Kays Translations

Chapter 155: Return to Anyang

Why did His Majesty’s command leave Li Yulong dumbfounded?

To explain, the initial plan for Anyang was neither to occupy Luliang County nor to fully take over Zhongshan County. However, things took a dramatic turn. After Zhongshan County rebelled, Xu Ren had a new plan—to expand Anyang.

In the letter Xu Ren sent to Li Yulong, he even suggested working with the Yuan family to divide Luliang County. Then, he planned for Li Liang and Li Xian, the two brothers, to control Zhongshan County together.

Li Yulong looked at this plan and agreed with it. In the current Great Xia Empire, the early bird catches the worm.

Even when Bei Chen Yuqing met the Yuan family, they had already made promises with them.

However, now His Majesty had outdone everyone. He publicly assigned Zhongshan County to Anyang, but told them not to interfere with Luliang County and let the Crown Prince take over! And the Emperor’s most cunning move was demoting the former Lu Liang County Inspector Zhao Guoshan and Zhao Youdan to commoners. Now, even if Anyang wanted to play the puppet master, it would be impossible.

Moreover, the Crown Prince was still the Crown Prince, and Li Xian was the Eastern Commander of the Great Xia Empire. Who could overrule them? And since the Crown Prince already had a good relationship with the Yuan family, while the Yuan family had conflicts with the Kong family, the situation in the east quickly turned into a three-way standoff. No one should stir trouble!

By sending the Crown Prince to Luliang County, it was like driving a nail into the heart of Anyang, causing many of their plans to face uncertainty!

But what truly stunned Li Yulong was not this, but the fact that His Majesty was obviously arranging for the future!

The First Prince controlled the north, and the Third Prince had the Wang family by his side; neither was in any danger—at least not in the short term! But the Second Prince was left all alone! Once the Emperor passed away, the Second Prince would not survive a month! Looking at the current state of the Great Xia Empire, only the Li and Yuan families could protect the Second Prince’s life! This was an alternative form of entrusting the future, and Luliang County was the “dowry” for the Second Prince.

The implied meaning was—whichever family, Li or Yuan, had the ability, could compete for Luliang County, but the Crown Prince had to be protected!

This was the Emperor’s strategy: giving Anyang County an expansion while also sticking a nail in Anyang’s plans; compensating the Yuan family for their injustice. Moreover, it was clear that the Yuan family, who were friendly with the Crown Prince, had a higher chance of obtaining Luliang County.

Of course, Li Yulong wasn’t angry. Political matters were like this—getting what you wanted was enough. At least for now, under the Li family’s control, there was Kaiping County and the expanded Anyang County.

So why did Kong Xiang’s face look grim? With the Emperor’s arrangement, the east of Nanyang County was controlled by the Yuan family and Dongyuan County, the northeast by the Li family and Anyang County, the west by the Wang family, the Third Prince, and Guangling County, and the north by the imperial capital! The vast Nanyang County was surrounded from all sides!

As Li Yulong’s thoughts turned over these matters, he immediately spoke up: “Anyang will wholeheartedly assist the Crown Prince.”

The Emperor looked at Li Yulong, and sighed for a moment, but didn’t say a word. At this point, saying anything was unnecessary for the Great Xia Empire.

Li Yulong could understand the Emperor’s feelings. “Your Majesty, after the turmoil in Anyang County, many things are in disarray; I wish to recall Li Xian to oversee Anyang and let Li Wei continue to be in charge of the Imperial Mausoleum.”

The Emperor nodded slightly, “Alright.”

The court meeting continued, mainly discussing how to deal with the Inspector of Zhongshan County, Shi Chengsong, and others. The final decision was—extinguishing their entire family! This was nearly an inevitable result.

As for Ye Mingquan, the Honglu Temple official from the Cai Kingdom, after discussion, it was decided to “sell at a good price,” offering 100,000 taels of gold to ransom the person. This 100,000 taels of gold would still be used as one of the burial items for the Imperial Mausoleum.

In the northwest of Wuyang City, at Yunding Mountain, the construction site of the Imperial Mausoleum, Li Xian watched as boxes of gold, silver, and even copper coins were carried into the Imperial Mausoleum, somewhat confused. “Mr. Ge, it’s just for the burial, is it really necessary to use so much real gold and silver?”

Ge Zhengfeng shoved the troublesome Li Xian aside, saying, “Go, go, go. I’ll explain it to you tonight.”

Every box of gold, silver, and copper coins that came in, Ge Zhengfeng used a mystical artifact that Li Xian couldn’t understand to inspect it. Li Xian watched in confusion but could only observe from the side.

Suddenly, Ge Zhengfeng stopped one box of gold. “Who sent this gold?” he asked.

The soldier immediately answered, “Mr. Ge, this is part of the 100,000 taels of gold recently sent by the Kong family of Nanyang County.”

Ge Zhengfeng pointed to the 20 boxes behind him. “Are all of these from the Kong family?”

“Yes.”

“Open the boxes, I’ll check them.”

Ge Zhengfeng carefully examined the contents for a long time before speaking, “This gold can’t be used. Move it to the side for now.”
The gold, silver, and copper coins were continuously inspected, and occasionally, some boxes of currency were singled out and stacked to the side.

Li Xian was really curious. He went up to take a look. It was indeed real gold and silver, so why couldn’t it be used?
While Li Xian was puzzled, a flying vehicle from Anyang descended from the sky. Song Xing and the others returned to Yunding Mountain, and the vehicle carried a letter from Xu Ren, the meaning of which was simple: they had won.

When Ge Zhengfeng saw the flying vehicle, his eyes lit up, and he immediately walked up to Li Xian. “Xiaoxian, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Li Xian immediately jumped up. “You’re not planning to use this flying vehicle for burial, are you?”

It wasn’t surprising that Li Xian asked this. Ge Zhengfeng’s gaze was too… sly! And recently, Li Xian had seen many kinds of burial goods! Even the sand table models of important cities in the Great Xia Kingdom weren’t spared. Some low-ranking concubines had already been poisoned and sent to various underground chambers! This was one of the reasons Li Xian didn’t like staying in this place.

Ge Zhengfeng grinned. “If you’re willing, I wouldn’t have any objections.”

Li Xian sneered. “Forget it, this thing won’t fly without spirit stones. It’s just junk if buried underground. Let’s not make things worse for His Majesty. If you have something to say, just say it, Senior Ge.”

Ge Zhengfeng pointed to the gold, silver, and copper that had been singled out. “Do you know why these can’t be used?”

Li Xian shook his head.

“Because these gold, silver, and copper coins have never circulated! They are all brand new!”

Li Xian frowned. So what if they hadn’t circulated?
Ge Zhengfeng explained, “Do you know why gold, silver, and copper coins circulate in the world? It’s simple. Above, you have the sun, moon, and stars, and below, you have gold, silver, and copper. Gold, silver, and copper have many strange abilities, especially when used in large quantities; and that is— they suppress luck.

Secondly, circulating gold, silver, and copper are considered currency; the ones that don’t circulate are just simple metals. Gold, silver, and copper, when in circulation, absorb a little of the luck. That’s why in ancient times, emperors collected all the gold, silver, and copper in the world to craft great national cauldrons to suppress the empire’s luck.

And in tombs, there are countless such items.

Moreover, although gold, silver, and copper can all suppress luck, each has its own characteristic. Gold represents emperors, nobility, and eternity; silver represents officials, purity, and being spotless; copper represents the common people, the foundation, and long-lasting strength.

That’s why gold, silver, and copper are used as currency in the world. So, gold, silver, and copper that haven’t circulated, or those that have been remelted, can’t be used for burial.”

Li Xian immediately had doubts. “Wait a minute, although the world has gold, silver, and copper, isn’t iron the most abundant?”

“Iron is a tool for killing and warfare. It’s a weapon of attack,” Ge Zhengfeng replied.

“Alright, alright, but what does this have to do with the flying vehicle?”

Ge Zhengfeng’s expression grew serious. “The imperial star is fading, and His Majesty’s life expectancy is short. The royal tomb must be expedited. I plan to use the flying vehicle to transport this gold, silver, and copper to exchange with merchants. That way, it’ll be faster.”

“I see now. No problem. If it doesn’t exceed 200,000 taels of gold, Anyang can handle it. No handling fees.”

“You dare to charge me?” Ge Zhengfeng playfully tapped Li Xian on the back of his head before continuing with his work. The flying vehicle was temporarily halted as there was nothing urgent for now.

However, in the evening, an imperial decree arrived from the capital, instructing Li Xian to return to Anyang and have Li Wei take over the supervision of the royal tomb.

Back to Anyang? Li Xian was overjoyed. After inspecting the decree and confirming its authenticity, he immediately ordered the gold, silver, copper, and other items to be loaded onto the flying vehicle, setting off that very night! The flying vehicle had a weight capacity of up to 50 tons, and transporting a total of 300,000 taels of gold, silver, and copper coins was no problem.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter