Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 159 Build High Walls, Store Up Grain, and Delay Claiming Kingship (Bonus Chapter for Yong Su's Alliance Leader)

Liu Yisheng's face first flushed red, then turned deathly pale.

His eyes sometimes held fear, sometimes madness.

This change struck Song Yan as odd. Brain congestion? It didn't seem like it.

Just then, Liu Yisheng stood up, bowed to Song Yan, and respectfully said, "Sir, you are very talented. I admire you greatly."

This made Song Yan a little embarrassed, so he waved his hand to indicate that there was no need for such formalities, after all, Liu Yisheng was older than him. After Liu Yisheng sat down again, Song Yan asked again, "In Brother Liu's opinion, if the policy of 'equalizing land tax and poll tax' and requiring gentry to pay taxes together were implemented in Ningguo, could Ningguo avoid the disaster of national subjugation?"

Liu Yisheng lowered his eyelids. He had thought about this question before and already had an answer in his heart, but now he abandoned the answer he had prepared and shook his head: "Impossible."

"Oh?"

"Why?"

“It’s very simple, because Ningguo is already in a state of deep-seated problems that are difficult to reverse.” Liu Yisheng sighed and said slowly, “Although I have not entered the court, I have some understanding of the current situation in Ningguo’s court.”

"The current political situation is roughly divided into four forces."

"First, there are the powerful and influential families, with the Yang family at the head."

"Your Excellency knows better than I how much influence the Yang family has in Ningguo. From the emperor's harem to the county magistrates and assistant magistrates, the Yang family's influence is everywhere. Even if Emperor Ninghe wants to issue a decree, if it is not approved by the Yang family, the decree will not even leave the palace."

"If the eldest prince becomes the crown prince and inherits the throne in the future, the influence of the Yang family will increase again. At that time, the entire Ning Kingdom will probably become a place where the Yang family has absolute power."

Song Yan nodded, not denying it, and gave Liu Yisheng a look, signaling him to continue.

"The second force is the civil official faction led by Bailu Academy and Xilin Academy. Although it is not as powerful as the Yang family, it is numerous and skilled at manipulating public opinion. Its influence on the court should not be underestimated. However, it is not unified internally, and there are constant disputes between the Bailu Party and the Xilin Party."

"The third force can be considered the royalists. The royalists are mainly composed of some aristocratic families and some military merit groups. Among them, the aristocratic families are led by the Fang family and the Cui family. Their goal is to maintain the legitimacy of the royal family and they firmly support the royal family to regain power. But to say that they are truly loyal is not necessarily true. Perhaps it can be said that they are rare commodities."

"After all, the royal family is now in decline. If we support Emperor Ninghe in regaining power at this time, the merit will be no less than that of supporting the emperor. The Fang and Cui families will surely gain countless benefits, and they may become the next Yang family."

"The last force is Emperor Ninghe."

"It's a sad situation, really. He's the emperor, but he has the least say in the Ningguo court."

"However, our Emperor is quite wise. If he were to switch places with Emperor Renzong two generations ago, the situation in Ning Kingdom might not be so dire."

"Although he had little say, Emperor Ninghe was able to seize opportunities and exploit the conflicts between the royalists, the civil service, and the powerful families to increase his influence and install officials loyal to him."

"Although each increase was small and did not arouse the suspicion of powerful families and civil officials, over the course of more than ten years, Emperor Ninghe actually wielded much more power than Emperor Yuanjing."

To be honest, even if Ningguo didn't punish people for their words, talking about an emperor so recklessly was still going too far. But neither Song Yan nor Liu Yisheng cared about such trivial matters.

"This time, taking advantage of the Japanese pirate incident, they eliminated the three county magistrates from the Yang family. Although they were just low-level officials, it can be considered that they had placed their own people in the family."

"She even allowed the eldest princess to command five thousand anti-Japanese soldiers."

"Although the number of troops is not large, this is all that the royal family can directly mobilize without having to compromise with any party."

It was clear that Liu Yisheng respected Luo Yuheng more than he respected Emperor Ninghe.

"Currently, the four factions are fighting each other. But if the land tax system is really implemented and the gentry pay taxes together, the interests of the civil service, the powerful families, the royalists, and all the scholars in the country will be harmed. Emperor Ninghe would never dare to offend all the scholars in the country at such a time, and he is even less willing to create a rift with the royalists."

"Therefore, even though Emperor Ninghe could see the benefits of these two policies, he would absolutely not and dare not implement them."

"It's possible that even Emperor Ninghe himself will... follow in Emperor Yuanjing's footsteps."

"Even if Emperor Ninghe withstands all pressure and forcefully implements the new policies, the opposition from various forces will not be as simple as submitting a memorial to express dissatisfaction. The gentry will unite to resist the new policies, and may even fool the people and incite farmers to storm the county government. This will result in bloodshed, and in some cases, it may even lead to rebellion."

"Emperor Ninghe lacks the power to suppress all sides." "Only the founding emperor, with absolute authority and control of the military, can raise the butcher's knife and slaughter heads until the policies can be implemented."

Song Yan nodded again. To be able to see the drawbacks and dangers in such a short time, his wit and talent were worthy of being called a hidden dragon, a compliment.

"Ningguo is now terminally ill and beyond saving, neither necessary nor possible."

"All that Emperor Ninghe did was to temporarily slow down the demise of the Ning Kingdom."

"The situation is not very clear now, but if it is a few years later, peasant uprisings will likely break out on a large scale, and then the world will be in chaos."

"Relying solely on the five thousand Japanese soldiers under the Princess's command is like a drop in the ocean in the face of this chaos."

Song Yan's eyes were somewhat gloomy: "Sir, you should know that I am about to go to Liaodong to serve as a county magistrate. In your opinion, given this chaotic situation, what should I do?"

Liu Yisheng laughed, and for some reason, that laugh sent chills down Song Yan's spine.

"In my view, this is an opportunity for Sir."

"Chance?"

“That’s right.” Liu Yisheng said in a deep voice, “Liaodong is a remote and cold place. Neither powerful families nor the imperial court have much influence on Liaodong. Although we may encounter Jurchen attacks in Liaodong, you are skilled in warfare and may be able to train your own elite troops there.”

"In chaotic times, military power is the only thing that can truly save your life."

“Recruiting soldiers without authorization is a capital offense, isn’t it?” Song Yan frowned.

“Oh, no, I misspoke. Your Excellency did not recruit soldiers, but only recruited able-bodied men from Liaodong to help resist the Jurchen cavalry.” Liu Yisheng immediately corrected himself. “Your Excellency already has the reputation of burning down Japanese pirates. If you can also hold off the Jurchen cavalry in Liaodong, your reputation will reach a whole new level. At that time, countless people will naturally come to join you.”

"Moreover, even if there is a conflict with the Jurchens, it is not necessarily impossible to trade with them. Although the Jurchens' warhorses are not as good as the Xiongnu's, they are still much better than the warhorses of the Central Plains. They should be able to train an elite cavalry."

Song Yan's expression grew increasingly strange. For some reason, he felt that Liu Yisheng's voice seemed to be getting more and more excited, especially his pair of red eyes, which made Song Yan feel a little uneasy.

"Xinhou County belongs to Pingyang Prefecture. Although it has officials such as prefects and governors, most officials in the court are unwilling to be assigned here. After all, going to Liaodong to serve is not much different from being exiled or demoted."

"And Liaodong is freezing cold. If the prefect freezes to death, it would be quite normal for the governor to become the prefect. At that time, Pingyang Prefecture would be leaderless, and since the nobleman has military power, he could take over. Even if the court arranges a new prefect to take office, the journey is long and there are many bandits along the way. If the prefect were to die on the road, I'm afraid no one would be willing to come."

"In this way, in just a few years, Liaodong will become the Lord's base."

When he got excited, Liu Yisheng's breathing became unusually rapid.

Song Yan was dumbfounded. It sounded like Liu Yisheng hoped that he could establish his own independent regime and become a warlord in the chaotic world.
For Song Yan, this was indeed a path.

If they could truly build their own force in Liaodong, they would have the confidence to face the Yang family and the means to protect themselves even in times of chaos.

“However, Emperor Ninghe only granted me the title of Guerrilla General, which only allows me to recruit three thousand soldiers,” Song Yan pondered.

"Thirty thousand?" Liu Yisheng was somewhat disappointed: "That's a bit too little, but it's barely enough."

Song Yan blinked: "I meant three thousand."

"The Duke is right. If we had an army of 300,000, we could indeed wipe out the Jurchens and crush the Xiongnu."

Song Yan narrowed her eyes to slits and stared straight at Liu Yisheng, while the scholar opposite her made no attempt to look away.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "Brother Liu, what exactly do you want me to do?"

Liu Yisheng looked directly at Song Yan, took a deep breath, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "It's very simple..."

"Build high walls, store up food, and slowly become king!"

Song Yan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. This... was instigating him to rebel!
(End of this chapter)