Frost for a Thousand Years

After learning that Song Shi'an had resigned and that Eunuch Lian had arrived in Jianxing, Gao Yunyi rode his horse overnight to find Fan Wuji, who was reinforcing the dam nearby.

Upon meeting him, I could already tell from his expression that something unpleasant was going to happen.

Sitting on his bed in the barracks, Fan Wuji looked solemn and extremely depressed.

"Brother Wuji," Gao Yunyi asked with great concern, "What's wrong?"

"Brother Yunyi," Fan Wuji looked up at him and asked, "As the treasury officer, even if your duties aren't that busy, you wouldn't easily leave your post. Your arrival here so late at night must be for something important, right?"

“Of course it’s something important,” Gao Yunyi said. “The Prefect went to Sheng’an once and then resigned from his post, which means that the important matter of military farming in Huai County is no longer his concern.”

"Yes, Ji Zhi has already taken over as acting prefect and will soon be heading to the main camp to take charge of the overall situation," he said.

“That’s the problem.” Having served as an official for a year, Gao Yunyi had long since deeply analyzed the underlying logic of officialdom, so he said very seriously, “As long as Lord Song is the actual prefect, even if he is not in Jianxing but far away in Sheng’an, there will be no problem in entrusting matters to Ji Zhi. But now that Ji Zhi has become the prefect, it’s completely different.”

"Why?" Fan Wuji asked.

"You're just asking a question you already know the answer to." Gao Yunyi sat down beside him, covering his mouth with his hand and whispering, "Although he is the nominal prefect, with Eunuch Lian around, can he really have any real say? And with the major affairs of Huai County being coordinated by palace eunuchs, how can things not go wrong?"

Good eunuchs do exist; Zheng He was a particularly capable and good eunuch.

But using this as a reason for rebuttal is simply using a very small number of isolated cases to ignore the massive total.

The vast majority of eunuchs who wielded power were the ones who caused trouble.

Even if his intentions might be good, doing so will only make things worse.

On the contrary, bad intentions can sometimes lead to good deeds.

During the reign of Emperor Da Yu, the status of eunuchs was too high. The main force in supervising and suppressing officials was the eunuch group, not the Court of Judicial Review.

This naturally led to the opposition between eunuchs and most officials.

They generally believed that these officials harbored ulterior motives, exaggerated their claims, and deceived their superiors.

Among them, 'exaggeration' is the most stereotypical impression.

You all say you have it tough, but is it really that tough?
Is farming really that thrilling?

“There’s really been a problem.” Fan Wuji got up, went to his desk, handed him a letter, and said, “This is a government decree from Jianxing.”

Fan Wuji served as the chief clerk in the army, responsible for liaising with superiors and subordinates.

Although he is a civilian employee in the military and shouldn't be blamed, there are certain things that inevitably have to go through his hands.

Regardless of whether he was right or wrong, he had to convey this information to the army.

Seeing his heavy heart, Gao Yunyi also became somewhat nervous while reading the letter. But after reading its contents, he was completely dumbfounded: "You alone are mobilizing 20,000 civilians and 5,000 soldiers to build a temporary palace on land outside the main camp?"

"Yes, it says so. The Jingxian camp will work together with our troops." Fan Wuji said somewhat numbly.

“If each side contributes half, that's still 50,000 people.” Gao Yunyi was utterly speechless. He spread his hands, looking extremely bewildered, and said, “Didn’t His Highness say that the original scale should be reduced to 20%? Why do we still need to use 50,000 people?”

"Why?" Fan Wuji laughed, then said with rare anger, "Because the size of the palace can be reduced, but loyalty to His Majesty cannot be reduced."

"Speak softly, speak softly." Gao Yunyi gestured for his good friend to calm down. "Is there no room for negotiation on this matter?"

"Look, this letter has no seal and no signature," Fan Wuji pointed out.

"Moreover, Ji Zhi also wrote it on the orders of Eunuch Lian." Gao Yunyi looked at the letter and shook his head. "That scoundrel Ji Zhi knew that doing this would cause a big problem, but he didn't dare to argue with the eunuch."

Moreover, in order to avoid taking the blame, they repeatedly layered armor.

“Ji Zhi is now nothing more than a puppet on a string,” Fan Wuji said bitterly. “What pains me is that the great cause of land reclamation is about to be completed, yet it is about to suffer such a calamity.”

“If Lord Song were here, even if they wanted to build a temporary palace, he wouldn’t allow them to do so.” Gao Yunyi frowned, already having a bad feeling.

"Should we offer some advice to the Crown Prince?" Fan Wuji asked.

They were, after all, princelings; even if Song Shi'an wasn't around, they couldn't just stand by and watch the military farms be destroyed.

"What are you saying?" Gao Yunyi asked. "You're saying that those below are outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, arbitrarily raising the standards and maliciously completing the repairs of the palace? Let me tell you, even if this matter is ruined, they won't blame Eunuch Lian in the end. After all, this is an act of loyalty and filial piety offered to His Majesty."

Lian Gonggong possesses the highest level of political correctness.

All we wanted was for His Majesty to have a better place to stay and to make the ceremony a bit more lively. *crying emoji*

For eunuchs, even if their hearts are good and they do bad things, their loyalty remains indelible.

"Then what should we do, just let things continue to go wrong like this?" Fan Wuji asked rhetorically.

"What would happen if we offered our advice to His Highness and His Highness listened to it?" Gao Yunyi asked.

"What will happen?"

"It will offend Eunuch Lian."

Fan Wuji remained silent.

Gao Yunyi then asked, "What will happen if we don't listen?"

"What will happen?"

"It would offend His Highness the Crown Prince and Eunuch Lian."

Gao Yunyi knew that at this moment, the Crown Prince wanted to prove himself as much as possible, and no amount of cold water would be forgiven: "Brother, since ancient times, honest advice is hard to swallow."

"Doesn't Song Shi'an know that honest advice is hard to swallow?" Fan Wuji retorted.

"Of course he knows." Gao Yunyi leaned closer to Fan Wuji again, lowered his voice, and said in an extremely serious tone, "He is teaching His Highness a lesson."

"So, are we just going to watch as laymen point fingers at experts?" Fan Wuji asked.

“I used to think that being an upright official wasn’t difficult. Just be honest, fearless, and you could restore order to the officialdom with a copy of the Great Yu Law,” Gao Yunyi said with a sigh. “But can this world be changed by a mere granary official like me, or by a mere military clerk like you?”

These words struck a chord with Fan Wuji.

Xiao Fan also wanted to do something, but his official rank was too low.

"Just repair this palace, so that the people can suffer a little more and get through the autumn harvest..." Fan Wuji lowered his head and could only pray in his heart, "I hope there won't be any other problems."

"Do not."

Just as he was thinking this, Gao Yunyi shook his finger and said with great certainty, "I'm telling you, the accounts don't match."

.........

Ji Zhi and Eunuch Lian went to the main camp of the garrison together. After the Si Ping Guan Zhong had marked and measured the area, 10,000 soldiers and 40,000 civilians were transferred from two nearby camps.

A total of 50,000 people, under Zhong Yao's command, began construction, digging the foundation.

Meanwhile, building materials were transported from all directions.

Because the manpower was transferred from the two nearest battalions, totaling 50,000 people, and all of them were laborers, Song Shi'an's previously planned 'locust eradication operation' was directly disrupted.

Of course, Eunuch Lian also knew how terrifying the locust tribe was, and he could not afford to be careless about matters related to agriculture.

Therefore, even with fewer people, the original work cannot be done perfunctorily; it must be carried out forcefully.

"They've added an extra hour of locust control every day, and they're not even giving us an extra bite of food..."

"And it's getting hotter and hotter, how can anyone stand it?"

"Several people in our village fainted from heatstroke yesterday."

A group of tenant farmers sitting on the edge of the field couldn't help but grumble as they ate their meals.

But before he could finish speaking, a swarm of locusts suddenly attacked.

The group could only quickly put down their bowls, pick up gongs and drums, and beat them loudly to drive away the locusts.

Such cases occur particularly frequently in Jianxing and Jingxian.

Indeed, it was only 50,000 people who were transferred to build the palace.

However, these two counties are the closest to the imperial palace, making it the most convenient to draw labor from them.

According to the original plan, having one less person out of every ten would not affect the overall situation and was the most reasonable approach.

However, the idea of ​​drawing one-tenth of the people from each village and then having soldiers transport them to the imperial palace construction site was rendered meaningless by the losses incurred in transmitting orders, the loss of provisions during the journey, and the inconvenience of command due to the scattered distribution of personnel.

Even now, it's difficult for university student councils to get each college to contribute a proportional number of people to a project together; in ancient times, it would have been even more challenging. However, even with just that, this machine could still operate...

“Father-in-law, these glazed tiles are truly impossible to find or manufacture in Huai County.”

While the foundation of the imperial palace was being excavated, Zhong Yao, who was standing on the outside, held the blueprints in his hand and then spoke to Eunuch Lian.

"Isn't there any in Huai County?" Eunuch Lian asked, puzzled.

“The materials for the construction of the palace were all provided by merchants from various regions, because some timber and minerals are not available everywhere,” Zhong Yao explained. “For example, these green glazed tiles need to be brought from Qinzhou.”

"Can't we use something else instead?" asked Eunuch Lian.

“Yes, the rest of the halls use the most ordinary red tiles, but this main hall…” Zhong Yao said, “at the very least, this main hall should use glazed tiles.”

"Then we understand." Eunuch Lian nodded, agreeing with what he said.

He had already tried his best to simplify everything, but if he couldn't even maintain the standard of the main hall, he would have no face to see the Crown Prince.

“Among the merchants that Lord Song tricked and brought here before, some of them are glazed tile manufacturers,” Zhong Yao said.

"How much do you need?" asked Eunuch Lian.

“This is the number,” Zhong said, presenting the list to Eunuch Lian. “Some other materials for the main hall are also listed here.”

"So many..." Eunuch Lian was a little troubled.

“There will definitely be some damage during transportation, so the reported quantity is twice what is needed,” Zhong said.

"Is twice enough?" asked Eunuch Lian.

“This land reclamation isn’t easy…” Zhong Yao explained, “It’s about enough.”

"What if that's not enough?"

“Then we’ll have to ship it again,” Zhong said. “We absolutely cannot use mixed-colored materials to make up the numbers; it looks much worse than using ordinary materials.”

"Then report three times the amount, just to be on the safe side," Eunuch Lian said cautiously.

"These things all cost money..." Zhong reminded him in a low voice.

The Crown Prince did indeed provide some financial assistance.

However, he hadn't considered this possibility.

That money was simply not enough.

"We have our own methods for this."

The corners of Eunuch Lian's mouth curled up into a smile as he calmly said, "Just as Lord Song got those merchants to contribute money and effort, we can get them to contribute effort in the same way."

.........

Seven merchants were summoned by Eunuch Lian.

The group walked along the road, whispering amongst themselves.

“We’ve been trying to see your father-in-law for days, but we haven’t been able to. Why did he suddenly call us today?”

"Something seems to have happened."

"Could it be something about the imperial palace?"

At this point, they all looked at each other.

Many of the businesses they run are related to construction.

Then, everyone became nervous.

Fearful, they walked into the lobby.

Upon entering, one sees the old man sitting in a chair with his legs crossed.

Furthermore, there were no designated locations nearby.

Previously, Song Shi'an would often visit them, but once inside, he would simply ask them to sit down, his tone warm and friendly, unlike that of a high-ranking official...

They called them their sugar daddies, their bosses, and Song Shi'an's gods of wealth.

Of course, these are people from the palace.

People in the palace have always been arrogant and haughty.

"We pay our respects to Your Excellency."

Everyone bowed to Eunuch Lian.

"Gentlemen, I have summoned you here today to help you make a fortune." After saying this, Eunuch Lian instructed the eunuchs beside him to distribute lists to them.

They understood after seeing the contents of the form.

purchase.

"The imperial court will purchase your goods at the previous prices," said Eunuch Lian. "Furthermore, all travel expenses will be reimbursed."

This is indeed a chance to make a fortune.

Because that's the kind of business they're in.

However, everyone had a doubt in their hearts.

Seeing that they were all hesitant, Eunuch Lian said, "What questions do you have? Please speak."

"Sir," the leader said, "we've converted all our money into grain, and it's all stored here. If we're going to supply these goods to the court, what about the payment?"

"Can the imperial court really harm you?" Eunuch Lian retorted. "When you worked for the former prefect, were you paid directly?"

“Sir, it’s like this,” the man said. “Lord Song promised to pay us with the money from the sale of the grain after the land reclamation was completed. However, according to the work section, he has already paid me 20% of the amount.”

This is a classic example of a state-owned enterprise settling project payments in installments.

At least, it gives people hope.

"Then Lord Song gave you a deposit earlier, and the rest will be settled after the land reclamation is completed. Is there a problem?" Eunuch Lian asked.

Logically speaking, that's how it should be.

However, Song Shi'an is no longer here.

If a new leader is appointed, how can the people feel at ease if you don't offer some kind of gesture?

Everyone became fearful.

Just then, the man who was still in charge said, "Sir, Lord Song promised us that we could take the grain stored in the warehouse at any time. Some grain merchants have already taken the grain. Since we can't settle the payment, could you please return our grain first?"

Upon hearing this, Eunuch Lian became furious and said, "When Lord Song was here, you kept your grain safely in the warehouse. Now that I'm here, why are you so worried and want to take the grain away?"

"That's not what I meant, no, that's not it." The man waved his hands repeatedly.

"Let me put it this way," Eunuch Lian said righteously, "Lord Song is trustworthy, and our family is backed by His Highness the Crown Prince. We promise you all, after the land reclamation project is completed, all the grain will be returned. And your silver will be settled in full, not a single tael less!"

Eunuch Lian knew that the grain was their leverage.

Song Shi'an used this to control them.

As long as there is food, they cannot sever ties with the military farms.

Having said all that, everyone had no choice but to agree, and then they all left together...

If you keep arguing, you're just being ungrateful.

But on the way back, everyone's face was filled with gloom.

I have absolutely no confidence in whether I will be able to get the money.

They trusted the cunning Song Shi'an even more than the crown prince's trusted eunuch.

But now, they can't even take the food with them...

Just then, someone suddenly raised their head and said:
"Forget the food, let's run away." (End of Chapter)