Chapter 914: A Man Like This Is Dangerous

"By my count, Wu Gongling is your brother-in-law now, isn't he? Tsk, tsk—an emperor for a brother-in-law!"

News had arrived that the struggle between Han and Song was over. When the subject turned to Wu Gongling, Guan Fangyi teased Niu Youdao mercilessly. Seeing the strange look on his face, she doubled over laughing.

Niu Youdao could not help smiling himself. He shook his head, then murmured thoughtfully, "A ruthless hero for troubled times!"

Knowing he meant Wu Gongling, Guan Fangyi gave a disdainful snort. "A shameless petty man who got a little lucky, that's all. If Song's three major sects hadn't been forced into a corner, the throne of Song would never have fallen to him."

"Luck? You think this is the kind of luck where you find money lying on the road? When the times are changing, not everyone can seize an opportunity when it appears." Niu Youdao shook his head again and said slowly, "The man has some ability..." After a short silence, he continued, "I'd like to find a chance to meet him. I haven't contacted that sworn elder sister of mine in a long time either. It's about time I did. Draft a letter for me and send her my regards."

"Empress Elder Sister... pfft!" Guan Fangyi dissolved into laughter again. An Elder of Tiannü Sect had become an empress, and then there was her relationship with Niu Youdao. The more Guan Fangyi thought about it, the funnier it seemed.

...

Within the imperial palace of Song, amid pavilions and towers, Hui Qingping stood elegantly by a balustrade in splendid robes and a phoenix coronet, holding a letter in both hands. Niu Youdao's letter had arrived.

"Master, His Majesty is back," a disciple dressed as a palace maid reminded her. They had all broken away from Tiannü Sect; continuing to wear the sect's clothing would no longer have been appropriate.

Hui Qingping looked back slightly from the letter toward Wu Gongling, who was striding over in the distance. At the sight of him, she could not help frowning.

Wu Gongling truly did not look much like an emperor. No matter how one looked at him, he was still a rough soldier. He wore no imperial robes, only battle armor, and had been baked by the sun until he was black as charcoal.

He had also grown much thinner. With the weight gone from his face, his eyes seemed considerably larger and shone with sharp vigor.

The great war had only just ended, and the entire State of Song had been devastated beyond recognition. The most important task now was to settle the displaced people and restore cultivation as quickly as possible. They had to catch the season and get another crop into the ground without delay. Wu Gongling had been busy with this constantly. His version of being busy consisted of leading troops from place to place, inspecting things and cursing people.

He did not understand much else, but there was one thing he watched with absolute fixation: grain, grain, and still more grain!

Replanting cultivated land and buying grain from the State of Wei—those were the matters around which everything he did now revolved.

Unlike his predecessor Mu Zhuozhen, who had hidden inside the imperial palace, this emperor rarely stayed in the palace at all. He was constantly galloping about outside.

Chancellor Zi Pingxiu was getting on in years and could hardly keep up with him. "Your Majesty, you are the emperor. How can you constantly run around outside? This isn't proper."

"Put propriety aside for now. Solve the farming problem first, then talk to me about propriety. Thirty li south of the city, fertile fields stretch for a thousand li, yet the land is still lying fallow. Why is there still no sign of replanting?"

Zi Pingxiu said, "Your Majesty, the people have been displaced. It will be difficult to assemble enough hands for the farming in so short a time."

Wu Gongling turned and shouted at one of his generals, "Pass down my military order. Transfer one hundred thousand troops from the capital and send them to farm. Seven days from now, if the land south of the city is still lying fallow, have the commanding general come see me with his head in his hands!"

"Yes!" the general answered.

Wu Gongling continued, "And send orders to the garrisons everywhere. None of them are to sit idle. Send every last one of them out to farm. Tell them that when rewards are handed out later, how well they farmed will count for half their merit."

"Yes!" The general accepted the order again.

Wu Gongling turned back to Zi Pingxiu. "Chancellor, issue a proclamation in the court's name to all under Heaven: whoever gets fallow land planted within the designated period will own that land."

Zi Pingxiu was not one of Wu Gongling's subordinate generals and would not simply carry out every order without question. He immediately advised against it. "Your Majesty, this may create disorder. Some fallow land has not yet been surveyed to determine whether it has an owner. If someone rashly runs over and plants it, disputes will arise."

Wu Gongling walked into the pavilion and sat down, waving for someone to bring tea. "I remember Shao Pingbo doing something like this in Beizhou before. If he could do it, why can't I? I don't care whether those fallow fields have owners or not. My words remain the same: whoever plants them within the designated time owns them. That's how it will be done! If anyone dares make trouble, he can ask whether the blade in this general's hand agrees!"

He shot Zi Pingxiu a cold sidelong look. "The war has inflicted enormous losses on Song's population. People are the foundation of Song! Chancellor, this year the great disorder has only just been settled, so I won't say more. But if large numbers of people are still starving to death next year and panic spreads throughout Song, then I think your time as Chancellor will be over. Even if the three major sects plead for you, I'll find some way to kill you. See to it yourself!"

Was that something an emperor should say? Zi Pingxiu's expression twitched as he cupped his hands. "Yes!"

Wu Gongling continued, "And the negotiations with Wei to buy grain must be pushed faster. Song's grain won't hold out much longer, and transporting grain here will take a great deal of time as well. Within half a month, I want to see results from those grain purchases. Don't tell me about difficulties. You people figure out the methods yourselves. If an entire court full of ministers can't even solve something like this, what do I keep them around for? Anyone who can't get things done can go farm. Don't squat over the privy pit without shitting!"

"Yes!" Zi Pingxiu answered helplessly. The man before him simply did not follow the rules. How many days had it been since he last held morning court? The moment the sky brightened, he left the city. Sometimes he did not return to the palace for days at a stretch. Other than grain, he cared about nothing and threw everything else to the court officials to handle.

After Zi Pingxiu left, Hui Qingping came over and sat nearby. She snorted. "Rotten mud won't hold to a wall. You don't have the slightest bearing of an emperor. What emperor skips court the way you do?"

Wu Gongling shot back, "And what exactly counts as an emperor's bearing? Emperors have three palaces and six courts, with countless consorts and concubines. Do I have that part of an emperor's bearing? Would you allow it?"

Hui Qingping curled her lip and changed the subject instead of discussing that. "The Chancellor wasn't wrong just now. Not all those fallow fields are ownerless. To put it unpleasantly, quite a lot of them probably belong to officials at court. Everyone knows the greatest landlords beneath Heaven are people like them. If you do this, of course the court officials will object."

"Object? I'm not Mu Zhuozhen. Mu Zhuozhen was killed by their objections! With my blade resting on their necks, their opinions aren't important."

Hui Qingping said, "Whoever farms the land owns it? Those refugees can't even produce seed grain. In the end, the wealthy households will still be the ones who benefit. When huge numbers of Song's common people end up with no fields of their own in the future, I'd like to see what you do."

"We'll deal with future problems in the future. If you don't offer people profit, where will the effort come from? Stabilize the situation first. Once things are stable, it won't be too late to deal with them." Wu Gongling waved a hand, no longer interested in arguing with her about it. His gaze fell on the letter in her hand. "Who wrote to you? Tiannü Sect?"

Hui Qingping tossed the letter onto the table. "Niu Youdao."

"Niu Youdao? That sworn brother of yours? Why is he writing to you?" Wu Gongling was surprised. He immediately picked up the letter, his large, bright eyes darting across it. It contained some recollections of their old friendship, then pleasant words of congratulations and the like, saying that when there was time he would come meet Hui Qingping and reminisce about old times.

Hui Qingping snorted. "What sworn brother? Back then he was only using me. When I was useful, I was 'Elder Sister.' When I wasn't useful, it did no good however much I begged him. Now he probably sees that things are going well for me and has dragged out all this talk of old friendship again. A complete petty man. Why bother with him?"

Wu Gongling's expression turned grave. He pondered before saying, "Back then, Cangzhou was controlled by Zijin Cave. Everyone in Cangzhou had to watch Zijin Cave's face. Now Niu Youdao seems to be a Zijin Cave Elder himself."

Hui Qingping had seen him rough and overbearing far more often than serious like this. "Why do I get the feeling you're somewhat wary of him? You're not in Yan now, much less Cangzhou. What are you afraid of him for?"

Holding the letter, Wu Gongling considered his words and shook his head. "From what I know of him, this man is anything but simple. He entered the world at barely twenty and cut his way through obstacle after obstacle. He was able to support Shang Chaozong all the way to where he is today while keeping the Shang faction firmly gripped in his hand. Even Meng Shanming bows to his command. A man like this is dangerous!"

Hui Qingping said, "What, admitting defeat? You went from leading a rebel army to becoming Emperor of Song. You still think you're inferior to him?"

Wu Gongling waved a hand. "It's different. His side started with almost nothing and rose despite constraint after constraint. That was extraordinarily difficult. I rebelled with hundreds of thousands of troops already in my hands and had momentum from the start. I also rode the momentum created when their forces defeated Song, and afterward they had no attention to spare for this side of Song. That's how I got where I am today!"

Hui Qingping said, "You're building up another man's prestige only to cut down your own. Why belittle yourself?"

Wu Gongling put down the letter. "I'm not belittling myself. This man genuinely makes me feel he is dangerous. So many people tried and failed to suppress him, yet he broke through one obstacle after another and rose anyway. That alone tells you something. Back then, after you people persuaded him to send Nanzhou's army out, I rose in rebellion. He turned around and played me, nearly getting me killed. Fortunately, I reacted fast enough to escape disaster... I've spent half my life in war. I still have some instinct for danger."

"He is now an Elder of Zijin Cave, with Yan's most elite troops in his grasp and no small influence over Yan's military. Even Yan's three major sects have to show him some consideration and do not dare act rashly. How did Zhao fall? That fellow had no small part in it. Not long ago, I received word that he was apparently going against Yan's three major sects again. He washed Beizhou in blood and took complete control of it. The man now holds both lofty rank and tremendous power. Song borders Yan. We have no choice but to guard against him!"

Hui Qingping pointed at the letter. "Then what exactly do you mean to do?"

Wu Gongling said, "A man like this is dangerous. Once he has his eye on you, you need to be careful. There is no need to offend him, but we also have to keep the proper distance and not let him entangle us too easily. He suddenly started showing goodwill to you, and we have no idea what medicine he's selling from his gourd. Keep in contact with him for now and see what he wants."

...

Clouds rolled like waves and stretched like a sea. Beneath an ancient pine atop the mountain, Yuwen Yan stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Kunlin Shu came forward and bowed.

"You're here." Yuwen Yan turned and smiled at him, sighing inwardly. Kunlin Shu had actually succeeded in cultivating the Heavenly Fire Limitless Art, which no one in Tianhuo Sect had mastered since the third generation. It was a pity he was not Yuwen Yan's own direct disciple.

Then again, if Kunlin Shu had been his direct disciple, perhaps he would never have encountered the opportunity to master the supreme secret art. Below the rank of Elder, he would probably never have had the chance to come into contact with it. And with Yuwen Yan himself as his Sect Leader master, it was unlikely Kunlin Shu would ever have been permitted to take the risk of spending ten years in closed-door seclusion to cultivate that secret art.

There was nothing to do but sigh over it.

Such was timing; such was fate.

Kunlin Shu said with complete respect, "May I ask why the Sect Leader summoned me?"

"Some time ago, Misty Pavilion summoned the Sect Leaders of the various sects..." Yuwen Yan began, then unhurriedly explained the matter of Sacred Realm.

[End of Chapter 914]