Chapter 102: The Three Cat‑Eye Sisters

In the deep autumn of that year, Li Longji suddenly went incognito on a tour to Luoyang's Hanjiacang and inspected the grain stores there.

After thoroughly understanding the operation of the "Jianqian Method", Ji Ge sighed to Gao Lishi, "Zheng Shuqing is far too unqualified to be the prefect of Qizhou."

According to Tang court customs, the post of prefect is quite interesting; being sent to certain major provinces—such as Liangzhou, Yangzhou, Shu Zhou, and so on—is definitely a promotion, even if the transfer comes from the central administration.

Conversely, being sent to certain "lower provinces"—such as Yanzhou, Gaozhou, and the like—is usually a demotion.

There are also some provinces where the post is merely temporary, often short‑lived. For example, the prefect of Qizhou is highly transitional; an official serving as Qizhou prefect may either be promoted within a short time or be dismissed.

But the situation old Zheng faced this time was clearly not a demotion.

After returning to the palace, Li Longji personally drafted an edict appointing Zheng Shuqing as the prefect of Yangzhou. He also privately wrote Zheng a letter, tasking him with overseeing silk production in Yangzhou and increasing output.

He instructed that they must cooperate with the transport commissioner to ship the silk to Chang'an—transport as much as possible!

If this is handled well, they could transfer him back to a central post in Chang'an.

After completing this matter, Li Longji took Yang Yuhuan on a boat ride along Luoyang's canal, reveling in great delight!

Later he accompanied Yang Yuhuan to visit her third uncle, Yang Xuan Gui's residence.

This time Yang Yuhuan returned to Luoyang to see Yang Xuan Gui, who was like a foster father to her, primarily to fulfill filial duty and present a congratulatory gift for his 50th birthday.

Yang Xuan Gui was no ordinary man; he was a renowned Pear Garden musician since the Kaiyuan era, mastering the music of various Western Regions, hailed as a master of Hu music, and after growing weary of court life, he settled in Luoyang.

Because of this connection, Ji Ge personally accompanied Yang Yuhuan on an incognito tour, after all, Yang Xuan Gui was an old acquaintance.

Joining the celebration for Yang Xuan Gui this time were Yang Yuhuan's sisters and Yang Xuan Gui's family. This year's 50th birthday celebration for Yang Xuan Gui was lavish, with many guests, and Li Longji's visit certainly gave him great face.

The emperor came down because Yang Xuan Gui had once been a Pear Garden master, not because of Yang Yuhuan at all!

The two came together merely by coincidence!

Everyone in the Yang household says it that way!

At the birthday banquet, Yang Yuhuan's eldest sister, third sister, and eighth sister were all strikingly beautiful, each with their own charms, leaving Li Longji dazzled.

However, Ji Ge, with his imperial stature and without explicitly revealing his relationship with Yang Yuhuan, showed no improper behavior at the banquet.

He didn't even have time to converse with the Yang sisters before hurriedly returning to Chang'an with Yang Yuhuan.

Upon arriving in Chang'an, Li Longji immediately summoned Chen Xuanli, and the two held a private discussion in Qinzhengwubenlou, the purpose unknown.

Gao Lishi, meanwhile, was dispatched to Chang'an's eastern Changle Station, where he received Lei Haiqing, the "Floral and Avian Envoy" returning from Jiangnan after a tiring journey.

Lei Haiqing, the actual manager of the Pear Garden, had a very close, even intimate relationship with Li Longji; the two often studied music theory together. Thus, Ji Ge gave him an honorable yet arduous task.

It was to help the saint find a woman in Jiangnan! As for what to do with the woman, Ji Ge did not say, trusting that Lei Haiqing would understand.

For this, Ji Ge even invented the official position of "Floral and Avian Envoy"!

This shows that Ji Ge placed great expectations on Lei Haiqing!

One Yang Yuhuan can only satisfy Ji Ge's current appetite, but the saint's thoughts are inscrutable; who knows if there will be a second "Yang Yuhuan" in the future?

Being prepared for trouble is never a bad thing.

However, when Gao Lishi saw the so‑called "beauty" that Lei Haiqing had brought, he was greatly disappointed!

"Marshal (Lei Haiqing's nickname in the Pear Garden), you've really botched this assignment!"

Gao Lishi said with deep anguish.

Although the two were not especially close, they were still familiar acquaintances, and Gao Lishi had no reason to give Lei Haiqing a hard time.

The "beauty" Lei Haiqing found could only please himself, without any thought as to whether Ji Ge would actually like her.

When Gao Lishi saw the woman Lei Haiqing chose, he thought Ji Ge would never be interested.

In contrast, the women who appeared at Yang Xuan Gui's birthday banquet in Luoyang—Yang Yuhuan's several sisters—might still have Ji Ge's interest, so the matter isn't settled.

The four young women before him were indeed beautiful, but they failed to spark Ji Ge's excitement.

It's like bragging about a particular wine to someone who never drinks; the person remains completely indifferent. The solution is to treat the problem specifically, not to grab everything at once.

Especially when presenting a woman to the emperor, if he doesn't like her at first glance, he won't pay any further attention. Ji Ge is not a puppet emperor!

"These are all recognized beauties from Yangzhou, and I shamelessly searched for a long time to find them. Do they truly not catch the saint's eye?"

Lei Haiqing asked in confusion. Though the mission was humiliating and against his own wishes, he had put effort and heart into finding a girl for Ji Ge!

Having worked in the Pear Garden for over a decade, he considered himself fairly familiar with Ji Ge's preferences, so why did Gao Lishi dismiss it at first sight?

"The saint's private matters, you need not guess. No one needs to be handed over to me; let's stop here, and don't bring it up again. Let them return to wherever they came from—just send them back to their hometowns."

Gao Lishi sighed.

Now the saint is not young anymore, yet still meddling with these fleeting affairs, which is truly troublesome.

When he was younger, Gao Lishi often discussed bedroom arts with Li Longji, so he was quite familiar with Ji Ge's preferences in that regard.

There are too many beautiful women in the world, but the saint's energy is limited; he must discard the minutiae and focus on the main ones.

Now the Yang Yuhuan affair has become the talk of the town; anyone on the streets of Chang'an knows the saint is involved.

Gao Lishi recalled at Yang Xuan Gui's birthday banquet, Li Longji's hungry gaze toward the three Yang sisters, and thought it best not to let Lei Haiqing cause any extra complications.

The palace corridors are deep and dark; how many can enter and leave unscathed? It's better to let them each return to their own places—one less trouble than one more.

"Then, I'll trouble General Gao."

Lei Haiqing crossed his arms, bowed deeply, and said,

"You're welcome, I'll now return to report. Once this is done, you should also head back to the Pear Garden soon."

Gao Lishi said meaningfully, then turned and left.

…

Weary, Fang Chongyong slumped on the bed as Anaye attentively served him. Her small hands massaged his shoulders, working down to his wrists and palms, a mix of soreness and pleasure, extremely comfortable.

"Are you asleep?"

Anaye saw Fang Chongyong's drooping eyelids and asked softly.

"I'm already asleep; you keep going, don't stop."

Fang Chongyong replied irritably.

"People with ability being crowded out by others is quite normal; lord, don't worry, everything will get better."

Anaye kindly comforted him, saying even a fool could see that Fang Chongyong's mood was rather bad after returning from the "regular meeting" at the prefectural office today.

"Alas!"

Fang Chongyong let out a long sigh; if anyone really crowded him out, that would be easy to handle!

Just find a few scapegoats, hand them over to the He Xi Military Governor Office, and claim that these local officials are interfering with my work, blah‑blah.

Then I can give Xiao Jiong some conditions and excuses. Fang Chongyong now was just hoping a troublemaker would appear for him to slap in the face.

And then showcase the "all‑seeing" powerful background of the Fang administration!

Wouldn't that solve half the problem?

Only, the customs and climate of He Xi are rather special. Fang Chongyong imagined this scheme wouldn't be very effective.

The He Xi Corridor's five prefectures are all oasis economies, with extremely little annual precipitation, relying on rivers fed by snowmelt from the Qilian Mountains to sustain livelihoods!

Without water there is no agriculture; humanity cannot survive, so protecting water sources is the foremost task here.

Besides water scarcity, there is also war risk: the north is the Turkic, the south is the Tubo; the He Xi Corridor in the middle could be sandwiched at any time—truly a situation of enemies on all sides.

Even setting those aside, each prefecture suffers varying degrees of land desertification and salinization. Moreover, multiple ethnic groups live together, cooperating yet also excluding each other, making the situation extremely tangled.

Such conditions inevitably form a tightly knit local administration with a certain degree of democratic mechanism.

In an oasis region that dies without water, simply damming rivers can kill tens of thousands. Under these conditions, if the people do not unite, internal strife will eventually turn the area into a no‑man's land!

Faced with a harsh survival environment, people are forced to lower their noble heads and thus choose to set rules and strictly obey them.

Compared with other parts of the Great Tang, He Xi's local officials are relatively diligent, people‑oriented, and rule‑abiding.

The real pressure does not come from internal waste but from the court, from the Tubo's predatory gaze, and from He Xi's supply to the Western Regions' prefectures.

Today Fang Chongyong summoned local administrators—such as the Sima, the Chief Historian, the Six Divisions Staff Officers—and discussed the autumn defense order, only to be doused with a bucket of ice water!

The local officials had already calculated the "solution" and the money and grain needed, and placed the ledger before Fang Chongyong for "review"!

As long as he signs and stamps his Inspector's great seal, the document can be sent out directly!

The demand isn't high! As long as there's money, it's fine.

However, Ganzhou's average household must add a tax of ten guàn worth of goods; if this revenue doesn't come in, or if a rebellion erupts, these local officials will have no recourse.

Of course, generally the government has many ways to raise money. For example, the so‑called "charitable granaries" set up in Ganzhou are numerous. They are run by dedicated staff who profit from "lending". If they recalled all the grain they had loaned out at once, they could reduce taxes a bit.

There are many such methods, but one thing is certain: the wool comes from the sheep; no matter the source, the people must be asked for money, and that cannot be avoided.

Even these suggestions have been compiled into a booklet and handed to Fang Chongyong.

Seeing this group of diligent, heart‑aching local officials, Fang Chongyong finally felt how hard it was to be a local official! It's a real horse‑pit nightmare!

These people are both helpers and "opponents"; before some other person arrived, they had already finished everything they could do, just waiting for someone to take the blame!

But can you say all these people are bad?

Not exactly; they're just looking out for themselves. Whoever led this caused the Ganzhou populace to be offended to death—how will they survive here afterward?

In theory, Fang Chongyong's job is just to "make the decision"; he only needs to sign and seal. The problem is, if the autumn defense order is truly carried out, Ganzhou will definitely face a disaster!

"Why not, lord, find a way back to Chang'an? As the son of a military governor, why endure this humiliation?"

Anaye complained with a dissatisfied face.

"What a short‑sighted fool!"

Fang Chongyong whispered a rebuke.

Feeling his words were a bit harsh, he added:

"Tomorrow wear something plain, follow me to wander inside and outside Zhangye City; we'll visit those military households that can't return home because of imperial orders."

"Oh."

Anaye gave a noncommittal reply, unable to grasp what Fang Chongyong was really thinking.

Could he really think that saying nice words would make the fierce locals obediently pay the taxes the court needs?

"You said before you could speak the languages of the Turkic, Sogdian, and Tiele peoples; you weren't just bragging, were you?"

Fang Chongyong asked abruptly.

"Is it that hard?"

Anaye asked back in confusion; she had only mentioned it casually because it didn't seem impressive in Liangzhou. She grew up in Liangzhou, where Turkic and Sogdian people are everywhere; if she couldn't understand their speech, how could she run a medical clinic?

The linguistically clumsy Fang Chongyong replied awkwardly, "It's not that impossible… just quite time‑consuming. If there's a chance later, you could teach me."

Early the next morning, Fang Chongyong took Anaye and A Duan, with a light carriage, to visit a military household inside Ganzhou City.

The head of this household bore the surname Li, lived inside Zhangye City, had two members serving in the Red Water Army, and owned dozens of mu of paddy fields on the right bank of the Black Water River—quite a comfortable situation.

That Ganzhou could also grow premium rice surprised Fang Chongyong. He had assumed the "black rice" eaten at banquets was a special supply, like the red lotus rice of Kui Prefecture. Yet from what was known, rice cultivation on both banks of the Black Water seemed common.

As for why the fields hadn't been seized by local powerful families, Fang Chongyong guessed it was because someone in the household served in the army; a cornered rabbit that bites is a loss. It would be too late to act after all the household's men died in battle, or perhaps other taboos were at play.

Reviewing the local household registers showed that land consolidation here was far less intense than in Chang'an or Luoyang. In a war‑torn region, land as immovable property lacks such alluring power.

Fang Chongyong expected entering the household to be difficult, but upon reaching the courtyard gate he found it wide open, with a line of people already queued outside!

Their robes, though not much different from Central Plains Han styles, were tighter, commonly paired with Turkic hats, decorative sashes, and black leather boots.

Black leather boots, also called black leather six‑piece boots, are the most representative boots of the Western Regions. They are sewn from six pieces of leather that had been dyed black before stitching, hence the name.

Those wearing cloth shoes were few and far between.

Everyone carried bulging cloth bags, their contents unknown.

Fang Chongyong pretended to join the line at the end, but soon several people stopped their group.

"You folks aren't from our Qu She; why are you in the line? Trying to piggyback on Wang Erniang's stone mill?"

A burly man glared at Fang Chongyong and asked, tone unfriendly.

It seemed they'd stirred a hornet's nest; the queuing crowd gathered around, encircling Fang Chongyong and his party.

"Qu She?"

Fang Chongyong heard a novel term.

"Everyone, don't misunderstand; I am the newly appointed Gansu Prefect."

Fang Chongyong straightened his posture and spoke with righteous conviction.

It would have been fine not to speak, but as soon as he said that, the onlookers burst into a raucous laugh!

"If you, you yellow‑mouth brat, were a Prefect, then we'd all be Jiedushi, hahahaha!"

A burly man there laughed heartily, pointing at Fang Chongyong, laughing until tears welled up.

Fang Chongyong glanced at his plain clothes and sighed helplessly.

So that's the drawback of not wearing an official robe.

"You all recognize this, right?"

Fang Chongyong pulled out the iron plaque hanging at his waist, inscribed with "Colonel Guoyi," flashed it and gave it a shake, and the laughter in the crowd abruptly stopped!

In Hexi, more than ninety percent of the men have served in the army; if they haven't seen Colonel Guoyi's waist badge, they'd truly be seeing ghosts. There may be people who impersonate the Gansu Prefect, but none would dare to impersonate Colonel Guoyi!

Because this is an "Honor Certificate" issued by the court, it doesn't allow participation in civil or military affairs, yet it proves one's "extraordinary status"!

The onlookers gradually dispersed, clearing a path, as if Fang Chongyong were a plague spirit.

Inside Fang's office, he pointed at the man who had laughed the loudest and said, "You lead the way! The rest stay in the courtyard; not a single one may leave!"

At that moment, Fang Chongyong's domineering aura was evident, leaving no one daring to question his orders!

The group entered the courtyard and saw a stout middle‑aged woman whipping a little donkey that was pushing a millstone. The donkey was stubborn and refused to move, making her curse profusely.

Seeing a group from the Tongqu Society walk into the courtyard behind Fang Chongyong, she hurriedly wiped herself, stepped forward and asked, "I am Wang Erniang; may I ask what business you all have here?"

"I am the newly appointed Gansu Prefect, just strolling through Zhangye City to gauge the people's conditions."

Fang Chongyong kept a smile on his face, but he saw the previously false smiles of the crowd collapse, and Wang Erniang, with a pained expression, pleaded, "The last male child at home is only ten years old; the rest are elders, so we shouldn't be sent to the frontier, right?"

Hmm?

This situation seems a bit off.

Fang Chongyong muttered to himself, but his face remained impassive as he said, "We'll discuss it inside the main hall; this is not the place for conversation."

(End of chapter)