A family of loyal martyrs, starting with nine wives to continue the family line.

On the way back to the capital, Prince Kaoshan and Liu Suan traveled together for seven days.

When Xiao Heng threw the wine flask over, Liu Suan did not catch it.

The wine sack landed in his arms and rolled to the side of the saddle.

Liu glanced down, paused for a moment, but ultimately didn't take it.

Xiao Heng chuckled.

"Afraid I'll poison you?"

Liu Suan, wrapped in a fur coat, sat on the other side of the fire without even lifting his eyelids.

"If Your Highness wishes to kill me, you need not use poison."

That's a fair statement. But it's too harsh.

"When Your Highness surrendered Wei Zhao in Golden City, were you truly convinced of his authority?"

Xiao Heng tossed the sliced ​​meat into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then added another piece of firewood to the fire.

Whether you submit or not is not important.

Liu Suan stared at him.

Xiao Heng looked at the fire, his voice low.

"The important thing is that I saw a million righteous soldiers willing to die fighting to capture the city."

The flames leaped upwards, illuminating his white hair.

"That means the Great Wei Dynasty should no longer exist."

Liu Suan's fingers stopped on his knee.

He originally thought Xiao Heng would say that Wei Zhao's military tactics were supernatural, that the Golden City could not be defended, and that the fate of the old Wei dynasty was sealed.

neither.

A million-strong army of rebels were willing to die to capture the city.

This statement carries more weight than any other principle.

Liu remained silent.

Of course he understood what that sentence meant.

People won't rebel unless they can't survive.

Military households wouldn't risk their lives on the city walls unless they were forced to their deaths, like Han Dashan and Zhou Laodao.

The chaos that ensued was not caused by a few rebel kings shouting slogans, but by countless hunger pangs, countless fields being seized, and countless corpses left unclaimed.

Great Wei deserves to die.

On this point, he and Wei Zhao had no disagreement.

But the question is, what happens after the Great Wei Dynasty dies?

Liu Suan lowered his head and brushed away the ashes by the fire, his voice slowing down.

"What I learned at Fangmen Temple was 'The people are the most important, the ruler is the least important.'"

Xiao Heng looked at him without interrupting.

Liu Suan continued, "But is the system Fang Fuyao is currently implementing for Wei Zhao, where the military merit system cultivates new elites while the imperial examination system selects good people?"

"I'd like to see if her ideas can compare to my half of 'The Strategy for All People'."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the guards beside him changed.

Xiao Heng suddenly smiled.

Liu Suan frowned.

"What are you laughing at, Your Highness?"

Xiao Heng kicked the wine bag towards him again.

"I'm laughing at you for still acting like a human being."

Liu Suan's face stiffened.

That's even more hurtful than an insult.

Xiao Heng said, "A truly wicked person wouldn't ask whether the imperial examination could select good people. He would only ask how to burn down the examination hall, how to hang up the heads, and how to make the whole world kneel before him again."

Liu Suan did not respond.

Xiao Heng looked at him and slowly said, "You're afraid Wei Zhao will make a mistake, afraid Bai Yi will make a mistake, afraid Xinwu will become the second Great Wei. You're right to be afraid."

He poked at the fire with the tip of his knife.

"But if you're afraid, then go and see. Go and keep an eye on it. Go and make a fuss. Go and spread your 'Policy for All People' on the imperial desk and let Wei Zhao and Fang Fuyao see it with their own eyes."

Liu squinted.

Xiao Heng continued, "You're hiding in the snowy plains, delivering iron and salt to the old tribes of the grasslands, and sending maps and letters to the former officials of Jingzhou. Do you think this is letting Wei Zhao see the cracks in the defenses?"

He scoffed.

"You're handing a knife to those old fogies like Liu Ruhui, letting them prove your intelligence with the blood of the common people."

Liu Suan's face finally darkened.

That statement hits home really hard.

Xiao Heng, however, seemed oblivious to his expression and continued speaking.

"Ten years of arguing is not as good as one year of seeing."

He looked up at Liu Suan.

"If your half-finished book is really that good, it's not too late to have a fight with Baiyi after you've finished reading the new laws of Wu."

No one spoke by the fire.

Liu Suan stared at Xiao Heng for a long while, then suddenly laughed.

It wasn't a sneer.

It wasn't mockery.

It was a genuine laugh.

The laughter started softly, but then it became uncontrollable, and the shoulders even twitched a couple of times.

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment.

This man has been like a frozen stone since he was brought back.

His sudden laughter is even more frightening than when he's silent.

Liu Suan picked up the wine flask, uncorked it, and took a sip.

The liquor is very strong.

He coughed twice from the choking, and the corners of his eyes were a little red.

"Your Highness."

"Um?"

"You're really not cut out to be a persuader."

Xiao Heng raised an eyebrow.

Liu wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth.

"It sounds awful."

Xiao Heng smiled too.

"As long as it works."

After that night, Liu became more talkative.

not much.

But at least he looks like a living person.

On the fourth day, he asked Xiao Heng why the old army in the northern border was willing to recognize the new military banner.

Xiao Heng only said one sentence.

"Because Xinwu provides food."

Liu Suan was stunned.

Xiao Heng retorted, "Don't overcomplicate things with soldiers. The old Wei dynasty owed them wages for three years, and Lu Song treated the border troops like dogs. Now that the new Wu dynasty has arrived, they'll first pay their wages, then issue pensions, and then give the families of the fallen soldiers their land. Who do you think they'll side with?"

Liu did not refute.

An account is an account.

No matter how great the reasoning, it can't outweigh a bag of grain.

On the fifth day, he asked whether the military merit fields would breed new military households and powerful families.

Xiao Heng answered more directly.

"meeting."

Liu Suan looked up.

Xiao Heng said, "That's why we need laws, land surveys, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and that old dog Li Huai biting people every day. Do you think Wei Zhao doesn't know that?"

Liu Suan fell silent again.

He began to realize that many of the things he had thought about on the snowy plains, Wei Zhao might have thought about as well.

However, Wei Zhao's methods were crude, harsh, and ruthless.

Those who make contributions will be rewarded.

He reached out and chopped.

If there aren't enough rules, add another one.

This is not a country ruled by a sage.

This is forcing the world to behave like humans at knifepoint.

rough.

It can be useful.

On the sixth day, they passed by a post station.

The postmaster recognized the Prince of Kao Shan and knelt down, his face turning pale.

Liu Suan stood to the side and saw the notice for the new military examination posted on the wall.

Classics, Policy Studies, Law, Mathematics, Medicine, and Engineering.

In state and county schools, poor children could enroll based on their household registration.

The exam papers were anonymous.

Anyone who leaks the exam questions will be executed.

Anyone who dares to buy or sell a quota will be executed.

Anyone who dares to use their family background to pressure the examiners will have their official position stripped and their property confiscated.

Liu Suan stared at those few lines of text for a long time.

The postmaster knelt on the ground, secretly watching him, wondering about the background of this gentleman who was being led by the Prince of Kao Shan.

Xiao Heng asked from the side, "What did you figure out?"

Liu Suandao said, "The sword energy is too strong."

Xiao Heng asked, "Not good?"

Liu paused for a moment.

"it is good."

He himself was somewhat surprised when he uttered the word "good".

Because he originally wanted to point out the mistakes.

But those words were pasted on the wall, and next to them stood several boys in tattered clothes, looking up and recognizing each word one by one.

When someone mentioned "engineering," their eyes lit up, and they turned to their companion and asked, "Can you even pass the exam if you can forge iron?"

His companion scolded him, "You should learn to read first."

The group burst into laughter.

Liu Suan suddenly became speechless.

Fang Fuyao, that girl, is truly ruthless.

She didn't want people from poor families to see official positions.

She showed a path to everyone who can do accounting, treat illnesses, build tools, and read laws.

Once this path is successfully established, the powerful families will certainly feel the pain.

It's painful, you deserve it.

On the seventh day at dusk, the city gates of the capital were in sight.

A new military banner with black background and white characters stood on the city tower, and a long procession of carriages and horses lined up at the city gate.

Merchants, soldiers, scholars, and surrendered troops escorting grain carts were all crammed together, yet no one dared to cause trouble.

The city gate officials checked the records according to the register. The process was slow, but the rules were clear.

Liu reined in his horse.

Xiao Heng turned to look at him.

"What? Trying to run away again at the door?"

Liu Suan looked at the city and slowly tightened the reins.

run?

Of course he can still run now.

Before entering the city, slip into the crowd, change your face and clothes, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard might not be able to catch you immediately.

But then?

Should we continue searching for Liu Ruhui?

Should we continue searching for the old comrades from the grasslands?

Are you going to keep using other people's lives to prove you haven't lost?

Forget it.

Too tired.

Liu Suan looked up at Xiao Heng.

"Your Highness, I need a letter from those seven tribal chiefs to persuade them to abandon their plans to march south."

Xiao Heng's gaze froze.

Liu Suandao said, "I cannot let them lose their lives because of my plan."

After saying this, the weight that had been pressing on his heart for seven days finally eased a little.

It's not admitting defeat.

It's not about giving in.

He simply didn't want to push those people further down a path to their deaths.

Xiao Heng looked at him for a moment and nodded.

"I'll write it when I get back to the capital."

The old prince turned his horse around, his voice calm.

"Writing to the people on the grasslands with your pen is more useful than using a knife."