Splendor of the Flourishing Tang Dynasty
In the waning years of the Sui dynasty, the world was plunged into chaos. The aristocratic clan system, which had persisted since the end of the Han dynasty for centuries, was drawing to a close. In t
Year twenty of the Kaihuang era, Great Sui. Within the city of Chang’an.
A man not yet forty, bearing an air of gravity and authority, paced restlessly in the courtyard. This was but a garden before his private study, intended for the master’s promenade, yet it sprawled generously, spanning dozens of paces in every direction. Stones and timber, once belonging to the now-vanquished Southern Chen dynasty, had been transported from Jiangnan to this land, and here in Guanzhong they had been assembled into a small retreat, replete with the elegant, refined charm peculiar to the south of the Yangtze.
Though the Great Sui had been founded for years and unified the realm, the prosperity and splendor of Jiangnan since the days after Jin had long outshone the war-worn Central Plains. Now, each year, the grain and silk amassed at the granaries of Luokou and Liyang owed their abundance to the bounty shipped north from Jiangnan, sustaining the very heart of the empire. The sophisticated airs inherited from the Jin still lingered, quietly envied by the northern gentry, though seldom acknowledged aloud.
To possess such an expansive estate within the precious confines of the capital, and to cultivate a southern-style garden before the study, spoke volumes of the owner’s power and wealth.
Yet, this man of substance and presence now wore an anxious expression.
Footsteps sounded beyond the gate. A military officer, helmeted and clad in gleaming armor, strode in and saluted.
The master had already hurried forward. “How is the situation?”
The officer