Whenever the Empress had to decide on Administrative or State matters of a certain importance, she used the famous lunches to surround herself with advisers and informally obtain their opinions. For a long time she had shown herself to be an excellent manipulator and cunning person. It was thanks to these qualities that she succeeded in destroying the former Empress in title and little by little access to her current authority. Contrary to the thought of her whistleblowers, the lunches were for her an ideal moment to gather information for her causes, to influence aristocrats and to find out their opinions without being politically exposed. Through the years and by this way she managed to progressively increase alliances with the conservatives, who gave her a broad base of support for decisions and opposed the influence of foreign powers.
When the Empress put the problem of the military on the table, the matter divided the advisers. Some were in favor of military reinforcement of the Navy and Army, others, fearing the inevitable loss of foreign trade improvements, were in favor of maintaining the current situation. It was clear to the Empress that this issue had acquired in time a growing complexity of interests and, if no measures were taken, the gap would inevitably widen. She therefore had to deepen the issue through the hearing of State Councilors and Provincial Governors. However, before moving on to this strategy, she first wanted to hear some of them informally. So, once again she sent out invitations for lunches, grouping them by nearby regions. First those from the seafront and then those from the inland regions. The Empress went from plan to action, listening first to the Governors and then to the State Councilors, using a dynamic but informal strategy. She listened to each one of them but without expressing her opinion. At the end of these hearings, and to their great perplexity, several months had passed without the Empress having taken any decision on the matter raised by the military chiefs. When she finally called the meeting of the Governors and State Advisors to formally examine the matter, the decision was taken to create a special fee to remain in force for a period of ten years. As a result, by national representative means, she brought an edict to every nook and cranny of the empire - “We hereby make known the creation of an additional tithe on income, to be applied on holders of land and for a period of ten years. The money collected is for the renewal of the equipment of the armed forces. The tax that has now been created is distributed in the proportion of one third for the land forces and two thirds for the naval forces. The tax has immediate effect, so it applies to income already obtained in the next harvest”.
The Empress knew that the collection of the new tax would bear her abundant and direct fruit. For the funds she already had more or less cunning intentions. The important thing was to achieve, through the satisfaction of military objectives, an improvement in the financial situation of the palace. As for the measure implemented, she knew that it would become unpopular over the years, since the nobles would invariably pass on to the farmers the tax increase decreed. From the opinion gathered from the military, this decision was late, although it was a sign of hope. For many of them, the harvesting period was too long and there was a further danger that it would prove insufficient in the national defense strategy. The foreign powers were now struggling to gain freedom of movement for their goods without having to pay the high fees to the Imperial Control Merchants’ Associations. However, for the Empress, the greatest danger came from the possible popular discontent, so she arranged a meeting with her advisor Zhu to reflect on the matter. In the meeting the Empress, once again, highlighted her gifts of “manipulative creativity”.
- I have had a government action oriented to improvements with special importance in satisfying the material and spiritual needs of our people. In recent years and on our initiative, many young people have found practice in the imperial city, leaving their insipient homes for a wealthy life in the palace. Through our imperial workshops they have acquired knowledge, today they are craftsmen who contribute a lot to the enrichment of the economy, and through their arts and crafts they have transformed their…
- If I may, I would add that otherwise they would not have the opportunity to have a life far from their limitations. - Said Zhu, risking an opinion.
- Don’t interrupt me!
- My apologies. - Said Zhu, modestly.
- What I mean is that the time has come to reinforce these improvements by giving them the opportunity to make a career as craftsmen or as priests outside the palace. You will therefore prepare a document to spread the word throughout the kingdom, informing that the Imperial House accepts applications for Craftsmen and Priests, with the installation of Workshops and Temples in the villages under very special conditions.
Zhu saw this position of the Empress as yet another opportunity for the eunuchs not only to increase their influence in society, but also to satisfy their deepest aspirations. Their number had increased significantly in recent years. The Empress’ position had not surprised him, however, there was a downside to this - this decision of her would bring even more difficulties to the precarious financial situation of the palace. When Zhu handed the edict to the head of the Imperial House announcing the Empress’ recent decisions, he saw the other frown, a sign of his growing concern - had it not been for the recent tax intended for military purposes and already the state coffers would be without resources. Thus, for the head of the Imperial House the military tax had brought a relief in the financial situation, but knowing the Empress’ tendencies to build expenses, the period of relief would be short-lived.
With the death of the Emperor and the take over of regency by the Empress, the recruitment of staff for the palace had undergone profound changes. Among the measures adopted by the sovereign, the competition for the admission of girls destined for service in the palace began to have a longer periodicity – it went from happening every year to every three years. If this measure with the girls reduced the costs, the new competition for eunuchs, which from happening every five years had passed to annual frequency, had greatly increased staff costs. Now, with the new Empress edict opening again more opportunities for eunuchs as future craftsmen in the villages, everything would get even worse. But it was not only the periodicity that had changed, but also the admission regulations had changed profoundly, so, for example, in the case of girls, beauty was no longer the determining factor as well as the moral criteria of the family. In the eunuchs’ case, the athletic condition of the candidates had become a preferential factor. However, the tradition rooted among the people meant that only girls of exceptional beauty applied, as well as in the eunuchs the ethical and moral qualities continued to preside over the applications. The position of chaperon was now the highest rank a girl could aspire to, with most of those admitted remaining a servant. With a new entry, a new color was always emerging in the conversations between novices and older women. For them the early days represented a period of enchantment, either because they were not used to so much luxury or because of the awakening of the senses in particular towards the Crown Prince, now a grown-up young man, always arousing curiosity to his passage.
- Look, look! Isn’t that the Prince?!
- Yes! But you have to wait your turn, because there are already many in line in front of you!
- We’ll see about that! I’ll do anything to take his heart and more!
- You can keep on dreaming!
- It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. As far as I know, the present Empress was no better than I am, at that time!
- What a cocky girl!
- Well, you can write it down! I’ll be the greatest love of his life!
A loud laughter made itself heard all over the hall. As the girls walked away, two concubines, who were close, looked at each other, smiling.
A few years later...
The time in the palace was spent in the serenity of the days, here and there, interrupted by a little more work for the staff, thanks to the parties and lunches offered by the Empress to a panoply of guests. For the girls and concubines these daily tasks, eve
n the hardest, did not represent a major concern, surrounded by all the well-being and novelties of the environment. When the Crown Prince came of age, the Empress convinced him to integrate into political life. Thus, one in a while he began to appear, particularly in the receptions to foreign delegations and also in the management of the main internal businesses. Taking advantage of a request for a meeting of the head of the Imperial House to analyze the financial situation of the palace, the Empress met with him, having at her side the Prince and Zhu. By the analysis of the situation it was decided by the Empress to cut in the personnel expenses, starting with the cancellation of the competitions for admission of the feminine personnel. For the Empress this measure had intentionally two advantages, on the one hand it would reduce the expenses and on the other it would diminish the possibility of the Prince to let himself be enchanted in a more serious way by some novice.
In the memory of the Empress was still well present the embarrassing and dangerous situation that she felt, at the time of the last recruitment, in which the Prince got involved with one of the novices. Fortunately everything was resolved in the best way, with the exit, of free will, of the adolescent candidate. The danger for the Empress was not in the Prince getting involved with the young girls, but rather by devoting to just one of them and thus being tempted to marry her, claiming the throne for himself. Until now this one always accepted her recommendations, according to which a life of virtue and respect for the imperial rites were enough, thus earning the good influence of the gods and the respect of the nobles to one day come to rule the whole empire. The time of the Prince was filled among lessons about classics, (ministered by a great lector of the palace) and religious and leisure activities.
At that meeting and to the Empress’ great surprise, the Prince reacted in an unreasonable manner to the decision to cut staff costs with the girls. Not only was he against the Empress’ opinion, but he also opposed the annulment of the regular entrance examinations, arguing that many other expenses represented pure waste and were disruptive to social life in the palace, like the decisions about the eunuchs. He also argued that the entrance competition for girls should be adjusted to the same frequency as the eunuchs’, as has always been the practice in the past with his father. The Empress, for the first time, was threatened in her authority, being forced to take a decision contrary to her wishes, revoking the previous decision and passing the competition for admission of girls to annual frequency, as had been claimed by the Prince. Zhu, perplexed by the decision of the sovereign, wondered “what does this decision of the Empress mean - loss of power, or is she plotting something?”
Shortly afterwards, a new competition for the admission of girls was announced by the kingdom, now on an annual basis. The competition had aroused a high turnout of applicants, so that additional screening criteria had to be applied as a way of reducing the complex selection process. Thus, the jury was forced to take extra time to complete the selection process. As a result, life in the palace became more lively. The enthusiasm of the candidates reached unprecedented levels in this competition. The Prince was clearly the centre of all attention.
As time went by, the heir assumed more and more attitudes of irreverence and autonomy. The Empress saw in his conduct a growing and permanent challenge to her authority, leaving her worried, even fearing the end of her reign. The decision of the Prince to disconnect from the traditional religious rites and to start to be more interested in the warrior action, represented for the Empress an alarming signal. It was urgent to make a radical decision. Once again the Empress thought she should resort to her supreme personal qualities. Whenever her manipulative action did not work, she would normally move on to the next phase, using ever more refined and cunning resources and, when necessary, even enter the cruel phase. In this phase everything was worth everything, even eliminating from her path whatever necessary to finally reach her goal. Like the determined woman she always was, she quickly moved on to a plan where the old maxim rules - “if you can’t beat them, join them”. During one of her usual lunches, the Empress launched the idea to the noble conservatives present (in a natural way), that it was important to enliven palace life. For this, it would be interesting to organize tournaments or hunts, thus stimulating the warrior values always so useful in territorial defense. The Prince, an inexperienced young man and poorly counseled, welcomed the idea in a spontaneous and enthusiastic way, even defending the opinion that, better than a tournament would be to bring back the imperial hunts of his late father. Facing that position of the future heir some nobles reinforced the words of the Prince, considering that the time had come to conduct a hunt, venerating the memory of the Emperor. Thus, it was decided by the Empress that the hunt would take place in four weeks’ time and the Organizing Committee would be formed by some of the nobles present. The next day an Imperial edict was released reporting on the next tournament to be held.
A week later...
A large number of participants had already registered and defined the criteria for admission as well as the rules for awarding the prizes to the teams that managed to gather the largest number of hunting catches. The Prince, with his personal guards, would constitute an independent team. The hunting pieces that his team would shoot would not change the final result of the competitors. By regulation they would be distributed evenly among the other teams. In memory of the former Emperor the hunting region chosen was the same one he had as his favorite. It was several miles away from the palace, so high logistical and human resources would have to be involved in the preparation of the event. The Empress, who always kept away from these events, appointed Zhu as head of security of the Prince’s team. The preparation of the hunt brought additional movement and enthusiasm to the palace in the days preceding it.
Finally, the big day had come...
The sun had not yet raised on the horizon and already in the campsite the bustle was great. The support staff had a thousand tasks so that there was nothing missing for the participants, starting by the first meal of the day. With the dawn the conversations became lively among the competitors, mixing with the barking of the dogs, lending a colorful atmosphere of these events. A full and busy day was predicted at the campsite. For the beginners everything was new. In the conversations, usually in large groups, attentions were now focused on everything the veterans said and did. With the start of the tournament, the competitors were grouped by teams and gathered in a circle to remind them of the main rules. After the hunt had started, the uproar felt throughout the camp dissipated. The contestants left in groups full of enthusiasm. Throughout the morning each team tried to find the best ways and methods to achieve the best result. At the end of the morning the trumpets were heard, announcing the temporary interruption of the hunt for lunch. Gradually the teams began to return to the campsite, having as main concern the curiosity to find out how everything had gone with the others. An impromptu assessment of the contestants was made afterwards. Counted by each teams, the number of hunting pieces were now compared between them, confirming that there weren’t many differences in number. So any prediction about the winners at the end of the day was difficult to make. There was, however, one significant new fact to record - the high number of pieces hunted by the Prince’s team. Everyone commented with great satisfaction, especially among the nobles, that the great winner that morning had been, without a shadow of a doubt, the Prince himself. This opinion was rejected by the prince, expressing, however, a smile of contentment. For many this achievement was a sign that he was doing justice to the memory of his father, pointed out by all as an heir equal to the position. During lunch, the contentment of the teams and their good mood were visible. The Prince, who for the first time saw himself involved in these gatherings, listened with great satisfaction to the compliments and shared his experience about the various episodes that took place in those early hours of the day, making a warning:
- Our first hunting piece gave us some surprises and if it hadn’t been for the experience of Zhu,
one of our own, he might have had a serious accident. So we need to be a little careful with the ravines! - said the Prince.
- It’s all about mastery of the terrain and, above all, containment of enthusiasm! – Zhu added.
One of the veterans there remembered that in the Emperor’s time hunting was always preceded by a meeting with all the participants, explaining not only the best hunting techniques, but, above all, alerting to the dangerous areas of the terrain and how to avoid them. That call for attention did not leave the Prince indifferent, so he commented to Zhu:
- Take note! Next time, that’s exactly what we’ll do!
For Zhu the morning had gone by in all normality even though it was dominated by a permanent concern, because he had received from the Empress express orders to support the Prince in everything that guaranteed not only success, but above all his safety. For the teams the success of the future Emperor during the morning was an added motivation, so in the afternoon they all had the same purpose - to do what was within their reach to show the Prince that, after all, they too were capable of great deeds. The prince himself, excited by the morning glow, had quickly forgotten his own recommendations at lunch and soon began to risk everything so that the number of pieces hunted in the morning would be greatly exceeded. Several times the personal guard and Zhu himself had to make unmeasured efforts to accompany the Prince in his eagerness for success, especially because they had to ensure the instructions set by the Empress. At dusk, just before sunset, the trumpets were heard again, announcing the end of the hunt.
The Great Empire--Bilingual Edition Page 22