When two powers competed for authority and profit, the attitude of the aristocratic families was merely an add-on rather than the main factor. After all, everyone knew that these great clans could share prosperity but could not share hardship.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some families wanted to gain merit by supporting the rising ruler, so they threw themselves into backing the side they had chosen. Even so, they were not foolish. Empty promises were useless. They would only take action after seeing tangible benefits.

These benefits included appointing members of their families to important positions, handing them control of key cities, and ensuring that the army also contained generals from their clans.

If the Northern Army was in decline at this moment, honestly, they might have been controlled by these families. Now that unifying the realm was only one step away, the Northern Army would have had to be idle to invite such “lords” into their ranks.

Not only did Xiao Rong and the others refuse, but even the army strongly opposed it. After all, when victory and promotions were already within sight, no one wanted outsiders to come in suddenly and take a share of the spoils.

……

Xiao Rong planned to eliminate the aristocratic families because he detested their monopoly. Song Shuo, however, focused on something different. He believed the existence of these families greatly weakened the power of the court. He did not want to become an official in the future only to still have a crowd of people above him controlling him. Even if he rose to the first rank, he would still be constrained everywhere. During his time in Jinling, he saw everything clearly. If the aristocratic families continued to dominate as they did now, people like him would never be able to rise.

Moreover, Song Shuo was a man with pride and great ambitions, and there were almost no people in the world whom he respected. Even when he admired someone, he still believed he himself was the best.

For example, the imperial uncle Sun Renluan. Song Shuo greatly admired his ability to preserve Southern Yong. Back when his family had arranged for him to go to Jinling as an official, the reason he agreed was the chance to meet Sun Renluan in person and receive his praise and recognition.

However, when he arrived there, he realized things were nothing like he had imagined. The once-powerful Grand Marshal who had defended the Han River had grown old. He controlled the entire court but turned a blind eye to its corruption. He had no fighting spirit left. He had failed completely.

Song Shuo’s thinking was somewhat idealized. Sun Renluan did not want the court to become that way either, but without a major crisis, aristocratic young nobles were simply like that, and there was nothing he could do to change them.

Before meeting Xiao Rong, Song Shuo had considered returning home. He decided that if the aristocratic families remained so powerful, he would rather live in retirement for life. However, reality arrived faster than his plans. By the time he reacted, he was already in Chenliu. Once certain things started, they could not be stopped. After taking over as Chenliu magistrate in place of Xiao Rong, he encountered all kinds of people. He had to worry about Xiao Rong’s health, remain anxious about the army sent to the Xianbei, and constantly deal with various emergencies in the city.

When people were extremely busy, they often didn’t realize what they had done. Only after some time did Song Shuo come to understand that after acting decisively, the benefits were actually so great.

People in the world were opportunistic and feared the strong while bullying the weak. Whether scholars or soldiers, there was no real difference in essence.

……

There was something Song Shuo would never know in his lifetime: his current performance was completely different from what it had been in the official historical records. Xiao Rong had once been very puzzled as to why the Song Shuo in history had developed such a personality later on. Why was he described as having a “seven-aperture exquisite heart,” being well-liked from top to bottom, and even having a very happy family life, seemingly a perfect man.

Xiao Rong guessed that he had suffered some kind of trauma, or that he was simply late to mature. Others became mature in their teens or twenties, while he only did so at forty.

In truth, neither was correct. The real reason was that he had been pretending.

……

In official history, He Tingzhi slaughtered indiscriminately in his later years. He first wiped out his wife’s entire family, then destroyed several powerful ministerial clans. Coincidentally, these ministers were all top aristocratic families loyal to him. Under the direction of Han Qing, also known as Han Liangru, He Tingzhi, like a mad dog, bit and tore through the court until it was riddled with holes. Only then did Han Liangru reveal his hypocritical face and seize the opportunity to take control.

All the top aristocratic families were eliminated. Even those who remained were isolated and powerless. The second and third tier families still existed, but they no longer had the ability to oppose the court. The Song family belonged to the second or third tier. As clan head, Song Shuo kept his family away from the center of power, so even when the new Emperor carried out purges, they were not affected.

In this context, Song Shuo made his return. When everyone else was obedient and even felt wronged, it would no longer be appropriate for him to act so extremely. What people needed was a “kind” powerful minister to soothe the psychological trauma left by the He Tingzhi era.

As for whether Song Shuo had any personality change, there was one: when he was young, he looked down on everyone. Even if he occasionally found someone worth acknowledging, he would still tease them. When he grew older, he stopped doing that, but instead, he began teasing everyone.

….

In the last twenty years of his life, Song Shuo spent his days teasing everyone. By day, he was a kind and reasonable high-ranking official, at night, he secretly laughed alone in his study. Whenever he thought about how foolish those people were, he felt especially happy.

That Song Shuo successfully became famous throughout history. Even as talented people emerged generation after generation, he stood out as a unique figure among them, but if anyone asked Song Shuo himself, he actually found it all somewhat boring.

The first few years were fine, he felt a lot of enjoyment. Later on, however, he found himself in a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat. After pretending for so many years, if he suddenly stopped pretending, the Emperor would be the first to object. He also didn’t want his life experience to leave behind a blemish. There was his family. The Song family had already become extremely powerful and wealthy, and he could no longer act as freely as he had when he was young.

The persona he created for himself eventually trapped him within it, and even his ending was dying from overwork in official duties.

By pretending to that extent, Song Shuo indeed fooled many people, but it seemed he had also fooled himself.

…………

This time was a completely different choice from the historical record. Song Shuo realized he no longer needed to wait. He could even become the one who eliminated the power of the aristocratic clans himself. Different emperors created different courts, and different destinies led to different directions.

The Han family Emperor had given Song Shuo the position of the foremost person in the court, honored him as Imperial Tutor, and secured nearly two hundred years of glory for the Song family. Qu Yunmie and Xiao Rong couldn’t give him these things, but they could give him the right to act willfully, the backing of the strongest army, and the chance to live a carefree life.

He no longer needed to pretend. At the very least, Xiao Rong and the others all knew what kind of person Song Shuo was. He no longer needed to form hypocritical friendships with others, nor would he receive strange looks after speaking the truth.

Which of these two kinds of life was better? No one knew, and no one could compare them.

In any case, Song Shuo in this life felt that he was living quite well. In this transformation, the only person who was probably hurt was Xiao Rong.

He was still hoping that Song Shuo would awaken early and become Song Shuo 2.0, a special edition with a “seven-orificed exquisite mind.” Unfortunately, he would never see that in this lifetime.

…………

Song Shuo seized on the aristocratic clans’ weaknesses and struck decisively, fearing that if he missed this opportunity, he would have to wait again. Even though Xiao Rong stopped him and prevented him from killing the direct descendant of that clan, he didn’t side with outsiders. He only ensured that Song Shuo spared one life. As for what Song Shuo wanted to do, Xiao Rong still fully cooperated.

In a short time, several aristocratic clans in the genealogical records north of the Han River were purged. Some had their property confiscated, while others had members of their clan executed. Once it became clear that they were serious, the aristocratic clans in Southern Yong naturally reacted as well. However, since both sides were in a blockade period, even if they reacted, it had little effect.

Originally, no one would have dared to bring this matter before Sun Renluan, because all the listed aristocratic clans were supposed to be aligned with the Yong court. The two sides were meant to be mortal enemies. Bringing complaints about the North Army’s actions before Sun Renluan would essentially be the same as directly telling him they intended to defect.

Yet as the North Army’s actions grew larger and larger, they gradually revealed an attitude: they simply did not respect the aristocratic clans at all and did not want their support.

Someone took the aristocratic genealogical records to warn the Northern Army. However, the general named Jian Qiao sneered, walked out into the street, threw the record book onto the ground, and set it on fire.

There were many ignorant commoners on the street. Seeing this scene, they all cheered.

The reason for their reaction was that a new play had recently appeared north of the Han River, called Ten Thousand Miles of Silver.

Ten Thousand Miles of Silver was not as long as Returning in Armor. By that time, Returning in Armor still hadn’t finished its run. Ten Thousand Miles of Silver only had three acts. It told the story of a man named Li Wanli, who accidentally discovered that cotton became fluffy and warm after being fluffed. So he produced a large amount of soft cotton and planned to sell it in the city.

However, not long after he set out, a group of servants beat him severely, saying that all warm clothing in the city was exclusively sold by a certain clan. How could a lowly commoner dare compete with them? If he continued selling, they would kill him. Their clan leader was an official!

After being beaten, he naturally didn’t dare to sell anymore. He decided to leave the city and go elsewhere. This time, he would not sell clothes. He would sell raw cotton instead, so no one could object.

However, as soon as he set up his stall, local officials came and said cotton was not allowed in the city, because a certain aristocratic clan specialized in sericulture and selling animal hides. Cotton was dirty and not warm. He was a fraud. If he continued selling, he would be arrested and sent to prison.

The man couldn’t accept this explanation. He held up the white cotton and tried to explain that it was clean and truly warm, but the officials refused to listen. Just as he was about to be beaten again, he quickly fled.

After that, the pattern repeated: clothing could not be sold, cotton could not be sold, tools could not be sold. Someone even tried to conscript him into forced labor and take him as a household slave. In the three-act play, he encountered at least ten crises. He traveled farther and farther away. When he finally found a place where he could sell his cotton, he discovered he was no longer in the Central Plains but had reached the Western Regions.

Merchants in the Western Regions happily looked at his cotton and said it was a good thing. They already used it there to make quilts and clothes, but no one could make cotton as soft as his.

The man thought his suffering had finally come to an end and became very happy. However, the merchant only gave him a small amount of broken silver. The merchant also regretfully told him that although his processing was good, they had cotton fields everywhere, so it would not sell for a high price. That was the highest price they could offer.

In the final scene, the man held a small piece of scattered silver. He had traveled thousands of miles away from home, endured all four seasons of hardship, and in the end, this was all he received. He stared blankly at the audience, almost angering them to death.

…………

It was a very short script, and the actors didn’t need to memorize many lines, so the three acts were performed together. If someone had money and leisure, they could watch the entire play in a single day.

Those who watched it only remembered two things: first, aristocratic clans were not good, second, cotton was a good thing.

…………

Chenliu already had its ideas reshaped by Xiao Rong. After Returning in Armor became popular, the North Army’s status among the common people rose rapidly. Combined with city construction and wage distribution, the people of Chenliu had become the most loyal supporters of the King of the North and the Northern Army. Although Xiao Rong called these plays “folding plays,” in the eyes of those who had never seen drama before, they should rather be called “news documentaries.”

Many people didn’t even realize they were fictional, they thought these were real events.

In this atmosphere, the prestige of aristocratic clans among ordinary people naturally declined. When the Northern Army expelled members of aristocratic families, everyone was very happy.

Xiao Rong was also very happy. It was worth urgently finding writers to draft the script and quickly stage the play. Now cotton was successfully promoted, the reputation of the aristocratic clans had been ruined, and there was also a minor benefit: the employment options for non-Han peoples had increased again.

They could now apply to become actors, as long as they could speak the Central Plains language. It didn’t matter whether they were beautiful or not, because everything was just beginning and people hadn’t become picky yet.

…………

For a long time, non-Han people were only able to work as traveling merchants or mercenaries. Even being household slaves was rare, because they ate more, often ran away, and some people feared they might suddenly go on killing sprees. Thus, in the slave markets, non-Han peoples always sold poorly.

Moreover, whether as merchants or mercenaries, they first needed strong bodies. This was a kind of survivorship bias. Central Plains people always believed non-Han peoples were savage and physically strong, but in reality, there were also weak ones like chicks. Only those people had self-awareness and stayed in their homelands.

Now things have changed. As information gradually spread, if one could become an actor, one could become a shop assistant. If one could become a shop assistant, one could naturally become a shopkeeper.

Although appearances differed, intelligence and ability were similar. It wasn’t only Central Plains people who were willing to strive, non-Han peoples were as well.

…………

Xiao Rong was happy as ever, while the aristocratic clans were angry as ever. However, the play only premiered north of the Han River, and they couldn’t interfere there. It seemed that it wouldn’t reach Southern Yong, but Returning in Armor had started in Chenliu, and now it was being staged in parts of Southern Yong. No one in Jinling dared to show it openly, but the scripts were already being secretly circulated, and scholars had a copy.

On this matter, Yu Shaoxie felt somewhat embarrassed. He had thought that scholars wouldn’t read it because of its vulgar language, but scholars liked following trends and also enjoyed such dramatic stories. Although they publicly criticized it, the worn-out copy at home spoke for itself.

Xiao Rong was not like Song Shuo. He would not deliberately stand in front of others and say smugly, “See, I was right, wasn’t I?” Instead, he was thinking about business opportunities. After having craftsmen carve printing blocks, he printed several thousand copies at once. He secretly transported them to Southern Yong and distributed them to booksellers, who would handle the rest.

People died for wealth and birds died for food. Returning in Armor became wildly popular, and Ten Thousand Miles of Silver was also about to become popular.

Some people could no longer sit still but did not know how to stop it. In the end, they slapped their heads and came up with a brilliant idea: go to the Grand Marshal.

…………

He told Sun Renluan about the current attitude north of the Han River and how Ten Thousand Miles of Silver had defamed the aristocratic clans. “Grand Marshal, you are also from the aristocratic clans, and even their leader. You should not just watch your own people being bullied. Moreover, you should leave yourself a backup plan. If we cannot withstand the Northern King’s retaliation this time, as the head of the Sun family, do you want to live in a world that does not respect aristocratic clans?”

Sun Renluan: “…”

He erupted into the greatest rage of his life. If not for those around him stopping him, he would have killed the man on the spot.

These days were already frustrating enough, and yet such fools kept disturbing his mind.

He sent everyone out and sat back down, unable to hide his exhaustion.

He was already exhausted beyond measure, but the discipline ingrained since childhood still made him sit upright. Rubbing his temples, he thought about the situation in Jinling.

They did not have enough soldiers or generals. The campaign against Ningzhou had cost them tens of thousands of men. Now they barely managed to gather 200,000 troops, but he knew half of them were unfit for battle.

After the defeat in Ningzhou, Shen Yangrui became the scapegoat. Clearly, the plan to attack Yining and Ningzhou was originally proposed by the Yang Cangyi faction. After hearing the young Emperor’s suggestion, Sun Renluan only mentioned it casually. Yet when Yang Cangyi learned of the Emperor’s intention, he became excited and used it to persuade the entire court to agree to the invasion.

Almost by chance, Sun Renluan also agreed, because he wanted to see whether they still had any hope left.

The result was already clear: there was none.

…………

These days, Sun Renluan has been coordinating various factions. He wanted to reinstate Shen Yangrui, because in Southern Yong, Shen Yangrui was indeed a rare capable general. More importantly, he was the only general Sun Renluan could trust.

If someone else led the troops, he would feel uneasy, and fear betrayal at any moment.

His fear was justified, because Wang Xinyong had already been here for some time. Whether people knew him or not, many were secretly sending him letters. Some expressed willingness to serve under General Wang, while others were willing to give up their fortunes as long as Wang Xinyong could speak well of them in front of the Northern King.

However, reinstating Shen Yangrui was not simple. There was strong opposition in court. The main reason was that people no longer trusted him after his disastrous defeat. They would rather send an unknown young commander than give him the army again.

Yang Cangyi thought the same. This time, he wasn’t deliberately obstructing Sun Renluan. In fact, between the two of them, Sun Renluan was the one acting more out of self-interest, because he couldn’t trust anyone else.

…………

Although the resistance was strong, it was not impossible to overcome. In a few more days, Shen Yangrui should be reinstated.

This should have been the only good news of the past month. Just as Sun Renluan’s expression finally eased, panicked cries came from outside.

“Grand Marshal! Grand Marshal!”

Hearing this, Sun Renluan immediately felt a headache, because every time someone called him like that, it meant something else had gone wrong, but even he did not expect this time to be so serious.

The messenger knelt on the ground, shaking uncontrollably, on the verge of tears but too agitated to cry.

“Grand Marshal, the city granaries… the grain inside the granaries is rotten! The outside layers are fine, but the inside is moldy! These past few days we were preparing grain supplies for Liyang, and only then did the workers discover it. It’s not just one granary—three, three of them are like this!”

He trembled as he spoke.

It was no wonder he was terrified. Jinling had only six granaries in total, each enormous and heavily guarded. They stored enough grain to feed the entire city and the army for several years. If only one warehouse had been compromised, he wouldn’t have been so frightened.

Three granaries were affected.

What did that mean?

It meant their ability to hold out had been cut in half. It meant that at a critical moment, civilians might have to be abandoned. It meant more and more people would defect from the court, and nobles would become even more restless after hearing the news.

Sun Renluan’s body swayed. He coughed up a mouthful of stagnant blood. The entire hall erupted in panic. Some rushed to call the imperial physician, while others gathered around his collapsed body, weeping softly.

It was unclear whether they were crying for Sun Renluan—or for their own future.

 

Edited by: Antiope

 

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