Chapter 142: The Flourishing Age Belonging to Ji Ge (End of This Volume)

The Dali Temple institution was founded in the Northern Qi, carried on through the Sui and Tang dynasties, and served as the central supreme judicial organ, overseeing trials.

The Tang Dali Temple had a subordinate Dali Temple Prison, primarily detaining those tried by the temple, and housing criminals captured by the Chief of the Golden Guard who guarded the capital.

Of course, that's all nonsense.

For the officials in Chang'an, the Dali Temple Prison is by no means a good place.

The only advantage is probably the relatively decent living conditions! Generally, people living inside don't die.

One should know that the Dali Temple is touted as the "last veil of Tang law"; if a prisoner dies in the Dali Temple Prison, it would be a slap in Ji Ge's face.

On this day of the White Dew, the Dali Temple Prison received a distinguished guest: the Tang Right Prime Minister Li Linfu!

Behind a wooden fence, Zheng Shuqing, who had been in the Dali Temple Prison for months and reeked of rot, stared wide‑eyed. He hurried over, like an abandoned stray dog, gazing longingly at the other side.

He gestured to the guard behind him; the petty officer, accustomed to big figures, cautiously opened the cell door where Zheng Shuqing was, then slipped away silently as if he had never been there.

"Right Prime Minister, how does the court now…?"

Zheng Shuqing asked in a hoarse voice, low.

Li Linfu sat down without disdain, smiled at Zheng Shuqing and said, "You are lucky; the Hexi forces achieved a great victory over Tufan, and the Sage no longer pursues your crimes."

So that's how it is.

Zheng Shuqing leaned weakly against the prison wall, feeling his whole being about to collapse.

Riding a horse is not easy!

If the Tang army were to be defeated, I, Zheng, would become the scapegoat, and even a beheading would be a mercy.

Finally, it's over.

Zheng Shuqing choked out, not knowing what else to say.

Ji Ge treats him like a dog; he endures it, because he cannot refuse. That huge family, the vast enterprises in Yingyang, aren't something he can just abandon. Yet having his fate controlled by others feels utterly terrible.

Zheng Shuqing understands that all officials are Ji Ge's dogs, just of different breeds. Ji Ge can do whatever he wants to anyone—that's the power of imperial authority.

Ask yourself, if given a choice, who would willingly be a dog?

After months in prison, Zheng Shuqing has figured out many things inside.

"Thank you, Right Prime Minister, for your mediation; I am moved to tears!"

Zheng Shuqing performed a profound five‑body prostration before Li Linfu.

"Eh, it's just a trivial matter, not worth mentioning. You and I both serve the Sage; it's my duty as this Prime Minister to help you."

Li Linfu hinted coolly, without a change of expression.

Zheng Shuqing nodded, wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "Indeed."

"From before, the Sage always regarded you as the unrivaled choice for Mayor of the Capital Region, but alas, you refused the Sage then.

Now, Wei Jian serves as Transport Commissioner, leaving the Mayor of the Capital Region vacant; do you have any thoughts on taking up the post immediately?

The Hexi armies' great victory over Tufan means you no longer face issues like deductions of military pay. Now tell this Prime Minister, do you have any ideas?"

Li Linfu asked with a smiling, gentle tone, showing no airs at all.

"I am willing! That's wonderful! Thank you, Right Prime Minister, for the recommendation!"

Zheng Shuqing knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Li Linfu, leaving red blood marks on his forehead, and kept going.

"Fine, fine, this Prime Minister will now return to report; later your family will come to fetch you."

Li Linfu comforted him, saying.

Zheng Shuqing gratefully nodded, feeling his whole body relax. Heaven has eyes; at last it helped him get through this hardship.

"By the way, Fang Youde's son Fang Chongyong, I heard he once had a history with you. I wonder, could you pass a message for this Prime Minister?"

Li Linfu suddenly asked, expression unchanged.

"Mm?"

Zheng Shuqing was startled; he hadn't expected the other side to bring this up.

"I was once a familiar face, but the Right Prime Minister has saved my life; this matter is trivial!"

Zheng Shuqing spoke broadly.

Li Linfu was delighted to hear this; he likes officials who are personable yet not ambitious!

He kindly patted Zheng Shuqing's shoulder and said, "Rest assured, as long as you serve the Sage, this Prime Minister will not wrong you."

"Thank you, Right Prime Minister, thank you, Right Prime Minister…"

The disheveled Zheng Shuqing kept bowing to Li Linfu incessantly.

"Mm, this Prime Minister has official duties, cannot linger here, so I will return to the office to attend to business."

Li Linfu, after a calm bow, immediately left the cell.

When he stepped out of the Dali Temple Prison, his expression instantly turned exceedingly grim!

Just a few days earlier, battle reports from Hexi arrived: the Tang army dealt a crushing blow to the main Tufan forces, beheading tens of thousands, and swiftly reclaimed all territories of the Hexi Corridor.

At the same time, the Jiedushi of Longyou, Du Xiwang, continued besieging cities and seizing lands, forcing the Tufan to send a surrender petition to Chang'an, pleading with Ji Ge to cease the fighting.

This greatly satisfied Ji Ge's vanity!

Because Zhang Shougui was allocating Hexi military supplies and Niu Xianke was stationed in Liangzhou overseeing logistics, both received Ji Ge's commendation!

Zhang Shougui's adopted son An Lushan, also loyal, succeeded Li Shizhi as Jiedushi of Pinglu, while Niu Xianke was appointed Jiedushi of Youzhou.

Originally extremely powerful, Li Linfu, in this crucial war, not only missed out on many resources, but also saw his confidant Xiao Jiong lose the position of Jiedushi of Hexi!

This gave him a deep sense of crisis!

Li Linfu's weakness within the frontier town's power left him bound, constantly feeling his limbs restrained, unable to accomplish his own aims.

Thus Li Linfu set his sights on Fang Youde, whom Li Longji had demoted to Lingnan Military Commissioner (a rank equivalent to Jiedushi).

An enemy's enemy is a friend! Li Linfu, through certain channels, heard that Fang Youde had amassed a trove of evidence against An Lushan, but hadn't had time to deal with the man. So between the two, there must be some serious personal grudge.

Li Linfu felt he could ally with Fang Youde, eliminate An Lushan first, and cut off Zhang Shougui's arm.

Of course, such matters must not be done too openly; we have to handle them with clever methods, which for him is actually not a big problem.

Fang Youde is aloof and hard to get along with. But I heard his son Fang Chongyong is a very versatile figure. By using Zheng Shuqing as a link to win over Fang Chongyong, wouldn't that connect us with Fang Youde?

"The sage has changed!"

Li Linfu sighed to himself; he had heard that Li Shizhi will return to court to serve as Minister of Works, responsible for repairing the river embankments near Luoyang.

According to Ji Ge's habit of staffing, once Luoyang's embankments are repaired, Li Shizhi is likely to become prime minister. There are already two chancellors, and Zhang Shougui, who excels in military affairs, cannot be replaced.

Then who will be the next to be replaced?

Li Linfu felt the answer was practically hanging in the air! Not to mention that Li Shizhi also comes from the imperial clan!

Moreover, the sage who is heading toward his sixtieth year still does not intend to appoint a crown prince; the struggle for the heir apparent is already stirring.

So how should one choose a side?

Li Linfu only felt a throbbing at his temples, a bit dizzy and light‑headed.

…

Under the same sky, different people have different thoughts.

When Li Linfu felt displeased, Fang Chongyong was handling his own big affairs, thrilled to the extreme!

In front of the Zhang family's grand courtyard in a small town of Shazhou, lanterns and streamers were strung, livelier than a festival. Many visitors greeted Zhang Quan at the gate, among them several Sogdian merchants speaking the authentic Chang'an accent.

At mealtime, the Zhang hall filled with fragrance; a rotating array of Central Plains and Western Regions delicacies were served, each person's plate piled high.

Unfortunately, whether it was Fang Chongyong seated at the head, the senior Tang army officer on his left, the local magnate on his right, or the Western Region merchants opposite,

not a single person lifted their chopsticks!

"Everyone is just eating vegetables; this isn't the Hongmen Banquet. If a trade fails, righteousness still stands. No matter who it is, I will not make things difficult for them."

Fang Chongyong said with a cheerful smile, picking up a bite of steamed fish.

Fish from Dunhuang are hard to find; ordinary people can't get them!

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief; seeing Fang Chongyong start eating vegetables, they too ate vegetables, but dared not drink any wine.

Saying the wrong thing in a setting like this could be fatal; once we leave here, where can we not drink?

The atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly lively; after eating about a third of his fill, Fang Chongyong took a silk cloth to wipe his hands and gestured for everyone to quiet down.

The spacious hall fell silent in an instant!

"I come from Chang'an, and I feel that the Western Region goods over there are far too cheap.

The aristocrats of Chang'an have plenty of money yet do not cherish these goods that have been painstakingly brought from afar, which always makes me deeply distressed!"

Fang Chongyong feigned a dramatic clutch of his wrist and said.

"Indeed."

"Who says it isn't?"

"Just a few bolts of silk to buy my gems, and I feel the pain too."

In the hall, a chorus of voices raised all sorts of remarks. What Fang Chongyong said was not strange at all, but the usual state of Western Region trade. Because Chang'an silk concentrates the essence of the entire Great Tang, its purchasing power is extraordinarily high.

These Sogdian merchants, who laboriously bring goods from various Western Region states, end up selling them at relatively low prices.

"You all think it's the same, right? So I have a proposal: think about it—actually, everyone here, in order to sell goods within Chang'an's aristocratic circles, often engage in open and covert struggles, vicious competition, undercutting each other's prices. That's not good."

I think, over in Chang'an, as long as there is a single company supplying goods, that's enough. We set the prices. Anyone who arbitrarily cuts prices should have their purchasing rights revoked.

I have drafted a petition; if everyone has no objections, please sign your name on it.

"Of course, this has nothing to do with the government; it's just my personal thought, ha ha, ha ha!"

Fang Chongyong slapped his chin, and Zhang Guangsheng behind him brought a thick document and handed it to the assembled crowd for circulation.

The local magnates didn't even look at it and signed straight away; Guo Ziyi, Wang Silu and others also signed without a second thought. Only the group of Sogdian merchant representatives sitting opposite Fang Chongyong read the document word for word, daring not to be negligent, let alone sign carelessly.

The content of this 'petition' is both simple and complex.

It's called simple because the document states that Dunhuang will form a large caravan to transport Western Region goods to Chang'an, guaranteeing the cargo's integrity, making it impossible to be robbed or lost.

In the future, if the Sogdian merchants sell goods in Chang'an, they only need to send a person; there's no need to ship the goods from Dunhuang to Chang'an.

However, the problem is that they would lose the right to set prices.

The caravan dictates which goods sell at which price, and the Sogdian merchants must sell at that price, prohibited from lowering it on their own!

To avoid vicious competition, Fang Chongyong divided several zones, such as the Luoyang commercial circle, the Yangzhou commercial circle, the Shu Central commercial circle, and so on.

Different Sogdian merchants may only sell at designated locations; once discovered, their qualification is revoked.

With such harsh conditions, to implement them and have people accept, there must be a tremendous benefit.

What specific benefits are there?

There are benefits, of course: exemption from customs duties and all miscellaneous taxes! Need I say more?

In the future, there's no need to worry about transport; just go to Chang'an to pick up the goods. Of course, this naturally splits the Sogdian merchants into two camps.

One part, who travel the route between the Western Regions and Dunhuang, can sell their goods to the caravan and return to the Western Regions. The cargo is exempt from customs duties, naturally guaranteeing profit,

The other part specialize in selling in Chang'an, no longer needing to travel trade routes. The Dunhuang caravan supplies them with the appropriate goods, so they need not concern themselves with the goods' origin or supply chain, and no one will accuse them of trafficking loot.

Those with contacts in the Western Regions will choose the first type; those with connections in Chang'an's aristocratic circles will choose the second.

As for customs duties and such, Fang Chongyong trusts Yan Zhuang's skill at falsifying accounts; as long as they can fool the court, they'll give a little.

As for the local Doulu army, their military expenses all come from this, including the high salaries of border commanders.

No fool would go to Ji Ge or the court with this, right? Even if they did, what of it? Everything is compliant and legal; the local authorities are sympathetic to the people, so low customs duties are acceptable, aren't they? As for the Dunhuang caravan, that's a private affair, unrelated to the government, and the authorities cannot intervene.

Of course, these goods have category restrictions and do not involve daily necessities. Items that the populace needs daily are exempt, free to trade; the caravan also handles transport but does not restrict pricing rights.

Fang Chongyong is very attentive to public opinion; he will never force these Sogdian merchants to join the Dunhuang caravan, nor will he hold a knife to anyone's throat to make them do so.

However, if one does not join, the customs duties will be enforced to the death, and smuggling will be punished to the death. If bandits attack on the road, the local authorities cannot intervene; those who encounter them just consider themselves unlucky.

After all, the Western Regions are so chaotic; any kind of trouble happening there isn't surprising, right?

It's called complex because the detailed rules are intricate, and there's a clause: "All rights of interpretation belong to the Shazhou Prefectural Office," meaning that if anyone later finds a loophole, the Shazhou office can seal it at any time.

In short, this is a match where one is both athlete and referee. The merchants present, having traveled far and wide, could only say they understood each other tacitly.

If you feel it's difficult, then forget it. After all, it's a business cooperation. In a couple of days, the merchants from Liangzhou will also come for a meeting; you are just the first batch. The reason we sought you first is because this official still wants to benefit the locals first.

Fang Chongyong said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

The nobles of Chang'an have purses so full—let's bleed them a little! Luxury goods ought to have luxury prices and prestige; how could we sell them cheaply!

In the world, is there any business better to run than a monopoly?

Fang Chongyong sneered coldly inside, but on his face he was about to burst into laughter.

Upon hearing this, those few Western Region merchants with big beards who were already somewhat moved immediately signed their names on the document and stamped their personal seals.

Zhang Guangsheng walked over and took the document, then Fang Chongyong shouted loudly to the crowd:

"With a happy occasion at hand, how could there be no wine? Drink and sing, life is fleeting—come, serve the wine, fill it up for this official!"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the hall exploded instantly, and everyone present let go of the anxiety they had been holding.

"From now on, let's get rich together! Let's get fired up!"

……

After drinking a bit, he walked unsteadily, three steps with a wobble each, and Zhang Guangsheng sent him to the rear courtyard of the government office. Fang Chongyong pushed open the study door and saw the delicate-faced Anaye, reading medical books by candlelight, a scene tranquil and beautiful.

Fang Chongyong leaned against the door, as if hearing a song from a past life:

"Can we continue to nurture the dream of youth,"

"unaware that time flies swift."

"the truth cannot be understood,"

"again and again falling into destitution in the streets."

"Ten beautiful dreams covered the sky;"

"warm love seeped into the breeze."

"lovingly pursuing every second, every minute;"

"a light smile, setbacks met with renewed effort."

……

Fang Chongyong knocked on the study door and asked softly:

"Not asleep yet?"

"No, I'm waiting for you to come back."

"Give my shoulders a rub."

"Sure!"

He plopped down into the grand master's chair, closed his eyes, enjoyed Anaye's massage, and soon fell asleep leaning against her. (End of this volume)

Next volume: Mightily Shocking the River West Qilin Child, upon entering Chang'an, all people are silenced.

This volume is finished; let's take a break.

(End of this chapter)