Yun Ye was very busy. He could only extricate himself after getting everything in order. Li Ke had already accumulated enough experience in building houses, and if he found four like-minded fellow students to form a group, there would surely be even better results.
So after Yun Ye threw the blueprints for Xinghua Ward at him, he paid no more attention. This time, the houses in Xinghua Ward differed from the small buildings at the academy only slightly in structure, with the addition of outdoor landscape design. With Master Lishi overseeing things, Yun Ye had nothing to worry about. The laborers employed by the Yun Family had already begun clearing the construction site.
The troublesome part was the imperial palace. There was strict control over the number of people entering and exiting each day. Everyone needed an identification token, and those who tried to enter or exit freely without one would be dragged to the yamen for punishment. The entry and exit procedures were numerous and consumed a great deal of time. Yun Ye was very worried about whether the foundation could be completed on schedule. Fortunately, there was originally a small hill there, and the Gongshu family had long considered the enormity of the project. With the attitude of saving wherever possible, they planned everything thoroughly for the Yun Family.
Gongshu Jia, serving as foreman, was very satisfied with his family’s design after investigating the soil quality of the hill. That hill could be utilized. As an expert, what he hated most was people nagging and complaining, and Yun Ye happened to play this inglorious role—one moment criticizing the site for being too messy, with bamboo baskets for carrying soil thrown everywhere creating unsafe conditions; the next moment criticizing the craftsmen who had gotten hot from working for actually going bare-chested.
After everyone had endured this for two hours, the supposedly omnipotent Marquis Yun was invited to leave the construction site. According to Gongshu Jia: “We all understand Marquis Yun’s sincere devotion. I’ve heard that Chang’an market is extraordinarily lively today—why doesn’t Marquis Yun go take a look?”
Yun Ye knew he was somewhat superfluous, but he also didn’t dare leave the imperial palace. All the merchants of Chang’an were waiting for him outside the palace. According to Old Zhuang’s report, even Hu people were among them.
The wealthy landlord was making a fortune and gaining reputation in silence, completely disregarding the hardship of several thousand merchant households in Chang’an market. Why should only the shops of noble families benefit from building a palace for His Majesty? Are we common people supposed to just stand aside and watch?
When there are benefits, everyone should share them. His Majesty is not just the emperor of you nobles—he’s our emperor too. Why should only you be allowed to use the imperial seal? Noble families can sell goods to His Majesty at twenty percent of the price—why can’t we? We don’t want a single coin; we just want permission to also use the imperial name, and we’ll deliver the goods immediately.
Li Chengqian stood on the palace wall watching the dense mass of people below and laughed until he nearly fell over. He stumbled back to Taiji Palace and recounted the entire situation to Li Er and the various ministers. The court immediately erupted in commotion.
The civil officials had just been righteously impeaching Yun Ye for disregarding imperial dignity by privately allowing merchants to use the imperial name, saying it was an enormous damage to imperial prestige. But then they were thoroughly refuted by the nobles who had vested interests. They were about to lose their tempers when they heard about this amusing situation, and one by one they suddenly fell silent.
Common people competing eagerly to build a palace for the imperial family for free—this was something that had never happened in any previous dynasty. Regardless of their motivations, this sentiment alone was sufficient to demonstrate how much the Li Tang imperial house had won the hearts of the people. What was there left to impeach? Hadn’t they noticed that His Majesty the Emperor’s mouth was smiling so wide he could barely close it? The nobles were beaming with joy, while the Ministry of Works officials looked ashen—at this rate, Yun Ye wouldn’t even need to spend the full thirty thousand strings of cash to build a magnificent palace.
“Oh, since Yun Ye stirred up this mess, let him handle it himself. The people’s goodwill cannot be rejected. A few days ago I said that water can carry a boat but can also overturn it. It seems the hearts of our Great Tang people can be relied upon. After this palace is built, it shall be called the Hall of Ten Thousand People, to manifest the hearts of ten thousand people. Crown Prince, you may thank the people on my behalf for their deep devotion.”
There was no escaping it now. Yun Ye had to leave the palace eventually, especially since Li Chengqian had brought the Emperor’s oral decree ordering him to resolve this matter. By later standards, all the merchants of the Great Tang were model citizens. Forget about gouging customers—there wasn’t even a single case of passing off inferior goods as superior, which was considered quite ordinary among merchants. If they said it was brocade from Shu, it would absolutely not be from Yangzhou. If they said it was bamboo shoots from South Mountain, it absolutely would not be from West Mountain.
Yun Ye began to complain about this era of pure hearts—there wasn’t even one merchant whose faults he could pick at. How was he supposed to choose?
Merchants were possibly the most straightforward group of people in this world, with the strongest sensitivity to information. Everyone had their own internal scale and weighed matters most clearly.
Trade guilds had existed since ancient times. They also knew that chaos was no way to handle matters. Each trade had its own organization, led by highly respected elders. They recorded their respective demands and had designated representatives deliver them to Yun Ye.
They weren’t greedy—each guild only wanted one quota. This was an overall quota from which they would select suitable merchants and issue licenses allowing them to use the imperial seal. Yun Ye felt that trademark law was about to be born from these people’s hands.
Tang dynasty criminal law was only a broad and general legal framework. Business in particular was regulated by only a few simple rules and regulations, with the remaining details filled in by the trade guilds. Merchants who didn’t follow guild rules would face punishment that absolutely exceeded official punishment. The right to use the imperial trademark would definitely receive the best protection.
The Great Tang’s commercial tax was only one-thirtieth—so light it was outrageous. No wonder wealthy families all had merchants seeking to attach themselves to them. Only merchants’ abundant profits could support the extravagant lifestyles of these great households.
How could he not skim off a layer of profit? Goods would go at twenty percent of the price—this was a baseline that could not be broken. As for the right to use the imperial trademark, Yun Ye only planned to let them use it for five years, with renegotiation after five years. He believed that after five years of tasting the benefits, merchants who wanted to obtain the trademark rights again would have to pay dearly.
The ironworks guild—this was definitely needed. The woodworks guild—also acceptable. The carriages and horses guild—also fine. Looking through them, Yun Ye grew angry. There was naturally no reason to refuse those needed for building the palace.
But why was the preserved foods guild joining in the excitement? To hang salted fish in the palace?
The clothing and hats guild was quite wealthy, but how would he explain this to the imperial embroidery procurement office? He’d heard that the person in charge was Zhangsun’s personal maidservant. What difference was there between offending her and offending Zhangsun herself?
What the hell was a brothel doing joining in? Li Er’s harem was already overflowing with people. He wasn’t like Emperor Huizong of Song who enjoyed visiting brothels. If he agreed to this, Zhangsun would definitely pickle him into salted fish.
He invited all the guild leaders guarding outside to come in and placed the rejected records from several trades in front of them for their own review. After the several old gentlemen looked at the rejected trades, they said to Yun Ye without haste: “Marquis Yun, these trades were all submitted by us old ones only after deep and careful consideration. Look—the clothing and hats guild is a major trade with the backing of silk, brocade, hemp cloth and other trades. We old ones know they won’t be used in building the Hall of Ten Thousand People, but surely money will be needed, won’t it?”
“We old ones heard that the Empress only gave Marquis Yun thirty thousand strings of cash. This amount is but a drop in the bucket for building the Hall of Ten Thousand People. Since we’re building this unprecedented palace, wouldn’t it be too shabby and cause His Majesty to lose face? If we take imperial benefits but don’t do the job well, would this hall have the face to be called the Hall of Ten Thousand People?”
Yun Ye couldn’t help but admire them. Clearly each one wanted to curry favor with the imperial family, yet they spoke in such high-minded terms that Yun Ye had no way to refuse. One could be certain that these old fellows’ thoughts would definitely not stop at just palace construction.
However, this was something Yun Ye was happy to see. There was no need to be the villain. It was good that merchants had political demands. Li Er had suppressed merchants too harshly before. Now they had an opportunity to meet the monarch and use money to exchange for political leeway. Hopefully they would succeed.
“The words of you gentlemen are truly pearls of wisdom. Yun Ye has been enlightened. Surely at this critical juncture, you gentlemen would be unwilling to embarrass the imperial family. I’ll leave this matter in your hands. You will surely be able to raise sufficient funds. Since this is the case, there’s no need for Yun Ye to continue participating. I wish to return the palace construction matter to the Ministry of Works. What do you old gentlemen think?”
With one sentence, Yun Ye turned an imperial family’s private matter into a great matter of state. For the merchants, this was simply astounding good fortune. Once this matter went through official channels, it might very well change the entire court’s view of merchants and perhaps loosen the noose around their necks.
The leading elder surnamed Su lifted the hem of his robe and, together with the other elders, bowed respectfully. Yun Ye did not decline, but sat steadily in his chair and accepted their bow.
After they were seated again, Yun Ye said something seemingly random: “Either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind. Yun Ye wishes you all success in your aspirations and rolling wealth.”
With that, he cupped his hands in salute and went out the door toward the imperial palace.
Empress Zhangsun’s expression was poor, especially after hearing that Chang’an’s merchants collectively wanted to build a palace for the imperial family. She sat on her low couch saying nothing. Yun Ye could always use others’ strength to achieve his own goals. There would surely be another storm in court.
“Your Majesty, I’ve finished my work. What remains should be handed over to the Ministry of Works. It’s inappropriate for me, a mere marquis, to always be involved in everything.” After waiting a long time for the Empress to speak, Yun Ye had to open his mouth first.
“Oh? This Empress thought you came to show off. I didn’t expect you still knew about advancing and retreating.” A smile emerged on Zhangsun’s face.
“I am a subject of the Great Tang, not an enemy of the Great Tang. Why would I destroy this hard-won harmonious situation? Your Majesty worries too much.” Yun Ye smiled and bowed to Zhangsun.
“In that case, this Empress can sleep soundly. After reporting to His Majesty, hand over your duties. Du Keming has surely been suffering for quite some time now. Don’t torment him anymore. Let him properly build the Hall of Ten Thousand People. This is a grand occasion for our Great Tang.”
Watching Zhangsun leave, Yun Ye also felt completely relaxed. He wasn’t someone who could stay busy—why suffer everywhere arousing people’s hatred? Throughout history, the most capable ministers never had good endings. Yun Ye thought going home to sleep properly for several days was the right thing to do.
Passing through the garden, he saw from afar Lingdang with her signature double buns skulking about under the scholar tree, looking around furtively. Yun Ye’s childish playfulness arose, and he decided to circle around behind her to give her a fright.