Chapter 616: stepmother

Youzhou, in the hearts of the people of Great Jin, what kind of place is it? Put nicely, it's the iron backbone of mountains and rivers, the sound of the sea's waves; put badly, it's war smoke and flames, a desolate northern waste.

Swap in an emperor, even a young one, and the officials below can gang up on him; the hall will be awash with spit all morning. You must make this clueless little punk know that the Great Jin court isn't your personal fiefdom, and you can't just go wherever you please for New Year.

But Bai Li Jing is no ordinary person; he hangs the saying 'If it should be cut, cut it; don't embarrass me' on his lips, and he's a professional at beheading—he just relied on this superior skill to ascend the throne.

One of the Nine Ministers who misspeaks a single sentence is immediately dismissed and sent home!

Everyone in the hall is cursing inwardly while putting on respectful faces; they're all staring at Xie Yuan—do you agree with that?!

This time Xie Yuan disagrees, but the Great King has already made up his mind. He doesn't wait for Xie Yuan to speak, but cuts in: 'Let the Minister of Rites draft the entourage for the trip to Youzhou and the garrison left in Chang'an.'

Not giving Xie Yuan a chance to speak means he won't defy the teacher! The Great King feels pleased—'I truly respect teachers and value the Way!'

This time, the elderly, good-tempered, gradually mild Minister of Rites Cheng also started cursing inwardly, thinking 'You might as well go yourself,' but he didn't dare. Listen to his words and tone—note he's talking about the entourage, not the travel roster.

Minister of Rites Cheng earnestly took on this hot potato; since it's the entourage, it looks like half the people will have to go to Youzhou!

Xie Yuan also caught the drift, and politely asked the Minister of Rites for the Great King's meaning. Having said this much, there's no point in trying to change his mind—he's already said it out loud, presumably having planned the next ninety-nine steps. Not directly announcing the move of the capital is already… mature enough.

The Great King declared confidently, 'From the day I ascended the throne, the northern capital Youzhou City is our Great Jin's second capital. I won't be modest in saying that, in terms of the facilities a national capital should have, Youzhou is fully comparable to Chang'an. What difference does it make where I spend New Year?'

Furthermore, if I return to Youzhou, I can nearby threaten the steppes—don't think Youzhou will become the old place where steppe peoples could wander freely at will! And Chang'an, the capital of Great Jin, controlling the rear, the vital hub of Great Jin, is not to be ignored.

Xie Yuan: …Every time this happens, he really does say that.

To the officials of Chang'an hearing the Great King's words, it's completely rose‑tinted nonsense—what, Youzhou isn't worse than Chang'an?

These people start looking at Xie Yuan again—if we're going back to Youzhou, we're going back to Youzhou; there's no need to spout nonsense!

Xie Yuan, who comes from Youzhou, couldn't possibly not know that the Great King's claim about Youzhou's fine facilities is something he's said before—it's the most realistic of his statements.

Xie Yuan, mature and perceptive, felt he couldn't pass up the chance to gauge the officials' thoughts. He suggested to the Minister of Rites, 'Since Your Majesty's mind is made up, the entourage for serving Youzhou and guarding Chang'an can have the colleagues sign up voluntarily.'

The Great King thought, 'Excellent! Those who follow him wholeheartedly will naturally follow the emperor. Those who insist on staying, aside from health reasons, are just fence‑sitters on standby—worth close attention.'

Chang'an was momentarily seething with undercurrents, everyone having their own little schemes. An emperor's outing isn't decided in a day; whichever day they set out, the Grand Astrologer must pick an auspicious date. The Great King turned this into a foregone conclusion, and he was pleased.

Whether the Prince of Runan comes or not, I don't care.

……'I'm going back to celebrate New Year—it's been ages since I saw my sister, plus my aunt and Ah Heng.' He began rummaging through the 'junk' he bought in Chang'an City, this one for his sister, that one for Ah Heng.

……'It's just that my uncle stayed in Fengde; I came to Chang'an once and didn't see him.'

Zhao Bao had no idea what he was thinking; hearing that it didn't look like he was coming back after New Year, he hesitated and asked: '……Your Majesty, will you not return to Chang'an after spring opens?'

'Yes, I'll return!' It's true that next year he'll definitely have to go south, maybe even west on campaign, but he doesn't really want to keep working in Chang'an.

Chang'an only has an empty old palace complex, lacking in both size and refinement. But Youzhou has a home like his fairy‑palace, with relatives, and that stretch of black‑tech land of his—on his own turf he eats well, lives well, no worries. Going south next year to suppress rebellion will require a longer trek, and that's also his due.

But he knows that if he, sitting in Jianzhang Palace, directly declares a move of the capital, these officials will jump up in opposition. Relocating the capital affects too many interests; back when Bai Li Jin's Chang'an and the northern borders were only separated by the Wei River, the threat was huge yet he still didn't manage to move the capital.

So the Great King plans to first extend a probing paw, gradually shifting toward Youzhou, using the pretext of the heavenly sacrifice to first return to his hometown.

The Great King was so happy he couldn't sleep; that night he decided to set up a stall. Passing by the John Pu Store, he thought he'd first repay his outstanding ingots, but when he checked the balance…

This is serious—last time I saw, wasn't the surplus over 120,000?

How come it's down to over 80,000?!

What kind of silver‑vanishing trick is this?!

The Great King didn't have time to settle accounts; he quickly opened the detailed bill, and there, stark naked, was an extra line of expenditure: 'Collect penalty late fee 20% – 36,223 ingots.'

The Great King grabbed Bai Yang and lamented, 'I only knew Mengmeng had changed her heart—I never imagined it would turn into a stepmother—400,000 taels of silver just vanished silently like that.'

Bai Yang: ……

……'Isn't it that borrowing from your money shop doesn't require interest?'

The Great King paused: 'Use it.'

……'That's serious—if you owe money, you need to prepare for extra interest deductions! We're not feeling sorry for you; anyway, your money comes easily. Conscience tells me, how much does it cost to cast one of your Tripod Lesser Treasury? Labor's surely cheap—at most a thousand taels!'

He said that, and the Great King didn't utter a sound. He often sells ritual vessels; he still knows how much silver the Great Jin's current technology uses to cast a tripod— a thousand taels… not enough, just the production time is especially long.

……'That… is also the main tripod I used for the heavenly sacrifice when I ascended the throne—it has great commemorative significance!'

……'You're just being stubborn! Or else, take some of the grain‑money you've stored with me and give it to me, first repay John Pu.'

……'No way—nothing can affect my grain‑stockpiling plan. Before the contract's stipulated final payment is due, I'll just earn more.'

Bai Yang handed over the grain he had been shuffling for him during this period—five tons of aged rice from last year, two tons of white flour, and other mixed grains totaling over a ton. Using the aged rice supplied by the chain supermarket, he had the warehouse unpack it, put it into unmarked white bags, and claimed outwardly that they were just re‑labeled.

……'Our company's warehouse has been spreading rumors of my black‑hearted deeds—saying I go around collecting other people's unsaleable aged rice, repackaging it, new bottle old wine, ruining my conscience.'

The Great King knew Bai Yang was bustling about moving grain for no profit, just helping out of friendship for his seafood and jade trades, so he generously produced a ingot of tribute ink. 'Here, this is for the loss of reputation.'

Bai Yang originally didn't plan to take it, but given his many collaborations with the Great King, the latter said: 'Tribute ink, you know—I couldn't even touch it when I was a feudal lord; look how exquisite it is, the characters it writes even sparkle~'

Bai Yang took a close look and immediately slipped it into his pocket—'Great stuff!'

He immediately added the tribute ink to the grain purchase contract, and the two 'smugglers' wore the same proud expression as if they'd plucked wool from a home garden.