Chapter 1208 - Intimidating Bian Lingcheng (II)
Chapter 1208: Intimidating Bian Lingcheng (II)
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Lord Gao, congratulations! His Majesty is truly quite satisfied with you this time. The Great Tang has had so many Great Generals in the past decades, but you are the only one who has been made a Duke!”
Bian Lingcheng put away the imperial decree and strode forward with a beaming smile. “In addition, assembled generals, the repeated victories have greatly raised the prestige of my Great Tang. The Bureau of Military Personnel and Bureau of Personnel have already prepared rewards for all of you. I am certain that it won’t be long before all of you receive the reward letters from the Bureau of Military Personnel.”
The Imperial Court had its rules. Rewards for important subjects like Gao Xianzhi, Cheng Qianli, and Feng Changqing were directly decided by the Sage Emperor, determined via imperial decree, and promulgated to the world. As for the other generals, their rewards were decided by the Bureau of Military Personnel.
“Many thanks, Milord!”
Gao Xianzhi lowered his head and gave a respectful bow as he raised his hands to accept the decree from Bian Lingcheng. After these major battles, Gao Xianzhi had never expected to be made a Duke. However, he quickly calmed down.
Gao Xianzhi raised his head and asked, “Lord Bian, please forgive Xianzhi for his audacity. Why is it that Protector-General Wang has still not been rewarded?”
Bzzz! Gao Xianzhi’s question immediately caused the hall to fall silent. Everyone turned to Bian Lingcheng and Wang Chong.
In terms of merit, Wang Chong was truly the most meritorious subject. If not for him, Gao Xianzhi and the Anxi Protectorate army would have died long ago at Talas. And whether it was in Talas or in Khorasan, Wang Chong was the true commander, achieving far more than Gao Xianzhi had.
“Hahaha, I see that you are all anxious. The Young Marquis is the Great Tang’s new youthful War God, and His Majesty also greatly trusts Lord Marquis. How could His Majesty and the Imperial Court not know of his great achievements in this war? It is just that the Young Marquis has rendered too great of a service. Killing Arab War God Qutaybah, slaying one million Arab elites—such achievements reach to the heavens. The ministers of the court, the Bureau of Military Personnel, the Bureau of Personnel, the Lord Prime Minister, and His Divine Majesty are all having headaches over how to reward Lord Marquis. The debate in court is quite intense, and so it will take some time to decide on Lord Marquis’s reward. But it should be decided in about a month.”
Bian Lingcheng smiled as he spoke. This time, his words were not one bit feigned, spoken from the bottom of his heart.
He was truly afraid of Wang Chong, not merely because of his family background, but because he was greatly favored by the Sage Emperor and even his direct superior Eunuch Gao. He could lord over Gao Xianzhi and grasp his weak points, but he did not dare to do so in front of Wang Chong.
Bian Lingcheng’s words caused everyone to breathe sighs of relief.
“Lord Marquis, congratulations.”
Feng Changqing stepped forward and bowed.
“Lord Marquis has rendered a great service. Even my lord was able to become the Duke of Qi. Since Lord Marquis rendered the most service in this war, I am confident that His Divine Majesty and the Imperial Court will reward Lord Marquis even more richly.”
The Anxi generals nodded in agreement. Feng Changqing was correct. If Gao Xianzhi’s achievements were enough to gain him the title of Duke of Qi, the Imperial Court and the Sage Emperor would certainly award Wang Chong even more richly.
“Congratulations, Milord, congratulations! Lord Feng is correct. The Imperial Court is certain to richly reward Milord.”
People in the crowd began to speak up, each one feeling sincere happiness for Wang Chong. After sacrificing so much, Wang Chong was finally about to receive his proper reward.
Wang Chong only smiled. He did not care about additional titles or rewards. Defeating Arabia and gaining Talas and Khorasan were what he truly cared about.
“Lord Bian, you must be tired from your journey. Why don’t you go and rest? Yuanqing, escort Lord Bian to his quarters, and take care of him well,” Gao Xianzhi ordered with a wave of his hand.
“Yes, Milord!”
Xi Yuanqing hurriedly stepped forward.
“Then I must trouble Milord,” Bian Lingcheng hastily said.
Wang Chong said nothing, so Bian Lingcheng had no idea what he was thinking. He couldn’t help but shiver in fear at Wang Chong’s indifferent smile, and he did not dare remain in this hall any longer.
Gao Xianzhi looked to Cheng Qianli and the other Anxi Protectorate army generals, and said, “Qianli, you are dismissed as well.”
A few moments later, the reception hall was empty save for Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, and Wang Chong. Only now did Gao Xianzhi turn to Wang Chong.
“Wang Chong, only the three of us remain. Do you have anything that you want to say?”
From the very start, Gao Xianzhi had noticed that Wang Chong seemed to have something that he wanted to talk about. This was why he had told everyone to leave. Pausing for a moment, Gao Xianzhi continued, “Wang Chong, perhaps you don’t know, but Eunuch Bian…”
“How much money did he want from you?” Wang Chong interrupted.
Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were dumbstruck. Raising their heads, they saw that Wang Chong’s profound eyes were fixed upon them as if seeing through all their secrets.
The hall fell into an eerie silence. Neither of them had expected that Wang Chong would start with a question like this. Gao Xianzhi had always kept his relationship with Bian Lingcheng a secret, and only a few people knew the truth.
“How did you know?” Gao Xianzhi sternly said.
“There is no wall in the world that is airtight. Anyone who puts their mind to investigating it will find clues eventually. Milord’s promotions are inextricably tied to that Bian Lingcheng,” Wang Chong flatly said.
The other two in the hall were speechless for a long time.
“Haaah…”
Finally, Gao Xianzhi raised his head and sighed.
“Since Lord Wang already knows, I won’t hide anything. When I was young, I let emotions guide my actions and made a mistake. This matter has constantly impeded me in the ten-some years that followed, and I’ve never been able to cast if off.”
Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing became rather sentimental as they brought up this matter from the past.
There was no one that did not make errors in their youth, and Gao Xianzhi had also been a rather impulsive young man. He had been conceited, believing that his martial prowess and grasp of strategy far exceeded his peers, but even though he had served under Tian Renwan and Fumeng Lingcha for so long and rendered such great service, he was never highly regarded. The young Gao Xianzhi felt compelled to take action, and though it had allowed him to become Anxi Protector-General, it had also brought endless consequences.
Wang Chong placed his hands behind him and got straight to the point. “How much did Bian Lingcheng want from you after the battle with the Shi Kingdom?”
“Six million taels of gold!” Feng Changqing piped up.
Buzz!
Even Wang Chong couldn’t help but widen his eyes at this number. For the Battle of Talas, the Bureau of Revenue had given him ten million taels of gold, but even this had only been done after much hesitation.
And yet after the battle for the Shi Kingdom, Bian Lingcheng had demanded six million taels of gold, more than half of what Wang Chong had required for the Battle of Talas, and one had to realize that Wang Chong had used that money to hire nearly one hundred thousand soldiers.
“And this time?” Wang Chong continued.
Gao Xianzhi continued to remain silent, and it was still Feng Changqing who answered.
“Eighty million taels of gold!”
“Bastard!”
Even though Wang Chong had mentally prepared himself, he still couldn’t help but pale at this number. Eighty million taels, and of gold! It was clear that Bian Lingcheng knew that Wang Chong and Gao Xianzhi had demanded a total of 1.9 billion taels of gold from the Arabian Empire and had started off with an initial demand of eighty million. To go from six million taels to eighty million was more than a tenfold increase in appetite. Let alone Gao Xianzhi, not even Wang Chong would be able to hide the size of such a bribe.
If Bian Lingcheng’s appetite continued to increase in this fashion, not even the whole 1.9 billion taels would be enough to satisfy him. And if they could not satisfy Bian Lingcheng, hostilities would immediately break out.
“This bastard is bold! Does he really think that the money we demanded from Arabia is his private property!”
Wang Chong was rarely enraged, but not even he could suppress himself when he learned of Bian Lingcheng’s avarice.
“If I knew that he was this greedy, I would have killed him just now!”
“Wang Chong, no!”
Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing paled at these words.
“Bian Lingcheng is the General of the Palace Gates, and he’s an emissary of His Divine Majesty. To kill him is to offend the Sage Emperor.”
“Eighty million taels of gold was just a spoken demand, but there’s no firm evidence. To recklessly kill an Imperial Director will be extremely disadvantageous to Protector-General and the entire Wang Clan. With a strong enemy waiting in the wings, we can’t allow a lowly man like this to upset us.”
The pair hurriedly began to urge prudence.
Wang Chong said nothing, but the flames of anger in his eyes grew even brighter. He finally understood why Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing had invited him to this meeting. But Wang Chong knew far more about their relationship with Bian Lingcheng than this pair could imagine.
“Leave this matter to me. For a eunuch to falsely use imperial decrees is truly audacious!”
Wang Chong’s eyes spat fire as he spoke.
“Wang Chong, you must not!”
Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing were startled by this display.
Wang Chong glanced at the two and calmly said, “Milords, be at ease. I will not kill him, but I have my ways of dealing with this kind of eunuch official!”
Although his heart still burned with rage, he had not taken leave of his senses. Brute strength was not needed to deal with someone like Bian Lingcheng. For a greedy person like him who had been the General of the Palace Gates for so long, there was no way he had restricted his appetite to solely Gao Xianzhi.
Gao Xianzhi had not been the first victim, nor was he the last.
There was no such thing as an airtight wall, and as long as Wang Chong could seize Bian Lingcheng’s weakness, Bian Lingcheng would never be able to escape, no matter how capable he was.
Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing examined Wang Chong. Seeing that it didn’t seem like he was going to impulsively rush off and kill Bian Lingcheng, they finally relaxed.
Upon leaving the hall, Wang Chong quickly summoned Zhang Que. In addition, he wrote a letter to Yang Hongchang of the Western Regions’ Yang Clan. The Yang Clan had operated in the Western Regions for many years and had many connections. If any evidence existed of Bian Lingcheng’s actions in the Western Regions, the Yang Clan was the ideal choice to seek it out.
Besides this letter to the Western Regions, Wang Chong also wrote letters to King Song and Yang Zhao in the capital.
Chapter 1209 - Subduing Bian Lingcheng!
Chapter 1209: Subduing Bian Lingcheng!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
King Song was a member of the imperial household, and his faction in the capital was enormous. As for Yang Zhao, he had Consort Taizhen’s backing, and Consort Taizhen’s faction and the favor she enjoyed in the court would make investigating a single eunuch incredibly easy. Even if Bian Lingcheng had been appointed General of the Palace Gates by the Sage Emperor, he was still insignificant before Consort Taizhen.
Wang Chong was confident that whether it was in the court or on the border, Bian Lingcheng’s greedy conduct had left behind many clues.
News from Yang Hongchang came much faster than expected. It took only three days for Wang Chong to obtain the information he desired.
Ten days later, Wang Chong received word from King Song and Yang Zhao. King Song asked no questions of Wang Chong and provided a detailed report according to Wang Chong’s request. Yang Zhao, on the other hand, had sent his report along with a few sentences expressing deep curiosity. He was quite curious to know why Wang Chong was investigating one eunuch, but even so, he still provided an incredibly detailed report.
……
“Milord, spare me! Spare me!”
When Wang Chong threw the pile of evidence in front of Bian Lingcheng, the number three eunuch official of the Great Tang immediately dropped to his knees and plunged his ashen face to the ground.
According to the rules of the Imperial Court, after announcing the imperial decree, he should have left Khorasan. But his greed and desire for the eighty million taels of gold had caused him to delay his departure for ten-some days. He had originally believed when he had received an invitation to come over that Gao Xianzhi had come to understand something, but he had never expected this.
The stack of evidence in front of him made Bian Lingcheng’s heart want to leap out of his chest, his entire body to crumble into pieces. Cold sweat instantly began to trickle down from his forehead. These papers listed his various crimes of embezzlement and bribery, and how he had bought and sold official positions. There were some things here that even Bian Lingcheng wasn’t sure about, but when he read them, he suddenly began to recall them.
“Bian Lingcheng, a trifling eunuch official like you relied on the token given to you by His Majesty to commit crimes in the military, wantonly enriching yourself, and even daring to extort an important subject of the empire like the Anxi Protector-General. Did you know that this evidence alone is enough to have you executed via a thousand cuts! And not even death would be enough to redeem you!”
Wang Chong coldly glared at the prostrate Bian Lingcheng, his hands held behind his back and his face cold and hard.
“Milord, spare me! Spare me!”
Bian Lingcheng was drenched in sweat, and he slammed his head against the floor again and again, not even realizing that his forehead was bleeding. An immense fear dominated his mind. Wang Chong’s case was simply too comprehensive. Bian Lingcheng couldn’t even find any place where he could retort or argue.
Given Wang Chong’s status, if this evidence were handed over, the only thing awaiting him was death.
“Hmph! Seeing as you once secretly helped Lord Gao, I’ll let you keep your dog life for now. If I hear that you’re threatening Lord Gao with that matter again, still trying to bribe and blackmail, or selling off official positions, you’re finished. Given my capabilities, you probably understand that I’ll know where you are, no matter where you run,” Wang Chong coldly said.
“This lowly one understands, truly! Milord, be at ease! No matter how bold this lowly one is, he would never dare to extort Lord Gao,” Bian Lingcheng fearfully said, cold sweat trickling down his face.
“Very good! Take these things with you!”
Wang Chong pointed at a wooden box by his side. Bian Lingcheng raised his head in shock.
“This lowly one would not dare, would not dare!”
At a time like this, Bian Lingcheng would not dare to take anything of Wang Chong’s.
“I told you to take it, so take it!” Wang Chong icily ordered, his eyes like beads of ice.
Bian Lingcheng’s heart trembled, and he didn’t dare to speak again. He crawled up on his knees, his head lowered, and took the wooden box from the table.
Wang Chong stared at Bian Lingcheng and indifferently said, “Aren’t you going to open it?”
“Yesyesyes!”
Bian Li
ngcheng opened the box, and when he saw what was inside, he froze.
“This…”
Inside the wooden box was a thick stack of gold yuan certificates. The denomination of each of these certificates was enormous. A rough estimate put the total value of these gold yuan certificates at five to six million taels of gold.
Bian Lingcheng raised his head and stared in shock at Wang Chong.
“This is six million taels of gold. Take it. This is for your service to the country in helping Lord Gao. This money should be enough to satisfy your appetite for a very long time, but if you dare to stick out your hand and ask for more, you’ll be executed without question,” Wang Chong coldly said.
Bian Lingcheng was so drenched in cold sweat that he really didn’t dare to argue any more.
“Many thanks, Milord!”
“Go!”
Wang Chong waved his hand.
Bian Lingcheng had originally believed that his death was certain, but now, not only was he not dead, he had come away with a large gift. With his new lease on life, he did not dare to stay a moment longer. However, he had barely walked a few steps when he suddenly hesitated and stopped.
“What? You have something else to say?” Wang Chong coldly said.
“This lowly one would not dare!”
Bian Lingcheng trembled, fear emerging in his eyes.
“It was just that this lowly one thought of a matter and did not know if he should mention it. It is related to Lord Marquis.” Bian Lingcheng emphasized his last sentence.
“Speak!”
Wang Chong carelessly waved his hand.
“This lowly one heard some news in the capital. Although Lord Marquis rendered enormous service in the Western Regions and the entire Imperial Court is discussing how Lord Marquis should be rewarded, the Confucian school has spoken of Lord Marquis with veiled criticism,” Bian Lingcheng said.
“Oh?”
Wang Chong’s eyebrows rose, but he quickly relaxed. The quarrel between civil and military officials over the Battle of Talas had been exceptionally fierce, with the Confucian officials led by the Grand Preceptor putting up a staunch resistance to any further battle. Moreover, for his sake, his grandfather had intervened and quarreled with the Grand Preceptor in front of the court. Now that the Imperial Court desired to richly reward the Wang Clan, it was only natural that the Confucian school would object.
The Human Emperor c1-2382 Page 761