Fang Jie stayed at the Sanjin Marquis's residence for the entire afternoon. Wu Yidao caught thirteen plump carp by the small lotus pond, making Fang Jie even more reluctant to leave. During their casual conversation, Wu Yidao had proudly mentioned that his specialty was preparing a whole fish feast.
Fang Jie wasn't a glutton. He stayed because he still had much to learn from Wu Yidao. Today, Fang Jie realized that his understanding of Chang'an was almost zero. He thought he had learned a great deal, but the longer he stayed in Chang'an, the more ignorant he felt.
Wu Yidao felt no dislike for this young man who refused to leave even as darkness approached. On the contrary, he liked the guy's greed. In his own words, it suited him perfectly.
"Want a whole fish feast?"
He asked with a smile.
Fang Jie shook his head earnestly and said, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Wu Yidao waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I didn't intend to give you fish, so naturally I don't have any fishing skills to teach you... But eating means drinking, and drinking means talking and boasting. I can tell you some old stories, since I'm bored anyway."
"The more the merrier."
Fang Jie said four words.
"You're greedy."
Wu Yidao pointed at Fang Jie and laughed, "I haven't seen such a greedy guy in many years... But I like people to be greedy. Since I started doing business, I've understood one thing. The most powerful reason that drives people to grow and progress is greed. If a person doesn't even have greed, what else can fill them with strength?"
"Love, justice, maintaining world peace, protecting our homes, and so on, those are reasons too."
Fang Jie answered smugly.
"Get lost."
Wu Yidao laughed and cursed. "I won't roll."
Fang Jie sat down by the lotus pond, picking up small pebbles and tossing them one by one into the water, startling many fish and creating ripples in the once calm pond. He suddenly remembered that in his previous life, there was a small pond behind his house, and his favorite thing to do after school was to stand by the pond and skip stones across the water. But in this life, his childhood seemed to have never had such simple and satisfying joy.
Wu Yidao picked up the fish basket and beckoned it to a servant to clean the fish. He walked to the recliner and lay down, gazing at the setting sun. He sighed, "Just now, you threw a pebble into the lotus pond, and you shattered the tranquility. To put it another way, you are that pebble, and the lotus pond is the entire city of Chang'an… Compared to the pond, your pebble is insignificant. But who knows when a pebble might stir up a whole pond of spring water?"
He glanced at Fang Jie and said, "You've already created ripples throughout the capital. Think about it, for someone as insignificant as you from a border town, to be able to stir up such a ripple in the water and make all the important figures in the court reel—it's truly remarkable."
Fang Jie didn't quite understand Wu Yidao's meaning: "I don't think I have that much ability…" "You're incompetent?"
"Do you know how much turmoil has been stirred up in the court since you entered Chang'an? Let's start from when you left Fangu. Those inspectors from the Ministry of War and the Court of Judicial Review died because of you, didn't they? Wu Peisheng, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Study, died because of you, didn't he?"
"If it weren't for this incident, would Li Yuanshan and Li Xiaozong have committed such a heinous crime? If they hadn't done evil, hadn't spent money to win over the people in the Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of War, would Gao Tianbao, the commander of the Intelligence Bureau, have died? Would Meng Wudi, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, have become a one-armed man? After Gao Tianbao died, his body was transported to Chang'an and buried in front of the Ministry of Revenue, where people could trample on it, never to be moved again. If it weren't for this incident, the Ministry of War..." "Would the Vice Minister Hou Junci and those dozen or so officials be beheaded in His Majesty's rage?"
"Furthermore, after you arrived in the capital, the Assistant Minister of War, Yingjiu, wanted to kill you. He tricked you into the martial arts arena, where you met Luo Wen… Because of you, Luo Wen won first place in the martial arts academy, and it was precisely because of this that he wanted to eliminate you. Thus, that night, Yingjiu and Luo Wen's men attacked simultaneously. The result was that Yingjiu was executed, and the Minister of War, Yu Donglai, despite his desperate efforts, couldn't retain his position and had to resign."
"It was also because of you that Hou Wenji secretly met with Luo Wen. What they discussed and what they intended to do is unknown. But because of the Keshengju incident, His Majesty himself was drawn to the scene, leading Hou..." "Wen Ji couldn't hide it from you even if he wanted to! Perhaps you don't know... after you left Keshengju, the border soldiers have been full of praise for you. You've practically become a leading figure in the border army."
Upon hearing Wu Yidao finish speaking, Fang Jie's first reaction was, "How do you know so much?"
Wu Yidao first pointed to his eyes and mouth: "Because my position isn't low, I see far more than the average person. And I happen to like asking about strange and unusual things, so I can gather a lot of information..."
He then pointed to his head and said, "By thinking a little about what I see and ask, I can deduce a lot more."
"Why are you paying special attention to me?"
Fang Jie asked. Wu Yidao thought for a moment and replied, "Because you've made the capital uneasy, and besides, I'm not the only one paying attention to you."
Fang Jie shook his head slightly and said, "If I could, I'd rather be like Li Fubo of Longyou when he entered the Martial Arts Academy—no one would notice him when he entered. That would save a lot of trouble."
"Now you can't even lower your stance to enter the Martial Arts Academy."
Wu Yidao smiled and said, "Many people have made it clear they want to slap you in the face, swinging their arms wide and hitting you with all their might. They'd be satisfied with just slapping your face until it's swollen; they'd prefer to knock out all your teeth. If you try to lower your stance, it's like offering your face to be slapped."
"I haven't discovered any extraordinary talent yet."
"Even without talent, you have to bear it."
Wu Yidao was silent for a moment and then said, "After you fainted at Keshengju, His Majesty said something to those border troops… His Majesty said he…" "You are the backers of all the border troops; you have nothing to fear from anyone. There are hundreds of powerful families and noble clans in the land, but none dare claim to be more powerful than the imperial family. Are you a border soldier?"
"Yes!"
"Then what are you afraid of? You should think carefully about how to bring honor to His Majesty. And while you're at it, try to restore the atmosphere of the Martial Arts Academy. You should know that when Emperor Taizu first established the Martial Arts Academy, it wasn't controlled by aristocratic scions. Most of the first batch of people to enter the academy were veterans under Emperor Taizu's command. Although no outstanding figures emerged, the atmosphere of the academy was very upright back then. Later, as the Sui Dynasty became more and more stable, the atmosphere of the Martial Arts Academy became increasingly worrying."
"Fortunately..."
Wu Yi smiled and said, "His Majesty intends to change things, and you've caught a good time."
...
...
After dark, the hustle and bustle of the streets and alleys of Chang'an gradually subsided. Although restaurants and brothels were still doing brisk business, the streets had become deserted. While Fang Jie was at the Sanjin Marquis's residence, Wu Yidao recounted seemingly trivial matters, which were actually subtle but significant hints on how to navigate the turmoil in Chang'an.
Wu Yidao didn't offer Fang Jie any solutions, only telling him he had no way out. Moreover, he had arrived at the perfect time for a soldier. Fang Jie couldn't know the true extent of Wu Yidao's access to secrets—this incredibly wealthy and powerful man of the Sui Dynasty—but he could vaguely speculate that Wu Yidao's true position was perhaps more important than many officials in the court.
In fact, he was right.
Wu Yidao knew more secrets than most officials in the court. For example, the earth-shattering war that His Majesty was secretly planning. In the Changchun Garden's yurt, the Emperor told Prince Yang Kai that he had secretly mobilized grain from seven granaries north of the Yangtze River to be transported to the northwest, and had also transported enough weapons and armor to equip hundreds of thousands of troops from three imperial palaces. All these supplies combined amount to an enormous quantity. Secretly transporting them would be incredibly difficult; how could it be kept secret?
If the imperial court wanted to transport them, it would inevitably involve a massive mobilization of troops. Such a commotion would be obvious even to a blind man, let alone the officials within the court, who are all more astute than monkeys.
Without using the imperial court's resources, who else in the world could afford to transport such large quantities of supplies for His Majesty?
Of course, it was Wu Yidao of the All-Trade Merchant Guild!
With the All-Trade Merchant Guild's strength, although undertaking this major task for His Majesty would be slightly more strenuous, it was undoubtedly the best choice. By the time people noticed the All-Trade Merchant Guild's unusual activity, it was already too late; a large quantity of grain and supplies had already been delivered to the northwest of the empire. Because no one would expect His Majesty to entrust such a significant task to a trading company!
Most importantly, there was the troop deployment.
Besides the imperial navy, only the All-Trade Merchant Guild's cargo fleet could secretly transport such a large force to the northwest.
Wu Yidao's status was far higher than Fang Jie had guessed.
A merchant who could be granted the title of Marquis by His Majesty and have his trade flourish throughout the land—what secrets lay behind this? No one could possibly know. But one thing was certain: without the Emperor's support, how could Wu Yidao's business have grown to such a massive scale? And if Wu Yidao hadn't secretly done many things for the Emperor, how could he have monopolized so much commerce?
When a merchant's identity is preceded by the title of official, it becomes terrifying.
In the Marquis of Sanjin's residence, Wu Yidao seemed generous with his time, appearing quite content to talk and spend time with this seemingly insignificant figure with whom he had no connection whatsoever. Although, as he himself said, he would never invest a large sum of money in Fang Jie, only offering him information and advice, this was undoubtedly the greatest help Fang Jie could receive.
A wild boy from a remote, impoverished area lacked so much to establish himself in a metropolis like Chang'an. Fang Jie was like a ravenous, greedy ghost, constantly eating, trying to fill his stomach, and even if he couldn't, he would eat as much as he could.
South Twelve Streets was an ordinary street, as insignificant as a capillary in the vast city of Chang'an. A half-day's stroll through the city would easily take one or two dozen such ordinary streets.
The most famous place on South Twelve Streets was an inn called Guipeng Inn. Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Sui Dynasty (the current emperor's grandfather), a scholar from the south stayed there. He buried himself in his studies, eating only a bowl of porridge and some pickled vegetables provided by the inn. While he wasn't starving or unable to pay his bills, his life was certainly very meager.
Yet, this very person became the first scholar from a humble background to achieve the highest rank in the imperial examinations in the history of the Sui Dynasty.
This scholar's remarkable achievement astonished the entire court when Emperor Shun selected him as the top scholar in the palace examination. Naturally, this success made Guipeng Inn famous. Later, even wealthy scholars traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations would stay there for a while, hoping to gain some good fortune.
The first scholar from a humble background to achieve the highest rank in the imperial examinations during the Sui Dynasty was named Huai Renli. Few remember this name, as he later changed it to the much more prestigious Huai Qiugong.
It was quite late, and the young waiter at Guipeng Inn was dozing off by the counter. Since it wasn't closing time yet, and few people came to stay at this hour, he was rather bored. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, a sudden noise startled him. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked over, instinctively asking, "Guest, are you looking for a room?"
A person had entered the inn at some point. His attire was strange, and his appearance was aloof. He ignored the waiter's question.
The waiter looked closely and immediately gaped in astonishment. If anyone were willing to try, they could probably fit an apple in their mouth right now.
The person standing in the room was a middle-aged man who looked to be about forty years old, with a tall and upright figure. He had a broad forehead, fierce eyebrows, a high nose, and a face with sharply defined features, as if sculpted by a chisel. What was most striking was his clothing—clothes that ordinary people would never, could not, and dared not wear.
A bright red Taoist robe, embroidered with intricate patterns in gold thread. The beginning and end were indistinguishable; following any line, one could not see the end, and the convergence of all the patterns created a complex and perplexing design.
A high priest in red robes!
My goodness!
The waiter instantly snapped out of his daze, almost shouting in surprise!
"I've arrived."
The high priest in red robes looked up at a room on the second floor of the inn and uttered three words in a calm tone.