Chapter Fifty-Five: Gentleman for Attendance!

With the resolution of the currency crisis, prices across the Guanzhong region returned to normal, social order was restored, and the common people were once again able to live in peace and contentment.

Who was there to thank for this? Naturally, the wise, sagacious, and masterful governance of the Holy Emperor!

In an instant, petitions of gratitude, scrolls of praise, and ceremonial umbrellas from the masses flooded into the imperial palace, filled with laudatory verses. Upon reading them, Emperor Li Longji was greatly pleased, and in his delight, he sought to reward the officials who had contributed to this success.

Li Shizhi, already at the pinnacle of his career, could not be promoted further in rank, so he was granted an additional eight hundred households of tax revenue as a mark of imperial favor.

Cui Zongzhi, previously a bureau director in the Ministry of Revenue, was promoted two grades at once to become the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, instantly becoming a rising star in the eyes of the entire court. (It seems a father-in-law will spare no effort when it comes to promoting his son-in-law!)

Wang Yuanbao and the Fairy Mei, having exhausted their own wealth to assist the court in quelling the crisis, were granted the honorary title of "Righteous Merchants." Other meritorious personnel were also duly rewarded.

As for the one who contributed most to resolving the crisis, Li Zhao, the Emperor issued a personal decree: "Appoint Li Zhao as a Chengfeng Lang, and grant him the status of Attendant at the Imperial Presence."

The rank of Chengfeng Lang—an eighth-grade junior official—was a civil honorary title. It carried a rank and title but no specific administrative duties, essentially a position that provided a salary without requiring actual labor.

Officials in the Great Tang were divided into nine grades and thirty levels; the Chengfeng Lang stood at the twenty-fourth level. It remained a minor, inconspicuous role, but the addition of the title "Attendant at the Imperial Presence" changed everything.

To be an Attendant at the Imperial Presence meant walking by the Emperor’s side. It was a position for the sovereign's inner circle: high salary, excellent perks, prestige, and a promising future—the benefits were countless. It is no exaggeration to say that even mid-level officials of the fifth or sixth rank did not possess the influence of this eighth-grade Attendant at the Imperial Presence.

With Li Zhao promoted to Chengfeng Lang, he was to serve by the Emperor’s side. As for his former post as Commander of the Unwanted, he had strongly recommended Jiang Hao, who successfully took over the role. In other words, the entire organization of the Unwanted remained firmly under Li Zhao’s control.

...

On the twenty-first day of the eleventh month, in the twenty-ninth year of the Kaiyuan era, the north wind howled and a heavy snow fell. Overnight, the city of Chang'an was wrapped in silver, its appearance entirely transformed.

The next day marked the date for the new official to assume his duties. At the fourth watch, Li Zhao rose. After bathing, he donned the dark cyan official robes sent by the Ministry of Personnel, fastened his silver-buckled belt, and slipped into his boots. He glanced at the brass mirror—he looked quite impressive, almost distractingly handsome!

Around the fifth watch, a dozen soldiers of the Longwu Army escorted a palace carriage to the gates of the Zhou family manor. Accompanying them was an attendant eunuch, roughly thirty-five or thirty-six years old, of medium height and slightly stout. Because of the bitter cold, his round face had turned a ghastly shade of white.

"Are you the Chengfeng Lang, Master Li Zhao?"

"I am he. And who might you be, Eunuch?"

"I am Chen Bin, sent by Chief Eunuch Gao to escort the Chengfeng Lang into the palace to meet the Emperor!"

"It is truly a hardship for you to come out in this bitter cold, Eunuch Chen. Please, take this as a small token of my appreciation."

As he spoke, Li Zhao bowed and slipped a heavy purse into the man's hand. It contained thirty taels of gold, equivalent to three hundred strings of cash. As an attendant eunuch, Chen Bin was accustomed to receiving small tips for his troubles—usually a dozen or so taels of silver, occasionally a few dozen. The most he had ever received was one hundred taels of silver for delivering a decree to the residence of the Right Chancellor, Li Linfu—a windfall that had kept him awake for nights in excitement. He had not expected this Master Li Zhao, despite his modest rank, to be so generous.

"The Chengfeng Lang is too kind! How could I possibly accept this?"

"It is only right. When I begin my service in the imperial palace, I hope to rely on your guidance, Eunuch Chen."

"Haha, well said, well said!"

Chen Bin had been full of resentment about being sent out in the freezing cold, but with the heavy gold in his hand, his mood instantly turned to joy. The more he looked at Li Zhao, the more pleasing he seemed; he was truly the most lovable person in the world, or perhaps, a living god of wealth!

They boarded the carriage and began the slow journey toward Xingqing Palace. Along the way, Chen Bin patiently explained the rules, taboos, and precautions of the imperial palace, repeatedly warning Li Zhao to be extremely cautious. It was said that entering the mansions of the nobility was like entering a deep sea, but the waters of the imperial palace were even deeper.

Li Zhao nodded repeatedly, indicating he had memorized everything. Those thirty taels of gold had been well spent indeed.

At dawn, the carriage reached the exterior of Xingqing Palace. Xingqing Palace had six main gates, with the Jinguang Gate in the south being the most magnificent, featuring tall, semi-circular arches, gates made of golden nanmu wood, and long paths of white marble—this was the gate reserved for the Emperor himself.

Li Zhao, of course, would not dare use the Jinguang Gate. The carriage took a wide detour to the Chuyang Gate in the northeast, which was the entrance for ordinary officials.

The Chuyang Gate was already open, guarded on both sides by fully armed soldiers of the Longwu Army, one of the three elite imperial guards responsible for the Emperor's safety. After alighting and verifying his identity, Li Zhao entered the gate and was led by Chen Bin toward a side hall to rest and await the Emperor's summons.

Since arriving in Chang'an, this was Li Zhao’s first time inside the palace, and he looked around with focused interest. Xingqing Palace was rectangular, stretching 1,080 paces east to west and 1,250 paces north to south, covering over two thousand acres. Inside were the Xingqing Hall, the Nanxun Hall, the Datong Hall, the Qinzheng Wuben Tower, the Hua'e Xianghui Tower, and a beautiful Scented Pavilion, built entirely of agarwood.

...

"Work faster! The snow must be cleared before the sun rises! If any area is not properly swept, prepare to be skinned alive!"

"Smack! Smack!—A bunch of spineless wretches! If they aren't beaten for a day, they become intolerable!"

After a day and night of heavy snow, the drifts were at least two feet deep. Many young eunuchs were working hard to clear the snow, their cheeks bright red and their bodies shivering from the biting cold. Other overseer eunuchs in blue robes supervised them, lashing out with whips whenever they saw someone moving too slowly.

The palace housed the Palace Internal Affairs Department, divided into five bureaus, with over ten thousand eunuchs in total. The highest-ranking was the Grand Superintendent Gao Lishi, followed by a hierarchy of imperial eunuchs, record-keeping eunuchs, hall eunuchs, attendant eunuchs, and a vast number of unranked young eunuchs. The hierarchy was rigid, and the internal struggle for power was more intense and brutal than that of the outer court.

Li Zhao arrived at a side hall where dozens of young eunuchs were laboring to clear the snow. Among them was a boy, no more than fifteen or sixteen, wearing only a thin garment and kneeling barefoot in the snow, his body already stiffened by the cold. It looked as if he would soon be reporting to the gates of the underworld. The other eunuchs cast sympathetic glances but dared not intervene.

"Eunuch Chen, what is this?"

"Oh, this boy had sticky fingers and tried to steal palace porcelain to sell. The overseer caught him. According to the rules: one hundred lashes and kneeling in the snow for three days and three nights. He’s had bad luck; he’s only been at it for a day and a night when this blizzard hit. If the heavens want his life, there’s nothing to be done."

"He is still just a child. Even if he made a mistake, a small punishment should suffice; why must he lose his life? I beg you, Eunuch Chen, please show mercy and save him."

"Well... according to palace rules, he is... but since the Chengfeng Lang has pleaded for him, I will spare him this once. You lot, listen up! Carry him inside to warm up and see if he can be saved."

"Yes!"

Chen Bin had not wanted to agree, but the sight of another heavy ingot of gold changed his mind. He ordered his subordinates to move the frozen boy into a heated room. There was a roaring stove inside, and as the men prepared to lay the boy near the fire, Li Zhao stopped them, ordering them to place him further away and bring in basins of snow.

The body temperature of someone frozen was dangerously low. If exposed directly to heat, it would cause "external heat and internal cold," trapping the cold inside the body and leading to frostbite or necrotic tissue. The best method was to rub the body with snow to gradually restore the temperature.

The young eunuch was stripped, and his chest, back, and limbs were rubbed with snow for nearly half an hour, until he was finally pulled back from the brink of death.