Taiheiki

Chapter 312 Change
"Drag this bastard to the side!" Shen Huan waved his hand and walked up to the man whose face was covered in blood. "Tell me quickly, where did Yuan Gonglu and Wu Jing go? Tell me and I'll give you a reward right away!"

“Wu Jing doesn’t know!” the man, his face covered in blood, said. “He hasn’t been to the camp for several days. As for the master,” he paused slightly, then pointed to a house not far away, “he’s in there!”

"Inside the house?" Shen Huan was taken aback.

"Yes, it's under the bed!"

Shen Huan made a gesture, and several soldiers entered the house. A moment later, they carried out a person, or rather, a corpse. He was dressed in a brocade robe and wore a jade crown. A crossbow bolt had entered his right eye and pierced the back of his head; he was already dead.

"Invite the county magistrate here and let him identify whether this person is Yuan Shu!" Shen Huan said.

A moment later, the county constable was summoned. When he saw the corpse on the ground, his face immediately turned pale.

“That’s right, it’s Yuan Gonglu!” He nodded.

"Are you sure? This needs to be reported to the General. We absolutely cannot afford to make any mistakes!"

“There’s no mistake!” The county magistrate sighed. “If you don’t believe me, you can transport it back to the city first. The Yuan family is a prominent family in Runan, and many local scholars know Yuan Gonglu!”

"Hmm!" Shen Huan nodded: "Someone, take this body back to the city and guard it carefully. Make sure nothing goes wrong on the way!"

————————————————————————

Luoyang, the General's Mansion.

"The mastermind behind this was Yuan Gonglu, and he and his followers have been wiped out by the county troops, and their heads have been presented!" Upon seeing this, Wei Cong's gaze stopped and turned to the white wooden box next to him, which clearly contained Yuan Shu's head.

"Sigh, another one gone!" Wei Cong put down the letter in his hand, stood up, walked to the wooden box, and casually opened the lid. The head inside had a strange look of bewilderment on its face. He sighed and closed the lid again: "Take it back to the manor and deliver it to Madam. Tell her that this is the chief culprit in Ah Xuan's murder!"

"Here!"

Wei Cong walked to the window and looked at the courtyard. Two guards stood at the gate, motionless, like wooden statues. Butterflies and bees fluttered among the flowers, and two maids were whispering under the shade of a tree. It was a quiet and peaceful scene, and for a moment he couldn't help but feel a little dazed.

"By now, the two Yuan brothers are dead, the Taiping Dao and the eunuchs have been eliminated, and the disaster of the partisan purge is unlikely to happen again. The emperor is still learning to walk. As for the imperial relatives? It seems I am one of them. The Qiang and Wuling barbarians are no longer a threat, at least for the time being. Only the Xianbei in the north remain, but they are not a big problem. Even if I do nothing, Tan Shihuai should not live for more than a few years. Once he dies, the Xianbei will fall into a state of fragmentation again, and then they will be easier to deal with. Unknowingly, I have eliminated several of the biggest factors in the collapse of the Eastern Han Empire in history. Will the world be at peace then?"

"of course not!"

Wei Cong himself provided the answer: unlike the later unified dynasties of Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing, a full four hundred years passed between the fall of the Han Empire and the Sui Dynasty's reunification of the North and South. Although there were brief periods of unification during this time, the empire quickly descended into greater civil war and division (the War of the Eight Princes, the Five Barbarian Invasions, and the Yongjia Rebellion). While there were subsequent attempts by wise and courageous individuals to reunify the country, they all failed time and again. It wasn't until September of the tenth year of the Kaihuang era (590 AD) that Emperor Wen of Sui dispatched envoys, including Wei Guang, to pacify Lingnan. Lady Xian led the people to welcome the Sui envoys, and all the prefectures of Lingnan became Sui territory, thus re-establishing a new unified empire—a full four centuries after the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Four hundred years, if we consider twenty years as a generation, that's a full twenty generations. Such a long period of time is enough for people to regard the unification of the Han Dynasty as a temporary accident, and the four hundred years of war and division as the norm. In a sense, they are right. After four hundred years of unification under the Han Dynasty, the economic and social foundations of the empire had undergone tremendous changes, and the original superstructure was no longer suitable.

Therefore, the collapse of a unified empire is inevitable. Before a new and suitable method is found, the empire cannot be rebuilt. It is like building a house on swampy land. No matter how beautiful your house is, it will only collapse until you find a suitable way to lay the foundation.

Wei Cong certainly knew what the Sui and Tang empires were built on—the land equalization system, the tax system, the military system, the civil service examination system, and so on. But no system is written on paper or bamboo slips; rather, it is a living contract reached by various social classes after full negotiation.

Take the Fubing system as an example. Yuwentai was able to establish the Fubing system under the following premises: Since the end of the Han Dynasty, the constant warfare following the entry of the Xiongnu, Qiang, and other ethnic groups into Guanzhong led to the emergence of a large number of local militias and heroes of mixed Han and non-Han ethnicities. After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty reformed, Han noble families and Xianbei nobles who migrated south monopolized power through intermarriage, depriving these powerful local heroes of their upward mobility. When the Wuchuan group, led by Yuwentai, fought against the Eastern Wei led by Gao Huan, in order to strengthen their own power, they brought the powerful local heroes of Guanzhong into the system by offering them official positions. This is the true nature of the Fubing system.

The existing recommendation system of the Han Dynasty still existed. Unlike the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was no monopolistic selection process based on surnames to distinguish between good and bad people. There were no powerful figures like those with numerous fortified villages who could muster thousands or even tens of thousands of armored soldiers and force the court to grant them governorships in their hometowns. In this context, implementing a military system based on local militias would have been futile. The imperial examination system was even more ridiculous. Papermaking was just beginning in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and most books existed in bamboo slips. Knowledge was almost entirely monopolized by powerful families. Under such circumstances, continuing with the recommendation system would have been far more effective than implementing the imperial examination system!
Therefore, simply copying conclusions is useless. History is not an exam where you can just memorize the correct answers and fill in the blanks. These answers are effective because they were forged over four hundred years through repeated failures, countless acts of bloodshed, and tears. If you tell everyone the answers without going through all of this, you will only be met with disdain.

Therefore, Wei Cong had no interest in political reforms. Everything he did was within the existing political spectrum: bestowing titles and lands upon meritorious soldiers, engaging in overseas trade to line his own pockets, forming a marriage alliance with the Dou family, building granaries, constructing docks and pontoon bridges, and so on. In the eyes of people at the time, Wei Cong was not much different from Dou Xian, Liang Shang, and Liang Ji of the past—all powerful ministers who seized power while the emperor was young: capable, self-serving, and somewhat outrageous in their actions, but still far better than Liang Ji. At least Wei Cong's appetite wasn't as great, and he didn't poison the emperor. If there was any difference, it was that Wei Cong was too concerned with trivial matters, but these weren't particularly important.

The scholars were quite experienced with these kinds of powerful ministers; they just dealt with them as they pleased. They figured that once the emperor reached the age to rule in his own right, a new generation of officials would naturally take over. There was no need to fight them now; if they really ousted Wei Cong, the emperor was still young, so who would take charge of the government?

Therefore, Wei Cong is currently in a position that all time travelers dream of—holding the highest power in the empire. As long as he doesn't loudly proclaim any reforms, he can practically do whatever he wants. But Wei Cong has no interest in any reforms—power that can be granted isn't real power. Rather than following Wang Mang's example by issuing decrees banning land sales and freeing slaves, only to cause economic collapse and turn the entire country into an enemy, it's better to accept the established facts and do what he can. For example, he could encourage immigration to the south, where there are vast tracts of land to be developed, promote new shipping technologies and agricultural varieties, and leverage the enormous productivity and the advantage of having political power to continuously strengthen his military and political group. Playing the game of slowly boiling a frog would greatly increase his chances of victory.

"General!" "What is it?" Wei Cong, interrupted from his thoughts, turned around. Meng Gaogong said in a deep voice, "Liu He is waiting outside!"

"Liu He? Hmm!" Wei Cong nodded. "Let him in!"

The room was silent. Liu He held his breath and stood at the doorway. He saw the general sitting behind his desk, flipping through a document. On the desk in front of him were several thick stacks of documents awaiting his review. This great general, who was renowned throughout the land, was now like an ordinary clerk. Thinking of this, Liu He subconsciously shifted his body, his sword bumping against his jade pendant, making a sound.

"You've arrived!" Wei Cong looked up. "Come in and let's talk!"

"This humble servant greets the Great General!" Liu He lowered his head, hurried in with small steps, and then knelt down to pay his respects. He could feel his face burning: "Please forgive my rudeness just now!"

"Sit down and let's talk!" Wei Cong put down the documents and pointed to the cushion to his right: "You've been in the manor for a while now, how are you feeling?"

"This—" Liu He was stunned. He had been in Luoyang with Wei Cong for about a month, and his main task during that time had been reading—or rather, reading materials, a vast amount, countless materials. He realized for the first time how ignorant he was. When he asked his senior what his job was, his senior always said: "Read books first, otherwise you won't be able to do anything the General asks you to do well."

Could this general have read all these documents? This thought flashed through Liu He's mind at that moment.

After spending more than a month in the library, Liu He finally received the long-awaited summons. Was he ready? Liu He had no answer.

"You also have the surname Liu, are you a member of the imperial clan?"

Liu He was taken aback, but replied familiarly, "Replying to the General, I am a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan and Emperor Jing of Han. Although I am a member of the imperial clan, I am from a distant branch!"

"A descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan?" Wei Cong's expression was somewhat strange. "Are you from Zhuojun in Youzhou?"

"No, I am from Yanzhou! Why does the General ask such a question?"

"It's nothing!" Wei Cong chuckled dryly. "I have a friend who is also a descendant of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, but he's from Zhuojun in Youzhou!"

"I see!" Liu He laughed. "General, you may not know this, but Prince Jing of Zhongshan was fond of wine and women and had 120 descendants. Over the years, the number has increased even more. Although you and my esteemed friend share the same ancestor, we are quite different!"

"One hundred and twenty people?" Wei Cong was startled and decided not to ask about the other party's ancestors anymore: "The day I dismissed you from your post as county magistrate and asked you to come back to Luoyang with me, besides not wanting you to be framed because you offended your superiors and colleagues, there was another reason: because you are a useful talent!"

"General, you flatter me!" Liu He lowered his head. "I am but a mediocre man and do not deserve your praise!"

"I'm speaking from the heart. After all, out of so many people that day, you were the only one who stood up to warn me that the people's strength was insufficient!" Wei Cong smiled. "To put it boldly, when it comes to vision and talent, no one in this world can match me. What I'm going to do will definitely be a great achievement for generations to come. The only concern is that if I go too far, the people won't be able to stand it and will rise up in rebellion. In the end, I'll bear the infamy, and all the benefits will go to future generations. That won't do!"

"This—" Liu He was at a loss for words after hearing Wei Cong's boastful words, and could only laugh awkwardly twice.

“That’s why people like you are especially valuable to me!” Wei Cong laughed. “You don’t disregard the lives of ordinary people just to please me. Your superiors and colleagues are different. If I asked them to finish it in five years, they would probably push it down from one level to the next and finish it in two years. How could the people stand that?”

Wei Cong's words were indeed heartfelt. History is full of people who have ruined good things, the most famous being Emperor Yang of Sui, arguably the greatest spendthrift emperor of all time. Among the emperors who lost their kingdoms throughout history, Emperor Yang of Sui had the most abundant resources when he ascended the throne. So abundant were the resources he had for over a decade to build the Grand Canal, construct the Eastern Capital, and wage war against Goguryeo. Even after the civil war ended and the Tang Dynasty was established, in the 23rd year of the Zhenguan era, there were still Sui Dynasty grain reserves in the Hanjia Granary in Luoyang, used for disaster relief.

But this deposed emperor wasn't entirely without vision. Several of his initiatives, such as building the eastern capital Luoyang, constructing the Grand Canal, and conquering Goguryeo, were remarkably farsighted. The construction of the Grand Canal was even considered comparable to the legendary Yu the Great. However, even with a correct direction, Emperor Yang of Sui couldn't overcome his overambitious pace—he went too far. He attempted to accomplish in just over a decade what others took generations to achieve, a task that even the most patient and tolerant people of the Sui Dynasty couldn't endure.

As a time traveler, Wei Cong was confident in his strategies, but he had little confidence in the quality of his feudal officials. He wasn't afraid of his subordinates delaying or slacking off; he could simply replace them. What he feared was that his subordinates would work too hard, pushing the people to the brink of death and triggering another Yellow Turban Rebellion.

"I am deeply grateful for the General's kindness!" Liu He quickly lowered his head.

"You don't need to flatter me!" Wei Cong smiled. "There are too many people flattering me now, I don't need another one. How about this: go back to the old place and take another look at the granary construction project. Find out the manpower and resources needed and give me a number!"

(End of this chapter)