The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 054 Overtly Repairing The Plank Road
TN: chapter title “overtly repairing the plank road” refers to a strategy of making one's intentions obvious while concealing one's true motives
Wang Zhen pondered for a moment and then figured out the ins and outs of the matter.
Zhao Fu, during the morning court session today, suddenly proposed the construction of an official road and a canal. The feasibility of this plan was quite low. Throughout history, the construction of canals has always been labor-intensive and costly. Especially constructing a canal towards the north—something unprecedented—it would likely exhaust the national treasury!
Zhao Fu was not an incompetent ruler; on the contrary, he had been on the throne for twenty-eight years, skillfully balancing the court’s political factions. From the start, Zhao Fu never intended to build the canal; what he truly wanted was the construction of three official roads leading directly to the north. He first proposed a seemingly impractical policy so that when the ministers objected, he could then appear to concede and agree to the policy of building the three official roads.
Wang Zhen saw through this, and so did the several ministers present at the morning court session today. Hence, they all cooperated with Zhao Fu in acting out this scene, leading to the decision to build the three official roads.
However, Wang Zhen didn’t expect that his young junior brother had a hand in this matter as well.
After leaving Chui Gong Hall, Wang Zhen used his connections to find Ji Fu and inquired a bit, learning that Tang Shen had submitted a memorial earlier that year. Then, connecting this to Tang Shen’s recent promotion to a fifth-rank Chamberlain, Wang Zhen took off the white jade sachet from his waist and played with it in his hand.
"Jing Ze, oh Jing Ze, you really keep surprising me!"
The court was now busy with the task of constructing roads—three official roads leading directly to the north, giving the entire court something to do.
The Ministry of Revenue was responsible for allocating funds, the Ministry of Personnel for deploying officials, the Ministry of War for ensuring security along the routes... The busiest of all was the Ministry of Works. The division within the Ministry of Works responsible for road construction was called the Yu Department, which oversaw mountain resources, waterways, and manufacturing. After the emperor’s edict was issued, all officials of the Yu Department were dispatched to the three road routes. Because three roads were to be built simultaneously, the Yu Department lacked sufficient manpower and had to draw talent from the Water Department and the Institute of Literary Thought.
Mei Shengze, originally from the Water Department under the Ministry of Works, had just finished refurbishing the Taiye Pool at the end of last year and hadn’t even had a chance to catch his breath before being reassigned to the Yu Department.
On the nineteenth day of the first month, Mei Shengze was about to leave Shengjing to go to Youzhou.
"Who knows when I’ll be able to return? The earliest would be next year!" At Xixia Tower, Mei Shengze stood up, raised his cup, and smiled bitterly at his classmates from the Imperial College. "People say I’m fortunate—though I didn’t pass the imperial exams in the top rank, I was kept in Shengjing after the imperial examination and wasn’t sent away. But honestly, I’d rather have been sent away!"
Mei Shengze was leaving, and his classmates from the Imperial College gathered at Xixia Tower to bid him farewell.
Liu Fang, who had also stayed in Shengjing as an official, now working under the Ministry of Revenue, raised his cup and said, "Sheng Ze, what are you talking about? The construction of these three roads is big business now."
Mei Shengze said helplessly, "It’s big business, but what does it have to do with a little sixth-rank official like me?"
Everyone kept urging Mei Shengze to eat and drink, and he drank so much in his misery that he soon passed out at the banquet. Tang Shen asked Shopkeeper Lu to find a private room where Mei Shengze could rest for the afternoon. By evening, Mei Shengze woke up groggy, finding that all his classmates from the Imperial College had left, except for Tang Shen, who remained.
Back at the Imperial College, Mei Shengze had always been closest to Tang Shen. Now that it was just the two of them, he didn’t hold back and complained bitterly to Tang Shen: "Jing Ze, tell me, what kind of karma have I incurred? Usually, being kept in the capital as an official is seen as a promising future. But look at me—one step into the Ministry of Works, and I’m already assigned to repair roads just after finishing the pool. If I had known, I wouldn’t have studied Confucianism so hard; I should’ve read more about engineering instead!"
Tang Shen poured him a cup of sobering tea and said, "It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be."
Mei Shengze replied, "Not as bad as I’m making it out to be? It’s true, constructing three official roads to the north is indeed this year’s major project. Whether it’s mobilizing craftsmen from the populace or planning the routes, there’s a lot of maneuvering involved."
With such a large project, even without embezzlement, the officials involved could still gain a decent amount of benefits.
"But what does this have to do with me?" Mei Shengze lamented, looking up at the sky. "Why did His Majesty suddenly decide to build these roads? Which damned official suggested this idea? He just opened his mouth, and we small officials have to work ourselves to death for a year!"
Tang Shen solemnly declared, "Whoever proposed this idea is truly inhumane!" His expression was righteous, as if he genuinely shared Mei Shengze’s indignation.
After seeing Mei Shengze off, Tang Shen unexpectedly received several invitations.
The first was from Xu Si, the former fifth-rank chamberlain. There were three chamberlains, and when Tang Shen was promoted to chamberlain, Xu Si was pushed out and became a fourth-rank director of the Yu Department. Originally, Xu Si thought this was a superficial promotion but a demotion in reality, and he was quite bitter. But then the court announced the construction of three official roads, and suddenly Xu Si’s fortunes turned.
Mei Shengze, being only a sixth-rank official, could only get a small share of the benefits from the road construction, with the majority unrelated to him. But Xu Si was different. For a time, Xu Si was in the spotlight. He hosted a banquet for his colleagues, preparing to head to Youzhou.
At the banquet, Xu Si toasted Tang Shen, who respectfully returned the toast.
Xu Si said, "It turns out His Majesty is so far-sighted. I was too narrow-minded before. I even envied you, Jing Ze, and I truly apologize for that."
Tang Shen replied, "I wish you a smooth journey, Xu daren."
If the roads were built well, Xu Si wouldn’t just make a profit; he might even get promoted.
After Xu Si left, the next to go was unexpectedly Wang Xiao.
In the twenty-seventh year of Kaiping, the top scorer Yao Shan and the third-place finisher Tang Shen entered the Secretariat, becoming fifth-rank chamberlains. Only the second-place finisher Wang Xiao seemed to be forgotten by Zhao Fu, remaining in the Hanlin Academy as a seventh-rank compiler for an entire year. Now that the court was going to build roads, he suddenly received an appointment, promoted to fifth-rank Assistant Director of the Yu Department, to immediately head to Ningzhou for road construction. (TN: The term "员外" (Assistant Director) was a title for an official position, often indicating a rank just outside of the core leadership but still holding a responsible and significant role within the department.)
It was truly a year of silence followed by a sudden rise.
Of their class of jinshi graduates, more than half had already left Shengjing, with the remaining few gathering at Qianli Tower.
Tang Shen and Yao Shan hadn’t seen Wang Xiao for half a year, and now that they met again, all three were filled with emotion.
Wang Xiao looked as if he had aged five years. Although he was only in his thirties, there was already gray hair at his temples. He raised his cup to toast Tang Shen and Yao Shan, but they didn’t say much, just drank together. Late into the night, Wang Xiao left to return home. Three days later, he packed his belongings and headed north to Ningzhou. Yet before his departure, a guest came to visit.
Wang Xiao personally went out to greet the visitor; it was the steward from the Minister of Revenue’s residence.
Wang Xiao welcomed Wang Zhen’s steward into his home. The steward handed Wang Xiao a letter, saying, "The Minister is busy with state affairs and could not come to see you in person. He wrote this letter and specifically asked me to deliver it. After you arrive in Ningzhou, if you encounter any urgent matters, just present this letter to the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works."
Having been in Shengjing for two years, Wang Xiao had long given up on relying on his distant relative Wang Zhen. Now, holding this letter, he suddenly burst into tears.
"Thank you, Minister!"
Ten years of hard study, only to find Shengjing cold and unwelcoming.
Now, he sets off on the road to the north, welcoming a brand new life.
The imperial court was planning to construct three official roads, leading respectively to Youzhou, Cizhou, and Ningzhou. These three regions are at the border between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, located to the northwest, directly north, and northeast. In fact, the construction of three official roads is a ruse; the Song Dynasty’s real intention is to build the road leading to Youzhou.
The construction of the Youzhou official road is personally supervised by Minister Yuan Mu of the Ministry of Works.
Youzhou is the most crucial stronghold for the Song Dynasty’s defense against the Liao army. Building a road directly to Youzhou is not only for the convenience of delivering military intelligence during normal times, but also to expedite the transportation of provisions to the front lines in the event of war between the two countries.
Tang Shen merely suggested in a memorial that Zhao Fu could 'openly repair the plank roads while secretly crossing the Chencang,' using subterfuge, constructing three roads to cover up the real intention of building the Youzhou road. However, he did not expect that Zhao Fu would choose Ningzhou as the third road. (TN: It refers to a strategy of creating a visible diversion or distraction while carrying out the real plan in secret. It originates from a historical event in ancient China, where Han general Liu Bang used this tactic to deceive his enemies. The phrase is often used metaphorically to describe a situation where someone pretends to act one way to mislead others while pursuing a hidden agenda.)
Ningzhou is located in the northeast of the Song Dynasty, and Luohe Town is in the northern part of Ningzhou!
The Ningzhou road is the easiest to build, being the shortest route. As a result, even if Xixia Tower fails to establish its channel this year, they can still use the official road to transport lamb and beef by the end of the year, without needing to cater to the whims of the Liao merchant Yelü Jiu.
When they heard the news that the court was going to build roads, Yao San and Shopkeeper Lu were overjoyed.
In March, Yao San set off for Luohe Town to investigate the progress of the road construction. Tang Huang had been cooped up in Shengjing for half a year and was feeling restless, so she insisted that Yao San take her along. Yao San couldn’t refuse and had to take Tang Huang on the journey.
In April, the two returned from Luohe Town.
Yao San said, “Little boss, the Ningzhou road is being built really fast! There are no mountains or rivers in the way, mostly flat plains. Now that the road is under construction, from what I saw along the way, at least a sixth of it is already completed. I’m sure it will be finished by the end of the year!”
As a chamberlain, Tang Shen had heard many reports from officials of the Ministry of Works returning from the north while recording the emperor's daily activities, and the construction progress was about the same as what Yao San described. The road to Youzhou was the hardest to build, followed by the road to Cizhou, while the Ningzhou road was the easiest.
Tang Huang said, “Actually, the Song Dynasty has always had a road going north, but these newly constructed three are different. The new roads go straight to the north without any detours, and they’re wider. In places prone to rain, they’re even paved with gravel.”
Tang Shen then looked at Tang Huang.
He had been in this world for four years now, and Tang Huang had grown from a nine-year-old girl to a thirteen-year-old young lady.
While most girls liked to stay in their boudoirs, embroidering and painting, after Tang Huang came to Shengjing, she frequently visited Xixia Tower.
When Tang Huang wanted to go to Luohe Town this time, Tang Shen originally intended to stop her, but looking at his sister's determined expression and her face, which was not as fair as that of other girls, he refrained from doing so.
The common people are not allowed to have national maps, so Tang Huang took a piece of rice paper and, based on her memory of the journey north, drew a rough sketch on it. She said, “Most of the trade between the Liao Kingdom and the Song Dynasty happens in Ningzhou. The Ningzhou road will be finished by the end of the year at the latest. When that happens, unless the weather is extremely bad, goods from Ningzhou can be delivered to Shengjing in a single day. Now, look to the south.”
The little girl, with her not-so-delicate hands, drew a winding line to the south: “From Shengjing to the south, there’s the Grand Canal. A regular passenger boat can reach Qiantang from Shengjing in half a month. But this is taking it slow and steady; if you want to go faster, it can take at most five days to travel from the south to the north.”
Tang Shen looked at his sister, his tone serious: “So?”
Suddenly being questioned, Tang Huang was stunned for a moment. She opened her mouth and turned back into a thirteen-year-old girl.
After thinking for a while, Tang Huang stammered, “Brother, I just think that with such good transportation conditions, it seems like we could do something more... Didn’t you say that the biggest advantage of our Xixia Tower and Zhenbao Pavilion in Gusu is not the soap, but Tang's Logistics?'
Tang Shen looked intently at Tang Huang, and after a long time, he smiled and said, “You’re right. With such good conditions, not taking advantage of them would indeed be a waste!”