Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 260 Untouched by Rain or Dew
Baimajin in Huazhou is an important ferry crossing on the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Located on the south bank of the Yellow River, its north bank is Liyang, which belongs to Weizhou. Therefore, this section of the Yellow River is also the busiest area, with boats gathering on both banks, carrying people and goods to and from the north and south.

After arriving at Liyang on the north bank by ferry from Bianzhou in the south, Liu Sihu, along with several attendants, searched and inquired around the ferry crossing. It took them more than half an hour to find their destination, an inn located by a canal outside Liyang city.

This inn occupies a considerable area, with five or six shops in the front, rented to merchants from all sides to sell seasonal goods, and rows of warehouses in the back, with courtyards and guesthouses of various sizes scattered in between.

The inns behind this inn have all been rented out and are guarded inside and out. After finally finding his way here, Liu Sihu hurriedly stepped forward, handed over his name card, and asked the burly servant guarding the gate, "Excuse me, sir, does the young master Zhang Dai from Luoyang, the Eastern Capital, reside here? I am an old friend of Bianzhou and have searched all the way here. Please present your name card to request an audience."

The burly servant guarding the gate took the name card and went inside. After a short while, he came out again and said, "My master has instructed that there are still guests to entertain in the guest hall. Please, Liu, wait in the separate hall in the courtyard for a moment."

Upon hearing this, Liu Sihu hurriedly agreed and, led by his burly servant, quickly entered the inn, where he was led to a side hall. As soon as he stepped inside, he discovered that many people were already waiting there, and several of them were clearly from Bianzhou.

Upon seeing Liu Sihu, these people showed no joy at meeting an old friend in a foreign land. Instead, they appeared embarrassed and wary, and two of them even stood up and walked out of the room.

Liu Sihu knew that the people from Bianzhou Prefecture were not very popular lately, so he did not take the initiative to go forward and chat. Instead, he found an empty seat and sat down, pondering the purpose of these people from the prefecture visiting Zhang Dai. Could it be that they had really reached a deep consensus with each other?

The guests waiting in the room were led out one by one, presumably to be received in turn, including the few people from Bianzhou who were led away shortly afterward. Liu Sihu sat and waited until evening before someone finally came to greet him.

When he hurriedly arrived at the main hall, he saw servants serving food. Zhang Dai, dressed in fashionable clothes, stood up from his seat and said to Liu Sihu with a smile, "There have been many visitors today, and I am sorry to have troubled you to wait. It is now time for a meal, so I have prepared some wine and food to apologize. I hope you will not find it offensive."

"How could I dare? Your name is renowned throughout the land, and people from all over the country have long admired you. Upon learning that you were staying here, they naturally flocked to visit you. With such busy schedules, it is truly an honor that you have still been so kind as to host a feast for me!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Sihu quickly bowed and, at Zhang Dai's signal, took his seat. Seeing a maidservant pour wine, he said to Zhang Dai, "I have come across the river today to seek an audience not only because I wish to see you, but also because I have official business to attend to. Please allow me to speak of my business first, and then I will respectfully accept your wine and food."

"Liu Sihu, please speak freely."

Zhang Dai could naturally guess the purpose of his trip, and upon hearing this, he smiled and said...

"This is a letter personally written by the Prefect of this State, instructing me to carefully present it to you, and also instructing you that if you still have any doubts after reading the letter, you can ask me directly, and I will do my best to answer your questions."

Liu Sihu took out a letter with intact sealing wax, and respectfully presented it with both hands. Immediately, a servant stepped forward to take it and hand it over.

Zhang Dai took the letter, opened it, and found that it was indeed Yuan Fu explaining and apologizing for building the monument. The tone of the letter was humble and tactful, but the handwriting was rather sharp.

Looking at the letter, Zhang Dai could almost picture Yuan Fu struggling to control his emotions while carefully choosing his words. To write such a disingenuous apology letter, this guy must have put in a lot of effort.

But after reading the letter, Zhang Dai tore it up and crumpled it into a ball in front of Liu Sihu, then casually tossed it aside, and said to Liu Sihu with a smile, "Since we've met here, let's not let these trivial matters spoil our enjoyment."

"This, this... Lord Yuan is still very sincere in trying to make amends with you, my lord. I have been ordered to come here today, and it is my duty to resolve the misunderstanding between us. If you have any doubts, my lord, please feel free to ask. I will answer whatever I know."

Seeing this, Liu Sihu's face turned somewhat embarrassed, and he quickly lowered his head and said.

"Liu Sihu, please go outside and look around. Which of the courtesans and actresses here isn't all covered in makeup and dressed in their finest attire? They long to patronize you, so why should I be a benefactor and bestow my favors on everyone? Besides, Lord Yuan's letter is poorly written, illogical, and unreadable. It's also against the rules. Why should I feel obligated to compromise myself to accommodate him?"

Zhang Dai sneered, then looked at Liu Sihu and said, "Liu Sihu, your vision is good, but it's easier said than done. If Lord Yuan is truly sincere in resolving this, can this piece of waste paper undo all the wrongdoings he has committed recently?" His anger wasn't deliberately feigned. Although he had previously intended to provoke Yuan Fu through Yuwen Rong to see if the guy would have any extreme reactions, the guy's reaction was far more extreme than he had anticipated, and he didn't even seem like Yuan Qianyao's son.

In order to control the wealth of the rich households in the territory, this guy actually started to play the game of calculating and reporting wealth, forcibly checking the amount of wealth of the rich households, which undoubtedly made the already somewhat sensitive relationship between officials and the people even more tense.

The state capital's customs office had already caused a lot of trouble, and now they're directly targeting the assets of wealthy families. Even if what they're inspecting is only the part related to the money borrowed from the government, when it comes to people's lives and fortunes, who would dare to trust them?
Therefore, with the implementation of this decree, wealthy households in Bianzhou, if they had connections, either hid their wealth or fled the country, causing chaos and confusion throughout the city.

If it stopped there, it wouldn't have a direct connection to Zhang Dai. After all, although these wealthy families in Bianzhou had the intention to cooperate, they didn't have any substantial plans, so their financial losses naturally had nothing to do with Zhang Dai.

Moreover, since Wang Yuanbao, the pivotal figure in the middle, was detained by the state government, these wealthy households in Bianzhou had no way to seek help from Zhang Dai.

However, simply cracking down on the rich probably didn't bring much sense of accomplishment. Xu Shen and other direct subordinates of Zhang Dai were subsequently detained by the state government, along with the supplies that Zhang Dai had left in Bianzhou.

Then another incident occurred, causing Yuan Fu's actions to become even more extreme. Earlier, when they continued their journey from Guancheng Post Station in Zhengzhou, in order to facilitate the large-scale distribution of epidemic prevention drugs, Zhang Dai and his fellow students also went their separate ways. Among them, Wang Changling and a few others went down from Bianzhou to Songzhou.

After distributing the medicine in Songzhou, they prepared to return to Zhengzhou to regroup and head back to the capital. However, upon passing through Bianzhou and witnessing the chaos there, and learning that the prefectural government had forced the weaving workshops to disband, they couldn't help but write a letter to the prefectural government in protest. As a result, these people were directly accused of inciting public unrest and were arrested and detained by the prefectural government.

What truly made Yuan Fu feel that the situation was getting out of control was the discovery of the Wu Huifei Merit Stele. While his actions against Zhang Dai's people in Bianzhou were within his jurisdiction, and he had sufficient grounds to report even if the court sent an envoy to inquire, the Wu Huifei Merit Stele was a difficult matter to handle.

This matter was illegal; it hadn't been reported to the local government or the imperial court, so Yuanfu certainly had grounds to stop it. The problem was, who could he reason with? The emperor's favorite concubine? Would Consort Hui be willing to reason with him, especially given that he had already severely punished those involved?

If the act was illegal, he could have reported it to the imperial court and await its instructions before taking action. But now he's arrested everyone and confiscated all the money and goods—does he mean that Consort Hui's good deeds are unworthy of being commemorated with a monument? What good deeds has she performed within the prefecture?
This matter could become very troublesome if not handled properly, so Yuan Fu abandoned his previous authoritarian attitude and humbled himself by sending Liu Sihu, who had a past relationship with Zhang Dai, to Hebei with a personal letter to explain the situation and ask for his understanding.

Upon learning of the upheaval in Bianzhou, Zhang Dai immediately left Weizhou and headed south. However, he did not go directly to Bianzhou. If he were to plunge into Bianzhou and be taken into custody, not only would his personal safety be at risk, but the subsequent actions would also become difficult to take.

He first stopped in Liyang, within the territory of Weizhou, and sent people to contact the people of Bianzhou, inviting those wandering Bianzhou people to his place. On the one hand, he gained a deeper understanding of the current situation in Bianzhou, and on the other hand, he compiled and organized this information and sent it back to Luoyang by fast horse.

To ensure his message reached Luoyang first, he also notified his father, asking him to cooperate in blocking official communications from Bianzhou in Zhengzhou.

Although he himself couldn't restore the Yuan Dynasty, others could. He still made two copies of the report on the situation in Bianzhou. One copy was naturally given to Consort Wu Hui, to tell his aunt that the stele he had erected had been smashed in Bianzhou. The other copy, a more comprehensive and detailed account of the local conditions in Bianzhou, was presented to his grandfather.

Yuan Fu was the governor of Xiong Prefecture. Such a powerful regional official could not be easily dismissed by his aunt's influence alone; he needed the support of the court.

Before leaving the capital, Zhang Dai had heard from his mentor Yan Tingzhi that Prime Minister Du Xian was planning to clean up the local officialdom in Henan and Hebei, and Bianzhou was undoubtedly an excellent entry point. Therefore, he sent relevant materials to his grandfather, asking him to communicate with Du Xian and send someone to Bianzhou as soon as possible to investigate Yuan Fu!
Zhang Dai had already prepared a series of backup plans, so he naturally couldn't communicate with Yuan Fu anymore. After treating Liu Sihu to dinner, he sent him away.

The Luoyang side was also very helpful. Just a few days after the relevant information was submitted, news came from his father that the imperial court and the palace had both dispatched envoys who had arrived in Zhengzhou.

Upon learning of this, Zhang Dai was overjoyed and immediately set off for Zhengzhou, intending to return to Bianzhou with his family to show off his power.

(End of this chapter)