Chapter 550: The Sorrows of One Man Differ From Another

Granting offices to subordinates, plotting future arrangements, discussing the details of maritime trade with Da Qinmao, and so on. After a day of such busyness, Fang Chongyong felt his head was heavy.

After night fell, he stayed alone in a guest room of the Dengzhou Fuya, pondering the pros and cons of supporting Prince Yong Li Lin's ascension.

The candle flame flickered, and Fang Chongyong's shadow was reflected on the wall, swaying with the breeze.

There are many benefits to installing Li Lin, the greatest being a "shell listing," which greatly reduces risk.

One hundred and fifty years after Li Tang founded the empire, the legendary tales of the Zhenguan governance and the Kaiyuan golden age remained. Whether noble or commoner, everyone harbored the fantasy that the Tang could return to its zenith. At such a time, anyone who stepped forward to claim the throne would face severe consequences.

It would easily draw fire from all manner of celestial beings.

Even Fang Chongyong himself has always crafted a "loyal minister" persona and has never mentioned anything about claiming the throne.

With Li Lin as an umbrella, one can stand firm in the rain.

But what is the price of that?

In fact, regarding the future path, whether to emulate Cao Cao or Zhao Kuangyin, the direction has already been pointed out to Fang Chongyong.

The scheme may be tacky, but it is undeniably effective and highly practicable.

Yet it cannot solve the dilemma in Fang Chongyong's heart.

What he worries about is not whether he can ultimately win.

Victory is assured, but whether the final outcome matches the kind of "victory" he desires is hard to say.

Sometimes emperors and ministers appear to have won, but in reality they are merely puppets placed on stage by aristocratic families.

What seems like holding great power actually means the nation's foundation has been hollowed out.

The decline of the Prosperous Tang, in Fang Chongyong's view, is inevitable. If one removes Ji Ge's reckless actions, officials' and princes' blunders, etc., the Prosperous Tang might have lasted another ten years.

After that, a bottom‑up dissolution would inevitably begin, a process slow yet steadfast.

The real problem confronting the Prosperous Tang has never been fully resolved from the mid‑Tang through the late Qing and even the Republic.

This issue is one that the clever can see but cannot accomplish, while the ordinary cannot even perceive.

Fang Chongyong felt very lonely; he had no one to discuss with, and even if he spoke, others would not understand.

Before the Prosperous Tang, Chinese society was a typical agrarian one, everything revolving around agriculture. For agriculture, arable land is given; population is everything.

Using grain as the statistical standard, the state can easily calculate how many people reside within its borders, roughly how much output there is, and how much tax is needed to sustain the superstructure.

Agricultural tax is everything.

In other words, per‑capita agricultural output is the foundation of a nation. Handicrafts and even commerce are subsidiary, allowing the state to seize the big and let the small go.

Moreover, the governance cost of an agrarian society is low; population mobility is weak, and everyone is a "property holder".

Because even if a person tills another's field, he remains firmly bound to the land.

But by the Prosperous Tang, the situation had changed. Prolonged peace and gradual accumulation allowed the commodity economy to develop enormously, reaching a point that rulers could no longer ignore.

In short, society's overall grain surplus could now support relatively large‑scale commerce and industry. No agriculture, no stability; no industry, no wealth; no commerce, no prosperity—this is the pivotal period for societal advancement.

At this point, using the agrarian model to calculate economic output no longer works. The state's method of collecting agricultural tax cannot address the newly emerged commodity economy issues.

The Great Tang, whether in currency or taxation, has fallen seriously behind the shift in economic models.

For example, in Luoyang, high‑quality silk woven in the city could perhaps be exchanged for a cow or a few bushels of grain for a single bolt.

The weavers, however, are "proletarians", not bound to fields, and their grain output cannot be measured.

Because the price system had become severely distorted, the authorities lost control over these economic phenomena.

They could not even correctly comprehend!

How should these handicraft workshops be guided, how should taxes be levied, how should they be managed, and how should the relationship between these crafts, commerce and agriculture be balanced?

Yet the lag in taxation shifted the added burden almost entirely onto the agricultural populace. Even without land consolidation, society would gradually decline, merely at a slower pace.

These problems are interrelated, complex, and deeply hidden.

Fang Chongyong recalled that in his previous life's era, the state had already abolished agricultural tax. In the Great Tang, the land tax and labor levy had been completely eliminated.

If people of this life learned that agricultural tax had been abolished, they could scarcely imagine what such a world would be like.

This is a difference in development models, akin to jumping from two dimensions to three—completely incomparable, not a matter of multiplying by a few times. When the mindset changes, the governance must change accordingly.

The developmental direction of the feudal era was land privatization; the state could no longer collect much tax from fields and could only passively extract revenue from commerce and industry by various means.

Under the commodity economy, farming itself is a business with a return rate, requiring state regulation.

Since commerce and industry are also built on private land ownership, they too are privatized. These people are now Great Tang elites and will become landlord gentry; they still seek ways to control the economic lifeline.

If the referee of a competition also joins the match, the others cannot possibly win.

Whether it was the Song dynasty plagued by rampant tax farming, the later Yuan with its ever‑changing edicts, the Ming whose finances went bankrupt, or the Qing whose system became so rigid it seemed stable, in each case the state's fiscal collapse came first, followed by the regime's collapse, ultimately unable to escape the fate of dynastic turnover.

At the end of the Qing, the salt tax totaled 24 million taels, about 12 % of total national revenue—the lowest proportion in Qing history. Because the authorities could not collect commercial taxes, they grotesquely used the salt tax as a lever, shifting other levies onto it.

In reality, this was also a crooked measure adopted out of necessity, unable to solve the commodity‑economy problem.

Fang Chongyong rubbed his temples; he knew he was walking a predetermined road. The feeling was akin to watching, helplessly, his own death years ahead, with the manner of death already set.

It was a monotonous, endless tedium.

Of course, Xuanwu Town now isn't even a regional regime; everything is focused on military supplies first, so the above issues don't exist. Just seize the realm quickly; a sharp blade suffices, other matters can be set aside for now.

"Alas!"

Fang Chongyong let out a long sigh, a helpless wry smile.

He knew that by engaging in maritime trade, he was setting up a lever, pre‑emptively wielding the sharp sword of the commodity economy, allowing him to train more troops, produce more wagons, equip better armor and weapons, and raise more warhorses.

Before the backlash arrives, how could he possibly lose?

"Jiedushi, Great Sage, requests an audience."

From outside the door came He Changqi's voice.

"Come in."

Fang Chongyong called out.

Soon, a handsome young man entered. Fang Chongyong examined him for a moment and found that he truly lived up to the name "Handsome".

At least he's far stronger than his father, Da Qinmao.

Come to think of it, Da Qinmao was once the ruler's son and the designated heir. His queen could not possibly be ugly, so the next generation would at least not be disgracefully plain in appearance.

"What business do you have for an audience?"

Fang Chongyong's expression remained calm as he asked, his lazy posture concealing an unutterable authority.

Da Congming's heart trembled instantly, a hint of panic rising. He immediately knelt and said, "I bring Zhenhui Gongzhu to the lord for the night service."

The tone Da Congming used made him seem as if he were a servant.

Fang Chongyong said nothing, merely waved his hand lightly.

Da Congming slowly left the bedroom, and a young girl in a white ruqun, extremely thin, entered, sat on the bed by herself, and said nothing.

Fang Chongyong glanced at her and ignored her. He had a multitude of matters in his mind and no such thoughts.

The Hebei rebels were severely weakened, Li Baochen's ambition was stirred, and he might dispatch troops to Luoyang.

Shi Siming of Hedong will surely retreat to Hebei, possibly stirring trouble in Youzhou.

In the Southern Mountain Eastern Circuit, Huainan Circuit, and Jiangnan Circuit, descendants of Ji Ge serve as military governors. Though they lack famous generals and strong armies, they are not short of wealth.

Might they also rise amid the chaos?

If Li Chang kills Ji Ge, could he be plotted against by the royal clan within Chang'an? Could unforeseen betrayals arise?

Has the turmoil inside the Tubo Kingdom been quelled? The eastward advance of the Chishui Army will leave Liangzhou's defenses hollow; although the Moli and Doulu armies have not entered Guanzhong, they can only retreat to defend Shazhou.

This process may involve reversals, but the overall trend is irreversible.

If he backs Li Lin to ascend, he walks a road of no return, unable to turn back.

Fang Chongyong racked his brain but could not feel at ease.

"A Lang, it's so late and you still aren't going to bed?"

After an indeterminate time, a crisp, shy woman's voice came from the other side of the bed.

Fang Chongyong suddenly felt pity for the woman.

She was like a piece of cargo, passed around at others' will, with nothing under her control. It was as if she were stepping on a banana peel, sliding wherever fate led.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a waning of interest.

He glanced at Zhenhui Gongzhu; her face was quite beautiful, bearing an indescribable delicate strength. She was slender, yet her posture remained upright. She sat on the bed with her legs together, her waist perfectly straight.

She displayed an air of refined upbringing.

This starkly contrasted with the lazy, slouchy demeanor that A Na Ye usually adopts in the bedroom.

Women of this royal line are probably taught from childhood by female officials to master all manners. Their standing, sitting, and dining postures must be precise, with no hint of laxity.

Materializing "li" (ritual) is an extension of the Chinese scholar‑official cultural sphere. The heavily Sinicized Bohai Kingdom, naturally, has mastered this "etiquette" to perfection.

Zhenhui Gongzhu has been educated since childhood that every word and deed represents the dignity of the Bohai royal house.

"Don't you find it tiring?"

Fang Chongyong looked at Zhenhui Gongzhu and asked.

He could not believe a woman could sit so upright for an hour without feeling fatigue.

But Zhenhui Gongzhu only shook her head, biting her lip in silence.

Fang Chongyong felt compassion; finding amusement in this cargo‑like woman tonight, to toy with her body, seemed… rather pointless.

"A Lang, won't you serve me tonight?"

Zhenhui Gongzhu asked in a barely audible voice.

"Did your father say that from now on you'll stay with me and not go elsewhere, right?"

Fang Chongyong replied offhand.

Zhenhui Gongzhu seemed to relax a bit, nodding lightly.

"Sleep here then. If anyone asks, say you have already served the night."

Fang Chongyong lay on the bed, letting Zhenhui Gongzhu sleep beside him.

This Bohai Kingdom young lady, raised in the inner palace, has had little contact with men and knows not how to serve a man in bed. She lies helplessly beside Fang Chongyong, wanting to do something yet unsure what to do.

"If I drive you out, your father will surely think you have offended me somewhere."

"Or he might think my agreement with him is void, inevitably breeding resentment in his heart."

"Thus, though you appear to wear brocade and jade, you are not in control; and though I seem to wield great power, I am equally bound."

"I have no intention now of seeking any pleasure in you."

Fang Chongyong turned his body toward Zhenhui Gongzhu, looked into her eyes and said.

In Fang Chongyong's view, there are two kinds of pleasure in conjugal affairs.

The first is receiving a woman's wholehearted service, a joy that also touches the soul.

The second is a blasphemous desecration wielded from lofty power, where a woman becomes a tool of the ruler.

It is a twisted, irresistibly addictive thrill, like the way the rebel Qiu Ba humiliated a noble lady.

Zhenhui Gongzhu clearly belongs to neither.

"A Lang, you… are a good person."

Zhenhui Gongzhu whispered, her cheeks flushed, appearing a bit embarrassed.

Obviously, she was not mentally prepared for undressing tonight; she was forced here by Da Qinmao.

For an inexperienced maiden, being stripped of clothing by a man is quite different from willingly removing them herself.

Hearing this, Fang Chongyong was powerless to retort.

Damn, he actually got a good‑person card. When it's his turn to serve, he'll be the one crying.

Fang Chongyong muttered a curse under his breath.

The night passed without words, and the two soon fell into deep, thoughtful sleep.

Early the next morning, Da Zhenhui obediently helped Fang Chongyong put on his clothes; her eyes flickered, and from time to time she secretly pursed her lips and smiled.

Fang Chongyong suddenly realized that her smile was quite cute.

Just as he had finished putting on his clothes, Che Guangqian's anxious voice came from outside the door.

The person outside knocked on the door while shouting, "Jiedushi, Prince Yong has arrived at Penglai Gang; he is at the harbor, unwilling to come to the government office, seemingly waiting for you to go receive him."

"Make them wait an hour, then say I am ill; anyone who dares to storm the government office will be killed without mercy."

Fang Chongyong shouted toward the doorway, then lay back down on the bed.

Da Zhenhui looked at Fang Chongyong in astonishment as he spoke nonsense with his eyes open, not knowing what to say.

"Women serve men at home, while men have to socialize outside; do you understand? That just now was called socializing."

Fang Chongyong pointed toward the doorway and said to Da Zhenhui.

"Mm, my father used to often socialize as well."

Da Zhenhui nodded, half-understanding.

Although he holds a good hand, good cards still need a skilled player. First, give Li Lin a show of force to let this prince realize his situation, then we can sit down and talk properly with this certain Fang.

(End of chapter)