“The Tibetan envoys aren’t just one group, but two or three waves. Tribes near Songzhou and Jiannan also have envoys who arrived in the capital. Ludongzan’s methods are very straightforward—he seeks them out, kills the leading chieftains, and with a whip brings the other Tibetans under his command. No reasons, no excuses—he just says one sentence: ‘We’ve suffered great losses and need compensation.'”
The Luoyang hanging corpse case remained unsolved, and now the Xiliu Camp five ghosts transportation and ground collapse case was added. For a time, both Chang’an and Luoyang were shrouded in rumors. After discovering that Wei Tianjue had become a useless废人, He Tianshang’s first action was to strangle Wei Tianjue to death. When reporting to the court, he claimed that Wei Tianjue hanging on the Luoyang city wall had died long ago. Everyone knew he was lying, yet not a single person in court raised objections. Even His Majesty the Emperor tacitly accepted this matter.
The Yun Ye couple stayed in Wude Hall for two days before being driven out of the palace by the Emperor. For the crime of being arrogant and domineering on the Ba River, his salary was docked for three months. This kind of punishment with loud thunder but small raindrops, Yun Ye was used to. The high ministers were also used to it. Big shots like Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Tang Jian, and Zhangsun Wuji didn’t say a word, treating this matter as if it had never happened.
He had to go make trouble for Ludongzan—this was something Yun Ye had planned long ago. Just because over three hundred Tibetans died didn’t mean the matter of bullying Yun Mu could be written off. Their own people said they had angered ghosts and spirits and suffered divine punishment. They wanted to hold a grand sacrifice in Chang’an. Ludongzan persuaded his subordinates with much effort to offer the warriors’ corpses to the heavenly gods, while dividing other things among the living warriors. Yun Ye very much liked the Tibetans’ habit of burning things.
Taking all his household retainers, he set out in grand procession for Xiliu Camp. He didn’t dare bring the eight-ox ballista, but Yun Ye considered powerful crossbows essential. From afar he could see many people standing on high ground pointing at the Tibetan camp, some even burning incense and kowtowing. The common people believed that the local earth god of Guanzhong didn’t like the filthy Tibetans making trouble on his territory and had specially given them punishment. During this period, families living near Xiliu Camp would blame the Tibetans even if they lost a chicken, annoying the local officials to no end.
Yun Ye threw his token to the Court of State Ceremonial official guarding the gate. Ever since the Tibetan incident, the Emperor had replaced the gatekeepers with people from the Court of State Ceremonial. Others thought this was the Emperor restricting the Tibetans’ movements, but only a few knew this was the Emperor protecting the Tibetans. With Tang people mixed among the Tibetans, ground collapse incidents would absolutely not happen again.
Seeing that the Emperor was only urging attention to the Luoyang hanging corpse case and paid no attention to the five ghosts transportation case that happened under his nose, the thoroughly shrewd Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Tang Jian, and Zhangsun Wuji determined that Yun Ye had done this case. Otherwise, the Emperor would definitely be more anxious about the incident under his nose.
Ludongzan used the excuse of feeling unwell to refuse to see Yun Ye. This wouldn’t do—in Great Tang, whoever Yun Ye wanted to see, he would always see. Giving himself the title of divine physician, he buried his head and charged inward.
“Marquis Yun, can you please just settle down? You’ve had constant troubles all along the way—why create more complications? We all know you’re a divine physician. This subordinate would dare eat medicine you prescribe, even His Majesty would eat it, but do you think the Tibetan Grand Minister would dare eat it? If he ate your medicine and immediately dropped dead, this subordinate wouldn’t be surprised. You should just go home and rest. Even if the Tibetans insulted the young lady of your household, look at this ground full of bone ash—any anger should have dissipated. Wang Xuance, see our guest out for this official!”
Park Yuanxiu, Junior Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, was also an old acquaintance of Yun Ye. Knowing that Yun Ye came with ill intent, he simply refused Yun Ye’s request outright and pushed out his student Wang Xuance to escort this plague god Yun Ye away.
Wang Xuance cheerfully stepped forward, greeted Wang Cai, and led the horse’s head outward. Since he was handling official business, Yun Ye had no reason to force his way in and could only let Wang Xuance lead him out of the Tibetan camp.
“Teacher, you miscalculated a bit this time. If you had struck harder and trapped all of Ludongzan’s men here, when he returns our people would escort him. At that time, this student would volunteer to go to Tibet to have a look. If we could find a method to control the snow plateau, that would be excellent.”
Wang Xuance was an outstanding graduate from the Academy. While others didn’t understand what delayed devices were, he knew. While others didn’t know about crow water collection, he knew. While others didn’t notice those faint salt flowers on the ground, he had noticed them. As for talk of ghosts and spirits—even if he hadn’t eaten pork, he’d seen pigs run. The Academy was full of pranks involving playing ghosts and spirits. Finding a couple of such tricks was too easy. From the moment those two blackened stone pillars emerged from the ground, he knew this was absolutely done by his teacher.
“Shut up. Think you’re so clever? Even if you go to the plateau, you’ll face crises everywhere. Songtsen Gampo and Ludongzan are both outstanding figures of their generation. With just over ten thousand men they unified the fragmented Tibet. The Zhangzhung people are also a tribe with thousands or tens of thousands of years of heritage—they can’t be compared to those wild wolves on the grasslands. First learn your skills at the Court of State Ceremonial. When the time comes, it won’t be too late to go to Tibet.”
Wang Xuance muttered a few sounds as if very reluctant. Today’s Great Tang people had all become ambitious killers. They didn’t properly farm the land but filled their heads with thoughts of expanding territory and having their names inscribed on iron pillars. Looking around, all of Great Tang’s neighbors were having bad luck, all carefully and cautiously serving this behemoth of the Great Tang dynasty. Previously arrogant Goguryeo now had continuous warfare within its borders. Gao Jianwu and Yeon Gaesomun had already fought until their eyes were red. Officials from the Court of State Ceremonial very kindly went to mediate, hoping they would shake hands and make peace. The result was they got nothing but rebuffs. In embarrassed anger, they hoped either Gao Jianwu or Yeon Gaesomun would appeal to Great Tang for aid. No gifts needed—just say the word, and Qibi and Li Ji stationed on the Liao River bank would immediately launch a major attack on the rebels, returning a clear sky to the people of Goguryeo. They didn’t even need to give notice—Qibi wanted to turn both banks of the Liao River into pastureland.
Hearing this news, Gao Jianwu and Yeon Gaesomun immediately ceased hostilities. Qibi’s cavalry had just crossed the Liao River when they were met by over one hundred thousand Goguryeo troops. Both Gao Jianwu and Yeon Gaesomun were there, displaying a stance of fighting to the death. Qibi had no choice but to return to the Great Tang side and continue watching Goguryeo’s internal strife.
This time these two fellows actually had the same aspiration—each left thirty thousand troops stationed at the Liao River. These sixty thousand troops didn’t participate in domestic warfare. Their only purpose was to watch Great Tang, making Li Ji swallow his saliva with no way to advance. He tested them once and discovered that those left before him were all Goguryeo’s fierce soldiers.
Even fools knew that Great Tang from top to bottom was full of ambition. Counting this year, there had been good harvests for five whole years. Grain prices had always remained stable at one copper yuan per dou—by proportion, this was only five wen in the old currency. For common households on the Guanzhong Plain, eating three meals a day had already become normal. During leisure times eating thin gruel, during busy times eating solid food—these old almanac practices had long since vanished without return. The extreme abundance of grain had also spawned the development of animal husbandry.
When farming households shucked corn in the cornfields, they all knew to boil a couple of eggs for an extra meal—something they wouldn’t have dared imagine before. On the road back to the estate, Yun Ye watched corn being harvested everywhere by farmers. He really couldn’t figure out why, when the Ever-Normal Granary was already so full of grain it could barely hold more, these common people still planted grain to death.
Potatoes could be made into noodles, corn was now the best warhorse feed. Besides these two, rapeseed, sesame, greens, peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, fruit trees—all these things could be planted, and any one of them was more profitable than planting grain. You just had to look at the people on the dry plateau to understand—by planting watermelons, their lives had already become better than those on the plains.
Every time Yun Ye saw farmers from the dry plateau smilingly exchanging watermelons for wheat, he wanted to laugh. One jin of watermelon for one jin of wheat—people on the plains still felt they got a bargain. What kind of logic was this? The clever people of Yun Family Estate were no exception. As long as people came to exchange wheat, they’d use their own wheat to trade, very generously. They never thought about what the per-mu yield of watermelons was, what the per-mu yield of wheat was—could the two possibly be equal in value?
Blocking someone’s path to wealth was like killing their parents. Yun Ye wouldn’t go looking for trouble. When farming households threw tantrums, even the Marquis’s household couldn’t withstand it. If merchants threw tantrums, the Marquis’s household could break their legs and no one would care. If it were other wealthy households, common people might watch the excitement. If it were thieves, everyone would be happy—tie the fellow to the memorial arch to entertain the village folks for a long time.
But farming households were different. As long as they took off their shoes, messed up their hair, and sat at the Marquis’s gate crying and wiping tears, it wouldn’t take a quarter hour before the gate would be surrounded by villagers. Although no one would say anything, those contemptuous gazes would make the hair on your spine stand up. Officials would also come, and without asking right from wrong, would first placate the farmer. Local officials excited as roosters would send calling cards to visit. Not only would they speak harshly, their courtesy wouldn’t be complete either—if they cupped their hands at you, that was already pretty good. It made one want to beat them out with clubs.
They really weren’t afraid of this—perhaps in their hearts they were waiting for you to beat them. If they got beaten, the title of “Inflexible Official” definitely couldn’t escape. Such good officials who dared to plead for the people needed to be greatly promoted. When meritorious nobles’ households disputed with farming households, even if you were right you had no right. If you felt your methods were skillful and officials wouldn’t discover it, then at night dig a pit and bury the farmer’s whole family.
If officials couldn’t investigate it, that would be that. But once they discovered you did it, the second son of Prince Huai’an Li Shentong was a cautionary tale. He slept with someone’s daughter and refused to acknowledge it. When the daughter’s elderly father and mother came to the door, they were beaten out. That night a family of six disappeared. Finally officials dug them out from Li Shentong’s orchard. The result—Li Shentong’s princely title earned through a hundred battles was demoted, his second son was beheaded at the execution ground after identity verification, and eleven evil servants were beheaded together. From then on, his family’s reputation stank.