Do you know: I am Qi Heng

樊楼

Qi Heng ordered wine and dishes, and after the waiter left, he looked at the sullen Su Shi and said, "I can actually understand Brother Zizhan's state of mind to some extent!"

Upon hearing this, Su Shi looked up at Qi Heng. He felt distressed, but his father did not understand.

"Even if you don't kill Bo Ren, he will die because of you. Those are still precious lives, and his family will be devastated," Qi Heng continued.

"Yuanruo understands me!"

Su Shi was extremely excited.

But I think you're overthinking it!

Qi Heng said solemnly, "The only connection between this matter and you is that Guan Po shop used you as a gambler, and you neither agreed nor received any benefit from it."

Those people gambled of their own accord, so they have to bear the consequences themselves.

"But…"

"But their family is devastated, their lives will be miserable from now on, right?"

Qi Heng interrupted him, coldly saying, "But I think those families with gambling addicts are better off dead than alive!"

There are many people in this world who deserve pity. No matter how miserable their lives are, it is all caused by human actions.

Who will pity those families whose misfortunes are not caused by human error, yet whose lives are far more tragic than theirs?

Su Shi opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

"Brother Zizhan has traveled and studied, and has witnessed the suffering of the people firsthand. I thought you would be more moved by it."

Qi Heng raised his voice slightly, saying, "If you have this kind of mentality, you'd be better off not being an official, otherwise you'll only harm others!"

"Yuan Ruo!"

Sheng Changbai tugged at Qi Heng. Although he felt that Qi Heng's words were not a problem, they were a bit too provocative.

"I'm going to say it!"

Qi Heng looked at Su Shi and said, "Zizhan, let me ask you, if you were a county magistrate and encountered a flood, and you breached the dikes to release water, would some people downstream be flooded and some die or be injured?"

But if the dam isn't breached, and the floodwaters break through it on their own, even more people will die or be injured. What would you choose?

"I will send people to evacuate the people first!" Su Shi said without hesitation.

"What if there's not enough time?"

Qi Heng asked, "There's no time for you to evacuate the people; we need to make a decision quickly. And who else but you can make this decision?"

"I…"

Su Shi remained silent for a long time, reason telling him that if this were the time, breaching the dike would be the best option.

But the thought of many people downstream dying tragically because of his orders made it impossible for him to speak out.

Qi Heng sighed, "Human lives cannot be measured by quantity, but sometimes we have no choice but to make a decision."

Others may hesitate and argue, but you are the leader, holding the power of decision. You have no time to hesitate and must weigh the pros and cons.

It is said that a kind heart cannot command an army, but in my opinion, the same applies to governing a region.

When you govern a region, it's often impossible to do things in a way that benefits everyone. When faced with such situations, would you still act the same way?

Su Shi remained silent for a long time, then rose and bowed deeply: "Yuanruo, I have learned much!"

"Do you really understand?" Qi Heng asked in return.

"Um!"

Su Shi nodded and said, "I will write an article tomorrow vehemently denouncing this matter!"

Qi Heng looked pleased upon hearing this and laughed, "In that case, my efforts haven't been in vain!"

He didn't mention the matter again. When the food and wine were served, Sheng Changbai drank with Su Shi and his brother, while he, due to his age, could only drink tea as company.

More than an hour later, Sheng Changbai and the others were all drunk. Qi Heng didn't pay the bill, but helped their attendants to get them into the carriage.

Then he went home to sleep.

……

The next day, Su Shi woke up and only after washing up did he fully recover from his hangover.

He skipped breakfast, prepared his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and wrote a thousand-word essay in half an hour.

After greeting his father, he and his entourage arrived at a nearby study. After revealing his identity, he met the owner of the study.

"Master Su!"

The owner of the bookstore was very enthusiastic when he saw Su Shi. After Su Shi became famous, some bookstores in Bianjing reacted quickly and published a collection of his articles, making a fortune.

Although Su Shi did not perform well in the imperial examination and suffered some criticism, his articles were already very popular.

"I have written a new article and would like to submit it to your esteemed study for publication free of charge!" Su Shi said.

Upon hearing this, the shop owner's eyes lit up. At this time, there was no such thing as paying for manuscripts. Not to mention Su Shi, even if Confucius were to be resurrected, the shop could print his articles and books whenever it wanted without paying.

However, if a celebrity's work is very popular, it is acceptable to discuss it at a private study.

After all, there's no worry about sales; printing first gives you a head start.

It wasn't that no one had approached Su Shi before, but he had refused them all.

Su Shi gave the essay to the owner of the study who agreed.

"Great, excellent! Your handwriting is beautiful, but your writing is even better!"

The owner of the study glanced at the beginning and couldn't help but praise it, then said with some regret, "It's just that this article is too short. I wonder if Master Su has any other articles?"

"No, only this one!"

Su Shi said, "But as long as this collaboration is successful, I can submit any of my future articles to your esteemed studio for publication!"

"Don't worry, I will definitely publish it as soon as possible so that Su Guanren's articles can be spread throughout Bianjing!" The shop owner assured him immediately after hearing this.

It's unrealistic to expect to make a lot of money from an article; he only saw it as an opportunity to improve his relationship with Su Shi.

After seeing Su Shi off, he took his writings to a book printing workshop and had woodblocks made for printing.

This is where the advantage of a shorter article becomes apparent, as it simplifies the process of creating the printing plate.

In just seven or eight days, he printed over a thousand copies. He then found some idle people and had them take the printed articles and sell them on the streets and alleys.

Although Su Shi's reputation was damaged because of his performance in the imperial examination, that was only in the mouths of scholars.

They were just jealous and then took advantage of the situation.

However, there is one group in which Su Shi's reputation has not been damaged.

This group consisted of the daughters of officials and wealthy families.

Su Shi also had many female fans, but these female fans rarely showed themselves in public and did not attend banquets and gatherings of scholars like the men did.

They could freely express their opinions and views, but they couldn't stand up and speak for Su Shi.

However, their admiration for Su Shi's writings remained unchanged.

These articles quickly sold out, and the bookstore owner, upon learning of this, ordered more to be printed.

As Su Shi's article spread, those who read it were all furious.

Su Shi's article did not use any fancy words; it simply described the rampant gambling among the people during the reigns of Emperors Taizu and Taizong.

At the beginning of the Great Zhou Dynasty, gambling was very popular among the people. So much so that vegetable sellers stopped selling vegetables properly and started using them for gambling.

The vegetable vendor raises the price of the vegetables, and customers can gamble with the vendor; if they win, they can take the vegetables away without paying.

However, if you lose, you have to buy the vegetables at a price higher than the market price.

Even vegetable vendors were involved, which shows how prevalent gambling was at the time.

Even with strict prohibitions from the imperial court, it was still impossible to stop it.

If the imperial court forbids it, then gambling is done in private; vegetable sellers and buyers gamble directly in their sleeves.

Seeing that prohibition was ineffective, the imperial court had no choice but to settle for a less desirable solution: banning gambling at ordinary times, but allowing exceptions on certain holidays.