Chapter 104

Wei Shen went back and wrote a letter to Changzhou, describing the recent encounter battle he had just gone through, describing how bold and strong the Great King was, describing how dire the situation in Youzhou was. He also wrote that the Great King was too young and lawless; in short, his older brother must stay in Youzhou to keep an eye on the Great King, so he would not return for now.

Actually he felt sorry for the Great King, who at such a young age was thrown into a border surrounded by wolves, with no one to talk to when something happened; everyone around him were just subordinates, and he had repeatedly run into the Great King talking with Bai Ze and Weini.

In Changzhou, he would go to his older brother for even trivial matters—lacking money, wanting to go out and play, or wanting to change his sword—he would go to his brother, or to his mother. So seeing the Great King muttering to himself and consulting with that fool Weini about things made him especially distressed, and he would always think of his aunt.

If his aunt were still around, the Great King would have someone to confide in by letter, and she could later come over to become the queen dowager; at least then he would have something to look forward to.

Now his younger cousin is too lonely, so he cannot leave.

After writing, he felt he was truly a good older brother; not mentioning that Changzhou had received his letter made him worry more, and when things are unreliable multiplied by two, the destructive power is often greater.

But just now Changzhou had only received his first letter, which only said he would not go home for New Year's and would stay in Youzhou until after the New Year before returning. At home there was hardly any reaction; as long as the Prince was fine, that was good, and as for the idle people in his family, it would be nice to keep company with the Prince who had just left home heading north.

Upon receiving the second letter, Marquis Wei Ting could no longer remain calm; he threw the two great killing weapons to the north, and even the old man couldn't sleep soundly—this is a later story.

The next day's small morning court in the front hall, the atmosphere was unprecedentedly low.

They began to handle the aftermath items one by one.

First, Zhang Tu reported that after torturing the prisoners held in prison, they revealed they came from the Liaodong Xianbei; their tribe's settlement was the nearest to Youzhou; this operation was unknown to the court, they had originally prepared two thousand light cavalry for a sudden raid, to loot the You Prince's mansion and Vermilion Bird Avenue then return, without intending to alarm Shanggu Pass.

As for how the Great King knew in advance, that remains an unsolved mystery; colleagues said all sorts of things, but he dared not dwell on it.

The Great King stroked Bai Ze's horn and said calmly: "The court didn't know before, but now or in the next couple of days they will definitely find out. They lost two thousand men—can they accept that? I lost fewer than two hundred, and I am not willing to accept it either."

Everyone urged the Great King to start guarding against Xianbei retaliation.

"Minister Xue, first send someone to deliver a letter to Shanggu Pass; we must inform the Marquis of the Eastern Capital, so they pay more attention to poor Youzhou."

Minister Xue said: "I will personally write the letter." The Great King's original words need to be changed.

The second matter is that after the New Year the Youzhou Guard will be officially established, and the Prince's Personal Guard Battalion also needs to replenish its numbers; the Great King tentatively asks whether last year's finances had a surplus to support troops.

The officials below fell silent like chickens.

The Great King slammed the table: "How are you going to handle the compensation for the fallen soldiers?"

Zhang Tu said he had already submitted the application; the Accounts Bureau said it was somewhat difficult and needed further discussion.

The Great King looked at the amount—it was petty and stingy—and said, "Even this is difficult?"

"Where is my money?" He wouldn't have to dip into his private coffers for just one or two taels, would he? The Great King wanted to slam the table again.

What a hard life! Others have their fief supporting the lord, but for him it's the lord supporting the fief, right?

The officer in charge of the Accounts Bureau, Zhou Lang, stepped forward and did the calculations for him. The lord needs to set aside money for buying potato and sweet potato seeds in spring, and also set aside money for buying new wheat seeds; the newly established Youzhou Guard needs to be paid salaries and have uniforms made; the Palace Guard early on submitted a request to replenish weapons, fortunately the Palace Guard's troops are currently eating food paid for out of the lord's own pocket, otherwise the Accounts Bureau would have shut down in a minute.

The lord wiped the sweat about to break out on his forehead, "... Understood. Let's discuss the next one."

Returning, the lord took up his brush and wrote a new lament of poverty for his father the emperor:

Father Emperor, how did you pick a fief for your son? This Youzhou is extremely dangerous!

The Liaodong Xianbei to the north went south on New Year's Eve, with over two thousand cavalry wielding sabers, they hacked at the gate of the Prince of You's residence; the son was so frightened he still can't eat and has lost weight!

Fortunately, the son was lucky to have a swordsman help; the enemy leader, mediocre in martial arts and afraid of death, fled first, allowing the son to save his life, but the Palace Guard lost many men! Father Emperor, the Accounts Bureau says we can't give condolence money to the fallen soldiers because there's no money.

In that case, will anyone still look after me when the Xianbei come south again? Father Emperor, I'm terrified—no people, no money. Even many of the barbarians are dead; if they return for revenge, what can I do?

It wouldn't matter if the son died in Youzhou, but he is the emperor's own son, the Prince of You personally enfeoffed by the emperor; wouldn't the emperor's face look bad? The son is having a terrible time.

Father Emperor, if you still have surplus, please send an additional Palace Guard to the son, treating it as increasing the border troops, okay?

If the Father Emperor still has silver, it would be best to give some; the condolence money for the fallen soldiers truly cannot be withheld, Father Emperor!

By the way, the son saved up silver for a long time to buy a string of precious prayer beads for the Father Emperor; they are precious gems, shining with golden light, heard to ward off evil when worn—upon seeing them the son thinks of the Father Emperor, misses the Father Emperor~

——Jing

The next day he took this grand memorial to the Chancellor, asking him not to forget to keep a unified stance.

The Chancellor's teeth hurt reading it—this isn't just the lion opening its mouth wide? And using the goading tactic on the emperor? Isn't that sheer fantasy?

"You don't understand. When I proposed tearing off the roof of the Chengguang Hall just for fun, you disagreed; when I stepped back and suggested merely wanting to change a window, wouldn't that be easier to accept? Not giving silver but giving some people is fine, not giving people but giving some silver is also fine. I, the prince, am already this miserable—shouldn't I at least show something to indicate I have nothing?" The lord wore a look of having seen through worldly affairs.

Chancellor Xue: ……That makes sense.

Should we praise the Highness's wisdom? But something always feels off.

When Emperor Ningde received the letter, upon hearing it was from the Prince of You, he instinctively wanted to skip it, but the Secretariat finally saw something substantive in this grand memorial and still advised His Majesty to take a look.

After all, the border conflict with the Xianbei is no trivial matter.

Emperor Ningde had no choice but to make time to patiently read it, tsk! This chubby child—who knows if he's really thin or pretending to be thin.

After reading it, he felt it was rather miserable, dealing with an unsettling neighbor, yet it still had a familiar tone—how dare the Prince of You threaten the emperor?

"How outrageous! The Xianbei actually went south again to raid!... And what does it mean for the emperor to be 'well-off'?! The Prince of You has also become ambitious, telling the emperor to give him another Palace Guard, and to pay the condolence money for the dead as well!"

The Minister of Revenue happened to be there as well; this old man never meddles in the princes' rivalries, and upon hearing this he replied: "If the Palace Guard were completely destroyed, the Prince of You would be isolated and helpless in Youzhou, and even if the Xianbei returned it would still be extremely dangerous. Do we have a detailed battle report? What does the Shangguan Pass say?"

The Ministry of War replied that Shangguan Pass hadn't mentioned it yet; Emperor Ningde, unwilling to give either men or money, simply put it on hold, awaiting the opinion of the Duke of Dongdu.

When the routine military report from Shangguan Pass later mentioned that a tribe of Eastern Xianbei had moved south and clashed with the Prince of You's Palace Guard outside his residence, resulting in countless casualties, and after the fact the Prince of You piled the barbarian corpses at the foot of Zhiyan Mountain, Emperor Ningde was still quite pleased, feeling this child was somewhat interesting.

He seriously considered the Prince of You's request, and also had Zhou Daban retrieve the Prince's letter.

"Did the Prince of You mention this treasure?"

"Your Majesty didn't say to look at it; I, the servant, have kept it, and will now fetch it."

Soon a string of gold-titanium crystal beads was presented before the throne; nowadays the ornaments of the Great Jin are still mainly gold and jade, basically lacking crystal.

The lord's strand of transparent crystal, full of titanium crystal, shone brilliantly gold and dazzled the emperor's eyes.

Ignoring Baiyang's popular science, whatever 'shunfa' is more expensive, the lord only picked the most brilliantly golden to give to his father emperor. Whether it's valuable or not, the Great Jin doesn't have this stuff, so he says whichever is valuable, that's valuable.

Those gold filaments each have a different arrangement, but they are all equally brilliantly golden and supremely noble.

How to put it? The lord chose it because this thing looks valuable just by appearance. Listen to the name: gold-titanium crystal; those who don't know might think it's gold, while the outer crystal is clear and sparkling, quite impressive.

Emperor Ningde confirmed it was indeed a rare curio; the flowery-mouthed son this time wasn't talking nonsense, and could agreeably meet the Prince of You's requests.

He immediately put it on his wrist to glance at it a few times, then casually said: "... The Prince of You's proposal—do you think I should agree to it?"

Chief Eunuch Supervisor Zhou lowered his head, he felt something in his sleeve, and whispered in reply: "Replenishing the personal guard battalion for the feudal princes has no precedent, but Secluded Province is also a northern border barrier, which must not be overlooked. Long Peace Mountain is high and the road far; Your Majesty would do better to transfer troops from Upper Valley Pass to bring your forces up to strength. The duty of the border troops at Upper Valley Pass is to defend the northern borders; where else would they defend if not there? They are indeed a bit far from Prince You; even if something happens, they would be too far to help, just like this time. Transferring the border troops to Secluded Province also makes sense; Prince You is right when he says that, for he is a feudal prince you personally appointed, and his situation is dire, not even as comfortable as a marquis's life—how could Your Majesty feel at ease!"

Emperor Ningde nodded, his meaning unclear.

After a moment, he glanced again at the bead string in his hand, and Supervisor Zhou beside him sighed timely: "How pitiful Prince You is, so young yet wholly filial."

"Very well, do as you say, draft the edict."