Fish Meat – Chapter 181

The Fourth Year of Zhao Wu

Secrets in the Sleeve (1)

Zhen Wenjun’s answer made all the female students present sense an eerie atmosphere, causing them to fall silent.

            

The pleasure boat suddenly became as quiet as a grave.

Ah Liao, who had been sitting aside smiling and eating sweet melon while enjoying the performance of this long-separated fake couple, also noticed the awkward atmosphere. She immediately put down her melon and pointed at Ah Cang, startling her.

“You, do you know about Khan Mengda?”

            

Ah Liao narrowed her eyes and spoke in a gruff voice, looking at Ah Cang dangerously, as if telling a ghost story on a summer night.

Ah Cang: “N-no, I don’t.”

“Then do you know about the Liuhuo Kingdom?”

            

Ah Ji, the only female student with potential to become a military general, excitedly said: “I know! Khan Mengda is the ruler of the Liuhuo Kingdom, and they say he’s as beautiful as a celestial being! Even more beautiful than many real young ladies!”

Ah Liao quickly and successfully changed the subject, enthusiastically discussing the many hardships and obstacles she encountered on the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, along with her experiences along the way.

“So Commander Zhangsun also went to the Path of Ten Thousand Directions!”

            

The female students, who already looked up to this talented commander, had thought she was just a civilian official without any fighting ability. They never expected she had been to such a dangerous place, and their admiration for Commander Zhangsun grew even stronger.

Ah Liao wasn’t one to boast; she found glib talk distasteful. When speaking of any impressive feats, she always positioned herself humbly while telling the story. After setting up scenes of dangerous situations, she would describe how she “accidentally” played a crucial role in saving the day, thus winning the listeners’ favor.

Not only could Ah Liao create extraordinary mechanical devices, but she also possessed both eloquence and beauty in one person. Combined with her naturally romantic disposition, it was no wonder that a carriage full of Qingluan ladies would follow her without complaint.

            

Ah Liao said her Ah Zheng had returned, and Khan Mengda had found his ideal partner – Ah You, the tallest and most imposing soldier from the Zhuiyue Army’s central division. The two had no matchmaker’s arrangement, but rather a genuine free love romance. The Path of Ten Thousand Directions was about to be initially completed, and after staying in Da Yu for some time, he began to miss his homeland and planned to return to the Liuhuo Kingdom with Ah You for their wedding.

Zhen Wenjun, once a colonel in the Zhuiyue Army, remembered Ah You, who stood a head taller than her. Ah You had the body of a tiger, waist of a bear, and eyes like a panther, with fists as big as earthen pots that could create craters wherever they struck. Despite such strength, Ah You was a shy woman who couldn’t even look strangers in the eye when speaking.

Who knew how many tears of decent women lay behind this “free love,” or whether Khan Mengda had improved his forceful ways? However, from Ah Liao’s words, Zhen Wenjun gathered one crucial piece of information – the Path of Ten Thousand Directions was nearly complete.

            

Having traveled this road herself, Zhen Wenjun understood its vast distances well. To level thousands of miles of treacherous paths in just three years meant Li Yanyi must have invested enormous labor and wealth.

At this thought, Zhen Wenjun glanced at Wei Tingxu. Wei Tingxu straightened her aching back and casually chatted with the female students.

Previously, she had only known Wei Tingxu for her strategic brilliance, always focusing on the bigger picture in unimaginable ways. Now, considering the empire’s current state, future trends, and the undercurrents of various conflicts, Zhen Wenjun shuddered – she finally understood Wei Tingxu’s true terrifying nature.

            

During this campaign to suppress the Zhuxie Cult, Zhen Wenjun had traveled between nearly ten commanderies in central and western Yu, witnessing the terrible conditions of common people.

Ever since the refugee uprising that swept through Qi County in the sixth year of Shenchu, the refugee crisis had never been fully resolved. Some refugees and disaster victims were registered into noble family households or conscripted into the military. Though the number of people entered into slave or military registers was substantial, they represented only a small portion of the homeless refugees.

The problem with Da Yu’s prestigious noble families had long-standing roots. It all began because when the founding emperor established Da Yu, unlike other founding emperors who ruthlessly eliminated their meritorious officials, he merely stripped them of power and sent them to live out their days in comfort away from the central government. Over time, their descendants inherited their noble titles and re-entered the central government through official selections, becoming a force that threatened imperial authority.

            

Since the Martial Emperor, all Da Yu emperors focused primarily on two things: fighting with Chongjin, and balancing between weakening and utilizing the power of local noble families. These nobles possessed a very tangible privilege due to their ancestors’ outstanding merits – tax exemption.

Not only were the nobles themselves exempt, but depending on their rank, their extended family from three to nine generations could also enjoy tax exemption. When they couldn’t handle the massive number of refugees, they were incorporated into noble households, causing the central government to lose substantial tax revenue. If not for the wealth brought by the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, Li Yanyi would have torn her hair out trying to squeeze taxes from the common people.

The central government’s inability to effectively collect taxes was a serious problem, but under the facade of prosperity brought by Wei Tingxu’s Path of Ten Thousand Directions, it became less obvious and less urgent to resolve.

            

However, at its core, local powers were the greatest hidden danger.

The commercial prosperity brought by the Path of Ten Thousand Directions benefited local areas first, with huge profits going into the pockets of local governors and nobles before reaching the national treasury. In other words, while local lords were the biggest beneficiaries of the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, it was the central government that ordered increased labor for its construction, and public resentment was directed at Emperor Li Yanyi.

Zhen Wenjun suspected that the Path of Ten Thousand Directions was Wei Tingxu’s brilliant move to create fatal conflict between the emperor and the common people.

            

Although the initial idea for the Path of Ten Thousand Directions wasn’t Wei Tingxu’s, even without it, she would have proposed other profitable megaprojects to catch Li Yanyi’s attention, widening the gap between the people and the central government, while letting the real parasites slowly devour Da Yu.

This was just one aspect.

On the other hand, an even larger number of refugees who neither became household servants of noble families nor entered military registers became “floating people” [浮浪人 | fúlàng rén | homeless/vagrant people] whose whereabouts were unknown and unmanageable. These floating people not only avoided paying taxes but also joined anti-government organizations like the Yellow Turban Warriors and the Zhuxie Cult, sometimes even becoming their leaders.

            

While Da Yu appeared to be progressing slowly, its foundation had already been hollowed out. Wei Tingxu continued helping Li Yanyi decorate her magnificent castle in the air, making it appear splendid and eternal.

Da Yu had two hundred years of history, yet its many problems had long been apparent with no effective reforms or measures to thoroughly resolve these long-standing issues. The difficulty in tax collection alone showed that Li Yanyi had inherited a hot potato from Li Ju, with problems accumulated over generations slowly crushing Da Yu. Even for the most practical and capable emperor, saving today’s Da Yu would be harder than ascending to heaven.

As the pleasure boat glided to shore, Ah Liao disembarked surrounded by the young ladies. Wei Tingxu rose slowly, presumably uncomfortable from kneeling too long. Her leg condition hadn’t fully healed, and with that chest wound from Zhen Wenjun’s sword, it was remarkable she had recovered enough to join this river excursion.

            

Ah Liao, caught up with the young ladies, remembered her old friend still on the boat only after reaching shore. As she pushed through the crowd to help Wei Tingxu, she saw Zhen Wenjun had already lifted her with one arm.

“Thank you, wife,” Wei Tingxu said coolly. Zhen Wenjun remained silent, their gazes fixed in different directions as they left the boat.

The trees and flowers on both banks had been freshly trimmed, intensifying the fresh summer air.

            

Ah Cang still led the way along the shore as Wei Tingxu offered to treat everyone to tea.

Amidst the cheers, Zhen Wenjun watched Wei Tingxu’s retreating figure, contemplating how she might usurp the throne.

The previous dynasty had no shortage of usurpers, and there were typically two methods: one was to amass overwhelming power and force the emperor to abdicate after receiving the Nine Bestowments [九錫 | jiǔ xì | ceremonial honors given to powerful officials]. From her mother’s stories about previous dynasties, Zhen Wenjun learned that thrones obtained through peaceful abdication rarely lasted long. She didn’t understand why as a child, but now, witnessing Da Yu’s chaos, constant uprisings, persistent foreign threats, and the emperor’s reforms failing to reach the common people, she realized that all these contradictions meant whoever took power peacefully would inherit these problems as well.

            

Only by completely shattering this two-hundred-year-old dynasty, reorganizing it under the flames of war, and building an entirely new empire would there be a chance for this great ship to sail further.

Was this what Wei Tingxu thought too?

For the first time, Zhen Wenjun clearly felt Wei Tingxu’s methodical, step-by-step accumulation of power, slowly brewing in the shadows, approaching its moment of full eruption.

            

It wasn’t until sunset that Wei Tingxu returned to the manor. She and Zhen Wenjun still entered through separate gates in their respective carriages, inevitably facing each other on the winding floating bridge.

Wei Tingxu gave her a faint smile, without pursuing any conversation, and left.

Back in her courtyard, Zhen Wenjun shared her observations and thoughts with Ah Qiong, who said:

            

“Your concerns are reasonable, but we don’t know if Li Yanyi is secretly implementing strategies of her own. Moreover, with Wei Lun now near death, once he dies, the Wei clan will likely fall apart, and the powerful faction built by the Wei and Zhangsun clans will face deadly suppression. Right now, nobody is showing their trump cards; they’re all biding their time. Alai, we need to speed up our plans too.”

Zhen Wenjun replied: “Although we couldn’t secure the position of Maritime and Terrain Commander for Ah Xi during this elimination of the Zhuxie Cult, the chaos of buying and selling official positions continues, making it not difficult to place our people in court. Bu Jie has already gone to invite that renowned scholar from Yanxing, and I have an old friend in Nanya who desperately wants to return to the central government, but lacks connections due to staying in Nanya too long. If I help him, he will surely remember this favor.”

Ah Qiong nodded.

            

“Didn’t you mention you had land in Nanya?”

“Yes, I initially bought fifty thousand qing of poor soil there cheaply. Over the years, under Bu Jie’s soil improvement and careful cultivation, it has become fertile land. Not only has productivity increased, but Bu Jie has expanded it more than tenfold.”

“So now there’s five hundred thousand qing of land. The reserves accumulated over these years would be enough to feed an army of hundred thousand for an extended campaign.”

            

Zhen Wenjun said: “It’s not just provisions. During the suppression of the Zhuxie Cult, I secretly purchased private foundries in Pingcang and Lujiao Commanderies. These foundries can produce lodestone iron [宿鐵 | sùtiě | high-quality iron] using the steel-pouring method, which is the most sought-after material for weapons and always in high demand. Once the warlords rise to compete for power in the Central Plains, food will quickly become scarce, and weapons will be in short supply. By then, whether we use it ourselves or sell it, the profits will be considerable.”

Ah Qiong said: “I once said your vision wasn’t far-reaching enough, but now I see our Alai has truly grown up. Actually, no one wants to be drawn into war, but our Ruan family has a special status. As you said, as long as this empire bears the Li surname for even one more day, we can’t escape. Even that secret scroll…”

Zhen Wenjun stopped Ah Qiong with a look, as she heard approaching footsteps.

            

The footsteps were very light and stopped at the door. The person outside seemed to be listening for movement inside, and only after finding silence did they speak: “General, Madam, dinner is ready.”

It was Ah Qiao’s voice.

“Coming,” Zhen Wenjun responded. After Ah Qiao left, she continued, “The Ruan family cannot prove their innocence for things they never did, whether to the former Emperor Ming or to the current Li Yanyi. Ah Mu, don’t worry. At least now we know to prepare in advance. I will arrange everything.”

            

While Zhen Wenjun and Wei Tingxu each had their own schemes, Li Yanyi had already begun to strike decisively.

With the initial completion of the Path of Ten Thousand Directions, merchant caravans traveled more frequently. Li Yanyi greatly praised the meritorious officials Bo Lan and Wei Tingxu during morning court, rewarding them both generously.

When Bo Lan’s name was placed before Wei Tingxu’s, it already seemed strange. As Li Yanyi began inquiring about Wei Tingxu’s recent health condition, the court officials couldn’t help but sigh internally – the emperor was indeed ready to move against the Wei family.

            

Wei Tingxu’s poor health was common knowledge, and there was no point in lying. Li Yanyi used this as an excuse to have Wei Tingxu rest and recover while compiling history at the Imperial Secretariat, leaving the remaining matters of the Path of Ten Thousand Directions to Bo Lan.

Newly promoted to general, Zhen Wenjun had finally gained access to morning court at the Taiji Hall, and standing behind the high-ranking officials, she couldn’t help but feel angry hearing these words.

Everyone knew that compiling history was extremely demanding, no less taxing than overseeing the Path of Ten Thousand Directions in harsh weather, requiring extensive travel to collect historical materials. Any mistake in the compilation could result in direct punishment. Li Yanyi had essentially placed a blade against Wei Tingxu’s throat.

            

Zhangsun Yao secretly glanced back at Wei Tingxu, only to see her calmly thanking the emperor, appearing completely composed.

Li Yanyi fixed her gaze on Wei Tingxu for a moment before dismissing the morning court.

Throughout the entire day, Zhen Wenjun’s mind raced. After court dispersed and she left the Forbidden Garden, she saw Wei Tingxu’s carriage stopped at a street corner two blocks away from the palace gates.

            

Wei Tingxu stepped down from her carriage and spoke briefly with a female beggar before leaving. Shortly after, another carriage approached the beggar, and the driver invited her aboard.

Zhen Wenjun recognized it as a Wei family carriage.

Why would Wei Tingxu secretly pick up a beggar? Zhen Wenjun watched the beggar closely, and as she turned to enter the carriage, Zhen Wenjun clearly saw her face.

            

She recognized this person – it was Ah Wen, who had always accompanied Ah Xin in Mengliang.

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