Why did emperors enjoy coming to Jiangnan, right from ancient times to up until now?
There was naturally a reason. Firstly, Jiangnan was the land of delicacies where fish and rice were abundant. Therefore, it was populous and opulent all over. Secondly, its climate was warm and gentle like spring throughout all four seasons. As one’s water and soil raised one’s people, beautiful maidens were everywhere.
And so, about this ‘Emperor coming down to Jiangnan’, I thought it’s like going out for huazhai1It has two meanings: 1. food given to Buddhist monks as alms 2. the monks begging for food during alms rounds with the monks in the temple.
However, the emperor’s alms were naturally unlike those poor monks. What was in his hand wasn’t the ordinary wooden bowl but a shiny bowl made of the best quality gold. At that time, the wealthiest tycoon in the country was the Lu family, it had nothing to do with us, the Shen family. However, Maternal Grandfather was destined to be without offspring. Those born either died prematurely or got sick, leaving only my mother in the end. As a treasure of the whole family, when she was betrothed to Daddy, the dowry piled up cart after cart, ship after ship and it took almost half a month to allocate them all.
In the early years, Maternal Grandfather adopted two sons from the distant branch of the Lu family. He said that he was going to have them inherit the Lu family’s property in the future and take care of the aged parents while living and give proper burial after death. Unexpectedly, two years after my mother married, he got promoted. But soon afterward, an imperial edict arrived. A total of ten charges were listed righteously and the Lu family’s properties were confiscated. When the tree topples, the monkeys scatter. All of the Lu family properties went into the national treasury, which was also the former emperor’s waist purse. There were rumors that the wealth of the Lu family the former emperor obtained was far from the estimated evaluation. Soon after, a rumor slowly spread through the streets saying Master Lu had anticipated the decline of the extremely flourishing tall tree and had been transferring the assets, little by little, since a while ago.
Where did all that go?
The members of the Lu family were only a few. The people all guessed and guessed, and finally, it landed on my mother’s head. Never thought my mother would also be a beauty with misfortune, only three years after giving birth to me, she died. Also, the Shen family, unlike the general belief, didn’t become rich overnight with the assets gained from the Lu family. It’s because of Daddy’s diligent effort that the business was expanding, little by little. They could all see this clearly; thus, as to where the large amounts of Lu family’s property went was still a mystery to this day. Also, the authority to transport and trade tea was also withdrawn after Maternal Grandfather passed away. It was equally distributed among each tea producing area and every tea merchant had checked and balanced each other for many years, yet couldn’t see who was higher than whom.
Unexpectedly, the emperor, during a banquet with imperial officials in Jiangnan, opened his golden mouth and said he wanted to retake the authority for tea business from across the country and set up unified transportation rights. Since ancient times, tea and salt were the two lifelines. With this power for tea in grasp, one would only need to wait for gold to come in. For a time, every big merchant was eager to try and wanted to take this opportunity to jump to the dragon’s gate2. Naturally, Daddy and Song Xiyuan were also among the group.
At last, who seized this ticket? The emperor’s unique insight had picked the teadiot Song Xiyuan. In this regard, the emperor had some words to say, “Song Xiyuan is young and promising in business, also has a lot of knowledge about tea, and a unique view. Regarding the right to transport and trade tea, zhen3 feels very reassured in handing it over to him.”
Soon after, the news that Song Xiyuan contributed five million teals of silver to an insignificant nominal official also emerged. All the merchants suddenly realized at the same time and regretted it. This act of offering gifts in order to win the favor was tactful and vague, wasn’t it? Looks like Song Xiyuan didn’t seem to donate any money. In fact, he poured a lot of money into it. But the method he used didn’t raise any suspicion of bribery, after all, purchasing an official title was not a good action. His way not only let the emperor not lose face but also filled the national treasury. It was also said that Song Xiyuan acted as a matchmaker for the ninth princess who took a fancy to the Magistrate of Yangzhou and was waiting for the emperor to bestow the marriage in the capital.
Song Xiyuan’s way of arranging this matter was very satisfactory. More than a month later, the emperor’s alms bowl was filled to the brim. On the way back, he reluctantly brought back a Jiangnan beauty Song Xiyuan offered with much satisfaction and returned to the capital riding on the clouds wagging a contented tail. Each took what one needed and everyone was delighted.
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