Top Scholar

Chapter 475 Blood Tax

A luxurious carriage without any decorations slowly traveled along West Chang'an Street. The Imperial Guards and the Imperial Bodyguards, dressed in plain clothes, vigilantly patrolled the surroundings, preventing any vehicles or pedestrians from getting close.

Inside the carriage, Zhu Shou heard Su Lu say, word by word, "It's very simple, the emperor needs to make himself stronger!"

Su Lu's powerful voice echoed in the carriage:
"The root of all difficulties lies in the fact that the emperor is not powerful enough! Only when he is powerful enough can his words truly become golden rules. At that time, he can easily control the entire court with just a word or even a glance!"

A good teacher will always package their course in a way that students need most, as if taking this course will lead to the pinnacle of life.

"Holy crap..." Sure enough, Zhu Shou's chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) spirit began to burn fiercely, and his heart pounded several times faster. But he still instinctively didn't want to admit that he wasn't strong enough. "The emperor is already the strongest ruler in the world, how much stronger can he be?"

“I admit that His Majesty is the strongest in the world.” Su Lu said with a faint smile, “But I won’t use Emperor Taizong and Emperor Taizu to bully others. How about comparing the four emperors Renzong, Xuanzong, Xianzong, and Xiaozong?”

"..." Zhu Shou immediately deflated and said, "Of course it can't compare."

At least they didn't let the ministers rebel en masse; they could only rely on eunuchs to prolong their existence...

"Want to know why?" Su Lu's seductive voice rang in Zhu Shou's ears.

"Of course!" Zhu Shou grabbed Su Lu's hands again, his face flushed, and said, "Tell me, tell me!"

"Because not many people are willing to pay the Emperor's blood tax anymore," Su Lu said in a deep voice.

"Blood tax?" Zhu Shou was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"The blood tax is the blood that every man in the country is willing to shed for the emperor!" Su Lu then spoke with absolute force:

"Throughout history, all imperial ambitions have been built upon blood taxes. With a single command from a powerful monarch, countless men are willing to sacrifice their lives. Only in this way can a monarch protect his country, expand his territory, and ensure that imperial power has a solid foundation!"

"Only when this blood tax is paid willingly can the country become strong, and only then can the emperor have whatever he wants and become a true great ruler!"

Zhu Shou's breathing gradually became heavy, and his eyes became sharper than ever before!
"If the blood tax can't be collected, no one will be willing to serve in the army and risk their lives. Even with a vast empire and a court full of officials, imperial power is like a castle in the air." Su Lu remained outspoken, his words laced with sarcasm. "The emperor himself will naturally be treated like a mere child, and no one will care..."

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhu Shou finally broke down, and for the first time, he snapped at Su Lu, "The Ming Dynasty has two million military households, and can conscript a million soldiers at any time. How can you say we can't collect blood taxes?!"

The roar reached outside the carriage, and the eunuchs all turned to look.

"Get out of here, all of you," Zhang Yong hissed, but he leaned closer himself, wanting to hear what Su Lu had said that had angered the emperor so much.

Unfortunately, the specially designed carriage was too soundproof; unless the people inside shouted, they couldn't hear what they were saying at all.

~~
"According to you, the Ming Dynasty has a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. Shouldn't it be able to collect tens or hundreds of millions of strings of cash in taxes every year, just like the prosperous Tang and Song dynasties?" Su Lu sneered, "But the national treasury is so poor. Is it because the emperor spends too much?"

"..." Zhu Shou blushed with embarrassment, but he was unable to refute it.

After all, he was so poor that he resorted to swindling candidates...

Seeing this, Su Lu softened his tone and said, "Therefore, the strength of a country does not lie in the size of its army or the amount of its wealth, but in how many people pay taxes to the court—this applies to fiscal taxes, and even more so to blood taxes!"

"You mean... that nowadays, military households are unwilling to risk their lives for the Emperor?" Zhu Shou still found it hard to believe.

“That’s right!” Su Lu patted his chest and said loudly, “I come from a military family, and I know better than anyone what it’s like to be a military family!”

"Emperor Taizu established military households with the intention of laying a solid foundation for future generations, ensuring that each emperor could enjoy ample taxes! Initially, this was indeed the case; Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong bestowed upon the military households honor, land, and official positions that could be passed down to their descendants!" He said passionately, "With these tangible guarantees, the military households were willing to serve the emperor to the death, daring to brave even mountains of knives and seas of fire! This is how the illustrious military achievements of the Hongwu and Yongle reigns came about, forging the eternal fame of these two great emperors!"

"But what about now?" Su Lu's voice suddenly rose, filled with anguish. "The glory and preferential treatment of military households have long since vanished, leaving only inescapable shackles! They have been reduced to the lowest rung of society, even worse off than ordinary people!"

"Status discrimination is ever-present. Officers at all levels exploit them, and their lives are tightly confined by the garrison, destined to be slaves for generations... To put it another way is to put on a brave face, because for most military households, even getting married is a luxury. No one wants to marry their daughter to a military household, and the daughters of military households desperately try to marry outside the military, just to get away from this damned pit of fire!"

"So, the military households either risked their lives to escape, or, like me, studied desperately, hoping to earn a degree and escape that dark abyss! Even if they were forcibly conscripted to the battlefield, they wouldn't fight to the death." Su Lu's eyes were red, and his voice choked with emotion.

"Without their blood taxes paid for the emperor, how would the emperor defend against foreign aggression and establish his prestige? How would he deal with the deeply entrenched and overwhelming group of officials and gentry? Naturally, he would be unable to control his ministers and collect taxes..."

Finally, he said with great sorrow, "It's not that we're unwilling to pay the blood tax, but that paying the blood tax brings us no benefit whatsoever, nor does it change our lowly status and endless suffering!"

Zhu Shou was struck a heavy blow, his face turning deathly pale. But his face remained defiant, his fists clenched tightly as he retorted, "Even if what you said is true! You can't deny the power of the military household system—it's just sick, not dead!"

"Once the disease is cured, people will be willing to pay the blood tax again!" He suddenly raised his voice, startling Zhang Yong, who was eavesdropping outside the carriage window. "You're absolutely right!" Su Lu agreed deeply for the first time today, his tone becoming even more earnest: "Taxes can be forcibly collected, but blood taxes can only be collected willingly. Those forcibly conscripted will not be willing to sacrifice themselves. Only when the sons of military households can live like human beings again, see glory and a future, will they be willing to serve the current emperor as they did for the Taizu and Taizong emperors!"

~~
Su Lu originally intended to talk to the emperor about how to manage civil officials, but the conversation drifted to the 'blood tax crisis'.

This wasn't him going off-topic; rather, he intentionally shifted the focus. Managing civil officials was a meticulous and intricate task, and Zhu Shou was prone to distraction; he might easily drift off while listening.

Therefore, Su Lu should first use the emperor's core pain points to draw him in, and then slowly explain his own ideas, so as to ensure that the emperor will listen.

In teaching techniques, this is known as the 'pain point introduction method'.

The core function of "pain points" is to use topics that the other party cares about most, is most sensitive to, and resonates with most, to grab their attention at the very beginning and motivate them to learn more.

For Zhu Shou, figuring out why imperial power had weakened was far more appealing than learning how to manage civil officials...

Moreover, Su Lu did not let the topic go astray. The blood tax crisis and the management of civil officials were two parts of the big article he was going to talk about... The former is the foundation of the latter, and the latter is also the condition for the former.

However, whether this hook can firmly catch Zhu Shou, this difficult fish, remains to be seen in its actual effectiveness.

Given that Zhu Shou was too emotional that day, Su Lu did not continue speaking, but instead told him to go back and calm down.

But how could Zhu Shou remain calm?

~~
Upon returning to the Leopard House that day, Zhu Houzhao lost his appetite and became restless. Even when playing with the panda, he was absent-minded, his mind filled with Su Lu's words.

He certainly loved to play, but deep down he never forgot that he was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty...

But he used to think that governing the country was an extremely difficult task, and the boundless responsibility made him feel suffocated, so he chose to escape.

But now Su Lu had clearly shown him a path, telling him how to be a true emperor. He was now caught in a dilemma—should he really listen?

If we follow Su Lu's method, we will have to say goodbye to our carefree and happy days. How painful that would be!
It's better to be in a daze like this, knowing nothing at all.

But then I thought, if we continue to let things go on like this, allowing the court to fall into chaos, the national treasury to become empty, and the military households to become destitute, and ultimately squander the great empire that my father had worked so hard to build, how could I face his spirit in heaven?

This constant inner turmoil kept Zhu Houzhao tossing and turning, unable to sleep all night...

~~
Su Lu waited at home all day but Zhu Shou didn't come. He wasn't worried, of course, being worried wouldn't help.

He then took the gifts and went to visit his master at Shichahai West.

He sent his visiting card the day before yesterday. Given that Grand Secretary Li is the highest-ranking official and officials in the Ming Dynasty work year-round, it would be good if one could see him even once every ten days or so.

Unexpectedly, yesterday the steward of the Prime Minister's residence came to say that the Prime Minister happened to be at home today and invited Yuanlang to come to the residence for a chat.

So Su Lu arrived at Li Gelao Alley early. Just as he was about to get out of the sedan chair and ask the gatekeeper to announce his arrival, the gate of the mansion opened wide. The steward from yesterday, Mr. Li, came out with a smile and said, "Just carry him into the sedan hall."

This was the highest honor, leaving Su Lu feeling flattered and overwhelmed.

To his even greater surprise, a thin old man with a sorrowful face, a slightly long face, and prominent cheekbones stood in the sedan chair hall.

"Huiyuan, the Prime Minister has come to welcome you personally," Steward Li hurriedly introduced.

"Oh dear!" Su Lu quickly got out of the sedan chair, knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Grand-disciple greets Grand Master!"

"Hehe..." The old man was Li Dongyang. At this moment, a smile appeared on his face. He bent down to help Su Lu up and looked him up and down, saying, "Good, good, good. A good disciple of the Yangming Sect. At least he is much better looking than him."

"..." Su Lu quickly smiled and said, "Teacher has become extremely thin. He said he was quite handsome when he was young."

"Don't listen to his nonsense." Li Dongyang laughed loudly, "He's looked like a monkey since he was a child."

P.S. I've adjusted the plot order, so the next chapter will be a little later, but the good news is, the chapter after that will be earlier...

(End of this chapter)