Chapter 522: Bets, Fairness

The second hall of the general’s residence was located inside the Inner Court Gate, with two side chambers on each side, serving as waiting areas for officials, while the central part was used for actual meetings. Initially, Xu Heng, impatient to meet people here, would summon them to his own third hall, resulting in the waiting officers often chatting freely and making it extremely noisy. Now, Zhang Yue followed a bodyguard along the central path inside the Inner Court Gate. He saw that the door curtains in both side chambers were absent, revealing several officers sitting upright. As he approached, he could only hear voices coming from the second hall, with no other noise.

“My lord, Governor Zhang has arrived.”
The bodyguard lifted a corner of the thick cotton curtain in the second hall, bent down to report, and after receiving instructions from inside, he turned to Zhang Yue, gestured, and whispered, “Inside are a thousand-household officer guarding Zhangjiakou Fort and a commandant from Wanquan. It won’t take long. Since Lord Zhang has arrived, those waiting can wait later. Why don’t you sit in one of the side chambers and wait?”

Thinking that waiting in a side chamber was no different from standing outside in the cold wind, and since there were people inside, Zhang Yue waved his hand. Through the gap in the curtain, he faintly saw the two men reporting to the officials kneeling on the ground. This scene was familiar to him—officialdom in the Ming Dynasty highly valued hierarchical rules. Officials from the six ministries would kneel when reporting to higher-ranking officials, and lower-ranking officials would bow according to their rank. But rules were rules, though not everyone strictly adhered to them. For example, in his memory, Zheng Heng had never paid much attention to such things. After pondering for a moment, he seemed to understand. After waiting a short while, he heard voices signaling their departure, so he stepped aside.

Perhaps due to kneeling for too long, the two officers emerging from the hall stumbled slightly as they descended the steps, their faces showing disappointment after being reprimanded. Zhang Yue glanced at them briefly before looking away. After they passed, he bent slightly and stepped over the high threshold only to find no one in the spacious room. Briefly stunned, he quickly walked through the small door to the east and indeed saw Zheng Heng standing in the desolate garden.

“Marquis of Wu’an!”

Zheng Heng nodded slightly, then revealed the right hand he had hidden behind his back—it was a memorial: “This was just sent back by the Ministry of Revenue. There’s the emperor’s reply on it; he has approved your proposal. I’m a warrior and can’t understand things like your so-called ‘permanent shares’ or salt regulations. All I know is that you’ve somehow made me get praised by the emperor without even trying. No wonder Lu Feng handed over his seal to you without asking—turns out you’re good at boosting others’ reputations! Now everyone in the capital will look at me, a simpleton, differently. It’s all your fault!”

Zhang Yue knew Zheng Heng was referring to the memorial he had submitted after being selected for the imperial examination. Seeing that Marquis of Wu’an merely smirked and wasn’t truly annoyed, he laughed as well. “Of course, the weight of a mere fifth-rank official’s petition isn’t enough, but with Marquis of Wu’an involved, it’s different. Those high-ranking officials can reject my proposal, but they’ll have to think twice before offending you. Besides, I even gave some credit to Eunuch Lu—how could I not include you, who contributed so much?”

“Good boy, quite clever!”

Zheng Heng shook his head irritably before saying, “Anyway, this time you exchanged two months’ worth of Huai salt production for 50,000 dan of grain—remarkable results. The imperial examination system will surely use this method in the future, and probably all the military garrisons across the country will follow suit. Your proposal to divide the annual output of Lianghuai, Liangzhe, and Changle into two parts even won high praise from Guo Zi. Many merchants returned empty-handed this time, right? There’s another chance— the Ministry of Revenue plans to allocate another 60,000 units of Huai salt for you to use in the imperial examination.”

He paused for a moment before showing a kind smile. “I brought you here today to share another good news. Your second uncle has won a battle. Given the momentum, it’s possible they’ll capture Li Li in a few days. Huang Fu, the governor of Jiaozhi, also submitted a report saying he’s found descendants of the Chen family in Annam. Whether true or not, the court has already issued an edict appointing him as the right counselor of the governor’s office. Also, your eldest uncle has set off from Nanjing and will arrive in the capital soon. All these bad news have given way to good news.”

As he spoke, Zheng Heng omitted one crucial piece of information. After all, sharing bad news only caused trouble, so it was better to keep it hidden for now.

Due to this wonderful news, Zhang Yue couldn’t help but wave his fist as he left the general’s residence. While his second uncle Zhang Youxian’s wish to achieve fame and success was certainly a factor, what he truly wanted was to temporarily dispel the shadow of frequent mishaps in the second branch of the family and improve his grandmother Gu’s health. The most important thing now was to see if the other move he had made earlier would prove effective. Faced with an emperor as unpredictable as Zhu Di, the only option was to take drastic measures! If Zhu Di was willing to protect even his own son who longed for his death, why couldn’t Zhang Yue protect his own father-in-law, who had done nothing wrong?

As for the salt regulation, 30% of the stock could be allocated for immediate distribution, while 70% would be available for merchants to draw in sequence, with prices varying for them to choose from—this was certainly more advantageous than everyone sharing equally, and it served as a temporary solution. The emperor also allocated another 60,000 units of Huai salt, giving him more leverage to deal with those merchants and identify spies.

On the east side of the Military Residence Street, across an intersection, stood four tall stone archways. Though not as majestic as the East and West Four Archways in the capital, it was still a bustling place with constant traffic. Of course, its function was different from that of the West Four Archways—it had nothing to do with execution grounds. Usually, whenever announcements were posted on the eight-character wall in front of the general’s residence, people would immediately copy them and post them on the gray-bricked walls on all four sides, with the rest being sent to the taverns and restaurants around.

Indeed, this was a major location where the managers sent by various Shanxi merchants to Xuanfu would keep an eye on things. After all, ordinary business could be handled smoothly with just a shopkeeper and a few assistants, but it was the government-related business that truly mattered. Yet this time, the long-awaited selection process brought joy to some and sorrow to others. Inside the compartments separated by hollow panels, there were mostly sighs of disappointment, as those who succeeded in obtaining the Huai salt immediately went back to stock up on grain.

“Sigh, I should have expected it—how could the government engage in a loss-making deal? This salt can be obtained and sold right away, unlike waiting in line for years, even decades. If the price were only three dou or five sheng, it would be crazy!”

“Previously, the price was fixed, but this time it’s a bidding process. Isn’t Lord Zhang a proper scholar, born into a noble family? How does he know such things about business?”

“Don’t even get me started. I spent the whole night traveling through Pingyao County just to get here, only to end up with nothing in my hands! Damn it, usually I can’t even afford salt even with the cash in the treasury, and now I’ve missed such a great opportunity!”
“Who would have thought the government would act so quickly? It was only announced that Lord Zhang was in charge, and before we knew it, everything started. There’s no time to build relationships, let alone give gifts! But then again, with the Jinyiwei watching over them, they probably wouldn’t dare accept gifts casually. Sigh, just the Jade Guanyin statue I gave away for free earlier is worth a thousand guan!”
The four people in this private room were originally competitors, but now they became fellow sufferers. So, the two pots of hot Fenjiu were quickly drunk, leaving everyone slightly tipsy. At that moment, one of them suddenly stood up, resting his hands on the table and leaning forward slightly, with a mysterious expression on his face.
“The Fang family from Lu’an Prefecture was among the first to be selected. You should know that the original head of the Fang family once offended a high-ranking official and was exiled to Shandong, so their influence has long since declined. How do they have the courage to do this now? It took me a lot of effort to find out that the current head of the Fang family, Fang Qing, is actually very close to Lord Zhang!”
“Heavens, Lord Zhang hasn’t been near women since he arrived in Xuanfu. Could it be he has a preference for…”
Just as the conversation was about to drift into gossip, there was suddenly a frantic knocking at the door. The short merchant, who was wide-eyed and eager to verify the rumor, initially wanted to ignore it, but the knocking persisted, forcing him to reluctantly order someone to open the door. When the door opened and he saw it was one of his servants, he became angry.
“How dare you be so disrespectful? Didn’t I say to put aside everything no matter how important it is first?”
“Master… Master! The government… the government has issued another announcement!” The servant was so excited that his face turned red. He slapped his own face hard before continuing, “An announcement has been posted in front of the military headquarters, saying that another 60,000 units of Huai salt will be distributed this time! It also says that in three days, Lord Zhang will personally oversee the distribution at Deqing Tower. Master, here’s a copy of the announcement…”

In an instant, those four merchants who had just been filled with self-pity suddenly had red eyes, like wolves who hadn’t eaten for days and now saw food—rushing forward to grab the documents. This scene didn’t happen only in that one private room; various chaotic noises arose in four or five rooms on the second floor, followed by cries of shock and joy.

Soon, the carriages parked below the Four-Pan Card Pavilion left one after another at top speed. To move faster, people even threw money on the counter without bothering to ask for change from the restaurant. As everyone else left, one private room remained tightly closed. The guest inside stood by the window, pushed aside the wooden lattice to gaze outside for a long time before lowering it and struggling to move his neck, stiffened from exposure to the wind.

Yu Qian rubbed his hands gently, thinking of the letter sent by Liu Guan, the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. The letter began by praising his achievements in inspecting grain reserves in Kaiping but ended by asking him to secretly return from Kaiping to Xuanfu to oversee the grain allocation process. Although he hadn’t yet been assigned to any specific task, it wasn’t unusual for censors to have oversight responsibilities. However, Liu Guan’s request for him to be especially vigilant about any fraud in the process was unnecessary. Before he went to the Censorate, peers had warned him that Liu Guan was corrupt, but it wasn’t in his nature to form opinions based solely on hearsay.

Since the superior had tasked him with oversight, he must conduct a thorough investigation—fairness couldn’t be compromised!