Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 249 Erecting a Stele at Xiangguo Temple
Zhang Dai's reason for having Wang Yuanbao raise a fortune from the wealthy households in Bianzhou was not to extort money from them or make up for the losses he had incurred from paying taxes along the way, but rather to use the funds to build a monument to his aunt, Consort Wu Hui.

The current situation in Bianzhou, along with Yuan Fu's arrogant attitude, not only displeased him but also made him wary. Originally, he intended to use Bianzhou as a central liaison office and distribution center for disaster relief, but now it seemed highly inappropriate.

Even though Consort Wu Hui was standing behind him, and Yuan Fu dared not openly target him, he was, after all, the rightful governor of Bianzhou. If he wanted to punish him, he would have no shortage of methods and means.

To give a simple example, people in Zhengzhou had heard of the Yizao Weaving Workshop to some extent, but in Bianzhou, it was almost completely unknown. Although the workshop had provided relief to nearly two thousand people, the local people knew almost nothing about it.

Zhang Dai's disaster relief efforts were aimed at gaining fame, and that goes without saying. Of course, if one can genuinely help people, it doesn't matter if fame doesn't spread immediately; one can simply wait for it to develop further.

However, it was clear that someone in Bianzhou was deliberately suppressing the spread of such information. Large sums of money and goods were invested, but not a single sound was heard. Zhang Dai was not a fool, so he naturally could not increase his investment in the face of this situation.

The disasters in other places like Caozhou, Huazhou, Puzhou, and Weizhou were all more severe than in Bianzhou. The local government in Bianzhou wasn't very proactive, so what good was his one-sided enthusiasm? Even if he had the wealth to spend as he pleased, he couldn't mobilize enough administrative power to cooperate!
Moreover, his disaster relief plan was designed to complement the government's relief efforts, primarily targeting vulnerable groups such as women and children whose needs were not fully met by the government. Only through such cooperation could they achieve synergy. In Bianzhou, exploitation came first, followed by disaster relief; how much more he invested could possibly yield significant results?

Therefore, Zhang Dai planned to stop expanding the number of personnel and supplies for disaster relief in Bianzhou and maintain the current scale. He also instructed Xu Shen, who was preparing to build a new weaving workshop, to stop the operation. At the same time, he ordered the cargo caravan to depart for Caozhou immediately the next day and not to stay in Bianzhou for long.

But Zhang Dai did not intend to leave in disgrace. First, he wanted the people of Bianzhou to know what he had done here. Second, he wanted the people of Bianzhou to know that the government could have arranged the relief work better, but the government had failed to do so.

Spreading information solely through words is too inefficient and could easily lead to the authorities accusing the individual of incitement and misleading others.

Therefore, Zhang Dai prepared a method he had planned long ago: to erect steles in Bianzhou, and to record the story in every densely populated town, pass, and city, to inform the people of the existence of the Yizao Weaving Workshop.

Generally speaking, a local official's merits and achievements could only be erected or a shrine built within the territory after the local government had compiled a list of the official's virtuous deeds and achievements within the jurisdiction and obtained permission from the imperial court upon the official's departure from office.

Di Renjie, a famous minister of the Wu Zhou dynasty, had outstanding achievements in Hebei. The people built a shrine to commemorate his achievements. Later, his son also served in the same place, but he was hated by the people because of his greed and tyranny. So the people smashed the shrine that had been built in Di Renjie's honor.

However, Zhang Dai wanted to commemorate the merits of Consort Wu Hui, who was not a formal official of the imperial court. Therefore, he only needed to report to the local government and obtain approval before he could erect the stele.

Zhang Dai went to the prefectural government of Bianzhou to pay his respects to Governor Yuan Fu, but the governor was too busy with official duties to meet him. However, the people of the prefecture were grateful for this kindness and raised funds to build a stele. Unable to refuse such a generous offer, Zhang Dai could only build the stele first and then ask the government for permission.

If they disagree, then they can just destroy the stele; it's no big deal. Zhang Dai wanted to see if Yuan Qianyao's son, who was known for his harsh and ruthless rule, would also act in other ways that differed from his father's style, being equally forceful and daring to directly destroy the merit stele of Consort Wu Hui.

Yuan Fu deliberately suppressed these matters to prevent them from spreading, while Zhang Dai intended to make the matter known to everyone in Bianzhou by erecting a monument!

The next morning, the prefectural government dispatched two officials to the Wang family's residence, holding the governor's order to supervise the entire process, a rather aggressive stance.

Zhang Dai didn't take this to heart. He planned to visit the weaving workshop to check on its operations before informing Xu Shen of his decision and then leaving Bianzhou.

He didn't need to personally oversee the fundraising for the monument; he simply instructed them to carve it secretly first, then transport it to different locations and erect it together, making it impossible for Yuan Fu to cover it up.

The weaving workshops here are located on Yimen Mountain, north of Bianzhou City. Although it is called a mountain, it is actually a large area of ​​high-altitude loess plateau, which lies between the Yellow River and the city.

Zhang Dai arrived at the gate of the weaving workshop, where Xu Shen and the others hurriedly came out to greet him. This guy wasn't deliberately being arrogant; he was injured and had to be carried out. His face was covered in fresh wounds, and one of his legs was twisted and dislocated.

"what happened?"

Upon seeing this, Zhang Dai immediately asked in a deep voice.

"I recently received instructions from the prefectural government to designate a new plot of land in Pengchi for the construction of a new weaving workshop and the resettlement of women and children. I dared not neglect this task and personally supervised the construction. However, I did not expect that the place had been occupied by vagrants. Although the officials of the prefectural government drove them away, they returned at night to launch a sneak attack. I was caught off guard and was injured..."

When Xu Shen got to this point, he couldn't help but feel ashamed. He was originally from Kaifeng, but he never expected to be attacked by refugees on his own land and end up in this situation.

Zhang Dai, however, sensed something unusual in his words and immediately frowned, saying, "If the prefecture is truly so interested, surely there are other vacant lands available to give it to? Since you've already allocated this land, why not first properly deal with the vagrants and other animals on it? Anyone who's playing this trick must have ill intentions!" Upon hearing this, Xu Shen's expression darkened, and he lowered his head, saying, "I was recommended and appointed by the prefect, but my efforts in handling matters have not been entirely satisfactory, which has disappointed the prefect, Magistrate Yuan, and thus he is not pleased with me. Progress in many matters has been significantly hindered."

"It has nothing to do with you; it's the Lord himself who is incompetent in governing!"

Zhang Dai did not blame Xu Shen; he had a certain understanding of Xu Shen's abilities.

Xu Shen had previously proposed abolishing customs and market taxes in Luoyang to promote the flow of goods and alleviate the shortage of goods in Bianzhou. However, Yuan Fu is now implementing the exact opposite policy of imposing heavy customs and market taxes. It's no wonder that they can not agree on anything.

Despite the state government's refusal to cooperate, Xu Shen still managed to build and maintain the weaving workshop to this day, which shows his considerable ability.

As the group entered the weaving workshop, they were greeted by the weavers who lined up to express their gratitude for the help they had received. Although the outside world knew little about the weaving workshop, the women and children who entered it had indeed received tangible assistance.

Zhang Dai noticed that the proportion of adult weavers in the weaving workshop was very high, while the number of children was only two or three hundred. He immediately said in a deep voice, "Why are there so few children here?"

He believed that Xu Shen deliberately reduced the number of children he helped in order to ensure the efficiency of the weavers' labor, which undoubtedly went against the original intention of helping women and children.

Upon hearing this, Xu Shen quickly explained, "Most of those receiving aid here were sent over by the prefectural government. The prefecture is conducting a large-scale search for the deceased and runaways, leaving many people stranded in the countryside. Few are able to receive assistance here. Those sent over by the prefectural government are mostly government slaves, women from lowly households, while the able-bodied men remain in the prefectural government for service. The women and children we are currently taking in were all found by our servants in the countryside..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai couldn't help but sneer again. He had built the weaving workshop to help those people who were affected by the disaster and whose production could not continue. As a result, the people who needed to be helped were kept in their villages and could not move, while the state government sent over its subordinate, low-efficiency slaves as if they were a burden.

It wasn't that he was unwilling to help these government slaves; it was just that these people were under the jurisdiction of the government, and the government should be responsible for their livelihood. But now they were being sent here, which was clearly exploiting the wealthy. They would be taken away by the government after being exploited, and it would have nothing to do with the suffering of the common people.

Compared to Zhengzhou, the buildings and layout of the textile workshop in Bianzhou were much worse. The women and children who had been there before were living in simple shacks, and the thousands of people who had been brought here recently were not yet able to be accommodated due to a lack of housing. They were currently sitting in the open and had not yet been assigned to work. As a result, the entire textile workshop looked very chaotic.

"No new weaving workshops should be built. The government should be notified to bring back the government slaves. The people who have been taken in should have their hometowns and residences recorded. They should all return home to farm and weave. Every day, apprentices should be sent to their hometowns to deliver food in the morning and collect cloth in the evening."

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Dai said that he would naturally not be stingy in helping those in distress, but he could not tolerate being taken advantage of in such a blatant way.

While it was somewhat troublesome to send the weavers home to work and to travel around making contacts and distributing supplies, the process of going through the villages and distributing goods was itself a form of publicity, which could also let more people in need know about the matter and thus join in.

Xu Shen initially wanted to take this opportunity to help the villagers, but the indifference he had received from the state government had exhausted his enthusiasm. Although he felt a little regretful after hearing Zhang Dai's decision, he still nodded in agreement: "I will definitely do my best to inquire and leave no one behind!"

"This weaving workshop should be preserved, and a monument commemorating its merits should be erected here!"

Zhang Dai gave another instruction, and Xu Shen, upon hearing this, quickly added, "If you wish to erect a stele to commemorate this merit, there is a Xiangguo Temple in the city, a famous temple in Henan with flourishing incense offerings. If a stele can be erected in the temple, it will be even more widely seen! I have a fellow villager who is in charge of guest affairs at the temple; you can go and contact him to have the stele erected!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was delighted and immediately agreed. Religion naturally has a more profound influence on all levels of society; Empress Wu Zetian, for example, extensively revised Buddhist scriptures and built Buddhist temples to bolster her own image. If a stele could be erected at Xiangguo Temple, the effect would undoubtedly be even more significant.

As the two were discussing this, a servant of the Xu family rushed in and reported to Xu Shen, "Master, the Kaifeng County government has reported that they have captured the criminals who launched the night attack. Please go to the county office to identify them!"

"Who is leading and instigating this?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Shen hurriedly asked what was going on. He had only intended to do good, but had been beaten instead, and was naturally filled with resentment.

"It is said that they were a group of river soldiers and boatmen passing through the area, and the leader called himself Nanba."

Zhang Dai, who had been listening nearby, immediately changed his expression upon hearing this and stood up, asking, "You didn't hear wrong? This person calls himself Nan Ba. What's his name?"

(End of this chapter)