Marquis of Lantian County—this was Yun Ye’s newest title. An eighteen-year-old youth who had completed the transformation from commoner to high-ranking nobility in just eight months. Who could have imagined this? It was probably the fastest promotion record since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.
Li Shimin was filled with curiosity about Yun Ye. What kind of youth could persuade him to bestow the prestigious title of Marquis of Lantian? A single potato, wrapped in silk, sat on the right corner of his desk. Every time he looked up and saw this potato, Li Shimin was filled with a sense of happiness. The Great Tang truly possessed profound fortune—even miraculous grain yielding fifty dan per mu could appear. What else could not be surpassed? Looking up to the sages of old, from the First Emperor of Qin who first took the title of Emperor, down to himself, a total of fifty-four men had sat upon the imperial throne commanding the winds and clouds. He considered himself not incompetent, with fierce generals like clouds under his command, strategists like rain, and with this miraculous grain to assist him—how could he not reach for the heights of being an emperor for the ages?
Just as Li’er was immersed in this boundless warm current of happiness, he did not see Empress Zhangsun, holding a letter with a grim expression, disappearing into the layers of curtains.
Looking at her husband’s blissful face, Empress Zhangsun felt the letter in her hand weighed a thousand catties. She could not bear to interrupt her husband’s rare moment of happiness. Since the Xuanwu Gate incident, he had not slept peacefully for two years. In his dreams, he would repeatedly confess to Prince Xi, tears streaming down his face. Each time, she would hold him and hum childhood lullabies until he could calm down and fall asleep peacefully.
Now her husband reclined on the imperial throne, bathed in the evening sun, so quiet and serene, no longer haunted by those fears from the depths of his heart. Success or failure rested with Yun Ye. She could only hope that what Yun Ye said was wrong, that it was not true. Would the locusts come? Would those sky-covering, earth-darkening locusts from the prophecy really come? Empress Zhangsun wanted to tear up that letter, wishing so much that she had never received this letter from her adopted son. Blue veins bulged on her slender hands, her entire body trembling. With the greatest willpower, she forced out a trace of a smile and slowly walked out from behind the curtains…
“Yun Ye would not speak carelessly. Even if this matter truly happens, it would bring him no benefit, only disaster. I don’t believe that a disciple of an extraordinary person would not understand this principle.” Li’er was calmer than the Empress had imagined, only having put away his smile.
“Your consort thinks the same way. In the Longyou army there are Wuji, Zhijie, Jinda, and our adopted son. They would not be unaware of the severity of making a false report about such matters. Yet they chose to believe, so your consort believes there is at least an eighty percent chance this matter is true.”
“Zhijie’s first reaction was to stockpile grain, ordering the six counties of Longyou to submit their stored grain to Chang’an. Wuji has also begun gathering grain in Hexi. Fortunately, Longyou has had two consecutive years of abundant harvests with plentiful grain, so stockpiling five hundred thousand dan should still be feasible. Our adopted son’s Right Guard has already begun transporting grain to Chang’an. Right now, stockpiling grain is the first priority. I have never doubted Wuji’s and Zhijie’s loyalty. They did not submit memorials to me but instead chose to write to you through our adopted son because they did not want to cause widespread discussion in court and the realm at this time, did not want to destroy the hard-won peaceful situation. Therefore, I choose to believe Wuji, Zhijie, and also believe in the predictions of Yun Ye’s master. Come! Summon Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui to the palace for deliberation! I refuse to believe that a mere locust plague can leave our Great Tang without countermeasures.”
The little yellow-robed eunuch’s figure had just left the palace gates when Empress Zhangsun said to Li’er: “Does Your Majesty not want to meet your Marquis of Lantian? Ask him on what basis he uttered such world-warning words? Don’t you want to see what he looks like? Are you not curious about his immortal master? In any case, your consort is very curious—I wonder if he has grown three heads and six arms.”
“Does the Empress still remember what this lad said last time: ‘Rare treasures are difficult to accept without merit’? Could it be that the time has come for me to pay the price for this miraculous grain?”
The couple turned the potato over and over in their hands, their faces full of comfort, as if the coming of the locusts was no longer a disaster but merely the price one must pay after purchasing something.
Yun Ye did not know that Li’er had already decided to pay the price and had made preparations for emergencies. He had no intention of paying any more prices. Li Fulu’s fat face was already wrinkled like a steamed bun. They had clearly agreed on eight wen per dou of grain, but Yun Ye insisted on only giving six wen. No matter what he said, Yun Ye stubbornly stuck to six wen, even saying that if that didn’t work, he would use his Marquis of Lantian County official robes as collateral to get another hundred thousand dan of grain. Li Fulu was going crazy. What would this old master want with your official robes? I’m not a marquis myself. Besides, the grain isn’t mine—if you only give six wen, what profit do the grain merchants make?
“My Lord, please have mercy. This humble official has already escorted five thousand dan of grain here, all borrowed from local grain merchants. This humble official must repay them four hundred strings of cash. This is commerce, not taxation. If I cannot return the four hundred strings, this humble official can only transport the grain back. Otherwise, how can the government’s reputation be maintained?”
Yun Ye looked at the high piles of grain and was also worried. Forget four hundred strings—right now he couldn’t even pay out four wen. Who would have thought that a dignified founding marquis would be stumped by four hundred strings of cash? Damn it, four hundred strings of copper coins would fill two cartloads. Longyou already lacked money to begin with. Most of the populace was still in the era of bartering. Grain, copper coins, silk, silver—in some places even women circulated as hard currency. The five hundred strings he had embezzled these past days had all been spent, yet it was still just a drop in the bucket.
At this moment, he deeply missed the four major state-owned banks that would be cursed in later generations. As long as they could transport the silver here for this old master, he would accept it even if they charged extra transaction fees. Eh? Banking? This old master is a genius! Yesterday that damned landlord rich man kept saying that if the amount was short by even one wen, he would dash himself to death at the military camp gates—his son was still in the capital waiting to use the money. If he kept the two hundred strings that should be paid to the rich man and gave it to his son in the capital instead, wouldn’t that solve the funding problem? Liu Fulu urgently needed money for nothing more than to pay this year’s taxes. Since they were all serving the country, couldn’t this money be offset by grain from the Ministry of Revenue in the capital? It would also save him from having to escort it.
After explaining the cause and effect clearly to Liu Fulu, it was apparent he was somewhat tempted, but he was just a bit uneasy about Yun Ye. The explosive temper Yun Ye had just displayed really made one feel insecure. Old Liu here has his heart set on serving the country—if I get swindled by this unreliable young marquis, where would I go to seek justice?
The Crown Prince—that’s it, the Crown Prince! What better collateral could there be in the world? After all, the Great Tang belonged to his family. What was yours was his, what was mine was his, and what was his was still his. Yun Ye felt that the most suitable profession for Li’er’s whole family was highway robbery. He felt not the slightest guilt about dragging out the little highway robber as collateral.
He laid out the current difficulties he faced: no money to pay people, yet a great disaster in Guanzhong was imminent. Transporting five hundred thousand dan of grain from Longyou to Chang’an was a systematic project that could not be completed without half a year of operation. And they couldn’t just rob people. Fortunately, with the wise and mighty Crown Prince stationed in Longyou, this gave this humble official room to maneuver. He explained the operational procedures of later-era banks one by one to the Crown Prince. Li Chengqian still had stars in his eyes, but beside him, Huang Zhi’en, who was responsible for tallying the grain, had eyes radiating a golden light.