Chapter 87: Do People of the Future Really Go This Big?

For Crown Prince Zhu Biao’s life, one could only feel a sorrow too deep to settle, yet too vast to fully express.

Though Zhang Yi admitted that the Yongle Emperor, Zhu Di, truly counted as an enlightened ruler, and had even accomplished what Old Zhu himself had never managed: healing the rift between north and south.

Yet that was not enough to change one fact: the four years of the Jingnan Campaign had nearly exhausted the foundations Old Zhu had built over thirty-one years on the throne. Six hundred thousand soldiers of the Great Ming, and almost the entire third generation of its famed generals, had marched one after another into death in that civil war.

These men should have been the warriors who helped the Great Ming trample foreign tribes and campaign across the world. Instead, their bones were buried in the sands of internecine slaughter.

It was the tragedy of the Great Ming, and the regret of later generations.

And that did not even count the bloody internal purges of meritorious officials that would never have happened had Zhu Biao not died.

Zhang Yi could not change Zhu Biao’s fate.

But since Madam Chang had crossed his path, why should he not make some effort for those yet to come?

If only she could cling to even the faintest chance of life and survive beyond the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu; if only that fool Zhu Yunwen never took the throne—

If six hundred thousand men need not die, then Zhang Yi would count himself a living bodhisattva, his merit beyond measure.

Even a smallpox outbreak sweeping the realm, even a plague, might not kill so many.

“Very well, then I must thank you, little brother.”

Knowing Zhang Yi meant well, Madam Chang smiled faintly and placed on the table the divination fee Lady Lan had prepared in advance for her.

A silver ingot, no less than twenty taels.

For fortune-telling, it was certainly a generous sum.

Yet Zhang Yi only smiled and pushed the silver back.

“I came in a hurry this time and didn’t bring enough silver...”

Madam Chang thought he found it too little, and her face flushed crimson with embarrassment.

But Zhang Yi said, “For those who cultivate the Way, to reveal heaven’s secrets for someone else requires some compensation, so that cause and effect may be settled. But to read my elder sister’s future does not require so much.

Do you have any copper coins, sister?”

Madam Chang nodded and took out a string of cash. Zhang Yi drew a single coin from it and said with a grin,

“This will count as the fee.”

“How can that be acceptable?”

The young lady of the Chang family stiffened her expression, but in the end she saw that Zhang Yi was not refusing out of courtesy. She believed in his sincerity.

If he truly sought wealth, he would not act this way. If what he wanted was the Chang family’s goodwill, he would not have neglected Lady Lan.

So his help to her came from genuine kindness.

“Then I truly thank you, little brother. When I learn how to make new pastries, I shall make some for you to taste as well...”

“Heh, easy enough. Next time I’ll make elder sister something we don’t have here, and we can exchange recipes.

Come see me again another day. I’ll teach you something that may, perhaps, save your life one day.”

Madam Chang smiled gently and nodded.

Lady Lan was waiting outside for the result; it would not do for her to keep troubling Zhang Yi for too long.

And having obtained the three words Willow River Ford, she at least had something to give Lady Lan by way of an answer.

“I do not like reading people’s futures. Elder sister is an exception today. Please remember...”

Zhang Yi made a gesture for secrecy. Lady Lan gave a soft laugh to show she understood.

She did not even take the food box from the table, but left directly.

“How was it?”

Outside, Lady Lan and the two Chang brothers had nearly worn out their patience waiting.

At last, when the young lady of the Chang family emerged, they hurried over around her.

“Mother, let us speak of it when we get home.”

The young lady gave Lady Lan a look, and Lady Lan understood at once.

When the group returned home, Lady Lan could hardly wait to press the young lady of the Chang family for an answer.

“Younger Brother Zhang said Father’s fate is bound up with the fate of the realm itself. He did not dare calculate it lightly, and his cultivation is not yet deep enough.

But he also said that our Chang household will face a calamity next year. Thinking it over, I believe it should fall upon Father. Younger Brother only saw three words, and told me to give them to you.”

The Chang girl wrote down the three words Willow River Ford on a sheet of paper. It was plainly the name of a place, and it filled Lady Lan with worry.

She had seen Zhang Yi’s “divine powers” with her own eyes. And lately the True Man of Dragon-Tiger Mountain stood high in imperial favor; rumor said he had received the teachings of an immortal and could spare the people of the realm the suffering of smallpox...

Even in Yingtian Prefecture, people were already inquiring after this method. But aside from Liu Ji and Li Shanchang, no one had yet seen the prescription.

The worldly power of Dragon-Tiger Mountain might have waned, but its prestige had, for this period, blazed like the midday sun.

That only further confirmed, in Lady Lan’s heart, the image of Zhang Yi as a little immortal.

“I’ll send a letter to your father later. Better to believe it than dismiss it...

By the way, I noticed that young Daoist from the Zhang family seems rather fond of you. If you have time, go to the monastery to pray for blessings, visit from time to time. One should keep close to such a little immortal.”

Zhang Yi was only a child, and Lady Lan naturally did not think in terms of distinctions between men and women.

The Chang girl nodded. She had already intended to seek out Zhang Yi again, and with Lady Lan’s words, it would be all the easier for her to do so. She hesitated, but in the end did not tell Lady Lan the result of the divination Zhang Yi had made for her.

As mother and daughter were speaking in private, a servant announced from outside that someone had come from the palace.

“Her Majesty the Empress says she misses the young ladies, and has sent me to invite them into the palace to keep her company and talk.”

Empress Ma was well acquainted with the wives and children of the meritorious officials, and it was nothing unusual for their children to be summoned into the palace. Hearing this, Lady Lan quickly urged the Chang girl to go.

After a moment’s thought, the Chang girl had her maid bring along some of the pastries she had learned to make that day. But when she stepped outside the palace gate, she found a familiar face already in the carriage.

“Elder Sister Chang...”

Xu Miaoyun’s little head popped out from inside.

...

The imperial palace, Eastern Pavilion.

Zhu Yuanzhang was always there, reviewing mountains of memorials. Zhu Biao, too, worked diligently at his father’s side, helping him handle state affairs.

When Old Zhu turned to one particular memorial, even the ever-composed emperor showed a trace of emotion.

“Has Father received the report from Yangzhou Prefecture? Your son also saw that memorial just now. The epidemic in Yangzhou has already been brought under control.

At present, following the methods recorded in the Record of Subtle Words, the sick have been isolated, and those who had close contact with them have been given priority for inoculation. The effectiveness of inoculation is no longer something anyone can doubt.

It is only that, according to Father’s intentions, the inoculation method is still being kept secret for now. The people of Yangzhou are all begging for this immortal formula, and have even begun voluntarily reciting the True Scripture of the Supreme One Revealing the Wondrous Law of the Microscopic World.”

Nearly a month had passed since Zhang Zhengchang went to Yangzhou.

The tension of the northern war had drawn away part of Old Zhu’s attention. But when he turned back to Yangzhou, one pleasant surprise followed another.

Yet what truly pleased him was not merely the verification of inoculation itself. Whether it worked, the emperor knew very well.

What delighted him was that the memorial submitted by the prefect of Yangzhou vaguely mentioned rumors circulating among the common people—and those so-called rumors were in fact ones he himself had ordered spread.

“Suzhou Prefecture, Songjiang, Jining...”

The emperor casually compared Gao Jianxian’s secret reports with the memorials from the various prefectures, and indeed began to see a pattern.

It seemed that even in the prefectures surrounding Yangzhou, popular discussion of the inoculation method had become intensely fervent.

Human nature was cheap and fickle. Give people something openly, and they would suspect it from every angle. But if one withheld it, suddenly everyone longed for it.

“So public opinion can in fact be manipulated through rumor.

That boy Zhang Yi’s ‘science of dissemination’ is dangerous.”

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke to himself. Zhu Biao remained silent.

At first, Zhu Yuanzhang had intended to spread the inoculation method across the realm at once. But after hearing Zhang Yi’s suggestion, he had temporarily changed his mind and tried instead the tactic of manufacturing anxiety.

Though the Imperial Inspection Office had not many men, by bribing local ruffians they had sent every sort of rumor about inoculation flying through the streets.

In a short while, something that ordinarily would never have become a topic of broad discussion spread outward from Yangzhou City. Even in Jining in Shandong, people had begun searching for the True Scripture of the Supreme One on the Wondrous Law of the Microscopic World and reciting it with devout sincerity.

Whether a rumor was true or false did not matter. The act of spreading was itself of the greatest significance.

Once the people’s appetite had been whetted, once even peddlers and street hawkers in every lane were discussing the matter, then the moment had truly come for Dragon-Tiger Mountain’s inoculation method to be revealed to the world.

“With nothing more than a few petty rumors, such an effect can be achieved. Had the court promoted it by ordinary means, it could not have reached this pitch in less than two or three years.

And once such momentum is formed in these regions, when I continue promoting inoculation elsewhere, there will basically be no obstruction left.”

There was not much joy on Old Zhu’s face.

The success of its promotion arose from many causes: cooperation from the authorities, the long-accumulated prestige of Dragon-Tiger Mountain lending it legitimacy...

These were the chief reasons the inoculation method could spread.

But Zhu Yuanzhang did not overlook one fact: what Zhang Yi called controlling public opinion, using rumor as a devastating weapon—this “science of dissemination”—had at the very least served as a catalyst in this matter.

Spreading rumors, bewitching hearts and minds...

It had always been a method used against enemies. Used against the common people, it was equally terrifying.

Old Zhu had already classified this doctrine as part of the art of emperorship.

“This method must not be allowed to spread.”

Zhu Yuanzhang had made his judgment on the matter, and Zhu Biao nodded in agreement.

“Father, from what younger Brother Zhang implied, this ‘science of dissemination’ is a prominent field of learning. I truly do not know what future generations were thinking, to permit so dreadful a doctrine to circulate. A gentleman should not practice such a thing.”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. He too could not imagine why something so dangerous could be spoken of by Zhang Yi with such careless openness.

That behavior could mean only one thing: people of the future simply did not regard this field of learning as anything unusual.

It was a world they could not begin to imagine.

“What is the future like?

Is it truly as Zhang Yi said, with iron birds soaring in the sky?”

Father and son fell once more into silence. After a while, Zhu Biao came back to himself.

“Enough. There is no use dwelling on such unreal matters. I suspect that much of the ‘future’ Zhang Yi knows, he has not actually told us.”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. That was likely the truth of it.

Zhang Yi could not possibly tell “Father and Son Huang” every single thing he saw of the future in exhaustive detail.

The boy was clever too. If Zhu Yuanzhang pressed too hard, he might very well stop saying anything at all.

For now, the only course was to speak with him more often and use his trust in “Huang He” to draw out more.

“Father, have you ever considered this? If one day younger Brother Zhang discovers our true identities, how are we to deal with him then?”

Zhu Biao’s question stopped Zhu Yuanzhang cold.

That boy Zhang Yi was no fool. At present he believed their fabricated identities only because he trusted Zhang Zhengchang. Hidden in plain sight, the two of them had aroused not the slightest suspicion in him.

But such trust could not last forever. One day the truth would come out.

When that happened, how was he, as Zhu Yuanzhang, to face Zhang Yi?

Would that child who called him Uncle Huang still trust him without reserve?

Or could he himself tolerate a mind filled with such dangerous ideas?

Zhu Yuanzhang felt he already had the beginning of an answer.

At that very moment, someone delivered a secret report. He opened it and read.

“Come. Let us go see your mother.”

Zhu Yuanzhang set down the secret memorial and spoke to Zhu Biao.

End of chapter.