Chapter 847: Mud Revealed After the Snow

After a night of heavy snow, clear skies returned to the capital. It’s cold when it snows, and even colder when the snow piles up. Those snowflakes, which seemed pure and flawless when they fell, lost their smooth appearance under the sunlight, mixing with dust, coal slag, and other debris on the streets. Trampled by feet of both noble and humble people, they no longer showed any trace of their original color.

Though the snow had stopped, there were still many matters to address. For example, houses in the eastern district had collapsed, passersby seeking shelter at the City God Temple had died from the cold, and the military garrisons in the capital required their usual pay, just as officials at all levels needed their salaries issued… It wasn’t a year of disaster or famine, so although the government wasn’t obligated to repair houses or set up soup kitchens, it still had a responsibility to ensure a good holiday. Thus, the old clerks in the Ministry of Revenue were busy calculating, while other government offices, aside from handling their daily tasks, were also figuring out how to spend their salaries this New Year.

The world was relatively peaceful, and the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue had grown significantly in recent years. It seemed unlikely that timber or pepper would be used as substitutes for currency again. Although there had been disputes over currency conversion earlier, the emperor had issued an edict from Danning, ordering everything to remain as before. In other words, even if they couldn’t add anything as suggested by Grand Secretary Du, they wouldn’t reduce the salary by twenty guan as requested by Minister of Rites Hu Jian either. At least it would be on par with previous years, allowing people to spend the New Year comfortably.

Life in the capital was hard—not only for ordinary people but also for poor officials. Only a small number of them could maintain their dignity without caring about their salaries.

It was still early in the morning, and one of these few was sitting in his room, frowning at something. After a long while, he finally lifted his gaze from it and turned to a person standing solemnly before him. Immediately, he stood up, picked up the thin piece of paper from behind the table, and tapped it lightly with his finger.

“Have you checked this thoroughly this time?”

“Yes, sir. I initially only received confidential information, but its scope was limited—I only knew the general situation. On my way back, I happened to meet a laborer who had just unloaded grain at the Tongji Granary. Combining these pieces of evidence, the likelihood of this matter being true is at least 90%. I certainly won’t make the same mistake as before.”

“Very well. After you return, send someone to properly treat the man who escaped from Tongji Warehouse. However, I can’t just pass on your information as is. Once I’ve confirmed it, I’ll send someone to you, and you can then deliver that man’s information to the Jinyiwei. That way, you’ll earn credit for exposing a traitor. As for the rest, leave it to others—it’s better not to take on too much on your own. Oh, and don’t forget to treat that man thoroughly. Go now.”
Hu Qi replied and left. Zhang Yue watched as the thick door curtain was drawn shut, sighing inwardly. Accumulated problems—what matters most is the accumulation itself, while what exactly those problems are is less important. Over time, many things become like powder kegs, ready to explode at the slightest spark. Without a greater pretext, it’s difficult to detonate such a keg without causing harm. Just like when investigating cases of counterfeit hereditary officers and fraud in military selections, having a proper pretext made things much easier.
Fortunately, it had only been over sixty years since the founding of the dynasty. Another sixty years, and who knows what the situation would be like. Speaking of which, if it really was cotton armor, he would first need to go to the Armory Department to investigate thoroughly. He couldn’t just wait for the Jinyiwei to uncover the truth—if they ended up blaming the Armory Department, it would be self-sabotage.
After visiting the Armory Department and having a heartfelt conversation with Cui Fan, who had been serving as a physician there, and confirming that there were no major issues with the distribution of military equipment, Zhang Yue returned to his room. As he was thinking, a voice came from outside the door curtain.
“Sir, a messenger on horseback reports that the group from Jiaozhi should arrive in Tongzhou tonight. Accompanying them are Governor Fang and over five hundred of his men. Aside from the more than two thousand people ordered to stay in Nanjing and those settled along the way, there are still over three hundred others in this group. Governor Fang sent a message asking you to go there, as these people were originally identified by you. It would be a shame to screen them again in Nanjing and miss the important ones. Governor Fang also said that the Tongzhou Dingbian Guard will accompany them on the final leg of the journey.”
This was one of Zhang Yue’s greatest achievements in Jiaozhi, so he wasn’t surprised to hear this. If someone needed to be sent to handle arrangements, it would naturally fall to the Ministry of Rites. But since Governor Fang had invited him, he didn’t mind making the trip despite the cold weather. At first, he merely agreed without giving it much thought. But when he heard about the Tongzhou Dingbian Guard, he immediately recalled what Hu Qi had reported earlier.

So, he changed his mind in an instant, called the servant in loudly, and asked several detailed questions. Upon learning that the attendants sent by Fang Zheng were outside the yamen, he put on the robe hanging on the back of the chair and ordered them to wait in a side room of the main yamen. Tongzhou, Tongji Granary, Dingbian Garrison… The threads seemed to be connecting gradually.

Initially, when the Zhang family’s three branches lived separately, the residence of the second branch, the Marquis of Yangwu, was the most magnificent. Not wanting to be outshone, Zhang Xin tried to outdo others in interior decorations, though he couldn’t violate the regulations. If not for the limited depth of each alley in the capital and the fact that his residence was sandwiched between the Marquis of Wu’an’s and the Marquis of Yangwu’s homes, Zhang Xin might have replicated his ancestral home in Kaifeng exactly in the capital.

A few years ago, Zhu Gaochi posthumously conferred the title of King of Hejian on Zhang Yu, the Duke of Rongguo, and honored his three ancestors as well. These three were Zhang Xin’s great-grandfather, great-ancestor, and grandfather. Thus, after consulting with Zhang Fu, the Duke of Yingguo, and Zhang Zhuo, they built a ancestral hall in the Duke of Yingguo’s residence. Now that Zhang Xin had gone to Sichuan for his post, the residence of the Zhang family’s eldest branch gradually became desolate.

Zhang You, the master of the Marquis of Yangwu’s residence, was recuperating in Yunnan accompanied by his eldest son Zhang Chao. Only his wife, Lady Dongfang, and two daughters-in-law were at home. Zhang You had risen to prominence in Jiaozhi and didn’t have many superiors, colleagues, or old acquaintances in the capital. So, though it wasn’t exactly deserted, there were few visitors.

Thus, it was only during Zhang Yue’s peak popularity, after he became Vice Minister of War, that his family grew larger. He had several more rooms built behind the main house and to the west, completing the construction just before the end of the year. With constant visits from colleagues and those seeking favors, the butler Gao Quan often struggled to handle everything alone, with Du Wan also needing to assist.

Before long, it was December, and as the time for ancestor worship approached, Lady Sun inevitably helped out at the Duke of Yingguo’s residence. Meanwhile, Du Wan had urgent matters to attend to, so Zhang Yue had no choice but to ask Lady Sun and Lady Wang to ask his wife to handle some important tasks, leaving him at home for those days as well. Though he was at home, he left almost all household chores to Zhang Jing and asked Hu Bo and Qiu Hen to help out as well, spending his days in the warm pavilion of the main house, examining the items sent from outside.

Collecting intelligence is easier than organizing it, while judging intelligence is even more difficult than organizing it. Moreover, these days Yuan Fang is not only gradually stepping back but also letting the younger generation take over. The older people have all been sent to live in retirement homes. As a result, there are usually only a few documents at most, or a dozen or so, and Du Wan is naturally overwhelmed trying to discern trends from these clues.

Without Zhang Yue’s instructions, she didn’t dare to involve others. Whenever such documents were being reviewed, aside from illiterate Mother Cui, no one else was allowed in the room. Now, she added a few more names to the already drawn diagram and began pondering with her chin in her hand. As she was lost in thought, Mother Cui quietly placed a bowl of tea on the kang table beside her.

Seeing Du Wan working so hard day after day, Mother Cui couldn’t help but say, “Young mistress, you’ve been putting in too much effort these days. There are so many accounts to handle every day—how can you possibly keep up? You might as well tell the master and young master to hire more accountants. Even the young master is working too hard. Why not find him a couple of assistants? I’ve heard there are always people sending in resumes at the front gate. If you sift through them carefully, you’ll surely find reliable people.”

It wasn’t yet the era when scholar-officials were in high demand or when idle men filled the halls of power. More often, civil and military officials didn’t interact with each other. Those willing to serve nobles were mostly unsuccessful scholars, at best mere candidates awaiting appointments from the Ministry of Personnel. As for civil officials, their friends were usually those who discussed poetry and romance rather than serious state affairs. So, upon hearing this, Du Wan shook her head.

“Those truly talented always aspire to become officials. Those who try to curry favor now are doing so for future success. As for those without talent who seek to attach themselves to others, their character is already flawed. Besides, scholars are different from craftsmen who master various skills—they’re inherently proud and aloof. It’s hard to predict how their master-slave relationship will turn out in the future.”

“But doesn’t the young master still have two students? Can’t they be trained in these matters?”

Du Wan just smiled and said nothing more. Mother Cui also stopped persuading her and left the room to sit outside and do needlework. The room fell into complete silence. Du Wan went back to reviewing those documents, inwardly smiling bitterly—she could see them only because she was Zhang Yue’s trusted wife. Aside from her close family members like parents, spouse, and children, who else could she show them to? If not for someone to handle external matters and cover things up, and since Mother Cui was an elder in the family and illiterate, she wouldn’t even dare keep her around.

After Zhang Yue sent people to return the gifts from those families, those families behaved properly for a few days. Seeing that Zhang Yue seemed unresponsive, they started to make moves again. One family asked for leave to return home due to their seriously ill mother; another happened to be on a distant assignment; yet another made a mistake in official duties and was reprimanded and demoted to Liaodong… As for those who hadn’t had time to deliver their gifts, most sent their women to plead their case, using various subtle pleas, claiming they had acted rashly based on idle talk from outsiders.

Zhang Yue had asked her to pay attention to this matter first, but she felt that the gift-giving related to her father was mostly a tactic among colleagues, perhaps with others hoping to enter the cabinet. On the other hand, the previous election fraud and Zhang Yue’s subsequent assassination, with the assassin failing to kill him and instead killing him to silence him, suggested an impending storm. Planting officers in the imperial guards through impersonation, or even using the opportunity to send eunuchs to the palace to insert people there—unless it was treason, who could believe it!

As she thought, she began marking the few lines written on the paper she had prepared.

Marquis Wu Ding, Guo Xuan, had been specifically warned by Zhang Yue. This family seemed to be visiting relatives and friends too often lately. After Concubine Guo was buried with him, their status among the nobles dropped significantly, far behind that of the Empress Dowager’s brother, Marquis Pengcheng. Moreover, the wife of Marquis Wu Ding sent people to propose marriage almost as soon as she met Zhang Jing, which was already very suspicious. Now, during the British Duke’s family’s ancestral ceremony, since the wife of Marquis Wu Ding wasn’t originally acquainted with the Zhang family, there was no need for her to frequent their gatherings—her flattery was too obvious.

At the residences of the imperial relatives in the Ten Princes’ Mansion, it was said that dead bodies had been carried out twice or three times recently, all sent directly to the cremation ground in the eastern suburbs. This year, no imperial relative or crown prince had been heard of visiting the capital. If there was no master in those residences, why kill servants and slaves and secretly send them out beyond Chaoyang Gate early in the morning?

As she was pondering, Du Wan suddenly heard voices outside. Soon after, Aunt Cui outside stood up, seemingly heading out. She immediately put the paper in a box beside her, closed it, locked it with a key, and placed another ledger on the table to cover it up before picking up her pen. Then Aunt Cui’s voice came from outside.

“Young mistress, the third young lady is here. She asks if you’re free.”

“Ask her to come in.”

Du Wan was secretly puzzled. She had kept Aunt Cui in the outer room precisely to keep an eye on this clever and intelligent young lady who liked to barge in without greeting. How come Zhang Jing was so well-behaved now, even knowing to ask Aunt Cui to announce her arrival first? Soon, the door curtain was pulled aside slightly, and Zhang Jing poked her head in to look around before slipping in.
“Sis, do you really have time?”
“Now that you’re here, of course I have time. By the way, since when has my sister Jing become so polite?”
Zhang Jing stepped closer, glanced at the account books on the table, and then sat down next to Du Wan. Seeing Du Wan looking at her with a half-smile, her face turned red, and she snapped, “It’s all because of Third Brother. A few days ago, he took me over and scolded me, saying you were busy helping him with important matters and that I should greet people more often so as not to disturb you… Enough about that. Sis, just now, Fourth Sister came back from Aunt Eldest and stopped by to talk to me for a while.”
Only then did Du Wan learn that Zheng Fangfei had been there. She quickly asked, “If Fourth Sister came, why didn’t you bring her here?”
“Who doesn’t know you’re busy? Plus, she was worried there might be trouble at home, so she rushed back.” Ignoring this, Zhang Jing grabbed Du Wan’s hand and asked, “Sis, do you know that the Lady of Wuding Marquis asked Aunt Eldest for my hand in marriage today?”