I have ten trillion licking dog gold

Mr. Jiang went out to answer the phone.

Therefore, as the person nominally the most powerful at the scene, CEO Luo Peng naturally wouldn't be intimidated. Like Bai Zheli and Li Shao, he didn't dwell on Li Shurui's changes and cleared his throat:

"The founding emperors are generally wise and powerful, but people always grow old. By the third or fourth generation of a dynasty, they enter their youth. We call the emperor of this period Little Zhu."

Li Shurui's gaze fell on Luo Peng's face, seemingly very serious. After all, according to the job level, as the general manager, she was Luo Peng's subordinate. Luo Peng was responsible for the group's strategic level, while she was responsible for implementing Luo Peng's decisions, so of course she had to listen carefully.

"Xiao Zhu never went hungry, nor did he ever go to the battlefield. He grew up in the palace. Every day he didn't see starving disaster victims, but rather magnificent palaces with carved beams and painted rafters. Every day he was in contact not with ruthless generals who killed without blinking an eye, but with learned teachers."

These teachers will instruct him in benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness; they will teach him to love the people as his own children; they will teach him to govern the world together with the scholar-officials—yes, far more civilized than his ancestors who only knew how to fight and kill.

Luo Peng changed the subject and tapped the table.

"And that's where the problem lies. What does 'ruling the world together with scholar-officials' mean in plain terms? It means: Emperor, don't work so hard. The world is so big, you can't manage it all by yourself. We, the intelligent people who have been educated, will help you manage it together."

"Isn't this reasonable?"

Li Shurui not only listened attentively but also interacted with the audience, saying, "A person's energy is limited."

Luo Peng snapped his fingers. "Right. Well said. A person's energy is limited. An emperor certainly can't manage such a large country by himself, and the royal family doesn't have enough manpower either. So the emperor has no choice. Whether willingly or forced, he can only accept sharing the country with the scholar-officials. So the question is, who are the scholar-officials?"

"Scholars who entered the system through the imperial examinations." Li Shao hit the nail on the head.

"correct."

Luo Peng nodded immediately, resting his arms on the conference table. "These scholars entered the court through the imperial examinations, raising the banner of serving the emperor, and then formed a new class, namely the bureaucratic group. This group is larger than the royal family and the maternal relatives, and it will also generate its own interests."

Unlike the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, when everyone was a tool of the emperor, this group now aspires to become the emperor's partner, and to achieve this goal, they quickly embarked on a struggle.

Thus began large-scale upward mobility.

An official, serving in the capital, was subjected to a frenzy of land grabbing by his relatives from his hometown. They would buy hundreds of acres one day and seize thousands of acres the next, because his family's land could enjoy tax breaks due to his official position.

Moreover, unlike now, they hardly interact with each other beyond three generations.

Back then, nine generations of a family could be related by blood. Therefore, executing nine generations of a family was justified.

The first layer of fat just grows like that, just like people gain weight in middle age, and it snowballs, getting bigger and bigger.

"Where is the emperor? Can't he see it? Won't he do anything about it?"

Li Shurui asked again, leaning back in her chair, her appearance serene and composed.

"Of course he could see it. And he wanted to manage it. Emperor Zhu saw that the tax revenue figures reported by the Ministry of Revenue were decreasing year by year, and he saw that the number of displaced people was increasing year by year. He knew that the country was sick, and he was extremely anxious."

He understood that it was those scholar-officials who, like ants, were gnawing away at the foundations of the empire.

So he began reforms, surveying and registering all the previously hidden land and intending to tax it again.

But things went counterproductive.

The principle of "many hands make light work" applies here; the officials he sent down were themselves members of the scholar-official class.

Upon arriving at their destinations, these men would drink lavishly with the local gentry, receive bribes, and become sworn brothers. Afterward, having eaten and drunk their fill, they would return to report, always with utmost respect: "Your Majesty, the realm is at peace, and the fields are cultivated without error."

Bai Zheli smiled slightly as he scribbled and drew with his pen.

"Just like you women."

Luo Peng stared at Li Shurui and spoke eloquently, "The emperor is like a brain. He issued the order: Lose weight! But the fat cells in his body, that is, the scholar-official class, united and blocked this order."

They even tell the brain: "Master, you are very healthy and prosperous; you are in a golden age."

Luo Peng shrugged. "If you were the emperor, what could you do? Kill them all? If you kill them, who will govern the country? The entire empire depends on this massive bureaucratic system. Emperor Zhu is like a patient held hostage by his own body. He knows he's sick, but he can't have surgery. The doctors who operate on him are like cancer cells that are just waiting for him to die."

At this point, Luo Peng suddenly lowered his voice and glanced in the direction of the conference room door.

Mr. Jiang took quite a long time to answer that phone call.

"Take our dear President Jiang for example."

Luo Peng continued, "If he were Xiao Zhu, and the rest of us were the lower-ranking officials, then if we were willing to unite, he could only see what we wanted him to see. I could blindfold him, Shu Rui could plug his ears, Xiao Bai could plug his nose, and Shao Ge'er could tie his hands and feet..."

"Who are they trying to kidnap?"

Boss Jiang finally pushed open the door and entered. He was much more natural than Li Shurui, with a warm smile on his face and no sign of anything unusual.

"President Luo is giving us a lesson."

Li Shurui's gaze followed his figure.

"I'll join too."

Mr. Jiang sat down again and nodded and smiled at his girlfriend.

What a sweet guy!

"Can you two smell it?"

Luo Peng sniffed and said to Bai Zheli and Li Shao, "It smells like the sour stench of being in love."

Li Shurui then looked away from the person.

indeed.

This is at the company.

You need to be mindful of your behavior.

"How about spraying on some perfume?"

She pretended to actually go and get her bag.

Feeling awkward, Luo Peng coughed lightly, "Where were we?"

Bai Zheli looked down at the notebook in front of him. "It's time to enter middle age."

"Yes, we've reached the greasy middle age."

Luo Peng nodded and continued the meeting, saying, "At this point, the question for the emperor is no longer whether he wants to reform, but whether he dares to."

Because that ring of fat was no longer just fat; it had grown into a tumor, and even intertwined with many of the body's vital organs, one inside the other.

It has permeated every capillary of the empire: the ministers and vice ministers in the imperial court are their people. The governors and provincial governors in the provinces are their people.

Even the emperor's most trusted eunuchs might be dogs they paid to feed.

They controlled the nation's economic lifeline, land, salt, and iron.

They controlled the discourse in society, and all intellectuals were their reserve force.

They can even influence the loyalty of the army, and high-ranking generals need them to cultivate relationships.

If another emperor with great talent and ambition were to emerge at this time, we would call him Old Zhu Plus.

He saw through it all.

He said, "No, if we don't address this fundamental problem, this country is doomed."

He decided to wage war against this powerful interest group.

He's getting serious now.

He promoted new people, bypassing the old bureaucratic system.

He dispatched an imperial envoy, armed with the imperial sword, to conduct a thorough investigation in the local area.

He even considered targeting the wealthiest individuals directly with an asset tax.

What do you think will happen?

Because he arrived late, Boss Jiang had a hard time keeping up with the pace, so he winked at Bai Zheli, who was taking notes, signaling him to hand over the notes to help him understand, but Bai Zheli remained unmoved.

Oops.

Don't say you weren't warned.

Boss Jiang refused to accept reality, his gaze hardening. Bai Zheli, after all, was not a traitor, and in the end, amidst his dilemma and hesitation, he handed over the notebook.

Jiang Chen took a look and immediately smiled.

Where are the notes?

It is clearly a sketch.

He seemed to vaguely remember the girl in the sketch; he had seen her once in the company cafeteria.

"A nationwide campaign of passive resistance has begun."

Ignoring their petty actions, Luo Peng spoke with an air of authority and forceful conviction: "Once the emperor's decree leaves the capital, it becomes nothing but a piece of waste paper. Imperial envoys in the provinces are either sidelined or die mysteriously from illness."

In the imperial court, all the officials began to collectively slack off.

Today the Ministry of Revenue says there's no money, tomorrow the Ministry of War says there's no grain.

Memorials detailing various natural disasters and man-made calamities flooded the emperor's desk like snowflakes.

At the same time, various rumors about the emperor began to circulate among the people. They said he was tyrannical and oppressive, that he appointed treacherous officials, and that he would bring chaos to the country.

The emperor suddenly found himself all alone.

He discovered that the bureaucrats he wanted to rely on were precisely the targets he needed to attack.

The voices of the people he wanted to protect never reached his ears.

He was like a doctor who wanted to perform surgery on his own body, only to find that his hands, feet, eyes, and ears were no longer under his control.

They were all controlled by tumor cells.

A muddle-headed emperor might still think that the country is peaceful and prosperous, and that there is singing and dancing in the midst of peace.

But he was too clear-headed.

He could clearly see that this empire was rotting away bit by bit.

He could clearly hear the countdown to the dynasty's collapse, ticking away.

But there was nothing he could do.

All his efforts seemed to hit a cotton ball.

In the end, he had no choice but to compromise.

Or, they might be worn down and killed by this system.

Zhang Juzheng, Wang Anshi... all the great reformers in history met the same fate in the end.

It's not that they aren't smart enough, or that they aren't ruthless enough.

What they wanted to challenge was not a particular person, but the system that had become sentient.

The power of a system will always surpass the power of an individual, even if that individual is an emperor.

Luo Peng sighed.

"The end of a dynasty is the old age of a person. The body has been completely drained. 90% of the country's land is concentrated in the hands of a few. Countless farmers have lost their land and become vagrants. The country's finances are bankrupt because there are almost no self-cultivating farmers who can collect taxes. And the landlord class, who own the vast majority of the land, do not have to pay taxes."

The army is rotten to the core.

Soldiers' pay was embezzled at every level, and they couldn't even get enough to eat. Their weapons hadn't been replaced in decades.

At this moment, all you need is a small straw.

For example, a natural disaster.

Several consecutive years of severe drought, or a major flood.

The last group of self-sufficient farmers also went bankrupt.

The refugees became starving people.

Starving people, in order to survive, have no choice but to become mobs.

A single spark can start a prairie fire.

The last emperor sat on his rickety dragon throne.

Is he smart?

They might be quite smart too.

He wanted to send troops to suppress it.

The Minister of War shrugged: "We have no money; we can't pay the soldiers' salaries."

He wanted those nobles, wealthy merchants, and powerful figures to donate some money to help the nation in its time of crisis.

Those people, who were drinking and watching opera with him yesterday, buried their gold and silver treasures underground today, and then cried to the emperor: Your Majesty, my family is starving.

They would rather let their money rot in the ground than use it to prolong the life of the dynasty.

why?
Because they are intelligent people too.

They calculated it very clearly:
This dynasty is already a sinking ship.

Throwing money in is like throwing money down the drain.

It's better to keep it and buy a first-class ticket when the new ship arrives.

Therefore, history always repeats itself.

After completely wiping out the old dynasty, this vast interest group will swarm like locusts to the next newly established, vibrant dynasty, beginning a new round of devouring.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

Li Shurui led the applause, gently and calmly, echoing Li Shao's earlier joke.

"Is this why you're not taking the civil service exam?"

The previously somewhat oppressive atmosphere instantly relaxed.

Luo Peng laughed and spread his hands. "Probably. Anyone who goes in will be assimilated into a locust. And I don't want to be a locust."

Even without hearing the full version, Mr. Jiang roughly understood it.

Luo Peng's insights are sharp and pessimistic, but they are also consistent with the facts.

The emperor must protect the interests of the royal family.

Scholars and officials should safeguard their interests.

This is human nature.

Nothing wrong with that.

Everyone is making the choice that is most beneficial to themselves.

Countless locally optimal solutions eventually lead to the collapse of the entire system.

It's like a ship where all the smartest people are desperately trying to scoop water onto their own side.

Finally, the ship sank.

No one is innocent.

No one could escape.

Jiang Chen suddenly remembered a face.

That Crown Prince who teaches at Kyoto University.

Could this be the reason why he doesn't take the civil service exam?

Even someone like him felt despair when faced with this historical question?
"Meeting dismissed."

While Boss Jiang was still deep in thought, Luo Peng, who had thoroughly enjoyed his verbal sparring and was probably feeling refreshed, pushed back his chair, got up, and quickly made his way out.

Bai Zheli, caught red-handed slacking off during the meeting, followed closely behind, too afraid to ask for his notebook back.

Li Shao walked last.

When Jiang Chen came to his senses, only he and his girlfriend remained in the conference room.

Even if it seems impossible to find any arguments to refute it, at the very least, we are currently in the "youth stage".

They should be young people.

Take another step back.

No matter how long a person lives, can they still avoid death?

Since death is an inevitable end, why be overly anxious?

Live in the moment and cherish what you have.

—A clear conscience.

This is Mr. Jiang's adaptability; his mentality is abnormally strong, which is outrageous.

He then pushed the confiscated notebook toward his girlfriend, asking, "Xiao Bai's dating?"

Li Shurui didn't answer, and didn't even look at her notebook. She stared straight ahead at the wall of the conference room.

"Come with me to the hospital."

The exceptionally determined Boss Jiang frowned slightly, a sudden, inexplicable sense of unease washing over him.

"What's wrong? Are you sick?"

Li Shurui stood up without saying a word, picked up her bag, and walked out.

The person's brow furrowed even more. (End of Chapter)