Film and Television Variety Show: The Jade Girl's Love Affair

Hearing Yuan Shen's teasing laughter, Tang Yu blushed.

However, it seems that some bad thoughts in my mind have also been stirred up.

Tang Yu buried her head in Yuan Shen's neck, inhaling his unique scent. Overwhelmed with emotion, she gently bit down on several marks.

Yuan Shen then left satisfied.

On the way back to the city, Tang Yu was surprised to find that a special person had stopped her.

"Young master, we are complete strangers. Isn't it inappropriate for you to block my carriage like this?"

Tang Yu was certain that she had never seen this young man before.

She hadn't done anything in the capital, so why did she suddenly seem to be entangled in trouble?

Ji Yong laughed after hearing Tang Yu's speech.

"My name is Ji Yong, courtesy name Jianming. Ever since I learned to observe the stars when I was a child, I have discovered that the secrets of the heavens have become chaotic because an alien star has appeared."

I've always wanted to meet the person who disrupted the heavenly order, and only today did I discover that person is in the capital. That's why I rushed here hoping to see you, young lady."

He turned out to be a remarkable person with the ability to observe celestial secrets and a certain level of wisdom.

However, since this world can be reborn, it's not surprising that another person who can tell fortunes and read celestial phenomena would appear.

"So, what are your thoughts after meeting me?"

"The world is riddled with problems. I wanted to become the chief minister to change the world, but I found that for the past few hundred years, people who entered the cabinet had to go through layers of seniority."

Therefore, to become the Grand Secretary, one would normally have to be over fifty years old, and that's assuming a smooth career path. It's far too slow, which doesn't meet my expectations.

So I've always wanted to find another way, a shortcut.

These words instantly made Tang Yu burst out laughing.

"So, you think I'm taking that shortcut, wanting to join you as a traitor?"

Ji Yong nodded and smiled.

"If I am fortunate enough to follow you and create a new world, why should I struggle to gain seniority in the imperial court?"

Surely, this young lady will be able to act swiftly and decisively, transforming this corrupt world and ushering in a prosperous and enlightened era.

Tang Yu found the person in front of her very interesting; it was rare to meet such an interesting person.

Unfortunately, she wasn't stupid.

"You flatter me very well, and you speak very sincerely. You do seem to have some ability, but why should I believe you?"

What if you're an inside man? You come to my side, find out everything that's going on around me, and then report it to the Emperor. You'll then gain a great achievement and rise through the ranks.

"I could become your stepping stone, wouldn't that be entirely possible?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Yong showed no embarrassment, and continued to speak with a smile.

"Does the girl really lack confidence, believing that she is incapable of controlling me, or of winning my heart and soul?"

Tang Yu chuckled.

"Don't try to provoke me. I'll just ask you one question: whether you want to enter the court or become a traitor, what should be done about the problems of the world?"

How can we ensure that the people have enough to eat and wear? How can we change the ills of this world? Do you have a solution?

Ji Yong's expression turned serious at this moment.

"If I were to enter the imperial court, I would naturally stand at the top of power, become the chief minister, reform the long-standing abuses of the official system, and streamline and rectify it from top to bottom."

If I were to follow you and plunge the world into chaos, then of course I would establish a new official system, eliminate all redundant officials, and create a clean and fair world.

These words made Tang Yu sigh.

"It's a pity. In my eyes, your ideas are naive, stupid, and ridiculous."

When discussing other topics, Ji Yong's expression might not change, and he could even talk and laugh as if nothing had happened.

However, Tang Yu's disdain for his knowledge still slightly broke his defenses.

"Does the young lady have a better insight that can save the world?"

Tang Yu chuckled softly.

"Let's assume you can become the Grand Secretary and have the ability to carry out sweeping reforms across the country. Now, let me ask you a question!"

The entire country belongs to the royal family. The princes and grandsons have seized land. Can you change this? Can you take back the land they have seized and distribute it to the people?

"The Empress's family, the Crown Princess's family, other imperial relatives, plus the court officials—can you make them return the lands you've annexed? Can you collect taxes from them?"

If Ji Yong did that, this group of people would kill him.

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Ji Yong suddenly fell silent. He really wanted to say that he dared to do this, that he could support a stupid emperor to the throne and fool him.

But then I felt that if I said that, the person on the other end would probably laugh at me again.

“What you say is true, young lady. Becoming the Grand Secretary does not mean having absolute power. I’m a little curious, do you perhaps think that being in a chaotic world is better?”

Tang Yu stepped down from the carriage and walked up to Ji Yong, smiling.

"Your vision is too high. You're looking at the court officials, the emperor, the crown prince, and Prince Qing. You're seeing problems with officials throughout the country, but those are not important at all."

At this point, Ji Yong revealed a mocking expression.

"What does that young lady consider important? I'd like to know how profound her insights into the court are."

Tang Yu didn't care about Ji Yong's arrogance; that's how young and impetuous people are.

“I have seen that farmers all over the country have to borrow money at high interest rates every spring when they have no food to eat because of the heavy taxes. After the harvest at the end of the year, they repay the high-interest loans, and there is very little left in their homes.”

So they started selling their land. After selling all their land, they still didn't have enough money to pay taxes, so they sold their daughter. But that still wasn't enough, so they sold their son too.

In the end, he himself became a slave, suffering from hunger and cold.

“I have seen many young couples in the world where the man will pawn his wife for a few years, and the woman will give birth to a child for another family. After a few years, she will be redeemed by her husband, and then pawned again to give birth to a child for another family.”

Therefore, many farming families decided to bind the feet of their daughters after they were born, and then sell them to brothels, because they could fetch a higher price, and women with bound feet were more popular with men when they danced.

"I saw that the women in the brothels were seriously ill in their twenties and died in large numbers before they were thirty. There were no old women there, only young women."

I witnessed how wealthy and powerful families in the capital often abused their servants to death, and no one cared.

I'm different from you; this is the kind of person I see.

"And do the emperor, the crown prince, or Prince Qing, or the so-called chief minister, even see those people suffering from hunger and cold?"

They abuse and beat their servants at home, yet their estates are scattered across the land—what can they possibly see?

Ji Yong, of course, could not empathize with what Tang Yu said; he even showed a puzzled expression.

"The problems you mentioned have existed since ancient times, which is why it is necessary to rectify the officials in the court, clean up the bureaucracy, and appoint wise and virtuous officials to govern the country."

If we were still in the Han or Tang dynasties, solving the problem of officials would indeed be more effective.

However, after the population explosion in the Song Dynasty, many of the conflicts were no longer the same.

"Since you believe the solution lies in the highest echelons of the government, then continue down this path."

My path is different from yours. Can you make all the women in the world take the imperial examinations and become officials? Can you ban brothels? Can you stop wealthy families from mistreating their servants? Can you double the grain yield in the fields?

Can you ensure that farmers own their land and laborers receive their due rewards?

Top-down reforms ultimately aim to increase national tax revenue, but productivity has not seen a breakthrough, and the total amount of wealth has remained unchanged.

However, the national treasury's tax revenue has increased, which can only mean that the tax burden on the general public has increased.

It's impossible that the increased revenue in the national treasury came from exploiting the imperial relatives and powerful figures, ultimately leaving ordinary people unable to survive.

"You're dreaming. I thought my ideas were crazy enough, but yours are even crazier."

After Ji Yong said this, Tang Yu thought of something funny, which was the truth she had just learned in the past two days.

"If you really have the ability to reform from the top down, I will admire you very much, because you have no idea how corrupt the situation has become. Let me tell you a secret."

"Do you know how serious it is that the 100,000 troops stationed in the north are receiving salaries without working? Every year, the court has to pay more than 100,000 soldiers' salaries, which costs so much money every year."

However, after the money came out of the national treasury, around the time it left the capital, only 300,000 taels remained out of the original one million taels, as a group of people in the capital had already divided up most of it.

You might be thinking, how can 300,000 taels of silver support an army of 100,000? Well, that's because there simply aren't 100,000 people. Firing soldiers without paying them is the most serious problem facing our Ming Dynasty right now.

The army was said to number 100,000, but in reality, there were at most about 10,000 soldiers, half of whom were old, weak, sick, or disabled. I estimate that only about 5,000 were actually capable of fighting.

Seeing Ji Yong's surprised expression, Tang Yu laughed even harder.

"Besides the problem of receiving salaries without working, weapons are rusty, and a knife can be easily cut in half, which is also very common! If you have the ability to rectify such a court, I will also admire you."

The entire court is riddled with problems.

From ordinary craftsmen who are no longer skilled enough to do a slacking job, to border soldiers who don't receive their pay, to high-ranking officials and royal relatives who are involved in corruption and bribery.

They're all connected from top to bottom; killing anyone won't help, so we have to start from scratch.

"Young Master Ji, good luck! Even if you want to use me as a stepping stone to betray me, I won't mind."

I'd also like to see if you have the ability to bring about reforms in this court.

After saying this, Tang Yu smiled and returned to the carriage. This time, Ji Yong did not stop him again.

This person is probably completely devastated and questioning the meaning of life.

All those grand ambitions to change the world are no match for actually understanding how taxes are collected and how military pay is distributed.

Anyone who looks into it will know that killing everyone, from top to bottom, won't solve the problem.

When I read historical anecdotes about the late Ming Dynasty, I found that things like embezzling salaries and rusty weapons were commonplace. It was truly absurd that of the so-called 10-strong army, only a few thousand were actually capable of fighting. No one could control them, not even the emperor. Everyone just made do.

[Previously, some speculated that the Crown Prince was feigning weakness to outsmart the enemy, but the plot has now revealed that both the Crown Prince and Prince Qing are idiots. It seems my plot wasn't wrong after all. I was genuinely worried that the Crown Prince might pull a surprise at the end, but I wasn't wrong.]

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Tang Yu took away all the people in the capital who were publicly known, because some of them were openly known.