Chapter 124: There’s Never Anything Good In Chang’an’s Shadows
The Great Han Iron Enclosure Pass Transport Commissioner is named Zhang Heng.
He is also the top among the Great Han’s eighteen Transport Commissioners.
This guy has not stepped down since taking this position at thirty-six, nor has he been promoted. Now sixty years old, he handles matters with even greater shrewdness.
In Yun Ce’s family, Zhang Min is essentially a warrior, Feng An and Liang Kun are clearly scholars, and only Yun Ce is a true official.
Zhang Heng did not provide Yun Ce with the various materials needed for land reclamation, only people, but two thousand more people, and these two thousand were seemingly useless prostitutes as well as women and children.
This was actually an exam question, to see how Yun Ce would choose. Once Yun Ce made his choice, Zhang Heng would determine how to view him based on that choice.
Without providing materials, Yun Ce could go cry to the High Priest, which is the worst choice. As long as he had this option, in Zhang Heng’s eyes, Yun Ce would be an incompetent fool.
Sell off the extra two thousand useless women and children, prostitutes, and Yun Ce could naturally obtain most of the materials needed for land reclamation, but that was it. Without prostitutes, women and children, north of the Great Wall there are only barracks, impossible to form a city that can operate long-term. This is the middle choice.
The middle choice is a mediocre one. In the future, Zhang Heng would only treat Yun Ce as a mediocre official.
The so-called top choice actually has no fixed pattern, but there is one general requirement: the official must have the ability to create something from nothing.
1 No money? Get money within the allowed scope yourself. No people? Get people relying on your prestige yourself. Then use the money you got and the people you got to excellently complete the tasks assigned by the country.
1 Such a person is what people call talent, someone who can be entrusted with heavy responsibilities.
1 Yun Ce had personally seen a certain brother go down to the county as an inspector, catch a nest of corrupt officials and dirty officials in a year, punish local tyrants with ruthless hands, confiscate with such ferocity that it drew sideways glances.
1 After the matter was done, he returned to party school for study, another half year, and when he came to the locality again, he was already the chief official. Though most of the recovered embezzled funds and fines went into the national treasury, the county still kept a portion.
1 He used this retained portion to start his journey in the county.
1 Truth be told, Zhang Heng is actually quite a gentle person. He didn’t let Yun Ce bump around like a headless fly, but gave him Ren Hu as a clue.
1 “Does this Ren Hu have a lot of family wealth?” Yun Ce asked Zhang Min.
1 Zhang Min said: “The three brothers: one is an official, one a clerk, one a great rich man.”
1 Yun Ce thought for a moment and said: “One forms a deterrent on the surface, one provides protection from the shadows, one makes money selling slaves without conscience. Pretty good combination.”
1 “What do you plan to do?”
2 “We lack manpower, lack materials, lack cattle and horses. Looks like it all has to come from these three brothers.”
2 “The High Priest is always upright and selfless. His elder shouldn’t allow you to do this.” Zhang Min knew Yun Ce very well too. Since he saw Ren Hu as a god of wealth sent by Zhang Heng, she knew Yun Ce would go all out against these three brothers.
2 “He won’t. The High Priest remains high above. He can’t see the human world suffering about to happen to Ren Hu.
2 By the way, Zhang Min, do you remember what Zhou Chengming did in Chuyun Prefecture?”
2 “I remember. Though he plundered tribute, it was for the officers and soldiers of Iron Enclosure Pass. He didn’t pocket a single coin himself.”
2 “If I told you this was also the result of Zhang Heng and their calculations, would you believe it?”
2 Zhang Min shook her head: “Transport Commissioners are always incorruptible and benevolent.”
2 Yun Ce nodded: “Remember well what you’re thinking now. In a few years, think back on what you said today, and see how incorruptible and benevolent this Transport Commissioner is.”
2 After speaking with Zhang Min, Yun Ce had Feng An and Liang Kun first use their own money to forge farming tools and purchase as many cattle, sheep, and livestock as possible.
2 Finally, he had E Ji and the others dress up nicely, and tomorrow they would go play in Chang’an City.
3 The next day, Yun Ce rode his red date horse, escorting the horse carriage of E Ji and the others with Zhang Min who also rode a thunder smoke beast, to Chang’an City.
3 Zhang Min originally wanted to enter the city in warrior attire, but was pulled into the room by E Ji and An Ji to change into a brightly colored, thin silk robe, and her head was adorned with all sorts of shiny jewelry.
3 Later they even tried to force her onto the horse carriage. Zhang Min resisted to the death, so she rode her thunder smoke beast alongside Yun Ce in that gaudy outfit.
3 “Your wife turned me into a concubine.”
3 “Don’t like being a concubine? Why not object?”
3 “I think E Ji doing this is interesting. What’s wrong with playing along with her?”
3 “Don’t be careless. If E Ji keeps dressing you like this, sooner or later everyone in the world will know you’re Yun Family’s concubine. Oh, and the kind that can be traded for a fine horse.”
3 Zhang Min’s eyes flowed, smiling sweetly at Yun Ce: “You want to trade me for a fine horse? Could you really do it?”
3 Yun Ce chuckled: “Not unless pushed to that point.”
3 Zhang Min probably felt continuing the topic was too awkward, so she said seriously: “How do you plan to deal with Ren Hu?”
4 Yun Ce said proudly: “Charge in, find Ren Hu, torture out the hiding places of his great wealth, then kill to silence, finally, take the money, and use his money to buy the various artisan slaves I need.”
4 “That simple?”
4 Yun Ce spread his hands: “How complicated can it be? Nowadays in Chang’an City, many people already know the three Ren Hu brothers are dead men.
4 Since that’s the case, why waste so much brainpower?”
4 “You want to use this crude method to tell those people not to play tricks in front of you?”
4 Yun Ce nodded: “Exactly.”
4 E Ji sat in the horse carriage, watching Yun Ce and Zhang Min whispering intimately, grabbed the puppy beside her to twist its tail, but was pulled back by An Ji.
4 “She’s deliberately provoking you. You’re the first wife, she’s just a smiling concubine. You must endure at this time.”
4 “What if they sleep together at night? Young Master has family rules, no children until I’m eighteen. Zhang Min is an old woman, she can.”
4 “Then, sleep with Young Master at night, cling to him, don’t give Zhang Min a chance.”
5 “Good!”
5 “I plan to build a city north of the Great Wall.” Yun Ce said seriously to Zhang Min.
5 Zhang Min shook her head: “Shehuo are all south of the Great Wall. Without shehuo protection there, you can’t build a city.”
5 After Zhang Min answered Yun Ce, she seemed to remember something, stared hard at Yun Ce: “Chuyun Prefecture’s shehuo is in your hands?”
5 Yun Ce shook his head: “No.”
5 “No? Without it, what qualification do you have to build a city?”
5 “Because I don’t believe you can’t build a city without shehuo. After all, with Iron Enclosure Pass as an example, it shouldn’t be hard.”
5 “Iron Enclosure Pass has the Xuanyuan Cauldron. It’s said that cauldron gathers heroic spirits of the fallen in battle. Over a millennium, countless hero souls have gathered in the Xuanyuan Cauldron. The killing aura there is sky-high, no need for something as gentle as shehuo.”
5 Yun Ce laughed: “No matter. We’ll always manage to build Yun City.”
5 “You’re too arrogant.”
6 Zhang Min always felt Yun Ce never spoke truthfully. Turning back, she saw E Ji’s eyes full of hatred, then smiled, dismounted the thunder smoke beast, and gracefully like a concubine, carefully boarded E Ji’s horse carriage.
6 From Lantian County to Chang’an is less than three hundred li. Yun Ce and they traveled from dawn to dusk, finally arriving at Chang’an City.
6 Because they only had the Chang’an Morning and Evening Pass token, they naturally couldn’t enter Chang’an City at night, so they rested one night at Ji Ming Post Station outside Chang’an City.
6 Ji Ming Post Station is less than three li from Chang’an. It’s said the rooster crow here can be heard in Chang’an City, hence the name.
6 One rooster, over a hundred jin. Rooster crows at dawn, the world turns white.
6 That night Yun Ce ate the chicken from Ji Ming Post Station. The chicken here is famous: freshly slaughtered, cleaned, boiled in cold water, add a few seasonings for flavor. When the water in the iron cauldron dries up, add rice wine, salt, continue stewing until the chicken meat falls off the bone, it’s done. Sprinkle a big handful of wide-leaf garlic grass, lift the lid, rich aroma overflows, the scent can reach Chang’an.
6 Of course, this is Ji Ming Post Station’s second legend. The legends here always relate to Chang’an, to the nobles and emperor in the city.
6 Iron cauldron chicken is the first dish Yun Ce found decent since coming to Great Han, just lacking chili peppers, making the flavor incomplete.
6 The whole family gathered around a half-person-high iron cauldron fishing out chicken meat to eat, clearly fitting the Chang’an nobles’ pursuit of the bell-ringing cauldron-feasting aesthetic.
6 However, Yun Ce thought they might have misunderstood the meaning of bell-ringing cauldron-feasting households. It’s not that a big pot for eating means abundance.
7 On the contrary, the smaller the bowls for eating, the more exquisite the dishes, that is the mark of a wealthy household.
7 Night deepened. Yun Ce stood by the window, looking up to see the dense myriad homes’ lights in Chang’an City.
7 Yun Ce had imagined the Great Han Chang’an City countless times before: grand, majestic, that’s a must. But he never expected Great Han’s Chang’an City to be a city without walls.
7 Chang’an City has no walls, but deep moat lake. The deep moat lake surrounds Chang’an, with twelve bridges over the lake, each three hundred meters long, twenty meters wide. There are mechanisms on the bridges: at night, the lakeside bridge sections are raised to serve as city gates; by day, lowered for passage.
7 At this moment, Chang’an City’s myriad homes’ lights reflected on the deep moat lake, densely packed almost like tonight’s stars in the sky. Wind blows, ripples spread, shattering a pool of starlight, making it hard to tell if this is Chang’an City or the heavenly palace.
7 E Ji hugged Yun Ce’s arm coquettishly: “Let’s sleep early. Tomorrow we play all day.”
7 Yun Ce said: “I always hear people say Chang’an prices are sky-high, not a place poor people like us can stay long. Did you bring enough gold?”
7 E Ji took out two heavy gold ingots from under the pillow, knocked them together in her hand, grinned: “Enough?”
