Chapter 35: The Iron-Faced Censor

Though called a residence hall, as he followed the servants inside, Lu Beigu felt he had entered a royal palace.

He asked quietly, and it truly was a converted royal palace!

In the past, the office here belonged to the former Tang Jiedushi of Jiannan Xichuan; this place originally served as the Jiedushi's yamen, within which stood high towers like the Hundred-Foot Tower, overlooking the lake behind.

The lake was named Mohe Pool, a name with its own story: during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Southern Dynasty's "Bodhisattva Emperor" Xiao Yan vigorously promoted Buddhism within the region, and Buddhism took root in the Shu lands; the pool derived its name "Mohe Pool" from the words of a Hu monk, and this title was inherited through the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Then, in the first year of Zhenyuan of the former Tang, the then Jiedushi Wei Nie initially dug the Jieyu Stream and connected it to Mohe Pool; by the seventh year of Dazhong of the former Tang, the then Jiedushi Bai Minzhong opened the Jinshui River, diverting river water from the west into the city to flow into Mohe Pool, connecting it to the Jieyu Stream, and finally merging into the Youzi River at the city's east, thus making Mohe Pool entirely a living body of water.

Later, the Later Shu converted this place into a royal palace, and Mohe Pool was renamed Longyue Pool; the Later Shu built palaces, pavilions, and towers extensively around the pool, covering an area of ten li, with scenery that was truly magnificent.

Now the name has been restored; some of the buildings around the pool have been demolished, while others have become mansions of wealthy merchants, but the vast majority remain the residence hall of the Chengdu Prefect himself.

"Doesn't this violate regulations?"

A question mark rose in Lu Beigu's mind.

But he dared not ask.

Yet in a daze, Lu Beigu truly felt that Liu Yong's "Wang Hai Chao" was written in a standard realistic style.

Although this was not Hangzhou, he had truly seen with his own eyes what "misty willows and painted bridges, wind-blown curtains and green screens" looked like; while the osmanthus of the three autumns might still be too early, the breathtaking beauty of the ten-li lotus flowers was right before his eyes.

Thus, as he walked along, Lu Beigu even began to doubt whether those high officials of the central government who were demoted here to serve as Chengdu Prefects truly still wished to return.

And his understanding, after being tempered by the consecutive events of Shu brocade and the royal palace, finally allowed him to feel it truly.

— The Great Song truly raises its scholar-officials with great wealth!

One can only say that serving as an official in the Great Song is indeed delightful, especially at the level of Department Magistrate or Prefect.

Even if one cannot reside in a yamen converted from a royal palace like Zhang Fangping's, it is still quite comfortable to do as Su Shi did, going out idly to experience "a thousand riders sweeping across the level ridge."

Arriving at a rare stretch of open water amidst the lotus flowers on the shore of Mohe Pool, they boarded a small boat specially assigned to ferry them, while the branches of the weeping willows along the bank almost reached the bow of the boat.

The small boat slowly pushed through the lotus flowers and sailed into Mohe Pool.

Lu Beigu's robes were lifted by the wind carrying the scent of fish; fish were everywhere here, and they were not afraid of people at all. Just a short distance to his right, a red carp leaped out of the water, its scales flashing with a cinnabar-like luster under the setting sun, before plunging back into the cloud reflections shattered by the oars with a "plop."

Truly a paradise for fishing enthusiasts.

However, those Taihu stones, once meticulously carved by craftsmen of the Later Shu court, no longer looked well-maintained; they were now covered in algae, and withered lotus stems were tangled within the stone holes, leaving them devoid of any aesthetic appeal.

These stones, purchased at great expense, now served only one purpose: half-submerged in the green water to act as navigational markers for the boatmen.

Soon, the small boat arrived at the island in the center of the lake, and they stepped ashore.

There was only one courtyard here; the main hall contained no one, not even servants or maids.

As soon as Li Pan led Lu Beigu to take a seat, a shadowy figure darted out from the entrance of the hall.

Seeing that person, Li Pan hurriedly said to Lu Beigu, "I shall go out to speak with him; you wait here."

Lu Beigu nodded, watching as Li Pan went out and whispered privately with the man who looked like a minor clerk under the corridor.

As for what they said, he could not hear clearly.

The clerk spoke in a low voice, "The Prime Minister Zhang is in good spirits today and is currently in conversation; you must wait a while. It should be ending soon. After the conversation concludes, Prime Minister Zhang must change his clothes before he can see you."

"Which superior official is conversing with Prime Minister Zhang?"

"Zhao Bian, the Transport Commissioner of Yizhou Circuit."

Hearing the clerk's words, Li Pan was momentarily stunned.

"—Could it be the 'Iron-Faced Censor'?"

Zhao Bian, courtesy name Yuedao, was a Jinshi in the first year of Jingyou; he once served as a Palace Censor, impeaching officials without shying away from powerful figures, earning him the title "Iron-Faced Censor" at the time.

This man was very famous in the Great Song court; he usually accompanied himself with only a zither and a crane, governed with simplicity, was honest, kind, and cultivated in purity, and every day's deeds he would, at night, dress formally and expose incense to report to Heaven; he was a righteous gentleman with "nothing done that cannot be told to others."

But Lu Beigu inside knew none of this.

He had barely sat down when an elderly man with a thin face and slightly prominent cheekbones emerged from behind the screen; the old man's beard and hair were somewhat streaked with gray, appearing to be in his fifties, yet he wore a simple brown robe, looking as though he was about to leave.

Seeing Lu Beigu seated in the side position of the hall, the old man stopped in his tracks.

He scrutinized him sharply for a moment, then asked.

"Young man, how old are you this year?"

Out of politeness, Lu Beigu replied courteously.

"I am seventeen years old."

The old man clicked his tongue, saying, "You are not even as old as my youngest son. Why have you come to see Prime Minister Zhang?"

"Because of a policy essay." Lu Beigu answered concisely.

"A policy essay?"

The old man seemed to recall something and actually turned back through the screen into the inner chamber; then, amidst the sound of rummaging through chests and cabinets, he truly produced a piece of paper.

He approached Lu Beigu and brushed it off.

"'Xia Ce'?"

The old man asked, "Is this the policy essay you speak of?"

At this moment, countless sheep were running through Lu Beigu's mind: who exactly was this old man? How could he just rummage through things in Zhang Fangping's room like this?

Was it Zhang Fangping himself?

But it didn't quite feel like it.

"Yes."

The old man read it through once; first his brows and eyes relaxed, but then he furrowed his brow.

"Now we should ban green salt from crossing the border, cut off the export of iron tools, establish a dedicated Tea and Horse Bureau in Qinfeng Circuit, and completely monopolize trade with Qingtang and the Tubo tribes. Once their treasuries are empty and the tribes turn against each other, even with a hundred thousand armored troops, they will be nothing but hungry eagles and starving tigers. The idea is good, but do you know the current situation of Qingtang and Tubo?"

"I have heard of it."

Lu Beigu replied, "Over three thousand li of land, more than a million households, bordering Song, Xia, Khotan, and Lugan Qiang, vaguely showing the momentum of the era of Songtsen Gampo."

The old man nodded and casually said, "The Hehuang region is the necessary passage of the 'Ancient Tuyuhun Route,' located south and north of the Western Regions. In the past, when the Hu Empress Dowager of the Northern Wei sent the monk official Song Yun westward, he could have taken the Hexi route, but due to local military chaos, Song Yun and others had to travel west via the Qinghai Road of Tuyuhun, thus opening this trade route."

"Now the Xia state is powerful, yet it repeatedly robs tribute merchants and detains travelers in the Western Regions, imposing heavy taxes on passing merchants to supplement military funds; consequently, more and more merchants have taken this 'Ancient Tuyuhun Route,' and cities such as Qingtang, Miaochuan, and Linggu have gradually prospered."

"But have you ever considered that if our dynasty, like with the Liao and Xia states, formally established official markets for trade with Qingtang Tibet, allowing them to grow continuously, would we not see a scene like the former Tang general Ma Chongying leading a joint army of 200,000 Tibetans and Tanguts to seize Chang'an?"

(End of this chapter)