Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 124 Farewell at Luopu
Zhang Dai never got the chance to escort Zhang Jun to his new post in another prefecture. His father lingered at home for a few days before finally preparing to set off, albeit reluctantly.

To put his mind at ease, his family held a farewell banquet at Luopu, outside the east gate of Luoyang. However, not many members of the clan attended; it was mainly relatives and friends from outside the area.

Even Madam Zheng did not come to see him off. Other relatives and friends who came to bid him farewell may have felt that Madam Zheng was saddened by the passing of autumn and could not bear to see him go, but Zhang Dai knew that the two of them had been fighting fiercely recently.

Ah Ying had been going to the east wing of the mansion for days to inquire about the situation and discovered that there were many reasons why the couple was arguing.

It is said that poverty-stricken couples face a hundred sorrows. This couple may not be poor, but they have many desires but little ability, and their situation is full of troubles.

One of the contradictions was the arrangement of Zhang Jun's entourage during his trip to the prefecture.

Although state officials could not appoint their own staff, the state affairs they had to handle were more comprehensive and complicated. Whoever was assigned the task had authority and undoubtedly had more room to maneuver than officials in the capital.

In order to ease tensions among the clansmen and to assist Zhang Jun in handling state affairs, Zhang Shuo personally selected a group of clansmen and relatives for Zhang Jun to take to his post, and had already arranged a full retinue of them.

The Zhengzhou that Zhang Jun went to was still the stronghold of the Zheng family in Xingyang. Although his wife's Zheng family had moved to Luoyang and settled there for several generations, they had not made a name for themselves. They also wanted to take advantage of Zhang Jun's appointment in Zhengzhou to arrange for some family members to go back to their hometown to improve some local resources.

This undoubtedly created a conflict. Zhang Jun had dared to argue with his father before because he thought he had surpassed his father, but now that his father had kicked him out of the court, he realized who was the son and who was the father. Naturally, he dared not disobey his father's wishes anymore.

In addition, he had originally wanted to persuade his wife to ask his father to allow him to stay and take care of his wife and children, but he did not expect that his wife did not care about his external assignments at all, but only wanted to put people under his command, which naturally made Zhang Jun feel indignant.

In short, the couple had a very bad falling out. This morning, Zheng did not show up to see them off. Only Zhang Dai, along with his younger brother Zhang Yu, a few other relatives who had not held grudges, and other friends and family members, went to Luopu to see them off.

The family members here had already set up tents and prepared a feast. In ancient times, transportation was backward, so people especially valued parting.

The banks of the Luo River near the east gate of the city were considered a famous place for farewells. People often came here to break off willow branches and sing sad songs, which made the willows on the riverbank bare. If they grew any slower, they would really be unable to withstand the damage caused by these mischievous fellows.

Although Zhang Jun was extremely reluctant, the procession he was sent to was still quite impressive, with over a hundred men and women as attendants, several carriages, and dozens of donkeys and horses. There were seven or eight maids and entertainers to serve him, and the four that Wang Han had given to Zhang Dai and which Zhang Dai had then given to him were also brought along.

Zhang Dai was displeased by this display of power, but Zhang Jun himself acted as if his father had just died. After a few drinks with relatives and friends, his breath was ruffled, and he grabbed Zhang Dai's hand and said repeatedly, "After your father passes away, you two brothers will be the eldest sons in the household. You must respectfully serve your grandparents and diligently inquire after your mistress..."

Zhang Dai gave a perfunctory reply, but Zhang Yu, the young man standing to the side, was moved to tears by his father's dramatic performance, sobbing loudly, "Father, I... I'll never see you again..."

This wailing was truly ominous, so Zhang Jun glared at him and scolded him several times before looking at Zhang Dai with pleading eyes and saying, "Now that father and son are about to part ways, my son, you are so talented, do you have any elegant words or phrases to offer to comfort you during this parting?"

What are you thinking? Even if I wrote another famous poem about parting, would I waste it on you?
“Father, go in peace! Originally, I should have gone to the prefecture with you and served you, but now that I am a candidate for the provincial examination and the provincial examination is about to be held, I will travel to the capital and visit you after the results are announced next year.”

Before the provincial examination next year, he really didn't have much time to go out. Even disaster relief matters could only be planned in the capital and then handed over to others to carry out.

However, after the provincial examination, regardless of whether he passed or not, he would have more time, and he wanted to leave Luoyang and travel downstream along the Yellow River. Having finally come to this world, his vision couldn't be limited to the two capitals.

Unable to obtain any poems from his son, Zhang Jun went to exchange poems with other relatives and friends. This continued until evening, when he finally set off with his seven or eight maids, a hundred or so men, and several cartloads of luggage and valuables, his face filled with sorrow.

"Should Liulang go straight home, or go somewhere else to relax?"

After seeing Zhang Jun off, a middle-aged man came up to Zhang Dai with a smile and asked him a question.

This middle-aged man was Zheng Yan, Zhang Shuo's son-in-law. He also came from the Zheng family of Xingyang, but had no connection with his wife, Zheng.

"There are still some matters I need to discuss with Uncle Li. Is there something else, Uncle?"

Zheng Yan had treated Zhang Dai as an ordinary junior on his previous visits, but today his attitude was exceptionally warm, even more so than when he had treated Zhang Jun. Knowing that such politeness must be for a reason, Zhang Dai simply asked.

"There's nothing urgent. My companion and I will head back to the city."

Zheng Yan hesitated, seemingly finding it difficult to speak, and finally just chuckled twice before speaking. Seeing this, Zhang Dai didn't ask any further questions, and raised his hand to instruct Zhang Yi, "Go home with your family first, ask about today's lessons at the clan school, and submit them tomorrow morning. If you don't see them, you won't be spared!"

"There's still more to do..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yi's face immediately fell. Seeing Zhang Dai's change in expression, he dared not say anything more and hurriedly lowered his head and walked to the side. Before, when his father was at home, Zhang Dai had already told him to beat him at will. Now that his father had left home, he had lost all his support.

Li Cheng, whom Zhang Shuo had mentioned before, also came to see Zhang Jun off. He had already accepted the post of envoy to tour Henan, but he still had to wait for the other envoys to leave the capital together.

The imperial court attached great importance to the disaster relief efforts in Henan and Hebei this time, and dispatched several envoys for this purpose. Although Li Cheng held three envoy titles, he was only one of them.

The head of these envoys was Yuwen Rong, the Imperial Censor. Yuwen Rong was recently appointed as the Pacification Commissioner of Henan and Hebei, while also serving as the Agricultural Promotion Commissioner of Hebei, responsible for the overall management of disaster relief in Henan and Hebei.

At the same time, the emperor appointed Li Jingren, the Grand Eunuch, as the Pacification Commissioner of the Eight Prefectures of Henan and the North, and officials from both the inner and outer courts were mobilized together.

Such a large-scale operation was for two reasons. First, the disaster affected the empire's core grain-producing region, and mishandling the situation could have far-reaching consequences. Second, the imperial court had just completed the Fengshan ceremony last year, and naturally could not allow the Central Plains to be littered with corpses this year.

After seeing Zhang Jun off, Zhang Dai walked over to Li Cheng and said to him, "Uncle, if you have nothing else to do, would you like to come with me to the residence in Wenluo Ward to discuss matters?"

Li Cheng had already learned from Zhang Shuo that Zhang Dai had made many preparations for disaster relief. Although he was somewhat surprised to discuss such an important matter with a young man, he still nodded and said, "Yan Gong told me that you have a good plan for affairs. Now that I am about to leave the capital, I would like to hear your thoughts."

Zheng Yan still had something he wanted to ask Zhang Dai, a younger man, but he was a little too shy to ask. Seeing this, he said goodbye to his other relatives and friends and then followed the two back to the city.

Wenluofang is located on the north bank of the Luo River and the south side of the Caoqu Canal. It has convenient transportation and developed water transport. After public and private ships from other states connect to the water transport channels of the Eastern Capital, they will arrive here first.

The canal between Xintan and Luoyang could accommodate tens of thousands of transport ships, making it the starting point of the main artery of Luoyang, this great metropolis in the center of the world, from which the world's resources were received.

Zhang Dai led the two directly to the Wenluo Ward inn allocated to them by Consort Wu Hui. This inn covered nearly thirty acres, encompassing an entire area in the northeast corner of Wenluo Ward. The inn contained nearly a hundred warehouses and shops, capable of providing rest and lodging for people and horses, and storing tens of thousands of shi of goods.

"These inns are all your assets, Zongzhi?"

Zheng Yan and Li Cheng were not very familiar with Zhang Dai, but they knew quite a bit about the value of the industries in Luoyang.

Although one family claimed to be from the Zheng family of Xingyang and the other from the Li family of Longxi, they were both long-time natives of Luoyang and each possessed substantial assets.

Li Cheng's family also ran a shop in Wenluofang, though it was less than two acres in size, yet they managed it very well and made a considerable profit. As for Zheng Yan, although he also had the idea of ​​buying property, he couldn't find an opportunity.

When the two men saw that such a large area of ​​shops belonged to Zhang Dai, they were both astonished and stared wide-eyed, finding it hard to believe.

“When we talked about disaster relief the other day, Consort Hui in the palace allocated this place for her purposes; it is not my private property.”

Zhang Dai had no intention of showing off. As he led the two to the inn, he explained to Li Cheng the disaster relief supplies and plans he had prepared: "Consort Hui has prepared 100,000 strings of cash and silk, and plans to initially collect 50,000 shi of grain to be transported down the river to Zheng, Bian, Cao, and Hua prefectures. Each prefecture and county wishing to receive the grain must first provide 10 qing of land, regardless of whether it is ravine, embankment, or arable land, but it must be convenient for the movement of goods..."

One hundred thousand strings of cash and silk is by no means a small amount. Even if used in such a large-scale disaster relief effort, it could raise a considerable amount of supplies.

However, the emperor had already stated that he was not allowed to excessively interfere with the actions of the prefectures and counties under the guise of Consort Wu Hui, and Zhang Dai did not want to abuse his power and cause trouble.

He didn't ask for much cooperation from the state and county authorities. Basically, he asked them to provide a convenient location for building weaving workshops and providing lodging, and to send women and children who were temporarily unable to receive relief within the territory as soon as possible. He also asked them to bear the costs of other materials.

After listening to Zhang Dai's plan, Li Cheng's expression changed again. He had not expected that Zhang Dai was actually controlling such a large amount of money and goods. After listening to Zhang Dai's brief introduction, he said again, "I would like to introduce you, Zongzhi, to Minister Yuwen. I wonder if you would be willing to meet him?"
The former has his own principles regarding court affairs, but putting aside the past, Vice Minister Yuwen himself is a capable and efficient minister. If you can gain his support for your plan, its implementation will surely be much smoother.”

(End of this chapter)