Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 292 Cai Yong: I'm so afraid of being poor, I don't dare touch a single penny!
On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the first year of the Hanxing era, the Directorate of Works was established.

Cai Yong slept in late, a rare treat, and didn't get up to wash until the sun was almost high in the sky.

As Cai Yong leisurely tidied his clothes and strolled out of his bedroom, the aroma of dishes prepared by the kitchen staff wafted out.

As a high-ranking official with a salary of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain), a fief of 500 households, and the property of the Cai family of Chenliu, Cai Yong lived a very comfortable life.

An official with a rank of 2,000 shi (a unit of grain measurement) receives 6500 coins per month and 36 shi of grain per month, which amounts to 78000 coins and 432 shi of grain per year.

Noi-tei is located under the jurisdiction of Zhu'a County in Pingyuan State. It is a fertile land on the banks of the Ji River in Zhu'a County, Pingyuan State. This year, Pingyuan State had a bumper harvest, and the taxes from 500 households amounted to 2000 shi of winter wheat and 120,000 coins.

Earlier, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture had come to him seeking an audience, hoping to purchase the 2000 shi of winter wheat at the market price of 70 qian per shi, and then load it directly onto carts and transport it to Jizhou, thereby reducing losses during the journey and directly replenishing the grain reserves that had been reduced by transporting grain from Jizhou to Youzhou and Bingzhou.

Cai Yong readily agreed, and in September, the Ministry of Agriculture sent a total of 26 coins to the palace.

Before long, lunch was prepared at the mansion, consisting of two vegetarian dishes, one meat dish, and a soup.

Stir-fried winter okra cooked in an iron wok, crisp stir-fried lotus root slices, stir-fried pork garnished with dogwood seeds, and a bowl of poria chicken soup with pre-soaked fox nuts, Chinese yam, lotus seeds, and poria, along with old ginger and red dates, brought to a boil over high heat and then simmered over low heat for an hour before serving.

This seemingly ordinary three dishes and one soup are quite expensive in the dead of winter, costing 250 coins per meal, not including firewood and those expensive seasonings.

Winter mallow is a common and cheap seasonal vegetable in winter. Pork and chicken are reasonably priced, but lotus root is more than twice the price of pork.

Lotus roots are not absent from ponds in winter, but digging them out of the cold mud in the dead of winter is extremely difficult, resulting in a small quantity and high labor costs, hence the high price.

This portion is only enough for four people.

Besides Cai Yong himself and his youngest daughter Cai Zhenji sitting to the side, those having lunch together included Gu Yong, the disciple he brought back from Wu County, and Wang Can, who was only nine years old but had already been accepted as his last disciple.

Gu Yong came from the Gu family of Wu County. When Cai Yong sought refuge in Wu County, he received much help from the Gu family. Naturally, they took special care of this disciple and allowed him to live in their mansion.

As for Wang Can, he will be ten years old in half a month. Despite his young age, he is exceptionally intelligent and is the only child prodigy he has ever seen.

In terms of talent for studying classics, Wang Can was definitely the most outstanding among all his disciples!
Wang Can's father, Wang Qian, served as the chief clerk in the Left General's mansion of his friend Dong Zhuo. Wang Can's mother had also passed away a few years earlier. Cai Yong was worried about him living alone, so he brought him to live with him at his mansion.

After finishing his meal, Cai Yong, too lazy to put on airs in front of his daughter and two disciples, leaned comfortably against the armchair, rubbing his slightly bulging belly with satisfaction. He turned to his daughter and said, "Zhenji, go for a walk this afternoon. Whether you go to see Yang Zhongyi (Yang Dao) or visit your sister, it's fine, just don't come back and disturb this old man."

The Yang Zhongyi he mentioned refers to Yang Dao, the second son of Yang Xu, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat.

Yang Dao is eighteen years old. His first wife, Kong Rong's daughter, passed away two years ago after giving birth to their son. With the help of his old friends Cai Yong and Yang Xu, Cai Zhenji, who has lived in the Yang clan of Mount Tai since childhood, has been engaged to marry Yang Dao as his second wife next March.

Upon hearing this, Cai Zhenji did not respond immediately. Instead, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously and looked at Cai Yong with a slightly doubtful gaze, saying, "Father, are you perhaps planning something shady?"

"nonsense!"

Cai Yong immediately glared and scolded, "The construction of the Emperor's mausoleum will begin on New Year's Day! I, along with my colleagues in the Imperial Workshop, will conduct a final review of the mausoleum plans before construction begins to ensure that everything is perfect! Such confidential plans are not for anyone to look at casually. Not even if you are my daughter!"

Despite Cai Yong's righteous and stern words, Cai Zhenji's doubts remained undiminished, and her gaze towards Cai Yong was still filled with deep suspicion.

In the Cai family today, Cai Yong's status can be described as second only to the emperor, or even second only to two emperors.

If we don't count the relatives from their hometown, the servants and maids in the mansion, and the two disciples Gu Yong and Wang Can, then the Cai family actually only consisted of three people: Cai Yong's daughters Cai Zhaoji and Cai Zhenji.

Yes, his status in this family of three is third, only after his two daughters!

The reason is simple: Cai Yong couldn't control himself and had a penchant for spending money.

Cai Yong repeatedly used his family's surplus wealth to buy large quantities of books and musical scores, to the point that his family had no money left. He was even so poor that he had to rely on Dong Zhuo's financial assistance to afford his daughter's dowry.

Finally, Cai Zhaoji, having reached her limit, forcibly "took over" the family's financial power.

The reason why the Ministry of Agriculture sent Cai Yong's fief tax directly to the palace instead of the Ministry of Works was because the recipient of Cai Yong's salary and the tax from his fief were all Cai Zhaoji in the palace.

If Cai Yong hadn't been unable to control himself, why would his married daughter, Cai Zhaoji, have risked public criticism to forcibly take away his salary card?

A typical copy of the Analects, consisting of about 16000 characters, costs at least 4000 yuan, and even then, you need to have access to purchase the book.

Even if a poor family could scrape together 4000 coins, they wouldn't have a way to buy a complete set of the Analects. For the wealthy and powerful, to buy a complete set of the Analects, they would have to go to great lengths to cultivate connections and gain the right to purchase it, and they would have to spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of coins. Musical scores were even more expensive.

If Cai Yong's "Qin Cao," a commentary on qin music, were to be distributed through official channels, a complete set would cost at least 100,000 coins, not including the cost of cultivating connections.

The books and musical scores that could move a great Confucian scholar like Cai Yong, who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, were naturally not ordinary things. They were mostly rare copies or fragments of lost books and scores, such as the "Guangling San" which had been lost several times.

The true score of "Guangling San" has never actually been lost. What has been lost is the explanation of what kind of artistic conception should be expressed in the different sections of the score.

The entire piece "Guangling San" consists of forty-five sections, divided into six parts: prelude, small prelude, large prelude, main melody, chaotic melody, and postlude.

The narrative unfolds from sympathy for Nie Zheng's unfortunate fate in the preface, to the earth-shattering, overwhelming killing intent as Nie Zheng avenges his father in the main narrative, to the heroic and stirring scene of Nie Zheng disfiguring himself and committing suicide in the chaos, and finally to the sorrow of Nie Zheng's mother collecting his body in the epilogue. (Note 1)

Having a musical score but lacking artistic conception is merely having the rhythm but not the spirit, and cannot be considered a true inheritance of "Guangling San".

Only when the spirit and essence are combined can it be said to have inherited the essence of "Guangling San".

None of these rare and incomplete copies are worth less than 100,000 coins.

In other words, although the Cai family of Chenliu could not be considered a proper aristocratic family, and only Cai Yong's uncle Cai Zhi had served as the Commandant of the Guards in these generations, the family's property was quite substantial. Otherwise, given Cai Yong's personality, he and his daughter would have been living on the streets and eating dew sooner or later.

Therefore, each month, Cai Zhaoji would only send enough money to Cai family for their daily expenses back home, but this money would also be managed by Cai Zhenji.

Of course, Cai Zhaoji wasn't entirely heartless; she would give Cai Yong 20,000 coins a month as "pocket money." This was more than enough for Cai Yong to drink tea and wine, but if he wanted to buy rare or incomplete manuscripts, he would have to save up for at least half a year.

But Cai Zhenji always felt that there must be something fishy about this matter. Her father must have some shady business to send her away. However, Cai Yong's reason was too unconvincing, and she could not refute it. She had no choice but to leave home temporarily.

Gu Yong and Wang Can, the former had planned to take advantage of today's day off to go out and play with a group of friends from the Imperial Academy, while the latter was still young and it was fine for him to stay at home.

When only Cai Yong and his apprentice Wang Can remained in the mansion, Cai Yong's expression suddenly changed. He looked around and, to make sure that no one was around except Wang Can, he didn't even bother to put on his wooden clogs and walked out barefoot.

Wang Can was putting a date into his mouth when he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes, as if something had "flew" past him.

Wang Can suddenly turned his head and saw only the blurry back of his teacher, and his eyes widened in astonishment.

With his brisk and agile movements, he doesn't look like a 54-year-old man at all!

Inside the bedroom, Cai Yong, panting heavily, wiped the sweat from his cheeks with his sleeve and laboriously moved the heavy mattress on the bed. Between the mattress and the nanmu bed, there was a sizable hidden storage compartment.

Hidden in the secret compartment were dozens of gleaming gold nuggets!
Each one weighs exactly one pound, and roughly calculated, the total value is about five or six hundred thousand coins!
Looking at this pile of golden treasures, Cai Yong, who was usually calm and composed, suddenly had an unusual flush on his face, his eyes gleaming with an almost obsessive light. He grinned and let out a low, satisfied laugh, saying, "Hehehe, money, all money, all my money!"

This was all the money Cai Yong had secretly saved after selling his book "Qin Cao" behind his two daughters' backs. To make it easier to hide, he specifically asked the other party to settle the payment in gold, a "superior currency".

Cai Yong stretched out his slightly trembling hand, picked up a handful of cold gold nuggets, brought them close to his nose, took a deep breath, and greedily inhaled the fragrant aroma emanating from the gold.

Although the gold nuggets themselves had no smell, and if they did, it would only be from the sweaty smell of Cai Yong's hands, Cai Yong was still intoxicated by them. At this moment, in his senses, these gold nuggets seemed to be exuding the most alluring fragrance in the world.

He wasn't actually that greedy, but the arduous process of secretly accumulating this stash of money, and the thrill of hiding it from his two daughters, gave him an almost obsessive love for these gold bars. He even momentarily forgot that his original purpose in hiding the money was to buy books and sheet music, not to leave it here as decoration.

At this moment, Cai Yong was simply indulging in the satisfaction of possessing them.

But just as Cai Yong closed his eyes and reveled in the "fragrance of gold nuggets," a series of hurried and chaotic footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside the bedroom!
Cai Yong felt a sudden jolt, and his heart leaped into his throat.

Oh no! Could it be that his daughter saw through his plan and launched a surprise attack?!

Cai Yong hurriedly put the mattress back on and quickly pulled at the bedding to tidy up the bed, trying to cover up all traces, when a loud "bang" was heard and the bedroom door was suddenly kicked open.

Before he could turn around and see who it was, Cai Yong suddenly felt his left arm being twisted backward by a strong force. He cried out in pain as his arm was locked and he was pressed firmly onto the couch by a brute force.

A sharp shout came from behind: "Cai Bojie, you've been caught! Come with us!"

Cai Yong was both shocked and frightened, and instinctively cried out his innocence. He exclaimed, "Injustice! This is all clean money I earned from selling 'Qin Cao', it's illicit wealth! I... I'm hiding some private money, is that a crime against the law?!"

“Uh…Lord Bojie, you…uh…this…”

A familiar yet clearly embarrassed voice came from behind. It was Liu Bian, but he obviously hadn't expected this scene. He was speechless for a moment and subconsciously turned his head to look at the bedroom door.

Upon hearing Liu Bian's voice, Cai Yong's tense nerves immediately relaxed.

He knew that the young emperor sometimes liked to joke and play with his close ministers. He often saw similar scenes when he was a guest at Lu Zhi’s residence. Today, being treated like this by the emperor made him feel that the emperor regarded him as a confidant, which made him quite happy.

However, before Cai Yong could fully exhale, a voice as clear and melodious as a nightingale's, yet with a cool, icy quality, clearly entered his ears:

"Oh? Father has hidden some money in secret." Cai Zhaoji looked at her father, Cai Yong, with a smile and said, "May I take a look?"

Liu Bian awkwardly released his grip, but Cai Yong, now free, felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave when he saw the smiling figure of his eldest daughter at the door!

"This...this...this, who hid so many gold nuggets in the hidden compartment under my bed!"

"Who is this? Is he trying to harm me on purpose?!"

Cai Zhaoji's eyes curved into a smile, but a chill ran through them as she said, "Father, do you admit that this is a hidden compartment under your bed?"

A chilling cold instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and Cai Yong felt even the tips of his fingers were icy cold.

My heart is ice-cold!

My secret stash of money!!!
Cai Yong wailed inwardly, his face ashen.

"I didn't spend a single penny!"

"I'm terrified of being poor!"

"I dare not touch a single penny!"

(4253 words)
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Note 1: The story of Nie Zheng's revenge in Cai Yong's "Qin Cao" is completely different from the common story of assassination to repay kindness. It is a combination of several well-known stories of chivalrous knights assassinating kings and emperors, including but not limited to Yu Rang assassinating Zhi Bo, Gao Jianli assassinating Qin Shi Huang, and Gan Jiang's son avenging his father's death at the hands of the King of Chu for forging a sword.

Cai Yong's version of the Nie Zheng story tells of how Nie Zheng's father was ordered to forge a sword for Marquis Ai of Han, but the project was not completed before the deadline, and he was killed.

After Nie Zheng grew up, his mother told him the truth about his father's death. So Nie Zheng learned martial arts and swordsmanship, and infiltrated the Han King's palace as a bricklayer, but his first assassination attempt failed.

So Nie Zheng fled to Mount Tai, where he learned the zither from an immortal. He painted his body with lacquer to become a vengeful spirit, swallowed charcoal to change his voice, and even pulled out all his teeth. After ten years of hard work, he became a skilled zither player. He was summoned to the palace by Marquis Ai of Han to play the zither, where he hid a sharp blade inside the instrument.

Taking advantage of the moment when Marquis Han Ai and his guards were off guard, the assassin successfully carried out the assassination. Fearing that his mother would be implicated, he gouged out his own eyes and disemboweled himself, so that no one could identify the assassin.

South Korea offered a reward of a thousand taels of gold to identify the assassin. After recognizing the body, Nie's mother embraced it and wept bitterly, eventually dying from grief.

(End of this chapter)