Chapter 27

Generally speaking, entering the city should not incur a fee. The low-ranking gate guards only collect a small tax from merchants hauling goods, and even that is minimal, because once the goods are brought into the city—whether sold in the market or transported to a shop—the government will surely collect another round of taxes.

However, the definition of "goods" is quite vague. For instance, if you bring a cart of pears into the city, you are transporting goods and must pay. But what if you bring a schoolbag full of books? A basket of pastries? Or perhaps just an empty wicker basket? Who can say for sure that you aren't planning to sell these items? Oh, you say there is so little of it that it must be for personal use? Very well, I let you in, but what if you drop off the items, leave the city, and then come back in with more "goods"?

Such shameless individuals are rare, but the gatekeepers have a more convenient, lazy-government solution: they collect one copper coin from everyone entering the city, while actual cargo wagons are taxed based on the type and weight of their contents.

Consequently, more and more people are flooding into Nanzheng City. This is good news for the gatekeepers, but it is a disaster for the County Magistrate.

He is exhausted.

This is penance, he tells himself.

The Chief Clerk, however, is more optimistic. He encourages him, saying, "This is your political achievement, sir!"

Because of the land-seizing affairs of the Western City Office, Xingyuan Prefecture has been turned into a mess. Several groups of displaced people have joined forces, and it looks like a new Fang La or Song Jiang uprising is brewing! Now that the Imperial Princess has shown benevolence and returned the land to the people through permanent tenancy, Xingyuan Prefecture is at peace! The County Office is also at peace!

As for the work involved in managing these fields, it is indeed a heavy workload, but surely the Imperial Princess will owe the County Office a favor?

Hearing this, Liu Jingwang is happy at first, but then becomes hesitant.

"She is, after all, only thirteen..."

"We have only heard rumors of how the Imperial Princess behaved in the capital, but look at these few things she has done since arriving," the Chief Clerk says in a low voice. "Can the County Office still treat her as a mere child?"

Liu Jingwang’s dark circles—which fade and darken like a waxing moon—gaze over gloomily. "You are right. I originally thought she did not understand the intricacies of these matters. Now it seems she is indeed precocious. It is just that the clerks are working so hard; I cannot bear to see them suffer..."

The Chief Clerk sneers inwardly, *They are all pretending to be ignorant while knowing full well what’s at stake, desperate to climb the social ladder. Why does the Magistrate pity them?*

Even he himself harbored such intentions! It was only because his wife forbade him from getting involved that he refrained.

"What good do you think grabbing that position will do?" his wife had said. "The Imperial Princess has caused the Western City Office such a loss of face; who knows what the aftermath will be!"

But now, with a steady stream of people coming to the County Office, each one ready to reclaim their land, the clerks are being worked to death digging through the original archives!

Li Yan had originally seized a thousand *qing* of land for the Imperial Princess in one go, intending it for his own dozens or hundreds of followers. If the Imperial Princess were to manage this land herself, she would be worked to death—for she possessed five mountains, over forty thousand *mu* of farmland, seventeen mills, and six ferry crossings. To say she is "wealthier than a nation" might be a stretch, but to call her a landlord is a gross understatement; she is a massive, large-scale landowner whose wealth exceeds that of an entire city.

Not to mention the management of the ferry crossings, mills, and barren mountains, the mere task of flipping through the old deeds for those tens of thousands of *mu* of land is enough to keep her busy until the end of time. The reason those lands were seized by Li Yan, besides the fact that they belonged to small-to-medium landlords and common farmers, was that there were many irregularities in their registration, sales, and tax records. This meant that returning the land to the rightful owners was a gargantuan task.

Yet, the clerks under the Chief Clerk have shown a desperate, suicidal level of zeal, working overtime and pushing themselves to the limit. It is moving, yet puzzling.

The Magistrate took on this work for the Lingying Palace to repay a favor, but what connection do these clerks have with the Imperial Princess? Why are they risking their lives?

They are more than willing to risk their lives! Not only that, they are desperately trying to send gifts through connections. Those from poor families send local specialties or dried goods; those from wealthy families send silk and satin. They start by bribing the guards at the gate of the Lingying Palace and the Daoist priests in the front hall, and continue all the way to the eunuchs, palace maids, and laborers inside. As long as there is a chance to send a gift, they try!

The purpose of the gifts is simple: *Please, your excellencies, noble officers, and ladies, say a few kind words for this lowly official in front of Eunuch Cao and the two ladies-in-waiting.*

Of course, there are more brazen ones who send gifts directly to the Imperial Princess. Some who are both bold and clever include not only emerald-green jade and smooth, round pearls in their boxes, but also petitions for prayer, hoping the Mistress of the Lingying Palace will accept them and offer them before the immortals.

The Imperial Princess opens those petitions and finds, to her surprise, that they are all letters of self-recommendation.

...They are not, of course, love letters to the Imperial Princess. Even if she were twenty-three, at the peak of her youth, no one would dare to be so presumptuous without the Emperor's tacit approval.

These "confession letters" are actually self-introductions.

They claim that since the Imperial Princess punished the eunuchs of the Western City Office and sentenced those managers according to the law, she must surely want to manage the recovered land herself and properly settle the people. They write that the Imperial Princess's benevolence is the Emperor's benevolence; that because the Emperor possesses such benevolence, the Imperial Princess is so pure and filial; and that with such a sage monarch, the Great Song need not worry about lasting for a thousand generations!

Some of this nonsense is written with great literary flair, while some is quite clumsy. Regardless, everyone starts by praising the Emperor and her, before presenting their demands.

They all believe they have the talent for management. They also realize that the Imperial Princess is currently overstepping her bounds by using county officials to do the work, burning their youth away. So far, she can claim it is an "expedient measure for an emergency," and the censors cannot do much to her. But if she lets the county officials continue to "burn their youth" for too long, she will certainly be impeached.

Therefore, she must find management personnel for her vast fixed assets. They assume she is worried about this, so they have come.

The Imperial Princess falls into deep thought.

If this were one of the stories in the vernacular fiction she remembers, she would only need to sit in the Lingying Palace.

There would be countless managers—clever, loyal, transparent, selfless, and unwavering—appearing one after another like magical helpers in a folktale, emerging from water jars, dropping from the rafters, or sprouting from the head of the princess.

Then, she could simply sort them and slot them into place, like putting different-shaped blocks into a toy sorter.

Perfect.

Slow footsteps approach, interrupting her occasional distraction.

The Imperial Princess sits under the window, chin in hand, staring blankly at a stack of self-recommendation letters, looking very much like a real little girl.

The palace maids rarely see her like this and cannot bear to disturb her. Only Cao Fu approaches slowly, his footsteps steady, his shoes tapping on the bricks, one by one, like a rhythmic knocking, growing closer until they break her brief moment of rest.

"Old Cao." She does not get upset, but rather collects her thoughts, stands up, and invites him to sit. "I am troubled by a puzzle and seek your guidance."

"This old servant dares not claim to guide," Cao Fu says, sitting a respectful distance away. "What are the Imperial Princess's instructions?"

"Father has gifted me barren mountains, to be managed by the Daoist temple, but I do not have enough managers," she says. "What should I do?"

"If the Imperial Princess only wants to find a few literate managers, it is not difficult to recruit them in the city. If you restrict it to Daoists, there are many in Xingyuan Prefecture as well."

"Old Cao knows that what I want is more than that."

Cao Fu’s voice is calm. "I do not know what kind of managers the Imperial Princess desires."

The room falls silent for a moment. She waves her hand, and Peilan leads the two maids quietly out of the room.

"I beg you to speak plainly, Old Cao."

Cao Fu looks at her and suddenly chuckles.

"Does the Imperial Princess know how many letters the Lingying Palace receives in a day? That they can get their letters to your desk is already proof of rare talent; it is simply that the Imperial Princess is never satisfied."

"My heart is indeed never satisfied," she says. "I do not know their character. Even if I were to order an investigation, I am a newcomer—I know not whom to task with the inquiry, nor where to begin."

"Even if the Imperial Princess is wise and can discern the finest details," Cao Fu asks, "so what? Does the Imperial Princess wish to seek heroes among household slaves?"

"Wei Qing was but a household slave," she says.

Cao Fu looks straight at her. "What use would the Imperial Princess have for a Wei Qing?"

She falls silent.

"Although this old servant lacks the wisdom to judge people..."

"You are too modest, Old Cao."

"But if the Imperial Princess only needs managers, these people can indeed ease your worries."

Cao Fu slowly looks through the letters, sorting them into several piles using a method she does not quite grasp.

"The Imperial Princess should take a look." He points to the piles he has sorted, then sinks back into his chair as if exhausted.

She opens them stack by stack, puzzled. This time, the more she reads, the clearer it becomes.

They are all nephews or cousins of local power-holders. They have all studied, can read, and are locals. Thus, beyond basic management skills, they can all help her with other things.

But the things they can do are different.

Some can help her squeeze out more grain and money; some can help her ensure the tenants do not complain; some can help her annex surrounding land; others have unique approaches to help her promote education and virtuous governance on the land.

These hidden agendas are tucked away in the corners of their flowery language. As she reads and thinks, she gradually sees not only their abilities but also what they hope to gain from her beyond "easing the Imperial Princess's worries."

She stares for a long time, then sets the letters aside.

"How should I choose?"

"This old servant followed the Imperial Princess here to escape the affairs of the palace and spend my remaining years in peace," Cao Fu says. "Is that not the same for the Imperial Princess?"

She is silent for a while.

"I still have to go back."

"If so, why does the Imperial Princess ask this old servant? Is the person the Imperial Princess should seek advice from not already in Xingyuan Prefecture?"

The person she should seek advice from is, naturally, her teacher, Yuwen Shizhong.

What kind of person would Yuwen Shizhong recommend to her? Certainly not a hermit capable of reciting the *Liangfu Yin*, but at best a few local scholars from humble families. What use would they be?

But this question must be connected to the one Cao Fu asked her: Does she want to return to Bianjing?

She does.

If she returns to Bianjing, what kind of people must she face?

The civil officials.

Can she scrape even a shred of favor from those civil officials by looking in water jars, under rafters, or on the heads of the princess’s kin?

Very well. She has already returned the land to the people through the permanent tenancy system, and has suppressed the parasites of the Western City Office to the greatest extent, preventing the Lizhou Circuit from falling into large-scale unrest. It is not perfect, but at least her performance is passing.

She has already submitted a passing answer to that scroll. Now, she can at least try to scrape a bit of favor from Teacher Yuwen's head and see what she can get, right?