Chapter 745: Sure Enough, Only Fools Bite the Hook

The Caos, the Yins, the Luos — good heavens, there were even members of the Zhang clan.

But when Zhang Zhao looked more closely, he was relieved to see they were not from his own line, the Dragon-Tongue Zhangs, but from the Zhang clan of Guzang — the descendants of Zhang Gui, the founder of the old Later Liang.

Back in the days of the Western Han Jinshan Kingdom, Zhang Wence, the chief minister of Zhang Zhao's father, the White-Robed Son of Heaven Zhang Chengfeng, had been a man of the Guzang Zhangs.

Zhang Zhao took out the list and checked it name by name. It was remarkably complete — apart from his maternal grandfather's Song family, which had no one involved, every household of the old Guiyi Army had someone on the list.

Zhang Zhao had thought his eldest maternal uncle Song Shantong would be involved too, since Song Shantong had originally been the Left Chief Clerk of the Han King's Overlord Residence, the equivalent of the present-day President of the Imperial Secretariat.

But one missed step led to every step being missed, and before he was even fifty he had been forced into semi-retirement, his resentment so thick it was nearly solid enough to take physical form.

Director Dong said with a smile at Zhang Zhao's side, "His Lordship the Duke of Anyang wrote a personal letter to the Sage, saying that the young men of the Song family have also profited considerably from the Hexi Trading Company, and that, having heard the state is short of funds, he is willing to donate fifty thousand strings of cash."

As expected, the old ginger is still the spiciest! It seemed the Song family had been involved after all, but at the most critical moment his maternal grandfather Song Tongyi had pressed it down — and the Duke of Anyang was precisely his maternal grandfather's title.

It was just that his maternal grandfather was already seventy-seven, and his uncles were all shallow, short-sighted men.

How shallow were they? Even Zhang Zhao's birth mother, the Compassionate Sage Empress Dowager of the Song clan, was reluctant to have dealings with her own elder brothers. Open their mouths and it was official hats; close their mouths and it was money bags — their breath stank badly enough to knock a man flat.

"Write back to my maternal grandfather. Tell him I accept the fifty thousand strings, but since his birthday is approaching and I am far away in Chengde Prefecture and cannot go to offer my congratulations, I have used these fifty thousand strings to buy shops and farmland in the Divine Capital, to serve as his retirement provision.

I have heard that the Song family's second, fifth, and ninth young lads are clever and of upright character. Have my maternal grandfather send them to the Eastern Capital to study together with my own sons."

The Song family still had to be used. Although his uncles were shallow and his seven or eight cousins were not very capable — fit only for offices of the sixth or seventh rank — the fourth generation of the Song family still had a few promising sprouts, and with some cultivation they could be of use in the future.

"Never mind, I'll write it myself. If my maternal grandfather misreads the meaning and gets frightened, that would be bad."

Zhang Zhao said after a moment's thought. That was the trouble with people who carried heavy thoughts — they were prone to overthinking. If Zhang Zhao casually had someone send a reply and his maternal grandfather read too much into it, frightening a man nearing eighty into some mishap, the sin would be great.

But Sage Zhang's gentleness was something he showed only a little of to the Song family. Toward the others — more precisely, toward the other old fellows of the Guiyi Army — he was not nearly so gentle.

These old fellows, one could say, had always been a thorn lodged in Zhang Zhao's chest.

In years past they had forced Zhang Chengfeng from power. That original sin meant that although they came from the Guiyi Army, it was very hard for them to trust and be convinced by Zhang Zhao, and Zhang Zhao likewise could not trust or rely on them.

At the same time, these men had long been holed up in the two prefectures of Gua and Sha, and what they generally displayed was short-sightedness.

Restoring the great dynasty and settling the realm held no interest for them; when it came to grabbing money and power, each was more eager than the last. Never mind ordinary people — they even dared to fleece Zhang Zhao himself.

People like his maternal grandfather Song Tongyi, as well as Cao Yuanzhong, Murong Guiying, and Luo Tongda, who had some self-awareness, were few and far between.

More importantly, as long as they were around, there was always a thorn between the new generation of the Guiyi Army and Zhang Zhao.

They were close, truly close — within three generations everyone had intermarried — yet they could not be completely close, because strictly speaking their grandfathers and fathers bore original sin.

Now, if he seized this opportunity to execute those of these old fellows who deserved execution and dismiss those who deserved dismissal, removing them from the political stage, then after another eight or ten years, when most of them had passed away, the new generation of Guiyi Army descendants could recover their intimacy with Zhang Zhao.

Of course, the greatest harvest was in wealth. Once these people were brought down, the riches they had accumulated would belong to Zhang Zhao.

The Hexi Trading Company! Just thinking about it, one knew how wealthy it must be — at least three or four million strings, no problem — and after this, the court's tax revenue could also rise by several hundred thousand to a million strings each year.

And this money could be taken with full justification, because this was not confiscation of property, but Zhang Zhao taking back what these people had originally embezzled.

At the same time, once they fell, the environment along the Hexi trade routes could also be greatly improved. The merchants' burdens would lighten, and their confidence would increase.

"All persons connected with the three families of Cao Renzun, Yin Yuande, and Shi Chongmin are to be arrested. Anyone involved in even the slightest degree is to be severely punished according to law. The rest are to be dealt with as circumstances warrant. Put Pei Yuan and Cao Yuanzhen in charge.

Have Cao Wanjin immediately conduct a self-investigation of the Hexi Trading Company and report directly to me."

Director Dong looked at Zhang Zhao with admiration. Cao Yuanzhen was the most successful of the Cao family's Yuan generation apart from the Imperial Father-in-Law Cao Yuanzhong, and he was also a man of the Western Cao branch of the Sogdians.

With his participation, they could prevent Pei Yuan and the others from turning this matter into a great purge of the entire Guiyi Army faction, and could also settle the hearts of the Guiyi Army officers, great and small, in the military.

Letting Cao Wanjin conduct a self-investigation was an even more brilliant move. Judging from the current situation, Cao Wanjin and Kang Jinshan were certainly guilty, and had embezzled quite a lot, but the two had not participated in the rebellion, so they were salvageable.

Now, in order to save themselves, Cao Wanjin and the others would likely be even harsher in their self-investigation than if others investigated them. If they could hand over more than three million strings in goods and wealth, the Emperor would probably permit them to keep a few tens of thousands of strings to live out their old age in comfort.

Having made arrangements for the others, Zhang Zhao also rose abruptly to his feet. He too had to go and steady the army's morale, for among the tens of thousands of men around him, there were no few fine soldiers from the two prefectures of Gua and Sha.

Although most of those who rebelled this time had sons and grandsons of no particular distinction — that was inevitable, for if their sons and grandsons were capable and enjoyed the Emperor's trust, they would have had no need to rebel.

Still, Zhang Zhao had to show himself. He could not let the Guiyi Army faction collapse completely over this matter.

In political struggle, kicking a man when he is down is a basic operation. If Zhang Zhao, out of anger, let the matter expand, Fu Yanqing, Gao Xingzhou, and the other factions would certainly be delighted, and might even add fuel to the fire.

But my Sage Zhang's core faction is still the Gua-Sha Guiyi Army faction, deeply bound to the Yuan Cong faction, and the Liang-Lan Six Valleys faction.

If the Gua-Sha Guiyi Army faction were to fall, and the Eastern Return faction were too small in number, then among the Helong nobility only the Liang-Lan Six Valleys faction would remain — and what that would shake would be Zhang Zhao's own foundation.

Therefore, this strike had to be narrow in scope but absolutely ruthless in force. And that force — I, Sage Zhang, will gauge it myself.

The Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, beneath the Xuanwu Gate of the imperial city.

The sky had barely begun to lighten when Shi Chonggui, riding a gray donkey and guided by his son Shi Yanxu, arrived beneath the Xuanwu Gate.

And behind Shi Chonggui, the rest of his children and his wives and concubines followed along.

After more than a year of life in the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, Shi Chonggui was quite satisfied. Although the Emperor had said he was to stand guard at the city gate as atonement, in practice he was not forced to go or not go, and his pay was still issued as usual.

And it was not issued to him alone — his three sons each received a share as well, all at the rate of a squad leader in the imperial guard.

For an ordinary household, producing one imperial guard squad leader was about enough to support the whole family. Shi Chonggui's family had three. Though they could not be greatly rich or noble, modest prosperity was still guaranteed.

So Shi Chonggui was content to fish for three days and dry the nets for two, living at ease at home with all the wine and meat he wanted.

In all honesty, Shi Chonggui had never imagined he could be emperor for even a few years. His former dream had been nothing more than to become a young lord and Troop Commander, which would have been good enough.

It was only after Shi Jingtang successfully entered Luoyang that Shi Chonggui's ambition was pushed, step by step, into swelling — and then two hellish years at Huanglong Prefecture finally brought him back down to earth.

It was not until he could return to the Eastern Capital, the place he dreamed of returning to, that Shi Chonggui suddenly discovered that the life of a wealthy householder truly suited him.

Nothing to think about, nothing to worry about — just eat and drink every day, and that was that.

Once desire and ambition had vanished from his body, the calmed-down Shi Chonggui actually had a decent intellect. Otherwise he would never have caught Shi Jingtang's eye and been adopted as his son back then.

Ever since the Emperor had gone to Guanzhong and Pei Yuan had seemingly grasped great power, Shi Chonggui had been very afraid, because he knew that if anyone rose up to make trouble, he, Shi Chonggui, would be a banner.

So for this past year, the wooden gate of his house had never been closed. Even after being visited by thieves several times, Shi Chonggui insisted on keeping the gate open day and night, so that others could see at a glance what he, Shi Chonggui, was doing.

When news of the Luoyang unrest arrived, Shi Chonggui was scared out of his wits. Every day he would go and stay beneath the Xuanwu Gate as soon as the sky lightened, sometimes not even leaving at night. Only yesterday had his body truly given out, and he had gone back to rest for a while.

But today, Shi Chonggui found that he had rather a lot of company.

In just a short while, the sound of horses neighing rang out, and Li Congyi — youngest son of the Later Tang's Mingzong, adopted son of the present Emperor, and Duke of Jinyang — practically tumbled off his horse, only letting out a long breath of relief when he saw the great plaque of the Xuanwu Gate.

The two exchanged an awkward glance, and before they could even begin to greet each other, the sound of footsteps rose even more densely.

Shi Chonggui stood on tiptoe and looked — good heavens, it must be the ruler of the Meng Shu state — ah, no, the one now called the Marquis of Longgang — Meng Chang, bringing his entire family, old and young.

No, it should be Meng Chang's mother, Lady Li, dragging Meng Chang over here.

Our Lord of Meng has grown much fatter than when he was in Shu, and he reeks of strong liquor. Drinking this heavily so early in the morning?

Meng Chang actually has troubles he cannot speak of. Ever since Emperor Zhang left the Eastern Capital, his mother Lady Li and Princess Fuxing have been pouring wine down his throat.

They truly poured it down. The old but still vigorous Princess Fuxing urged Meng Chang on every day, and if he did not get drunk, Princess Fuxing would take matters into her own hands.

Likewise, when news of the upheaval in Luoyang arrived, Princess Fuxing felt that even getting Meng Chang drunk was not safe enough, and actually dragged him straight to the foot of Xuanwu Gate.

(End of Chapter)

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