Chapter 26: Each's Troubles

This is Chang'an, huh; the city walls seem rather short, that's all.

In front of the Universal Transformation Gate at Chang'an's northeast corner, Fang Chongyong lifted his head, eyed the wall estimated under six meters high, and remarked dismissively.

He did not deny the grandeur of Chang'an before him; given ancient productivity, building such a city was nearly the limit of manpower.

However, Fang Chongyong, coming from modern times, had seen all sorts of skyscrapers; could this place possibly surpass the Three Gorges Dam?

Frankly, Chang'an's city walls have a bit of a 'famed but lacking' feel.

They are much lower than I imagined, not even much higher than the walls of Kuizhou Prefecture; this clearly doesn't match the aura an imperial capital should have.

Moreover, Fang Chongyong could guess with his toes that such a vast city, whose end can't be seen at a glance, coupled with such 'not-so-high' walls, could not defend against any enemy.

To defend Chang'an, one can only repel enemies outside; firmly controlling the Four Passes of Guanzhong is the true way. Once the passes' chokepoints are breached, it means the battle for Chang'an will come to bloody close combat! Any army capable of breaking through Guanzhong is obviously not to be trifled with.

"What are you thinking! Do you know how much manpower and material it would take to raise those dozens-of-li-long outer walls by just one chi? And it's not you paying!"

Zheng Shuqing interrupted him, dissatisfied.

"Alright, alright, got it—let's go into the city."

Fang Chongyong, having said that, headed toward the Universal Transformation Gate, which hardly anyone uses, but Zheng Shuqing firmly gripped his shoulder.

"The Universal Transformation Gate leads straight to the inner city; normally only those entering the palace to see the emperor go there, or ministers visiting foreign lands, princes on tours. Without documents permitting entry to the inner city, one may not use this gate."

"The inner city is where the central offices are; you, a young whippersnapper, what business do you have there?"

Zheng Shuqing asked, full of doubt.

"You can't go either?"

Fang Chongyong asked curiously.

Zheng Shuqing's face flushed awkwardly, then he muttered, "It's not that we can't go..."

Fang Chongyong suddenly realized; he had forgotten that, as Zheng Shuqing had mentioned on the road, a few of Chang'an's gates are off-limits to ordinary folk, though he hadn't stressed that it specifically applied to the Universal Transformation Gate.

Truly, you don't realize how petty officials are in Chang'an until you get there; a swaggering prefectural governor must lower himself in the capital.

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly: "Under the emperor's feet, the capital of benevolence is just full of rules; what do you suggest, sir? We can't exactly crawl through a dog hole."

"Just take the Spring Bright Gate next to the Universal Transformation Gate—it's on your left. Otherwise, which gentleman do you expect to come out of the Universal Transformation Gate to fetch you into the city?"

Zheng Shuqing was about to laugh from anger at Fang Chongyong.

"Only today do I realize that those who enter and exit the Universal Transformation Gate are true heroes."

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but sigh with feeling, leaving Zheng Shuqing unable to utter a word for a while; they had already parted from Li Bai, so they needn't hold back in speech.

As Fang Chongyong's party just got off the carriage, Li Bai excused himself, saying he had business and didn't want to get close. It was clear Li Bai had come to Chang'an seeking patrons and an official career, and he didn't want entanglements with strangers of unknown background.

Fang Chongyong couldn't help but think: in his previous life, everyone said Li Bai was unrestrained and free-spirited. Yet now, having come to Chang'an to seek office, he had probably already secured his connections, even refusing Zheng Shuqing's invitation to drink at a Chang'an tavern.

Probably this time his connections are solid, his ties strong; Li Bai is confident of success and doesn't want any complications.

"Wide social circles'—that term isn't always praise.

If Li Bai were now getting cozy with Zheng Shuqing, eating, drinking, and playing together, yet the connections he seeks belong to Zheng Shuqing's political rivals (given Li Linfu's style, this possibility is not small).

Then this casual acquaintance could bring Li Bai unnecessary trouble.

Although their party was eager to enter the city, they ended up blocking people outside the Spring Bright Gate, since this is the main entryway for commoners and mid-low officials coming and going, so the queue there is especially long.

The Spring Bright Gate's security check was much slower than Fang Chongyong expected, so a queue several hundred meters long formed before it, enough to make people break out in a cold sweat.

Liu Yuxi wrote: 'A row of flowers in the Premier's residence, when they bloom I am not home. Do not say the two capitals are not far apart; outside the Spring Bright Gate is already the ends of the earth.'

With nothing to do, Zheng Shuqing began to explain to Fang Chongyong why they could only use the Spring Bright Gate, why they had to queue here to enter the city, and why they couldn't take a shortcut through other gates.

The Spring Bright Gate is Chang'an's main eastern entryway, one of the few gates ordinary people can use.

Most of Chang'an's other gates, for various reasons, are not suitable for ordinary folk.

Some are basically never opened, such as the highest-standard Virtue Bright Gate, or the three gates near the Pear Garden Imperial Garden to the north;

Some are the starting point of the Silk Road, with countless Western Region merchants, constant caravans of carts and camels making it inconvenient for ordinary folk, such as the Far-reaching Gate to the west;

Some lead straight to graveyards, with stalls selling coffins and spirit money nearby; ordinary pedestrians feel ill-omened going that way, such as the Extended Peace Gate to the west;

Some gates lie in suburbs rarely visited, with few normal residents in the city wards, where all sorts of people congregate; basically nobody uses them, such as the Peaceful Transformation Gate and Lower Opening Gate to the south;

As for the Mysterious Martial Gate and such, better not mention those three words at all.

Chang'an's rules and restrictions are many; even before entering the city, Fang Chongyong had a palpable sense of them.

"Do you see that? That place is the Martial Guard Post, defended by guards and cavalry; a hundred at each major gate, thirty at each major post; twenty at each minor gate, five at each minor post; their main duty is gate and ward guard work, handling daily opening and inspection."

However, the ones who order these people to open and close the gates are the Gate Officials, not under their command. The ones who deliver the keys have no relation to either group; they are the eight hundred gate attendants established in the fifth year of Wude, managed by specialists, and only when one of them is on duty does he have the qualification to deliver the keys to the gate for the Gate Official to open.

As they neared the security check, Zheng Shuqing pointed to a watchtower not far from the gate and gave a lengthy explanation.

"So, in short, for Chang'an's outer city, one bureau orders the gates opened and closed, another bureau handles the guard duty, and yet another bureau delivers the keys—is that right?"

Fang Chongyong asked doubtfully, this feeling is a bit like when planting trees: one person digs the hole, another places the sapling, a third fills the hole.

Isn't that exhausting? What if the person placing the sapling takes a day off?

"Um, roughly speaking, that's about right."

Zheng Shuqing shook his head and sighed.

This is clearly redundant staffing, yet it is the kind of redundancy the emperor needs; a few years ago Li Linfu swept through the court, cutting low officials and clerks with overlapping functions, replacing their fixed posts with so-called 'odd jobs.'

In other words, the court used to support low-paid 'turbid' grassroots posts in the localities; now it simply downgrades them to temporary workers.

When you have an odd job, you are part of the court; without one, you're just a somewhat larger ant.

Even so, Li Linfu didn't dare touch this blatant redundancy bug in Chang'an's gate restrictions, showing just how much this honey-mouthed, sword-in-the-belly chancellor fears it.

The Xuanwu Gate Incident terrified the Li Tang emperors, so the management of Chang'an's gate restrictions has descended into maddening mutual restraint.

Thinking that bribing a couple officials could fool open Chang'an's gates is something you can only imagine in your head; you must never say it out loud, lest you reveal your stupidity.

After half a day of drifting thoughts, it was finally Fang Chongyong's group's turn. Zheng Shuqing produced his 'appointment document' for returning to the capital to report duty, and had it examined by the Jinwu Guard officials stationed at the gate.

"Verify his identity, then take this Envoy Zheng to the Great Reason Office."

The Jinwu Guard captain, face expressionless, said to his deputy.

Eh?

Zheng Shuqing was stunned, Fang Chongyong was dumbfounded, Yan Zhuang was like a bereaved parent.

Why did old Zheng go back to the capital to report for duty and end up in prison?

Is there any law? Is there any justice?

Fang Chongyong can no longer figure out how the game rules are supposed to be played.

"General, I'm just returning to the capital to report for duty; I still hold the rank of Court Councillor."

Zheng Shuqing asked in confusion.

"I know, but the magistrate has already been placed on the wanted list; the maritime capture documents were just issued yesterday. In the court, an Inspecting Censor reported that the magistrate colluded with sea bandits in Kui Prefecture, robbing traveling merchants. That is our Great Tang's Shi Chong, a heinous criminal. The imperial edict from the Sage has nothing to do with the court officials."

The Jinwu Guard Commander handled it as official business, speaking nonsense with a dead‑serious air.

Although he didn't believe Zheng Shuqing would collude with bandits to plunder local prefectures, the character for "official" has two mouths, and the higher‑ups said so, so he repeated it. He didn't know who Shi Chong was or what he had done; the uneducated brute had never read any books and didn't care.

"Um, Shi Chong actually…"

Fang Chongyong tried to explain to the Jinwu Guard Commander that Shi Chong was famous only because he fought the emperor's uncle for wealth, not because he, as Prefect of Jingxiang, plundered surrounding counties. But after he managed half a sentence, the commander stared at him in puzzlement and asked:

"Do you want to go to the Dali Temple together, or hand me the customs clearance documents so I can go in myself?"

Fang Chongyong quickly and obediently pulled his Chang'an household registration certificate from his sleeve and handed it over.

As for Fang Laique and the like, they are household slaves, equivalent to cargo; the documents issued in Kui Prefecture already detail that, so no household registration proof is needed.

"Going to Lingnan for an appointment and running back to Chang'an—clearly ulterior motives. Bring him, send this man and Magistrate Zheng together to the Dali Temple!"

The Jinwu Guard Commander searched Yan Zhuang and produced the travel notice for Lingnan.

In Yan Zhuang's mournful gaze, Fang Chongyong, feeling guilty, watched him being taken away by Jinwu Guard officials, and the two adults beside him suddenly turned into "suspects" in an instant.

"What did I do wrong? I'm still a child!"

After entering the city, Fang Chongyong couldn't help but lament.

He led Fang Laique and A Duan, along with two cormorants, through Chunming Gate and arrived at the Chunming Gate Avenue inside the city, a street over a hundred meters wide.

This is also called the East‑West Thoroughfare! It is the most representative and prosperous street in Chang'an!

Fang Chongyong was stunned; the Chang'an Street in his previous life, where parades were held before Tiananmen, was only about 120 meters wide.

But this is ancient times! A road over a hundred meters wide was unimaginable back then!

"Sir, where are we going?"

A Duan was also shocked, a bit disoriented about direction, even a little frightened.

Having run in the mountains for over a decade, adept at fighting tigers, he had never seen such a magnificent metropolis, such a broad avenue, such a crowded throng!

The East Market lay on the left side of the street, and at this moment the market was opening; the opening drums kept beating, as if striking people's hearts. Outside the East Market, crowds piled up, blocking the road.

From start to finish, Fang Chongyong's party struck three hundred times; then the soldiers of the Jinwu Guard opened all the gates of the East Market, and the nobles' servants intending to buy goods surged in like a hundred‑meter sprint.

It wasn't that they were in a hurry; the East Market's opening hours were very short, opening at noon and closing at 5:15 p. m.

Three hundred drum beats to open, three hundred gongs to close; all the drumming counted within opening hours. The Jinwu Guard officer executing the order had no vested interest with the merchants inside the East Market, so there was no talk of granting them a few extra minutes.

Buying things without wasting a second truly wasn't possible; the East Market was huge! Over a thousand meters north‑south, 924 meters east‑west, covering 0.92 square kilometers. Each side of the market had two gates, eight in total.

Fang Chongyong saw people leading camels inside, others leading horses out, and variously dressed Hu people bustling about, the place roaring with voices.

"Alas, where in Chang'an is my home!"

He couldn't help but sigh loudly; this time it's really screwed up, should we just go live at the future father‑in‑law's house?

"Sir, why don't we go home?"

Fang Laique beside him asked Fang Chongyong with a puzzled expression.

"Go home? To hell with that. Where is home? Point it out to me!"

Fang Chongyong snapped back irritably.

"Isn't it right over there?"

Fang Laique pointed to the massive official residence opposite the East Market and said.

Following Fang Laique's pointing direction, Fang Chongyong saw that the mansion occupied a vast area, seemingly larger than a whole lane.

Upon entering through Chunming Gate, this was the first building; above the mansion's vermilion gate hung a plaque bearing three gilded characters

Xingqing Palace!

"Are you sure?"

Fang Chongyong gazed into the distance and could see the towering palace roofs, the almost spotless yellow walls and blue tiles, and a fully armed imperial guard with shining helmets and armor standing guard at the gate, making him doubt whether Fang Laique was drunk.

Could our own scumbag father, Fang Youde, be so impressive as to live in a place like this?

"The Red Lotus Spring we brought was confiscated by the Jinwu Guard as contraband; we never saw you sip it, so why are you spouting nonsense?"

Fang Chongyong sighed helplessly.

He learned from Zheng Shuqing that under other Tang emperors, Xingqing Palace might not have meant much, but when Li Longji reigned, it was one of Chang'an's political centers! Li Longji often worked here; he felt the feng shui was excellent, brimming with dragon qi!

When he was a prince, he once concealed a dragon in the abyss here.

Could Li Longji's residence be Fang Youde's home?

"Uh, no, sir. Our family lives in Yongjia Lane north of Xingqing Palace; the emperor has taken half of that lane. Our house is at the southern end of Yongjia Lane, adjacent to Xingqing Palace's wall."

Fang Laique said plaintively.

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong was greatly shocked!

Li Longji actually placed Fang Youde's residence right behind his own palace grounds; that must mean he trusted that scumbag a lot!

Fang Chongyong, full of thoughts, followed Fang Laique, skirted the westernmost side of Xingqing Palace, and headed toward his family's courtyard in Yongjia Lane.