Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

"Lord Pei, what is this?"

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but ask, his voice tinged with disgust.

Pei Yuan ignored Wang Hua, who was glaring angrily to the side, and went straight to his own armchair to sit down.

The folding fan in his hand tapped gently against his palm.

"Your Highness, these flatbreads are made from leftover wheat bran from the mill mixed with tree bark, and this porridge is made from moldy rice that has been aged for three years."

Pei Yuan's tone was so calm, as if he were having a casual chat.

"The reason I am late today is that I went to the soup kitchen outside the capital that shelters refugees. This box of food is their ration for today."

"Your Highness has been accustomed to the delicacies in the palace, so I specially brought some flavors from outside to broaden Your Highness's horizons."

"Nonsense!"

Wang Hua rebuked angrily.

"Your Highness is of noble birth; how could you possibly be exposed to such filth! This is clearly alarmist talk, disturbing the Crown Prince's palace!"

"Disturbing?"

Pei Yuan suddenly closed his folding fan, his deep eyes coldly sweeping over Wang Hua.

"Lord Wang was just lecturing on Mencius, talking about how the people are the most important thing and how to govern with benevolence. Your Highness was deeply moved and vowed to become a benevolent ruler."

"I would like to ask, is this benevolent governance merely words written in books, or food filling the bellies of the people?"

Pei Yuan stood up and walked to the desk.

Pointing to the half-eaten, blackened bran cake, he stared directly at the young prince.

"Your Highness. Lord Wang taught you to love the people like your own children. Then, Your Highness, may I ask, if this autumn, Henan Prefecture suffers a severe drought, with the land barren and the people unable to harvest anything, forced to eat tree bark and clay?"

"As the Crown Prince, how should Your Highness implement benevolent policies to save those starving people?"

Zhu Youzhen was stunned by Pei Yuan's sudden and fierce aura, and subconsciously straightened his back.

He recalled the words of the sage that Wang Hua had just taught him.

Feeling confident, she answered crisply.

"I submitted a memorial to my father, the Emperor, and issued an edict of self-reproach to comply with the will of Heaven. Subsequently, I opened the imperial granaries, allocated disaster relief funds, and transported grain from the capital region to Henan."

"Select and send honest, upright and incorruptible officials to the disaster area to oversee disaster relief efforts and severely punish corrupt officials who embezzle disaster relief grain."

"In this way, the disaster victims will surely be saved, and the world will surely be grateful for the benevolence of the imperial court."

After listening, Wang Hua nodded repeatedly, a proud smile on his face.

The Crown Prince's response was logical and well-reasoned, demonstrating a deep understanding of the Confucian principles of governance; it was simply impeccable.

He looked at Pei Yuan defiantly, as if waiting for this arrogant and treacherous minister to bow his head and admit defeat.

However, Pei Yuan quietly watched Zhu Youzhen.

After a long while, a low laugh echoed in the hall.

That laughter was filled with endless mockery and sorrow.

"What a fine edict of self-reproach! What a grand opening of the granaries! What a virtuous and incorruptible minister!"

Pei Yuan stopped laughing, his eyes instantly becoming as sharp as a knife.

He picked up the scroll of Mencius and, in front of Wang Hua and the Crown Prince, unceremoniously threw it onto the blue bricks of the main hall.

A soft "snap" sounded like a heavy hammer blow to their hearts.

"Pei Yuan! How dare you insult the books of sages!"

Wang Hua was so angry that his face turned ashen, and he was on the verge of exploding.

Pei Yuan ignored him and simply rested his hands on the rosewood desk.

Looking down at the astonished Zhu Youzhen from his high vantage point, his voice was as cold as ice.

"Your Highness, let me tell you what the consequences would be if your bookish and benevolent policies were implemented."

Pei Yuan extended one finger.

"You mentioned opening the Taicang granary to allocate grain. Do you know that the capital is a thousand miles away from Henan Prefecture? The journey is long and arduous, relying entirely on canal transport and laborers carrying the grain on their shoulders and backs."

"When a bushel of grain is transported from the capital, the laborers' rations are lost along the way, and mold and other contaminants are washed away. By the time it reaches Henan, only three bushels remain!"

"To save one disaster victim, two laborers will starve to death on the way. Is this benevolent governance?"

Zhu Youzhen was stunned.

Having grown up in the inner palace, he had no idea that such a thing as "Luhao" existed in the world; it was never written about in books.

Pei Yuan then extended his second finger.

"You said you would select an upright and honest official to provide disaster relief. Well, this official went. He was incorruptible and incorruptible."

"But the local grain merchants and gentry in Henan had already hoarded all the grain on the market. During the famine, grain prices fluctuated three times a day."

"The disaster relief funds you allocated could have bought ten bushels of grain, but now they can't even buy one bushel."

"What does that wise minister suggest? Should he confiscate the merchants' granaries? The merchants' grain is their private property. Forcibly confiscating it will surely incite a popular uprising, and the merchants might even move and burn the grain in advance."

"The virtuous minister upheld the laws of the Ming Dynasty, watching as grain prices soared, yet he held silver but couldn't buy a single grain of rice. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as disaster victims starved to death outside the soup kitchens."

"Then he wrote a letter of repentance, hanged himself, and earned a good reputation that would be remembered in history."

"But the people still died."

Pei Yuan's voice wasn't loud, but every word was piercing.

Zhu Youzhen's face gradually turned deathly pale.

He looked to Wang Hua for help.

Wang Hua was also sweating profusely, but he still stubbornly continued to refute.

"This...this is all the fault of those corrupt officials and unscrupulous merchants! The imperial court should severely punish those unscrupulous merchants who hoard and speculate! We should educate them with morality and make them donate their surplus grain!"

"Moral education?"

Pei Yuan turned his head and looked at Wang Hua, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

"Sir Wang, the disaster victims are so hungry their eyes are practically green, they're about to resort to cannibalism, and you're going to talk about morality with those unscrupulous merchants who only care about profit?"

"Do you believe that the moment you finish reciting Mencius, merchants over there could band together and smash up the local prefectural government office?"

Pei Yuan turned his gaze back to the Crown Prince, his tone becoming extremely deep.

"Your Highness. The things in this world described in books are all highbrow and elegant, but what the people below do are all dirty and sordid dealings."

"You want to be a benevolent ruler, but you can't save the people of Henan by relying on this book, Mencius."

Zhu Youzhen was thrown into disarray by Pei Yuan's bloody reality.

He clenched his small fists tightly, a hint of confusion and resentment flashing in his eyes.

"Then... in Pei Taibao's opinion, what should I do to save the disaster victims from their plight?"

Pei Yuan straightened up, dusted off the unfounded dust on his moon-white silk robe, and a cold smile, typical of a cunning and ruthless man, curled at the corner of his mouth.

"If Your Highness trusts me, I will teach you a method of dealing with villains."

Pei Yuan raised his folding fan and gently tapped his palm.

"If I were to go to provide disaster relief, the first thing I would do is not to suppress grain prices, but to order that grain prices in Henan Prefecture be raised by another 30%!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Hua exclaimed in surprise.

"Absurd! Grain prices are already high, and you're raising them by another 30%? How will the disaster victims survive? You're forcing the people to revolt!"

Zhu Youzhen was also filled with shock and looked at Pei Yuan in bewilderment.

Pei Yuan smiled confidently.

"Lord Wang, please don't be anxious. You only know one side of the story. The world is bustling with activity, all for profit."

"With grain prices soaring in Henan, grain merchants from neighboring Shandong, Shanxi, and even the Jiangnan region, as soon as they hear the news and smell the bloody scent of these 30% exorbitant profits, will definitely travel day and night, desperately transporting grain from all over the country to Henan."

"The imperial court does not have to spend a single penny on transportation costs, and grain from all over the country will continuously flow into Henan."

"Merchants are greedy, all wanting to make a fortune. But when grain from all over the country piles up in Henan, and supply exceeds demand..."

Pei Yuan's folding fan snapped shut with a sharp sound.

"At that time, grain prices will plummet to rock bottom! Those unscrupulous merchants who want to profit from the national crisis will not only fail to make money, but will also lose everything."

"At this time, the imperial court only needs to use disaster relief funds to buy several times more grain than before at a very low price, thus filling the official granaries."