Storing Wealth in Officials

"The sages said that the way of the sovereign lies in manifesting illustrious virtue, in enriching the state, and in strengthening the military," Wei Yuan said, patiently guiding the gathered titans of the Development Bureau seated before him. "Other sages said that wealth should be stored among the people. But the sages clearly overlooked something. In our present age, wealth is far more often stored among the noble clans. And if it can be stored among the noble clans, why can't it be stored in the officials?" The bureau heads looked at one another, cold sweat beading on their foreheads. After a moment's hesitation, one of them said, "The practice of graft has existed since ancient times. But if we openly advocate corruption, the drawbacks are simply too numerous. Furthermore, it conflicts directly with the founding tenets of Qingming. What individuals do in their private dealings is beyond our control, and turning a blind eye to it in secret poses no issue. But if we promote it publicly, I fear... it will ruin our reputation." Another chief chimed in, "Brother Nian speaks the truth. The reason our Development Bureau has been unfailingly successful is that every action we take serves righteousness and radiates benevolence across the realm. Outsiders, including many renowned scholars, regard Qingming as the beacon of Great Tang and a model for all Nine States. If we openly foster corruption, we make enemies of the hundreds of millions of common folk. The harm would vastly outweigh the gain; the costs would far exceed any benefit. This is truly a matter of life and death—Realm Lord, please reconsider!" Wei Yuan sighed. "A court filled with upright men! Since they are upright, they must naturally be irreconcilable with corruption! Yet righteousness and wealth are not inherently opposed. Who says the righteous cannot be wealthy? Must one resort to graft just to prosper?" Another bureau chief mumbled under his breath, "Weren't you the one who said that serving as an official in Qingming means not seeking profit?" Before Wei Yuan could reply, a senior chief struck the young man upside the head. "Serving as an official in Qingming is a path toward the Great Dao! How can mere worldly wealth compare to the Dao?" The young chief pulled his head down and fell silent, not daring to utter another word. Wei Yuan offered a faint smile, entirely unbothered. He had always encouraged people to speak their minds freely and keep communication wide open; only then would those harboring illicit motives drop their guard and expose themselves. Anyone who believed Wei Yuan genuinely did not care about criticism was truly naive. As for the notion that listening to all sides brought enlightenment, Wei Yuan commanded the immense power of the Splendor of the Many Realms and had no need for such advice. In all of history, no one could hear more comprehensively than he did; he caught everything, both what should be heard and what should not. Once the discussion among the bureau chiefs settled down, Wei Yuan continued, "What truly is graft? Only that which violates the law constitutes graft. If it breaks no law, it is rightfully earned. If the laws of the nations force upright officials to rely solely on graft to prosper, then those laws are wicked. And wicked laws ought to be abolished! "So what everyone needs to consider now is where this wealth comes from. Then examine which sources of money are illegal and which can be acquired lawfully. If the law poses an impassable obstacle, simply amend the statutes. Wouldn't that turn graft into an entitlement? Finally, conceal the entire matter behind a proper veil. That is storing wealth in officials." A wave of realization washed over the bureau heads. Still, the young chief could not help voicing another worry: "What if someone does that within Qingming...?" Halfway through his sentence, someone tugged at his sleeve, and he promptly swallowed the rest. Wei Yuan was not worried about this in the least. With the Splendor of the Many Realms monitoring every facet of existence, engaging in corruption within Qingming was harder than ascending to heaven. If someone truly possessed the ability to act with absolute secrecy under the watchful eye of the Splendor of the Many Realms, why would they bother with petty graft? Blessed with such extraordinary talent, countless avenues were open for them to soar straight into the clouds; why stoop to chasing crumbs? After a moment's thought, Wei Yuan added, "There is one more matter: we must push the State of Song to establish large-scale manufacturing complexes specializing in military armaments, similar to our Weaponsmith Workshop. As for equity, offer a generous portion to the various heavyweights at their imperial court so they provide political protection. We can then transfer non-core, peripheral technologies to these workshops to help them scale up quickly, and open up procurement of our military equipment." Another chief asked in bewilderment, "Song's military equipment lags far behind Qingming's. Their highest-grade armors and weaponry cannot even match our ordinary mass-produced gear. If we open arms trade with them, Song's military strength will surge in the short term. Selling them weapons is one thing, but why transfer technology as well? Isn't that rearing a tiger to court disaster?" Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "It is precisely because Song lags behind us that as long as we are willing to sell them weapons, their domestic armament industry will never truly develop. As for boosting the strength of Song's military? Heh, when war finally breaks out, cutting off trade will immediately leave them crippled. "As for handing over some peripheral technology, it is designed to empower that particular arms workshop in Song to sweep aside all other smithing industries in the country, preventing any domestic competitors from emerging. Once they hold a complete monopoly... heh, a pair of sabers that currently sells for one Qingyuan, they will dare charge two hundred for down the line! "Not only will they charge two hundred, they'll drag their feet and fail to deliver the goods." The bureau chiefs exchanged glances, somewhat skeptical yet not daring to dispute his words. Wei Yuan naturally would not tell them that with the current capabilities of the Splendor of the Many Realms, he could already run limited simulations predicting the future trajectory of a nation. Moreover, over the years, beyond Central City, Wei Yuan had secretly established numerous small islands in the deep ocean, each completely isolated from the outside world and hidden from all knowledge. He then seeded these islands with newly reincarnated souls, who lived their lives according to predetermined scripts. These islands differed drastically from one another: some were so abundant in resources that no labor was required to survive, while others imposed brutally harsh conditions. Some faced cataclysmic apocalypses from their inception, while others faced inevitable doom accompanied by a ticking countdown. Thus, many islands rose and fell, cycling through several rounds of reincarnation. These islands served as real-world anchor points. The empirical data gathered from them corrected the course whenever the abstract deductions within the Splendor of the Many Realms began to drift. Wei Yuan could divide his divine sense into more than thirty thousand strands, allowing him to monitor the status of every island in real time. Yet, with the surging number and variety of islands and the exponential expansion of the Splendor of the Many Realms, his divine sense was growing increasingly stretched. The reactions of the bureau chiefs were entirely within his expectations. For such an abrupt meeting called without prior preparation, he did not expect immediate answers. In this gathering, Wei Yuan merely outlined key concepts; the chiefs could improvise and build upon that foundation. The direction he set was crucial, but the execution of these chiefs was just as vital. They often produced brilliant strokes of inspiration, which was precisely how earlier operations famed for their colorful designations had come into being. Once the meeting concluded, Wei Yuan was finally free to tend to the spoils of the recent battle. Entering the Splendor of the Many Realms, he focused his divine sense, reached out to grasp an invisible handle in the void, and hauled upward with all his might. A grand array rose from the sea, sprawling across nearly the entire ocean expanse. The western position on the array was almost entirely bare, while the southern position flickered with a faint flame no larger than a candle. With a wave of Wei Yuan's hand, three mountains of metal and iron descended one after another, forming three islands in the far western sea. Precipitous peaks stood like upright swords among jagged cliffs. Many of the stones could be tossed directly into a furnace to smelt steel, while the dark red soil in the gorges held an iron content higher than rust itself. Once the three islands took shape, the metallic peaks on one of them began to glow softly. Seedlings of various shapes sprouted from the crevices between the rocks. These budding shoots were all metal-element spiritual flora, destined to become top-grade materials for spirit medicines once matured. Furthermore, sweeping his divine sense across the island, Wei Yuan detected several nascent spiritualities gestating deep within the mountain peaks. In several decades, they might give birth to innate metal-element spirits. This island had been formed from the core of the grotto-heaven that was once brimming with metal-element spirits. As for the spirits themselves, Wei Yuan had already refined them completely, merging the metal-element origin power contained within their dharma bodies into the realm-heaven. Yet compared to that origin power, what Wei Yuan truly prized were their souls.