don’t speak such idle talk. We military families don’t practice these customs. Just call me Yun Ye. Come look at this memorial, then look at this map, and tell me what you plan to do.”
Zhang Jian approached in puzzlement. He didn’t understand why Yun Ye would let him see a memorial to the Ministry of War. Although he also held the rank of Minister of War, he worked in the Ministry of Revenue and by rights should not interfere in Ministry of War affairs.
When he finished reading the memorial, his face darkened. He hastily glanced at the map, and his entire face turned purple. In the Battle of Liaodong, fewer than ten thousand veterans had persevered with him for four years, and now a hundred or so had gotten into trouble. As the commanding general, he had made promises to the remaining soldiers. How could he not be both alarmed and enraged?
Before Zhang Jian could speak, Yun Ye showed Zhang Jian the document he had approved. After Zhang Jian read it, his complexion finally improved somewhat. He cupped his hands and said, “I am deeply grateful for Marquis Yun’s generous consideration. I will immediately have my deputy general go to Hailing County to capture all the rebels and escort them to the capital to await His Majesty’s judgment.”
Yun Ye nodded, then had the clerk seal the official document with fire lacquer and send it to Chuzhou by three-hundred-li express. He believed Zhang Jian would definitely be able to persuade his old subordinates to surrender before the Chuzhou militia reached Hailing County.
Rubbing his temples, he sighed. As soon as the realm was at peace, a civil-military dispute immediately appeared. If not for the world-wide attack on Tang, the civil officials might have already achieved victory. A regional commander without financial authority or local administrative power could only huddle in military camps with his army training troops. His power and influence were far less than before, and he received less and less respect.
This was something Li Er was consciously promoting. It could be said this was the great trend of the realm—no one could change it. Yun Ye sighed. That he, a military general, served as Minister of War was probably also related to his appearance of being neither fully civil nor fully military.
Du Ruhui had completely stopped concerning himself with government affairs. Every day he moved among the homes of nobles, exchanging various bronze vessels, stone tablets, and jade objects everywhere. The rest of his time he burrowed into Yushan Academy, burying himself in the library with ears that heard nothing outside the window, styling himself the “Man of No Affairs Mountain.”
It was said that Fang Xuanling greatly envied Du Ruhui’s current life. He had tried to retire three or four times, but was refused by Li Er each time. With no alternative, he could only continue being submerged in mountains of documents and seas of meetings at the Secretariat, styling himself the “Literary Ox” as self-mockery in his suffering.
Yun Ye’s arrival made Fang Xuanling extremely pleased. Although being chief minister was incomparably prestigious, mental and physical labor could by no means be escaped. Being able to steal a moment of leisure was also a great pleasure…
“In the Eastern Sea there is a type of fish called yellow croaker. This kind of fish has a characteristic—it can sing. When first heard, it sounds like melodious zither music. On closer listening, it also seems like someone blowing a whistle. If you accidentally interrupt the yellow croaker’s performance, they will emit sounds like a cat’s meow. If you continue disturbing the yellow croaker’s singing, their song will change into a grinding, gnashing sound. It’s very miraculous.”
Yun Ye drank a mouthful of hot tea and began telling Fang Xuanling strange tales and anecdotes. The old man lately most enjoyed hearing these.
“In early Zhenguan Year Nine, the Great Tang’s invincible fierce general Yun Ye returned from his expedition against the Southern Sea tribes. Unfortunately, he encountered a waterspout. At that time heaven and earth were inverted, the water dragon rushed skyward, and fish weighing ten thousand jin were seized up into mid-air by the water dragon—it was nearly a cataclysmic disaster. Yun Ye lived up to his name as fierce general. He lashed himself to the mast and shouted commands directing the fleet to evade. The fleet navigated with difficulty through gaps in the waterspout. Seawater poured onto the ships, and the sails went up to the blue sky. Fortunately, thanks to Yun Ye’s proper command, the fleet was safe. It’s just that the fierce general Yun Ye was knocked unconscious by a yellow croaker and could not see people for a month!”
“That yellow croaker is this yellow croaker? Did it sing to you before knocking you unconscious?”
Fang Xuanling was always like this. Relying on his astonishing memory, large and small matters that occurred at court could not escape his eyes. This was his capital for making a living. But such vicious exposure of someone’s shortcomings was too much.
“Prime Minister Fang, I was making an analogy. Yellow croakers singing is true. Why do you speak of other matters instead?”
“That Marquis Yun was knocked unconscious by a yellow croaker is also true. This old man is also responding to your analogy. As for the story of yellow croakers singing, this old man will accept it with a smile. Do you know? This old man recently plans to write a book—not proper history, not commentaries on classics, not distinguishing ancient words, and not discussing court politics. I wholeheartedly collect strange tales and odd theories from throughout the realm, compile them into volumes, and make people laugh—that’s sufficient. Who has the time to discuss with you whether the east wind prevails over the west wind or the west wind prevails over the east wind? What does it have to do with this old man?”
After Fang Xuanling finished speaking, he laughed holding his belly. He truly lived up to his name as an old fox.
“The matter of a hundred-some soldiers will naturally have someone clean house. Haven’t you already handled it very well? Further talk is useless. Better to accompany this old man in a game of hand conversation.”
Hearing Fang Xuanling say this, Yun Ye turned and left. The old fellow was a terrible chess player, yet could still beat him. Whenever he saw the old fellow, he would inevitably be dragged to the chessboard to be abused. Today he couldn’t get a definite answer from him—better to leave early and not give him a chance to abuse him.
Returning to the Ministry of War, Yun Ye discovered he would have been better off accompanying Fang Xuanling at chess. Two vice ministers brought a thick stack of account books, saying this was last year’s accumulated food allowance remainder, asking how the Minister wished to handle it.
The so-called food allowance remainder was the surplus left over from everyone eating official meals. Yun Ye opened the account book and looked directly at the final balance. When he discovered the final balance was only one hundred eighty-six silver coins, he completely exploded.
Over six hundred people in the Ministry of War eating official meals, and after eating for an entire year only a hundred-some silver coins remained. It wasn’t because the amount was too small, but because bothering him over this little money—if divided, each person wouldn’t get even half a silver coin. Saying it out loud wouldn’t even be enough to lose face over.
“Take it and buy me a decent fishing rod and send it over. I plan to go fishing.”
“Using public funds for private purposes is probably not good!” Duan Hu had a face black as a dead person. Everyone in his family had this disposition—accustomed to being poor and stingy.
“Then buy you a fishing rod to go fishing, is that acceptable?” Having just been slighted by a superior, why couldn’t he lose his temper at his subordinates?
“The Duan family has never touched a single wen of public funds for personal benefit. Could this be your habit, Marquis Yun?”
The Emperor making Duan Hu the Left Vice Minister of War was simply making things difficult for Yun Ye. Yun Ye’s temperament was too flexible, so he felt it necessary to assign someone more rigid to balance Yun Ye. Only now did Yun Ye discover—this fellow wasn’t rigid, he was purely a block of wood, moreover a piece of ironwood without any holes.
Yun Ye lowered his head and looked again at the amount of money, then took out the account book and looked at the Ministry of War’s total number of people. He discovered an interesting phenomenon—no matter how he divided the money by the number of people, it couldn’t divide evenly. There was always a remainder at the end. This fellow Duan Hu might have no problem marching and fighting, but when it came to numerical calculations it was a complete mess. He could only be a general in the army.
“You divide this money. Remember that each person cannot receive less. Since it’s everyone’s money, then everyone gets a share. Each person must receive neither more nor less, and there must be no remainder. I’m most reassured leaving this matter to you.”
Just after arranging things, Li Chengqian walked in. He picked up the account book, glanced at it, and said to Yun Ye, “Don’t bully honest people. Old Duan is simple-minded. How do you expect him to handle the remaining money? The Duan family are stubborn people—if he can’t complete a military order, he’ll slit his own throat. Don’t make such jokes with him.”
After speaking, he pulled out a silver coin from his pocket and handed it to Duan Hu, saying this was a reward from the Crown Prince to add into last year’s accounts.
Duan Hu didn’t accept the Crown Prince’s silver coin. He stared at Yun Ye and said, “Although Old Duan is stupid, I can still divide this little money.”
Yun Ye really wanted to see how Duan Hu would divide the money. Who would have thought that Duan Hu would turn around and toss the account book to the Right Vice Minister of War, Old Liao, repeating to him the words Yun Ye had just said, and only then turn back to look at Yun Ye with a cold laugh.
Li Chengqian couldn’t stop laughing. Dragging the very sour-faced Yun Ye out of the Ministry of War’s gate, he headed straight for the Eastern Palace. With only a wall between them, they quickly arrived at his home. Before they had even settled down, Li Chengqian said with a great laugh, “Something big has happened.”