Chapter 780: His Majesty Has It Rough

Ah! I too am left with no choice. But everyone, rest assured, after the princes return to the capital they will continue to retain their princely titles. Just look at the Prince of Guanghan—he's living just fine in You Prefecture, isn't he?

I'm just a little over ten years old; the princes are my uncles, cousins, and nephews—what could I possibly do to them? I'll still have to rely on them in the future.

Nobody else knew, but when those words were spoken, the Grand Ancestral Director went numb all over.

Rely on?! From now on I won't acknowledge the words 'rely on' at all.

There are plenty of people in the hall who are on good terms with the princes, so be sure to persuade them well and don't misunderstand me! I merely feel that Great Jin is currently in extraordinary times and must employ extraordinary means to govern. Once the world is at peace and we get through this crisis, everyone might be able to return to their former fiefdoms.

Xie Yuan was numb too; this fellow changes his tune like the wind, letting him say everything. Can taken-back fiefdoms be returned? He doesn't even believe in punctuation.

"I don't know what pretext Your Majesty intends to use to summon the princes back to the capital," Xie Yuan went straight to the point. He knew this matter couldn't be persuaded, and he only wanted to know how to write the edict for reducing the fiefdoms.

"Today I'll tell you all in detail about this big secret I've known since the year before last, but never disclosed—now I can't delay any further… Ah, never mind, it's time to announce it, so listen carefully!"

Xie Yuan: ……

The officials craned their ears, and the king kept them in suspense before finally speaking.

"Great Jin has suffered year after year of natural disasters because we've reached the juncture of the Little Ice Age. What is the Little Ice Age? It's when solar activity weakens, the whole continent becomes extremely cold and dry, crops yield less, famine arises—these are its manifestations. The Little Ice Age comes every few hundred years and may last over a century; if you still don't understand, you can ask a few professors at the Imperial Academy."

"I plan to have the princes relocate their households to You Prefecture or Everlasting Peace to escape the Little Ice Age, unify the whole realm under central command, and jointly overcome the crisis."

"In such special times, only by focusing our efforts can we prolong Great Jin's mandate; anyone unwilling to give up that bit of fiefdom surely doesn't wish Great Jin well and wants to see it fall! The princes are all descendants of the Baili Clan, and I believe they are certainly not that sort of people."

Xie Yuan: …… He felt he had truly underestimated the king.

This is far more sophisticated than the excuse he had just thought of.

But, "Your Majesty, could the news that the Little Ice Age will cause famine, once spread among the populace, possibly provoke popular unrest?"

"What?! Isn't Great Jin already tumultuous enough?!" The king was shocked—JPG.

Xie Yuan: "…… My meaning is, if ill‑intentioned people exploit this and create improper public opinion, it could cause panic among the people and trigger a refugee wave."

"Yes, yes!"

"The Chancellor is absolutely right!"

"The Little Ice Age could last over a century, the whole realm will be cold—where could anyone flee? Rest assured, it's not yet at the point of triggering a refugee exodus. Rather, only by having the court uniformly control the whole realm can we get through the crisis."

The king finished speaking and sighed, "How to phrase it, how to maintain stability—that's up to you. Anyway, I will have the princes bring their households back to the capital; anyone who defies orders for the sake of a fief, affecting Great Jin's mandate, I'll go take a look at them while I'm down south suppressing rebellions." He thought, "The northern borders have been cold for two years; aside from burying some houses last year, aren't they doing just fine? The north hasn't fled—how could the south be due for a refugee exodus?!"

The officials: ……

That problem arises again—now that we've summoned the princes back, we can't just ignore them; the imperial clan must be supported, after all.

"Like the princesses, we'll change the enfeoffment system and grant fiefdoms."

"Great Jin's princesses have no actual fiefdoms; their stipends are calculated by household count, granting them a share of tax revenue from that many households. Take Princess Ningguo, for example—her fief is ten thousand households."

"First, assign fiefs to the princes in the capital as a model! This time, bring along the Fourth and Seventh—no one may skip ahead of them; the rest of you discuss first. The remaining princes will be served in order of arrival, and I will naturally favor those who actively support the court's policies."

"Well, it's getting late, let's adjourn for now… … Hold on, take it easy with the fief allocations—Zhang Sinong, keep an eye on them, and think about the silver the national treasury owes Zhu Ti."

Minister Zhang scratched his head.

"When it came time to enfeoff Princess Ningguo, how come I didn't see you taking it easy?"

The officials' expressions were mixed; the king had settled another difficult matter, and he walked away happily, strides as if he didn't recognize his own kin.

The king pressed urgently; the next day Xie Yuan submitted the overnight‑drafted 'Edict to Summon the Princes Back to the Capital', the king stamped it that same day, and that same day it was sent out as an eight‑hundred‑li rush to all the fiefdoms.

Xie Yuan asked why he was in such a hurry to move against the feudal lords, and the king produced the list of provisions he had prepared for his southern march.

"By the way! Once I've wiped out Baili Qi, Ailao, and the other rebel states, and the troops return to court, if they rebel again the army will have to make another long march to suppress them—but I've already exhausted everything; I can't afford another campaign."

Xie Yuan: ……

The king again clutched his chest, "Sir, do you know how much silver I've spent preparing for this trip? I've even sold off my father's estate and all the ritual implements in the palace!"

Xie Yuan stepped out and still couldn't make sense of it—let alone the fact that the late emperor's privy purse is empty and its whereabouts unknown? And what's with selling ritual implements? Who would dare buy imperial ritual implements?!

After racking his brains, he finally summoned Zhao Bao. Upon hearing this, Overseer Zhao felt the Chancellor wasn't an outsider either, and began to pour out his grievances.

"Chancellor, you don't know, but Your Majesty has it rough! Overseas experts can see the auspicious energy on the ritual implements and sell them for a high price—never mind the distant ones, the implements used for Your Majesty's coronation and the New Year's Heaven‑worship rites have already been sold out!"

Xie Yuan: ……