Chapter 108: Seeking to Build a Divine Vessel to Visit the Immortal Mountains

Princess Yuzhen’s phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.

If Ye Chang had suggested that she propose the promotion of this crop to Li Longji, she would have refused immediately. Although she enjoyed great favor with the Emperor, she was self-aware enough to know that while recommending talent was acceptable, interfering in specific administrative affairs would inevitably lead to her being viewed as a second Princess Taiping. At that point, favor would turn into suspicion.

However, Ye Chang’s proposal to trial the planting on one or two of her estates showed such prudence that it caused the Princess to change her mind. She looked at the young man again. He was graceful and composed; she realized her previous comparison of him to Wang Wei had been misguided.

He possessed something that Wang Wei lacked: confidence.

It was not merely confidence in his own talent—Wang Wei had that as well—but in Ye Chang, the Princess sensed a confidence that seemed to peer into the future. It was a type of confidence she had only ever seen in that formidable woman from the past, a memory that made the Princess distinctly uncomfortable.

Empress Wu Zetian, at the height of her power, had possessed that very same confidence.

Princess Yuzhen’s eyes suddenly widened, flashing with a sharp, indignant anger as she stared at Ye Chang. But then, she let out a soft, self-mocking laugh. It was different from her grandmother’s confidence; it lacked that piercing, imperious dominance.

Ye Chang was unaware of the complex thoughts that had raced through the Princess’s mind in such a short span. He waited quietly until she finally spoke: "And what does this have to do with that barbarian girl?"

"I intend to have the barbarians offer the seeds, while simultaneously sending people to the Central Plains to teach us their cultivation techniques."

The Great Tang was not particularly resistant to adopting advanced foreign technologies; on the contrary, the imperial court actively encouraged such things and viewed them with optimism. Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin, had even sent envoys to the kingdom of Magadha in the twenty-first year of the Zhenguan era to learn the art of sugar refining, which led to a breakthrough in Tang sugar production.

The Princess nodded slightly. "And then? Why would those barbarians easily surrender the treasures of their tribe?"

"The Yuexi Zhao is currently on the brink of survival. Without the protection of the Great Tang, they would surely be annexed by Nanzhao. By merely exerting slight pressure on Nanzhao, we can make them eternally grateful. Moreover, a Nanzhao that grows too powerful would not seem to benefit the interests of our Great Tang in the south..."

"Interests?" The Princess was somewhat surprised to hear Ye Chang speak so bluntly of interests.

Ye Chang realized he had spoken out of turn. Although this was not an era dominated by pedantic scholars, the principle that "a gentleman understands righteousness, while a petty man understands profit" remained; speaking of interests so directly was often looked down upon. However, since the words were out, he had no intention of retracting them. He calmly continued, "It is precisely our Tang interests. Between people, one should speak of righteousness; between nations, one should speak of profit."

"You can go argue that with those Confucian scholars, much like you did with your punctuation marks," the Princess said, not waiting for further explanation. "But you have failed to consider what kind of situation is currently advantageous for the Great Tang."

"Oh?"

"The Tibetans are making repeated incursions, and the Great Tang is preparing to engage them in a decisive battle," she said. "The Great Tang needs Nanzhao to pin down the Tibetans from the southeast, and a Zhao that poses no threat to them would be of no use to us. As for the white-staple cloth (cotton), if we order Nanzhao to present it, I expect they would not dare refuse."

Ye Chang remained silent for a moment before saying, "I fear that is nursing a tiger that will eventually harm us."

"A mere skin disease," the Princess replied dismissively. "The Jiannan region is enough to suppress Nanzhao." She looked at him with surprise. "Are you not going to speak up for that little barbarian girl?"

"As I said just now, between nations, one must speak of profit."

"And so you cast that girl aside? 'First seduced, then abandoned'—truly the way of Master Ye," the Princess teased. She was well-versed in human nature and knew that there was nothing between Ye Chang and the barbarian girl, but looking at this graceful young man, she couldn't help but bait him.

"So, does the Priestess grant this matter?"

"I haven't agreed yet, have I?" Her gaze drifted over him before she smiled. "Master Ye is so urgent... you must remember that I am a Buddhist-Taoist nun; I have no need for much money. Even if there were great profit to be had, what does it have to do with me?"

This was pure affectation, yet it was the kind of affectation that left Ye Chang with no room to refute.

***

Ye Chang’s greatest problem was a lack of sufficient land. Xiuwu County was in the heart of the Central Plains, densely populated; even if he put in his best effort to clear wasteland or purchase plots, a hundred acres would be his limit. But what was the point of planting cotton on a mere hundred acres?

He needed at least one or two estates, totaling around a thousand acres, to qualify as small-scale cultivation—enough to accumulate the talent and experience needed for further expansion. It was difficult to secure a thousand acres of arable land in the Central Plains, and even in the Jianghuai and Jiangdong regions, which had been developed later, it was hard to find large, contiguous tracts. Perhaps they existed in the south, but that was raw land; it would take years of labor to turn it into truly workable soil.

"What is the Priestess's intention?" Ye Chang asked after a moment of contemplation. He knew well that she wasn't truly refusing; she was negotiating.

"I have two estates in the capital region, not too far from Xiuwu, totaling about fifteen hundred acres," she said. "I had originally intended to use the income from those estates to build a temple on the mountain for my later years. If I lend them to you, where will the funds for my temple come from?"

Although later chroniclers would claim that Princess Yuzhen retreated to Mount Jingting in her old age—even inspiring a poem by Li Bai—in reality, as the Tianbao era began, she had begun planning her retirement. The place she had set her heart on was not the remote Mount Jingting in the south, but Mount Wangwu, located just north of the Eastern Capital, Luoyang.

"I see. And what must I do to borrow these two estates?"

"It is not difficult... I want the capital's football market," she said slowly.

Ye Chang was stunned. When he had met with Jia Mao and the others a few days ago, they had been positively glowing when discussing this year's football market revenue. With a six-month season, the revenue had already doubled from last year’s thirty thousand strings of cash to sixty thousand, and the growth showed no signs of slowing. According to Jia Mao’s estimates, breaking one hundred thousand strings was a certainty, and they might even approach one hundred and fifty thousand.

Such income was a scorching hot potato. Even someone as daring as Jia Mao had expressed his concerns: would the interest groups profiting from the market begin to fracture? If factions from the Southern Office and other powerful groups in the capital, who had not yet intervened, decided they wanted a piece of the pie, what would happen?

Jia Mao’s fears were not unfounded; Princess Yuzhen had set her sights on exactly that.

"With all due respect, Priestess, while I provided the plans for the football market, I am not the one who makes the decisions," Ye Chang said tactfully. "Furthermore, the market is still in its infancy; the league has only been running for a year. To intervene now... Wait, is this the idea of Wang Xiaqing?"

He had a sudden realization and looked directly at the Princess. Yuzhen herself should have little interest in the football market, or she would have raised it sooner. Someone must have influenced her recently, and the most likely candidate was Wang Jin. This explained Wang Jin’s hostility toward him: the man wanted to seize control of the league.

Under Ye Chang’s burning gaze, the Princess looked slightly embarrassed. Wang Jin was Wang Wei’s beloved brother, and she felt compelled to speak on his behalf; plus, she had a lingering fondness for the past, leaving her no choice but to engage in this form of forceful acquisition.

"It was indeed proposed by Wang Xiaqing, though it is also my intent," she said slowly. "When the late Emperor was alive, he built palaces for me and my sister, Princess Jinxian, which drew much criticism from officials. Now, I wish to build a temple on Mount Wangwu. Sanlang (the Emperor) will surely empty the national treasury to do it, and I fear the officials will inevitably attack me for it. If I can fund the construction myself without touching the treasury, it would be a meritorious deed."

Ye Chang laughed. He laughed at Wang Jin’s greed, at Yuzhen’s nonsense, and at the shortsightedness and stupidity of these people. If Yuzhen built her temple, it would be finished in two or three years. Using the profits from the football market for those years would pay for the construction, and everything after that would be pure profit—a clever scheme indeed.

But who was Wang Jin? A scion of the Taiyuan Wang clan. He had literary talent and a sharp mind for bureaucratic maneuvering, but did he really have the ability to manage a new phenomenon like a football league? Ye Chang could already imagine it: Wang Jin had no skill in expanding revenue, so he would focus on cost-cutting—reducing investments in youth training and the construction of proper stadiums—to divert those funds into fawning over the Princess. It might work in the short term, but it would dig up the very roots of the league in the long run.

"Wang Xiaqing has a fine plan," Ye Chang said slowly. "I have no objections. He may not know, but you, Priestess, know that I hold not a single penny of profit from the football market."

The Princess felt a twinge of regret, for she did indeed know this. After a moment of thought, she decided it was necessary to reveal a detail to put Ye Chang’s heart at ease.

"People like Jia Mao were brought in by you, Eleven. Although you have no stake, I must consider their interests for your sake," she said. "Do not think that only Wang Jin is eyeing this. Relying on Jia Mao alone will not keep it safe."

"The Priestess speaks in riddles. Please, enlighten me."

"Wang Xiaqing is merely the public face; there is someone else behind this... You have spent little time in Chang'an, so you may not know of Wang Yuanbao. Have you heard of him?"

Ye Chang was stunned. "It’s him?"

He had not been in Chang'an long, but the name Wang Yuanbao was like thunder in his ears. To praise someone’s wealth, people said, "Their family wealth is like Wang Yuanbao’s." To describe a stroke of luck, they said, "Like Yuanbao meeting the God of Wealth." Wang Yuanbao was the richest man in Chang'an. The phrase "wealth rivaling a nation" seemed tailored specifically for him.

Legend had it that even Emperor Li Longji, having heard of his vast riches, had asked him exactly how much he owned. Yuanbao had proudly claimed that if his wealth were converted into silk, it would be enough to wrap every tree on Mount Zhongnan and still have plenty left over.

"I never imagined Wang Yuanbao would set his sights on such a small business," Ye Chang said with a wry laugh.

"He originally intended to form his own league, but fearing me and the Twenty-Ninth Lady, he asked Wang Xiaqing to be his lobbyist," the Princess revealed.

The fact that he feared only Yuzhen and Princess Chong, but not the other stakeholders in the football market, proved one thing: Wang Yuanbao had already smoothed over relations with the authorities in the capital and the local temples.

Thinking of what the Princess had just said, Ye Chang couldn't help but ask, "What about Jia Mao’s men?"

"Though Jia Mao is in charge and his brothers are loyal, sixteen of the twenty-four managers beneath them are already willing to seek other employment."

In other words, Wang Yuanbao had quietly poached the majority of the management talent for the Chang'an football league. Jia Mao had likely caught wind of this, which was why he had asked Ye Chang for a counter-strategy.

Despite his lack of deep attachment to the football league, Ye Chang felt a heavy weight in his heart. This was the nature of the times: the pioneer breaks his back to carve out a path of wealth, only for the wolves and tigers to swarm in, drive the pioneer away, and monopolize the spoils. These colluding officials and merchants would devour the pioneer until not even a bone remained.

This was why Ye Chang had to associate with the powerful; without it, he would have no means of self-preservation. Were it not for his relationship with Princess Yuzhen and others, his paper mill and printing press would have met the same fate. His reason for borrowing the Princess’s land to trial cotton was the same—without the protection of a high-ranking noble, the government would never allow him to plant a new, unknown crop.

"I am willing to persuade Jia Mao and the others to not only relinquish the management rights of the league but also to leave Chang'an," Ye Chang said after a long silence, holding up three fingers. "However, if Wang Yuanbao wants these rights, he must pay a price."

"Name it, and I shall see that you get it," the Princess promised, happy that he had agreed. After all, it was Wang Yuanbao’s money, not hers.

"First, Jia Mao and his men will withdraw completely. Their shares shall be valued at fifty thousand strings of cash, and Wang Yuanbao must pay in full at once."

Fifty thousand strings for an industry yielding over a hundred thousand annually was a bargain. The Princess shook her head without hesitation: "Too little. Eighty thousand. Fifty thousand for Jia Mao and his men, and thirty thousand for you, Eleven!"

"Ten thousand is enough for me. The remaining twenty thousand shall be my contribution to your temple, Priestess," Ye Chang said. He certainly wouldn't refuse the money; he needed it.

"Very well. And the second?"

"I wish to build ships to seek the Penglai Isles. Please, Priestess, facilitate this for me."

Under Tang law, there were many restrictions on private shipbuilding. Ye Chang had only managed to start a small repair shop in Wuzhi, managed by Cui Xiujing, which had already consumed over a thousand strings of cash this year just to train talent. If the Princess intervened to clear the way with the authorities, he could expand his scale and recruit artisans on a grander scale.

"That is easy. Are you truly going to seek the Penglai Isles, Eleven?"

"That is indeed my heart's desire," Ye Chang replied calmly.

The motive for the Great Voyages in Europe had been the pursuit of wealth by kings and merchants. While the nobles of the Great Tang were unmoved by the prospect of overseas riches, they were intensely obsessed with seeking immortality. Ye Chang was planting this seed now to lay the foundation for a Great Age of Discovery belonging to China.

"Anything else?"

"Two conditions are enough," Ye Chang said.