#99: Mount Jun’s Burning (Part 1)

In the early summer of the fifth year of Jinghe, the scorching sun arrived early, and the land north of the Central Plains was experiencing a severe drought.

This spring, like the last, had been short on rain. After the continuous spring rain at the beginning of the season, not a single drop of life-giving rain had fallen.

But the lack of rain this year was a little different from the last. Spring droughts have been a common occurrence in Jiangnan since ancient times. The water management and irrigation systems in the Jiangzhe area were well-developed, and they could always get through it and wait for the summer rains.

This drought in the Central Plains was obviously much more severe than the one in Jiangnan.

It was not yet the hottest part of summer, but the riverbeds were already cracked. Not to mention farming, even the daily water supply was becoming insufficient. People could already foresee the tragic situation of a failed harvest in the autumn. In the small border towns, people began to abandon their land and flee, heading downstream along the great river.

Xu Dan’s previous memorial was to fully describe this matter.

The northwestern border was already unstable. After Emperor Ming used the country’s full strength to defeat Xishao, he had reduced taxes and corvée labor to support the people for at least ten years. Now, the northwest had only been cultivated for two generations. If the people were to abandon their land and flee, all their previous efforts would be in vain. The best course of action now was for the court to quickly send people to oversee the construction of waterworks.

Furthermore, he had another hidden worry. Although Xishao was defeated, the three northern tribes were still eyeing them covetously. In the previous dynasty, there were rebellions in the country, and the internal strife had been costly. Although the Yan family had been sent out of the capital to guard Youzhou, they still had to worry about the nomadic tribes riding south.

But the fifth year of Jinghe had more problems than the fourth. The court was in a state of decadence, and everyone was busy with their own power struggles, so they had no time to pay attention to his memorial.

First, Princess Ning Le passed away. Then, the Grand Tutor Yu, who had held power for many years, was imprisoned for treason, and his entire family was executed. Not long after the Grand Tutor’s death, the Emperor and Empress went to Guyou Mountain for a hunt. The Empress suddenly became seriously ill and disappeared from the court.

It wasn’t difficult for those with a discerning mind to guess the truth, but which of the officials dared to say a word?

After the Grand Tutor Yu’s death, Jiang Wenyuan, whom he had promoted from the border, began to stir in the west. After the incident at Guyou Mountain, Jiang Wenyuan led his troops in a rebellion and seized five cities in the west. The old general Li Feng led the army to suppress Jiang Wenyuan’s rebellion. After only three months, he returned to the capital before the New Year and died on the way back from his illness.

The Emperor mourned him greatly, gave his family a generous pension, and bestowed titles upon his children and nephews.

This rebellion was too far from the capital, and the long-prosperous and wealthy capital was not affected much.

At the end of the year, the old folk song “The False Dragon’s Roar” began to circulate on the streets. Someone claimed to have seen a true dragon-shaped cloud appear on East Mountain during a full moon. The government investigated the source of the rumor but encountered the “Jingqiu’s Advice” incident and had to let it go.

“Jingqiu’s Advice,” the “Shattered Jade Case,” the “Cicada Killing Case,” and other rumors, combined with the old folk songs and miracles, became more and more widespread among the people. The capital’s officials finally felt that they could not stop them and had to privately warn people not to let the rumors reach the ears of the nobles.

However, after the Empress left the palace, the Emperor’s indulgent, violent, and debauched side became more and more apparent. There were already very few people who dared to tell him the truth. He rarely left the palace and did not know if someone in the inner court had suppressed the patrolling imperial and personal guards. The Emperor only knew there were rumors, but he never realized that it had reached such a point.

On New Year’s Day of the fifth year, Song Lan took full control of the government, bestowed favors upon the world, and even, for the first time in history, chose the character “Zhao” as his imperial title.

In all previous dynasties, there were few precedents of a ruler choosing a posthumous title for himself while he was still alive. The rumor spread among the people. Because there was a monarch in the previous dynasty with the same posthumous title, people mostly referred to the current emperor as “Little Emperor Zhao.”

On the seventeenth day of the first month, the Drum Court reopened the “Assassination of Tang” case, which was like a spark igniting the previously brewing rumors. Everyone on the streets was singing the praises of the former Crown Prince Chengming.

Some bold people speculated whether the Crown Prince was not dead. If not, why would there be a struggle between “true dragon” and “false dragon”?

Everyone said it was absurd, but more and more people heard the rumor.

In February of the fifth year, Princess Shukang left the country for her fiefdom.

In March, General Anping Yan Lang defeated the northern barbarians who had attacked at midnight in Wancheng. The court rewarded him with a thousand pieces of gold and promoted him to General of the Nation. Yan Lang returned to guard Youzhou and, after submitting a memorial, began to oversee the repair of the city gates.

In mid-March, before the Assassination of Tang case was concluded, Concubine Yu, who had been the Emperor’s sole favorite for three years and was not implicated in the Grand Tutor’s death, passed away after the death of her beloved son. Emperor Zhao lost his son and his love overnight and canceled morning court.

On the third day of the canceled court, the Empress’s brother, Su Shiyu, who had a good reputation among the scholars, was sentenced to death for the vague crime of “treason.”

On the day of the execution, the continuous spring rain had just stopped. A fire suddenly broke out at the Ministry of Justice. After a ladder cart passed through the market, Su Shiyu was rescued in broad daylight. The students of the Imperial Academy had a lot of complaints about Su Shiyu being executed without complete evidence. When they heard about the prisoner’s escape, they thought it was a righteous person who had come to his rescue and secretly cheered.

Ye Tingyan, a close official who had enjoyed the Emperor’s favor for a long time, also mysteriously disappeared in this incident. Some said that the prison break was his doing, while others said that he had been framed by his political rival, Chang Zhao, and died an untimely death. There were many different theories, and no one could reach a conclusion.

Song Lan sent Chang Zhao to search Ye Tingyan’s mansion in the capital, but as expected, it was empty. A few trees in the garden had been dug up, and not a single leaf was left behind.

Later, the court still found Su Shiyu’s body in the Bian River. The next day, Xu Dan was invited to teach at the Imperial Academy. When he spoke of this matter, everyone was filled with righteous indignation, and their words were full of dissatisfaction with the Emperor for unjustly accusing people of crimes. Xu Dan quickly stopped them. Now, even the censors did not dare to speak. The Imperial Academy was the voice of the world. If they were not careful, they would bring about their own deaths.

So, everyone fell silent.

Within a few months, there were frequent disasters inside and outside the court. Each of them had a beginning but no end, leaving people with endless thoughts. The historians had no time to grind their ink, and they did not know how to write it down.

However, the troubles of the fifth year of Jinghe were far from over.

On a certain day at the end of March, there was a great thunderclap in the capital. However, the sky was dry and there was no rain. After a night, the news suddenly spread all over the streets. The Chongling Ancestral Temple on Guyou Mountain had been struck by divine fire yesterday. The Empress, who had been bedridden for a long time, had died in the fire at the age of twenty-three.

This news was too bizarre, but Emperor Zhao personally put on mourning clothes and went to Guyou Mountain to retrieve the Empress’s “coffin,” making it clear that he wanted the world to believe it.

When the Empress’s funeral was held, a Daoist in the capital claimed to have seen the celestial phenomenon of a phoenix being reborn from the ashes in the eastern night sky. Someone went to Xiuqing Temple to draw a lot and got a meaningful divination: “A phoenix arrives at the梧桐 tree.”

In April, Empress Dowager Chenghui, who had been ill for a long time, passed away.

In just one spring, the country was in mourning.

The civil and military officials and the noble families from all over the country submitted memorials of mourning and sent sacrifices to the capital. Who knew that Song Lan would use the excuse of “disrespecting the Empress and the Empress Dowager” to make trouble? He first killed a group of inner court officials and then sent people to investigate thoroughly. He picked out forty-two wrong characters from the memorials of mourning and accused the officials of crimes.

The momentum that had been building for several years finally became a raging fire. The court was in a state of turmoil. The Dianyong Temple was overcrowded with people. The sounds of arguments and curses were endless during the morning court.

Everyone speculated that this was a test from the Emperor. After all, his ascension to the throne was too sudden. He had not received memorials from the feudal lords or the support of the officials. So he was using this opportunity to screen them and get rid of those with two hearts.

Others speculated that the Emperor’s way of governing had always been like this. Before, he was only unable to show it because of the Grand Tutor and the Empress’s power. From now on, people would have to be cautious in serving him and avoid his gaze. This was inevitable.

This incident was historically called the “Two Phoenix Grand Sacrifice Case.” No matter what the speculation was, everyone tacitly agreed that Emperor Zhao’s obsession with accusing the officials was not out of grief for his mother or his wife but because of his unstoppable suspicion. He wanted to use this case to make everyone completely side with him.

So, the memorials submitted by Xu Dan and others were not read and were left to gather dust in the Qinfang Hall. After the censors remained silent, everyone in the court was obsessed with playing power games and showing their loyalty to the Emperor. If you were to randomly pull someone out, they would be talking about conspiracies, betrayals, schemes, and alienation in the tavern.

In early summer, the number one Daoist in the world, the Purple Micro Daoist, who had once prayed for the Crown Prince Chengming, suddenly appeared on Yingri Mountain in Jinling. He claimed that he had observed the celestial phenomena at night and saw that the Emperor’s star was dim and had lost its brilliance.

He used his magic to clear the confusion and found that a lone star had borrowed the purple qi from the east to pretend to be the Emperor’s star. Now, with the country in a state of turmoil and the building about to collapse, a star would soon fall to the earth with fire, and the true Emperor’s star would return to the heavens.

It was said that the Emperor in the capital was furious when he heard this. He sent many soldiers to Yingtian Prefecture but could not find the old Daoist’s whereabouts.

However, even before the search for the old Daoist, there had been an increase in the number of soldiers in Jinling every day. The people on the streets did not know why the capital was constantly sending soldiers to Jinling. They seemed to be looking for someone, but they never found anything.

In June, refugees from north of Guanzhong arrived at the capital’s city walls. The people of the capital, who had been immersed in peace for too long, belatedly began to feel that the world was about to descend into chaos.

Luo Wei sat by the window of the small boat and took a sip of her tea. “Song Lan has taken the bait. He has sent the city guards to the cities along the great river to search for us. Our Jiangnan army has finally been fully assembled around the capital. Logically, as long as Song Lan makes a single mistake, we can make our move quickly and attack the forbidden palace without harming the people in the city. But...”

Ye Tingyan smiled bitterly. “I also didn’t expect that Chang Zhao would be able to instigate Song Lan to this extent. This year, there is a severe drought in the Central Plains. If we don’t act soon, I’m afraid Song Lan will do something else in his anger. I understand what you’re trying to say. The rumors and the star gazing were indeed our doing, but it went far more smoothly than we had imagined. It’s so smooth that it makes me a little flustered.”

The small boat swayed. He reached out to protect the chess pieces on the chessboard in front of him. Luo Wei let out a long “hmm.” “Chang Zhao must have been a part of this. Although he has messed up Song Lan’s court to this extent, would he really help us so willingly and ask for nothing in return?”

Ye Tingyan placed a piece on the chessboard through the white cloth covering his eyes. “June 20th. Our soldiers and horses are exhausted. Although I don’t like taking risks, we can’t wait any longer. We’ll just have to deal with his moves as they come. If we wait any longer, the chaos in the Central Plains will be too difficult to handle.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Chuyin pushed the door open, put the letter in his hand on the table with a serious expression, and Luo Wei picked it up and read it, and her face also changed.

“On the third day of June, the news of Old General Yan’s death was suddenly leaked. The three northern tribes immediately mobilized an army of 300,000 and deployed them in front of the Tianmen Pass in Youzhou. Although the Yan army is elite, they are far outnumbered. The General of the Nation has sent three urgent military reports, asking for reinforcements from the capital.”

After Zhou Chuyin finished reading, he said, “After hearing the news, Song Lan recalled the army from along the great river and gathered 100,000 soldiers from the capital’s main camp to rush to Youzhou for reinforcements. Today, he issued an edict, ordering the feudal lords to prepare provisions and military equipment to fight them together.”

Ye Tingyan immediately asked, “Who is leading the army?”

Zhou Chuyin said, “The old general Sui Xiao from the capital and the eldest son of the deceased General Li Feng are jointly leading the army.”

“That’s...”

“But,” Zhou Chuyin said word for word, “Chang Zhao has requested to be the military advisor and has gone to the northern border with them.”

Luo Wei’s face changed dramatically. She slapped the table, and the chessboard was ruined. The chess pieces scattered to the ground like shattered jade falling into a pot.

“So... that’s how it is!”