Chapter 57: Fu Bi, the Greeting Envoy

Flying-head demon?
Isn't this the same as the monster monk case that caused chaos in Auspicious Lane?
Yet the Bureau of Military Affairs is the highest military institution of the Great Song, in charge of all armaments. For a monster to cause havoc right there, the matter is certainly not simple.
It is likely to involve some sort of political struggle beneath the surface.
Su Ze vaguely sensed an ominous premonition, but surely this case wouldn't involve him, would it?
Surely not?
Su Ze asked Zhang Ya佐 once more:
"Uncle, has there been any major event at the Bureau of Military Affairs recently?"
"A major event?" Zhang Ya佐 stroked his beard and said:
"If you call it a major event, none surpasses the matter of peace negotiations with the Liao Dynasty."
Upon mentioning the great affairs of the imperial court, Zhang Ya佐 turned serious as well. He said:
"You know as well that the Companion Envoy Fu Bi has already headed north. By now, he should have met the Liao envoys. The Hall of Government Affairs and the Bureau of Military Affairs are locked in endless debate over whether to fight or to make peace, and whether to accept the Liao envoys' terms. His Majesty has likely not yet made up his mind."
Su Ze nodded. This political extortion by the Liao Dynasty had struck right at the Great Song's Achilles' heel.
The northwest was still embroiled in warfare, and ever since the Treaty of Chanyuan, the northern lands had not seen a single military campaign for thirty-seven years.
As for what the frontier garrisons were truly like, no one from top to bottom in the Great Song had any solid confidence.
Yet judging by how the northwest theater was progressing, things were probably far from optimistic.
Zhang Ya佐 sighed and said:
"Peace must still be negotiated; the only question is how to negotiate it, and the court is still debating."
"The supreme strategy is to increase the annual tribute. Compared to the expenses of launching a war, the expenditure of tribute is merely a drop in the ocean. As long as the Liao Dynasty can be pacified, His Majesty and the prime ministers are quite willing to spend a bit more money."
"Next would be a marriage alliance, but the Military Commissioner Yan Shu is fiercely opposed to it."
Su Ze asked quizzically:
"Is there really a difference between a marriage alliance and annual tribute?"
Zhang Ya佐 said:
"Of course there is a difference."
Counting on his fingers, Zhang Ya佐 said:
"Do you think a marriage alliance costs little? The dowry prepared for each marriage alliance amounts to millions of strings of cash, which is far greater than the hundreds of thousands of strings paid annually as tribute. Furthermore, the northern barbarians are greedy and ferocious; once the dowry is spent, they will simply murder the princess of the marriage alliance and demand another princess in marriage. That would cost vastly more than the annual tribute."
So that was how it stood. Su Ze came to a sudden realization. No wonder the early Northern Song preferred annual tribute over marriage alliances. Tribute was, after all, paid in installments, whereas a marriage alliance was mere extortion, and one never knew how many times one would be extorted.
Zhang Ya佐 continued:
"This time, the Liao Dynasty has also demanded the Guannan territory. However, the court has reached a consensus on this point: these are the Central Plain lands recovered by the Founding Emperor from the Later Jin, and they must not be ceded under any circumstances."
Zhang Ya佐 hurriedly added:
"These words spoken just now must not be carelessly repeated outside! The court's attitude toward peace talks is a state secret. There are quite a few Liao spies currently inside Bianjing; if these matters were leaked, it would make the Companion Envoy Fu Bi's negotiations exceedingly difficult."
Su Ze nodded. This kind of game between two nations was a mutual probing of bottom lines.
The reason the Song and Liao could still talk was precisely because neither side was prepared for an all-out war—much like the two great Eastern and Western powers in the era before Su Ze's transmigration.
Since there was a foundation for negotiation, the goal of the peace talks was to maximize one's own interests while remaining above the opponent's bottom line.
If one touched the opponent's bottom line, the peace talks would fail.
This was just like engineering bidding: one had to keep the price as low as possible compared to other bidders while ensuring one's own profit in order to win the bid.
It was entirely a process of strategic maneuvering.
At such a time, both the Song and Liao needed to probe each other's bottom lines, making it the most rampant period for espionage activities.
As the Companion Envoy, Fu Bi's task was to test the Liao's attitude toward war and peace along the journey accompanying the Liao envoys to Bianjing, while simultaneously concealing the internal divisions within the Song court, projecting a tough stance to drive down the Liao's asking price.
This was why the mission to the Liao in the Song officialdom was considered an immensely important post; anyone who performed well could soar to great heights in their career thereafter.
Yet risks and opportunities coexisted. If the peace talks broke down, one's political career would come to an end right then and there. Moreover, the journey on a mission to the Liao was perilous; leaving aside whether the Liao might murder or detain the envoy, crossing numerous dangerous regions along the way meant risking one's life.
According to Su Ze's memories, Fu Bi's negotiations this time would ultimately achieve peace, and war would not break out between the Song and Liao, but that did not mean there were no undercurrents swirling beneath the surface during the peace talks.
Yet these grand affairs had nothing to do with Su Ze for the time being, nor did they concern Zhang Ya佐, who served as the Judge of the Hall of Demur.
The two of them merely treated it as casual conversation.
Having stayed up all night, Zhang Ya佐 went back to his bedchamber to rest. After Su Ze finished breakfast, Feng Shiyuan was already waiting at the mansion gates.
Today was the day Su Ze had agreed with Feng Shiyuan to inspect the properties of the Office of Housing and Lands.
Before taking up his post, Su Ze intended to tour the properties of the Office of Housing and Lands within Bianjing first, so as to gain an understanding of the basic conditions of the office.
After all, without investigation, one had no right to speak. If he did not see the condition of the Office of Housing and Lands with his own eyes now, it would be difficult for him to perceive the true reality after taking office.
This was also the reason why Su Ze had requested His Majesty to grant a special pardon to Feng Shiyuan.
Feng Shiyuan had parked that black carriage right at the gates of Zhang Ya佐's residence, except this time he had switched to an ordinary short-legged horse and removed all external decorations from the carriage. After Su Ze climbed into the carriage with Feng Shiyuan, Feng Shiyuan unlocked the secret mechanism inside, handed the account books from within to Su Ze, and said:
"Special Commissioner Su, these are the account books for the three thousand properties of the Office of Housing and Lands that this humble commoner is responsible for subletting. In addition, there are the ledgers for managing Bianjing properties on behalf of Young Master Lü and the others over the years."
Su Ze finally understood why Bao Zheng and the Imperial City Superintendency could never find Feng Shiyuan's ledgers. It turned out this fellow had stored all the account books inside his carriage.
When Feng Shiyuan was arrested, he had already concealed the carriage.
Now that Feng Shiyuan was offering the account books to him, it was tantamount to pledging his allegiance. Su Ze naturally would not refuse; these were first-hand materials that would help him grasp the situation of Bianjing's rental market and the operations of the Office of Housing and Lands.
All of these could be handed over to A-Zhang within Taohuayuan to examine.
Su Ze nodded and said:
"Once today's inspection is concluded, have these ledgers moved from the back door of the Zhang residence to my room."
"As you command."
"The three thousand households entrusted to you by Lü Gongbi must be the finest properties within the Office of Housing and Lands, right?"
Feng Shiyuan nodded and said:
"Those three thousand households are out of a total of twenty thousand public dwellings under the Office of Housing and Lands. They are the ones in the best locations and the ones least difficult to rent out. Young Master Lü leased them to this humble commoner by calculating the monthly rent based on the average market price of the Office of Housing and Lands' rentals. Therefore, as long as these residences are rented out and the rent can be collected, it guarantees a profit."
Su Ze instantly understood. Lü Gongbi had used a contracting method to lease the three thousand best residences to Feng Shiyuan, while Feng Shiyuan only needed to pay the monthly rent for these public dwellings according to the average rental price of the Office of Housing and Lands.
Meanwhile, Feng Shiyuan, acting as the secondary landlord, could reap massive profits from the tenants at prices higher than normal rents.
This was simply a business of making money while lying down, a set of operations frequently seen in later generations.
No wonder power was the most profitable trade of all.