gnovel Chapter 117: Tribute
Chapter 117: Tribute
Zhao Bozong sat at his desk, with the reed tube he had retrieved from the Lin'an dock spread out in front of him.
The reed tube was dry, cracked, and yellowed, and a sentence was written on the bamboo paper: "North of Yanjing, the old line remains, awaiting a token from the south."
He stared at those words for a long time.
"Your Highness." Qin Keqing's voice came from the doorway.
Qin Keqing walked in carrying a bowl of hot tea, placed the tea in the corner of the desk, and her gaze fell on the reed tube.
"I've checked this reed tube. The sealing wax formula is the standard sealing wax used by the old spies in the Jin Kingdom during the tenth year of Shaoxing. The secret mark engraved on the reed tube was also set by Master Zhijia back then."
"In other words, this is true."
"It's true." Qin Keqing sat down opposite him and opened the booklet.
"The old line in Jiangbei is making contact. They have been waiting for nearly four years without receiving any signal. Now they can't wait any longer and need an answer."
Zhao Bozong folded the bamboo paper and put it back into the reed tube. "What if I don't answer?"
"They would think that the south had been completely abandoned, and those who had been lurking in the heart of the Jin Kingdom north of Yanjing for four years would lose their last hope and then disperse."
Some people will die, some will change their names and disappear completely, and we may never find them again.
The study was quiet for a while, with rain pattering on the banana leaves.
"But if I answer," Zhao Bozong pondered for a moment before continuing, "that answer must be delivered to them."
"Does Your Highness intend to go in person?"
"I had no other choice." Zhao Bozong stood up and walked to the window. "Only Zhijia knew the contact methods for the old Jiangbei line. After Zhijia died, the rendezvous codes, token exchange points, and personnel contact methods for this line were all lost."
The only way to reactivate this connection is for someone to take the chipped coin to the place where they once agreed to meet, and wait for them to come to them.
Qin Keqing did not respond. She tapped her charcoal pencil lightly twice on the edge of the booklet, a habitual action she took when quickly performing calculations.
"From Lin'an to the Song-Jin border, it would take at least twenty days by official road. Your Highness is a prince of the imperial family, and there must be records of you leaving the city."
Qin Hui's men will follow you all the way, and when you reach the border, Jin spies will also be watching you.
"You cannot possibly meet with a former spy who has been lying in wait for four years under the dual surveillance of the Imperial City Guard and Jin spies."
"So I need a layer of cover." Zhao Bozong turned around, "a layer of cover that will make my journey out of the city and to the border seem reasonable."
Qin Keqing narrowed her eyes slightly.
She turned to a page in the booklet, where a copy of the court gazette was tucked inside. "Is Your Highness referring to the annual tribute?"
"Annual tribute".
The thirteenth year of the Shaoxing era was the second year after the peace treaty between the Song and Jin dynasties.
According to the peace treaty of the eleventh year of the Shaoxing era, the Southern Song Dynasty was to pay 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 bolts of silk to the Jin Dynasty every year, which was called "annual tribute".
Every April, this tribute was escorted by the Southern Song Dynasty to a designated location on the Song-Jin border, where it was inspected and handed over by Jin envoys.
As is customary, the handover of tribute was presided over by the Ministry of Revenue, with specific matters handled jointly by the Ministry of Revenue and the Privy Council.
As prime minister, Qin Hui personally oversaw this matter every year.
But just three days earlier, Zhao Gou had summoned Zhao Bocong to the Chongzheng Hall for a private audience.
The audience was brief. Zhao Gou only spoke to him about two things. First, he asked Zhao Bocong what books he was reading recently. Second, he told him, "I'm sending you to handle this year's tribute handover."
Zhao Bocong was stunned for a moment.
"Your Majesty, the annual tribute has always been managed by the Ministry of Personnel, Your Majesty—"
"Qin Hui is not in good health this year," Zhao Gou said in a calm tone. "I've told him to take a rest. You are a prince of the imperial clan; it's not an overreach of your authority for you to make a trip on behalf of the court."
Zhao Bocong immediately understood that this was not because Zhao Gou truly trusted him, but because Zhao Gou was giving Qin Hui a warning.
After Consort Wei made those remarks on the winter solstice, Zhao Gou needed to let Qin Hui know that the emperor still had other cards to play. Sending a prince from the imperial clan to oversee the annual tribute exchange was a way of telling Qin Hui: I don't need you.
"Your Highness, this is a double-edged sword." Qin Keqing's voice pulled Zhao Bozong back to reality.
"If you go to preside over the annual tribute, Qin Hui will cooperate openly, but secretly he will mobilize all his forces to make you die on the border."
The tribute exchange took place on the north bank of the Huai River, at the border between the Song and Jin dynasties. In that area, the Jin garrison and the Southern Song border defense forces were intertwined; the death of a member of the imperial family could have been due to a Jin ambush, banditry, or even an accidental drowning.
"I know." Zhao Bozong returned to his desk and sat down. "That's why this time, I'm not just bringing the annual tribute of silver and silk."
He took out a bronze box from a hidden compartment under his desk and opened it.
Inside were three items: a copper coin with a missing corner, a copy of the military intelligence list handed over by Zhu Fu, and an unsealed letter.
The letter was addressed to the old spies in Jiangbei. It contained only one line of text, a copy of Yue Fei's handwriting.
"The wooden bird has returned; the wind is about to rise."
This was drawn by Qin Keqing with charcoal.
Zhao Bocong had witnessed her skill in imitating Yue Fei's handwriting on a wooden bird in the first month of the twelfth year of Shaoxing.
"How many people does Your Highness plan to take?"
"On the surface, the tribute mission will be escorted by 500 imperial guards as usual. In secret, General Xin will select 12 people from the old camp in the southern suburbs to infiltrate Huaibei in three batches via different routes. Li Bao's ships will be deployed along the upper reaches of the Huai River. As for Yue Yinping's side—"
"Yue Yinping cannot be moved." Qin Keqing interrupted him, "Once the troops in Xiangyang are mobilized on a large scale, Qin Hui will know your true intentions."
"The only informants Your Highness can use within the tribute mission are the twelve men chosen by General Xin and myself."
Zhao Bozong looked at her. "Aren't you staying in Lin'an?"
"I have to go." Qin Keqing closed the booklet. "Only I know the secret code for the old Jiangbei line."
Before his death, Master Zhijia wove the last coded message into the engravings on the missing corner of the copper coin. That set of engravings corresponds to an abandoned beacon tower on the north bank of the Huai River.
"When Your Highness arrives at that beacon tower, someone will be needed to decipher the markings on the copper coins."
Qin Keqing paused, then lowered her voice. "Besides, I need to be by your side when you get into trouble at the border."
Zhao Bozong didn't respond to that. He looked down at the reed tube on the table and spoke after a long time.
Where is Liu An?
"Liu An will remain in Lin'an, continuing to operate the intelligence network as a clerk in the Imperial Clan Court. Feng Yi will remain silent in the palace, and Zhang Qu will..."
"I will personally go to Zhang Quwei's place."
Zhao Bozong stood up, locked the bronze box again, and the rain was still falling. The sky outside the window was as dark as dusk.
"Miss Qin, you said the old Jiangbei line is waiting for an answer. I will give them an answer now. I will go there myself."
Qin Keqing nodded, put the booklet into her sleeve, stood up and walked out. When she reached the door, she paused.
"Your Highness, my father already knows my identity, and Wanqixie's search warrant could be issued at any time."
This trip to Jiangbei might be the last time I walk the streets of Lin'an as a female official of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs.
"Then make the most of this trip."
Qin Keqing didn't turn around. She pushed open the study door and walked out, the fine raindrops hitting her shoulders.
Zhao Bozong sat alone in his study and picked up the reed pipe again.
He recalled that on the ninth day of the first month of the twelfth year of Shaoxing, when he had just transmigrated, he saw Yue Yinping kneeling in the snow outside the gate of Dali Temple.
At that time, he had no cards, only a wooden bird and an unfamiliar body.
Now he has many trump cards up his sleeve, and it's time for him to leave Lin'an and go out into the world.