Chapter 141: How to Ruin a Winning Hand

Upon hearing the eunuch's reminder, Wei Renshi had a rough idea and knew what the emperor was summoning him for.

Either the emperor wanted to ask him for strategies on how to develop the economy, increase the imperial court's revenue, and enrich the common people—which was simply a fantasy!

Or, the emperor was going to ask him directly for money.

Combining Wei Renshi's impression of Emperor Dezong of Tang, Li Shi, in history, it was almost certainly the latter.

After all, the emperor was even capable of borrowing money from wealthy merchants in Chang'an City.

Li Shi was an emperor full of contradictions. Throughout his career as an emperor, it could be clearly divided into an early period and a later period.

In the early part of his imperial career, he was still able to act with firm resolve and self-reliance, maintained trust in his civil and military officials, strictly prohibited eunuchs from meddling in politics, and possessed a rather vibrant atmosphere of dynastic restoration.

He reclaimed military power, remained clear-headed and frugal. At the very beginning of his ascension, he issued an edict to the entire realm, halting the annual tribute of falcons and hawks from various prefectures, Silla, and Bohai. The next day, Li Shi issued another edict stating that loquats from Shannan and tangerines from Jiangnan were only permitted to be presented once a year for ancestral temple offerings, while all other tributes were completely suspended. He successively issued decrees announcing the abolition of the annual tribute of maidservants, spring wine, bronze mirrors, and musk to the palace from certain regions in the south; he banned the realm from presenting rare birds and beasts, and even stipulated that silver utensils could not be embellished with gold.

To demonstrate his determination, he ordered thirty-two dancing elephants presented by the country of Wudan to be released to graze on the sunny side of Mount Jing; the hunting falcons and hounds specifically supplied for the emperor's hunts were all set free without exception.

At the same time, he also dismissed the director of the Pear Garden and three hundred superfluous musicians, transferring those who needed to be retained to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

He refused local tributes on his birthday, and turned over thirty thousand bolts of silk presented by regional warlords Li Zhengji and Tian Yue to the Department of Finance to substitute for land and household taxes.

Furthermore, he distanced and alienated eunuchs. All these actions demonstrated the fresh atmosphere after the new monarch ascended the throne.

What a pity!

When suppressing the regional warlords triggered rebellions, erroneous personnel appointments and improper response strategies unexpectedly sparked the Fengtian Crisis and the Jingyuan Mutiny amidst a favorable situation, becoming one of the landmark events of the decline of the late Tang dynasty.

And the Fengtian Crisis became the turning point in Li Shi's career between its early and later stages.

Having experienced the Fengtian Crisis, Li Shi grew disheartened and disillusioned. From then on, his grand ambitions were gone; he was utterly crushed and demoralized, never to rise again, and began his muddle-headed rule.

He grew suspicious of ministers, causing frequent personnel changes at the court and the frequent replacement of chief councillors.

Moreover, fearing the regional warlords, he began to appease them. The favorable situation and good opportunities for resolving the warlord problem since his ascension vanished in an instant. From then on, regional separatism and arrogance became an entrenched and irremediable malady.

Furthermore, he began to heavily employ eunuchs again, handing over the command of the imperial guards to eunuchs such as Dou Wuchang and Huo Xianming. He divided the Shence Army into left and right wings, while appointing Dou Wuchang and Huo Xianming as the Left and Right Wing Military Commissioners supervising the Shence Army, setting a precedent for eunuchs to jointly command the imperial guards. Later, he established the positions of Left and Right Shence Army Protector Generals, also held by Dou Wuchang and Huo Xianming respectively. These posts were directly appointed by the emperor, becoming the actual commanders ranking above the Grand Generals of the Shence Army. From then on, the command authority of the Shence Army fell into the hands of eunuchs. Not only that, but he also institutionalized the practice of sending eunuchs to various regional garrisons as army supervisors, specially casting seals for the eunuchs serving as supervisory commissioners. This not only raised the status of the supervisors but also made the practice institutionalized. From then on, eunuchs spoke with imperial authority, paving the way for the usurpation of state power by eunuchs in the late Tang dynasty.

In addition to this, he also engaged in rampant extortion. Not only did he grow fond of wealth, but he also proactively demanded tributes from the localities. Moreover, Li Shi frequently dispatched palace eunuchs to openly demand money and tributes directly from various government offices, a practice known as "Imperial Requisitions."

To satisfy Li Shi's greed, military commissioners used the pretext of offering tributes to invent all kinds of names, subjecting the common people to extra exploitation.

Some military commissioners offered tributes every month, known as "monthly tributes," while others offered them every day, known as "daily tributes," bringing a heavy burden upon the common people.

Additionally, the palace used eunuchs as envoys to forcibly purchase goods from the common people at low prices, a practice called "Palace Markets."

They stationed hundreds of people peering left and right at the Eastern and Western Markets and bustling places in Chang'an, known as "White Gazers." These people inspected the goods being sold by citizens, who dared not question their origins or negotiate prices. Items worth a hundred coins were generally used to acquire goods worth thousands. They would take old rags and cloth, dye them red and purple, distribute them to the sellers by measurement, and even extort delivery fees. Named a palace market, it was actually daylight robbery.

Moreover, he favored and employed treacherous ministers, raising a large gang of deceitful officials and corrupt bureaucrats to satisfy his desire for indulgence.

Later generations, Ouyang Xiu, made a very pertinent evaluation: Dezong was suspicious and harsh, acting with resolute self-reliance, ashamed of being subdued by orthodox opinions while remaining blind to being deceived by sycophants. Thus, suspecting Xiao Fu of slighting him, calling Jiang Gongfu bluntly outspoken, he could not tolerate them; yet when he employed Lu Qi and Zhao Zan, it led to chaos and ruin, yet he never repented to the end. When the Fengtian Crisis struck, he deeply reprimanded himself, and consequently pursued a policy of appeasement. As a result, the court grew weaker while the regional garrisons grew stronger, leading right up to the fall of the Tang dynasty—the disaster originated from this.

In fact, Dezong's reign was truly brimming with talent—Li Mi for statecraft; Lu Zhi for moral discernment and judgment; Liu Yan and Yang Yan for financial management; Li Sheng, Ma Sui, and Hun Jian for warfare; Chang Gun and Yang Yan for imperial edicts and proclamations; even in the remote corner of Xichuan, there emerged Wei Gao, who "defeated forty-eight thousand Tibetans."

Yet looking back at his elder's administrative achievements, one can see just how bizarre Dezong's ability to employ people truly was.

A magnificent hand of cards played to absolute ruin—that phrase undoubtedly describes this fellow.

Wei Renshi sighed. Very unfortunately, he had encountered Li Shi at the late stage of his imperial career.

Therefore, when Li Shi at this moment heard that someone could transform from destitute to immensely wealthy within half a year, what he would think of certainly wouldn't be asking that person how to make the national treasury full and the people prosperous.

Instead, it would be extortion.

The carriage carrying Wei Renshi and that eunuch headed toward the imperial palace.

Passing through the three outer halls of the front court and arriving at the inner court, another eunuch led Wei Renshi to the outside of a garden.

"Please wait a moment here, Lord Wei, while this humble servant goes in to announce you," the eunuch said to Wei Renshi.

Wei Renshi nodded: "Sorry to trouble this attendant."

"I dare not." The eunuch bowed his head in a salute and turned to walk inside.

Before long, he came out again and said to Wei Renshi: "Lord Wei, please enter. His Majesty is inside."

Entering the garden, Wei Renshi saw Li Shi sitting there basking in the sun.

Taking a few quick steps forward, Wei Renshi bowed and saluted, saying: "Your subject Wei Renshi pays respects to Your Majesty!"

Li Shi opened his eyes, sat up with the support of the eunuch beside him, glanced at Wei Renshi, and smiled: "Grant Lord Wei a seat."

The eunuch nearby hurriedly brought over a folding stool.

Wei Renshi bowed again and said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the seat. I wonder what command Your Majesty has in summoning this humble subject?"

Li Shi said: "I heard that Lord Wei recently spent tens of thousands of strings of cash to purchase a large residence in Yankang Lane beside the Western Market. Is this true?"

You even sent an eunuch over; isn't this asking something you already know?

However, Wei Renshi also played along and replied: "Reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed true."

"It seems Lord Wei has abundant personal wealth," Li Shi said again.

"I understand a few methods of making money," Wei Renshi replied once more.

Li Shi turned his head to look at him and said: "Yet how is it that I heard, more than half a year ago, Lord Wei's family had fallen on hard times, and last winter you survived only by relying on the relief of your former estate tenants? How is it that after just over half a year, things could change so drastically?"