Someone immediately handed her a list. She skimmed through it, smiled again, and said, “Just as expected. No one rises to great wealth without having some connections at the imperial court. The top names on this list all have ties to one influential figure or another in the capital.”
“Jianghuai is a vast land with rich resources, and its people are prosperous. Both its waterways and land transport are well-developed, connecting the northern frontier to the southern territories, making it the finest place in the empire for generating wealth.” Qian Yan said, “Many high-ranking court officials not only own estates in Jianghuai, but their relatives and descendants are also largely based here. Nearly all the farmland in Jianghuai has been divided up by the big clans. The network of relationships here is extremely dense and intricate. Serving as Provincial Administration Commissioner in Jianghuai has always been both lucrative and troublesome. Just managing the relationships of all these different factions is enough to keep a commissioner occupied for his entire term.”
“The second one on this list, the Li family, who declined first.” Feng Zhi Wei suddenly noticed a familiar name and paused, “What relation is he to the Grand Scholar Li of Dezhao Hall?”
“He belongs to the Li clan. The Li family had always been a prominent clan in Jianghuai and has lived here for generations. The ‘Li’s’ silk shops you can see all over Jianghuai all belong to them. At present, affairs are managed by the main Li branch’s nephew. But rumor has it that the eldest legitimate grandson has no interest in becoming an official, and has returned to Jianghuai after spending several years traveling. According to Grand Scholar Li’s wishes, there is a good chance he will become the next head of the Li family.” (legitmate son/daughter= children from the actual wife, not from the concubines. The word legitimate here is misleading because the concubines’ kids are also technically ‘legitimate’ kids, but when it comes to social status, they are considered to be of an inferior status. For example, a son of a noble family born of the actual wife would not usually consider marrying a girl of noble birth who was born of a concubine.)
Feng Zhi Wei set the list in her hand aside, a knowing smile spreading across her face— this eldest legitimate grandson of the Li family… is someone she knows quite well.
Back then, at the Lanhuang brothel, while working there as the busboy, she had rushed into the garden to rescue a beauty, a single kick had sent the man’s testicles flying. She had even extorted three thousand taels of silver from the guy and forced him to leave the capital on a ‘study travel’. Who would have thought that after all the twists and turns, they would one day cross paths again.
No wonder he had lost all interest in an official career. Any man who experienced something like that would probably have their life’s every ambition vanish into smoke.
Feng Zhi Wei suddenly remembered something else. Wasn’t her cousin Qiu Yuluo, her uncle’s youngest daughter, betrothed to this Young Master Li? Judging by the time that had passed, Qiu Yuluo should have married into the Li family long ago?
She was a bit lost in thought— ever since Qiu Shangqi had died on the battlefield, and Lady Qiu had suddenly suffered a stroke at the end of the 13th year of Tiansheng, leaving her unable to speak and bedridden, the once grand and illustrious Qiu manor had dwindled overnight. Feng Zhi Wei had no intention of helping, but neither did she feel any desire to keep pursuing them for revenge. The people in Qiu manor had long ceased to be of any interest to her. Only now did she vaguely remember that Qiu Yuluo had married into the Li family in the second year after Lady Qiu became sick.
At the time, Feng Zhi Wei was still busy with the Wildgrassland’s battles. Helian had sent wedding gifts on her behalf as the Principal Consort of the Wildgrassland Royal Court. He had casually mentioned the marriage in passing, but with so many affairs demanding her attention, she had forgotten all about it. And now, she was about to run into them after all?
As all the thoughts raced through her mind, her expression changed with her thoughts. Across from her, Qian Yan watched her with bewilderment—- Why is Lord Wei’s expression so strange? One moment he looks downright lecherous, the next wistful.
Feng Zhi Wei snapped out of her thoughts and slapped the list onto the table, “They are not willing to part with their money? Go spread a rumor and say that I have already submitted a request to the imperial court, proposing the abolition of the tax exemption for the scholar-gentry. Replacing it with a unified tax by merging the head tax into the land tax, so that taxes are levied solely according to the amount of land owned. I will also request that the policy first be implemented in Jianghuai before being utilized throughout the empire.”
“A unified tax?” Qian Yan nearly jumped in alarm. He wasn’t shocked at the proposal itself. This was originally Da Cheng’s tax system, but after Tiansheng was founded, it had been abolished in favor of a head tax. Now Lord Wei suddenly wanted to bring out the very policy His Majesty had rejected years ago, wasn’t that simply asking for trouble? (Scholars (and their family) enjoy the privilege of being exempt from land or grain tax. This is a big reason why even clans with limited resources were willing to make great sacrifices in the hope someone in their family would be able to pass the imperial exam and become an official.)
“Dacheng’s tax system at the time was obviously a good one, but it was ruined by a bunch of old men.” Feng Zhi Wei gave him a glance and said with half a smile, “If it’s a good thing, then let’s not be afraid of resistance and interference. As His Majesty’s loyal subjects, it is only right to give up one’s life for the country and the people. Don’t worry about it, just let the news out first.”
Seeing her expression, a faint understanding suddenly dawned on Qian Yan, and he cautiously probed, “Then…should we still write the letter to the imperial court?”
“Let’s talk about it after I have given it more thought.” Feng Zhi Wei replied with a wave of her hand.
Qian Yan immediately understood what Marquis Wei meant— the so-called petition to take away the gentry’s privilege of not paying taxes was a pretext: Marquis Wei was using it to put pressure on the tight-fisted Jianghuai gentry!
Tiansheng had a rigid social hierarchy where the gentry class enjoyed numerous privileges, and all of their interests were on the line if someone took away those privileges. Even a rumor of someone suggesting changing the status quo will throw these tight-fisted misers into a panic. Moreover, the rumored subject is not some ordinary provincial governor, but Wei Zhi, an exceptionally powerful court official, someone who has always succeeded in whatever he set his mind on.
Jianghuai instantly started buzzing with activity. The great clans began communicating with one another continuously, their carriages and messengers going back and forth without pause as they desperately tried to figure out what was happening. Naturally, the provincial governor’s office was the center of everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, ever since Feng Zhi Wei released that piece of news, the gate was immediately shut to all visitors, and all officials at every level of the provincial administration were forbidden to have any private deals with local big clans.
Her methods were ruthless, and her informants were everywhere. One assistant governor secretly accepted a thousand taels of silver from one of the wealthy clans in exchange for a promise to obtain information for them. The very next day, Feng Zhi Wei transferred the assistant to a small county as a prison official. From that point on, no one dared to collude with the big wealthy gentry.
Those gentry wandered about clutching their silver like headless flies, yet could not find an opening in. Some of them fell back on old habits and wrote letters to their connections in the imperial capital, asking them to find out what was going on and then stop it. However, the replies they received were all the same: Marquis Wei possesses the privilege of submitting confidential memos directly to the Emperor. Whether he has actually submitted a proposal for reform or whether His Majesty will accept it, those are matters that ordinary high-ranking officials have no right to interfere with. At the end, they even felt the need to add a solemn warning— Wait and see what happens. Do not try to oppose it. Above all, do not try to go against the newly appointed provincial governor. Otherwise, a very painful, wretched end might be the result.
This, of course, caused Jianghuai’s side to become increasingly frightened and unsettled. Only now did they realize that this provincial governor was nothing like those who had come before her.
All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com
ps. Got a few reader questions and comments about the “bed scene”. Yes, it was totally easy to miss. I knew everyone was going to be super disappointed with it, but reading over it again, I actually kinda get the reason the author did it this way. It wasn’t supposed to be a romantic scene. In fact, I think our heroine might have sincerely thought about using the opportunity to kill our hero. Which begs the question: Why sleep with the guy if you are really planning to kill him? My opinion is that our heroine thought the best chance she had to kill Ning Yi would be when his guard was at its lowest. When is a guy’s guard at its lowest? When a girl “gives” herself to him and he is assured that the girl truly belongs to him, body and heart. Now, does this mean our heroine doesn’t love Ning Yi? Of course she does. A woman as proud as our heroine would never resort to using her body just to kill an opponent off unless she herself was willing to do the deed. I imagine going the whole way with Ning Yi was a type of closure for our heroine as well.
So what makes me think they two slept together? I actually wasn’t sure until the very end when Zong Chen asked if Feng Zhi Wei would like some medicine for her ‘cold’. The hesitation in Zong Chen’s question and our heroine’s long pause before answering all point to the fact that the ‘cold’ was just a cover-up for something else. So what would be so urgent that Zong Chen had to offer up the medicine right away and would make Feng Zhi Wei hesitate? The morning-after medicine, which was what women took in order to prevent pregnancy. In Chinese historical dramas, this is usually portrayed when the emperor spends the night with one of his concubines and then next morning the eunuch will make sure the woman drinks a bowl of morning-after medicine to make sure she doesn’t get pregnant.
So are we doomed to not have any romantic intimate scenes between our two leads? No worries. If memory serves me right, after our two leads get their happy ending, the author does make it up to us in the epilogue. But don’t get your hopes up too high…it will still be pretty tame by Western standards.