Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 338 Crushing Everything (4,000 words)

Just as Song Yan was about to pour herself a cup of tea, her hand trembled, and the tea spilled onto the table.

This is a mess.

As soon as he put down the teapot, Song Yan's forehead was covered in black lines. Speaking of which, he had heard Fang Hai mention this father-in-law of the emperor. Because of the empress, he was granted the title of earl. Since his daughter was the empress, he was naturally a royalist. After all, all his wealth and status came from the royal family. If the royal family fell, all the glory and status of the father-in-law's family would vanish into thin air.

Unexpectedly, the emperor's father-in-law would introduce a foreign monk to Emperor Ninghe, leading Emperor Ninghe to take drugs.

No wonder you're an emperor; there are so many people who want you dead.

Song Yan blinked: "Ahem, I was just talking nonsense, do you believe me? I absolutely did not mean to sow discord between you and the Empress. Or... why don't you go back and continue taking the pills?"

"Just pretend I was never here today, and I didn't say a word, okay?"

Emperor Ninghe glared at Song Yan with annoyance. Why did this brat say such infuriating things?
What do you mean by going back to continue eating?

Knowing full well that the pills are poisonous, why would he continue to take them? Does he really think he has a death wish?

Emperor Ninghe had no doubt about Song Yan's diagnosis. Ever since Song Yan cured Tianxuan's tuberculosis, in Emperor Ninghe's eyes, Song Yan was a once-in-a-lifetime divine doctor.

"How severe is my poisoning? Is there an antidote?"

Emperor Ninghe asked calmly, quickly controlling his emotions even though he knew he was poisoned. Until he figured out whether his father-in-law knew the pills concocted by the Tibetan monks were poisonous, he wouldn't do anything. Everything would remain normal; he would still consume the pills offered by the monks… but the ones he consumed would be substituted. Actually, Emperor Ninghe didn't have too much suspicion about his father-in-law, since his father-in-law had no reason to poison him. What worried Emperor Ninghe was whether his father-in-law might have unknowingly become an accomplice to someone else's scheme.

"How many of those pills did you take?" Song Yan asked.

"It's been like this every three days, for about a month now."

Song Yan rubbed his forehead and said, "It's alright, it didn't take too long. When you get back, drink more milk and more egg whites."

Emperor Ninghe was somewhat incredulous: "That's all?"

“How could that be? Milk and egg whites are just to protect your stomach.” Song Yan sighed helplessly. “I’ll see if I can concoct some medicine later.”

Heavy metal poisoning requires medical intervention. Simply relying on milk, egg whites, and carrots is not enough to detoxify it. Moreover, the most troublesome thing now is that Song Yan cannot tell how many kinds of heavy metals are in the pills that Emperor Ninghe is taking, and different heavy metals require different antidotes.

He didn't know if he had the corresponding medication in his medicine box.

Emperor Ninghe's mindset was quite good. Although a sharp glint would occasionally flash in his eyes, he remained calm most of the time... Perhaps he had experienced so many things like this that he had long since become accustomed to it.

Moreover, he believed in Song Yan's medical skills. Since Song Yan hadn't said it was incurable, there was probably still hope.

Emperor Ninghe then changed the subject: "How did you know about those things? Did Yuheng tell you?"

Song Yan naturally knew what Ninghe Emperor was referring to, and after a moment of silence, he spoke up: "My mother never told me any of these things; I just guessed them myself."

"Before I married into the Luo family, I saw someone enter the Duke's mansion. It was someone from Dongling. He had a delicate and effeminate air, a fair face and no beard. He must be a eunuch. That very night, Song Hongtao and Yang Miaoqing came to me and asked me to investigate the true relationship between Luo Tianshu, Luo Tianquan and Luo Yuheng after I joined the Luo family."

Emperor Ninghe frowned slightly. As expected, the Yang family had already become suspicious. He should speed up his actions as well. At the very least, the security around Tian Shu and Tian Quan needed to be strengthened.

“When we actually met, I felt something was off. I saw you again in the backyard in the middle of the night. Tian Shu and Tian Quan look so much like you. At the time, I didn’t think too much about it, but I suspected that Luo Tian Quan and the others might be your illegitimate children or something.” Song Yan remained silent with a half-smile, and after a long while, he spoke again: “After Song Hongtao broke with the Yang family, I went to Song Hongtao and asked him if he still wanted to carry out the previous mission.”

"Song Hongtao shook his head, and only after I pressed him did he tell me that what the Yang family really wanted to investigate was not some illegitimate child, but... Tian Shu Tian Quan, could it be your child? Did you and your mother switch the child back then?"

"In addition, my mother's concern for you really doesn't seem like that of an enemy who would never see each other again. At that time, I basically understood what was going on. When I met His Majesty in the court, it was the final confirmation."

Song Yan rambled on and on, her words a mix of truth and falsehood.

Emperor Ninghe breathed a sigh of relief; this kid was indeed quite clever.

Although Yuheng was usually cautious and put on a good act in front of outsiders, living under the same roof inevitably led to some slip-ups. He didn't say anything, knowing that Song Yan was a sensible person who wouldn't gossip about things he shouldn't know. He picked up the teapot, poured himself another cup of tea, and seeing that Song Yan's cup was still empty, he thought for a moment, picked up a cup, took out a small cloth bag from his sleeve, put in a few tea leaves, and poured a cup for Song Yan as well.

Looking at the tea leaves gradually unfurling, Song Yan felt a little disgusted.

This tea leaves are clearly from one of his tea workshops.

It's mostly one of the lower-end ones, and with only a few pieces, it's rather pathetic.

Having reigned for so many years, Emperor Ninghe had a good eye for people. He immediately saw the disdain in Song Yan's eyes and his face turned somewhat aggrieved.

Seriously, is this kid out of his mind?
It was one thing for him to look down on him in court, but after what he just said, he roughly understood that in Song Yan's heart, only emperors with great talent and ambition, such as Emperor Taizu of Wu and Emperor Wu of Han, were the true emperors. It was normal for him not to be comparable to them.

But now, the Emperor of Ningguo is personally pouring you tea. What an honor this is, and you still complain?
Suddenly, Emperor Ninghe felt that being an emperor wasn't so interesting after all.

He wasn't angry at all. His personality had been shaped over the years, and if he got angry over such a small thing, he would probably have died of anger long ago. He glared at Song Yan and then laughed: "You little rascal, I'll personally pour you tea, what else do you look down on?"

"It's not that I look down on it." Song Yan picked up the teacup and swirled it. "It's just that you're being a bit stingy. Couldn't you have put in a few more tea leaves? It's such a big bag."

"How dare you! Yuheng wrote to me saying that you were the one who processed this tea. Why are you selling it at such a high price?" Emperor Ninghe's tone was somewhat unfriendly. He shook the small cloth bag in his hand, his eyes showing a hint of heartache: "Just this little bit, a dozen taels of silver? Is your tea made of gold?"

“You’re the emperor, why would you care about something like this?” Song Yan was somewhat shocked.

Emperor Ninghe sighed: "You know, you don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household. Ning Kingdom... is poor."

"Tax revenue is decreasing year by year."

"But the places where we need money are increasing year by year."

"The national treasury is already empty. Every time I go to court, it's either asking for money here or there. You don't know that the person I fear most in the whole Ning Kingdom is that stingy Minister of Revenue. No matter what I ask him to do, his answer is always the same two words: no money."

“The expenses in the palace have also been repeatedly reduced.”

"Do you know that my queen hasn't bought any new clothes for a long time?"

"Sometimes I can't help but think, would things be much easier if I didn't become an emperor in this life?"

"And you, kid, with such a good business opportunity, why didn't you save it for me? Instead, you handed it over to the Fang and Cui families." Emperor Ninghe glanced around a couple of times. "We're family, how can you hand it over to outsiders?"

Song Yan broke out in a cold sweat. This Emperor Ninghe must be desperate for money to say something like that.
"It shouldn't be that bad. I only took 30% of the profits from the tea and sugar business. I remember Mother already arranged for the remaining money to be sent to the palace, right?" Song Yan said with some suspicion.

Emperor Ninghe remained silent for a long while, then gave a bitter smile: "Although a million taels of silver have been sent, Ning Kingdom has been in deficit for many years, and there are far too many places to fill. A million taels is just a drop in the bucket." Song Yan then asked helplessly, "Can't you collect taxes?"

“We can’t collect them.” Emperor Ninghe sighed: “During the reign of Emperor Renzong, first it was said that the state should not compete with the people for profit, so the state monopoly on salt and iron was abolished; later it was said that the taxes on the people were too heavy, so the salt and iron taxes were abolished; and then the tea tax and wine tax were also abolished.”

Song Yan was speechless. Salt and iron taxes, tea taxes, and wine taxes were all major sources of tax revenue. If they were all abolished, how would the country operate?
Was Emperor Renzong out of his mind?

"Towards the end of Emperor Renzong's reign, when he was seriously ill, some officials submitted a memorial suggesting that all commercial taxes be abolished to demonstrate His Majesty's benevolence and virtue, which might move Heaven and restore His Majesty's health. Thus, commercial taxes were completely abolished."

Okay, there are definitely some pitfalls.

"In the end, Emperor Renzong still died, and the tax revenue was gone. Emperor Renzong gained a good reputation, and every official who mentioned him would praise him highly. But what he left for us descendants was a mess."

Emperor Ninghe's words were somewhat disrespectful to his ancestors, but they also revealed the depth of his resentment.

Once commercial taxes are abolished, it is incredibly difficult to reinstate them.

To put it bluntly, which aristocratic family doesn't own dozens or hundreds of shops?
Behind those civil officials, how many of their relatives aren't in business? Aren't they all being supported by merchants behind the scenes?
To reinstate commercial taxes would be to threaten the interests of all nobles, powerful clans, and civil officials, and would be met with opposition from everyone, including the royalists. They were only trying to secure a better future for themselves, so why would they want to sacrifice their own interests?

Emperor Ninghe took another sip of tea, his eyes filled with deep weariness; he was truly exhausted.

Sometimes, I want to give up.

"There is absolutely no hope for the future."

Many things must have been hidden in Emperor Ninghe's heart for a long time, but as an emperor, there were many things he could not say, could not tell Fang De, and could not tell the empress.

This is weakness.

If the emperor becomes weak, the royalist faction could fall apart at any time.

For some reason, Emperor Ninghe felt that Song Yan was a good person to talk to. This kid was disrespectful and carefree, so even if he listened, he probably wouldn't care much. Moreover, it was very quiet here, and Wei Xian was guarding the door. The only girl playing the zither couldn't hear the sounds coming from inside the hut.

"Perhaps there's still some resentment, a desire to fight against the powerful clans and the civil service, to win just once, even if it's just once." After a pause, Emperor Ninghe looked up at Song Yan: "Tell me, if one day we defeat the civil service and eradicate the powerful clans, what will the future of Ning Kingdom be like?"

Taking a sip of tea, Song Yan slowly looked at Emperor Ninghe: "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

What happens if you tell a lie?

"It's a lie... We've eradicated the two cancers of powerful clans and the civil service, the royal family has come to power, the people live in peace and prosperity, and the entire Ning Kingdom is thriving."

Emperor Ninghe glanced at Song Yan with some displeasure. Song Yan was speechless. "You're the one who told me to say it."

"What about the truth?"

"The truth is... it won't be much different from now." Song Yan stretched his arms: "The Yang family has been eliminated, and the Fang family is the new Yang family. The powerful clans still exist."

"Even if Bailu Academy is destroyed, new scholars will take its place."

"The court is still dominated by scions of powerful families and civil officials."

"Commercial taxes still can't be collected, and the national treasury is still in turmoil."

"The mountain on the heads of the people has simply changed from one to another. They will still go hungry and cold, and they will still rise up in rebellion, shouting, 'Are kings and nobles born with special privileges?'"

"What you leave to future emperors is still a mess, not much better than what Emperor Renzong did."

"Of course, Your Majesty's living conditions should be better."

Song Yan's voice was low and suppressed.

Destroying the Yang family and Bailu Academy, confiscating their property and exterminating their clan, should yield a considerable amount of money and grain, enough to fill Ningguo's long-standing deficit. However, everything will eventually return to the old ways.

"The real contradictions in Ningguo will not be eliminated as a result, but only delayed."

Emperor Ninghe fell silent, realizing that what Song Yan said was true.

He was a visionary emperor. It was precisely because he saw such a future that Emperor Ninghe sometimes felt desperate and disheartened, as if everything he did was meaningless.

"How do we break this deadlock?" Emperor Ninghe sat up straight.

Like a dialogue between a ruler and his ministers.

The atmosphere instantly became much more serious.

Even Song Yan's originally crooked body became straight.

"Assuming the Yang family is destroyed and the White Egret Academy is eradicated, would His Majesty reinstate commercial taxes?"

"No."

"Is it possible that salt, iron, tea, wine, and sugar will be brought back under state control?"

"No."

"Does His Majesty have the courage to slaughter all the officials in the court, leaving them with countless heads?"

Emperor Ninghe gritted his teeth: "No."

Assuming victory, the officials in the court would be the royalists who had been supporting him all along. How could he possibly do something like "killing the hunting dog after the cunning rabbit is caught"? Emperor Ninghe was a sentimental person. He was not like Emperor Taizu of Wu, who would easily wipe out nine generations of his family, nor was he like Emperor Wu of Han, who was an absolute political machine.

He couldn't bring himself to wield the butcher's knife, and the officials in the court couldn't possibly give up the benefits they had already gained.

Song Yan sighed, "Then there's only one way left."

“Crush everything, and then…start all over again.”

(End of this chapter)