That day, Big Zhao sat at the teahouse for a long while. Unusually quiet. No banter, no jokes, no idle gossip.…
That day, Big Zhao sat at the teahouse for a long while. Unusually quiet. No banter, no jokes, no idle gossip. He simply watched the people come and go.
It was only after the Tang Coin incident at the Forsaken Quarter that he began to see things he'd never noticed before.
The court's effort to eliminate Tang coins wasn't just a campaign for monetary unification, it was also to protect Song citizens from the volatility of a foreign mint. That logic, that intention, was meant to trickle down through the official ranks until it reached the people. But the mess they were in now, how many layers of neglect, schemes, and dark intentions had twisted the message beyond recognition?
He had walked so many roads, and yet had only seen Kaifeng. And Kaifeng, after all, sat beneath the emperor's feet. What, then, might lie beyond its walls?
He stood up, and walked north toward the high walls.