Chapter 414: The Court Borrowing Money

It had been nearly a month since Li Qing’an returned from Hezhong to Suiye. During this time, he had stayed at home, quietly recovering from his injuries. The wound on his left shoulder had flared up again during his journey back to Suiye, becoming infected and bleeding, worsening his condition. It was only after returning to Suiye that he realized the arrow had damaged his tendons and bones. Thanks to his strong physique, he managed to hold on; otherwise, his left shoulder would have been crippled.

Under the strict orders of the chief military doctor of Anxi, Li Qing’an was forced to rest at home for a month. Yet, this month also allowed him to experience the warmth of family and the joy of being a father.

At dawn, Li Qing’an got up and quietly went to see his two children—a five-month-old daughter and a three-month-old son. Both were sleeping soundly. Gently touching their delicate cheeks, he left silently, afraid of disturbing their sleep.

Next, he went to his study. Ru Shi had already opened the windows for ventilation. On the table, a vase held a bouquet of blooming plum blossoms, looking especially fresh under the spring sunlight.

He sat down at the desk and flipped through the Anxi Daily News delivered in the middle of the night. This was his daily routine—the newspaper was printed in the dead of night and delivered immediately so he could read it every day.

The Anxi Daily News was established under Li Qing’an’s instructions, modeled after the imperial Kaiyuan Daily News. As an official newspaper, it mainly reported on military and political matters, as well as news from the Central Plains. These stories were selected from intelligence gathered by the Imperial Household Department, with only non-classified events published to enhance readability.

Although many of the stories weren’t major military or political events, Li Qing’an still enjoyed reading these trivial news items. Anything happening in the Central Plains piqued his strong interest.

But today, he was surprised. The newspaper from last night hadn’t arrived, and what was on the table was still the one from the day before. He checked the coffee table beside him—aside from a few reports, there was no sign of the newspaper that should have been delivered last night.

“Elder brother, what are you looking for?”
Ru Shi rushed in with a bowl of bird’s nest soup and asked, “Are you looking for the newspaper?”
“Yes! Why isn’t it here?”
Ru Shi placed the bird’s nest soup in front of Li Qing’an and shook her head with a smile. “It wasn’t delivered last night.”
“What’s going on?” Li Qing’an was puzzled. Even when he wasn’t in Suiye, the newspaper was delivered every day without fail. How could it be missing today?
“I’ve already sent Haitang to inquire. We should hear news soon.”
As she spoke, a maid’s voice came from the door. “Third Madam!”

It was Ruishi’s maid, Haitang, who had returned. Ruishi hurriedly opened the door and saw a maid standing there, holding a freshly printed newspaper. Li Qing’an recognized it at a glance—it must be the newspaper from last night.
“Third Madam, Master, the newspaper just arrived. The delivery man said all the newspapers printed last night were invalidated. These were printed only at the fourth watch today, which is why it’s late.”
“Did he say why they were invalidated?”
The maid shook her head. “I asked, but he didn’t know.”
Li Qing’an took the newspaper. It was indeed freshly printed, with a faint ink scent. After thinking for a moment, he wrote a note and asked Ruishi to give it to the maid, saying, “Give this to Colonel Zhang and ask him to find out the reason.”
The maid left, and Ruishi poured another cup of tea. Not wanting to disturb him, she quietly left as well. Li Qing’an settled into a more comfortable position, sipping tea while reading today’s newspaper. The warm sunlight on his back made his left shoulder feel especially comfortable.
After reading the first page about affairs in Anxi, Li Qing’an habitually flipped to the third page, where there were news items from Chang’an and various parts of the Tang Dynasty.
The first news item caught his attention: Zhang Yi, a clerk in the Crown Prince’s Left Spring Court, was dismissed from his position for acting indecently by carrying goods for foreign merchants in the Western Market at night. Below that was another story about aofficial’s wife who sold herself and committed suicide out of shame after being recognized by her husband’s colleagues; the official’s name and position were not mentioned.
Reading these two stories made Li Qing’an feel as uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly. His brows furrowed. He had heard that court officials hadn’t received their salaries for three years, but things must have gotten worse to the point where a wife had to resort to prostitution. Likely, the official himself was unaware, but the dire financial situation had left his wife with no other choice.
Li Qing’an became restless. He stepped out of the study courtyard. At that moment, his personal colonel, Zhang Jie, came forward to report, “General, I’ve found out. It was Mr. Yan who stopped the printing of those miscellaneous newspapers last night. He said he would come to explain to you.”
“I don’t need him to explain. I’ll go see him myself.”
Li Qing’an immediately ordered, “Prepare a carriage. I’m going to the Government Hall.”
Soon, the carriage arrived. Li Qing’an got in, and under the strict protection of hundreds of bodyguards, the carriage headed toward the Government Hall.

In the carriage, Li Qing’an leaned against the wall, reading a report sent by the government office the day before yesterday. The imperial court wanted to borrow one million silver coins, equivalent to one million guan, from Anxi. The official documents stated that the money would mainly be used to pay the salaries of officials in arrears, but Li Qing’an was worried that Li Yu might use it for military expenses, so he did not agree immediately and needed time to consider it.

In fact, Li Qing’an had already obtained detailed information about the court’s financial situation from the Secretariat’s intelligence. He had anticipated that the court’s financial condition would reach such a dire state—unable to increase revenue or cut expenses. It was said that the palace alone required five to six hundred thousand guan per year, not to mention the ongoing administrative costs, which were simply insufficient. Li Yu even had to support a large army of one hundred thousand troops. Last year, if it weren’t for the funds from Li Longji’s private treasury, his army would have fled long ago. Now that that treasury was empty, all the crises came to light at once.

Now, Li Yu could only rely on the imperial relatives; otherwise, he wouldn’t last until April.

The carriage turned and entered Li Qing’an’s office through a side door. In a sense, Li Qing’an had taken a month off to rest at home precisely to see for himself how affairs in Anxi were being handled in his absence. To his great satisfaction, affairs in Anxi were running very smoothly. In fact, the administration there followed the system of three departments and six ministries, with checks and balances and collective decision-making. Especially after more than twenty important officials from Hexi and Longyou, such as Pei Mian, the military governor of Hexi, Du Hongjian, the judicial officer, and Cui Yi, the imperial censor, arrived in Anxi, its administrative capacity was greatly enhanced. Historically, people like Pei Mian, Du Hongjian, and Liu Yan had been pillars of the court during the later stages of the An Lushan Rebellion and enjoyed a high reputation. They might not be good at fighting, but they had extensive experience in handling government affairs.

Li Qing’an entered his office. Although he was away, it was still clean and spotless. As soon as he sat down, Yan Zhuang came in with a miscellaneous newspaper.

“Does the general want this newspaper? Half of it was printed last night, but I stopped it.”

“Bring it to me!”

Li Qing’an took the newspaper and asked, “Why did you stop it?”

“Because there’s a piece of news related to the general. I thought it wasn’t appropriate to print it, so I stopped it. It’s on page three.”

Page three contained news from the Tang Dynasty’s interior. Li Qing’an flipped to page three, and Yan Zhuang pointed to the headline: “Thirty landowners and hundreds of tenants in Weinan County sued the servants of Princess Huo for seizing 300 hectares of fertile land at 40% below market price.”

“Weinan County?”

Li Qing’an suddenly remembered that his own manor was also in Weinan County and was related to him. Could it refer to his own manor? He continued to read downward and indeed saw his name among the news: “Among the 300 hectares of land seized were 40 hectares of permanent farmland belonging to the Anxi Military Governor and His Royal Highness the Prince of Zhao.”

“What? This Princess of Huo actually dares to seize my land!” Li Qing’an snapped in anger. This princess of Huo clearly didn’t take him seriously at all.

“General, I think the Princess of Huo doesn’t know that your land is among those seized. Otherwise, even with a hundred times the courage, she wouldn’t dare. That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“What then?”

Li Qing’an found it strange. There was nothing special about this news—it was merely giving Li Yu an excuse to act. What did it have to do with him?

“General, the miscellaneous reports say those 40 hectares are your permanent farmland. But your 100 hectares of permanent farmland are all in Anxi. This is publicly displayed in the government hall. If such reports spread, people will think you’ve taken 40 more hectares in Anxi, which will damage your reputation.”

“Well…” Li Qing’an hadn’t considered this. In fact, those 4,000 hectares were a gift from Li Longji, and it wasn’t explicitly stated as permanent farmland. He hadn’t paid much attention to those lands either. Although he was angry at the Princess of Huo for seizing his land, it was merely a matter of pride, not related to the land itself. It was fortunate that Yan Zhuang was meticulous; otherwise, his reputation would have been severely damaged. After all, he had strictly restricted land consolidation in Anxi.

Thinking of this, Li Qing’an smiled gratefully at Yan Zhuang and said, “Thank you. I really didn’t think of that. But that land isn’t my permanent farmland. The land registered in the Ministry of Personnel is assigned land based on my position, but it’s not even that—it’s property given to me by Li Longji. My first permanent farmland was in Bahuan City, 100 mu. I don’t know what’s become of it now.”

Seeing that Li Qing’an had clarified the matter, Yan Zhuang felt relieved and asked, “So what does the General think about the Princess of Huo being exposed?”

“Do I even need to ask? Li Yu is already driven mad by money. With the Princess of Huo’s incident coming up, he will surely use it as an excuse to target her and extract some money or grain from her. But things aren’t as simple as he thinks. He believes the Princess of Huo has no power and can be dealt with at will, but in reality, many people will come to protect her, including Li Longji and even those local princes. They will all put pressure on Li Yu.”

“What if Li Yu uses the pretext of protecting the general’s land holdings? By accusing him of offending the prince, he can shift everyone’s anger onto the general, making it seem as though Li Qing’an, the governor of Anxi, is behind it.”
Li Qing’an nodded and smiled. “He might do that, using me as a shield. But others aren’t fools. It depends on how far he’s willing to go with this case. If he simply handles it matter-of-factly—returning those 300 hectares of land and executing those so-called household slaves—then maybe people will think it’s me exerting pressure, and no one will delve deeper. But if he tries to seize the Princess of Huo’s food and confiscate her property, just wait! The consequences might even be beyond Li Yu’s imagination.”
At that moment, a guard came to report, “General, the head of the Chang household has arrived.”
“Let him in!”
A moment later, Chang Jin rushed in, bowing to Li Qing’an and saying, “I pay my respects to the general.”
Chang Jin was still in charge of the internal affairs department, overseeing Anxi’s intelligence network and reporting directly to Li Qing’an. The internal affairs department not only had a large staff but also a well-established intelligence transmission network that relied on homing pigeons, allowing messages even from Guangzhou to reach Suiye.
“I want to know how much progress has been made with our spies in the palace.”
Chang Jin replied quickly, “General, we spent 20,000 silver coins to bribe sixty influential maids and eunuchs in Daming Palace and Xingqing Palace, and we’ve already obtained information.”
Saying this, Chang Jin handed over a scroll of pigeon messages to Li Qing’an. “This was delivered this morning. There was a conflict during the emperor’s visit to Li Longji, mainly over the matter of the Princess of Huo. Additionally, Li Longji asked the emperor to use Anqingzong as a bargaining chip to exchange him for the King of Xiliang with An Lushan, but the emperor seems unresponsive. Anqingzong is still under house arrest in An Lushan’s residence.”
After reading the pigeon messages, Li Qing’an said to Yan Zhuang, “It seems Li Longji isn’t willing to stay idle.”
Yan Zhuang nodded. “That’s understandable. He’s been an emperor for over forty years and is accustomed to a life of supreme power. Now he’s suddenly lost everything, and on top of that, Li Yu ascended the throne without permission. How could he be content? How could he stay idle? If I’m not mistaken, Li Longji must be plotting a comeback.”
“It seems Chang’an will be lively again. I really want to go and see it.”
With that, Li Qing’an said to Chang Jin, “Strengthen surveillance in Chang’an. I’ll give you a list—keep an eye on every move of the people on that list.”
“I’ll follow orders!”

Chang Jin bowed and was about to leave when Li Qingan called him back, smiling and saying, “When did Magistrate Chang become so impatient? I still haven’t mentioned the important matter for which I called you today!”
“I am ashamed!”
Chang Jin scratched his head awkwardly and stepped back, saying, “Please give your orders, General.”
Li Qingan pondered for a moment before saying, “There are three matters. First, increase the manpower in Chang’an and concentrate the forces from various regions in Guanzhong and Luoyang there. Second, strengthen the security of Huaqing Palace. I expect Li Yu to cut back on its expenses, but we must ensure the daily expenses of the Imperial Concubine are covered. Additionally, the Du Gu family should also send someone to protect her. Third, order the Anxi Treasury to assist officials from poor families. Consider everything thoroughly—regardless of factions. Even those under Yang Guozhong should be helped. Tell them that I, Li Qingan, am always concerned for them.”
With that, Li Qingan turned to Yan Zhuang and said, “Go tell Secretary Wang to issue a document to the court. If the court wants to borrow one million silver coins, it’s fine—exchange them for the heads of Meng Yun and Luo Zhengyi.”
As Yan Zhuang was about to leave, Li Qingan changed his mind and said, “Bring Secretary Wang here. I’ll tell him in person.”