“They already know to demand equality?” Yun Ye reclined on his chair, gazing at the winter jasmine blooming in the corner of the wall, muttering to himself. Through the flower-patterned window, a grove of bamboo grew lush and verdant. Lying here looking over, the flower window on the white wall formed an exquisite painting of golden bamboo.

This was an element of architecture—a simple courtyard transformed into a painting by the original owner with just a slight modification. The aesthetic eye of Tang people was full of poetic sentiment, unlike those Westerners who were now striving to construct magnificent golden palaces. When the sun shone on them, they looked like mountains of gold—wasn’t such architecture simply telling others “I’m very wealthy, hurry and come rob me”?

The Great Tang’s literati were refined, yet the Great Tang’s military men were extremely crude. They were gradually moving toward two extremes, which Yun Ye was willing to see. The function of literati was in moral education; the function of military men was in conquest.

Literati should appear amiable and approachable. Military generals should look fierce—people who could scare children to tears were most suitable to be military men.

After Yuan Jia accepted local administrative authority, he threw himself wholeheartedly into his work. During this period he met with Yun Ye twice, each time with a smile, looking as if he had everything under control.

Yun Ye didn’t bother with him. A clever person like him would certainly figure out the trick. Which group in this world most fervently demanded equality? There was only one answer—merchants!

Old farmers now felt their lives were good. As long as they planted grain in the fields, they could harvest in autumn. The court’s taxes were now so low they were barely noticeable. As for corvée labor, one could now pay money as substitute. There was nothing to complain about in such a life. If at this time children and grandchildren still complained, old farmers sitting by the fields watching crops would break their legs. Any lofty, unrealistic ideas were all branded with the infamy of “not attending to proper business.”

Workers felt their lives were also good. As long as they worked, they got wages. No one had heard of someone working without getting paid. As long as this condition was met, they buried themselves in work with no other desires. Who had time to think about other things?

Merchants were actually a group of people who, after eating and drinking their fill, began demanding a new life. Although they had money in their pockets, when you went to a pleasure house, famous courtesans would rather entertain poor scholars than nestle coquettishly in their embrace. This was problematic—why should this be? The reason for having consciousness of power was because one’s desires couldn’t be satisfied.

He Shao! This fellow who had grown so fat he could no longer walk—Yun Ye was very curious how he had lived until now. He lay on his large bed all day like a mountain of flesh.

These past years he hadn’t come to the Yun Family home. Not because he didn’t want to, but because Yun Ye wouldn’t agree to tear down his door to let his large bed enter. Moreover, Yun Ye, who had a cleanliness obsession, couldn’t eat pork belly for several days after seeing a large pile of fat lying on a bed talking to him. This was torture for him. So whenever there was business, Yun Ye went to find him.

Farmers were content with modest prosperity; workers didn’t feel anyone was exploiting their surplus value. As long as wages were appropriate, they accepted this exploitation. So neither of these two types could help Yuan Jia. Only merchants could help him—they were a group with great wealth and power. Their struggle for their own rights had not been just one or two days. When Emperor Taizong was alive, they had already fought a turnaround battle—that battle over the “Commercial Laws” made Zhangsun Wuji drink bitterness and retire into seclusion. It was also that battle that made the ruling class grudgingly accept merchants entering upper society.

There was no problem with merchants publishing Yuan Jia’s “Theory of the People.” Everyone would think merchants were pulling in allies for themselves—not a big deal. There were many instances of wrapping oneself in the tiger’s skin to wave the banner in court—one more such case really wasn’t a matter at all.

If he himself brought this up, ha ha, the Great Tang would be lively. Zhangsun would come to the Yun Family home tearfully cursing his lack of conscience. So it was better to leave this matter to merchants to complete.

With Yuan Jia’s wisdom, bewitching the utilitarian-minded He Shao should be very easy. Yun Ye had great confidence in Yuan Jia. Merchants had always petitioned the court with their requests in disorganized fashion. Now having a programmatic document, they would certainly treasure it. They didn’t believe farmers and workers could compare with noble merchants—pulling them over now as allies was still quite good.

Just as Yun Ye’s mind was racing, Zhangsun was helping Emperor Li Jue analyze Yun Ye’s memorial word by word. This memorial had been specially selected by Zhangsun to lecture the Emperor as a model text.

“Your Majesty, without looking at content, just by looking at the quantity of characters, you should know this memorial was written thoughtfully by the Duke of Chu, and moreover was handwritten. This is quite rare. When he previously memorialized your grandfather Emperor and father Emperor, he never wrote this many characters. The reason for writing so many characters is he worried you would misunderstand him, so he deliberately explained each matter clearly and plainly. As you grow older, his memorials will gradually become more concise.”

“Look at this passage of text. He’s explaining why he didn’t follow your edict and insisted on executing Li Xiang with extreme punishment. There’s a saying here—that troubled times require severe laws!”

“What your grandfather Emperor most worried about was leaving corpses unattended while brothers took up arms against each other. Your father Emperor had the same worry. Yun Ye is a veteran minister of three reigns, very familiar with Taizong and your father Emperor’s thoughts. As your father Emperor’s good friend, wanting to help you eliminate obstacles at the first opportunity and remove the Great Tang’s hidden dangers—so in this matter he did nothing wrong…”

“The second matter in the memorial discusses how Li Xiang poisoned Hengyang’s people. Here he lists eleven major crimes in total. After each major crime there’s an explanation. This is letting you send the Bureau of Waterways to verify. Ordinary ministers wouldn’t say this—only Duke Chu would enumerate like this, demanding verification. This is telling you how to discern the truth or falsehood of a matter. The saying ‘listening to all sides brings enlightenment, while listening to one side brings ignorance’ speaks of precisely this principle.”

“Because of these crimes, even if Prince Hengshan returned to Chang’an, he would be hard-pressed to escape death. Duke Chu handled this matter in Hengyang because he didn’t want your hands stained with your own brother’s blood. A minister doing this can be called utterly loyal, but his loyalty isn’t given to you—it’s the remaining grace left by your grandfather Emperor and father Emperor. A minister like Yun Ye, you still cannot control…”

“After suppression, the Ministry of Justice needs to go down to assign blame, the Ministry of Revenue to comfort the people, the great army to return to barracks, the great general to prepare to return to the capital victorious. This is the standard procedure. Since ancient times, generals who received orders to campaign must follow this—there can be no exceptions! In the future if any general is unwilling to do this, you take out Duke Chu’s memorial to show him. If he still refuses, you must prepare to have the army suppress him…”

Li Jue very obediently studied with Zhangsun. Whenever he encountered something he didn’t understand, he would consult the Empress Dowager… The grandmother and grandson appeared very warm and harmonious.

Li Jue carefully marked Yun Ye’s memorial with red characters. There was no commentary, only a large character for “approved”—meaning Yun Ye’s killing of Li Xiang had obtained the Emperor’s recognition.

After the Empress Dowager left, Li Jue beckoned to the eunuch before the hall and asked softly: “This memorial was written by Duke Chu’s own hand? How long did it take to write? Did he summon Duan Hong first, or you first?”

The eunuch knelt on the ground and said softly: “Reporting to Your Majesty, this memorial was indeed from Duke Chu’s own brush. This servant personally attended with ink as this memorial was written. From sunset until the moon came out—a full two hours. During this time Duke Chu paused many times, seeming very sorrowful.”

“This servant and Eunuch Duan Hong waited outside the military tent for audience at the same time. Duke Chu summoned this servant first. When this servant left carrying the memorial, Eunuch Duan Hong was still waiting outside the tent.”

The young Emperor was very satisfied. In his view, the General still very much respected him as Emperor. He didn’t ignore his existence just because the Empress Dowager was now regent. Though a child’s thoughts are simple, once an evil notion is planted, wanting to correct it later becomes very difficult. So Yun Ye appeared even more attentive to this young Emperor. He didn’t want to invite needless trouble for himself after ten years.

Under the same sky, Yun Ye was appreciating the courtyard’s layout, incidentally letting his mind rest. Zhangsun was teaching her young grandson. Zhangsun Chong stood on a tall building overlooking the prosperous Chang’an City at his feet. The boats entering and leaving Chang’an’s water gates seemed never to cease. Sunset fell on Chang’an City—the entire imperial capital seemed dyed with a layer of gold. Though this world was good, ultimately it didn’t belong to the Zhangsun Family.

The reason people are called people is because each person’s thoughts are not entirely the same. One can use one’s reason to resist evil thoughts from the heart. I may be the most incompetent powerful minister in history! Zhangsun Chong thought this in his heart.

The one hundred and eight drum beats to clear the streets began to sound. This rule had never changed from the Great Tang’s founding to now. Only people had changed. Chang’an City remained lively. The Eastern and Western Markets conducting business still buzzed with voices. As the most prosperous political center, Chang’an’s commerce remained flourishing. Annual tax revenue still occupied a very important proportion of the Great Tang’s taxes. So under strong popular demand, officials began turning a blind eye. The street-clearing drum still beat, business below still operated. Hyena-like constables would only appear on the streets after midnight, either extorting late-returning pedestrians or finding a few dead-drunk drunkards from some corner.

The Secretariat was brightly lit. The Chancellery’s lights also burned through the night. The Six Ministries were the same. Government affairs delayed by the late Emperor’s funeral were being handled bit by bit.

After living such days for several months, people suddenly discovered that even without an emperor, the entire nation still operated very stably. The young Emperor’s existence seemed more like a symbol. What was truly important was that these government offices still operated powerfully. As long as they existed, the empire would continue moving forward…