Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 293 Using Gaoping Hill as a Mausoleum?

"Ahem, Lord Bojie, I didn't mean it."

Liu Bian rubbed his hands together, looking at his father-in-law with an embarrassed smile. His heart was pounding, after all, he had indeed done something unethical.

But what was surprising was that Cai Yong was secretly hiding his private stash of money, and even more surprising was that the old man had already hidden it all but still confessed without being asked.

However, in the end, it was Liu Bian who caused the trouble. The female officials in Cai Zhaoji's palace counted the number of gold ingots. There were a total of 63 gold ingots. Although the weight was slightly off, each gold ingot was no less than a pound. It was roughly estimated to be worth more than 70 coins. Then Cai Zhaoji took them all.

The 54-year-old man had red eyes and trembling lips, barely managing to hold back his tears and avoid losing face.

According to Lu Cui and Ruan Yu, two disciples of Cai Yong, Cai Yong had written an essay titled "Instructions for Women" a few days ago... Liu Bian had every reason to believe that it was a short essay written by Cai Yong to express his dissatisfaction with his two daughters.

This made Liu Bian somewhat emotional.

It wasn't about writing about crickets or daughters, but rather the sheer amount of money Cai Yong had hidden away that truly made him realize for the first time the astonishingly high profits of "knowledge."

Some thoughts had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

Before he ascended the throne, Shangfang Ling Chai Yu had already improved the papermaking process. Now, after several improvements, the cost of paper has been reduced again and again, but it only appears in small quantities in the office activities of the court.

As for printing, with the rubbing method, an early printing technique that is popular today, Liu Bian certainly wouldn't have been unaware of these issues.

When papermaking and printing are combined, the cost of learning and disseminating knowledge is halved.

However, the Han Dynasty cannot do that at present. The "knowledge" pie cannot be touched easily, otherwise countless scholars will rebel under the banner of "exterminating the tyrannical Han" and "killing the tyrant".

Although he did not believe that these scholars could defeat his five central army camps and the border camps directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, it would undoubtedly cause another huge destruction to the Han Dynasty.

Cai Yong gave Liu Bian a resentful look, took a deep breath, tried to suppress the throbbing pain in his heart, and said with a straight face, "Your Majesty, you came here today... just to accompany Zhao Ji on her homecoming?"

Wow, that tone was so harsh, it sounded like they were telling him to get out.

But Liu Bian wasn't annoyed. He knew Cai Yong's character too well. This old man had no bad intentions, and he had come with a purpose today. So he put on an even warmer smile, stepped forward, and intimately shook Cai Yong's hand, saying, "It's about the matter of the Shouling Mausoleum. I have some new ideas and would like to discuss them with you, Father-in-law."

Cai Yong tried to pull his hand away from the emperor's grasp but couldn't. Hearing the emperor's overly sweet "father-in-law," he suddenly felt a chill and got goosebumps.

He knew all too well what the emperor's demeanor meant!

He realized his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth.

But the current emperor is a benevolent ruler after all, and usually won't hold a minister's slip of the tongue against him. At most, he'll give you a minor setback afterward.

But if the emperor not only doesn't hold a grudge, but also seems to have no intention of making things difficult for you, and instead greets you with a smile and great warmth... then there's definitely a huge problem about to hit you!

Hmm... The above summary of experience comes entirely from Lu Zhi, the Grand Tutor of the current dynasty!
When there's trouble, he calls for "Master Lu"; when there's no trouble, he calls for "Old Man Tianshe".

Lu Zhi had long since figured out the emperor's dog-like face, and was almost ready to write a book titled "One Hundred Questions on the Emperor's Face-Changing: From Beginner to Expert".

Ah, "father-in-law"?
What merit or ability does Cai Bojie possess to deserve such a title!

With alarm bells blaring in his mind, Cai Yong immediately tensed up, adopting a serious, businesslike demeanor, and said solemnly, "I am the Grand Master of Works under the Minister of the Imperial Household Department. When the state issues orders, there is no need to consult with me. Instead, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department should discuss and decide on the matter, and then issue a formal order for me to carry it out. I dare not overstep my bounds!"

Old man, you want to be a slippery eel, don't you?

Liu Bian squinted at Cai Yong. These old men are not so easy to fool now. They're slippery and they're all playing the "three no's" principle of "no initiative," "no refusal," and "no responsibility" with him.

"Personally," Liu Bian said, his grip firm and his smile unchanged, "you are Zhao Ji's father and my father-in-law, so naturally you are my elder. I naturally need the guidance and instruction of my elders."

"From a public perspective, the construction of the mausoleum is precisely the responsibility of the Grand Master of Works." Liu Bian suddenly changed his tone, his voice carrying an undeniable air, and said with a slight smile, "Therefore, both publicly and privately, I should not bypass Lord Bojie in this matter!" Liu Bian naturally would not allow Cai Yong to be a slippery eel, nor would he give Cai Yong any further chance to refuse, and directly brought up the main point: "I wish to change the burial site."

Cai Yong's eyelids twitched suddenly. He didn't reply, but silently raised his eyes and looked at Liu Bian with a complicated expression.

In those eyes, there was helplessness, vigilance, and a hint of weariness, as if saying, "Here we go again."

The emperor's auspicious burial site was initially chosen at Gaopingqiu in Xincheng County, a hundred miles away from Luoyang.

It was a high plateau, high in the east and low in the west. To the east it was bordered by the north-south Baling Mountain, to the north it was separated from the east-west Songshan branch Wan'an Mountain, and to the south it was separated from the east-west Erma Mountain.

Located north of the Luo River and south of the Yi River, nestled between three mountains and two rivers, this place boasts an excellent feng shui location. Standing atop the high hill and looking west, one can see the rolling Yi River flowing north and the verdant mountains to the west of the Yi River.

Moreover, with its back to the mountain and a gentle slope in front, it perfectly conforms to the consistent principle of "choosing a high and open place" for building a mausoleum since the Han Dynasty.

However, as the client, Liu Bian rejected the idea immediately upon hearing the name "Gaopingqiu" with a dark expression.

Gaoping Mausoleum, this place is too unlucky.

Although this was just Liu Bian's psychological effect, as long as the Han Dynasty was strong enough, there was no need to worry about these things. But for someone in his position, if he didn't seek psychological satisfaction, would he deliberately make himself feel disgusted?
Just as Liu Bian had rejected Ma Ridi's proposal for the reign title "Zhengshi".

However, Liu Bian could not use this reason to reject the auspicious land that Cai Yong and the Grand Historian Shan Yang had searched for for three months. Therefore, Liu Bian stated that Gaopingqiu was a fertile land with the potential for cultivation. Since he advocated simple burials, he should set an example for all people. How could he occupy such a fertile land that could be cultivated as his mausoleum?
Although Cai Yong and Shan Yang were somewhat helpless about this reason, they accepted it, only hoping that the emperor could raise any other requests at once.

Liu Bian, the client, stated that he had no other requirements, as long as it was "a desolate and barren land," meaning an area with no value for cultivation.

This put Cai Yong and Shan Yang in a difficult position. If they were to find a rotten piece of land for the emperor as a suitable site, the officials would surely cause an uproar.

Even though the theory of the interaction between heaven and man was abolished, the theory of "observing qi" was not labeled as heresy, and "feng shui" was included in the system of "observing qi".

The theory of interaction between Heaven and Man is based on the "theory of observing Qi". However, in the theory of observing Qi, all things are composed of and driven by "Qi", and the emperor does not have the function of connecting Heaven and Earth.

All disasters are inseparable from the three basic elements of weather, earth energy, and human energy.

According to the "Qi Observation Theory," natural disasters occur because the government's incompetence in governing the country causes the people's morale to turn into resentment.

The resentment stemming from the shift in popularity caused changes in the local climate, which ultimately affected the weather.

When all three elements are in disarray, natural disasters occur. This has no direct relation to the emperor's morality, but rather is the shared responsibility of many parties.

However, Cai Yong and Shan Yang were worried that if the Han dynasty were to encounter problems in the future, future generations would inevitably hold them accountable for choosing "a desolate and barren land" as auspicious soil for the emperor, and place all the blame on the two dead men.

However, the emperor's decree could not be disobeyed, so Cai Yong and Shan Yang ventured into the mountains and forests, and finally found a piece of land on the eastern side of Shouyang Mountain in Yanshi County that the emperor had described as "a place where no one can eat from the ruins".

Shouyang is the place where Yi and Qi gathered wild herbs, a place imbued with a noble and refined atmosphere, and with a long and rich cultural heritage.

Although it is a "desolate and barren land," it is still blessed by feng shui and is a treasure land that has been overlooked by feng shui masters throughout history.

So the two of them selected Shouyang Mountain as an auspicious site, presented it to the emperor, and provided him with a design plan for his mausoleum.

Emperor Liu Bian was delighted after reading the proposal and approved Cai Yong and Shan Yang's plan. He immediately stamped the document to approve it and ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to allocate funds for the first phase of the project.

But today, Liu Bian, this fickle client, is going to change his mind again!

Who says a mausoleum can only be built near the capital?

(2592 words)
(End of this chapter)