Chapter 58: The Trend of Events (1/2)
Chapter 58: The Trend of Events
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
”What? The Governor Mansion is about to become relatives with the Mingyi School? Governor Ma's daughter Ma Linglong will marry the White Blademaster Lu Shaoyou?”
No matter where you are in the world, the spread of rumor always runs neck and neck with the spread of news.
After entering Qinlingjun City and reporting in at the Wu clan central residency, Junior Leopard's group went to the Happiness Inn where they were staying. This inn was also part of the Wu's estate, and in the last month, due to the Wu's Selection Contest, every inn in Qinlingjun City was fully booked. The Happiness Inn owned by the Wu clan had already ceased doing business to the general public, and was responsible only for receiving disciples of Wu for the Selection Contest; this was the usual custom.
After returning from registering at the Wu's central residency, Junior Leopard's group was exhausted. As they still had 10 days until the Selection Contest began, everyone decided they should have a good rest, so that they could preserve and nurture their strength for the big day.
They had just arrived at the inn and were yet to finish eating their dinner when they heard this sensational news.
Junior Leopard usually just smiled at this kind of news. No matter Governor Ma or Mingyi School, they were both too far from his more pressing concerns for him to pay close attention.
But it was without a doubt that the spread of this sensational news would make waves, causing huge controversy. It would not only make waves amongst those who were directly concerned by it, but also among the lower ranks of the Jianghu, including those staying at the inn with Junior Leopard.
Junior Leopard did not care, but this did not mean that his companions shared his disinterest, and so their excited gossip naturally reached his ears too.
I don't get it, why do they all care so much about this? It sounds like they're fascinated by this gossip, but it's just a marriage after all, how could it have such a big impact?
Junior Leopard didn't quite understand. The reaction to the news of the marriage between the Ma family and Mingyi School, whether true or false, had revealed that such an affair was not a straightforward matter. He surmised that this news must reveal something about the general direction of Jin politics, and was worth pondering over.
Ma Tianchang was the Governor of Yunzhou, and the Emperor's trusted lieutenant and aide. But it was beyond doubt that even if he did not have this status, he would have still been able to sit stably as Governor of this divided state — his talent and competence was acknowledged by all, and in 10 short years he had transformed Yunzhou from an impoverished backwater into one of the most prosperous places in the land. He had resisted attacks from the north, opened new trade routes, the tax burden had been reduced and the population had increased dramatically… all of these things showed that he was a man of exceptional ability. But because of this, a series of problems had been set off in a chain reaction.
”The people of Yunzhou, they know the Governor Mansion but not the imperial court; they know Governor Ma, but do not know the Emperor.”
Three years ago, these words were composed in a memorial written by an imperial official, hoping to use them to impeach Ma Tianchang. The release of this memorial was blocked by the Emperor, but it was mysteriously leaked, and soon spread far and wide. At that time, the Emperor was furious, and banished the official who penned those words to work as a prefectural judge in a remote part of the Northern Mountains. Ma Tianchang reported to the Emperor that he was guilty and had it repressed, however through this incident, people who were paying attention could see that beneath the amiable and united appearance of the Emperor and his officials, the first small crack had started to appear.
In fact, those who were paying attention knew that this crack must have existed for some time, but that official was merely the first unlucky enough to tumble through this crack. In other words, he was merely a pawn.
Right from the very beginning of Ma Tianchang taking office, everybody believed that the first thing this close aide of the Emperor had to deal with was Yunzhou's wealthy family, the Wu clan. The Wu clan had monopolized Yunzhou, including even the Jin's smelting business; they were not only rich enough to threaten the nation, but they even had the armies of Jin by the throat, as a large part of their standard weaponry and equipment was supplied by them.
Additionally, the Wu's acted as a vassal of the Tian Long Taoism.
Tian Long Taoism, despite being one of Jin's three great schools, did not have as harmonious a relationship with the imperial court as one might imagine; quite different to Mingyi School. Although they did not have an openly antagonistic relationship with the court like the Sect of Flame, they did not strive to uphold the orthodoxies of the Great Jin imperial court as the Mingyi School did either. Tian Long Taoism had close relationships with the wealthy families throughout the land, and often received tribute from them; these families were never so reverent to the imperial court. Because of this, the Jin court's enmity toward Tian Long Taoism was, in fact, often even deeper than it was toward the Sect of Flame. Even though the Sect of Flame was openly antagonistic to the imperial court, they could only incite ordinary commoners who were weak, easy to intimidate, and would only revolt as an absolute last resort, and certainly not be willing to risk their lives rising up out of conviction.
For many years, the Great Jin — while not having perfect conditions every year — had not suffered from any major catastrophes, and the last few Emperors were fairly accomplished, or at least competent enough. Because of this, the Sect of Flame had been unable to make any waves. But the Tian Long Taoism had mixed in with the wealthy and influential families, helping them train people of talent; and in recent years, a new generation of talent had emerged who were becoming bolder and more assertive. The well-known families were working together to control areas of land, and officials in some areas, if they did not pay their respects, were rendered unable to govern. There were even a few officials who had harmed the interests of the well-known families and turned up dead; this was not a rare occurrence, and although still in the early stages, if this trend was left to develop unchecked, and if there was an inexperienced Emperor on the throne, then it could reach a point where government decrees were powerless outside the capital city.