Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 86: Pig Cage Emperor? Pig Dragon Emperor?
Although the emperor's family is always ruthless, the fact that Emperor Tianwu is now so heartless and disloyal actually has a hidden story behind it.

This matter has to start with the late Emperor Shengde.

The reign of Emperor Shengde was the period with the fewest natural disasters since the establishment of the entire Daqian Kingdom.

The country is peaceful and the people are safe.

That peaceful and prosperous era is still missed by people today.

However, during the reign of Emperor Shōtoku, there was a sensational "case of deposing the empress" that occurred.

Emperor Tianwu was persecuted by this famous treacherous queen of the Daqian Dynasty. He was forced to live among the people when he was still an infant, and ended up in Qingzhou and Xuzhou in his early years.

According to unofficial history, Emperor Tianwu initially followed a martial arts master from the escort agency to learn martial arts, but for some unknown reason he committed a crime and was thrown into a pig cage.

Fortunately he survived, but was kicked out of the escort agency, and later fell to the point of begging for a living.

When he was found and brought back to the palace, he was already an adult.

These events were later compiled into operas and vernacular novels by folk artists and circulated among the people. Some of the classic scenes, such as "The Commoners Divide the Dukes", "The Demon Queen is Beheaded on the Dragon Terrace" and "The Brother is Killed at the Meridian Gate", are still performed every day in the theater and teahouse, and the seats are always full.

Therefore, people jokingly call the current emperor the "Beggar Emperor" or the "Pig Cage Emperor".

Emperor Tianwu was quite magnanimous in this regard. He never convicted people for their words, nor did he engage in literary inquisition. He just let these stories spread among the people.

There are even rumors that in the early years, before he began to seek immortality, he would invite famous folk art troupes in Kyoto to the palace to rehearse plays for him, and he loved to listen to the songs adapted from his life the most.

It was precisely because of these experiences in his early years that Emperor Tianwu did not have any affection for his relatives.

But to say that he is heartless and ungrateful is not entirely true.

Because he was extremely good to his half-brother, Prince Yong'an Ji Hongde, even though the feudal fiefdoms were reduced in the 20th year of Tianwu, Prince Yong'an was the only prince who retained his fiefdom.

Later, even when Prince Yong'an colluded with the Salvation Church, committed bloody massacres in the city, and was taken back to Kyoto by the Imperial Master, Emperor Tianwu still wanted to protect him.

People are always complicated. How can they be summed up with just one word: "good" or "bad"?

To Prince Yong'an, Emperor Tianwu was an excellent brother.

But to other royal relatives, he was the most ruthless emperor.

……

Zhao Qi'an sat in the ministry hall, as still as Mount Tai.

Ji Liyuan could sit still at first, but he was an eighty-year-old Duke after all, and this spring stool without even a backrest was really tiring.

After sitting for a whole morning, he felt that his old waist could not bear it anymore.

When it was time for lunch, Ji Liyuan couldn't stand it anymore and found an excuse to say to Zhao Qi'an, "I have some official business this afternoon. Yunxin Temple has a grand ceremony today and has invited me to watch it. Is Zhao Sicheng willing to go with us? Yunxin Temple's vegetarian noodles are very good and I can enjoy them."

In addition to managing the royal family, the Soshoji Temple also manages the Taoist temples and Buddhist temples of all sizes near the city of Kyoto.

This is one of the few lucrative jobs in the Zongzheng Temple, and those Taoists are richer than the royal family members.

Therefore, the job of "watching the ceremony" is a popular job in the Zongzheng Temple.

However, Ji Liyuan believed that Zhao Qi'an would not look down upon the small amount of money offered by the Taoists as a tribute, so he made a generous invitation.

Zhao Qi'an declined politely, "Since the Duke has official duties to attend to, you don't have to worry about me. I'm new here, so I'd better get familiar with some simple housework first."

Ji Liyuan was speechless. He didn't see Zhao Qian'an getting familiar with the housework this morning. Wasn't he just sitting there doing nothing?
However, Zhao Qi'an was unwilling to go, so he did not force him. He smiled and said, "Then the temple secretary is free to do as he pleases. If there is any need, you can discuss it with your colleagues."

"Thank you, Duke, for your advice."

After a few words, Ji Liyuan left the hall.

It was already lunch time, and people were leaving the Zongzheng Temple hall one after another to find a place to eat.

If the family was not well off, they would prepare rice balls, pickled plums and the like, and eat them quietly while sitting in their own government office.

Zhao Qian looked around, then stood up and walked towards the library.

When they arrived at the door of the book library, Gou Xiangxi saw Zhao Qi'an coming and immediately bowed and saluted: "My lord."

"Let your men eat first. There is no need to rush."

"Yes."

Gou Xiangxi took the order, and then shouted a few times to the people who were busy in the public housing, asking them to go and have their meal first.

Afterwards, he invited Zhao Qi'an into the book library.

The so-called book library is a place where various government affairs, accounts, household registrations and other written archives are recorded.

This place is guarded by special clerks. Officials below the rank of Temple Secretary in Zongzheng Temple have no right to enter without permission. Ji Liyuan gave Zhao Qi'an's people enough face by allowing them to enter the library.

As soon as you enter the book library, the smell of years of stale dust hits you in the face.

This small room was filled with rows of shelves with various documents neatly arranged on them, but many of them were taken out of the shelves and piled on the ground by the people brought by Zhao Qian'an.

For a moment, the library looked a little messy.

Zhao Qi'an stood at the door and looked inside, but did not go in because there was really no place to stay.

Gou Xiangxi didn't care at all. He quickly walked into the book library, took out a few books and flipped through them. Then he picked out a few and handed them to Zhao Qian'an: "Master, take a look at these."

Zhao Qi'an took it and flipped through a few pages.

These books record the annual harvest of the imperial farms and fields allocated to the Zongzheng Temple from the imperial treasury, as well as the monthly salary received by each royal family member from the Zongzheng Temple.

It must be said that the amount of imperial farms, fields and households allocated by Emperor Tianwu to the Zongzheng Temple was not small. If it could be evenly distributed to every royal relative, at least every royal relative could live a much more decent life than ordinary people.

But how is this possible?
Apart from anything else, the monthly salaries of several princes of His Majesty the current emperor are also allocated from the Zongzheng Temple, which accounts for the bulk of the money.

Even so, the monthly money from the Zongzheng Temple alone was far from enough to maintain the prince's dignity.

It’s easy to explain since the eldest prince is away on military campaigns all year round.

The second prince is easy to deal with. His mother's family is powerful, and most of his expenses come from the Wu family. A thousand-year-old family like the Wu family can afford to support a prince and is willing to invest in a prince who has a great chance of becoming emperor.

The Fourth Prince lived a tight life. He had to rely on his younger sister's dowry to survive, and he needed help from his brother-in-law Zhao Qi'an from time to time. He was visibly poor.

The only exception is the Third Prince. Although his mother's family is also powerful, their power lies in the military, not necessarily in wealth.

But Zhao Qi'an had never seen the third prince lack money.

However, he could roughly guess that it was not his mother's family that provided funds for the third prince, but the family behind his wife - the Gao family.

That is the Gao family that Zhao Guanxiang is currently investigating.

But the Gao family is not a thousand-year-old family like the Wu family, nor is it a newly-emerged wealthy family like the Zhao family. Instead, they are upstarts from the military of the Western Desert. Where did they get so much money?
By robbing those Hu merchants in the Western Regions?

How the Gao family rose to power is not a big secret in Kyoto.

The real powerful people looked down on such upstarts. Even the Zhao family, who were also upstarts, looked down on the Gao family who came from a family of soldiers and bandits.

The pages of the book turned "swish" in Zhao Qian'an's hands, and his eyes scanned every word on each page one by one. He finished flipping through the book in a few breaths, and then took the next one to read.

The speed was so fast that it was hard to believe that he remembered every word.

Soon, after the last book was flipped through, the pages were closed with a "snap".

Zhao Qi'an closed his eyes and pondered for a while. When he opened his eyes, he let out a sigh, "Just as I expected, the Gao family moved the imperial land."

The reason why he noticed the Gao family was because when Princess Yuzhen got married, His Majesty rewarded her with those imperial fields as a dowry.

The imperial land under Yuzhen's name and the imperial land allocated by His Majesty to the Zongzheng Temple are all in the eastern suburbs. Although Zhao Qi'an has not been involved in the affairs of the imperial land under Yuzhen's name over the years, the Xiaowei have already found out how much money is sent to the Princess's Mansion and how much money is sent to the Fuyan Palace every year.

It was for this reason that he realized that someone was touching the imperial land under Yu Zhen's name. He sent people to conduct a rough investigation and noticed the "Gao Family".

Now, after looking at the accounts of the Zongzheng Temple, Zhao Qian'an realized that the Gao family's main target was the imperial fields and farms of the Zongzheng Temple.

As for Yu Zhen, does that count as a side job?

Gou Xiangxi said admiringly: "My Lord, you really have a keen eye."

He took out a roll of parchment from his arms and unfolded it to reveal a map of the imperial fields outside the capital.

The map was very detailed, but the ink on it was obviously new, and the ink on the very edge was even a little wet.

Gou Xiangxi said: "I have drawn a map based on the account, please have a look at it."

Zhao Qian'an came forward and looked at the map carefully.

This map depicts the eastern suburbs of Kyoto, a place with flat terrain, abundant river water, and large tracts of fertile land, all of which are the locations of imperial farms and fields.

The imperial land that Yuzhen was awarded is also on this map.

He noticed that many fields on the map were circled in red by Gou Xiangxi, and asked, "Do these fields belong to the Gao family now?"

Gou Xiangxi smiled and said, "The Gao family is desperate to take the imperial land. These lands are nominally scattered among various royal relatives, but the actual controller is the third prince, and the Gao family is managing these imperial lands for the third prince."

He said ashamedly: "As for why these royal relatives were willing to give up the land they were rewarded with to the Third Prince... This will take some time. Perhaps we need to send people to inquire about a few families to get accurate information."

"Ah."

Zhao Qian nodded, but did not blame him.

After all, being able to figure out some clues in just half a day is already a good achievement.

……

Inside the palace.

Ever since Emperor Tianwu came down from the "Fairy Mountain" and moved back to the Imperial Palace, the imperial kitchen has been busy, and the fire in the stove has never stopped burning for twelve hours a day.

The palace maids and eunuchs who were responsible for serving the dishes came in waves, and they had to eat during the day and at night.

Everyone in the palace was wondering, is this emperor the reincarnation of Taotie? How can he eat so much?
And on the day when Zhao Qian'an went to the Zongzheng Temple to take up his post, the Fifth Marquis came to the Yangxin Palace to meet Emperor Tianwu.

"His Majesty."

He stood in the hall, bowed, his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart.

Emperor Tianwu, with his fat body like a mountain, was still sitting behind the long table, and on the table were still many delicious tonic dishes that could be called "great medicines".

The Fifth Marquis glanced at the delicacies on the table and asked, "Your Majesty, your injury..."

Emperor Tianwu waved his hand without any concern: "It's just a small matter, just eat a few more bites."

Wu Hou Qiansui sighed softly, with a hint of sadness on his face.

But he said nothing, he just stepped forward and picked up some food for Emperor Tianwu.

"Your Majesty, news has come from Jingzhou that General Ling has arrived in Jingzhou."

Emperor Tianwu held a leg of unknown meat in both hands and bit it hard, making an indistinct sound in response.

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui said, "In addition, Prime Minister Wu sent a letter with only eight words written on it."

"Which eight characters?"

"'Daqian is safe, your majesty, don't worry.'"

After Wu Hou Qiansui finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment: "Your Majesty, don't you trust Prime Minister Wu too much? This seems to be a sign of autocracy..."

How can the current Daqian Dynasty look like everything is fine...

It is full of holes, like a building about to collapse.

Emperor Tianwu seemed to be completely oblivious to this and cursed with a smile: "Eunuch, what do you care about in the court?"

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui couldn't help but sigh.

If An Shoudao were still in the court, he would not allow Wu Yong to exercise arbitrary power in the court.

But he was just a eunuch after all, and he really had no control over these things.

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui talked about a few other things, and this time he chose to talk about things that Emperor Tianwu would like to hear.

For example, which family brought in some rare treasure to celebrate Emperor Tianwu’s 80th birthday, or which new and beautiful song was composed by someone in the market…

Emperor Tianwu was only concerned with eating, and it was unclear whether he heard it or not.

After half an hour, the Fifth Marquis, who was speaking with a dry mouth, was ready to leave.

Emperor Tianwu seemed to have remembered something and called him, "Come on, is the little guy from the Zhao family going to take office today?"

The Fifth Marquis was a little surprised.

He didn't expect that His Majesty, who was too lazy to even listen to the affairs of the princes, would care about the news about Zhao Qi'an.

But he did have some news about Zhao Qian'an.

"Your Majesty, it is a coincidence that the Duke of Ying submitted a memorial yesterday, saying that the Prince Consort wanted to donate to the Zongzheng Temple."

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui took out a memorial from his bosom, but did not hand it to Emperor Tianwu. Instead, he opened it and began to read it.

Emperor Tianwu listened silently, and only said after he finished listening: "It doesn't seem like something Zhao Haiqing would do."

"Your Majesty is wise, it is indeed not the case."

The Fifth Marquis put away the memorial and reported: "The Zhao family sent Gou Xiangxi to work beside Zhao Qi'an. These things seem to be Gou Xiangxi's style. He has always been arrogant and unyielding."

"Gou Xiangxi?"

A trace of doubt appeared on Emperor Tianwu's face. The name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember it all at once.

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui reminded him tactfully: "Your Majesty, it is the 'Hyena Officer'."

"It turns out to be him!"

When Emperor Tianwu heard the three words "hyena official", he immediately remembered who Gou Xiangxi was.

He could not help but be speechless: "That bastard resigned from his post and went to work for the Zhao family?"

The Fifth Marquis Qiansui asked, "Should we give the Zhao family a heads-up?"

The "hyena official" back then had investigated the case and brought it to the attention of His Majesty, and even wrote a memorial to His Majesty. The first sentence of the memorial was -

"Why did your majesty rebel?"

To say that he is extremely daring is to underestimate this "hyena official".

Fortunately, the current emperor is tolerant, otherwise he would have been beheaded long ago. How could he have been allowed to keep his life?
Emperor Tianwu shook his head and said, "What are you reminding me of? This matter is most likely arranged by Dean An."

He put down the food in his hand, thought for a while, and smiled, "Placing someone like the Hyena Official by the side of the eldest son of the Zhao family to support him... It seems that Dean An is ready to leave the Zhao family and return to his White Deer Academy."

"Forget it, since Dean An has given me face, I will give him face as well."

(End of this chapter)