Character Index
Yilie: Tabuyir's nephew. Serving as a hostage in Kayla's household.
Qazar: The Sixth Princess Mingda's nephew. Serving as a hostage in Kayla's household.
Housekeeper Li: Formerly Matron Li, Kayla's loyal servant.
Yun'er: Also known as Qiu Yun, a plain-faced but good-natured serving girl.
Zhou Xianchun: The Seventh Prince, a contender for the throne.
Liang Shen: Former Lord of the Liang clan, former Minister of Justice. Older half-brother of Hu Qing.
Zhou Kuang: The Third Prince, a contender for the throne.
Zhou Yunqi: The Fifth Prince, currently entangled in a legal case that may very well destroy his clan and lead to his death. Fell sick after Kayla's wedding.
Xiang Daozong/Qu Boyong: The Lord of the Xiang clan, threw his lot in with Xianchun by offering him the information on Shu Yunsong's trip to visit Yunqi (illegally).
Yu Bianfu: A female military commander who previously served as the Empress Dowager's personal guard, Xianchun's childhood friend. She was removed from the Empress Dowager's service after Kayla framed her to get at Xianchun, and then stationed at a post in the Southwest with her father, who is also a military commander.
An Haoyang: A former Imperial Investigator, Qu Boyong's loyal retainer. Fought Hu Qing twice, lost twice. He was forced to abandon his position as an Investigator and flee the capital, thus being marked a traitor of the Bureau. Due to Qu Boyong's reinstatement, he was not punished for being a mole.
Wei Guang: The Minister of the Office of Censure and Imperial Edict Bearer. Kayla's godfather.
Hu Qing/Liang Hongfei: Vice-Censor of the Office of Censure, Lord of the Liang clan. Kayla's close friend and supporter.
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Kayla returned to work even more exhausted than she had been when she’d left. After completing all the rituals, ceremonies, and administrative work that came with wedding a foreign princess, Kayla had barely been left with a few minutes to snap at Yilie and Qazar for getting in the way of Ashina’s attendants before the vacation was over.
Ashina had been quiet and distant after their trip to the Inner Palace.
Is she dissatisfied that I didn’t defend her enough? Or that I spoke out of place and denied her a chance to speak for herself?
In the end, Kayla hadn’t asked and Ashina hadn’t told her. The two of them slept fitfully next to each other, neither of them at ease in the marital bed.
“I’m off,” Kayla said, so softly it was almost a whisper. Ashina stirred, but remained asleep, the soft glow of the morning light casting a strange radiance over her eyelashes. The princess looked even younger with her hair undone and limbs curled into the blankets. Letting out an inaudible sigh, Kayla left the room to get dressed.
“My lord, did you rest well?” Housekeeper Li asked as she dressed Kayla with Yun’er’s help.
“Well enough,” Kayla replied absently. “This’ll be the princess’ first day alone in this household, make sure everything goes smoothly, will you?”
“Of course,” Housekeeper Li promised.
“Then I’ll leave her in your care,” Kayla said. She straightened her robes and patted Yun’er on the head before heading off to the Court of Judicial Review to relieve her subordinates of their overburdened workloads.
Before noon, Kayla found herself at the Seventh Prince’s door.
“This way please, Your Excellency,” the steward said demurely. He led Kayla to Xianchun’s study.
“Wenyuan greets His Highness the Seventh Prince,” Kayla said as she stepped through the open door.
“Back from your marital chambers already, Wenyuan? I would’ve thought that you’d be more reluctant, given the beauty of your bride,” Xianchun said. Though his tone was teasing, there was nothing friendly about it. He waved for Kayla to sit across from him. Kayla sensed the thrum of magic in use and resolved to choose her words more carefully.
“It cannot be helped,” Kayla said. “How has Your Highness been?”
Xianchun looked worse for the wear. Kuang hadn’t ceased his attacks against Xianchun’s faction when Liang Shen had resigned–if anything, the resignation had been treated as an admission of guilt, and as a sign that other charges against members of Xianchun’s faction must surely be true as well. No doubt it had been motivated by vindication. Xianchun had really incensed Kuang this time around, and was feeling the brunt of the consequences.
Xianchun smiled thinly, a glint in his eyes as he regarded Kayla. “Skip the pleasantries. Is this about Fifth Brother’s case? I’ve already submitted everything I have to your office.”
“Not the witnesses,” Kayla pointed out.
“Well, summoning witnesses is your job, isn’t it?” Xianchun asked.
“If Your Highness can point us towards a clear path, we’d be deeply grateful,” Kayla said humbly. “As you know, finding specific urchins in such a large city can be difficult, given how many people there are.”
“The Bureau can do that just fine, can’t it?” Xianchun said.
It was Kayla’s turn to smile. “Certainly. But since Your Highness was the one who pushed for this case so passionately, we hoped to spare our beleaguered Investigators the effort through your magnanimity.”
Xianchun stared Kayla down for a moment before letting out a huff. “Very well. My men know where to find them–I’ll have them delivered to you soon.”
Kayla bowed her head slightly. “My deepest gratitude, my prince.” She lifted her eyes to meet his. “And there’s one person in particular I must speak to.”
“Who?”
“The one who gathered all these witnesses.”
Xianchun’s gaze flickered with annoyance and he remained silent.
“A person can easily influence the answers they receive by posing their questions this way and that–in order to ascertain the validity of the eyewitness reports, it’s necessary for me to understand how they were obtained,” Kayla went on. “If the charges are true, then a reward is necessary. And more importantly, if the charges turn out to be false…well, someone must take responsibility, no?”
Xianchun’s glare bore into her. Kayla stared back patiently.
“Speak to Xiang Daozong about that. He’s the one who brought it to my attention,” Xianchun said dismissively.
So Xiang Daozong isn’t that important to him after all, hm? I suppose Xianchun also knows better than to trust someone who’s constantly jumping ships. Satisfied that she had gotten exactly what she'd come here for, Kayla stood up.
“Thank you, my prince. Then I’ll take my leave now,” Kayla said, bowing her head. Xianchun bristled in irritation.
“Go on,” he said after a long moment of furious silence. Kayla bowed and left, trying to ignore how Xianchun was glaring daggers into her back.
“What an unpleasant bastard…he came all the way here just to say that?” Xianchun muttered under his breath when Kayla was out of hearing distance.
“Disappointed?” A teasing voice rang out from the communication device in the drawer. Xianchun pulled it open, staring down at Yu Bianfu’s smiling face. The woman’s smile faltered but did not fade at the unfamiliar iciness in Xianchun’s eyes.
“No,” Xianchun replied. “Now, Bianfu, tell me, where is your father being transferred to?”
Yu Bianfu’s smile slowly disappeared. “To the Southeast border, to Lingnan Circuit. He was going to be promoted to a post in the Guannei Circuit near the capital, but they suddenly changed their minds at the last minute. His position is now two steps higher, but it hardly matters given the position.”
“The Southeast…” Xianchun muttered, his gaze growing distant. “As I expected, Third Brother is moving to cut off any paths of retreat I can take.”
Yu Bianfu’s face grew grave. “My prince, what should we do?”
The prince smiled. “All in due time, Bianfu. It’s yet to be seen at whose hand the deer will die.”
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Kayla stopped at the Xiang household on her way to the Bureau. It wasn’t even along the route–she had to go out of her way to find him, and thus was already miffed by the time she’d reached his door. Xiang Daozong was no happier to see her. He was in over his head with the Empress Dowager and Xianchun, and was growing increasingly sure that somehow or another, if the Shu clan went down because of An Haoyang’s investigation, he himself would surely come to ruin.
Xiang Daozong had miscalculated. Every individual step he’d taken was reasonable enough, but the strength of the bond between Kuang and Yunqi was beyond what Xiang Daozong could’ve imagined.
It was easy for Kayla to surmise what Xiang Daozong was thinking–it was what any sane man would be considering at such a time: How to push the blame onto Xianchun? It wouldn’t matter who won if Yunqi was forced to his death. Kuang would destroy Xiang Daozong for his culpability even if it cost the prince everything.
If that were the case, he owes me for getting him out of this, doesn’t he? Kayla doubted Xiang Daozong would ever think of it that way. The man had an uncanny ability for selectively remembering his debts.
It’s as though he thinks it doesn’t count if he wasn’t the sole beneficiary. But that’s not how things work in politics. Kayla scrutinized the younger man’s back. I may have reinstated him, but how long can he hold on to this position?
“To what do I owe the honor of your visit?” Xiang Daozong asked, leading Kayla into a sitting room.
Kayla stopped where she was. “An Haoyang.”
Xiang Daozong went still, half-turning towards her.
“My retainer? What about him?”
“We need him to come in to make a statement,” Kayla said, keeping her tone as polite as she could manage.
“What on earth for?”
“He was the one who questioned the witnesses and accused the Fifth Prince, was he not? It’s necessary that we hear his side of what happened in order to understand the full story,” Kayla said.
“But all he did was to ask a few things here and there,” Xiang Daozong said, beginning to grow uneasy. He turned to face her, a look of irritation on his face. “Your Excellency, my retainer has done his duty as a responsible man to inquire into events that did not make sense. Surely it’s not necessary to interrogate him for that?”
“Who said anything about interrogation? We want a statement from everyone involved, according to procedure.” Kayla tilted her head, examining him. “An Haoyang is lucky to have a good master who worries for his sake, isn’t he? But don’t worry, Lord Xiang. The Bureau will not use public resources for private grievances–An Haoyang won’t be mistreated simply because of his past deeds.”
Xiang Daozong’s eyes darkened as he recalled the days of living like a mouse while his carefully laid plans crumbled apart around them.
“From everyone involved…I suppose that includes the Fifth Prince? Or is he exempt on account of his illness?” Xiang Daozong asked.
Kayla’s eyes crinkled with a pleasant smile. “Lord Xiang, you do realize I’m fully within my rights to seize your retainer right this moment if I wished to? I’ve gone out of my way to protect your face, but you’re refusing to cooperate now? You have a grudge against the Bureau, is that what it is?”
Xiang Daozong straightened his back, breathing in deeply. “Not at all, Director Zhao. I’ll send him along with you right now.”
“No need. Just have him take a walk over when he’s free, preferably sooner than later,” Kayla said. “I’d be deeply obliged.”
Xiang Daozong bared his teeth. “But of course. I thank you for taking the time to visit my humble abode amidst your busy schedule, especially when you’ve only just married.”
A cruel glint flashed in his eyes. “After all, with the rumors–”
Ah, yes. The ones you spread.
Kayla suddenly felt disgusted.
“I’ll take my leave then. Lord Xiang, as a noble with no official position at court, I hope that you’ll obey your responsibilities and at least keep your household in order before worrying about others,” she said brusquely. “Goodbye.”
She turned on her heel abruptly and left. Behind her, Xiang Daozong flushed and then hurried into his study for his communication device.
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Waving away the servant at the door of the bedchamber, Kuang silently made his way to Yunqi’s bedside, moving as quietly as he could to avoid disturbing his brother’s rest. It was pointless. Yunqi’s quality of sleep had severely deteriorated with his mounting anxiety, and he now woke at the slightest sound. His eyes fluttered open and he blinked blearily at Kuang.
“Brother, I thought you were at court,” Yunqi said, sitting up. Kuang swiftly draped an outer robe over Yunqi’s shoulders.
“There’s not much to do today,” Kuang lied. There was in fact a mountain of things to do, but worry had won out over practicality. “How are you feeling?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“I’m completely fine, brother. It’s just a small fever,” Yunqi said, managing a smile. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Kuang replied. His chest clenched painfully with worry. Yunqi’s health was declining steadily. Kuang suspected foul play, but he kept a closer eye on Yunqi’s household than he did his own. He suspected it was stifling for Yunqi sometimes, but the man was too good-natured to complain.
Yunqi’s never been ill for this long before. The constant stress of having death hanging over him like a suspended blade had certainly taken its toll on Yunqi’s health, but never like this. After the wedding ceremony, it was as though a mountain had come crashing down.
A fever is understandable, especially with the weather changing between seasons, but for this long? Kuang felt a twinge of unease, and doubt stirred in his stomach. Is it sabotage after all?
“Are you ever going to tell me what grandmother said to you?” Kuang asked quietly. He regretted the words almost as soon as they were spoken. Yunqi turned his face away, ghastly pale.
“Forget I asked,” Kuang hastily said. “Has the healer been by today?”
“Not yet,” Yunqi replied. “He’s coming over in the afternoon.”
Kuang scowled. “Those Imperial Healers are useless–all that fancy training and your fever still isn’t going down. I should have my brother-in-law take a look at you instead.”
“Please don’t, the palace will take that as an offense and start badgering at us again, you know it,” Yunqi pleaded. “It’s not like they’re not helping, the fever just keeps coming back on its own. Just leave it be, brother. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright, alright. The patient gets the say.” Kuang squeezed Yunqi’s shoulder lightly in assurance.
Yunqi relaxed slightly.
Maybe the Imperial Healers are being purposefully negligient? They couldn’t get away with harming Yunqi under Kuang’s nose, or at least he hoped they couldn’t, but they could refuse to do their jobs properly. Kuang looked at Yunqi’s hollow face with mounting fury. It wasn’t just the Empress Dowager, it wasn’t just their Father. It was the Shu clan that pushed Yunqi to the edge of the precipice and stomped on his fingers when he tried to hold on.
Those ungrateful, greedy bastards, Kuang’s eyes filled with rage, his grip unconsciously tightening on Yunqi’s shoulder. He knew it wasn’t the entire clan–the most of them were loyal warriors who had been aggrieved by an injustice–it was Yunqi’s grandfather and his mother’s half-brothers who were dragging the lot of them along into the abyss and cursing anyone who tried to slow their descent.
If not for Yunqi, I would never suffer those bastards’ continued existence.
Yunqi looked up with wary eyes, searching Kuang’s face with increasing nervousness. Kuang forced out a smile for him, loosening his grip.
“What’s wrong?” Yunqi asked.
Kuang shook his head. “It’s not much, but the way the court, all of us, are descending into such filthy tactics and pettiness…it irks me a little.”
“I suppose it would,” Yunqi murmured.
“How fast we all come to stoop so low,” Kuang lamented. “Things that no decent man would dream of doing, shameless slander that no honest man could force out of his mouth…yet we who stand at the pinnacle of the country commit them all with impunity and find justifications to boot. It disgusts me sometimes. Myself, Xianchun…all of those opportunistic bastards.”
Yunqi quietly absorbed Kuang’s rare outburst of cynicism with the same serene gaze as always.
“It’s only temporary, brother,” he comforted Kuang.
Kuang shook his head. “It won’t be much different if I take the throne.” He caught glance of Yunqi’s worried look and smiled. “Oh, I’m not discouraged, Yunqi. Quite the opposite. The more clearly I can see the dynasty’s faults, the better I can seek to remedy them. But it’s certain that we’ll have a lot of work to do.”
Yunqi smiled, nodding slightly. His eyes shone with faith as though Kuang had never failed him, and Kuang had to break eye contact.
“Once Wei Guang culls the opposition, the communication policy should proceed pretty smoothly,” Kuang said, switching to politics to hide the flickers of guilt in his face. He stopped when he saw that Yunqi was growing weary, and stood to leave.
“Well, I need to get back to the office now, but thanks to you, I got to air my complaints,” Kuang said lightly. “Get some rest, Yunqi. I’ll be waiting for you to recover.”
“I’ll be fine, brother. I’m sorry for the trouble as always,” Yunqi replied. Kuang stroked a hand through his brother’s hair, his heart clenching.
“No such thing,” Kuang replied.
He left the room and caught the eye of Yunqi’s steward, who waited respectfully outside of hearing distance. Kuang nodded for the man to follow and walked down the corridor swiftly in complete silence.
Only when he was a distance away did he come to a stop. He turned and fixed the steward with a glare, his voice coming out in a low, angry growl.
“Take better care of your master. How is it that his health isn’t improving?!” he snarled. “If you can’t do your job properly, I’ll gladly find someone who can!”
“I-I apologize!” The steward balked and lowered his head, frightened and ashamed.
The anger flowed out of Kuang and was replaced by weariness and the familiar guilt of constantly failing Yunqi.
“No, I'm sorry." He patted the steward on the shoulder. The man trembled and then sagged with relief.
Kuang briskly turned and left the household.
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Hu Qing stood around a desk with Wei Guang and Wenyuan, exchanging a knowing smirk with Wenyuan over the stacks of scrolls.
“I believe this will make for a convincing report,” Wei Guang said, completely understating it.
Rather than flail through the ocean of spam reports, dealing with each and every one of them at once, they had chosen a targeted approach. The Bureau hadn’t been idle over the last few days while their Director was off getting married. Several task forces had been sent out to conduct detailed censuses in a few select counties. It was barely a handful, but more than enough to make a point.
Reports from those specific counties had been singled out and parsed through with extreme prejudice. The nonsensical, improbable, and impossible for each locality were labeled and counted, then combined into the case studies that formed Wei Guang’s approach.
Countering a thousand pounds with four ounces, huh? Hu Qing’s smirk widened.
Each county in the report had far more reports than literate residents, or otherwise had details or information that was completely incongruous with the local situation. Addresses and people that didn’t exist, accusations against individuals who were either already dead or would’ve been five years old at the time of the supposed incident, the list of outrageous falsifications went on.
They were also in a rush, Hu Qing noted. The ones who had financed the flood of reports probably hadn’t expected the judicial system to even complete the intake process for most of them, much less fact-check their contents. They had expected Wenyuan’s Investigators to trace the false reports back to their origins even less.
Hu Qing had personally interrogated a handful of quavering literati–broke scholars seemed to comprise the majority, and they were more than happy to give up their employers when told that they would be spared the fine and bar from public service. With some forceful questioning, Hu Qing had managed to squeeze out the names of a wide array of Lords and their relatives.
“It’s a good thing we waited a few days,” Hu Qing muttered. “Now we have the numbers, and the numbers.” He made the hand gesture for money, and Wenyuan smiled.
“Indeed, the fines for the clans will help to finance the implementation of the reform, and the stipulated punishments will open up positions for promotions that will serve as incentives for the minor clan,” Wei Guang agreed. “Quite an elegant design.”
“The best wedding gift a man can receive,” Wenyuan said. “It’s all thanks to godfather and Vice-Censor Liang’s competence.”
“Not at all,” Wei Guang said humbly. Hu Qing echoed the words less humbly.
Wei Guang’s face grew pensive, masking the swell of emotion in his chest.
“For too long, the voice of the people has been stifled by the clans–likewise, the voice of the Emperor has also been stifled from reaching his populace. It’s about time we restored the rightful order of the world so as to allow the Emperor’s benevolence to reach the Four Seas,” Wei Guang said, a fervent undertone in his voice. Hu Qing exchanged a glance with Wenyuan, who gave him a look of mild exasperation, bidding him to behave and listen properly. Reluctantly, Hu Qing relented to suffer through Wei Guang’s speech.
“Indeed, there is great resistance, not just from the corrupt clans but from otherwise righteous clans as well. Thanks to that, it’ll be a difficult task to walk the line without wronging decent men. After all, this goes against what they’re used to, and against the world order they have struggled to create. But nonetheless, this is surely a worthy cause,” Wei Guang went on. Wenyuan nodded seriously, Hu Qing disinterestedly.
“Of course they resist it,” Wenyuan said darkly. Hu Qing shifted to attention. “The prominent clans of the country have had free rein to buy up land and indentured servants for years, and now they’ve gorged themselves into overgrown monsters. Even the righteous clans are no exception–even if they demonstrate some singular instances of benevolence here and there, they’ve monopolized intellectual, economical, political, and even magical resources at every turn as much as their more corrupt peers.”
Wei Guang’s eyes flickered with something that was akin to approval but bordered on wariness.
“The more the major clans monopolize, the harder it is for smaller households to compete. The cycle sustains itself. The major clans hoard wealth they did not create, lands they did not till, and make the rules as to who deserves to hold all this. And then they turn around and say that it’s unfair to level the playing field?” Wenyuan laughed harshly. “They think that even if the dynasty falls, they will remain the local scions.”
Wenyuan swept an arm out, gesturing at the scrolls piling around them. “Who are they to decide? Let the people speak for themselves. They’re the ones who have had their blood and marrow leeched off by these parasites. Let them decide who’s guilty and who’s not.”
The look of approval in Wei Guang’s eyes was now replaced by sharp scrutiny and no small amount of wariness. Hu Qing watched on like a hawk poised to strike. His trust in Wei Guang had never existed in the first place, but his opinion of the man had never recovered from the betrayal they had suffered after the Grand Duke’s death. Even now that he served as Wei Guang’s Vice-Censor, Hu Qing still thought of the man as a potential enemy.
“Your words have merit,” Wei Guang said. “But rallying the masses can easily go awry–there’s a reason why demagogues rarely meet a good end. You’d do well to keep that in mind.”
Wenyuan bowed his head respectfully. “Thank you for the advice, godfather.”
“The fact remains that the current batch, almost all of it, is good for nothing other than prosecuting the clans,” Wei Guang said. “Few commoners would have had access to communication devices with which to submit any of this in the first place–not to mention that they would’ve had to hire someone to write a report for them. But from the few badly worded ones that seem to be genuine, debt seems to be the main concern they have in common.”
Hu Qing nodded. He was familiar enough with loan sharks–he’d killed a few back in the day when they’d refused to let the Liang clan pay off old loans, hoping to continuously churn out interest.
If not for the legalities, the lot would be easy enough to get rid of.
But it didn’t take a loan shark to push a man into crippling debt.
“There are a good number of reports that complain about predatory loans, but the majority of them raise complaints about loans that are, quite frankly, completely legal,” Wei Guang noted. “But it does raise the concern of how the fines would affect them. If the clans choose to press or sue for full repayment in order to make up for their losses, or in anticipation of potential losses, we’d be forcing a good many households into ruin.”
“Couldn’t the debts be canceled? After all, if the creditor is a criminal, he has no standing by which to claim repayment,” Hu Qing suggested.
Wenyuan shook his head. “It’s easy enough for them to transfer the debt to another family member or a retainer. They could even arrange for someone else to buy out the debt at a very low price and continue collecting from the debtors. Then we would have no legal standing to cancel the debts. And if we do a blanket cancellation, which would obviously be best, the backlash would be much too strong.”
“I thought there was a law that prevented compounding interest or collecting interest that exceeds the principle,” Hu Qing said in confusion. “And small farmers and merchants tend to borrow with extreme moderation–usually only when they absolutely have to. They wouldn’t borrow so much that the doubled amount could bankrupt them.”
He looked towards Wenyuan expectantly.
“The law exists, yes, but there are ways around it,” Wenyuan explained. “For one, the monthly interest rate is capped at 4 percent, but that adds up to almost half the principle within a year. The creditor is allowed to start collecting by the end of the first month, and to start suing for payments if they can’t collect within twenty days of that. If the payment is delayed for long enough, the creditor can just seize the collateral–and that’s usually the house or part of the fields.”
Wenyuan caught Hu Qing’s frown before he could raise a question. “Since the landlord would have a monopoly on local lending, he can just demand the collateral to be the house or land,” Wenyuan answered preemptively. “Plus, even if he doesn’t do so immediately, he can get to the house eventually through loan churning.”
“What’s that?” Wei Guang was the one to ask this time.
“You demand the interest payment and threaten to sue when they don’t have it, and once you get them desperate enough, you offer another, larger loan to help them pay the current one,” Wenyuan said. “And then you keep doing it until you own them.”
“Ah, yes. I know what you speak of,” Wei Guang said. “That does circumvent the law of not allowing the interest to surpass the principle.”
Hu Qing shook his head. “You know, the illegal shit I did before isn’t half as bad as the stuff that’s actually legal,” he muttered into Wenyuan’s ear.
Wenyuan bit back a laugh.
“But in any case, we’ve already pushed far enough with the communication infrastructure reforms and the reporting policy. If we move too fast, we’ll be the ones who are swallowed up. Yet if we fail to address this issue, then public opinion will still be against us,” Wei Guang said. “After all, the literati have the strongest influence on public opinion, and the major clans produce the most literati. There’s little we can do about it.”
“And why not?” Hu Qing demanded. “The literati are only more influential because they can write. But how many people can read? We could just go around them.”
“It’s not so simple as that,” Wei Guang said patiently.
“But it is,” Hu Qing protested. “Send out theater troupes. Stage plays for the villages and towns to highlight who’s actually in the wrong here. You can even use them to outline the new policies if you want!”
“Vice-Censor Liang has a point,” Wenyuan added, a strange glint in his eyes. He put a finger on Hu Qing’s shoulder. “Public opinion shapes policy, after all. Wouldn’t you agree, godfather? Whether it's theater or any other form, we have to maximize our advantage.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Wei Guang finally agreed, with a smidge of reluctance. “I’ll edit the report.”
“In the meantime, Vice-Censor Liang, I need you to find a case that can stir up outrage,” Wenyuan said. “Find a debtor with a good story–the kind that fans up righteous anger. If we can find a suitable case and stir up public outrage with it, then we have a shot at dealing with the debt crisis. And I do believe there is an economic crisis on the horizon if we can’t fix this mess.”
“I’ll find one,” Hu Qing promised.
“I’m sure you can. You’re the best at nosing out drama,” Wenyuan said.
The three of them turned their attention back to the report, making yet another round of edits to the document.
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Cultural Notes
指条明道/Point a clear path: A Chinese saying that means to give a clear answer/solution.
关内道/Guannei Circuit: Refers to an administrative region in Northern China that includes the Anbei Protectorate where the Tiele tribes reside. Strategically important. The Minister of War, Kuang's supporter, blocked Yu Bianfu's father from being promoted into a post here.
岭南道/Lingnan Circuit: Refers to an administrative region in Southeast China that includes modern-day Guangzhou. In the Song Dynasty, it was a popular place of exile (as in people kept getting exiled here).
鹿死谁手/At whose hand will the deer die: An Ancient Chinese saying, derived from the even older proverb 逐鹿中原/chase deer across the Central Plains, aka to become the master of the region. Ritualistic hunting had symbolic importance for rulers in Ancient China, thus this saying was used to represent becoming the overlord/ruler of the country. At whose hand will the deer die means that it is yet uncertain who will obtain victory. A ruler from a Northern nomadic tribe was being flattered by his subject, who claimed he was better than any Emperor who came before, including Emperor Gaozong of the Han dynasty, who established the dynasty. The ruler replied that he was not quite so impressive, and that he would gladly serve Emperor Gaozong as a subject. However, if it were Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty (we've talked about his story before), it would not be immediately clear at whose hand the deer would die (aka who would be the better man).
公报私仇/Use public resources for private grievances: An Ancient Chinese proverb.
病来如山倒，病去如抽丝/The arrival of an illness is like a mountain collapsing, the healing of an illness is like painstakingly pulling out threads: An Ancient Chinese saying. Essentially means that the healing process is long and painful even if the onset of an illness is crushing and sudden.
四两拨千斤/Countering a thousand pounds with four ounces: An Ancient Chinese proverb that means to resolve a very difficult problem/task with a very clever but simple solution. Or to avoid a difficult topic with a related but noncommittal answer.
Debt policy in the Tang Dynasty: There were multiple policies in the Tang Dynasty regarding debt: first that the interest should never exceed the principal and that interest could not be compounded. Second, a citizen could not be forced into indentured servitude to repay a debt. Third, monthly interest should not exceed 4% of the principal for private loans, and not 5% for government loans. Fourth, you cannot confiscate or forcibly extract payment without a lawsuit, or it will count as theft. Fifth, if a man fails to pay his debt for 20 days after the agreed time, he will be subjected to 20 lashes. If he fails to pay for 40 days, the lashes double. If he exceeds 100 days, he will be subject to 70 lashes and sentenced to corvée labor for a year. The punishment is harsher if the debt is large or a gambling debt.