Chapter 1031: Treasures of the Palace City

In the northeast of the Jinling palace city, at the former depository of Southern Tang books, Liu Yang and his brothers, along with Li Fang, found some spare time to tour the place. They inspected room after room, gazing at the rows upon rows of ancient classics, historical records, unique editions, and rare volumes until their eyes nearly blurred. Li Fang in particular looked like a hunter who had just spotted his prey.

What had drawn them here was trouble stirred up by Li Yu. He had been ordered to move valuables and ended up hauling away dozens of carts of books and paintings, which caught Li Fang's attention. Upon inspection, they were all classics and documents, and the operation was urgently halted. After reporting to Liu Yang, following Li Fang's advice, an order was issued: all books, paintings, and archival records in the palace belonged to the state's collection and could not be appropriated—not a single volume or scroll could be taken. Li Yu was told to take more gold and silver instead.

Trading gold for books was a bargain for most people, but Li Yu, the sovereign of a fallen state, had no choice but to bow his head and obey. Moreover, some of Li Yu's own works were among the collection.

"This Jinling palace is truly a treasure house!" Liu Xu could not help but exclaim. "Had I not seen it with my own eyes, how could I have known the vastness of these books? A room full of gold, silver, pearls, and jade would hardly compare to these treasured classics!"

"Since the time of Li Bian, the region south of the Yangtze has fostered a culture of book collecting, promoting literature and education." Li Fang said with slight excitement: "Liu Chongyuan mentioned in his *Jinhua Zi*: 'The Six Classics are complete, the histories gathered in order; ancient books and famous paintings converge like spokes to a hub; outstanding talents and learned scholars travel a thousand li to acquire books; the path of the classics is opened, and civil and martial pursuits advance side by side.' His words ring true!"

Hearing Li Fang start quoting from the classics, Liu Yang could not help but smile: "Master Li truly has vast learning and a retentive memory!"

"Seeing prey, my heart rejoiced—I momentarily forgot myself!" Li Fang said, then summoned an official in charge of the book collection and asked: "Let me ask you, how many volumes of books are there in total in this Jinling palace?"

"All types of classics, documents, and paintings number over ninety thousand volumes. The sovereign... after Li Yu ascended the throne, he continued to add more!" the official answered cautiously.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yang could not help saying to Liu Xu: "Elder Brother, if I remember correctly, the total holdings of the Three Institutes in the Eastern Capital plus the Hanlin collection amount to only a little over thirty thousand volumes, right?"

Liu Xu nodded and confirmed: "Over thirty-two thousand volumes! And that was only gathered through great expenditure of state funds and painstaking effort!"

"To transport this entire collection back to the Eastern Capital, the Three Institutes would likely need a major renovation, expanded several times over, before there would be room to house it all!" Liu Yang said.

"The Academicians and great scholars of the Three Institutes will surely be overjoyed!" Liu Xu looked at Liu Yang and said: "We should order people to protect these books carefully and transport them all back to the Eastern Capital!"

"What's the matter with those palace maids?" After feasting his eyes to his satisfaction, as they were leaving, Liu Yang suddenly asked that official.

It was because, within the book repository, a great number of palace maids of both refined bearing and striking beauty were in attendance, which struck him as curious. The official, probably thinking that this Crown Prince of the Great Han had reached the age of budding romance and had taken a fancy to them, hurriedly smiled and said to Liu Yang: "To answer Your Highness, these beauties were all selected by the former sovereign—ladies of learning and propriety, gifted and lovely, employed to manage the books, and occasionally summoned to attend upon one's reading..."

"The sovereign of Jiangnan certainly had fine taste and refined interests!" Li Fang remarked.

Upon hearing this, Liu Yang frowned slightly and looked up at Li Fang: "Master Li, do you know how many palace maids and Ladies of Beauty are housed in this Jinling palace?"

Li Fang shook his head and asked the official: "Do you know?"

"This humble one does not know; I would need to consult the registers to find out!"

Hearing Liu Yang take an interest in the beauties of the "Tang palace," Liu Xu glanced at Liu Yang and frowned slightly. Liu Yang then said: "I notice there are quite a number of eunuchs and palace maids in this palace. How should they be dealt with?"

At this, Li Fang also looked at Liu Yang with some seriousness, a trace of tension in his gaze, and said in a tone of reminder: "Your Highness, following precedent, one should select those of outstanding talent and beauty and present them to the Eastern Capital!"

Liu Yang was silent for a moment, then sighed and said: "Master Li, as a son, do you think it appropriate for me to select beauties to present to my father?"

"This..." Li Fang was rarely at a loss for words. After a moment's deliberation, he said: "Your Highness, your servant suggests that this matter be reported to the court and await their disposition!"

"Mm!" Liu Yang thought it over and gave his assent.

As with the beauties and palace attendants of the Shu palace back then, several hundred of suitable age had been selected and presented to the Eastern Capital to fill the harem. The Jinling palace also had no shortage of beauties, but given Liu Yang's position, if he had any ideas on the matter, it could easily stir up waves. Therefore, Li Fang advised that it was best not to get involved.

When they returned to the Office of Assembly, someone reported: "Your Highness, Grand Marshal Li sent word earlier that military intelligence has arrived!"

"What intelligence? Has there been another rebellion somewhere?"

"It concerns the war situation in Lingnan and Hongzhou—a victory has been won!"

"Perfect, let us pay a visit to the field headquarters!" Liu Yang was slightly pleased at the news and looked at Liu Xu: "Elder Brother, will you come along?"

"Naturally!" Liu Xu nodded: "It's also time to inquire after Lord Li's health!"

After taking control of Jinling, Grand Marshal Li Gu's field headquarters had been established at the Jinling yamen, and all military affairs were handled from there. When the Liu brothers arrived, they saw Li Gu and Shi Shouxin conversing in the hall.

Upon seeing the two brothers, they hurriedly moved to bow, and Li Gu even struggled to rise from his warm couch. Seeing this, Liu Yang quickly stepped forward and said: "Lord Li, do not rise! Neither of you need stand on ceremony!"

"Your Highnesses have graced us with your presence without prior announcement—we failed to welcome you properly. I beg Your Highnesses' forgiveness!" Li Gu said.

"Lord Li speaks too gravely! I was the one who told them not to announce us!" Liu Yang said, noting Li Gu's complexion: "Judging by your color, Lord Li, has your health fully recovered?"

"An old ailment of years past—nothing to worry about!" Li Gu looked much better and smiled freely.

Lifting his robe to take a seat, Liu Yang asked: "I just heard there was military intelligence to report. May I ask for the details?"

"Shouxin, tell His Highnesses about it!" Li Gu subconsciously stroked his beard, clearly in good spirits.

Shi Shouxin said calmly: "An urgent report from Hongzhou: the defending general Lu Jiang has surrendered. Not a single soldier was lost, and the entire city fell. Cao Bin now holds Hongzhou, while Liu Guangyi leads the army to continue taking the other prefectures and counties of Jiangxi. It can be expected that they will surrender at the sight of our banners—before long, Jiangxi will be completely secured.

In addition, good news has also come from Lingnan. After Pan Mei's army took Shaozhou, they advanced south to take Yingzhou, and at Qingyuan, they also accepted the surrender of Pan Chongche, the main general sent by the sovereign of Yue to resist. Now they have already advanced on Xingwang Prefecture. Given this situation, the report of victory in pacifying Southern Yue should arrive soon!"

Li Gu was the Grand Marshal of the Southern Pacification, commanding all the southern expeditionary forces, including the army in Lingnan. Although Pan Mei had a great deal of autonomy, nominally he was still Li Gu's subordinate, so military intelligence and reports were also copied to the Jianghuai field headquarters.

"Excellent! Reports of victory come one after another—good news from every quarter!" Liu Yang could not help beaming with joy: "At this rate, the entire southern region will be completely pacified, the realm united under one rule, and the great enterprise secured!"

After all, he was still a young man, unable to contain such joy. Seeing this, Li Gu rarely offered a word of caution: "Military victories come easily and smoothly. What is difficult is pacifying and assimilating—bringing the people of prefectures and counties that have been separated from the Central Plains for decades fully under the court's governance!"

"Lord Li speaks rightly—I was getting carried away!" Liu Yang was startled for a moment, then clasped his hands and said: "These past days, I have been ordered to pacify Jinling, and I have already felt the weight of affairs and the complexity of human hearts. If a single city like Jinling is like this, how much more so all of Jiangnan, and the entire south..."

"That Your Highness can voice such a reflection is truly rare! It is a blessing for the state!" Li Gu nodded with some satisfaction.

Shi Shouxin continued: "Your servant has completed the deployments. Tomorrow I will set out to bring the Jiangnan region fully under control!"

"Military movements are naturally the responsibility of Lord Li and Chief General Shi—I have no doubt they will prevail wherever they go!" Liu Yang said.

Good news always lifts one's spirits, and the ensuing conversation among them unfolded in a relaxed atmosphere.

Finally, Liu Yang raised a matter with Li Gu: "Lord Li, there is something I must consult you about!"

"Please speak, Your Highness!" Li Gu was also somewhat curious.

"Earlier, my elder brother and I hosted a banquet for the courtiers of Jinling, intending to reassure their hearts and also to recruit talent for the Great Han. All those invited came, except Han Xizai, who politely declined! I hear this man is a great talent of considerable renown, and His Majesty often mentions him as well. I wonder how we might recruit him for the court and bring him into service for the Great Han?"

At this mention, Li Gu chuckled lightly: "I have not seen Han Shuyan in decades. I wonder how much of his old bold spirit remains. Since entering Jinling, we have not yet met. It seems the two of us ought to have a meeting!"