Ch36 - Withdrawal of the Vassal States

Minister Sun looked on helplessly as the Cheng Wang ran to the Cheng Wang Fei and excitedly exclaimed, “Jun Qing, let’s go eat shrimp! If we go too late, it’ll sell out!” Was this the so-called urgent matter? There were rumors about a cruel, harsh and ruthless Cheng Wang, so why would he reveal such an expression, smiling so wide that he turned into a flower? 

Mu Hanzhang saw the white-bearded Minister of War awkwardly standing in front of the door and greeted him apologetically. “Wang Ye was in a hurry this morning and wasn’t able to eat; we’ve caused Minister-daren trouble.”

“Wang Fei is exaggerating.” Only then did Minister Sun snap out of it, and he politely saluted the Cheng Wang Fei. Anyway, he was used to Cheng Wang leaving on the dot at mao hour. 

Mu Hanzhang smiled and took his Wang Ye out to eat.

It was still early. There were basically no guests inside Hui Wei Restaurant, but Boss Zhou, who opened early every day, had already cleaned up the shop and was preparing all the ingredients.

Jing Shao asked for a private room overlooking the street on the second floor.

“The crabs aren’t fat enough yet at this time; come back and eat them in September.” Because there wasn’t much business at the moment, Zhou Jin, all in pink, personally came over to take their order. 

The two weren’t surprised by Zhou Jin’s clothes.

“One catty of Shrimp Poached in Salt Water, one catty of Salt Baked Shrimp, two catties of Hui Wei Shrimp, one bottle of Shaoxing Yellow wine, and two bowls of rice,” Jing Shao looked at the menu and said. All of the dishes with the words “Hui Wei” were the signature dishes of Hui Wei Restaurant. Because it wasn’t possible to get hold of fresh shrimp all the time, they were rarely able to eat this dish. 

“When eating saltwater shrimp, you shouldn’t drink strong alcohol. I’ll send up a pot of tea instead,” Zhou Jin reminded Jing Shao.

Jing Shao frowned. It felt like there was a little something missing if he couldn’t drink wine while eating something delicious. 

When Mu Hanzhang saw this, he summoned Jing Shao’s small servant boy Yun Song to buy a bottle of green plum wine from the green plum maiden in the south of the city. “Mild wine can detoxify shrimp. Perhaps it would be good if Brother Zhou also bought some mild wine. It would definitely sell well.”

“Ktja’r j ubbv lvfj,” Itbe Alc rjlv tjqqlis ktfc tf tfjgv atlr. “Qtfgf lr atja ugffc qiew klcf rtbq sbe’gf ajixlcu jybea?” 

Ze Ljchtjcu abiv tlw atf ibmjalbc. Snfc Itbe Alc, ktb gjc j gfrajegjca ilxf atlr, vlvc’a xcbk jybea atja ugffc qiew klcf rtbq. Pa rffwfv atja Zjlvfc Zfl’r yerlcfrr ageis kjrc’a ubbv. Vlcmf Alcu Vtjb lcafcvfv ab ajxf mjgf bo atlr ugffc qiew ulgi obg tlr Dgbatfg Qjcu ktb vlfv lc yjaaif, la kjr wemt wbgf erfoei ab olcv j kjs obg tfg ab vb yerlcfrr gjatfg atjc ab pera yes tfg klcf gfueijgis.

“Jun Qing, you are really good at business.” Jing Shao peeled a poached shrimp and put it in the other’s bowl. 

Mu Hanzhang picked up the shrimp with his chopsticks and dipped it in sauce before taking a bite. He smiled lightly and said, “When I was a child, I heard that the descendants of noble families were seldom able to attain scholarly honors in the imperial exam. Even if they did, it wasn’t easy to become a court official. Thus, I secretly learned some business skills from Yiniang. I thought that if I couldn’t be an official, then I could instead take over our family’s businesses.”

In general, nobles weren’t able to achieve scholarly honors through the imperial exam. They relied on the emperor’s benevolence; if they wanted to become officials, they also had to rely on the imperial family’s favor. For those who managed to study and test with good results, they were often pushed aside by others, and it was hard to obtain promotions. 

Mu Hanzhang spoke in a relaxed manner, but Jing Shao could hear the hardships contained in these few sentences. Dukes, Marquises, Earls – all of them focused on becoming military leaders. A son who couldn’t practice martial arts would naturally be looked down on by the family, not to mention Mu Hanzhang being a concubine’s son. Thinking this, Jing Shao recalled Mu Lingbao. Unfortunately, the weather was getting hotter – it would be another few months before Mu Lingbao could be thrown into the river.

“The shrimp was deep-fried all the way through; it’s tasty when eaten with the shell.” Mu Hanzhang put a shrimp in Jing Shao’s bowl. “After we’ve finished our meal, let’s go to second imperial brother’s house and have a look. I’ve prepared all the gifts. I’ll have Yun Zhu go back to get them.” Now that Jing Shao had stressed the importance of filial piety in court today, there was nothing  suspicious about paying his wounded brother a visit. Even if you didn’t believe in those villains’ instigation, there was the so-called ; if you lied too much, then it would become real. It was still better for the two brothers to visit each other frequently. 

Jing Shao also planned to go to the second prince’s mansion today to tell his brother the good news of their Imperial Father conferring the title of Rui Wang upon him. Every time he visited, he went empty handed, but would always leave with some good thing from his brother. Only now did Jing Shao realize that he should bring gifts when visiting his brother’s house!

When they arrived, Jing Chen was discussing things with several advisors in his study. Hearing that Jing Shao had come, he let him in directly. 

There were three people in the room, none of whom Jing Shao had seen often. Mu Hanzhang stood beside him, quietly observing the expressions of these people, then lowered his eyes. The three advisors seemed very nervous about their sudden arrival, and one of them revealed an obvious hint of hostility.

“That will be it for today.” Jing Chen frowned a little and waved the three out. 

Jing Chen took a glance at Mu Hanzhang. Under Jing Shao’s eyes, which signaled that he didn’t need to hide anything, he withdrew his gaze and said in a deep voice, “You did a good job in court today.”

Mu Hanzhang was slightly surprised. He had planned to leave first, but unexpectedly, the two brothers were discussing court affairs in front of him. Doing this showed that the two brothers really regarded him as trustworthy, as if he were one of them and helping them scheme to win the throne. He turned his head and glanced at Jing Shao. The other gave him an airy look. 

“In the current situation, the Southwest King has angered Imperial Father. Withdrawing the vassal states will happen sooner or later, but you can’t mention this matter. I’ll let the rest of the court bring it up first. I’ll return to court after a couple of days, and then submit a statute to Imperial Father again.” Jing Chen showed Jing Shao a stack of folded paper.

“Will this method work?” Jing Shao looked through it for a long time. Generally speaking, this method of withdrawing the vassal states without mobilizing the army was very complicated. In his past life, he had been in Yunnan-Tibet. Thus, he didn’t know if anyone had suggested a peaceful withdrawal of the vassal territories. However, given the Southwest King’s character, perhaps a battle shouldn’t be fought. 

“Brother-in-law, have a look.” Jing Chen beckoned Jing Shao to give it to Mu Hanzhang.

“Brother can just call me Hanzhang.” Mu Hanzhang took the statute, read it quickly, and thought for a moment. “If the vassal king’s forces aren’t strong, then this plan is feasible.” 

Jing Chen nodded slightly and looked at Jing Shao. “If a war is started, do you want to go?”

“Go!” Jing Shao said resolutely. “This is a good chance to obtain military leadership. If it drags on for a few years, then one can gain control over at least half of it.” If war was declared on the three vassal states, he wasn’t sure how many years the battle would take. Even if Jing Shao knew each vassal king’s weak points, he didn’t plan to finish it immediately. He wouldn’t repeat the mistakes he made in his last life, but only dispose of the kings once they had served their purpose. 

Mu Hanzhang listened to the dialogue between the two brothers, and his gaze shuttered as he kept silent. If there was a war, Jing Shao wouldn’t return home for many years, right?

The next day, there was news of the eldest prince, who had finally been rescued by the Shu army. Fortunately, he hadn’t died. He was temporarily resting in Yunnan-Tibet. As for the King of the Southwest, his troops didn’t move as fast as the Shu’s. This move completely infuriated Emperor Hong Zheng. Many ministers took the opportunity to propose to take back the vassal territories. After a few days of such debate, when Jing Chen returned to court, he directly submitted his statute on withdrawing the vassal territories. 

Jing Chen proposed to demote the vassals; that was to say, the present vassal kings would still rule the region, but the next generations would be demoted to Dukes of the state, and the generation after that would be demoted to Marquises… Emperor Hong Zheng thought this method was feasible, but didn’t reveal his thoughts on the surface. Only when the ministers mentioned it again did he agree to withdraw the vassal states.

Thereafter, the matter of Yunnan-Tibet was put on hold, and the matter of withdrawing the vassals was put on the agenda. 

In June, Qiu Yiniang was promoted to second wife, and the North Marquis invited Jing Shao and Mu Hanzhang to the ceremony.

“Some days ago, Yiniang had people send word: she wants me to go see her after today’s ceremony.” Sitting in the carriage, Mu Hanzhang thought of the letter that his mother had sent to the Mo Lian Establishment. 

“Then she must have something personal to tell you.” Jing Shao chuckled. “Just go, I’ll wait for you in the front hall.”

The ceremony for promotion to second wife wasn’t complicated. It was mainly to change the concubine contract to that of a marriage contract, followed by a bow and a sacrificial offering to the ancestors. 

Having become the second wife, Lady Qiu moved into a small courtyard with more status. The rooms were more spacious and the place had a small kitchen of its own..

Mu Hanzhang looked at his mother in her splendid pink clothes. Although she was already getting on in years, she was still as elegant and graceful as ever, embodying the wit and gentleness of Jiangnan girls. 

“Mother…” For the first time, Mu Hanzhang could call her this in front of others. Lady Qiu’s eyes moistened at this one word. 

“Son, my son…” Lady Qiu took her son’s hand, her tears falling like stray pearls from a broken necklace. For twenty years, she had dared not call him “son.” He was a young master, and she was just a lowly concubine. If she ran into him in the past, she had to salute the young master. 

Seeing this situation, the maids in the room retreated one after another.

“Mother, why were you looking for me?” Mu Hanzhang took the handkerchief from his mother’s hand and wiped her tears. 

Lady Qiu took the handkerchief from her son, wiped the tears on her face, and sighed. “In the inner court, my imagination cannot help running wild. There’s a matter I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and I think I should tell you about it. “

Mu Hanzhang listened quietly to his mother’s worries and couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry, mother, he doesn’t want to sit on the throne.” 

“Who doesn’t want to take that seat?” Lady Qiu frowned and saw that Mu Hanzhang seemed to believe in Jing Shao very much. “Even if he didn’t have that intention before, he is a prince, but has no offspring to inherit his title; how can he be willing? Besides, he is still so young, and there will be many opportunities to go out to fight in the future… “

Regarding the other points, Mu Hanzhang didn’t take them to heart, but the last one resonated strongly with him. Recalling what he had heard in the second prince’s mansion that day, Jing Shao wanted to use that expedition to obtain military power. The three vassal kings weren’t easy to deal with; it would take at least three to five years before he could return to the capital. Did that mean he would have to wait several years for Jing Shao in the palace, withering away in the meantime?