Chapter 210: A Bold Gamble

Zhu Gaoxu, the King of Han, had once been a skilled warrior. In terms of individual bravery, even Zhu Neng, the Duke of Chengguo, could not compare to him. He already disliked scholars, and after losing the struggle for the throne in the Eastern Palace, he grew even more resentful of those civil officials who played political games. Those he trusted most were a few companions who had fought alongside him and a few officers from the Tiance Guard. Although Zhu Zhantan, the crown prince, had repeatedly advised him to respect and employ the wise, and he did have a few advisors, in the end he distanced himself from them all.

“A ruler must seize power on horseback, but cannot govern the country from horseback. Why can’t Father understand this?”

In a room in the southwest corner of the King of Han’s mansion, bookshelves lined up neatly from north to south held a variety of books. By the east wall stood an eight-foot-long and two-foot-wide rosewood desk, behind which hung a piece of cursive script with fluid and graceful strokes—Jie Jin’s “Poem on Visiting the Seven Stars.”

Sitting in the grand chair behind the desk, Zhu Zhantan uttered these words with sigh. The scholar in front of him couldn’t help but glance at the cursive script before bowing slightly and saying, “If the King of Han could be as reasonable as Your Highness, those people led by Jie Jin wouldn’t have been so determined to support the crown prince. Fortunately, with Your Highness supporting the King of Han, Le’an is now thriving with merchants. If only Le’an were in Qingzhou…”

“Let’s not dwell on the past. It’s time to look to the future!”

Zhu Zhantan smirked slightly. After all, being stationed in Qingzhou was far better than in Le’an, yet it had been ruined by his father’s tyranny. If he could establish a foothold in Qingzhou and use a little strategy, he could easily take control of the Shandong military command—much better than the current situation. But every action has its advantages and disadvantages. Le’an and Shouguang had salt fields, and obtaining salt licenses would be a great advantage. Thankfully, Zhang Yue had mentioned it; otherwise, he wouldn’t have known that his younger brother had seized tens of thousands of pounds of salt.

“How’s things progressing in Shouguang? Has my younger brother sent someone to bring the salt?”

He Guangzhao, the scholar, had been recommended by Zhu Zhantan to Zhu Gaoxu, but within days, he angered Zhu Gaoxu and nearly lost his life. Now, he wholeheartedly followed Zhu Zhantan. He replied with a smile, “Your Highness acts in the name of the King of Han—how could the King of Shouguang dare disobey? As soon as Your Highness sent a messenger, the King of Shouguang immediately arranged for the salt to be transported. It happened just in time. When the messenger returned, he saw that the carts had already set off—likely already on their way.”

“My second brother has always had a hot-tempered nature; don’t think he’ll give up so easily,” Zhu Zhan Tan recalled the resentful and vicious look in Zhu Zhan Qi’s eyes the last time he released him from the woodshed, and couldn’t help frowning. “Remember, this time we’re forcing him to spit out what’s in his mouth—he’ll surely be reluctant. Give orders saying it’s an order from Prince Han Jun: keep a tight watch on the Shouguang Prince’s mansion. Apart from necessary purchases, not a single insect is allowed to leave!”
He Guangzhao wasn’t expecting Zhu Zhan Tan to be determined to truly imprison Zhu Zhan Qi. He was stunned and quickly asked, “Your Highness, after all, the Prince of Shouguang is a prince appointed by the court. What if he causes trouble?”
“With our father around, he won’t be that bold. Besides, if he does something reckless in his anger, it will be even harder to handle later. It’s better to be cautious now. Mr. He, take some people and figure out how to establish contact with the Salt Transport Bureau or negotiate with those merchants waiting for salt supplies. What’s worthless in their hands is gold in the prince’s mansion—working for the mansion is a hundred times better than working for them! Keep a tight watch on the Le’an and Shouguang salt fields. What are our father’s thousand hectares of land compared to that? This isn’t like before—go ahead and do it!”
He Guangzhao stepped back, and Zhu Zhan Tan sat in the grand chair for a while before getting up and leaving. Although he had wrapped himself in a thick mink coat early on, the cold wind outside still made him feel a deep chill, causing him to cough several times. Seeing the eunuchs skillfully come to assist him, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
Heaven gave his father a body that could withstand all weather, so why did it give him such a weak frame?
Despite his poor health, Zhu Zhan Tan had taken many young and beautiful concubines besides his crown princess. Yet, though he had known about sex at the age of thirteen, none of his wives or concubines had managed to give him a son. That night, he really had no mood for indulgence, so he simply ordered his sedan to take him back to his main bedroom. As soon as he entered, he saw his trusted eunuch giving him urgent signals, so he sent everyone else away.
“He’s here?”
“Your Highness, he’s been waiting for quite some time.”

Zhu Zhan Tan nodded slightly and let the young eunuch remove his cloak, then personally pulled back the curtain to enter the inner room. On the first chair at the east end of the room sat a bearded man. Upon seeing him arrive, the bearded man stood up abruptly, stepped forward a few paces, and bowed. Caught off guard, Zhu Zhan Tan had no choice but to accept the bow and waved his hand to dismiss it. “Get up. You know I’m not in good health and can’t support you—why such formalities?” Zhu Zhan Tan sat down unsteadily on the heated bed, studied the bearded man for a while, and sighed, “In just one year, so much weariness has appeared on your face. You must have endured much hardship. The tasks you’ve undertaken are extremely dangerous. If there really hadn’t been no other way, I wouldn’t have resorted to this measure, sending a son from a military family to mix with those commoners.” The bearded man, who had already been sitting upright only half-sitting on the chair, now showed an even more moved expression. “The Qiu family has been exiled to Hainan for so many years. Only Your Highness remembers us. Your Highness even sent someone to allow me to leave that place. I will never forget this kindness and grace, and certainly wouldn’t dare speak of hardship.” “What I’ve done for you is nothing more than a trivial effort. After all, if the Duke of Qi hadn’t rashly spoken of naming an heir back then, your family wouldn’t have been implicated, and you wouldn’t have ended up in such a plight. It’s also my father’s fault,” Zhu Zhan Tan said, his eyes unfocused, unsure whether he was speaking to the bearded man or to himself. “Since my father is in charge of Shandong, we certainly can’t let those commoners ruin everything. As long as we can manipulate them, things can turn out very well. In other words, if you do well, you can regain the title your grandfather once held, and the Qiu family can rise again.” Ever since enduring Zhu Zhan Qi’s whipping, Sun Lianggan, the magistrate of Le’an, seemed to have become more amiable in the eyes of others. He was no longer that sharp-tongued and resentful person who disliked everyone; even the clerks greeted him warmly when entering or leaving the office. He paid no attention to official matters, letting the lower-ranking officials handle them while he simply stamped documents. As for them embezzling or exploiting situations in various cases, he turned a blind eye. Gradually, even the clerks would bow and address him as “sir.”

Sun Lianggan took ten days off on the Lantern Festival and used the excuse of visiting friends, actually disappearing for a full ten days. After returning to the yamen to handle affairs, he often made excuses to leave as well. Others were glad he didn’t get involved, so they paid no attention. One evening, they saw Sun Lianggan mount his horse and leave the yamen with a retainer. The two guards at the entrance bowed briefly and then continued chatting cheerfully, with no one wondering why the county magistrate would go out on such a cold night when the city gates were about to close.

Although deep winter had passed, the weather at night was still cold. Sun Lianggan and his retainer left the city directly and traveled along the official road for a while before he felt completely frozen from head to toe. Yet, compared to the seemingly warm but actually freezing yamen, he preferred to endure the wind on such a journey. After about half an hour, they arrived at the Gaojiagang Inspection Station.

“Lord Sun has arrived!”

With a shout, the chief and deputy inspectors of the station rushed out immediately, all with smiling faces. Inspectors were minor officials, ranked only at the ninth level, just slightly above the lowest ranks. No one cared why this strange county magistrate liked to hang around their station; they only knew that whenever Sun Lianggan came, he would generously spend money to have food and drinks brought from Le’an Town, ensuring everyone had something good to eat and drink. Moreover, with Sun Lianggan’s support, their luck seemed to improve—they had caught three groups of smugglers in salt and handed them all over to the authorities, earning quite a bit in rewards.

“Lord, thanks to you this evening, I hope we can make another profitable deal!”

Seeing the inspector bowing and greeting him, Sun Lianggan nodded smilingly and followed him into the central room of the station. After sitting down, he, as usual, tossed a silver coin to the attendant archer, ordering him to prepare food and drinks. He gestured for the chief and deputy inspectors to sit down, and once there were no outsiders around, he spoke mysteriously.

“You two have been in this inspection post for more than a day or two. Do you want to move up in rank?”
“Move up? Lord Sun, are you joking with us? Who doesn’t know that inspectors are just minor officials who can hardly advance in their careers?” The inspector sighed and slammed his hand on the table twice. “If it weren’t for you, Lord Sun, staying here, we wouldn’t have been able to hold off those two groups of salt smugglers a few days ago—they all had powerful backers!”

The younger deputy inspector quickly drew the crude sword at his waist, slammed it on the table with a loud thud, and said firmly, “Lord Sun, you’ve known us for quite some time now. If you have a plan, just tell us directly. As long as it’s possible, we’ll go all out! Don’t scholars say that a gentleman will die for those who understand him? We may not be gentlemen, but we still value loyalty!” Seeing Inspector Chai nod repeatedly, Sun Lianggan felt greatly reassured. He thought to himself that all his efforts since the New Year hadn’t been in vain. As a seventh-rank official, no matter how much effort or money he invested, as long as there was still a king above him, everything would be futile. But with these inspectors, he could achieve his goal at a minimal cost. Thinking of the news he had received that day, his whole body felt hot, so he took a deep breath. It was time to take a bold gamble—if he won, his career would be paved with success! “I’ve heard that there’s a large shipment of smuggled salt passing through here tonight. The people behind this are extremely powerful, so you don’t need to stop it. Just help me get a bag of salt down from above. The emperor is currently seeking honest advice. If this succeeds, my name will be heard throughout the empire, and promotion will be imminent. I’ll surely take care of you then. Of course, even if it fails, it won’t affect you in the slightest!” Having said this, Inspector Chai and the deputy inspector exchanged glances for a moment before nodding firmly. “Lord, you’ve taken care of us for so long—what’s a small favor like this? Please wait here; we’ll handle it properly!” Sun Lianggan was overjoyed that they agreed so quickly. After the food and drinks arrived, he kept offering drinks to them, eventually losing control and getting completely drunk. Once he was drunk, the two inspectors quietly left the room and began discussing things urgently. “How large is the shipment? Usually, it’s three to five hundred pounds, and we can make a huge profit by intercepting it. Could it be several thousand pounds this time? If so, we can transport it immediately via the Daqing River, and we won’t have to be mere inspectors anymore!”

“We can decide whether to intercept them later. But didn’t you hear what Liu Yicheng from Qingzhou Prefecture said last time? That Sun guy is extremely heartless. Lord Zhang saved him last time, yet he was rude to him. Still, he’s trying hard to win us over—clearly he has something he wants us to do for him. If we help him out, we can send a message to the prefecture office. After all, Lord Zhang is also our superior. If he’s grateful, won’t that help us gain his favor? That Sun guy wants to make a name for himself, but it’s still too early for that!”

It was deep night, when everyone should be asleep, but countless torches lit up the dark. Dozens of large carts were moving along the official road. The drivers seemed listless, and the escorts were distracted. As they approached the Gaojiagang Inspection Post, they saw a fence blocking the road. The lead guard shouted loudly, “Move aside quickly! We’re delivering goods from the Shouguang Prince’s Mansion to the Han Prince’s Mansion!”

There were dozens of archers at the inspection post. Seeing such a large shipment, they wanted to extort some money. Only after learning it was from the Shouguang Prince’s Mansion did they give up their greedy thoughts. Inspector Chai ordered the fence to be moved aside and stepped forward to speak a few words. Seeing that the people ignored him and that the carts were filled with neatly arranged bags, he grew suspicious. As the long convoy passed by, he counted them—there were far more than ten carts—and his expression changed drastically.

Could this be that large shipment of smuggled salt? Good heavens, could it really be the prince’s mansion transporting smuggled salt?

Long after all the carts had passed, two archers quietly returned, carrying a bag. Inspector Chai took a torch and went over. He squatted down, reached in, and pulled out something—snow-white salt. His face turned pale instantly, and he could even hear himself swallowing hard.

Just as he was terrified, a voice came from behind him, “There are twenty carts in total… 500 jin per cart, that’s 10,000 jin! And they even dared to stamp the prince’s mansion seal on the bags. Hmph, what boldness! I’ll sue you even if it means giving up my official position! Inspector Chai, you don’t need to worry about anything else. I’ll take this salt with me!”

After accepting the silver bar given by Sun Lianggan and seeing his servant load the salt onto a horse, the master and servant left in the darkness. Inspector Chai stood there, stunned. But after his initial fear, he thought of the huge profit from those 10,000 jin of salt and couldn’t help but sigh. It was 10,000 jin of salt—if he could seize it and sell it, he wouldn’t have to worry about anything for the rest of his life!

It’s a pity that though it’s an improper act, the person behind it is someone he definitely can’t afford to anger; now he can only send someone to convey a message to the Qingzhou government office.