Turmoil

Thanks to the existence of long-distance communication methods, the gazettes of this world possessed remarkable timeliness. Local commanderies and counties would compile the major events of the day and transmit them to the Imperial Capital before the hour of the Dog in the evening. The Bureau of Court Tidings under the Hanlin Academy would then work through the night to select and compile the most important sections. Then, before the hour of the Rabbit the following morning, the Bureau of Court Tidings would transmit the compiled gazette back to the various local commanderies and counties. The local government offices would post it outside their yamen gates promptly at the hour of the Dragon, while printed copies were distributed to bookstores across the city for sale. It served as an alternative sort of morning newspaper, and was also the sole means for the vast majority of people under heaven to stay informed about national affairs. A gazette was roughly a bit thicker than the paper newspapers of his past life, but the layout was similar. Main headlines, subheadings, followed by textual accounts, and some parts even had accompanying illustrations. Reading down through it carefully, Xu Yuan's expression grew increasingly strange. Apart from a few northern prefectures suffering casualties from the annual winter cold wave disaster, the rest of the Great Yan Dynasty could be summed up in four words: peaceful and prosperous. It couldn't be said to merely differ slightly from the Cangyuan background he knew; it was completely unrelated. After a long silence, Xu Yuan drew back the carriage curtain and glanced out at the bustling marketplace. Commoners bustled to and fro, peddlers wove through the crowd hawking their wares, young gentlemen and fair maidens strolled together in cheerful chatter, and in the gathering dusk, faint illumination from inscription lamps had already begun to flicker on. Seen with his own eyes, it truly was prosperous. Pulling back his gaze, he continued browsing. And soon enough, Xu Yuan found the information he was looking for. At this moment, war was raging in the north of the Great Yan Dynasty. Yet only a modest amount of space had been reserved for it at the very end of the gazette. "The Ninth Princess led troops north, routing the barbarian forces beneath Hanbei City and beheading over ten thousand foes." It was glossed over in a single, breezy sentence. Xu Yuan set down the gazette, his eyes tinged with confusion. He had no recollection of such a war in Cangyuan, but judging from these few brief words, the scale of this war had to be immense. For he had a faint impression of that Hanbei City. In his youth, the original host had accompanied Xu Changge there once. It was a colossal military fortress on Great Yan's northern frontier. Its walls reached a hundred zhang high, an endless, majestic barrier radiating biting cold. Looking down from above, there was only a boundless expanse of white snowy mist, resembling a wall of absolute despair. Surrounding it were numerous satellite garrisons that echoed the main fortress of Hanbei from afar, providing mutual support. Xu Yuan vaguely recalled what Xu Changge had said to him back when he was still a boy: "Hanbei City is the gateway to the northern provinces. Once breached, there will be no natural defenses left on the plains behind it. The barbarians will scatter like locusts, causing immeasurable calamity. "This place must never fall." Yet such a vital stronghold now had barbarian armies at its very gates merely a decade or so later. "..." Xu Yuan raised a hand to pinch the space between his brows. Reining in his thoughts, he pondered no further and simply spoke aloud: "Mister Zhou, do you know anything of the war in the north?" "Hmm?" Hearing Xu Yuan's sudden question, Zhou Chen, who was driving the carriage, uttered a soft murmur of curiosity. After a moment's thought, he shook his head: "Not particularly. I have never been to the northern frontier. Um... did Young Master read about the war between our Great Yan and those barbarians in the gazette?" Xu Yuan gave a slight nod. "Yes. I never paid attention before, but seeing it now caught my interest, so I thought I'd ask." "Young Master cares deeply for the country and its people." Zhou Chen cupped his hands toward the carriage behind him, then said with a smile, "I truly do not know the specifics, but if Young Master is genuinely interested, once we return to the manor you could have the housekeeper prepare an internal briefing from the Chancellor's Manor. The gazettes circulated inside our Chancellor's Manor are far more detailed than that thing." "An internal briefing?" Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow. Zhou Chen remarked nonchalantly: "The official gazettes are all filtered by the Bureau of Court Tidings; a great deal is left out." "..." Xu Yuan understood and pressed no further. Meanwhile, Zhou Chen seemed to be reminded of something by this topic. He suddenly let out a long sigh, took a deep swig from his wine gourd, and grumbled: "Those fellows in the Bureau of Court Tidings report only the good news and never the bad. With how chaotic things have gotten outside, don't they have any self-awareness?" Hearing this, Xu Yuan's brows instantly furrowed. How chaotic had things gotten? With Jingjiang City so prosperous, could it really be that chaotic outside? Though if that were true, it would actually align with the plot. After pondering for a moment, Xu Yuan spoke up to ask: "Mister Zhou, what do you mean by 'chaotic'?" "..." Zhou Chen glanced back at the carriage's small window in slight astonishment. Wasn't it common knowledge that demonic beasts and bandits ran rampant across the land these days? Why wouldn't the Third Young Master know? Yet with a moment's reflection, Zhou Chen realized why and chuckled helplessly. This Third Young Master had spent his life either in the Imperial Capital or in the sprawling Jingjiang Prefecture, barely ever stepping foot outside city walls. Having grown up wrapped in cotton, it was only natural that he remained ignorant of the world outside. Weighing his words carefully, Zhou Chen lowered his voice: "Third Young Master, having stayed inside the prefectural city all this time, there is much you may not know. In recent years, natural disasters and human strife have never ceased across the realm." With that, Zhou Chen sighed, his tone complicated: "When I was previously ordered to travel from the Imperial Capital to Jingjiang City, I lost count of how many demonic beast attacks I encountered along the way. Flying over numerous villages, all I could see were piles of ruined walls and bleached bones." Xu Yuan's heart sank. "Demonic beasts attacking people?" Zhou Chen explained, "I don't mean attacks by domesticated demonic beasts, but those lingering wild in the mountains and wilderness." "I know that. What I mean is, where are the people from the Directorate of Celestials? Isn't dealing with demonic beasts harassing commoners within their purview?" "..." To this, Zhou Chen did not reply. After a long pause, seeing Zhou Chen remain silent, Xu Yuan took the initiative to speak: "Mister Zhou, whatever you wish to say, just speak plainly. There's no need to hold back." Seeing this, Zhou Chen no longer stayed quiet and chuckled: "Because the imperial court has no money." His chuckle carried a faint trace of mockery. Because there was no money, the Directorate of Celestials had no manpower, and so they couldn't handle it. As for why there was no money? Heh. Silence lingered inside the carriage for several breaths before Xu Yuan's voice emerged once more: "Mister Zhou, could you explain the reason to me? Corrupt officials?" Hearing this, Zhou Chen threw all remaining caution to the wind and said softly: "That's only one part of it." "What about the rest?" Xu Yuan asked. Instead of answering directly, Zhou Chen countered with a question: "Does Third Young Master know how many sect properties there are within Jingjiang City?" Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly as he shook his head. "I don't." Zhou Chen took another sip of wine and muttered: "Zuixian Tower, Xiaoxiang Pavilion, the demonic beast market in the east of the city, the tens of thousands of qing of fertile land outside the city walls... all of these are sect properties. "Heh, the silver needed to support those sect disciples who produce nothing is several times more than the annual military expenditure for the border armies." Zhou Chen's tone was leisurely, but his voice was low: "Yet these sects don't pay taxes. What they practice is tribute. As for how much tribute they offer each year... heh, that's entirely up to them." Xu Yuan's scalp tingled faintly as understanding dawned on him. For the example was right before his eyes. Zuixian Tower was the property of that Mister Qin. And back during that Tianyuan Conference, Xu Changge's attempt to kill Mister Qin proved that he, too, belonged to a local sect. At least on the surface. As a den of luxury and extravagance, Zuixian Tower generated untold profits in a single night. Yet this was merely a tiny corner of the tens of thousands of sect businesses, and the imperial court couldn't collect a single copper of it. Even the gentry of his past life's ancient history were never this outrageous. Regardless of actual enforcement, officially those people were merely granted tax exemptions and privileges. Here, these sects simply paid nothing at all. Seeing that Xu Yuan remained silent for a long time, Zhou Chen cupped his hands toward the sky: "Third Young Master, the Lord Chancellor has repeatedly petitioned the Crown Prince hoping to address this issue, yet each time he was rejected by the Crown Prince on the grounds that ancestral traditions must not be lightly altered. "I suspect that Mister Qin making a move against you was mostly because of this matter."