Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 343 The Divine Dragon of Xingqing Palace

Since moving into Xingqing Palace for court assemblies and daily life, the emperor's mood has visibly become lighter and more cheerful, and even the palace servants have received more praise and rewards for their proper service.

However, as time went by, the initial novelty gradually faded, and the saint's emotions gradually returned to normal, with no more extra joy.

However, some astute attendants discovered that after finishing his official duties each day, the emperor would often come to the northeast corner of the Qin Zheng Building in the evening, stand under the corridor and overlook the entire Xingqing Palace bathed in the glow of the setting sun, sometimes for more than an hour.

Some officials couldn't help but secretly marvel at how much the emperor truly loved Xingqing Palace and Longchi, not only staying there day and night but also gazing at them from the railing for a long time every day.

However, some argue that scenery is merely static; when it comes to the grandeur of the imperial gardens, Xingqing Palace is inferior to both the Daming Palace in the Western Inner Palace and the palaces and gardens of Luoyang in the Eastern Capital. The emperor's actions were undoubtedly an act of reminiscing, a way of recalling the harmonious scenes of the five princes residing together in the former residence of Xingqing Palace.

However, some palace servants couldn't help but scoff at such arguments. The reason was that since the emperor, Prince Ning, and others petitioned to build residences and gardens, the newly built Xingqing Palace was completely different from the early Longqing Ward. So what was there to talk about when one could see the scenery and think of the people?

Moreover, although King Shen and King Qi are no longer alive, King Ning and King Xue are still alive. If the sage misses his brothers, why doesn't he summon the two kings to the palace to reunite and reminisce, instead of leaving one person to lean on the railing and grieve?

So the real reason is that, despite several expansions, the buildings inside Xingqing Palace are still far less magnificent, rich, and spectacular than those inside Taiji Palace and Daming Palace.

Especially in the northeast and southeast areas of Longchi, there are still large areas of idle land where no buildings have been constructed and only flowers and trees have been transplanted to fill the gaps.

However, this view is not without its opponents. If the sage was still not satisfied with the current construction plan of Xingqing Palace, why didn't he just order an expansion?
Don't say it's useless or inadequate. Not to mention the favorable weather and abundant harvests in recent years, the annual income from the various prefectures managed by the Imperial Attendant Gao Lishi alone is nearly one million strings of cash and silk to the Imperial Treasury. This is enough to build grand buildings and palaces, so there is no need to trouble the treasuries outside the palace.

Therefore, the officials were all secretly speculating and discussing what the sage was thinking when he did this, but they could not reach a consensus and there was no conclusion.

The sage was unaware of the deeper meanings the palace officials were speculating about his subconscious actions, and even if he had, he wouldn't have bothered to explain. The human heart is inherently fickle and unpredictable, and the heart of an emperor is even more profound and complex; sometimes, even the sage himself is not entirely clear about his true intentions.

To the north of Xingqing Palace was the court assembly area centered on Xingqing Hall, while to the south was the daily office and living area centered on Qinzheng Building. After the court assembly, the emperor would return to Qinzheng Building to review memorials from various departments and individual officials. If an instruction was required, he would summon the court officials awaiting imperial orders from the Hanlin Academy for a face-to-face meeting and oral instruction.

The feeling of wielding absolute power and having the world under one's control is certainly wonderful, but over time it can sometimes feel tedious and boring. In particular, the increasing infighting among the prime ministers, who should be responsible for connecting the upper and lower levels of government, meant that many matters had to be submitted to the emperor for a decision, which also made the emperor quite weary.

The procedures for handling affairs in all government departments are largely the same, and there have been no major policy reforms to be implemented in recent years. As for the reports submitted by officials, they mainly focus on the increasingly noisy personnel disputes in the court. Regardless of their official positions, all the officials have offered their opinions on this matter, each holding their own views, and there is much discussion.

The sage certainly wanted to make some changes, but at the moment he did not have a concrete idea. The officials' statements, each with their own thoughts, did not inspire him, but only increased his frustration.

As evening approached, the number of memorials on the emperor's desk dwindled. Just then, an imperial eunuch entered, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, it is almost dusk. Shall we order the emperor to serve dinner?"

The emperor looked up and saw the golden rays of the setting sun bathing the Qin Zheng Building. He had unknowingly spent the entire afternoon reviewing memorials and was now quite tired. Seeing that the remaining memorials on his desk were mostly from low-ranking officials, he decided to stop working and send the remaining memorials to the Secretariat for appropriate handling.

However, when he casually flipped through the list of those who had submitted memorials, he discovered that Zhang Dai had also submitted one that day. There were quite a few officials serving in the Secretariat and the Chancellery, but only a few truly impressed the emperor, and Zhang Dai was certainly one of them.

Aside from presenting a New Year's greeting, this young man had not submitted any memorials since the beginning of the new year. Now that he had submitted another memorial, the emperor was naturally curious about what he was talking about. So he waved for the eunuchs to leave and began to read Zhang Dai's memorial himself.

"Ha, the grandson of the Duke of Yan still has worries and difficulties even after acquiring property within the capital region?"

When the emperor saw the examples mentioned in Zhang Dai's memorial, he first smiled slightly. However, as he scrolled down and read the details, his expression immediately became serious: "The price difference for a single ward is so huge. Who set the price? Is it to embezzle money for officials or to sell official goods at a low price!"

The example of the Jingzhao Prefecture cited by Zhang Dai was such a stark contrast that the emperor paid little attention to the subsequent suggestion from the officials regarding the valuation of stolen goods.

He first put down the memorial, then called out to those below, "Which of the two is on duty today? Is Zhang Dai, the Left Remonstrator, still here?" "Your Majesty, Cui Zuoqi and Xu Youqi are both on duty today. Also on duty are Chen Xilie, the Secretary of the Secretariat; Liu Tong, the Attendant of the Chancellery; Wei Shu, the Attendant of the Imperial Dialogue; and others... Zhang Dai, the Left Remonstrator, is still in the Hanlin Academy."

A courtier rushed in and reported this to the emperor. Upon hearing this, the emperor immediately ordered, "Summon Zhang Dai to an audience."

After saying this, the emperor also got up from his imperial bed and, following his habit, slowly strolled to the northeast corner of the Qin Zheng Building. Looking at the scene of flowers and trees flourishing on both sides of the Dragon Pool, but the scenery was messy, he felt a surge of irritation.

The sage had extremely high artistic attainments and a very strong aesthetic sense. The construction of Xingqing Palace was mainly based on its functions of holding court meetings and conducting official business. However, after moving in, he became increasingly dissatisfied with the layout of the palace's buildings, finding it too monotonous and lacking in variety.

The flowers and trees that filled the forbidden garden were disorderly and created many blind spots and potential dangers for guards. However, if they were completely removed, the bare land would be even more unsightly.

Although the disaster has passed, taxes in Henan and Hebei are still being reduced or exempted in order to quickly restore people's livelihoods. Most of the tribute from various prefectures is also retained locally to make up for the deficit caused by the previous disaster. At the same time, the war between Longbian and Tubo is still ongoing, and the rebellions in Lingnan and other places have just been quelled, all of which have led to a surge in military expenditures.

Therefore, the court's finances are still in dire straits and have not yet improved. The Emperor summoned Yuwen Rong back to the court shortly after the disaster in Hebei ended, hoping that Yuwen Rong could improve the financial predicament as soon as possible.

Under such circumstances, even though the imperial treasury was full, the emperor could not afford to undertake large-scale construction projects in Xingqing Palace.

After all, the move from Daming Palace to Xingqing Palace had already sparked much discussion among the officials. Some even said that Daming Palace was already magnificent and grand, and that previous emperors had used it to govern the country. There was really no need to build another palace, and the emperor did not want to bring up similar topics again in the short term.

The emperor was furious at the thought that he had been planning to build a shooting hall in the northeast of Longchi but had not yet made up his mind, while someone was able to buy a mansion worth hundreds of thousands of strings of cash in Jingzhao Prefecture for a meager price.

Zhang Dai waited all day at the Hanlin Academy but was not summoned. He had already packed his things and was about to leave when he finally received a message from the eunuch. So he ran to the Qin Zheng Building.

When he was led to the outer corridor and peeked out to see the sage in an ochre-yellow robe gazing at the Dragon Pool from the railing in the sunlight, he deliberately waited in place for more than ten breaths until the sage noticed him and looked in his direction. Only then did he hurriedly step forward, bow, and say, "In the past, I did not know why the Dragon Pool was named, but now I know! Thousands of golden lights illuminate the Heavenly Garden, and now a divine dragon leans on the railing to gaze at the pool. I, your humble servant, am fortunate to be bathed in divine light!"

The sage was taken aback by this unwarranted flattery. Then, looking at the magnificent sunset and the golden light shining on him, and then looking down at the shimmering Dragon Pool, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "This child is bright-eyed, clever, and eloquent. He deserves a reward! After your reply, I will bestow upon you a robe."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was overjoyed and exclaimed that our sage was a truly honest man. As long as you flatter him—no, flatter the emperor—you will be rewarded. So he quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude.

After returning to the hall and settling down, the Emperor held up Zhang Dai's memorial again and said, "Is it true that the Jingzhao Prefecture sold off the former residence of the Duke of Song?"

“How dare I deceive Your Majesty! If I had not experienced it firsthand, how could I know this? It is precisely because I was deeply moved that I was greatly inspired and am submitting this report in the hope that the laws of the country can be upheld.”

Zhang Dai quickly bowed and said, while taking out the contract he had signed with Yuan Jie that he carried with him, "I originally intended to buy a corner of this house, but after placing the order, it was rejected by the Jingzhao Prefecture. Only after inquiring did I learn that this house had been bought by Li Linfu, the nephew of General Li."

"I deeply love this place and am reluctant to leave. Furthermore, I have a debt to the Genji family, hence this visit to discuss the matter. Genji's son tells me that he can use 57,000 kan of money to offset this 17 mu of land. If I refuse, he will demand repayment of the debt, and even then, I fear it will be difficult to purchase another residence..."

"Humph!"

When the sage heard this, he couldn't help but exhale a cloud of foul air from his nostrils.

Zhang Dai hurriedly kowtowed again and continued, "I am not going back on my word when I report this to Your Majesty. Once a word is spoken, it cannot be taken back. How can a gentleman go back on his word? It is only afterward that I learned that Li Linfu bought more than a hundred acres of other residential land, but the money he paid to the Jingzhao Prefecture was less than five thousand strings of cash, which is several times less than the amount of land I owned and more than ten times less than the amount of money I paid!"
"Jingzhao, the capital of the realm, how can its affairs be so inconsistent? Chang'an, the residence of the emperor, how can the sale of official properties be so unpredictable? I see a single withered leaf and realize autumn has fallen across the land. By this analogy, are there similarities to past events? I have submitted this matter for your consideration!"

(End of this chapter)