Chapter 85: A Conversation with Wei Zheng

Page 1 of 3

With his eyes closed, Cai Cong said to Old Meng, “Top-priority order. Send word to Bao Lai and have him pass my command to the Ninth Division: kill, kill, kill. Lower-priority order: send word to the Ninth Division and tell them to stop the slaughter; from now on, disaster relief comes first.”

The so-called top-priority and lower-priority orders were ranked from highest to lowest. The highest must be delivered to the intended recipient with the speed of an emergency imperial dispatch, while the lowest could be sent at a leisurely pace.

Cai Cong meant to exploit this gap in time and let Xu Jie’s nine forces run wild with bloodshed. He had lain in that sickbed for so long that he had finally come to understand something: the great aristocratic clans had accumulated immense wealth and power, so how could they possibly ignore a natural calamity and fail to win the people’s hearts, only to oppress them for a few petty gains?

This was their test of Li Shimin, a way to see how the emperor stood with the great clans. Strictly speaking, these common people were nothing more than sacrifices, mere pawns in a contest at the highest level.

That saying was right: when a regime thrives, the people suffer; when it falls, the people suffer. In prosperity and ruin alike, the people always suffer. They could not even grasp the slightest control over their own fate, and their bitterness was like gnawing on gall.

Cai Cong was a pawn too, but he wanted people to know that even pawns could break free of control, and that they too could make others tremble in the heart with pain.

Old Meng went off at once, eager to carry out Cai Cong’s orders. They were both men who had known hardship, and he could not bear to see the powerful oppress the common folk. With that window of time, Xu Jie could shed blood until the streets ran red; it would count as giving these suffering people a breath of relief.

Wei Zheng’s full ceremonial procession was unfurled, with bronze gongs clearing the way and water being sprinkled to cleanse the streets. The Left Deputy Minister and the imperial envoy both rode in complete state. On the vast street, only his sedan chair moved forward.

The people along the street were baffled. Why did anyone who came today demand that the whole road be cleared? Were ordinary folks not allowed to walk?

Wei Zheng sat in the sedan chair, eyes half-closed, thinking about how he should speak to Cai Cong so as to persuade him to set aside his murderous intent and kill as few as possible.

The claws and fangs of the great clans had never been shown before Cai Cong, so he had no idea how terrifying their power truly was. Once they exerted themselves, even the emperor would be driven to distraction, let alone Cai Cong, merely a favored minister.

Suddenly the swaying sedan chair came to a stop, and Wei Zheng’s body lurched with it, breaking the train of his thoughts.

“What is it?”

“Reporting to My Lord, a carriage is coming head-on and will not yield!” the attendant called from outside the chair. Wei Zheng frowned and lifted the curtain.

At the sight of the lead carriage, he froze. Then, upon seeing the second, he rose in shock and stepped out of the sedan chair.

His wife was from the Pei family. On the surface, that seemed unrelated to the Seven Great Houses, but after a thousand years of intermarriage, the aristocratic families of the Central Plains were all tied together by one thread or another.

Those who knew the matter knew that Wei Zheng’s wife was the niece of Lu Xing, and that when Wei Zheng saw Lu Xing he had to bow and call him uncle.

Page 2 of 3

When he saw the other carriages, Wei Zheng finally lost his composure. It looked as though these people had just met with Cai Cong. On one side stood the emperor’s favored minister, on the other the ruler among aristocrats; if anything went wrong, disaster would surely follow.

“Xuancheng pays respects to Uncle. I never expected to see you in Zhengzhou. I heard you had gone away to escape the heat?”

Wei Zheng asked uneasily before Lu Xing’s carriage. He was afraid Lu Xing might say something that would make matters impossible to resolve, yet he had no choice but to come.

“I heard His Majesty ordered you here to assist the imperial envoy. By my reckoning, it was about time you arrived; I did not expect to run into you on the road.

“There is drought in Shandong. How could I possibly stay at ease and look only to my own affairs? Today I have come with six old friends to pay respects to the imperial envoy and discuss how best to bring relief, so that the people may soon emerge from their suffering.”

Lu Xing was a strange man. When speaking face to face with someone, he talked as though he and Wei Zheng were separated by a river—so much so that one might think, unless he shouted, Wei Zheng would not hear him.

The common people in the street heard this and burst into loud praise. They were used to being trampled; oppression by the noble class was taken as a matter of course, and an occasional act of charity or mercy was enough to move them deeply.

Not to mention that the Seven Great Houses had long practiced good deeds and were renowned throughout Shandong. Even if they occasionally committed some wrong, the people merely thought that even aristocratic families could not avoid producing a few morally corrupt descendants, and that such faults were not the true will of the clan.

Wei Zheng smiled with relief. Lu Xing had just leaned in and said, with a laugh, that in order not to make things difficult for him, the Shandong aristocratic families would fully cooperate with the court’s relief efforts.

Watching the carriages depart, Wei Zheng felt as if a mountain had been lifted from his shoulders. He did not even bother to sit in the sedan chair again, but instead walked briskly toward the governor’s residence with a smile on his face.

This left his attendants scrambling to keep up. Cai Cong had already been assassinated; if Wei Zheng, the imperial envoy who had only just arrived in Zhengzhou, also came to harm, Li Shimin would likely turn all of Zhengzhou upside down in a thorough purge.

Gongsun Neng was an old acquaintance of Wei Zheng as well. Smiling, he welcomed him inside, and the two of them chatted and laughed as they made their way toward Cai Cong’s quarters.

Old Meng was brewing tea. The rough old fellow, forced by Cai Cong to demonstrate the art of ceremonial tea, followed every step as stiffly and meticulously as though Zhang Fei had been made to handle a needle for embroidery. He truly wanted to throw down the tea set and rush outside with a broadsword to swing it about.

Yes, in this age of sweet drinks, plain boiled water, and the occasional milky soup, Cai Cong had finally had enough. He forced the artisans to learn some of the principles behind tea preparation. After countless failures, they at last produced something that faintly resembled tea.

Wei Zheng sat down just as Old Meng finished brewing. With the smoothness of flowing cloud and running water, he poured a cup and invited Wei Zheng to taste it.

Though Wei Zheng had never seen this method of brewing, he was not at all awkward about it. He lifted the cup and drained it in one go, then exclaimed with admiration, “It quenches the thirst at once, brings forth sweetness after the swallow, and is truly a fine thing.”

Cai Cong only smiled without speaking, while Old Meng wore an expression of disdain. Wei Zheng inwardly cried out that this was bad. He had meant to use the moment to say something pleasant and draw closer to them. Judging by their expressions, he feared he was about to embarrass himself.

Page 3 of 3

Old Meng lifted the teacup and examined the color of the tea. He sniffed lightly, then took another sip and rolled it around on his tongue until the fragrance lingered between his teeth. Only then did a look of satisfaction appear on his face.

Wei Zheng was so ashamed he almost covered his face and fled. As the Left Deputy Minister of the imperial Secretariat, he was actually not as good as some rough old man who wielded blades for a living. The way he had just drunk tea was no different from an ox chewing peonies.

But who was he? Would he really forget the matter at hand because of such a trifle? Clapping his hands, he said with a smile, “From every gesture and motion, I see grace; in every bearing, I perceive the great Way. May I ask, what is this thing, Marquis of Chang’an?”

“So that Lord Wei may know, this is the Way of Tea, unlike the tea soup now popular in Chang’an. The great Way is simple. Tea of this sort requires no salt, no ginger or scallions, and certainly no spices for flavor. Only a few tea leaves are needed. As the saying goes, one cup of spring dew briefly keeps the guest, and a breath of fresh wind beneath the arms almost makes one immortal.”

“A fine verse, and what a true case of the great Way being simple. Marquis of Chang’an swept across Shandong with thunderclap force; truly, that is the great Way being simple.”

Wei Zheng spoke with a chuckle. Cai Cong waved for Old Meng to withdraw, then sat smiling at Wei Zheng, while Wei Zheng acted as though nothing were amiss, imitating Old Meng in brewing tea and drinking it, delighting in the process.

At last the water was gone and the stove glowed red with burning charcoal. Only then did Wei Zheng sigh and say, “You are not like a young man.”

“Is that meant to insult me?” Cai Cong asked with a smile, unconcerned.

“There are countless outstanding men under heaven. I have seen too many in my life, and never one quite like you. For the sake of the realm, I would ask Marquis of Chang’an to show some mercy. The great clans have already yielded. I hope you can spare them.”

Wei Zheng spoke solemnly, his face full of compassion for the world and pity for the people.

“I have already met with the representatives of the great clans and agreed to their plan. As long as they cooperate sincerely, I naturally will not make trouble for them again.”

Cai Cong’s boast did not redden his face in the least. He looked so calm and indifferent, as though he had merely let an ant go, as if he had forgotten who had issued the two different orders to Xu Jie.

“Is that truly so?” Wei Zheng sprang to his feet in excitement, then immediately stepped back and knelt again on the ground, pressing his whole weight onto his heels and bowing low.

“For the sake of the people under heaven, I thank Marquis of Chang’an. The great clans must not be allowed to fall into disorder; if they do, the realm falls into disorder. Then surely there will be devastation on every side, and the people will have no way to live.”

“Lord Wei, don’t put too high a hat on me. I just haven’t found the chance yet. Otherwise, I would surely have seized the moment to butcher them.”