Chapter Forty-Five: Only with a Plan

After listening to He Ru, Xu You fell into deep thought. It was quite possible that Sun Guan had pinned the future of the Way of the Celestial Masters on the crown prince. If that was truly the case, then the sudden decree sent forth across the realm to raise rents, grain levies, and money taxes, and in such enormous sums, must mean that some great upheaval had taken place in Jinling.

But Xu You was trapped in Qiantang, and his reach could not extend beyond ten li. Even if there had indeed been a change in Jinling, by the time it reached his ears, the moment would already have passed, and there would be nothing to be done.

"Tomorrow I will go and meet Gu Feiqing. He is a man of the Gu clan and serves as magistrate of Qiantang, so his access to both official and private information is fairly broad. He ought to know a few inside details."

He Ru shook his head. "Not necessarily. If something major happens at court, one must first wait for the emperor's edict and the joint assent of the central offices before it can be carried by courier to the various prefectures, and then sent from the prefectures to the counties. The time it takes is longer even than the spread of popular rumor. As for the Gu clan, they have never excelled in that sort of thing. They may hear of it a little earlier than the officials, but only by a little."

During the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was still no system of court gazettes. The channels for spreading information were extremely limited. Official announcements consisted mainly of proclamations, public bulletins, manifestos, and notices; beyond that, official documents and edicts were transmitted by the postal relay system. Popular news still retained a strong flavor of the Han era, and was mostly spread in two simple, unsophisticated ways: through sung nursery rhymes and through rumor.

It was only after the Tang dynasty established the reporting offices that the circulation of information greatly improved. Even so, those offices were roughly the equivalent of later embassy branches in the capital, mostly intelligence posts sent to the imperial city by local military administrations. Their audience was narrow, and the threshold for access was high. A true official gazette, one that addressed the entire scholar-official class, would not emerge until several centuries later, when the gazettes issued in the Song dynasty finally matured into a proper medium.

"Besides, your relationship with Gu Yun has only just begun, like a battlement built in sand, fragile beyond endurance. If he senses your purpose and grows wary of you, it will only harm our plans in the future."

In the earlier talk between He Ru and Bao Xi, Bao Xi had issued a clear warning: as long as Gu Yun was not involved, he would turn a blind eye to He Ru's activities in Qiantang. Though He Ru did not fear him, he knew this old acquaintance was not easy to deal with. Only when there was no other choice, or no other path, or when the benefits outweighed the drawbacks, would he consider drawing Gu Yun onto his own war chariot.

For the present, the time was not yet ripe.

Xu You naturally did not know this, but He Ru's words made sense. Frowning, he asked, "Then what should be done?"

Lowering his eyelids, He Ru said, "If one speaks of being well informed, who can compare to merchants? And what of a wealthy merchant backed by the Prince of Jiangxia?"

"Hm?"

Xu You said in surprise, "You mean Zhan Wenjun?"

"Exactly."

Xu You hesitated. "If Gu Mian were still around, asking him to inquire would not be impossible. But in the present situation, if the Gu clan can merely keep itself from falling apart, that is already fortunate enough. I am afraid it has no energy to care about anything else..."

"Has Seventh Lord never wondered why, though Zhan Wenjun was of only average beauty and average learning, Gu Mian would rather offend Du Jingzhi than form a marriage alliance with the Zhan clan?"

"You mean?"

"Gu Mian's son, Gu Li, is honest and mild, a good man, but not a good son. If he were to inherit the family business, or rather, given Gu Mian's ambition and the secret schemes he had been pursuing, once trouble arose, Gu Li's intelligence would be powerless to save him. Therefore Gu Mian would certainly have to choose for his son a daughter-in-law capable of supporting the entire Gu clan. Whatever led him to realize that Zhan Wenjun was precisely the one he wanted, I believe that with Gu Mian's eye for people, he would never have chosen wrongly."

"Indeed!"

Xu You clapped his hands. "I remember when we first visited and met Song Shenfei, who had impersonated Zhan Wenjun, and had only just given my name when Qinqin spoke of my feigned death in Jinling. I was suspicious then, wondering how a young widow like Zhan Wenjun could understand the changing tides of the realm so clearly. Now that I think of it, Zhan Wenjun must, under Gu Mian's guidance and support, already have become an extremely important figure in the Gu clan's overt or covert power. That is why, even after Gu Mian's arrest, she was still able to keep the whole family running normally without any major disruption."

"It is said that the reason the Zhan clan has prospered these years is that Zhan Ting was merely a pawn put forward to blind the eyes of others; the one truly controlling things from behind the curtain is Zhan Wenjun. From what I have observed, this claim should not be false, and what Gu Mian valued in her was likely precisely her talent for strategy and administration."

From the Han through the Tang, the chief officers in charge of finance, salt and iron, and transport were often called the Minister of Planning, so those skilled in managing resources were likewise praised as possessing strategic talent.

In ancient times, people who understood economics were not entirely absent, but most had merely accumulated practical tricks through countless failures, without any systematic theoretical education. Most importantly, as far as economics was concerned, China at this time was still in its murky, half-awakened stage. Now and then there appeared a few dazzling prodigies, such as Guan Zhong of the Spring and Autumn period, Sang Hongyang of the Han, Liu Yan of the Tang, Wang Anshi of the Song, and Zhang Juzheng of the Ming. But such men were rare marvels of their age; one could not use their learning to judge the average level of the present.

So one could imagine how excited and thrilled Gu Mian must have been when he discovered that the young Zhan Wenjun actually possessed such strategic talent. That was why, at any cost, he had to secure her as a bride for his son and bring her into the Gu residence.

In Xu You's mind arose Zhan Wenjun's spirited and heroic face. A woman like her, in later times, would either have become a star or a model, someone destined to be a goddess to the masses. Yet in Qiantang, she had merely been recognized by Gu Mian for her strategic talent.

"She could clearly make a living on her looks, but insists on relying on talent..."

He Ru had not caught Xu You's mutter, and turning his head, asked, "What did Seventh Lord say?"

"Oh, nothing. I am going to see Zhan Wenjun now."

After going downstairs to ask Bai Hua, he learned that Zhan Wenjun had not yet returned. He hesitated for a moment, then sat down in the hall to wait. Bai Hua stood at his side, her bright, sly eyes rolling about, and asked, "Does the gentleman have urgent business with my lady? If it is pressing, I can send someone at once to inform her and see whether she might return early."

Xu You smiled. "It is only a small matter. No need to hurry."

After saying that, he fell silent again. Bai Hua looked at his face, as if puzzling over something, but did not speak, only staring at him without blinking.

After a while, Xu You gave a slight smile. "What are you looking at so intently? Has a flower grown on my face?"

Bai Hua loved mischief, though she usually played tricks on Qinqin more than anyone else. Since few men would joke with her in this way, her spirits at once became bright and lively, and her charming brows and eyes seemed about to spill with delight. "Sir, I heard that the White Tiger Force of the Xu clan of Yixing is of the mightiest and most ferocious sort. I thought anyone who trained in it must be over ten chi tall, with bronze bell eyes, a body like iron, and fists as large as a basin, bigger even than a man's head... Only after seeing you did I realize all of that was nonsense."

Xu You was rendered utterly speechless. "Cultivation concerns the spirit, not the outward form. Does training in the White Tiger Force turn one into a tiger?"

Bai Hua leaned closer and extended a small hand to poke curiously at Xu You's arm. Feeling the flesh and muscle beneath, and finding no iron there at all, she giggled. "Who told its name to sound so frightening? But you are different, sir. You are not frightening at all."

Xu You smiled. "That may not be so. One must hear what a man says, watch what he does, and still observe his heart. To judge by appearances alone is to invite loss."

Bai Hua shook her head firmly, blinking her large eyes. "Someone who can say such a thing cannot possibly be a bad person. I believe you!"

I do not dare believe you, though...

Xu You gave a wry inward smile. Bai Hua might look innocent enough to deceive even children, but if Gu Mian had sent her to serve Zhan Wenjun as a personal maid, she could hardly have been truly naive.

Seeing that Xu You did not respond, Bai Hua pouted. "Does the gentleman think I am not speaking sincerely?"

Xu You laughed. "Not at all. I only have some matters I wish to ask Madam about, and I am a bit restless."

"What matter is it, then? Can you tell me?"

Xu You thought about it and decided there was no harm in it. "I have a friend making his way in Jinling. We have not seen each other for many years, and I do not know how he fares now. So I wanted to ask Madam whether she has any channels there, so that I might ask after him."

"That's easy!" Bai Hua pulled Xu You to his feet and led him toward the side door. "The branch houses in every place all relay information under Qinqin's care. Just ask her and you'll know!"

Xu You had no choice but to follow her. He had not expected that the Gu clan's intelligence network would be in the hands of the sharp-tongued Qinqin.