The Human Emperor

In another life, in another world, an empire across the ocean had relied on its immense military might and several tens of thousands of tons of gold to make its currency into the true world currency.

The Great Tang currently had the strength to suppress all other contenders, as well as two hundred and fifty thousand tons of gold, even more than the gold reserves of that empire from Wang Chong’s memories. In every aspect, the Great Tang had the ability to issue a world currency!

“A world currency…”

Yang Zhao’s eyes immediately brightened at Wang Chong’s words.

“Virtuous brother is right! Exactly right! A world currency, that’s what it is…”

Yang Zhao began to mutter to himself.

He had only wanted to have the gold yuan certificates circulating through the other countries, a sort of instinctive desire, but he was never sure what to call the thing the gold yuan certificates would become. When Wang Chong declared that it was a ‘world currency’, Yang Zhao felt like he had been enlightened.

Wang Chong merely chuckled. He had his own reasons for helping Yang Zhao.

With the calamity imminent, Yang Zhao probably did not have the time to push the gold yuan certificates on the entire world. But this could be considered an opportunity. In the future, it could serve as the foundation to establish a new world regime with the Great Tang at its center!

The gold yuan certificates were just an opening, a prelude, setting the foundation for a new human world.

Of course, Wang Chong kept all these thoughts buried deep in his heart.

Wang Chong took a sip from his tea and suddenly broached a question, shooting a glance at Yang Zhao. “Right, Big Brother rarely visits, and Big Brother should be completely occupied with work as of late. Did something happen to make you find me?”

Yang Zhao remained calm, but he couldn’t suppress a slight tremble. Wang Chong knew instantly that this sense had been right.

He could tell from the moment Yang Zhao came in that his mind was heavily burdened. While he might have appeared all smiles, his brow was slightly creased the entire time. He had clearly come with a problem.

After a few moments of hesitation, Yang Zhao decided to come clean, knowing that it was impossible to keep anything hidden from Wang Chong.

“Haaa, virtuous brother, you’re truly sharp, your eyes like a bright mirror. Your foolish brother can’t hide anything from you.

“Your foolish brother truly did come with a request.”

Yang Zhao’s face turned sorrowful as he took up his tea and took a sip.

Wang Chong was rather shocked that Yang Zhao was being so frank.

“The world is at peace and the Great Tang is at the height of its power. Big Brother is also performing well as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues, with the treasury much larger than it was in the past. I’ve heard of all these things, so what could trouble Big Brother so?” Wang Chong curiously asked.

Yang Zhao’s reaction implied that it was no minor affair, but the Three Princes had been pacified, King Qi had been deposed, Arabia had been conquered, and Yang Zhao was one of the Sage Emperor’s favorites and had Consort Taizhen’s support. There was basically no one in society who could oppose him, and he should have been able to sleep without any worries. What sort of matter could make him so uneasy?

Yang Zhao sighed and mournfully said, “This… I’m afraid that I won’t be able to remain as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues for very long.”

“How could this be?!”

Wang Chong raised an eyebrow in surprise.

While Yang Zhao had not been very cautious before their first meeting, ever since he had entered the palace, he had become an illustrious minister without any problems. Was it a war in the harem? Or had the Emperor found out about the gambling ring Yang Zhao had formed with the palace maids and eunuchs?

Or was it that someone had reported him for placing small amounts of money in private money houses to be loaned out?

“No, it has nothing to do with those things!”

Yang Zhao immediately knew what Wang Chong was thinking from his expression and hastily shook his head.

“It would be fine if that were really the case. At least I would understand why I had to ‘die’.”

Wang Chong frowned and said, “You’re saying it’s about the Sage Emperor… What in the world happened?”

He had been campaigning abroad for around six months. The Great Tang should have been at peace this entire time. Had there been an incident during this time period that he didn’t know about?

And what did he mean by ‘understand why I had to die’?

What was Yang Zhao trying to say?

Wang Chong felt somewhat like his head was in a fog.

“Haaa, this matter… I also don’t know quite how to talk about it.”

Yang Zhao sorrowfully continued, hiding nothing from his wise and intelligent adopted brother. In truth, he had come here in the hopes of getting some advice from Wang Chong.

“I’ve been Chamberlain of Palace Revenues for around two years, and I think I’ve done a fine job. While I’ve had a few small mess-ups here and there, I’ve always done well on major problems. Virtuous brother, you’ve seen all of this, and His Majesty has never said anything to me. But over the last few months, something has gone strange.”

Wang Chong frowned, but he did not interrupt Yang Zhao.

“…In the past, His Majesty never had anything to say about my performance as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues. But over the last few months, everything suddenly changed. Once, without any warning, His Majesty began asking me about the Great Tang’s treasury. This sort of thing never happened before.”

Yang Zhao was almost talking to himself, failing to notice the change in expression on Wang Chong’s face.

“I thought that His Majesty was only taking a momentary interest, so I didn’t pay the incident much mind, but things got stranger after that. His Majesty asked me several more times in front of the entire court.”

Wang Chong was shaken by these words. To question Yang Zhao about the treasury in front of the Imperial Court could be taken as an expression of distrust. It was no wonder Yang Zhao was uneasy.

“Perhaps you’re overthinking things. Just because His Majesty rarely asks doesn’t mean he never will ask. Moreover, war is an extremely expensive endeavor. I also happened to find the Arabian treasury, so His Majesty might have had a sudden impulse about his own treasury. It can’t be taken as a sign of anything,” Wang Chong said.

“That’s not it at all! These incidents happened before you found the Arabian treasury. In addition, several months ago, without any warning, informing no one beforehand, His Majesty suddenly appeared at my estate and ordered me to open the treasury so he could inspect the gold and silver within.

“Virtuous brother, you know that the sovereign keeps himself far away from the kitchen, and no sovereign in the history of the Great Tang has ever entered the treasury to personally inspect it. Though I was alarmed, I could not defy the imperial decree, so I could only open the treasury and bring His Majesty inside.

“But after barely taking a few steps inside, His Majesty suddenly changed his mind and left. I was left alone, clueless as to what had transpired.”

As Yang Zhao spoke, his brow creased more and more.

“Once could just be an accident, but in those few months, it happened three times. His Majesty asked me three times to open the treasury, but each time, he would change his mind halfway and leave.

“Virtuous brother, you’re smarter than I am. Tell me: is His Majesty dissatisfied with me and planning to remove me from my post as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues?”

Wang Chong said nothing. He had a vague idea, but he couldn’t quite pin it down yet.

Yang Zhao viewed his position as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues with great importance. It was only reasonable for him to feel uneasy after all these incidents.

But for some reason, Wang Chong felt that the matter wasn’t so simple.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that His Majesty is dissatisfied with you. You’ve done well as Chamberlain of Palace Revenues, and there’s no one else in court who could do better than you. In addition, I haven’t heard any rumors of this nature. His Majesty has always utilized the talents beneath him well. He would not remove you for no reason,” Wang Chong comforted.

“Virtuous brother, this isn’t because I’m being overly sensitive and frightening myself with wild speculations. I wouldn’t immediately believe that His Majesty was dissatisfied with me just because of that. But you also know how much His Majesty favors Consort Taizhen. He once opposed the entire court just for her. However, it was one thing before the Rebellion of the Three Princes, when His Majesty had retreated behind the curtain. Yet despite His Majesty personally presiding over the court, barring a few visits at the start, His Majesty has not gone to see Consort Taizhen in the last few months.

“In fact, I heard from a few old eunuchs in the servant quarter that once, His Majesty’s carriage was heading toward Yuzhen Palace when he suddenly changed his mind and returned to Taiji Palace.

“Virtuous brother, I’m not hiding anything from you. Everyone in court knows how your big brother got the position of Chamberlain of Palace Revenues. I got here thanks to my family relations, solely because Her Majesty is favored by His Majesty. But nothing is eternal, and men adore the new and dislike the old, even more so with sovereigns. Do you think His Majesty has grown tired of Her Majesty?” Yang Zhao worriedly said, looking hopefully at Wang Chong.

Ever since his arrival at the capital, Yang Zhao had been pursuing fame and fortune. ‘Everyone will rush to one place in the world for the sake of profit.’

Emperor Taizong had said this, so Yang Zhao had never believed there was anything wrong about his pursuit of wealth, or about keeping the post of Chamberlain of Palace Revenues for himself. Instead, Yang Zhao was far more worried about Consort Taizhen losing favor.

Without the post of Chamberlain of Palace Revenues, he could eventually climb his way back up, but if Consort Taizhen lost favor, he was utterly finished.

Yang Zhao had spent several sleepless nights over this before finally coming to Wang Chong for help.

“Virtuous brother, you were only recently made Empire Guardian Great General, granted an Imperial Dragon Bracelet, and enshrined in Lingyan Pavilion. You are the one most favored by His Majesty! You have to think of a way to help your foolish brother and his sister!”

Yang Zhao’s eyes were brimming with hope, almost all of it placed on Wang Chong.

Wang Chong had believed Yang Zhao was making a mountain out of a molehill at the start, but the more he heard, the more he also realized that something was wrong.

Wang Chong creased his brow and asked, “Big Brother, does even Her Majesty think this?”

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