Chapter 793: An Audience with the King

This was He Lingchuan’s first time entering the royal palace of Great Yuan.

When the He Family had passed through Shihuan City a year earlier, only He Chunhua had been fortunate enough to receive an audience with the King of Yuan. He Lingchuan had not even visited the capital itself.

The Royal Palace of Yuan was still quite imposing. Its buildings were thick and solid, with black-tiled roofs and gray walls. When arranged in long rows at varying heights, they created a formidable sense of grandeur.

The palace was a surviving jewel of the previous dynasty. After Great Yuan’s founding monarch took possession of it, he spent more than a decade renovating the complex. Its architectural style therefore differed considerably from that of Shihuan City, the surrounding auxiliary capital.

The palace grounds were laid out symmetrically along a central axis. As He Lingchuan walked down the broad central avenue, the overwhelming impression was one of solemn dignity.

He sighed inwardly. So even Yuan had once known better days.

The King of Yuan received him in the Literature Pavilion.

This small hall was where the king met with officials, usually gathering four or five people for a private council.

Outside, the weather was mild and sunny. Inside, only two windows had been opened, and ambergris incense burned in the hall, leaving the room somewhat dim.

The ruler of Yuan sat behind a long table made of golden silk nanmu. When He Lingchuan introduced himself and bent in salute, the king immediately waved his hands several times. “No need for ceremony. No need. Rise!” Then he ordered someone beside him, “Bring him a seat.”

He Lingchuan raised his head.

The young ruler appeared to be no older than thirty and was slightly plump. Even in the dim lighting, He Lingchuan could see that his complexion was rather pale, with faint dark circles beneath his eyes. A deep vertical line marked the space between his eyebrows, clearly the result of long years spent frowning.

He Lingchuan thanked him and sat upright with proper decorum.

At the very least, basic etiquette had to be observed.

The King of Yuan asked pleasantly, “I hear you are not only Rongshan’s special envoy, but also General He’s eldest son?”

“Yes.”

As expected, the news that the He Family’s eldest son had somehow come to be Rongshan’s special envoy had already spread throughout the capital.

“How did this happen?” The King of Yuan was genuinely curious. “Tell me about it.”

He Lingchuan therefore repeated the same story he had told at home, selecting the main points and recounting them once more.

It was a blatant deception of the sovereign.

Yet the King of Yuan slapped his palm and laughed. “You truly are a child of fortune, just as my dear Minister He said.”

He Lingchuan knew that the king did not actually care about his experiences.

He cared only about He Lingchuan’s identity.

The King of Yuan continued, “You rendered merit by persuading Rongshan. Once this matter is settled, I will appoint you as the state’s Martial Training Commandant.”

He Lingchuan could only offer his thanks, already knowing that the conversation was about to change direction.

Martial Training Commandant sounded impressive, but it was merely an honorary title without real authority. He knew the King of Yuan did not dare grant him actual power. Otherwise, father and son might establish too strong a foothold and become difficult to suppress.

He Lingchuan had no particular desire for Yuan’s petty offices, but the manner in which the king chose to reward him was still disappointing.

He lacked boldness.

Yet immediately afterward, the King of Yuan began to cough. The fit continued for several breaths, prompting a palace attendant to hurry forward with water.

The king drank twice and steadied himself. When He Lingchuan appropriately asked after his health, he waved a hand. “A passing chill. Nothing serious.”

“Your Majesty must take care.”

From this tiny incident alone, He Lingchuan realized that Yuan’s decline was worse than he had imagined. A monarch nourished by origin energy should ordinarily possess a strong and healthy body, untouched by minor illnesses.

When a monarch fell ill, there were generally only two possibilities. One was that age had weakened the body. That was a natural law; origin energy could delay it, but not prevent it. The other was that the state’s fortunes had grown so feeble that even its ruler could no longer receive abundant origin energy.

Other causes were rare.

Yuan was undoubtedly suffering from the latter.

“Great Yuan has faced nothing but adversity these past few years. War continues both within and beyond our borders. Dong Haoming is in the northwest, Nian Zanli in the north, and rebels in the south. We suppress one only for another to rise.” The King of Yuan sighed. “At least the northern crisis has temporarily eased. We can now free our hands and concentrate on dealing with Dong Haoming.”

With those words, He Lingchuan understood.

In the King of Yuan’s eyes, the Minister of War was the greatest threat, while the southern rebellions ranked far below him.

For the moment, that assessment was correct.

Over the past decade or more, Yuan had suffered no fewer than twenty rebellions of varying size. The largest and most severe had been the great southern uprising led by Hong Xiangqian, yet even that had ultimately been suppressed.

Why should this time be any different?

The only force truly qualified to become the king’s gravest concern was an independent regime like the Minister of War’s—one with soldiers, grain, orderly organization, and strict discipline.

Once He Lingchuan understood this, he also understood why the King of Yuan had constantly urged He Chunhua to march.

The southern rebellions had to be put down quickly so Yuan could concentrate all its strength against the Minister of War.

This was not merely a matter of priority, but also of difficulty.

Sure enough, the King of Yuan immediately continued, “But suppressing the southern rebellions is the necessary first step. Time waits for no one. He Lingchuan, you must assist your father in ending the unrest as soon as possible and earn further merit!”

He Lingchuan immediately answered, “Yes.”

His position was delicate. He was a citizen of Yuan and the son of one of its generals, but he was also Rongshan’s special envoy.

Yet the King of Yuan consistently addressed him by that first identity, clearly pressing him to release the funds as quickly as possible.

Since He Lingchuan had already risen, he simply continued, “Your Majesty, the accountants sent by Rongshan have been working long hours these past two days. However, our assessment of the mines has produced certain discrepancies in valuation. The shortfall is at least eight hundred thousand taels.”

Put simply, the collateral was insufficient.

The King of Yuan stared in astonishment. “How could the difference be so large?”

An official beside him responded at the proper moment, “The records for the mines and ports were submitted last year. This year’s figures have not yet been presented, so there may be some minor discrepancies.”

Eight hundred thousand taels was hardly “minor.”

Besides, verified mineral reserves would not change so drastically within a single year.

He Lingchuan understood that they were merely providing a superficial excuse. To them, borrowing money to fund the war was Yuan’s highest priority. How could the relevant accounts and documentation possibly be incomplete?

The evidence was plain: Yuan had inflated the figures.

That was hardly surprising. Even when borrowing money, a debtor still hoped to pay as little interest as possible.

He Lingchuan continued immediately, “Before the Rongshan delegation entered the Yuan capital, we already visited the Taihe Mine. The site contains two veins, one large and one small. Of its three mining pits, one has suffered water infiltration and collapse and is now completely blocked. The pit has become an enormous flooded shaft. We hired a monster to dive and investigate, and the water is at least thirteen to seventeen meters deep. It can no longer be pumped dry. It is truly unfortunate, because the ore once extracted there was of excellent quality.”

“This...” The King of Yuan froze.

He Lingchuan had phrased it tactfully, but his meaning was unmistakable: the Taihe Mine is unqualified to be collateral!

The king had personally involved himself in selecting the collateral for this loan. Yet when he approved the Taihe Mine, no one had mentioned such a problem. Officials had spoken only of its reserves, annual output, ore quality, and shaft depth.

The King of Yuan had heard all that and thought it perfect.

Who could have known that the mine could not withstand even a single on-site inspection?

The flaw was enormous. With Yuan’s present capabilities, once mining damaged an underground water layer, the entire shaft could only be abandoned.

A worthless flooded pit, yet they dared offer it to Rongshan as collateral?

Why not simply send the Rongshan Sect a plaque inscribed with the word “Spendthrift”?

At that thought, the King of Yuan pressed his hands against the table until his fingertips turned pale. After steadying himself, he turned and ordered in a low voice, “Investigate exactly what happened!”

The official beside him immediately acknowledged the command.

“The Taihe Mine’s assessed value is insufficient. I will do my best to negotiate with Rongshan. However, additional collateral will likely still be required.” In other words, Yuan would have to provide another eight hundred thousand taels’ worth of pledged assets to cover the shortfall.