Chapter 1643 - The Grand Scribe Arrives!
Chapter 1643: The Grand Scribe Arrives!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
“Hmph, the King of Foreign Lands is truly a sociable person. From your tone, you blame this prince for not inviting you?” the First Prince coldly asked.
“Haha, there’s no need to send an invitation card for something like this. Your Highness is busy with so many matters that forgetting to send one or two invitations is normal!”
Wang Chong chuckled and casually waved his hand.
The First Prince’s face went ghastly pale. Wang Chong was acting the fool, and in any case, he was already here. The First Prince couldn’t just drive him away.
“Come! Give the King of Foreign Lands a seat!”
The First Prince clenched his teeth and glanced at Zhu Tong’en and his advisors, engaging in a wordless conversation.
The wood had already been built into a boat, and almost all the great clans of the capital were here and had already made their donations. The ceremony was on the verge of ending, so he was truly interested to see what sort of trick Wang Chong would play.
The First Prince feared no scheme from Wang Chong at this juncture.
“Your Highness, that’s not necessary!”
Just when the First Prince’s men were about to get Wang Chong a chair, Wang Chong grinned and took two steps forward.
“I see that the opening ceremony is basically finished, so this king will get straight to the point! Xu Keyi, bring forth twelve hundred taels of gold to donate to the Great Buddhist Temple in this king’s name.”
The First Prince’s face instantly sank. He had just made a rule that all the donor clans had to donate at least five thousand taels, but despite Wang Chong’s esteemed status and visit without invitation, he was only donating twelve hundred. This was clearly to make trouble.
A voice came from behind the First Prince. “Hmph, I heard that Your Highness is wealthy beyond compare, rich enough to buy half the capital, but Your Highness is only donating twelve hundred taels, even less than some of the smaller clans in the capital? Isn’t this just a little too miserly?”
An advisor with a three-pronged beard like goat whiskers had immediately stepped forward to indignantly rebuke Wang Chong.
Behind Wang Chong, Cheng Sanyuan stepped forward and coldly retorted, “Hmph, who said that His Highness was only donating twelve hundred taels? His Highness wasn’t finished speaking, so why the rush? And besides, when His Highness speaks, is it your right to question him?”
“Cheng Sanyuan, step back!” Wang Chong promptly rebuked, but his voice did not carry any reprimand.
“This king has heard that Your Highness is gathering donations at the Great Buddhist Temple to help the orphans and widows of the realm. Wang Chong feels great admiration for Your Highness’s benevolence. Thus, this king has decided to set aside twenty million taels of gold to join Your Highness in assisting the orphans and widows of the Great Tang,” Wang Chong said.
Boom!
The great clans gathered on the summit and the crowd at the base of the mountain exploded with cries of alarm. All of them stared in shock at the King of Foreign Lands, stunned by the number he had given.
“Twenty million taels!”
“Heavens!”
“This is much greater than the First Prince has donated!”
In the Great Tang, a family of four wouldn’t spend more than a few taels of gold per year. The twenty million taels Wang Chong was donating was simply incomprehensible to the crowd. This was enough money to sustain one million common folk for a year.
The members of the great clans were also dumbfounded, their eyes alarmed and uncertain. This action from Wang Chong was too surprising, but this was not their true concern.
The First Prince’s claim that he would donate money to the temple and the orphans and widows was merely a pretext. Probably more than half the money would enter his personal purse.
It was precisely because they understood this point that they had donated so much. The King of Foreign Lands probably didn’t know this, and in the end, the money he donated would just fatten the First Prince.
The representatives of the great clans stared at Wang Chong in unease. But none of them dared to speak while the First Prince was present.
The First Prince had also been caught unaware by Wang Chong’s action, and once he realized what had been said, he internally sneered.
You think yourself so smart! You think that your twenty million taels of gold can seize back the hearts of the people from this prince? How foolish!
The First Prince hid his thoughts well, and what he said took on an entirely different tone.
“The King of Foreign Lands truly has a kind and generous heart, as expected of a King of my Great Tang. Since the King of Foreign Lands is the same as this prince and has a heart for those orphans and widows, this prince will accept the money in their place.”
The First Prince’s expression completely transformed, and if one looked carefully, one could spot a thin smile on his lips.
In his eyes, Wang Chong was a complete idiot, a buffoon.
Behind the First Prince, his advisors sneered, their eyes brimming with derision. It was clear that they thought the same as the First Prince.
Wang Chong took it all in with a smile. How could he not understand what the First Prince was thinking?
But Wang Chong did not expose him. Twenty million taels of gold was not small, but it wasn’t that easy to get his gold. The First Prince was celebrating too early.
“In addition, as the First Prince is holding this event for the benefit of the orphans and widows of this world, this king believes that we should publicly announce this matter, for two reasons. One: we can have all the people of the realm know of the First Prince’s benevolent heart. Two: we can have even more people participate.
“Thus, this king summoned Grand Scribe Yan Wenzhang to record this matter so that our descendants can sing its praises. However, the Grand Scribe seems to have developed a small misunderstanding of the matter, and on the road, he said that he wanted to personally meet with Your Highness and discuss it,” Wang Chong said.
Buzz!
The First Prince’s advisors instantly paled, and First Prince Li Ying felt all his smugness evaporate, his face nastily scowling.
The Grand Scribe!
This was the post responsible in all the dynasties for recording historical matters into the annals, and those who held this post had stiff and inflexible personalities. All the Grand Scribes were grim and diehard conservatives.
The art of history emphasized practicality and reality, with no decoration or embellishment. Very few people knew that the Grand Scribe had another, hidden, duty: monitoring the imperial censors.
All the historians knew the laws of the Great Tang like the backs of their hands, but they were so busy recording historical events that they rarely had time to make impeachments. But the moment they knew of something that went against the law, particularly when the perpetrator was a sovereign or prince, they would submit a memorial and be dogged in their pursuit.
Yan Wenzhang was an outstanding example of such an official.
When he was young, Yan Wenzhang had already gained a reputation for not tolerating even a grain of sand in his eyes, and this attitude had only worsened with age.
As this was a society that respected the elderly, even the First Prince showed respect for him and did not dare to leave behind anything that could be used against him.
One could say that Grand Scribe Yan Wenzhang was one of the people that Li Ying wanted to see the least at this moment.
“Get out of the way! Out of the way!”
Wang Chong had barely finished speaking when turmoil erupted from the base of the mountain. The crowd began to part as several members of the Yan Clan escorted a white-haired elder up.
This elder was wearing a simple white robe. He held a book in his left hand and a brush in the other as he angrily stormed up the slope.
Everyone who saw this elder paled, even those representatives from the great clans backing away.
Almost all of the great clans present had come for the First Prince’s sake. If Grand Scribe Yan Wenzhang spotted them, then a few notes might be added into the annals, such as, ‘in this year, the First Prince built a Buddhist temple, and the Luo Clan and Zhao Clan of the capital went to the ceremony to flatter him’, and in the future, their clans would be infamous.
The official’s brush and the general’s saber were equally formidable. And the Grand Scribe’s brush was one of the most formidable!
“Your Highness! No! Twenty million taels of gold is absolutely unacceptable!”
Yan Wenzhang’s head was drenched in sweat. It was clear that climbing up the mountain had rather exhausted him.
But this was a minor matter to Yan Wenzhang. The moment he reached the summit, he rushed up to Wang Chong.
“King of Foreign Lands, this old man has already told you several times: the Great Tang has its laws, and this is not legal!”
After saying this to Wang Chong, Yan Wenzhang apparently noticed the First Prince. His face froze, and then he walked over to the First Prince in shock.
“Your Highness, in Article 1328 of the Tang law code, it states that members of the imperial household are strictly forbidden from accepting donations from officials, generals, and the people. While Your Highness might have built the Great Buddhist Temple for the orphans and widows of the realm, this old subject finds this matter completely unacceptable. Your Highness, please return the donations to the clans!”
Bzzz! Yan Wenzhang’s words made all the great clans fall silent.
The First Prince’s face swelled and turned the color of liver.
But from Yan Wenzhang’s expression, he could tell that this was no joke.
Bastard!
The First Prince clenched his fists in rage, but he was unable to vent his spleen.
The post of Grand Scribe was too sensitive, and the Yan clan was a clan of Grand Scribes. Not even Emperor Taizong had been able to do anything about these historians, so how could he?
More importantly, he had just learned that the donations from the great clans had reached twenty million, and this number would only get larger.
This was no small number, and Yan Wenzhang was asking him to return it all. How could he accept this?!
Wang Chong!
The First Prince felt an even greater loathing for Wang Chong.
Zhu Tong’en stepped forward and bowed as he hastily explained, “Grand Scribe, you’ve misunderstood. The First Prince paid for the construction of this Buddhist temple, and all the donations will be administered by the temple, not enter His Highness’s purse!”
If the Grand Scribe of the Great Tang got serious and wrote this matter into the annals, who knew what effects it would have? The First Prince had yet to ascend to the throne, and such an event could have ill effects on his chances.
Zhu Tong’en had broken out in a cold sweat.
“This is still unacceptable! The great clans who appeared here did so because of their admiration for the First Prince’s status, and there has never been precedent in this dynasty for someone of the First Prince’s status building a Buddhist temple and then accepting donations from the great clans! If Your Highness does not agree, this old subject has no other choice but to submit a memorial to the Sage Emperor and the Imperial Court!” Yan Wenzhang sternly said, clearly intending to see this through until the very end.
The First Prince’s expression turned nastier and nastier.
Zhu Tong’en and the other advisors were restrained in their actions, afraid that overdoing things would only harden Yan Wenzhang’s stance.