Chapter 2012: The Traveling Palace

The sun set behind the western mountains, casting ten thousand rays of rosy light. Gorgeous clouds spread across the sky above Luoyang, adding another layer of splendor to this majestic and magnificent city.

In Jishan Ward, the Duke of Yue's mansion was caught up in a bustle unlike its usual state. Servants throughout the household, especially those of the inner court, were hurriedly packing luggage and bundling up valuables.

Princess Jincheng, Liu Jia, as the mistress of the ducal mansion, personally pitched in, supervising the servants. From precious gold, silver, and jade articles down to ear-picks, she could not help but inquire into every detail.

Under the Princess's supervision, everyone worked as if wound up like clockwork. Because there was simply too much to pack, the scene descended into a flustered chaos, adding a touch of urgency.

Of course, as a woman—especially a middle-aged woman whose youthful bloom was gradually fading—what she cared about most were robes and skirts, rouge and powder. With Liu Jia was also a charming, lovely young girl. This was her youngest daughter, Li Zhao Hui, born of her and Li Jilong. The girl was not yet fourteen, but she had clearly inherited the fine genes of the imperial house—a veritable beauty in the making.

Standing off to the side was a slightly older youth named Li Zhaoqing, also born of the Princess, the second son of Li Jilong. Being an Imperial Son-in-law was no easy task. At least compared to other dukes and marquises who kept flocks of wives and concubines, Li Jilong could only remain loyal and respectful to the Princess, constant and unwavering.

Watching mother and daughter fussing over their selections—this won't do, that's not suitable—Li Zhaoqing could not help complaining: "Mother, are you going to empty the entire inner court? How many carts would it take to load all this? If the traveling palace doesn't have halls and courtyards big enough for you to store it all, won't that be embarrassing!"

Hearing this, Liu Jia, who had been in high spirits, immediately took offense. She turned her head and glared at Li Zhaoqing, scolding: "Nonsense! Taikang Palace has dozens of halls and over a hundred side courtyards. You think they can't hold this little bit?"

With that, she lightly rebuked: "Still loitering about here? Go pack your things at once! We depart tomorrow!"

"I'm different! A sword, a horse, a pack on my back—that's all I need to roam the jianghu, coming and going like the wind. No need for three days of packing!" Li Zhaoqing declared, chin held high.

Seeing his flippant attitude, Liu Jia furrowed her phoenix brows and lectured: "I think you're asking for a beating! How many times have I told you? Don't listen to those stories from marketplace storytellers—all that talk of wandering heroes and righteous vengeance is fabricated, and it violates the laws and prohibitions of the court. Your status destines you to have nothing to do with it."

"You go ahead and be busy! Your son takes his leave!" Seeing the Princess about to launch into another lecture, Li Zhaoqing's head swelled to the size of a gourd. With the air of one who dared not provoke her, he bowed and hurried out.

Seeing this, how could the Princess let him go? She immediately shouted: "You stop right there!"

"I'll go check on how the packing is coming along!" Youths are always quick in their movements. In a puff of smoke he vanished from sight, leaving behind only those words—and the fuming Princess.

Beside her, the young lady Li Zhao Hui saw this and could not help covering her mouth with a laugh: "Mother, you should tell Second Brother that you won't take him on this trip and will confine him to the house. He'd straighten right up!"

Hearing this, the Princess also laughed, shaking her head: "Not take him? Then wouldn't he turn the whole mansion upside down? Your father is busy with official duties and can't discipline him. Wouldn't he only grow more unrestrained? How could I give him that satisfaction!"

Summer had arrived, and the Princess and her two children were preparing to head south to escape the heat. Their destination was, naturally, the Jigong Mountain traveling palace, which had been under construction for nearly two years and was finally completed this spring.

The construction of the traveling palace consumed enormous resources. Although nominally it was funded from the imperial privy purse with labor supplied by the Directorate of Palace Affairs, not a single coin drawn from the state treasury—this was, of course, merely a pretext to cover up the ugliness. Compared to money, the resources the state poured in, especially human and material resources, were the truly precious part. It was just that many things were inconvenient to bring out into the open.

The construction of the traveling palace could be said to be the greatest wonder the old Emperor had built for his personal pleasure. Compared to it, the Qionglin Park, the Shangyang Palace, the dragon boats and phoenix halls—all were but small fry before a giant.

The gunpowder used just for blasting mountains and building roads reached two hundred thousand jin. This was a strategic military resource, extremely difficult for civilians to obtain, utterly impossible to measure by market price. It was all transported directly from the warehouses of the two capitals, emptying out several gunpowder depots.

Over the use of the gunpowder, the Directorate of Palace Affairs clashed with the Ministry of War. The main issue was that that fellow Liu Gui wanted to renege on payment, intending to use the traveling palace construction as an excuse to take advantage of the Ministry of War by leaning on the old Emperor's authority.

Liu Gui's name contained the character "gui" meaning "rule," and within the Directorate of Palace Affairs he had established a complete set of strict administrative and financial management systems. But when dealing with the outside world, he was not so rule-abiding, excelling instead in "flexibility." This financial whiz was especially adept at undermining the court's interests.

Throughout the traveling palace construction, whether it was central ministries or local offices, he had taken advantage of them all—except he met his match at the Ministry of War.

It wasn't that the Ministry of War was special; what was special was the man who controlled it: Gao Qiong. Back then, after Yang Ye was transferred to the Censorate, the position of Minister of War became vacant. This was one of the two most powerful institutions in the court's military and political affairs, a position that carried a fixed "chancellor" title. Naturally, it sparked a fierce struggle—dukes and nobles all exerted their influence, and even the commoner official faction showed signs of reaching for it.

But in the end, it was Gao Qiong who emerged victorious, then serving as Deputy Chief Commander of the Inner Palace Army. In the military, Gao Qiong's seniority was sufficient, but compared to those military merit aristocrats with deep roots, his strength was far weaker. Perhaps that was precisely the key factor in his rising to the top.

The old Emperor had always adhered to a principle of "balance," reflected in every aspect of the Great Han. While relying on military merit aristocrats, he was also constantly promoting generals from humble origins. Though even the old Emperor was finding this balancing act increasingly hard to manage these days.

As for Gao Qiong himself, his ability was beyond doubt. Though not versed in letters, he had a quick mind, broad vision, and an extraordinary capacity for getting things done—especially for seeing matters through to completion. After becoming Minister of War, he handled military and governmental affairs in perfect order without the slightest hitch. He was yet another man who made people look at him with new eyes.

At the same time, Gao Qiong could hardly be called a stickler for rules—he was even somewhat of a rogue. When he detected that Liu Gui was trying to fleece the Ministry of War, his approach was rather extreme: he directly led a crowd to block Liu Gui's way. When Liu Gui waved the old Emperor's banner, Gao Qiong was undaunted. He grabbed Liu Gui and dragged him off to seek the old Emperor's arbitration, scaring Liu Gui half to death. Unwillingly, Liu Gui forked over fifty thousand strings of cash to settle the matter.

And even then, Gao Qiong kept crying that he'd taken a loss, saying it was only out of respect for the Directorate of Palace Affairs that he'd given a "discount." His shameless demeanor was such that even Liu Gui could only sigh in admiration. Of course, the matter eventually reached the old Emperor's ears. The result was that Gao Qiong, for his faithful performance of duty, received a brocade robe as a reward, while Liu Gui was summoned and given a scolding—and that was all.

The gunpowder consumption was enormous, and timber, stone, and lacquer were shipped to Jigong Mountain in batch after batch. The human and material resources required were easy to imagine. Besides all manner of craftsmen, the traveling palace project conscripted labor totaling one hundred thousand person-times over its course. Even during the height of the floods in the Huai region, at least five thousand workers continued construction.

What was more critical and profound was the death and injury among craftsmen and conscripted laborers. According to official figures, one hundred twenty-six people died from various construction accidents. But how many actually died—the Directorate of Palace Affairs, the Ministry of Works, the supervising officials on site, and the local governments that supplied the laborers all remained tight-lipped. A rough estimate: multiply the official figure by ten. As for the injured, they were beyond counting.

And a traveling palace built at such enormous cost naturally had to be enjoyed—otherwise, wouldn't all those people, money, and resources have been wasted? So, just after the Beginning of Summer, the old Emperor issued an edict to travel south to the traveling palace. Of course, the edict's stated purpose was that the Emperor, concerned about the disaster recovery of the people in the Huai region, was personally going to inspect and console them. This was merely to deceive the ignorant masses—judging by the old Emperor's early style of touring the provinces, he had never brought half the harem and a third of the court along.

The traveling palace was initially named Taikang Palace. However, perhaps out of guilt, the old Emperor was not entirely satisfied with it, because it easily reminded people of Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan's "Taikang era," and anyone who had read a bit of history knew what the so-called "Rule of Taikang" was really like.

So the old Emperor personally penned a new name in his own hand: Taikang Palace.