Chapter 501

Grand Tutor Xu understands; a minor rites official could never dissuade the King.

"Who is this statue of?" He had looked at Taizu's portrait—it wasn't that, nor was it the Ningde Emperor—and Grand Tutor Xu, after looking a few times, still didn't recognize it.

"His Highness had it sent personally; he said it's… the God of Wealth."

Grand Tutor Xu: ……

Everyone knows the Northern Border Prince's mansion is no smaller than Chang'an's imperial palace; its main hall is the Hall of Receiving Light, where court assemblies are usually held. In front of the Hall of Receiving Light lies a huge square, and further ahead stands the solemn, ancient Hall of Bright Sacrifice, which lies on the same central axis and is mainly used for sacrifices.

The Prince led his civil and military officials to arrive early at the Hall of Bright Sacrifice; Grand Tutor Xu, upon seeing the Prince, looked somewhat at a loss for words, and Xie Yuan immediately heightened his vigilance.

The Prince, unaware, lowered his gaze to examine his grand sacrificial robes; they were fine, just as cumbersome and heavy as ever.

"Grand Tutor?" What's the matter?

"Your Highness, boundless joy. I wish to ask Your Highness, may the extra statues in the main hall be moved to a side hall for enshrinement?"

"Wow! Everyone pricking up their ears turned to the Prince, wondering what statue—should it be placed together with Heaven and Earth and the ancestral tablets?"

The Prince waved his hand, "That wouldn't do! It would be impolite to put the God of Wealth in a side hall!"

Grand Tutor Xu stood firm, "Your Highness, there has never been such a precedent before..."

"It wasn't the custom to worship ancestors on the fifth day of the first month either, but this time we happen to be catching up! Let me tell you, the fifth day of the first month is the God of Wealth's birthday and also his patrol day; worshiping him then is efficacious—isn't wealth our top priority in the Northern Border?"

The Prince went on incessantly, "It's true that today we sacrifice to Heaven, Earth, and the ancestors, but Heaven has long acknowledged me—I have the Bai Ze and the dragon accompanying me in Youzhou."

Then you say this sacrificial rite mainly asks our ancestors to bless favorable weather and national peace? We performed it last year—did they make any effort? If they didn't, why shouldn't I forge a new path? The realm is not peaceful, the people not secure, and we've suffered three consecutive years of disaster.

Grand Tutor Xu sucked in a breath in shock, glanced at Xie Yuan, and said, "Come on, stop gawking—this fellow is currently under your command, isn't he?!"

Xie Yuan received his gaze, likewise drew a breath, and said, "Your Highness, this is contrary to ritual..."

The Prince lowered his eyes, appearing candid, "Next year, once the Pacify Sea Palace is built, I'll enshrine the God of Wealth there." Meaning just one year—hurry up and start! This statue of the God of Wealth was something he stubbornly snatched from Baiyang; isn't it easy for him?!

Xie Yuan was left speechless; in an instant he adopted a resigned calm, lying flat, while Lu Tong behind him nearly burst out laughing.

The affairs of state are nothing more than sacrifice and war; it appears the Prince values only the latter.

Consider that he keeps dragons at the LanTai; it's no surprise that ancestral worship is trivial to him, given he has greater reliance. Nowadays, any rebel king worthy of the name almost all bear the surname Baili; whose ancestors' spirits should bless whom is unclear, so self-reliance is fine.

Grand Minister of Justice Lu drew his own conclusion, feeling that today's God of Wealth sacrifice was settled.

Indeed, once Xie Yuan gave up persuading, even the chief minister's efforts were wasted; another future top leader, Dong Fu, thought it was merely a trifle, so the matter could only proceed as such.

After a lengthy and solemn sacrificial ceremony, the Prince exhaled wearily, his mood unremarkable.

"Attendants! How can this batch of sacrificial vessels show no improvement? Replace them all next year!"

Zhao Ba: "... Again?!"

Grand Tutor Xu thought they looked fine no matter how he looked; he had personally inspected them before, but since the Prince said so, he could only wear a bewildered expression, apologize, and say he would coordinate with the Bureau of Palace Affairs to have new ones made.

The Prince nodded in satisfaction, gave Zhao Ba a glance, and after the Prince and his civil and military officials departed, Zhao the steward, lagging a step, ordered the ritual officials to send this batch of vessels to the storage of the Hall of Bright Light.

That night the stall magnate switched to a new category—genuine royal ritual implements used in the Heaven‑sacrificing grand ceremony!

Baiyang gazed longingly, but the royal specifications differed from his inscribed money box; it was too conspicuous, so he secretly kept just one as a family heirloom.

One must admit that certain interfaces can indeed see what the Prince cannot; they read the omens, and that very night his batch of ritual implements sold a large lot. The Prince's silver is hard to keep overnight, and having just received a huge sum of eight million taels, he immediately went to John Pu to order twenty thousand suits of armor and weapons.

With such a huge order, the Prince somehow managed to snag a few extra gifts as well—single pieces of top‑grade cold weapons, swords, spears, halberds, etc., which he set aside to reward the generals. This was already the second time in a short span that the Prince had come to order weapons; John Pu caught a whiff of something and was gleefully smug.

Let the arms race begin!

Thus, when Liang He returned from Liangzhou, he received from the Prince a gift of a top‑grade straight blade. Its specifications resembled those of the elite blades used by the Xiaoqi cavalry, though its style differed slightly; altogether it was a treasure, leaving the garrison commander Wu Jian feeling sour for several days.

The Prince, dust‑laden and weary, hurried back; Youzhou was still immersed in the festive atmosphere. Everyone in Youzhou was either on holiday or out playing, and he himself felt a bit lax.

Idle, he began to peruse the reports of greetings sent from the various garrison outposts. Besides the frontier passes, only officials of the rank of Inspector and above in the localities are qualified to write such memorials; the Prince quickly finished reviewing the situation in the Northern Border.

Having finished reading others' reports, he took up his brush to write to his maternal uncles. Besides conveying greetings, he added some of what he had seen and heard in the south, a mature admonition urging his maternal grandfather to keep Changzhou steady and not worry about external storms.

Naturally, this fellow's steady account would be just a page, but he couldn't resist boasting at length about his exploits against the great households; that alone ran to seven or eight pages. Moreover, the indictment against his cousin, "exhausting the bamboo slips," filled many pages just with the charges; when Marquis Wei Ting received it, he even thought his great‑grandson had written him a book.

The next day, Wei Shen went again to the Hall of Suiyu to mooch a meal; the Prince looked at him, his smile exceedingly odd, successfully making his cousin break out in laughter.

"What's this? What have I done wrong?"

The Prince, unfathomable: "The new batch of sugar for early spring should be arriving soon, right~"

"... Craving? I don't believe you have no sugar to eat right now!"

The Prince still smiled, thinking, "There'll be times when you're unlucky." Reflecting on that, he found it hard to lower his chin. While he was still gloating, Zhao Ba entered to report: "... A message has arrived from outside; someone left a note for you at the Shengping Inn."

The Prince could not wait to open it—oh my, it's a notice from a mysterious organization that they are about to act!

A serious incident occurred at the Tongshui Coal Mine; Lu Tong personally made a trip, and upon returning he lamented to his subordinates that the imperial examinations in Youzhou were truly about to become lively.

This thoroughfare used to be solely for coal convoys coming and going, but now one often sees carriages bearing insignia, most of which are not from the Northern Border.

As he was sighing, he noticed that the two carriages that had just been driven off looked somewhat familiar. Such insignia are usually possessed by prominent clans, but to display them openly in the Northern Border, which has turned rebel, is rare; without exception they belong to clans of solid foundation and notable strength.

They are convinced that no faction can do anything to them.

Lu Tong examined the insignia, slapped his thigh and laughed, "It's the Yang clan."

"Sir, which Yang clan do you mean?"

"Who else? The Hongnong Yang clan, of course."