Chapter 77: Everyone Wants The Emperor’s Fortune
Over the next few days, Zhang Min did not come to mooch meals, and Miss Hong did not come to ask for money either; it seemed everything had returned to how it was right after arriving in Chuyun City.
Yun Ce read King Huo’s Biography at a speed of one thousand jin of books per day and finished it.《》
When he saw that King Huo, who had lived for six hundred years, finally died and was carried into Yanran Mountain’s tomb, and after the Dragon-Breaking Stone weighing over a hundred thousand jin completely separated King Huo from the world,
the Han Emperor Liu Shou at that time ordered the whole nation to celebrate for three days.
Yun Ce carefully read the book and confirmed it was indeed nationwide celebration for three days, not nationwide mourning for three days.
The current Great Han territory was actually established by Huo Qubing leading troops in battle for a full five hundred years; this man who stayed on the battlefield for five hundred years had no juniors to see him off before his death, and the closest blood relative to him had also passed away eighty-three years earlier.
Reading the history book, others felt that Huo Qubing was truly quite tragic: he lived such a long time yet failed to protect his descendants, so the history book warns the world at the end that people—should not seek longevity!
Yun Ce felt this statement was very correct. Yun Linchuan lived to around a hundred years old, and he already found it unbearable; if Yun Linchuan had lived five hundred years like Huo Qubing, he was certain his own life would be one of total devotion and without self.
So, people should not live too long: safely see off those who raised you, safely raise those you raised, live a few lighthearted years freely and at ease, and when one day you find you can no longer control water and fire, hurry up and die—dying one day earlier means gaining one more share of remembrance.
Huo Qubing lived too long, which turned such an absolutely great national hero into an undead old thief.
1 Yun Ce also borrowed many research documents on King Huo, and the most baffling among them was why King Huo did not kill Liu Shou and declare himself emperor at that time.
1 Logically, King Huo could absolutely have done so, and moreover, in the past five hundred years, King Huo had killed three Han Emperors; every time he killed a Han Emperor, he would support another Han Emperor, without exception.
1 “Yeah, why didn’t King Huo kill the Han Emperor and declare himself emperor?”
1 Feng An packed up the gifts he had just wrapped and echoed doubtfully.
1 “Perhaps he just didn’t like being emperor.”
1 Liang Kun casually gave an answer. He always felt that dead people should stay in their graves; once dead, they shouldn’t create new problems for the living.
1 From these two standard Great Han scholars, Yun Ce learned that Huo Qubing’s reputation among Great Han people was not very favorable. It was only because he had done too much for this world, and many matters couldn’t avoid him, that the history books had to leave him a place.
1 Looking at Huo Qubing’s image in Great Han, and recalling his records on Earth, it seemed about the same.
1 Heroes are meant to be used for a time. A good man is best off saving the emperor and then, right after receiving the Yellow Emperor’s reward, drinking himself to death. That way, the history books will record him, the emperor will praise him, and the common people will miss him.
1 In winter, the probability of snow in Chuyun City was too high. As long as a cloud drifted over from Gaoliang Mountain, Chuyun City would definitely snow. The snow always fell inside the city; once outside the city walls, one would be surprised to find not a speck of snow outside.
2 After Feng An wrapped all the gifts laid out on the table with silk cloth or Yi Tree Bark cloth, he said to Yun Ce: “Currently, Chuyun City has two positions available for you, the recent Martial Competition winner, to choose from: one is the fast courier chief under the Chuyun Prefecture City Lord’s Mansion, and the other is the provisions escort officer in the Chuyun Prefecture Prefectural Office.
2 The former is responsible for catching thieves, the latter for protection—neither is a good assignment, but they are both positions with real power. After all, these two positions require people with true ability; you are best suited to hold such a position.”
2 Yun Ce said somewhat reluctantly: “Isn’t there a position that doesn’t require work but pays well?”
2 Liang Kun nodded: “There is, but not for you.”
2 “No other options to pick from?”
2 “There is: jailer.”
2 “Don’t mention positions like catching people, guards, or jailers to me. You should know my friends are either rebels or ill-intentioned traitors; doing that kind of work makes it easy to get dragged into a bandit lair.”
2 “Then you’ll have to go guard a beacon tower or the garrison’s fodder yard. Oh, and near Chuyun City, there’s also the Royal Hunting Ground that Great General Liu Xiang built for the Emperor back then; if you go there as steward, that works too.”
2 “These places don’t require spending money.”
2 Yun Ce didn’t think twice and directly said: “I choose the Royal Hunting Ground.”
3 Feng An looked at Yun Ce and said: “That place is two hundred li from Chuyun City toward Gaoliang Mountain. Not only is it overrun with wild beasts, it’s also never been stable; three stewards have died there. After Panxing Tower investigated, they said they killed a spirit, and it will be fine now.
3 But the credibility of that is low; that place is still dangerous.”
3 Yun Ce laughed: “I’ve personally seen how they killed the Pig King and the Bear King; their words are credible.”
3 Liang Kun said: “That place has been built for over sixty years now, bearing the name Royal Hunting Ground, yet no imperial family member has ever come. It’s too desolate.”
3 Yun Ce looked at Feng An and Liang Kun, smiled silently, and said: “We’re not going there to be officials anyway. Right now, the most important thing is to bide our time enough to get the Shang Zao rank, and then we’ll head to Chang’an. If we’re to be officials, only doing it in Chang’an has any meaning; here in Chuyun Prefecture, even becoming City Lord means still being suppressed by the Chuyun Prefecture Inspector and unable to lift your head?”
3 E Ji nodded: “Listen to Young Master; we’ll go to the Royal Hunting Ground.”
3 Seeing Yun Ce’s mind was set, Feng An took a few gifts and left with Liang Kun. Though becoming steward of the Royal Hunting Ground didn’t require gifts, Feng An still felt it was better to bring some—more courtesy can’t hurt.
3 By nightfall, the snow fell even heavier. An hour ago, there was still a bit of twilight on the horizon, but once the snow started, it completely blocked even that light.
3 Under Zhou Chengming’s feet was a large piece of silk cloth marked with mountains and terrain. He paced barefoot on it for a long time, finally stepping on Chuyun City underfoot and said to Zhang Min, who was also barefoot on the map: “Have Panxing Tower’s people all withdrawn from Chuyun City?”
3 Zhang Min nodded: “Wu Tong took a group to Cong Prefecture. I don’t have many left here to begin with, and today I received an urgent report from Sheyang City City Lord Duke Yu that rebels are stirring there again. Tomorrow, I will lead the remaining envoys to Sheyang City for inspection.”
4 Zhou Chengming sneered: “Very good. Tomorrow, I will also lead my men to Iron Enclosure Pass. Thus, whatever happens in Chuyun City will have nothing to do with us.”
4 Zhang Min sighed: “The Black Armored Army isn’t trained yet; going to Iron Enclosure Pass to fight the Gui Fang elite cavalry now is probably more ill than good.”
4 Zhou Chengming sighed deeply: “Giving us three years was already more than satisfying.”
4 Zhang Min gritted her teeth: “Chuyun Prefecture’s ten years of tribute sets off in six days, escorted by Dianjun Captain Zhao Ling, with three thousand eight hundred accompanying cavalry. I hear the team also includes Chuyun Prefecture Inspector Han Du’s wife and son, as well as an unknown number of family retainers.”
4 Zhou Chengming laughed: “Under the Black Armored Army cavalry’s charge, they’re just a bunch of dead men.”
4 Zhang Min added: “From my investigation, you’re not the only one eyeing this batch of tribute.”
4 Zhou Chengming laughed: “Let them come; if they don’t, where would I find cannon fodder?”
4 “You were once an upright general, but now you’re helping your son rob his father’s money. I’m afraid once the world knows, you’ll die without a burial place.”
4 Zhou Chengming laughed: “First let the world endure until they can mock me.”
4 Yun Ce stood under the eaves and reached out to catch a handful of snow. He had never seen such dense heavy snow; palm-sized snowflakes layered one upon another falling from the sky, piling up on the ground, and in no time, the snow had accumulated two chi thick.
5 Having been a grassroots official for a long time, he habitually looked at the roofs. If such heavy snow happened on Earth, he definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep and would need to stay on duty all night in the office, rushing out to rescue as soon as danger reports came in.
5 The officials here seemed to lack this habit. When Feng An and Liang Kun returned wading through the snow, they reeked of alcohol again; it looked like they had gone drinking with officials.
5 Ever since these two passed the Grand Competition, the banquets had been one after another. If not for still needing to help Yun Ce with matters, Yun Ce felt they would have drunk themselves to death in the land of tenderness.
5 Back in the room, after brushing off the snow from their bodies, Feng An handed over the appointment letter for Yun Ce to become the chief steward of the Royal Hunting Ground.
5 Yun Ce glanced at the appointment letter and gave it to E Ji, then looked at Feng An and Liang Kun: “I plan to set off tomorrow; you two…”
5 “We’ll go with you.” Feng An stated firmly. Seeing Liang Kun showed no hesitation either, Yun Ce laughed: “Good, we’ll set off tomorrow.”
5 Seeing Feng An about to leave, Yun Ce couldn’t help asking: “With such heavy snow, collapsing houses are commonplace—won’t the government officials do anything?”
5 Feng An said in surprise: “What should collapse has long collapsed. The existing houses are all battle-tested and won’t have issues. Besides, don’t waste the snow here; many families who can’t afford good water rely on this snow to fill their cisterns.”
5 Only then did Yun Ce understand that a place’s ability to exist long-term must have its reasons—existence is reasonableness. He didn’t know who said it, but Yun Ce felt it was too true.
5 The blizzard stopped after three hours, with snow on the ground reaching up to Yun Ce’s chest. He thought this snow would delay tomorrow’s departure from the city to take up the Royal Hunting Ground post, but in the middle of the night, someone knocked on the courtyard door.
6 Yun Ce opened the door and saw Miss Hong leading a large group of people, pushing carts, standing respectfully at the entrance, and timidly saying: “Young Master, if you don’t need this snow, could you grant it to us?”
6 “Sure.”
6 Miss Hong was overjoyed and quickly called people to start shoveling snow from the entrance. These people were very skilled at shoveling snow, using large wooden shovels to take layer by layer, loading it into barrel carts. People shoveled on both sides, leaving the middle for the carts to pass. In less than an hour, they cleared the snow from Yun Ce’s small courtyard down to just a thin layer.
6 As Yun Ce was about to close the door and go inside, he heard Miss Hong whisper in his ear: “Want to get rich?”
6 Brothers and sisters, if you have extra monthly tickets or such, give them to Jue 2.
