Longzang

Chapter 610 Too late

The Hall of State Affairs during the Western Jin Dynasty.

There were only seven or eight ministers in the hall, plus the King of Wei and the Crown Prince. At this moment, the sand table in the hall depicted the various prefectures of Qingming and Ningxi.

The Minister of Revenue, Xu Gong, was not present in the hall, nor was the Military Governor of Yunxiang, Lü Wenbai. These two were basically representatives of the Xu and Lü families. Although there were other important officials from the Xu and Lü families, they were still somewhat biased towards the Prince of Jin.

At this moment, the area around Qingming was completely open. With the opening of Hanyang Pass, it was widely believed that the Xu family's attitude towards Wei Yuan had softened. Thus, the area around Qingming finally stabilized, and there were no external enemies for the time being.

After listening to his ministers analyze the situation for a while, the King of Jin laughed and said, "This Wei Yuan, now that there are no enemies around, should be able to calm down for a while, right?"

The King of Wei suddenly said, "The court plans to establish Qingzhou, set up Qingyang Prefecture, and appoint a Qingyang Military Governor. Does this mean that the Qingyang Military Governor and the Dingxi Military Governor must be the same person?"

The Prince of Jin's expression darkened slightly, and he said, "Otherwise what? The imperial decree is already on its way. Do you think you can get the court to retract it?"

“This is interfering in our country’s affairs, and we must not set such a precedent.” The King of Wei did not back down.

The King of Jin tapped the table lightly, somewhat surprised by the King of Wei's sudden attack, and remained silent for a moment. The King of Jin's silence meant that the others had to speak.

So the Left Chancellor said, "The Tang Dynasty is of great righteousness. Although it is customary not to interfere in the affairs of other countries by issuing decrees, this is only an unwritten rule. In name, we must still carry out the decrees issued by the Emperor, unless there is a particularly good reason."

The King of Wei continued, "Qingyang Prefecture encompasses the original territory of the four prefectures of Ningxi, and even extends it a thousand miles westward. If Wei Yuan is made the military governor of Qingyang, it will completely block our westward advance, and there will be no possibility of us ever touching Qingzhou again!"

The Prince of Jin remained expressionless, and no one could discern his thoughts at that moment. He calmly said, "If you have something to say, just say it."

King Wei gritted his teeth and said, "Your subject is willing to guard the border of the country in place of my father and serve as the military governor of Qingyang! I implore my father to give me 200,000 elite troops, in addition to the 50,000 new troops from the Prince of Ying. That would be enough!"

The ministers all changed color slightly, and even the Crown Prince, who rarely spoke, was somewhat moved and looked at the King of Wei.

The government hall fell silent for a moment, with only the increasingly heavy breathing of the King of Wei. Sweat beaded on his forehead and rolled down his cheeks.

The Prince of Jin suddenly laughed, breaking the silence, and said, "Wei Yuan repelled the Wu tribe's army of millions and forced the Xu family to open Hanyang Pass. You only brought 200,000 men. Are you sending them to their deaths?"

The King of Wei showed his indignation and said, "Wei Yuan himself has lost more than a million soldiers in battle, and the tombstones of the fallen heroes cover the entire mountain. He is now at his last gasp. How many elite soldiers can he have left? Even if I am no match for him and die at his hands, Father will have a righteous reason to kill him. At that time, the Tang family will have no grounds to complain."

The anger on the Prince of Jin's face gradually subsided, and he seemed to be deep in thought as he asked, "What do you plan to do? Send troops to start a war directly?"

The King of Wei rallied and hurriedly said, "That would be an unjustified attack, and it is unacceptable. I will concentrate my main force in key locations, send out light cavalry on the flanks, and then set up checkpoints on major transportation routes to inspect passing caravans and levy heavy taxes. As long as the trade routes are cut off, I do not believe Wei Yuan can tolerate it. If he kills even one of my soldiers, it will be an act of treason!"

The Prince of Jin was unusually patient today, saying, "That Wei Yuan has raised quite a few bandits. We can just say it was the bandits who killed him. What can you do about it?"

King Wei said, "If he can use this trick, why can't I? If he says it was the bandits who killed him, then I can just find a few people, put them in the clothes of the Qingming soldiers, and say that they were the murderers sent by Qingming."

The Prince of Jin pondered for a moment, then did not continue the topic, saying, "We will discuss this matter later."

The King of Wei then said, “There is another matter. Wei Yuan has been a subject of our Great Jin for many years, yet he has not paid a single penny of tax. I believe this precedent should not be set. Otherwise, if every military governor uses the excuse of border wars to avoid paying a single cent to the court, wouldn’t we become a state within a state?”

The Prince of Jin did not answer, but looked at the Left Chancellor and asked, "What do you think?"

The Left Chancellor said, "This matter should be carefully considered and discussed at length."

The Prince of Jin seemed to know that the old fox, the Left Chancellor, couldn't say anything, so he said, "Let's stop here for today. I'm tired."

After leaving the Hall of State Affairs, Prince Jin proceeded to the Chunhua Palace, and a short while later sat in the garden, drinking tea with Consort Yuan.

Consort Yuan said, "His Majesty last visited my palace four months ago."

The Prince of Jin said, "I am busy with state affairs these days, and you also have to take care of the children, so I don't want to bother you."

"I've recently heard that Your Majesty is frequently visiting the Hall of State Affairs, and has even reduced the number of morning court sessions. What is the reason for this?"

The Prince of Jin chuckled and said, “Lately, I’ve suddenly felt a lack of energy, which I suppose is due to my advancing age. As you get older, you tend to think about things you never thought about before. The other day, I was thinking about how future generations will evaluate me after I die, and how the history books will record my story.”

So I came up with a plan: from now on, we'll hold more meetings in the Hall of State Affairs, where nothing is ever recorded. From now on, I won't issue decrees directly; those things that are likely to draw criticism will be handled by these officials. I'll just focus on good things like granting amnesty, distributing grain and reducing taxes, and punishing corrupt officials.

If they do this for a few years, maybe their reputation can be salvaged a little.

"Your Majesty is not very old, and besides, aren't there still highly skilled people and secret techniques?"

The Prince of Jin shook his head: "Can anyone be higher than an immortal? Right now, some immortals can't wait any longer. I'm not even dead yet, and they've already started releasing their backup plans."

Consort Yuan calmly said, "If Your Majesty is not in a hurry, you may speak to me."

"Suddenly, the Tang court issued an imperial edict establishing Qingzhou and Qingyang Prefecture, and then bestowed upon them the title of Qingyang Jiedushi. This Qingyang Prefecture was the four prefectures of Ningxi."

"Hmph, those guys in the Tang family, they can't even stay put while they're barely clinging to life. They issue this kind of decree, but don't even mention the names. Isn't this just treating Qingming like a bone to be thrown out for everyone to fight over?" Consort Yuan said, "Isn't this just for Wei Yuan? Besides him, who dares to fight for this position? Even if they do, what's the use of just having a title?"

The Prince of Jin chuckled and said, "You're mistaken. There are quite a few who want to take it. Just now, the Fifth Prince said he was willing to guard the border for me and wanted to become the military governor of Qingyang."

Consort Yuan thought for a moment and said, "Fifth Prince is still somewhat clever; at least he wouldn't be this stupid. Does he have someone backing him?"

The Prince of Jin said, "Isn't it that one of my direct descendants? There's no one else but him. If it wasn't him who instigated it, where would this kid get such audacity? Hmph, he even asked me for the new army. If I bring the new army back, what will I use to stop the Liao tribe?"

"Then what does Your Majesty intend to do?"

"In short, delay. Delay for a few years, and the problem will naturally be solved."

Consort Yuan frowned slightly and said, "I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

The Prince of Jin chuckled and said, "Of course I know it won't be that easy. What I mean is, I'll be leaving in a few years anyway, so I won't have to see it or worry about it. Let the Crown Prince and the Left Chancellor have a headache over this."

Consort Yuan did not speak, but the light in her eyes had disappeared.

The King of Jin sighed softly, his expression softening, and said, "I originally thought I would be a man of exceptional talent, but in the end I found myself to be nothing more than an ordinary person. If I could live a few more years, the best arrangement would be to let the King of Chu take up the post of military governor of Qingyang. But now it's too late."

What are you going to do after I leave?

Consort Yuan sighed softly and said, "I'll go back to Zhao. I definitely can't stay in this palace. The two children are still young, and I can't go with the King. Your son... humph, he looks at me with such disrespect."

Prince Jin nodded and said, "It's good to go back. It's getting late, I should go to the Vajra Zen Temple."

"Didn't they say that expert was unreliable? Why don't we stay tonight?"

The Prince of Jin shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I'll grab onto any straw I can get my hands on now, so I won't rest. I'd better go and work hard."

After Prince Jin left, Consort Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

The maids hurriedly helped her to the bed, and when they took off her outer clothes, they found a large wound a foot long on her ribs!

Blood had soaked through layers of gauze, and even emitted a faint blackish odor. The moment the bandages were removed, a stench assaulted the nostrils.

Consort Yuan gritted her teeth and endured the pain, saying, "Go and get that Earth Fire Pill that can unleash potential, I'll use it now!"

One of the maids couldn't help but say, "This might damage the foundation!"

"That's a minor matter. If we don't eat, we probably won't be able to get through the night."

Two maids were busy preparing medicine for Consort Yuan, one tending to her wounds and the other rushing off to fetch it. Seeing Consort Yuan take the medicine, one of the maids couldn't help but say, "Perhaps we should send a message to Lord Wei."

Consort Yuan's face turned pale. She shook her head and said, "Forget it. He's too busy taking care of himself to care about me."

"He's not incapable, he's just heartless!"

"Shut up!" Consort Yuan shouted angrily.

In Qingming Yong'an City, Wei Yuan was convening a meeting with a group of trusted and reliable caravan managers.

Wei Yuan asked, "How much brocade has the Xu family transported to the west in the last three months?"

Each person in charge had their own area of ​​responsibility, so they reported their figures one by one. After the last person finished, Wei Yuan nodded and said, "They sold 400,000 bolts of brocade in three months. The figures match. Hmph, they certainly made a lot of money. Did they use the money they received to buy silk?"

An older manager said, “As far as I know, all the Xu family brocade shops are buying up silk on a large scale, offering prices higher than we are. They are even buying silk from us. I have already sold 500,000 catties of silk to them as you instructed, and I have also sold my 500,000 catties of stock. I am just waiting for them to come and pick up the goods. This whole transaction has amounted to 600,000 taels of silver!”

"Sir, if we do this, won't we run out of silk ourselves?"

Wei Yuan smiled slightly and said, "You don't need to worry about that. If Xu Family Brocade Company still wants to buy silk, then sell it to them at the current price, with a limit of... one million catties. But they have to pay the money first before they can prepare the goods. Also, they only have ten days. Once the ten days are up, they are not allowed to sell even a single ounce of silk. They have to transport it all over to me."

All the officials found Wei Yuan's actions unfathomable, wondering what he was up to. The price of silk had already risen eight times its original price and was still climbing rapidly.

This season, Wei Yuan was able to sell more mulberry seedlings, about 10,000 branches, which were snapped up instantly, and the price even rose to fifty taels of silver per branch.

The soaring price of silk has silenced all those who were pessimistic about it, and they have obediently turned over their own farmland and planted mulberry trees instead.

The data collected by the managers of these merchant houses alone shows that at least two million mu of farmland in the eight counties have been converted into mulberry fields this season alone.

Wei Yuan would not tell these people his plans, but they would soon see that Wei Yuan was the most terrifying when he was not fighting.

(End of this chapter)