Taiheiki

Chapter 352 Miracle
"General, you've arrived!" Kuai Sheng hurried forward, taking quick steps and bowing slightly: "May we announce the start?"

Wei Cong looked down at the plaza, his eyes squinting in the sunlight: "The sun is already so high, I'm late, you should have started the performance earlier!"

"That won't do!" Kuai Sheng laughed. "How can we start the banquet before the host has even arrived?"

"Alright!" Wei Cong smiled helplessly, "There's just too much to do, so I left a little late today! Let them get started!"

"Yes, sir!" Kuai Sheng bowed to Wei Cong's back, then turned and waved towards the entrance of the square. A loud horn sounded, and with it, a hundred armored knights entered the square, advancing in four columns. Behind the knights were foot soldiers, war elephants, and chariots. Behind the chariots were hundreds of men in strange costumes—nobles from the Funan Kingdom, who had come to Luoyang to express their gratitude to the General for his rescue. The spectators in the square's stands erupted in a noisy clamor, commenting on these barbarians from afar. At this moment, they seemed to have forgotten their previous grievances, reveling in the empire's greatness and glory.

"Don't you think it's too vain to spend so much money on such a grand spectacle?" Dou Yun complained somewhat discontentedly as soon as Wei Cong sat down.

"We're just ordinary people, a little vanity isn't a big deal!" Wei Cong said calmly, looking at the convoy passing by the stands below. The large murals above depicted a map of the newly occupied Funan Kingdom: fertile soil, three harvests of rice a year, massive ships, salt fields, coconut groves, and farms. Clearly, his attention wasn't on his wife beside him, which only fueled Dou Yun's anger.

"I have no idea what you're up to!" Dou Yun's face flushed slightly. "But this can't go on. You haven't returned home for half a month, and every time I ask, it's something. Don't forget, I'm your legal wife—"

"So what?" Wei Cong turned around: "Ayun, you know very well why our marriage happened. Where have I wronged your Dou family? Did I not spend enough money on cosmetics? Without me, would you have the status you have today? What you have gained is unimaginable for ordinary couples, so naturally you can't live like an ordinary couple."

Dou Yun opened her mouth, about to say something, when she was drowned out by a loud blare. She then saw her husband stand up and walk onto the stands a short distance away. A deafening roar of cheers erupted from the surrounding stands. Wei Cong raised his hands and gently pressed them down, gradually calming the cheers.

"Citizens of Luoyang, students of the Imperial Academy, officials, merchants from all directions, and students of the Imperial Academy! Today, I will hold a performance here to thank the gods for their protection of the Han Dynasty and to celebrate the great victory we have just achieved in the south. This victory will bring prosperity, stability, and wealth to the nation. And every one of you will benefit from it!"

"Perhaps you think this is just empty talk—the Han Dynasty has won countless victories, but only a small portion of these victories have brought prosperity, stability, and wealth to the country, and even those few have hardly benefited everyone. Now I will show you with facts that what I say is not empty talk!"

"Everyone knows that the Han Dynasty today is incomparable to the reigns of Emperors Wen, Jing, Xiao, Xuan, and Ming. The national treasury is empty, and the people are exhausted. The root of all this is that many people do not own their own land. They are forced to become slaves to others to make a living. If they do not even have the opportunity to become slaves, they can only become refugees, beg, wander in the mountains, or even become thieves. As the sage said, 'If there is fat meat in the kitchen and fat horses in the stable, but starving corpses in the fields, this is like leading beasts to devour people!' Unfortunately, this is indeed the case in many parts of the Han Dynasty today! All of this should be changed, and it must be changed!"

"But I do not intend to take property from the rich to compensate the poor. First, it is very unfair. The rich have inherited their wealth from their parents or earned it through their own efforts or luck. Wealth is not a sin, and taking the property of innocent people is an unjust act. Second, doing so would set a bad precedent and corrupt public morals. The rich who have their property taken away will hate the poor who receive compensation, and the poor who receive compensation will also harm the rich who have their wealth taken away out of fear of having their possessions taken back. The country will be torn apart, and no one will benefit from it!"

"Therefore, I intend to distribute the newly acquired land in the south to those displaced people who have lost their land, so that they may work hard on it, build their own livelihoods, and become good citizens of the Han Dynasty. Some may say that it is too far away, and there is miasma there, and that the displaced people have nothing and simply cannot afford to travel to such a distant place. This may have been a problem in the past, but it is no longer so. Seafarers departing from Longbian in Jiaozhi can reach Panyu in fifteen days, and from Panyu it can reach Guangling in just nineteen days. There is no need to cross mountains and rivers, and there is no need to worry about bandits along the way. Just come to the dock, board the ship, and you will reach that land of hope in a month. Everyone can receive a piece of land according to their rank, and the government will provide interest-free loans to purchase seeds, farming tools, and oxen. Land that can yield three harvests of rice a year awaits you in the south!"

Wei Cong's speech elicited extremely loud cheers, almost turning the entire square upside down. He smiled broadly and waved repeatedly in all directions until the cheers gradually subsided, at which point he stepped down from the podium and returned to his seat.

"You're still such a good liar! Getting free land just by boarding a boat, lending money to those poor people to buy seeds and oxen without interest—it all sounds so real!" Dou Yun revealed a mocking smile.

“You can take all of this as a lie!” Wei Cong took a sip of water from the attendant beside him. “Anyway, this won’t interfere with your enjoyment, will it?”

"Are you really going to do this?" Dou Yun was taken aback. Although Wei Cong was cold to her, they had been husband and wife for so long, and she knew this man much better than others. She grabbed her husband's hand: "Are you crazy? This kind of thing can easily offend everyone. You'll ruin yourself!"

"I didn't expect you to care about me so much!" Wei Cong smiled and pulled his hand back from his wife's. "Actually, you don't need to be so surprised. I've been doing this all along, but before it was limited to the soldiers serving me, so the scope was relatively small. Now I have enough land to distribute, and enough money and power to expand it. This can extend the life of the Han Dynasty by two hundred years, so why are you so nervous!"

"Because I don't want you to die, I don't want to be a widow!" Dou Yun roared, only realizing her face was covered in tears as soon as the words left her mouth. The people around her were staring at her in shock—no, it should be said that she and Wei Cong were the ones who were staring at her in shock.

Wei Cong waved his hand, and his followers surrounded him, shielding him from the gazes around them. "I'm not that easy to kill!" He smiled, a touch of warmth that had been absent from his face for a long time appearing on his lips. "Many people want me dead, but I've survived. Besides, I have many loyal subordinates, and my treasury is quite full! Enough to support my army!"

"These are completely different things, you don't understand at all!" Dou Yun shook her head irritably: "Do you think that as long as you don't touch the wealth of those rich people, they won't object to you? You're too naive!"

"Naive?" Wei Cong laughed. "This is the first time I've heard anyone describe me like that!" "What do you think the rich people's property is? Land? No, none of that. It's people, the people in the hands of the rich. Without people, without those who labor for them, serve them, what use is land? Are they supposed to cultivate, harvest, and weave themselves? You're utterly ridiculous!"

Wei Cong's smile vanished as he realized he might have underestimated his wife: "But I'm only allocating land to the refugees; it won't affect their slaves!"

"How many servants do you have?" Dou Yun sneered. "Have you forgotten? How many servants can one person have at most? Two hundred or four hundred? And servants have to pay double the poll tax. What rich man would be foolish enough to have a bunch of servants to pay taxes? What if the court orders the liberation of servants? Wouldn't he lose everything? Relatives, guests, retainers—whatever you call them, as long as they're given food, there are as many people as you can get. But if you do this, how many people will be willing to work hard for others?"

Wei Cong remained silent for a long time, his expression somber. Finally, he asked, "How do you know all this?"

"How would I know?" Dou Yun laughed in anger. "I come from the Dou family of Fufeng. I've been watching how the family manor is managed since I was born. How could I not know these things?"

Wei Cong was speechless. Compared to Dou Yun, his knowledge was naturally much broader, but he had never diligently managed his own estate in his life. As a result, he had an unknowing blind spot in his knowledge. He thought that as long as he didn't touch the property of the rich, he could use the newly conquered lands to settle the massive number of refugees from the late Han Dynasty and prolong the life of the empire. But it seemed that he was still being somewhat wishful.

Seeing her husband's gloomy and tired face, Dou Yun suddenly felt her heart soften. She snorted coldly, "Fine, this matter isn't difficult to handle. Go to the palace and see your sister, and have her find a reason to issue an edict to overturn your proposal. Wouldn't that solve the problem? Anyway, there have been many generals and emperors who have said they would distribute land to refugees, but none of them actually did it. It won't make a difference if you're one more!"

“No way!” Wei Cong shook his head. “I’m definitely going to do this, even if it makes me the enemy of the world!” He paused for a moment. “But what you said makes sense. Pushing it rashly will make too many enemies. How about this: transport only 10,000 people in the first year, and then increase it every year. I think this will be much better than boiling a frog in water slowly!”

"Boiling a frog in lukewarm water?" Dou Yun shook her head and sighed, "Your analogy is quite good. But I still don't understand why you insist on making things difficult for yourself. You say you want to extend the life of the Han Dynasty by two hundred years, but do you know that the students of the Imperial Academy in the capital and the scholars of Ru and Ying regard you as a usurper? You are not from our Dou clan. Our Fufeng Dou clan can be said to have enjoyed the Han Dynasty's bounty for two hundred years. Everything you have is of your own making. What benefits have you received from the Han Dynasty?"

“You don’t understand!” Wei Cong said, “If I do nothing, things might be alright while I’m alive, but after I die—” He sighed, stood up, and said, “You continue watching the performance, I’m going back now!” With that, he hurriedly left.

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"Did you see that? The General has left. Has something important happened?" Bian Rang said in a low voice.

Liu Yan cautiously turned around to confirm Wei Cong's departing figure, then shook his head: "I don't know. To be honest, he has just too many things to do. When I went to the General's Mansion to report something to him earlier, within the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, three or four people came in to ask him for instructions, yet he remained completely calm. To be honest, regardless of his character, if we only consider his talent, he is truly a genius in the world!"

"Wisdom is enough to refute advice, and words are enough to cover up mistakes!" Bian Rang sneered. "Besides, how can one person manage the affairs of the world for long?"

"He is also good at using people; the General's mansion is full of talented people." Liu Yan said, "Take this war in the north for example. He did an excellent job in allocating grain and increasing troop strength. Moreover, I heard that the General has ordered the construction of a seaport in Youzhou, intending to transport grain directly to the seaport in Youzhou by sea instead of transshipping it through Hebei in the future, which will greatly reduce the cost!"

“By sea? You must be joking!” Bian Rang sneered. “The sea is so rough and it’s easy to get lost. If even one out of ten shipments of grain arrives, that would be a good outcome.”

"This isn't the first time this general has done something that others can't. Didn't you just hear him say that he transported refugees to Jiaozhou by sea?"

"You believe everything he says, Uncle?" Bian Rang laughed. "Maybe he wants to throw all the refugees into the sea to feed the fish and get rid of the trouble?"

"If it were someone else saying this, I certainly wouldn't believe it. But if it's him, it's hard to say. After all, isn't this square right beneath our feet a miracle in itself?"

"This—!" Bian Rang was speechless. Just as Liu Yan had said, the enormous building they were in was constructed in a mere six months. Given the technology of the time, building a structure of this scale would have taken at least several years and required the mobilization of countless laborers. Yet Wei Cong had completed it in just six months, reportedly using many unheard-of technologies, such as special cranes and a special powder that, when mixed with water, became like soft mud, but when dried, hardened like stone. If Wei Cong could achieve such miracles, why couldn't he ensure the safe arrival of ships at sea?

(End of this chapter)