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“Your Highness truly has a keen eye; I truly cannot hide anything.”
Fei Ji and Pang Yukun exchanged glances, their facial wrinkles bunching together with smiles.
Fei Yuer, who had been trying on clothes for him with Lu Luo, Ziyuan, and Xiao Huan, saw this and walked past Xiao Ming to another area, temporarily avoiding suspicion.
Fei Ji glanced at Fei Yuer, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. In formal settings, the harem was not to participate in government affairs. She was about to become empress and should remember this point even more.
After the four had left, Fei Ji said loudly, “Your Highness, among those who accompanied me to Qingzhou this time are also the powerful families from the thirteen prefectures. They are currently staying in the inns of Qingzhou City, eager to come and congratulate Your Highness.”
“The powerful families of the thirteen prefectures?” Xiao Ming frowned. He still remembered the events of four years ago vividly, so he remained wary of the powerful families.
However, he also understood that killing them all was impossible. After all, the powerful families of the Great Yu Empire had existed for over a thousand years, and each powerful family represented a local clan force.
The former Wang family of Qingzhou alone had over 20,000 clan members, and the Wang family was merely a small fry compared to the powerful families in Wei. When he dealt with the Wang family, he only punished the ringleaders.
He then dismantled and distributed the other members of the Wang family throughout the state, thus completely dissolving the powerful families of the six prefectures.
Fei Ji keenly perceived the change in Xiao Ming’s expression. He said, “Your Highness, now the thirteen prefectures have basically restored order, and local taxes are collected as usual. This is all thanks to the support of these powerful families.” Fei Ji explained.
Xiao Ming nodded, his expression suddenly relaxing. He said, “Elder Fei Ji, do not worry. Since I have already issued a new decree, it will naturally not change.”
Xiao Ming’s purpose in taking Wei was for tax revenue. Otherwise, his occupation of Wei would be tantamount to America’s occupation of Iraq, consuming enormous resources, and the Dengzhou army of the Southern Expeditionary Force would be dragged into a prolonged quagmire of suppressing rebellions in Wei, which would undoubtedly be a disaster for him.
After all, the Great Yu Empire was not a modern society. If the powerful families hid in the deep mountains and old forests, they would not be so easy to find. In such a case, a chaotic Wei, without taxes, would not only bring him no benefit but would be a burden.
Initially, he simply believed that force could solve everything, but the various intelligence reports collected by Li San from the thirteen prefectures gradually made him realize that this was merely his wishful thinking.
Li San’s intelligence mentioned that many villages in Wei were based on clan surnames, with hundreds or even thousands of people in a single village sharing the same surname.
During this period, his production teams had been established, but the captains chosen by the common people in the villages were still those with high prestige in the village.
This intelligence differed from the situation in Qingzhou. The reason for this difference was that the powerful families in Qingzhou at that time were already very weak due to repeated barbarian invasions. Powerful family members with some property had all hidden in fortified villages and prefectures, while the impoverished common people had no choice but to remain in their villages.
It was then that he realized that governing a large country was like cooking a small fish: the heat had to be controlled just right, otherwise, too much or too little heat would only create a mess.
“I am now at ease. Your Highness, in fact, for the powerful families and gentry, they don’t care who rules them. For them, as long as their interests can be protected, it is enough. Now that Your Highness and the powerful families of Wei are at peace, this news will reduce the difficulty of Your Highness conquering the world when it spreads to other places.”
Pang Yukun agreed deeply. He said, “Your Highness, Elder Fei Ji’s words are absolutely right. It is precisely for this reason that dynasties change, and these powerful families still live carefree lives.”
“Chief Grand Secretary Pang, is that a compliment to their shrewdness, or a sarcasm towards their selfishness?” Pang Yukun’s words were a double entendre, and Xiao Ming couldn’t help but laugh.
“Your Highness, this is merely my rambling,” Pang Yukun sighed. His mood was as complicated as Xiao Ming’s now.
With the powerful families of the six prefectures wiped out, he had handled government affairs smoothly for the past four years, no longer having to deal with some powerful families. But now that Wei was added, he had to meet the people he hated again.
Xiao Ming naturally understood Pang Yukun’s feelings, but if he were to carry out a full-scale massacre against the powerful families in the thirteen prefectures, the population of Wei would probably decrease by one-third.
And during his massacre of the powerful families, these desperate powerful families would surely slaughter the common people, and at that time, that number would continue to rise.
If he were to continue killing throughout the Great Yu Empire, the entire country might experience a loss of two-thirds of its population, similar to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty or the early Tang Dynasty after the fall of the Sui Dynasty.
And he could not bear this cost, because the West had risen. At that time, his state would inevitably suffer heavy military losses, which would not give foreign tribes an opportunity to invade?
Therefore, in the end, he chose the method of first compromising and then governing. Firstly, disarming the powerful families, and then completely dismantling the powerful families’ monopoly on educational resources through popular education.
As long as the common people at the bottom had a channel to rise to the court, the powerful families would not be able to control the court. This was the same principle as Li Shimin’s implementation of the imperial examination system.
“Even if you have emotions now, you must endure them for me. Now, I must consider the overall situation, not just the six prefectures,” Xiao Ming reminded Pang Yukun, lest he revert to his old bad temper.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Pang Yukun nodded in response.
Fei Ji’s expression showed relief at this moment. He said, “Your Highness, these powerful families have all arrived in Qingzhou. Should Your Highness take some time to meet them?”
“Meet them, of course, I must meet them, and grandly at that. Otherwise, how can I put their minds at ease?” Xiao Ming said solemnly.
As Xiao Ming put on his dragon robes, his state of mind changed. He was now thinking about how to govern this country, how to lead this ravaged country to stand shoulder to shoulder with, and even surpass, the Western powers.
For him, this was an arduous task. Although he possessed advanced technology, he could not control the hearts of every individual.
Besides the worry of being surrounded by wolves, he was also nervously anticipating the consequences that universal education would bring. The common people would no longer be ignorant, which would mean they would actively participate in politics.
At that time, whether his imperial power would be challenged by Western democratic politics would be an unknown. Although he understood this, he could not stop.
Because this was a contradictory problem: to lead the Great Yu Empire towards a modern state, the people’s minds had to be opened. Conversely, continuing to keep the people ignorant would mean remaining in a feudal dynasty.
Sometimes Xiao Ming would ask himself if he could let go of the power in his hands and choose to compromise. His answer was no.
He had to admit that power was an addictive thing. Although he possessed immense knowledge, he was still not exempt from human nature, and he knew deeply that once he relinquished power, his fate would either be death or imprisonment. This was inevitable.
Having painstakingly lived a second life, he would not be so foolish. He had to be an emperor for life.