The Splendor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 157 Small Court Meeting

As it approached Chenshi (7-9 AM), Xiao Yi, acting as a court attendant, went outside the palace to summon the officials.

Today's court assembly was just a small, casual affair, and the officials didn't care about etiquette. Li Rong even asked Xiao Yi, "Why bother with all this nonsense?"

"Fan Zhi has arrived."

Murong Yanzhao, accompanied by his guards, stood outside the palace. Upon seeing a figure in the distance, he muttered something to himself and turned to report to Guo Wei.

A short while later, Guo Wei personally came out of the Zichen Palace to greet them.

Xiao Yi looked over and saw a man in his forties dressed in casual clothes. He was refined and gentle, just like the man he had seen in the portrait the day before.

"Wensu, I've finally found you."

"I dare not accept Your Majesty's generous gift. I have just paid my respects to Your Majesty."

"In my early years, when I worked with you, I predicted that you would become prime minister. I have been regretting not seeing you this time I came to the capital."

“At that time, chaos broke out in the capital. I was cowardly and timid, so I hid among the common people. Your Majesty has shown me great favor by sending people to search for me. I am ashamed.”

"Come, let's go inside and talk."

Xiao Yi watched from the side, wondering what talents Fan Zhi possessed that made Guo Wei so fond of him.

However, Guo Wei has been trying to win over civil officials lately, and this is not limited to just one or two people; Li Gu, Dou Zhengu, Su Yugui, and others have also received similar treatment.

I glanced at Wang Jun, and sure enough, he was very unhappy.

Upon entering the hall and taking his place, Xiao Yi stood in the west wing. Looking around at the civil officials, he noticed that he did not recognize many of them.

After all, he had always held a military post and had little opportunity to interact with these people.

Beside him, the court attendant took out a writing brush, and Murong Yanzhao came over and, without saying a word, dragged the man away.

The agenda begins.

The styles of civil and military officials were quite distinct. The civil officials held notebooks in their hands, writing down the contents they were going to discuss in great detail; the military officers, on the other hand, came out empty-handed and said things like, "Confiscating property is easy enough."

But things were not that simple; there were many problems that Xiao Yi had never even considered before.

"I do not object to demolishing temples and confiscating land, but may I ask how much should be demolished and how much should be left behind? What is the purpose of demolishing? What is the purpose of leaving behind? Is it to satisfy the court's needs for land and population, or to stop the situation from getting out of control?"

The old man who spoke was wearing a purple official robe and looked somewhat like Su Dexiang. Xiao Yi guessed that he was Su Yugui.

Looking at Wang Jun again, he remained silent with a cold expression.

Xiao Yi knew that the duties of several important officials, apart from their expertise in military affairs, included Wang Jun's overall command of the constitution, Wei Renpu's logistics, Wang Pu's strategy planning, and Li Gu's drafting of tax laws. If these people cooperated, they could definitely answer the questions, but no one stepped forward, each staring at the document in their hand, lost in thought.

Wang Jun had no choice but to say, "Chen Guan, you speak."

"Yes, what Lord Su asked about is nothing more than a trivial matter. Once the imperial edict is issued, the officials will handle it."

"This is no small matter; it is best to plan ahead."

Li Rong stepped forward to help, shouting, "Why make it so complicated? It's not like this has happened more than once or twice. We can settle accounts after the raids are over..."

Xiao Yi thought to himself, "This is bad. If it creates an atmosphere of bandits robbing and looting, it will be even more difficult to handle."

"Shut up!"

Wang Jun interrupted him promptly, looking utterly annoyed, and turned to look.

This was Xiao Yi's first time suppressing Buddhism, and he had little experience. Just as he was hesitating, someone stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, the court has registered 2,132 temples, while the Great Zhou Temple has over 30,000. Therefore, 90% of them are privately built temples without the court's approval. Demolishing them is perfectly justified."

It was Fan Zhi who spoke.

But this person clearly only entered the court today and doesn't even have an official document in hand. How could he be so well prepared?
Guo Wei was also curious and asked, "Wen Su, how did you know?"

"I have served as an assistant to the prime minister, a secretary in the imperial secretariat, and a vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I have reviewed the records of temples throughout the country and, based on various records of auspicious omens and tax-exempt lands presented by different prefectures, I have estimated the number of private temples."

"I almost forgot that Wen Su has a photographic memory. Do you all know that he is a child prodigy? He could write at the age of nine, opened a school to teach the Book of Documents at the age of thirteen, and passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty."

Fan Zhi remained calm and replied, "Your Majesty flatters me. I am ashamed."

Xiao Yi admired these people, unlike himself, who struggled to even remember his lines.

Li Gu then spoke, saying, "The biggest fear in the land redistribution to individual households is the selfishness of local officials."

“Li Gu is absolutely right. Once an imperial edict is issued, the local officials will surely increase the number of pardons and allow temples built by their relatives to remain. Therefore, the power to grant pardons must be returned to the imperial court.”

“That’s right. The court should send people to make a register, noting the area occupied by the temples and the number of monks, and report it to the Privy Council for verification. Anyone who acts in a corrupt manner will be punished.”

"I believe that the amount of amnesty should not be fixed and should be reviewed one by one. If any temple land is concealed and exceeds one hundred acres, the amount of the amnesty should be revoked."

"In this way, the demolition of the temple is now in order, but if the land is divided up by local officials, new problems will inevitably arise."

"The acquired land will be registered as government-allocated land for cultivation, exempt from tax for the first year, and then taxed according to the usual practice from the following year onwards. What do you think?"

"It both provides relief to displaced people and increases the tax base..."

Thus, the discussion finally proceeded smoothly.

Xiao Yi listened attentively and learned many methods for doing things.

For example, he thought that demolishing the bronze statues to mint coins would be simple, but these civil officials had considered things very deeply, mentioning how to make the Buddhist temples redeem the statues, how to punish those who concealed them, how to avoid the impact on grain prices after the coins were minted, and how to deal with the Buddhist statues privately held by the people.

For example, the criteria for forcing monks and nuns to return to secular life included memorizing one hundred pages of Buddhist scriptures, which would be jointly assessed by the prefectural school officials and the abbots of the temples; age also needed to be considered, with those over fifty years old exempt from returning to secular life; if all of them were registered in the household register, there was a risk that some would become idle and cause trouble, so some young and middle-aged men could be registered in the military, and those with skills could be assigned to workshops.

It is foreseeable that the turmoil caused by the suppression of Buddhism will be reduced many times over due to the foresight of the civil officials.

After two hours of discussion, Guo Wei suddenly interrupted everyone and said, "Serve the food."

Xiao Yi then realized that it was already past noon and his stomach was growling with hunger.

The eunuchs led the officials to the side rooms on the east and west sides of the corridor. Each person sat behind a low table with a food box on it. When opened, the food was mediocre.

Steamed buns, roasted meat, vegetable soup, and a small pot of wine.

No one spoke, probably because they were afraid that Guo Wei would think they were setting the tone privately.

Xiao Yi observed the reactions of the crowd. Many officials were not satisfied with the dishes. Su Yugui, who was next to him, did not touch the flatbread, ate the vegetable soup, and closed his eyes to rest.

"Master Su, if you're not going to eat the roasted meat, could you give it to me?"

"Ah? General Xiao, please." Su Yugui's pupils dilated, but he quickly regained his composure and chuckled, "Hehe, young man, eat more."

Xiao Yi thought he was the only one capable of doing such a thing, but to his surprise, Fan Zhi, on the other side of Su Yugui, asked for the remaining flatbreads.

I took the opportunity to have a quiet conversation with Fan Zhi and get to know him.

"Junior Xiao Yi greets Lord Fan."

"I have heard of the general. At that time, the people of Kaifeng were in a state of panic. The general entered the city and saved the people from disaster. This is a great virtue."

"You flatter me, Lord Fan." Everyone else only talked about Xiao Yi's spear and peach of Murong Yanchao, and few people praised him for this. Now that he heard it, he knew that Fan Zhi was no ordinary person.

Fan Zhi didn't say much, tore the flatbread in half, and handed it over to Su Yugui.

Xiao Yi accepted it, and they smiled at each other.

Wang Jun was displeased and beckoned him over.

Why were you whispering with Fan Zhi?

"Reporting to Prime Minister Wang, I asked him for half a cake."

"You've had all the credit stolen, and now you're begging for food? Aren't you ashamed?"

Wang Jun coldly uttered this sentence, then turned and left.

Xiao Yi knew why Wang Jun was unhappy and felt that there was no need to be so petty.

After resting for half an hour, they continued their discussion, which left them dizzy and disoriented until the beginning of the late afternoon. Guo Wei then kept a few prime ministers behind for a private talk.

Xiao Yi then took his leave from the other officials and did not take the initiative to get to know the important ministers on his way out of court.

He's not the kind of person who schemes and plots everywhere.

After exiting through the left side gate, we arrived at the hitching post and took our horses.

"Xiao Yi!"

Turning his head, he saw An Yuanzhen's carriage parked not far away. Afraid that she would stick her head out, he quickly went over and tied the horse to the back of the carriage.

As I boarded the vehicle, a fragrant breeze wafted towards me, and soft jade embraced me.

"Hmph, it took them so long to come out."

"Why are you here?"

"I've come to pick you up after your shift. I've missed you so much. What's wrong? Are you annoyed by me, or are you afraid of being discovered?"

"Don't you hate the palace?"

But I like you.

"It's hardest to betray a beautiful woman's kindness," Xiao Yi said softly. "Then, shall I buy you a drink?"

The two then went to a decent-looking restaurant in the East Market for a meal and drank until they were slightly tipsy. Unfortunately, unlike Fanlou, this place did not have a bathing area, so they had to go back to Songyuan to take a bath.

After drinking, An Yuanzhen was indeed less nervous.

As their passion intensified, Xiao Yi vaguely sensed something was amiss. Remembering something, he asked, "When did your period start?"

Why ask them that?

How long have you been gone?

"Hmph, it seems like it's been more than half a month."

"We'll have to wait a few more days."

An Yuanzhen persisted, hugging his neck and scolding, "You bad man, don't you like me? You're so lucid."

Xiao Yi didn't explain, but only tried to appease her with his actions.

"What do you think?"

"Ugh, how annoying..."

The two had no choice but to explore and get to know each other better first.

The next day, he managed military affairs and deliberated on imperial edicts, but at night he didn't have much time to continue studying court etiquette.

The grand court assembly is held on the 26th of January.

Xiao Yi was fast asleep when he heard a knock on the door, followed by the urging of a servant.

"Young Master Xiao, it's time to prepare for court."

He opened his eyes; it was still dark. An Yuanzhen was snuggling against him, warm and comfortable.

She struggled to regain consciousness, and when she moved slightly, she startled herself awake.

"Huh? You're leaving?"

"It's alright."

"Why don't you skip court? Come with me to Xiangzhou, I'll take care of you."

"You can't afford to raise him."

An Yuanzhen wouldn't let him leave, holding him tightly and muttering, "It's so hard."

After dawdling for a while, the maid urged, "Young Master Xiao, it's been a quarter of an hour. You are a court attendant, so you must arrive at the palace gate before all the other officials."

Xiao Yi then got off the bed, put on his court robes, went out, took the mutton rolls in sesame flatbread handed to him by a servant, and ate them while riding his horse.

He got up late, but got ready quickly. He was also a good rider, so he overtook the officials' carriages and arrived at the Zuoye Gate on time.

It was still dark, and in the firelight, another interpreter had just arrived.

"Xiao Lang?"

"Brother Wang?"

What's this on the corner of your mouth? Is it because you have a sore throat?

Xiao Yi touched it and felt a little pain; it turned out to be a big pimple.

Wang Chengxun was quite enthusiastic and asked, "Do you need me to help you cover up?"

"no need."

As they were talking, a knight came galloping from the north around the palace wall and arrived in front of them, displaying the insignia of the Fengqiu Gate Guards.

"I have an urgent report to deliver to His Majesty!"

Xiao Yi thought to himself, "The news comes from the north."

Wang Chengxun snatched a tattered leather bag, opened it, and found a large stack of copied documents inside. He quickly closed it again.

"It must be handed over to the Inner Palace Secretariat, but the court assembly has begun, so it will be sent later."

"give it to me."

Xiao Yi didn't need to look to guess what had happened.

(End of this chapter)