Chapter 43: Xing Zai Planed to Strike Treacherous Ministers

　　Duanmu Xiao thus instructed Liu Chengyuan in the profound art of the Filial Heart Mantra, a discipline that refined essence into breath, breath into spirit, and spirit into the boundless void. “The heart of this technique lies in cultivating virtue within oneself and never straying from the path of filial devotion. If you uphold these principles, the art shall take root and flourish of its own accord. But should you betray the way of filial piety, all your efforts shall come to nought.”　　The influence of Qian Yu’s Qian family business grew ever more formidable, its illicit minting of debased currency spreading unchecked across the land. Even the imperial court found itself powerless to rein them in.　　Thus, in the eleventh year of Tianbao (AD 752), a decree was issued, commanding the authorities to distribute grain, silk, and cloth, along with hundreds of thousands of strings of treasury coin, in exchange for the spurious currency flooding the markets of the eastern and western quarters of the capital.　　The Jianghuai region, long a bastion of wealth and commerce, teemed with merchants of great ambition. Many high-ranking officials and imperial kinsmen, their greed untempered by duty, conspired with these magnates—exchanging a single good coin for five of ill repute, then transporting their gains to Chang’an. The common folk of the city bore the brunt of this sordid trade, suffering grievously under its weight.　　Li Linfu petitioned the Emperor to ban the circulation of debased currency outright. In response, the authorities intervened, offering grain, silk, and cloth in exchange for the spurious coinage, setting a deadline of one month—those who failed to surrender their bad money within the allotted time would face punishment.　　Sensing a threat to their vast enterprise, Qian Family incited merchants across the realm to stage protests, gathering in great numbers to obstruct the carriage of Yang Guozhong and press their grievances. Yang Guozhong, in turn, reported the matter to Emperor Xuanzong, who, eager to quell unrest with expediency, amended the decree: only coins cast from lead or tin, or those bearing drilled holes, would be deemed counterfeit—all others would remain in circulation.　　This, however, played directly into Qian Family’s hands, for their