When the first white snow began to fall, the Yun family still opened their main gate wide to welcome the arrival of the imperial envoy, who turned out to be their old acquaintance Tang Jian.

Dressed in blue robes, Yun Ye stood in the central courtyard waiting for Tang Jian to proclaim the imperial edict. The old fellow had been showing a tendency to grow younger with each passing year these past two years. His bearskin cloak was sleek and glossy, with snowflakes sliding right off it without any accumulation, unlike Yun Ye who after standing for just a short while already had a head full of white snow, appearing even more aged than Tang Jian.

“Lord Tang has undertaken this arduous journey of ten thousand li without complaint, maneuvering strategically across the grasslands, reducing the Xueyantuo envoys to ashes with a mere gesture—truly masterful tactics. I congratulate the Great Tang, and I congratulate Lord Tang!”

Tang Jian seemed not to hear Yun Ye’s words. He removed his great cloak and tossed it to the young man behind him. The youth grinned at Yun Ye with a mouthful of white teeth. After looking carefully for quite some time, Yun Ye discovered to his surprise that it was actually Qu Zhuo, the Academy’s young servant. Three months ago, a group of Academy students had entered the central departments of the Great Tang for service, but Qu Zhuo shouldn’t have been among them—he wasn’t a student and didn’t have that qualification.

“Are you feeling uncomfortable seeing your accomplished disciple achieve merit on the grasslands? Making you travel ten thousand li is almost like killing you, so you needn’t think about establishing achievements and building your career. We came because His Majesty specifically instructed us to let you know the whole story, lest you only set fires in the future without caring about the aftermath.”

Qu Zhuo is my disciple? And he went to the grasslands and accomplished great deeds? Yun Ye widened his eyes and looked again at the tall and elegant Qu Zhuo. Sure enough, this fellow stood under the corridor holding the bearskin cloak with lowered brows and a faint smile, displaying a disgusting appearance that said “I’m very pleased, I’m very proud, but I must be humble.”

Now was not the time to expose him. He had gone under the Academy’s name, and regardless of anything else, it had already become reality. To expose him now would do more harm than good.

“Lord Tang, please leave this troublesome disciple of mine behind later. I need to properly question him about some of his studies on the grasslands.”

He glanced at Qu Zhuo, ignoring his obsequious smile, and proceeded directly into the inner residence with Tang Jian.

“I’ve been frozen the entire journey! In that barbarian land, snow flies in the eighth month. For three whole months I could only eat meat, not seeing a single green vegetable. First bring this old man some vegetable dishes, and also a pot of your family’s good wine. We’ll eat while we talk. As for disciplining your student, there’s plenty of time—you can discipline him after this old man has eaten and drunk his fill.”

Whenever an imperial envoy arrived, it was inevitable that they would have a meal at the Yun residence. This had practically become a rule. Looking at Tang Jian’s dusty and travel-worn appearance, it was clear he had just returned to the capital and, without even going home, had been dispatched to the Yun residence by Li Er.

Food and wine were laid out in moments. In the very center was a large plate of dumplings, which left Tang Jian puzzled. “Marquis Yun, it’s neither New Year nor a festival—why are there wonton dumplings? Could there be some story behind this that this old man doesn’t know?”

“Naturally there is. ‘Dumplings for those coming home, noodles for those leaving’—it’s a common saying. The Yun family are country folk. Lord Tang has returned from ten thousand li away, so naturally we must entertain you with dumplings. What wonton dumplings—that’s what city people call them. My family just calls them dumplings.”

“Ha ha ha! So this old man was ignorant! Marquis Yun’s kind intention—this old man won’t decline!”

Like a whirlwind sweeping away the clouds, the old fellow truly seemed to be starving. A plate of dumplings a full foot and a half in diameter—half of it disappeared in the blink of an eye. The dumplings filled with chives and eggs clearly suited his taste. When a small portion remained, Tang Jian set down his chopsticks and passed the plate to Qu Zhuo, who was kneeling beside him.

“What an elder bestows cannot be refused. Junior has been impolite.” Qu Zhuo was quite straightforward, taking the plate and shoveling dumplings into his mouth, his speed surpassing Tang Jian’s by three measures.

Tang Jian clearly liked Qu Zhuo very much and obviously felt an elder’s affection for the younger generation toward him, even sharing some of his dumplings.

After three rounds of wine, Tang Jian sat comfortably on the heated kang, a thin blanket draped over his legs. He gazed somewhat distractedly at the swirling snow outside. It wasn’t strange for elderly people to feel sentimental about spring and autumn.

“Marquis Yun, this journey of ten thousand li will probably be this old man’s last time serving as a Great Tang envoy. I already feel my age, and being too old for service is just a matter of half a year. This old man has a presumptuous request—I hope Marquis Yun will agree.”

Without even thinking, just seeing that he had specifically brought Qu Zhuo and said he was already old, it was clear what he wanted to say.

“No. Qu Zhuo is excellent talent for raising pigs. The Academy now needs to add over a hundred pigs each year. We’re short one suitable swineherd, and Qu Zhuo is very suitable. Tomorrow he’ll report to the pigsty. The responsibility is great—he cannot easily be spared.”

Tang Jian’s face turned green. He slapped the table, pointed at Yun Ye, and unleashed a tirade: “Squandering natural resources! Squandering natural resources! A person of unparalleled adaptability and exquisite eloquence, and you actually assign him to menial labor—aren’t you afraid of inviting divine punishment?”

“Menial labor? When has my Academy ever had menial labor? Do you think I’ve never fed pigs? Or that Master Li Gang hasn’t fed pigs? Prince Shu, who has always been fastidious about cleanliness, knows to toss a handful of grass into the pigsty when passing by. Xu Jingzong, that rare and noble scholar-official, practically sleeps with pigs now. Yet you call it menial labor—truly like trying to speak of ice to a summer insect!”

“Master Tang, please don’t be angry. For this young one to change from a water carrier to a swineherd at the Academy is indeed a promotion, not a humiliation. You don’t know this, but the Academy has an experimental breeding system in trials, and the source is pigs. Pig manure can feed fish, fish ponds can raise ducks, and pond mud is the finest fertilizer. With fertilizer, crops can yield thirty percent more. His Highness Prince Wei even stores pig manure in cellars, connects it with pipes, and can produce fire for cooking, lighting, and heating—all excellent choices. This is a research project, and once successful, it will benefit farmers throughout the realm. Though one gets dirty for a time, it’s a great achievement that will be remembered for generations. If Master commanded me to become a swineherd, this young one would gladly accept the appointment.”

Tang Jian scratched his head. Everything in this world, once the Academy got involved with it, became completely transformed. Even menial labor could become something people fought over. He had originally wanted to pass on everything he had learned to Qu Zhuo, but hearing them talk like this, it really might not be as appealing as raising pigs.

Establishing oneself, establishing merit, establishing virtue, establishing words—this was the necessary path for every scholar. If raising pigs could accomplish establishing oneself, merit, and virtue, wouldn’t his lifetime of studying the School of Diplomacy become the world’s greatest joke?

“Lord Tang, your diplomatic arts are indeed profoundly sophisticated. You see through surfaces to the essence of things, and your analysis of the true nature of things is penetrating and incisive. This is remarkable learning, but your school has always transmitted it within your lineage, never revealing it. The texts stored in the Southern Mountains—over these years, eaten by insects and gnawed by rats, there’s probably little left, isn’t there? Aren’t you afraid the transmission will be severed?”

As a veteran diplomat, if he couldn’t hear the subtext in Yun Ye’s words, his belly full of diplomatic arts would have been learned in vain.

“What does Marquis Yun advise me to do?”

“Nothing else—you need only come to the Academy once a month to lecture on diplomatic arts. If you agree, Qu Zhuo is yours. If you don’t agree, I’ll have him shovel pig manure for the rest of his life.”

Tang Jian laughed and shook his head. “This old man has hunted geese all his life, but now the geese have pecked out his eyes. What an excellent stratagem of feigned ignorance! This old man should have thought of it—if the Academy were full of people jealous of the worthy and capable, how could it have become the crown of all the Great Tang’s academies in just a few short years? You as a teacher have certainly done your utmost for your disciple. Worried this old man would hold something back, you raised your disciple’s value, making this old man involuntarily pay more attention to him, and along the way led away this old sheep, having him lecture at the Academy one day each month. What a calculation! Ha ha ha! This old man agrees.”

Yun Ye rose and bowed deeply in respect. Qu Zhuo prostrated himself on the ground, choking with emotion as he performed the five-body prostration to both teachers. For someone of his humble origins to have the sages of the age concern themselves with him was truly the fortune of three lifetimes.

The conversation that followed proceeded much more pleasantly. Yun Ye and Tang Jian talked and laughed, discussing anecdotes and interesting stories about the high ministers, with the amorous and flower-loving Marquis Yun being the focus of focus.

Being dragged out as the butt of jokes—Yun Ye had long grown accustomed to it. Even Tang Jian couldn’t hope to shake his composure.

When the subject of the joke remained unmoved, naturally the joke lost its humor. Imperceptibly, the conversation shifted from strange tales of Chang’an to the situation on the grasslands.

“Three days after your auction ended, this old man received orders commanding me to rush through the night to the Western Turks to implement a strategy of befriending distant states while attacking nearby ones with the rulers of the Western Turks. Since Tong Yabghu was killed by his uncle, the Western Turks have been in constant strife. Though powerful, they are in decline. I originally thought that upon reaching Qianquan, I would negotiate with Siye Hu, present him with one of your glass giant wolves, get him to agree not to concern himself with Xueyantuo, then give the other wolves to some major clans, planting seeds of chaos—we would just need to wait for the seeds to sprout.”

“Who could have imagined that Siye Hu had been killed last year! The nominal ruler now, Duolu, can only control the Qianquan area—even the Stone Kingdom is stirring restlessly. This old man predicted that within a year, Duolu would certainly be defeated and destroyed. So following the principle of not being wasteful, I presented one of the wolves to Cheli Shi. This person has an extremely calculating and scheming heart, is accustomed to forbearance, and possesses great power. He still has some say in Qianquan.”

“Young man, your prediction was extremely accurate. Once the bait was dangled, Cheli Shi immediately lost his reason and agreed not to concern himself with the dispute between the Great Tang and Xueyantuo, as long as it didn’t harm their interests. Such a short-sighted person is called a tiger-schemer among the Western Turks. This old man was worried about unexpected developments and prepared to send people to gather information everywhere, but helplessly, my people were watched closely by Cheli Shi and not allowed to come and go freely—only servants were permitted to go out shopping.”

“Marquis Yun, you wouldn’t have imagined it—this old man didn’t imagine it either—but Qu Zhuo actually made the acquaintance of Shaboluo’s youngest son through buying things. When Shaboluo learned this old man was a Great Tang envoy, he immediately deployed his military forces to ‘invite’ this old man and the others into his own home. Of course, a wolf as a gift was indispensable. This dispute completely lifted the veil covering the Western Turks for this old man. A ruling group that is chaotic and mutually constraining has no hope—we need only use tactics of winning over and dividing them to easily achieve our goals.”

“The Xueyantuo people and the Tuyuhun people also came to Qianquan with the wolf you sold them. Unfortunately, at the lively banquet, that wolf was accidentally knocked to the ground by Shaboluo’s youngest son and shattered to pieces.”

“The Xueyantuo and Tuyuhun people were furious on the spot—they even drew their blades. Shaboluo, seeing the situation was irreversible, immediately ordered the Xueyantuo and Tuyuhun envoys beheaded right then and there. At the banquet—it could truly be described as blood and flesh flying everywhere.”

“Marquis Yun, with just a few glass giant wolves, two nations as close as brothers turned into enemies in the blink of an eye. This old man estimates that before our Great Tang takes action, Xueyantuo and Tuyuhun will unite to attack the Western Turks once.”