Chapter 174: Brother Ji's Birthday (Part Two)

Li Longji's birthday fell on the eleventh of the ninth month. Since the court was hosting the birthday banquet, the feast naturally could not do without wine.

The Tang department responsible for overseeing wine production was called the Fine Brews Office.

According to the "Comprehensive Statutes," the Fine Brews Office was in charge of supplying five types of ritual wine and three types of standard wine. It was staffed with two Directors (Rank 8b, Lower), two Deputy Directors (Rank 9b, Lower), and other personnel including three Managers, six Clerks, two Supervisors, twenty Brewing Supervisors, thirteen Wine Artisans, and four Custodians.

From this it can be seen that the Fine Brews Office was by no means a small institution, and it fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.

On the tenth of the ninth month, the Fine Brews Office was busy from top to bottom, bringing out even their finest stored wines and delivering them to a dedicated storehouse in Xingqing Palace, ready for use at tomorrow's banquet.

That night, several palace eunuchs brought the wine designated for the Emperor's table at tomorrow's banquet into the study of the Qinzhengwubenlou. The Tang Emperor Li Longji looked at these still-sealed fine wines and, for some reason, fell into a daze, staring blankly at these unremarkable-looking wine jars.

"Sire? Sire?"

Gao Lishi called out softly at Li Longji's side.

"In the second year of Kaiyuan, the princes would attend morning court at the side gate each day, and after retiring, they would gather together to feast and drink. I set up five canopies in the hall and took turns staying in them with the princes. Sometimes we discussed classics and composed poetry, interspersed with drinking, games, hunting, and hawking—how joyful it was."

Li Longji could not help but sigh as he spoke.

"The Jiannan Spring wine that Li Bai praises so highly—would the Sire like to try some?"

Gao Lishi asked in a lowered voice.

"Hehe, you old slave!"

Brother Ji broke into a wicked grin. The two of them broke the seal on a jar of wine, and instantly an indescribable bouquet permeated the air, making one want to gulp down the entire jar right then and there!

"Tomorrow's birthday celebration is all about appearances and pleasantries, with not a trace of genuine flavor.

I would rather have a quiet drink here with Lishi. Truly, clothes are best when new, but people are best when old."

Brother Ji reflected on this for a while, then asked Gao Lishi to pour the wine. The latter first filled Li Longji's cup to the brim, then poured himself a small cup and downed it in one gulp.

"Lishi, you are too cautious. If there were poison in this wine, I would know just by giving it a casual sniff."

Li Longji scoffed and waved his hand dismissively. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he asked Gao Lishi, "Has Fang Quanzhong returned to Chang'an? Have him come drink with us. Of the old acquaintances from the past, truly not many are left."

"To answer the Sire, Fang Quanzhong is still on the road. The journey from Lingnan to Chang'an is long and quite arduous."

Gao Lishi said unhurriedly, and did not pour himself any more wine.

Li Longji gave a slight nod, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"In that case, summon his eldest son Fang Chongyong to drink with me. He lives right behind the back gate of Xingqing Palace anyway."

The Emperor was willful, his thoughts scattered, acting on whatever whim struck him. But in recent years the Tang had been continuously expanding its territory, and the surrounding barbarians had by and large submitted to Brother Ji, so this Tang Emperor was still fairly lenient toward the people around him and the ministers at his side.

The main reason was that he felt no one could shake his authority as Emperor!

And so, he naturally did not stint on displaying so-called "magnanimity."

Summoning the son of a trusted minister to Xingqing Palace for a drink in the dead of night—such a thing, though utterly unreasonable, was in truth merely a trivial everyday matter. Given Brother Ji's current state of mind, in which he considered himself invincible under heaven, he did not pay much mind to these things.

"Then this slave shall make a trip to Yongjia Ward."

Gao Lishi bowed to Li Longji and then withdrew.

Only after he had left did a cloud pass over Li Longji's face. He lowered his head and stared at the wine jars, deep in thought.

The people he trusted were all external officials. Among his own heirs, no matter who it was, he harbored deep wariness in his heart.

When Brother Ji felt lonely in the dead of night, he would rather seek out the son of a trusted aide who had no connection to him whatsoever to strike up a conversation, than exchange a single word with his own flock of dutiful sons and virtuous grandsons.

Was this, then, truly the price one must pay as an emperor?

A wave of sorrow filled Li Longji's heart. He had once been so close to his brothers, but alas, those people too had departed this world one by one.

As for why their relationship had been so affectionate—of course it was because those people could not threaten his throne, and had all stayed far removed from affairs of state!

In recent years, Brother Ji no longer wished to hear the words "Crown Prince." Because he knew that once a Crown Prince was named, people at court would begin to gather around him as their center, forming a new faction.

The possibility of this faction pushing the Crown Prince onto the throne was far greater than the threat posed to Brother Ji by frontier garrisons rebelling in the provinces.

Li Longji would be a full sixty years old tomorrow. If someone poisoned him to death, bribed the imperial physicians to announce that he had died of illness, then placed the Crown Prince on the throne, sealed off the news, and the court and the public colluded to change the dynasty... Brother Ji did not dare to follow this line of thought any further. He felt that everyone was a thief, that anyone could turn from a loyal subject into a thief!

Crown Prince and such—better to leave that until just before breathing one's last.

Li Longji gave a self-deprecating laugh. He did not care about all that. If the nation was powerful and prosperous, yet had nothing to do with him anymore, then what meaning would there be?

The prerequisite for whether something is good or not is, first and foremost, whether it belongs to you—that is the premise of any evaluation.

While he was pondering these scattered thoughts, Gao Lishi had already brought Fang Chongyong over.

"We haven't seen each other in a few years—how have you grown so burly?"

When Li Longji saw Fang Chongyong again, he could scarcely recognize him!

If not for the fact that the young man's face was virtually cast from the same mold as Fang Youde's, he would have suspected that Gao Lishi had brought the wrong person.

"To answer the Sire, out in Hexi one sweats a lot and eats a lot, so I grew a bit faster."

Fang Chongyong said this with a straight face, talking absolute nonsense. In truth, he had simply been well cared for by Anaye, and his nutrition had caught up, that was all.

"Come, have a couple of drinks with me."

Li Longji had Fang Chongyong sit across from him.

Gao Lishi poured Fang Chongyong a cup of wine and, without changing his expression, gave him a meaningful look.

"Tomorrow is my birthday, and I have sent you an invitation as well. Do you have any gift to present to me?"

Li Longji asked with a beaming smile.

"Naturally, I do."

Fang Chongyong cast a grateful glance at Gao Lishi. Had Gao Lishi not reminded him to bring a gift, he truly would have forgotten about it.

The latter then opened a small case he had brought with him. Inside was an object that closely resembled the "globe" from Fang Chongyong's previous life.

This thing was made of sheepskin stuffed with scraps of cloth. On the sheepskin, black lines sketched out a crude map. The ocean portions were painted with blue pigment.

"When I was in Shazhou, I met a strange man, said to have come from Daqin.

He said he had set sail from Panyu in Guangzhou, sailed eastward the whole way, and reached many wondrous places. Then, continuing along that route, he actually arrived at Daqin (the Eastern Roman Empire), far to the west of the Tang, and from there came to Shazhou via the Western Regions.

By then he was destitute and gravely ill, so he pawned this object for money. But his illness was still not cured, and in the end he died in Shazhou.

The shopkeeper of a pawnshop in the outer city saw that this object was quite extraordinary and appeared to be a map, so he presented it to the Shazhou prefectural office. I dare not claim credit for it, but I offer this object to the Sire for his birthday, as a small token of my regard."

Fang Chongyong respectfully crossed his hands in a salute and said.

"Oh? So the place we are in is indeed a sphere."

Li Longji instantly became interested, but did not display the exaggerated shock, disbelief, or kneeling‑crying‑calling‑for‑father expressions that Fang Chongyong had anticipated.

"Returning Holy One, the strange events that person described do not seem very credible to me, yet on closer thought they have some logic, so I present them to you without knowing their truth, and dare not hastily judge."

The Holy One, after a brief look, was satisfied.

Fang Chongyong said modestly.

A globe is something that can be handled casually.

If Ji Ge were to whimsically order the Fang office to lead a thousand men by ship out of Guangzhou and then return from Hexi, wouldn't that be a disaster?

If the stall is spread too wide, it cannot be closed!

Not going would be deceiving the ruler, cowardice, even maliciously luring the Holy One for favor.

Going, given current seafaring conditions, would mean a round‑the‑world voyage with almost certain death.

Even if all obstacles were removed and divine protection ensured a return, it would still be after ten years, and whether the Tang would be in civil war then would be another story!

Thus Fang Chongyong drew the map on the globe very crudely; aside from the Tang and its neighboring regions, the farther western lands of West Asia and the Mediterranean look somewhat plausible, while the rest is almost entirely fabricated.

"The masters claimed that the theory of a round heaven and square earth is a gross error, and they drafted a Great Expansion Calendar for the Tang, calling the theory of a round heaven the correct principle.

I was originally skeptical, but now that I see this object, I realize the masters were not lying."

Li Longji laughed heartily, his expression rather perfunctory. Clearly, at sixty, his interest in pursuing such knowledge had waned.

What Fang Chongyong did not know is that the Tang masters, when creating the Great Expansion Calendar, deliberately selected thirteen points to observe the altitude of the North Star.

Its southernmost point lay in what was, in Fang Chongyong's past life, Vietnam, measuring the North Star at about 17.07°; its northernmost point lay in what was his past‑life Russia, measuring the star at 52°, thereby revealing latitude.

The masters also measured the arc length of one degree of the Earth's meridian, confirming that the Earth is round.

In fact, Ji Ge had ordered Grand Historian Nan Gong Shuo and others to observe the sun's shadow and the North Star on the flat banks of the Yellow River's north and south shores, thereby calculating the Earth's diameter at roughly 18,333 kilometers.

Although this figure has a huge error, its order of magnitude is correct.

Astronomy reaching this level in the feudal era was a pinnacle, so Ji Ge's patience ran out, for even if he continued, these things could not bring him tangible benefit or extraordinary pleasure.

Upon receiving Fang Chongyong's special "gift," Li Longji felt both pleased and disappointed, a mixture of emotions stirring, and he briefly lamented how time ages a man.

"Do you wish to continue serving as Jinwu Guard Middle Colonel? I think you have performed well over the past month."

Li Longji suddenly tossed out a sweet bait.

"Returning Holy One, I fear I would delay your great affairs. The Jinwu Guard is no trivial matter; how could someone like me serve as its Middle Colonel?"

Fang Chongyong said anxiously.

Li Longji nodded slightly, saying little. In fact, he was merely testing; even if Fang Chongyong expressed a desire for the position, Ji Ge would not consent.

It can be used temporarily, but for a permanent post, how could Fang Chongyong be given the Jinwu Guard!

The Southern Yamen Sixteen Guards is a place that strictly observes seniority; just by looking at the former Left Jinwu Guard Middle Colonel Li Mi and Right Jinwu Guard Middle Colonel Pei Min, one knows that regardless of combat ability, they are senior veterans.

Although Ji Ge knows that the Southern Yamen has been completely abolished due to the collapse of the militia system, it remains a gilded circle of Chang'an elites, making it unsuitable for Fang Chongyong to hold a high post there.

"Reasonable, it's rare to see you so clear‑headed; truly a young talent."

Li Longji sighed inexplicably, then continued, "Very well, after the imperial examinations, come to Xingqing Palace to see Gao Lishi; I will assign you a task then."

Seeing his nonchalant demeanor, Fang Chongyong could only clasp his hands in a salute and say, "Thank you for the Holy One's grace, may the Holy One preserve the dragon body; I dare not disturb your rest, I will now take my leave."

Fang Chongyong's overly cautious manner gave Li Longji great inner satisfaction.

Ji Ge likes his ministers to appear utterly obedient before him! He is old now, no longer possessing his former ambition.

Courting the virtuous and promoting the humble no longer interests him; a proper hierarchy of respect and humility is the ideal Ji Ge envisions.

A minister who does not recognize rank before Ji Ge makes him feel embarrassed, sensing the person is uncontrollable, and thus perceives a real threat.

He would then want to snuff out the danger in the cradle!

"Wait, I still have something to ask you."

Li Longji raised his hand, stopping the departing Fang Chongyong.

"Holy One, may I ask, I will certainly speak all that I know and leave nothing unsaid."

Fang Chongyong crossed his hands in a salute and said.

"Before the recent massacre of the ruffians in Chang'an, how did you know they would cause trouble in front of the Jingzhao Prefecture office?"

Li Longji suddenly asked with interest, without revealing how he learned the inside information.

"Returning Holy One, I merely led the ruler into a trap. If they did not come, I would set another snare. By continually laying traps, they eventually appear. Thanks to the Holy One's protection, I succeeded after only one attempt."

Fang Chongyong bowed and saluted, lowering his head and not looking at Li Longji.

"These people have some connection with the Dragon Martial Army; do you know this?"

Li Longji asked in a deep voice.

"Returning Holy One, in my eyes these people are the most wicked ruffians of Chang'an. Whether they are linked to the Dragon Martial Army, or even merely soldiers of it, is not for me to consider. They have now been executed, and Chang'an under your residence has returned to peace—truly a cause for celebration."

Fang Chongyong replied stiffly.

"Go then, I have indeed disturbed your rest."

Li Longji smiled, waved his hand, indicating Fang Chongyong to leave quickly.

After the other left, he looked pensively at Gao Lishi and asked, "What do you think, Lishi?"

"He is brave and resourceful, knows when to advance or retreat, and is highly useful. More importantly, he is the son of Fang Quanzhong and inherits his father's bearing."

Gao Lishi crossed his hands in a salute and said.

After the other party left, he then looked at Gao Lishi thoughtfully and asked, "Gao Lishi, what do you think?"

"This person has both courage and strategy, also knows when to advance or retreat, and is fit for great responsibility."

"Moreover, he is the son of Fang Quan zhong, bearing his father's style."

Gao Lishi clasped his hands in salute and said.

"Yes, tell Ge Nu tomorrow to appoint Fang Chongyong as top graduate, without giving him an official post. Let him serve as a palace guard for me for three years; after all, presented scholars waiting for the Ministry of Personnel to select officials also need three years, right?"

Li Longji said this casually.

"Sage, won't the palace guard be a bit too low a position?"

Gao Lishi asked in a low voice.

"Not low, I plan to pick elite troops from the Dragon Martial Army, form a separate unit, and take charge of the palace guard at Xingqing Palace."

Li Longji crossed his arms and said with deep meaning.

This time, the hooligans in Chang'an caused such a big disturbance, making him feel a hint of worry about the decline of the Dragon Martial Army.

But now the Tang Dynasty's situation is too big, the Dragon Martial Army's composition is too complex; many things pull one thread and move the whole body, so changing it is not easy either.

On the contrary, we could draw another part from the Dragon Martial Army—for example, a battalion of five hundred—to handle the security work at Xingqing Palace, entrusted to reliable people with little involvement in the outer court, which would be more efficient and safer.

That way, Ji Ge can relax and have fun.

(End of chapter)