"Levy taxes, and death comes later; don't levy taxes, and you're finished immediately! The levies will only increase—how could they possibly stop? Brother Wang's wish for light corvée and low taxes right now has good intentions, but..." He shook his head.
The others listening also felt this was an insolvable knot.
Taxes were levied only because the treasury lacked funds. When the common people were fleeced beyond endurance, they rebelled. Suppressing a rebellion cost money, and spending more money required raising taxes again. When taxes were levied even harsher, the people rebelled once more...
An endless vicious cycle.
He Lingchuan looked at Gao Jilin. "What do you think, Brother Gao?"
"I think we must first see clearly where the root of these troubles lies," Gao Jilin said slowly. "Successive disasters strike the land because origin power is thin and unable to nourish the realm, showing that the nation's strength was inherently weak to begin with. We must first identify the crux of the problem: does it stem from a stubborn, vainglorious sovereign? From treacherous sycophants holding power? Or from corrupt and tyrannical misrule? Only then can the right remedy be prescribed for the illness."
Hearing this, the scholars nodded one after another. "Well said, Brother Gao. Only by taking the pulse can one locate the ailment."
"Cut out that useless nonsense!" A voice suddenly rose from the side, drowning out the others. "Let me ask you: how long has this kingdom's ruler been on the throne?"
He Lingchuan looked over and saw that the speaker was a man in his early twenties, heavily built, with a rather long face and a reddish nose. "Quite a few years. And who might you be, sir?"
"My surname is Du!" the man pressed on without pausing. "Did the kingdom's chronic poverty and weakness only begin during his reign?"
"No," He Lingchuan shook his head. "The previous sovereign grew muddle-headed and obstinate in his old age, committing plenty of blunders."
He naturally had nothing good to say about Yuan Kingdom's late monarch.
"And after the new sovereign ascended the throne and took power, was there no improvement whatsoever?"
"Virtually none," He Lingchuan replied. "The new ruler attempted new reforms, but they failed."
The man slapped the table with a loud smack. "Then does the root cause even need to be said? It lies with the sovereign!"
Before Gao Jilin could speak, Jiang Tao said unhappily, "I say, Du Shan, a nation's decline stems from many causes and effects. How can you pin the blame entirely on the monarch?"
"The causes and effects you speak of are mere symptoms; trace them back to the source and it all comes down to the sovereign!" Du Shan retorted bluntly. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown! If he cannot discard the old, cannot usher in the new, cannot recognize talent and employ men well, cannot punish evil and root out traitors, and cannot benefit the nation and its people, then tell me—whose fault is that?"
Zheng Zewu chimed in, "So according to you, what should be done?"
Seeing more and more eyes turn toward him, Du Shan grinned. "There is a superior plan and an inferior plan. Which one do you want to hear?"
He Lingchuan chose, "Let's hear the inferior plan first."
Du Shan immediately shook his wine flagon. "Aiya, empty!"
He Lingchuan smiled, raising a hand to summon a waiter. "Bring a jug of five-year-aged Qinxiangchun for Brother Du!"
The liquor at Xiangman Restaurant was graded into various tiers. The finest and most renowned was its house-brewed Qinxiangchun, said to be brewed from spring snow gathered off branches and unopened plum blossom buds, refreshing and fragrant on the palate.
Naturally, its price was significantly higher than the second- or third-rate selections.
Prices in Beijia were already steep, and stacked with several layers of markups here, a single jug of five-year-aged Qinxiangchun cost five taels of silver—five thousand copper coins.
Even Du Shan was startled, giving a thumbs-up. "Magnanimous! And you are?"
"My surname is He."
Jiang Tao muttered under his breath, "Brother He, you're making a mistake. This fellow never comes up with any good ideas." They were government-sponsored students and had no shortage of money at home, but they wouldn't toss away fine wine worth five taels of silver to a stranger just to hear an inferior plan.
He Lingchuan said quietly, "No matter."
He wasn't one to throw money around for no reason, either.
When the wine arrived, Du Shan cracked open the clay seal, took a deep breath of the aroma right at the mouth of the jug, and poured himself a cup.
"The inferior plan is to find some pretexts to convict the rampantly corrupt courtiers and confiscate their estates. Funneling the seized wealth into the state treasury will instantly solve the money shortage in the short term," Du Shan said after sipping his wine. "You can't scrape another coin from the common folk anyway, and after all these years, the vermin of the state are nice and fat. If you don't slaughter them now, when will you?"
He Lingchuan's eyes flickered. "Sounds good, but why have few countries done so?"
Even in its current plight, Yuan Kingdom had not laid a hand on its ministers.
"Entangled roots, deep-seated fears, and a lack of stomach for it," Du Shan chuckled. "Besides, who says no one has used it? The vassal state of Xuluo under Beijia did exactly that. When its third demon king ascended the throne, he refused to write off the deficits left by officials at every level. Instead, he ordered audits of grain and funds across all regions, setting strict deadlines to make up the shortfall under threat of severe arrest and punishment. Within a few years, the royal treasury was replenished. He didn't confiscate entire households, but the principle was the same."
Jiang Tao scratched his head. "Your reasoning isn't entirely wrong, but..." It strayed completely off conventional tracks and didn't touch upon proper principles of governance.
Du Shan didn't even look at him. "It's all table politics over drinks anyway—just gossip between three cups of wine. What idea can't be floated?"
Wine politics—debating statecraft over liquor.
Wasn't it just shooting the breeze?
He Lingchuan remarked at the appropriate moment, "If the monarch had the ability to do so, he would have done it years ago. Would he have waited until now? Trying to crack down all of a sudden would only cause turmoil inside and outside the court, ruining any chance of success."
The scholars present all knew that even emperors and kings could not truly do whatever they pleased.
Boldness and ability—some people were born with them, while others never came close to possessing them in their entire lives.
"That's exactly my point!" Du Shan slapped the table again with a laugh. "That's why I also have a superior plan!"
He Lingchuan had already guessed part of it, but said nonetheless, "Please, do tell."
"Since the root cause lies with the monarch, wouldn't replacing him solve everything?" Du Shan narrowed his eyes. "The supreme seat belongs to the capable. Whoever can quell the turmoil and pacify the people naturally gets to sit securely on that throne."
A clamor erupted among the crowd, everyone laughing. "Du Shan serves up another poisonous scheme! Classic him!"
"First strike of reform: turn around and execute the sovereign! Hahaha!"
From this alone, He Lingchuan could tell Du Shan was fond of taking extreme, unorthodox routes; he had clearly made quite a name for himself in the academy for it.
If Sun Hongye were here, the two of them would probably appreciate each other and hit it off as kindred spirits.
Faced with everyone's laughter, Du Shan remained completely unfazed. "For a ruler, indecisiveness is fatal. As the saying goes, 'A soft heart makes a shaky throne.' Why should one man's weakness drag down the common masses? Furthermore, that monarch has been unable to strengthen the state or benefit the people for years, which clearly proves he occupies the seat without fulfilling the duties. Someone else ought to take his place.
"You laugh when I say it, thinking it's pure fantasy, but in reality, every dynasty throughout history has been like this." He gave a hearty laugh. "Let me ask you: which is more important, the realm or the sovereign?"
He Lingchuan cast his gaze down slightly, thinking of Yuan Kingdom's Grand Marshal, Nian Zanli, and even "Holy Master" Hong Xiangqian.
In truth, wasn't what they were doing exactly what Du Shan described?
Gao Jilin, who had been pondering all this while, suddenly chimed in, "Yuan Kingdom is weak internally, riddled with warlordism and rebellions, so the royal court must dispatch armies to suppress them. Yet warfare burns money faster than anything else; without funds, an army cannot be maintained, so the central court must increase taxes on people across the realm. When the tax burden grows heavier, people have no means of living, nine out of ten households are abandoned, and the populace is driven to rebel once again... Trapped in such a cycle, the nation's power crumbles. That is likely one of the primary reasons for Yuan Kingdom's decline."
Du Shan slapped the table. "Do you hear that? Do you hear that? Now that is Yuan Kingdom's imminent crisis! Come on, keep going."
Gao Jilin smiled and continued:
"The Yuan army lacks troops, provisions, and funds, but at the end of the day, it all boils down to a lack of money. So long as there is money, troops, provisions, and fodder can all be bought. The most urgent task for Yuan Kingdom's sovereign is to quickly secure a massive influx of outside wealth. That way, the destitute will have a livelihood and won't rebel, and the state will have military funds without having to levy crushing taxes. The vicious cycle above will be broken. Maintain this for a period to let the people and the nation recuperate, and Yuan Kingdom can turn around and head toward prosperity."
He added, "There are numerous reasons for Yuan Kingdom's weakness; I am only singling out this one. Not long ago, Yuan Kingdom fought the Battle of the Han River against General Nian, the Governor of Xunzhou. The Yuan army was initially routed step by step and forced to retreat to the natural stronghold of the Han River. I heard that later, the Yuan royal court and local authorities managed to raise funds and provisions to rush to the front lines, and as a result, the Yuan army suddenly fought General Nian to a standstill."
He used the Battle of the Han River to corroborate his view.
The scholars murmured in agreement: "That makes sense, but how is this money supposed to be obtained?"
"The kingdom is at its wits' end, meaning every feasible method has already been tried. Where else can they scrounge up money?"
"Borrow it, steal it, or rob it. Otherwise, the nation can only await collapse, and the monarch can only await decapitation." Du Shan bared his teeth. "Don't the two plans I mentioned earlier correspond precisely to what Brother Gao said? Confiscate the wealth of the corrupt vermin of the state, and the common people will applaud. The royal court gains both renown and riches—reputation and tangible benefits all at once—plus money to wage war. Conversely, if this sovereign cannot procure the money, he deserves to be toppled, replaced by someone ruthless enough to go get it."
Zheng Zewu shook his head. "How could it be that easy? Relationships in the royal court are often deeply entangled..."
Du Shan glared. "Just because it's complicated, you don't do it? Those who achieve great things endure what others cannot endure and accomplish what others cannot accomplish! The state is on the brink of ruin, yet the sovereign is still hesitating and looking over his shoulder—that is a fatal mistake!"
Jiang Tao scratched his head. "Executing just a few corrupt vermin probably wouldn't yield enough money, would it?"
"Then you can still steal, rob, or borrow. You can't let your hands and feet be tied," Du Shan said with a grin. "Is this the time to worry about saving face?"
To He Lingchuan's surprise, no one refuted his point. Instead, following that line of thought, a buzz of discussion rippled across the room.
Some of their suggested tactics struck He Lingchuan as utterly bizarre—no, rather, quite enlightening.
He had been so occupied with his own tasks lately that he rarely pondered these grand affairs.
These fellows actually had some real substance in their bellies after all.
Only when the discussion gradually wound down did he ask Du Shan:
"In Brother Du's view, should a nation's system revere the gods or revere the sovereign?"
Du Shan picked up a piece of dried fish with his chopsticks, chewed on it, and replied without a second thought:
"We are humans. A human's destiny should naturally be held in human hands. Could it be that we should let celestial gods hold absolute power over our life and death?"
He Lingchuan smiled.
Right then, Gao Jilin suddenly said to He Lingchuan, "Those men over there have been staring at Brother He the entire time. I'm afraid they have ill intent. Should we report them to the authorities?"
Public order around the Imperial Academy was quite good; the local official magistracy dispatched guards whenever an alarm was raised.
Following his gaze, everyone looked over and indeed saw three or four men sitting at a table near the doorway. They were all burly, formidable men, having ordered only a pot of tea, sipping it while keeping their hostile-looking eyes fixed over here.
"Oh, no need, no need," He Lingchuan waved his hand repeatedly. "Thank you all for your concern, but they were assigned to protect my safety. They're not scoundrels."
These were the Tongxin Guards stationed at Pianxiang Villa. Today they were accompanying him in plain clothes, making them look somewhat like ruffians instead.
The scholars were all taken aback.
Chapter 639