After finishing his endorsements, Wei Yuan read through the document several more times, weighing every detail carefully. Once satisfied that nothing was amiss, he sealed the dispatch and ordered an attendant to return it to the Development Bureau. Zhang Sheng had remained seated upright at his side the entire time. Waiting until Wei Yuan finished, she finally asked, "Aren't you afraid of public infamy, doing it like this?"
Wei Yuan chuckled. "The ones writing the history books and the ones printing the newspapers are all drawing a stipend from my purse. They can make black look white, so what do I have to fear? In future generations, all of this will simply be blamed on fatuous monarchs and the eunuch faction. What will it have to do with scholars? Precedents like that are scattered all across history; it's hardly my invention."
Zhang Sheng said, "Wouldn't marching straight over achieve the same result? Grinding down the State of Song like this will inevitably plunge the common people into misery along the way. Why drag it out for so long?"
Wei Yuan replied, "What if we can't beat them?"
This time, it was Zhang Sheng's turn to knit her brows slightly and fall into contemplation.
Wei Yuan spoke unhurriedly: "If it were merely a clash of arts, things would be simple. Unfortunately, above in the Immortal Heavens, everyone is placing stones on the board and laying schemes; nothing can be simple. The fact that I could kill Liumiao, Lu Changhe, and Xu Shuhe likely came down in part to how they had long courted their own demises—they deserved to die, and someone wanted them dead. Furthermore, slaying Lu Changhe and toppling the State of Song are entirely different matters. The Seven Clans and Thirteen Prominent Families were originally nothing more than a countermeasure devised by the surviving immortals after the Martial Ancestor died—in truth, just the desperate flailing of a pack of beaten dogs. But touching the Nine States of Great Tang means directly facing the Martial Ancestor's handiwork. In his day, the Martial Ancestor was an Immortal Lord who held dominion over the entire realm; the Seven Clans and Thirteen Families were not even ants before him.
"Originally, I had no desire to touch Song, but Cui Zhengxing has repeatedly made things difficult for me, and he has truly become a grave enemy. Song's state fortune is tied directly to him. If he falls in the future, Song is bound to suffer endless natural disasters, and the number of people who die then will truly be vast."
Zhang Sheng gave a light sigh. "In rise or fall, it is always the common people who suffer."
Wei Yuan shook his head. "That was the past. Over the last hundred thousand years of dynastic rise and fall, the essence remained identical. Now, it is different. The people under my rule are truly free of suffering. Under theirs, it was merely a question of suffering a little more or a little less."
"I have spent much of recent years in secluded cultivation and do not understand the present situation well. What do you mean by that?" Zhang Sheng asked.
Though her Sword Dao in recent years had come to rival an immortal's, her nature from years past had never changed: what she understood, she understood, and what she did not, she did not. She never concealed her ignorance or held back; if she didn't know something, she simply asked, feeling not the slightest embarrassment.
Wei Yuan recalled the past, pausing for a moment before saying, "When I was young, my father once told me: 'There is only so much land, and only so much grain. When there are too many people, there won't be enough to eat. Naturally, people starve, people rebel, and chaos and warfare ensue. Once the scourge of war has run its course and most of the people have died, leaving plenty of land for few mouths, a few prosperous years arrive.' For tens of thousands of years, over and over, that cycle has repeated.
"I could never wrap my head around that problem, nor could I find an answer in history. It was only when I saw the world beyond the heavens that I finally understood: while the land remains finite, the grain produced from it can be increased. To produce more grain, you need cultivators like True Monarch Chuhe; you need sustained investment over decades, just as Qingming has done, pouring hundreds of millions of Qingyuan into agricultural techniques.
"Put plainly, this is a question of whether sublime power and material resources belong to the rulers above or the common people below.
"In the current world, sublime power belongs solely to immortals. Even if every mortal under heaven rebelled, a single immortal could easily quell them. Naturally, no one places any value on the commonfolk. Over hundreds of thousands of years, who knows how many immortals have journeyed to worlds beyond the heavens? The Pure Land has preserved quite a few fragments of external worlds, yet not a single immortal ever thought of reproducing the institutions of those worlds in our realm. Was it because they couldn't? No, it was because they didn't want to."
Zhang Sheng nodded at last, then asked, "If you leave Song rotten to the core, then when you eventually take a portion of its territory, the local gentry and influential clans will have long since annexed all the land. If they still refuse to pay taxes, what will you do?"
Wei Yuan gave a faint smile. "Song's rules were made by them, but Qingming is not Song; its rules are made by me. Still, I suspect those people won't honestly pay taxes either and will certainly stir up all sorts of trouble. In truth, history books made the solution clear long ago: there is only one way—kill them! Appeasement and pacification are entirely useless."
Zhang Sheng did not dispute his words, continuing, "One final question: if the upright literati grow too dominant and turn into a menace, or if the Development Bureau under you turns around and rebels against you, how will you handle it?"
Wei Yuan tapped his finger lightly against the tabletop. After a moment, he said, "In the world today, the upright literati hold the best reputation; that is a fact. The root cause is simply that literate scholars are far too few. The tiny handful who do manage to gain an education band together, mouthing benevolence, righteousness, and the words of the sages. History books are in their hands as well, so even if someone wished to reason and argue with them, they could never win.
"Yet the way to break this impasse is precisely what Qingming is doing right now: enlightening the masses. Enlightening the mind is not merely teaching people to read sentences. It means educating them up to the level of the Qingming Higher Academy, establishing a conceptual framework of independent thought, and fostering an approach to scholarship that does not blindly revere authority or antiquity, but seeks only the truth.
"When that day comes, millions of people will have reached a level comparable to today's literati. Everyone will be capable of judging right from wrong for themselves. The few scholars will no longer be able to use their monopoly on discourse to substitute their own views for the will of the people, nor will they be able to pose as enlighteners, and there will be no more so-called masters.
"By then, even the term 'upright literati' will cease to exist."
"Then how will history write of you?"
Wei Yuan burst into laughter. "By then, there will be millions of histories. If one or two curse me, why should I care? The realm will judge for itself."
Zhang Sheng said, "Think carefully. Once the people are enlightened, they will truly be hard to deceive. If they rise up against you, what will you do then?"
This time, Wei Yuan chuckled, casually picking up a teacup. In his palm, the cup—refined from nether crystal—melted in the blink of an eye, turning into a blazing fireball before instantly burning to cinders. That single demonstration alone could have refined a perfected dharma idol to death.
Flicking the cinders from his fingertips, Wei Yuan declared, "Our realm possesses sublime power! I possess that sublime power myself, and I win people over by virtue! If anyone dares defy me then, we can spar first and talk later!"
A smile finally surfaced on Zhang Sheng's face. Leaning forward, she pecked Wei Yuan lightly on the cheek and said, "Well spoken. A little reward."
That peck caused a volcano to erupt at once.
Wei Yuan swept his arms around her, his eyes blazing. "There's another matter of supreme importance! What about a child?"
Zhang Sheng was taken aback. "We missed the best opportunity; now it requires immense providence..."
Wei Yuan countered, "As the saying goes, do all humanly possible and leave the rest to heaven. We can't control heaven's will, but we can do everything in our power first! Striving hard can never be wrong!"
***
Hule Gao'en sat in the reception hall, fidgeting with unease.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and an ordinary-looking cultivator stepped inside. The moment he entered, Hule Gao'en's hair stood on end, feeling as though he were looking at a humanoid volcano.
The cultivator walked over and said, "The Realm Lord and True Monarch Zhang are still discussing the Dao; I'm afraid they won't be coming out of seclusion anytime soon. No need for us to wait. I hear you're from the Mountain Folk and just arrived in Qingming. Come on, I'll take you around the city. We've got plenty of delicious food and fun sights to see."
Hule Gao'en hurriedly rose and cupped his hands. "I am Hule Gao'en of the Mountain Folk. May I inquire after Senior Cultivator's esteemed name?"
The cultivator chuckled. "No need to be so polite; we don't care about that sort of thing here. My name is Xu Wenwu, and I recently reached the late dharma idol stage. The Realm Lord's avatar isn't moving at all, so this seclusion won't wrap up for several days. I've already left him a message. Come on, let's look around first. Once the Realm Lord comes out, he'll have his ways of finding us."
Hule Gao'en felt somewhat apprehensive and said, "Wouldn't that be a breach of etiquette?"
Xu Wenwu blinked in surprise. "Breach of etiquette? If you waste so much time on etiquette, how will you have any time left to get real work done? I heard you brought quite a few Mountain Folk clansmen back this time. While we're wandering through the markets, we can see what you all like and what you might need."
Hule Gao'en sensed a terrifying threat lingering about this cultivator, feeling as if a bolt of thunder hung right above his head, ready to strike down at any moment. Not daring to tarry, he allowed Xu Wenwu to drag him out.
On the flight toward Yong'an, Hule Gao'en asked cautiously, "The sages said: 'Etiquette and propriety cannot be discarded.' If our realm pays no heed to etiquette, won't that foster delusions of grandeur and transgression? When rites collapse and music decays, won't chaos easily consume the world?"
Xu Wenwu chuckled. "Qingming governs the realm by law, and the Realm Lord wins people over through 'virtue'—none of that hollow nonsense. As long as the Realm Lord's 'virtue is high and his hand is heavy,' nobody can make any waves. If the day comes when the Realm Lord's virtue doesn't match his station, what use will even the most elaborate rites and rituals be? They would only become tools for schemers to purge dissenters, and the world would fall into chaos all the same. Let me tell you, the ones who kneel the most are the very ones hiding the most rebels."
Hule Gao'en wanted to argue, but suddenly recalled the passages from the ancient cultivator's memoirs. Who knew whether this man had been sent by Wei Yuan to test him? Thus, he did not pursue the topic, merely agreeing meekly and following Xu Wenwu through the streets. Yet as they strolled along, his eyes were dazzled by the splendid array of goods: he felt compelled to buy this and eager to purchase that, having long forgotten the ancient maxim of "restraining oneself, adhering to propriety, and cultivating virtue through frugality." Then again, that ancient maxim came from the forebear's memoirs, where the true meaning had merely been to make others believe one was restraining oneself and cultivating virtue through frugality; whether one actually did so didn't matter in the least.
***
A flying boat landed outside the mountain gate of the Four Sages Academy. Li Zhi stepped out and tilted his head up to gaze at the four grand characters—"Four Sages Academy"—imbued with magnificent grandeur and monumental strength. When Li Zhi had first studied calligraphy, those characters had struck him as the work of celestial beings; thereafter, each time he returned to the academy, he always gleaned new insights from them. After gazing for a long while, Li Zhi withdrew his eyes and saw an unusually bustling scene at the mountain gate. Thousands of academy disciples had changed into crisp, short-sleeved practice tunics and were busily constructing formations both inside and outside the gate. Judging by the scale of the works, this was a massive undertaking that could not be finished in merely a year or two.
Li Zhi asked a Confucian scholar who had come to greet him, "Uncle-Master He, what is going on here?"
The scholar replied, "Duke Yansheng suddenly issued a written decree commanding the academy's heads of halls, alongside disciples from every courtyard, to construct an additional grand array at the mountain gate to stabilize heaven and earth."
Li Zhi asked again, "A grand array so magnificent and peerless in power—why build it at the mountain gate? Are none of the academy's core grounds more important than the gate?"
The scholar shook his head. "I do not know either. Once you see Duke Yansheng, you may ask the venerable elder yourself."
Li Zhi nodded and walked through the mountain gate. Only after passing beyond the restricted zone did he take flight once more toward the academy's inner courtyard.
Moments later, Li Zhi entered the Spring and Autumn Hall, the place within the academy dedicated to the meticulous study of worldly affairs. In the main hall hung a complete geographic map of Great Tang, embodying the scholars' aspiration to embrace the entire realm.
At that moment, Duke Yansheng stood beneath the massive map, his head raised, as if surveying the Divine Continent.
"Disciple pays homage to Grandmaster!" Li Zhi performed a formal salute.
"Rise." Duke Yansheng summoned Li Zhi forward and asked, "After decades of vigorous governance, how are your preparations?"
Li Zhi answered, "Under my rule are a hundred million subjects, with one million armored soldiers trained, and stockpiles of grain and provisions sufficient to sustain the army at war for a full year."
"And your cultivation of prestige?"
Li Zhi hesitated slightly before replying, "My reputation is highest in Southern Qi and the State of Ji. Within Southern Qi, there are already calls for the Prince of Qi to pass the throne to me, though my eldest uncle would likely be unwilling. Across all of Great Tang at this moment, disciple's renown is second only to Wei Yuan."
Duke Yansheng nodded with satisfaction. "You have handled the cultivation of prestige exceedingly well! A tree that towers above the forest is bound to be buffeted by the wind. With Wei Yuan out in front taking the brunt, Great Tang's covert forces are entirely focused on guarding against Qingming. Yet the people of the world will not overlook you either; this has already captured the essence of the sages."
"Thank you for the praise, Grandmaster! Disciple only wonders what other business prompted Grandmaster to summon me back this time?"
Duke Yansheng handed Li Zhi a register. Taking it, Li Zhi glanced through and found several names familiar to him—prominent prodigies of the academy's current generation.
"Here are one hundred and eight individuals, matching the number of the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends. Most of those listed are disciples of the Military Strategists, well-versed in warfare. Place them within the military, starting from commandants and vice generals; then commanding your grand army will be as effortless as moving your own arm."
A spark flashed in Li Zhi's eyes. Holding the register in both hands, he asked, "Could it be... the time has come?"
Duke Yansheng nodded slowly. "The time has arrived!"
Li Zhi's hands trembled slightly.
Duke Yansheng said, "The current Princess Wancheng is the Emperor's niece and the direct granddaughter of the late Emperor. I have already negotiated with the Prince Regent and the Prince of Qi: Princess Wancheng will marry down to you as your primary consort. The wedding date has been set for next month. If you have any unfinished affairs, plan for them quickly."
Li Zhi hesitated. "I have heard that Princess Wancheng is actually older than His Majesty, with a tyrannical temperament and countless male concubines. Disciple fears... it might hinder the academy's great undertaking."
Duke Yansheng cast a glance at Li Zhi and said calmly, "The greater situation takes precedence; personal feelings are mere trifles. Only by marrying the princess can you possibly escape disaster in the future. Among the direct bloodline of the late Emperor, she is the only suitable candidate remaining. Must I teach you what ought to be done?"
"Disciple understands."
Only then did Duke Yansheng's expression soften. "As for concubines, there will be plenty in the future—what kind could you lack? If Princess Wancheng wishes to keep male concubines, let her be. Lack of patience in small things ruins great plans. In what other areas are your preparations lacking?"
Li Zhi replied, "This matter came considerably earlier than anticipated, so disciple's preparations are not yet fully comprehensive. Foremost among them, parts of the new army need outfitting, and a portion of our elites require new gear. Within my Zhenshan Fief, the military supply industry lacks scale, and the weapons and ammunition produced are insufficient to supply the whole army. Therefore, disciple intends to travel to Qingming to purchase a batch of the latest weapons and ammunition, outfitting another two hundred thousand troops in accordance with the newest tactical doctrines."
Duke Yansheng pondered for a moment, then retrieved a case from the back hall and handed it to Li Zhi. "Inside are deposit vouchers for one hundred million Qingyuan, redeemable at any money house affiliated with the General Mint of Qingming. Take them and equip several hundred thousand more men. Preparedness averts peril; once war breaks out, no amount of ammunition is ever enough."
"Disciple thanks Grandmaster!"
As he stepped out of the Spring and Autumn Hall, Li Zhi's stride was steady, as if every step trod upon the boundless rivers and mountains of the realm. As for Princess Wancheng, it was merely a minor annoyance; once married, they could simply go their separate ways.
***
When Wei Yuan emerged from seclusion and pushed open the window, the warm, orange-red glow of the setting sun poured into the chamber, casting dappled light across the floor. Clouds blazed across half the sky like fire, washing the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains in deep red.
Wei Yuan drew a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. The vista before his eyes was picturesque, yet the Grand Dao was fraught with treacherous peaks at every turn. Every single step forward was arduous in the extreme... just like this seclusion.
*Life is far from easy...* Wei Yuan thought to himself.
Chapter 1332