"Second Master..."
Fang Ke stepped into Yuelai Inn.
Yang Ge, who was standing behind Zhao Miao watching her play mahjong, saw him and waved from afar, "Back already?"
Fang Ke nodded with a smile, "Just arrived."
Yang Ge: "Sit down and rest for a bit, I’ll go make you a cup of tea."
With a "hehe" laugh, Fang Ke took a seat on a bench at the entrance, although he was still saying, "How could I trouble you..."
With a "tsk," Yang Ge turned and walked into the courtyard, and soon came back out with a bowl of tea.
"Thanks, Second Master!"
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Fang Ke took the tea bowl from him with both hands.
Yang Ge: "How did it go? Shen didn’t make any difficulties, did he?"
Fang Ke quickly replied: "How could he! Whatever you entrust, when has Shen ever not taken it to heart? The very day Mr. Chen entered the capital, Shen led him into the palace for an audience. The royal family then thereupon appointed Mr. Chen as Judiciary Commissioner of Luoyang Prefecture and conferred upon him the title of Nong Chang, solely in charge of the sweet potato breeding affairs."
"Nong Chang?"
Yang Ge nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad, that miser finally did something humane."
Fang Ke tactfully sipped his tea, not daring to speak.
Yang Ge glanced at him: "It’s getting late. If there is nothing pressing at the office, don’t go back. I’ll make something delicious tonight, a feast for the taste buds."
Fang Ke laughed, "That’s great..."
But as soon as he finished speaking, a look of concern flashed across his face.
Yang Ge: "What’s wrong?"
After some thought, Fang Ke looked around and then whispered, "My lord, there may be trouble brewing in the capital..."
"Hmm?"
Yang Ge casually pulled over a bench: "What kind of trouble?"
Fang Ke hesitated a moment and then shook his head: "I’m not sure, but I feel Shen’s demeanor was very off after his return from the palace... The way he looked then, it was as if he wanted to devour someone. I’ve been with him for so many years and I’ve never seen him like that, not even when he was inspecting the salt affairs in Jiangzhe and was nearly killed in an ambush midway. He still managed to smile afterward."
Yang Ge thought about it and realized that he, too, had never seen him in such a state, and curiously asked, "Didn’t you ask him?"
Fang Ke: "How would I dare? With that look he had at the time, I felt like even one extra word from me could cost me my life!"
Yang Ge: "That serious?"
With deep concern, Fang Ke vigorously shook his head: "My gut tells me that something big might happen in the capital... something really big!"
Yang Ge was at a loss for words, unsure of what to say, so he just patted Fang Ke’s shoulder: "Don’t think too much. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up, and if they can’t, I’ll hold it up!"
After a moment of thought, Fang Ke somewhat reassuredly nodded: "There is that..."
Yang Ge: "What would you like to eat tonight? I’ll arrange it."
Fang Ke: "Hotpot!"
Yang Ge: "Could you guys stop eyeing my little store of hotpot ingredients? I just planted this year’s chili peppers; I’m counting on those ingredients to get me through to the autumn harvest."
Fang Ke: "It was you who told me to choose."
Yang Ge: "Pick something else."
After looking at him, Fang Ke tentatively said, "Then... how about I head to the northern frontier?"
Yang Ge glared: "Itching for a beating, are you?"
Fang Ke, with his neck shrunken, muttered softly, "You yourself said it, once I have taken a wife and fathered a child, you’d send me to the northern frontier. Your word..."
Yang Ge, frustrated with his lack of ambition, pointed a finger and tapped his head so it resounded like a ripe watermelon going "bang bang": "Your wife’s going to have a baby in two or three months, and you want to run off now? What for? Is the Great Wall waiting for you to go lay tiles?"
Fang Ke, struck until he could barely open his eyes, dared not utter a sound.
Yang Ge got irritated looking at him: "Go on, get, get back to the office and eat your canteen food, don’t be an eyesore here!"
Fang Ke meekly said, "I’m not going back!"
...
By the beginning of May, the court, without any forewarning, promulgated three major policies.
The first was to draw a large number of elite soldiers and mighty warriors from the commanderies of all thirteen provinces to the capital, to establish a new capital garrison outside of the existing twenty-six guards of the forbidden army.
The second was to eliminate superfluous officials both within and outside the court, to massively release palace ladies and eunuchs from the palace, to cut down on redundant officials in the provincial bureaus, to set up twenty-six inspectors to patrol and soothe the military and civilians throughout the land.
The third was to review household registrations, to reduce and exempt taxes, to halve the agricultural taxes throughout the land, and to encourage refugees and runaways to return to their hometowns, exempting them from any taxes they owed, additionally granting them another two years’ exemption from the same taxes and labor after they registered in their localities.
These three major policies, not foreshadowed by any precursor, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and instantly sparked intense public debate.
Some people regarded them as policies nurturing a strong people and a wealthy country, praising the emperor for his empathy and effective governance, comparing Emperor Xiping to Emperor Wen of Han, calling him a benevolent ruler of a benevolent government.
Others saw them as grandiose but empty accomplishments, harshly criticizing the emperor for his wanton squandering of the national treasury and treating his subjects like animals, comparing Emperor Xiping to Emperor Tiande of Zhou Tang, condemning him as a foolish ruler of a foolish government.
As public discussions simmered, a large number of upright officials submitted joint petitions to the court in the name of "opposing wanton militarism," requesting the emperor to give up on establishing a new capital garrison outside of the forbidden army.
Provincial officials from various provinces also sent in an avalanche of petitions to Emperor Xiping, pleading for "compassion for minor officials and sheltering of the destitute scholars," addressed to Ziwei Palace.
Contrasting with the uproar of "public opinion" among the middle and lower ranks of officials across the nation, the entire court of high-ranked nobility was completely silence, calmly sitting back as if uninvolved.
Meanwhile, Emperor Xiping secluded himself in the inner palaces, ceaselessly canceling court sessions. All memorials related to the three policies were held without being issued, demonstrating his iron-clad determination to enforce these policies to the end...
Though Lu Ting was strategically located at the gateway to Luoyang, it was independent of the politics, military, and economy of Luoyang.
When the people of Lu Ting discussed the three major policies, their "quite good, glad to see it happen" attitude was much like the previous year when the martial artists of Lu Ting discussed the strife in the southern martial arts world with detached remarks of "how chaotic."