Chapter 9: with translation of chapter title

Again Era Name Transition the game, Wang Xiu discovered himself in a rather bustling official office.

All around were people wearing various uniforms, coming and going, in a hurry.

He lowered his head to look at himself; the clothes he wore were no longer coarse cloth, but a light blue uniform representing the rank of a sixth-grade military dispersed official.

It seems that during the time I withdrew, my ancestor Wang Jin has already taken office.

The Propagating Peace Colonel is an honorary post with no specific duties, but requires nominal service at the Armory Office, a subordinate agency of the Ministry of War.

Put simply, it's a leisurely position where one just clocks in each day and can then wander about at will.

For those bureaucrat offspring who only want to obtain an official status and eat the emperor's grain, this might be a cushy post.

But for Wang Xiu, it's not bad either.

He has plenty of time, which he can use to prepare that memorial that will shock the Court.

"Good morning, Colonel Wang." A middle-aged man wearing the same light blue uniform and sporting a goatee smiled and greeted him.

Wang Xiu searched Wang Jin's memory and recognized him as a colleague in the Armory Office named Zhao De.

"Brother Zhao, good morning." Wang Xiu imitated his gesture and returned the salute with clasped hands.

"Heard Colonel Wang was invited last night to a feast at the Liaoyang Prince's manor? Tsk tsk, really enviable." Zhao De said with an envious expression.

Wang Xiu's heart stirred.

It seems Prince Li Duozuo hasn't forgotten me and is still deliberately courting.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is, having Prince Li Duozuo, a newly appointed prince, as a backer means at least for now no one dares to cause trouble for him.

The bad thing is, this will make the label of 'coup contributor' stick more firmly.

He must quickly find a new patron and, without offending Li Duozuo, silently shift his allegiance.

"Oh, it's nothing, the prince just casually summoned me to say a few words." Wang Xiu responded modestly.

He didn't want to linger on the topic, so he made an excuse and strolled to the room in the Armory Office where documents and books are stored.

Here is where he will strive for the next few days.

He intends to complete that shocking memorial about the Yaozhou Barbarians under the pretense of reviewing Armory Office materials.

Over the next few days, Wang Xiu devoted himself entirely to this work.

During the day, he controlled Wang Jin, pretending to flip through various old bamboo slips and files in the Armory Office, while actually in his mind organizing, digesting, and transforming the data he had gathered in the real world into text fitting the Tang Dynasty context and mindset.

At night, he returned home and wrote furiously in his study.

He dared not use paper, because paper was expensive in this era; as a newly appointed low-ranking official, if he consumed large amounts of paper writing 'useless' things, it would easily arouse suspicion.

He used a more primitive but also more covert method—writing and simulating on a sand table.

He wrote, revised, revised again, and wrote again.

He not only needed to point out that an uprising was imminent in the Yaozhou region, but more importantly, to analyze the root causes of the rebellion.

From the papers he looked up online, he learned that the Yaozhou barbarians' rebellion was not accidental.

The fundamental cause lies in the local officials' excessive taxation and extortion, and their disrespect for barbarian customs, which has intensified ethnic tensions.

This is the core of the problem!

To speak only of military suppression is an inferior strategy.

What he intends to propose is a comprehensive governance plan of 'combining suppression and pacification, with pacification as the main focus'.

First, he suggests the Court immediately dispatch honest and capable envoys to Yaozhou to investigate and pacify, dismiss corrupt officials, and lighten the taxes and labor obligations of the local barbarians.

This move is called 'draining the pot to remove the firewood.' As long as ethnic tensions are eased, even if the rebellion does not occur, its scale will be greatly reduced.

Second, if the rebellion still erupts, he advises the court militarily to 'use encirclement instead of suppression,' cutting off the rebels' supply lines while simultaneously sending emissaries to induce surrender, thereby dividing and undermining them from within.

Avoiding large-scale frontal clashes can minimize the court's military expenditures and personnel casualties to the greatest extent.

Finally, and most importantly, he suggests that after pacifying the rebellion, the court should implement an improved version of the 'nominee policy' in the Yaozhou region.

That is, respect the local barbarian chieftains' administrative authority, acknowledge their hereditary status, but require them to send their offspring to the Capital to study and receive Tang Dynasty indoctrination.

This move is called 'cultural integration'; in the long run, it is the fundamental solution to frontier ethnic issues.

When Wang Xiu finished simulating the entire plan on the sand table, he himself couldn't help but praise the plan's thoroughness and foresight.

This memorial far exceeds the vision and stature of a sixth-grade military official.

What it displays is the vision and skill of a top-tier strategist!

Wang Xiu believes that as long as this memorial is presented to Emperor Li Zhi's desk, it will absolutely not be ignored.

Now everything is ready, only lacking the east wind.

The memorial is written, but how to submit it is another problem.

As a lowly official of the Armory Office, he fundamentally lacks the qualification to directly submit a memorial.

His memorial must be reported upward through successive superiors.

But doing so, this great achievement is likely to be claimed under another's name by one of his superiors.

Wang Xiu absolutely will not allow this to happen.

He must find a way for this memorial to appear directly before the emperor under the name of Wang Jin.

After much thought, he finally locked his sights on two people.

One is his former superior, Prince Li Duozuo of Liaoyang.

Submitting through Li Duozuo is the most direct and convenient, but the problem is that it would tie him more closely to Li Duozuo, which is unfavorable for his later 'job-hopping' plan.

The other is his future investment target, Prince Li Dan, the Xiang Prince.

If he could manage to submit the memorial through the Xiang Prince's mansion, the effect would be completely different.

This would not only get him noticed by Li Dan, but also showcase his talent and value to this future emperor, laying a solid foundation for his later reliance.

But he has no connection to Li Dan; how can he get the memorial into his hands?

Wang Xiu fell into deep thought again.

Crisis, crisis, opportunity within crisis.

His current crisis is being too deeply tied to the "Coup Meritorious Officials" faction.

And his opportunity lies in using this impending crisis to create a chance for himself to connect with a new backer.

He thought of a person.

Zhang Jianzhi.

The foremost meritorious official of the Shenlong Coup, now the Prince of Hanyang and the current prime minister.

Wang Xiu knew that although Zhang Jianzhi now held the highest position among subjects, he would soon be squeezed out by Wu Sansi.

And an important charge used to sideline him was "being proud of his merits and widely forming factions."

If...

If I, a minor official seen as a follower of Li Duozuo, suddenly submitted a shocking memorial.

Then, how would Wu Sansi's faction, the political rivals of Li Duozuo, think?

They would surely think that this was Li Duozuo directing from behind the scenes, that the "Coup Meritorious Officials" faction was continuing to expand its influence, planting confidants, and interfering in state affairs.

This would undoubtedly intensify Wu Sansi's suspicion and suppression of Zhang Jianzhi, Li Duozuo, and others.

This is exactly what Wang Xiu wants!

He wants to actively "draw fire onto himself"!

He wants Wu Sansi's faction to treat him as a target to attack.

When everyone thinks he is part of the Zhang Jianzhi and Li Duozuo camp, he will unexpectedly go to Prince Li Dan to seek help.

With Li Dan's political wisdom, he will surely understand that Wang Jin's move is to submit a letter of allegiance to him!

It is using this extreme method to sever ties with his past faction!

This plan is extremely risky; one misstep and he will get himself killed.

But if successful, the rewards would also be enormous!

Wang Xiu's heart pounded violently because of this crazy plan.

He knew he was walking on an extremely thin steel wire.

For the future of his family, for the dream of an "immortal clan," he is willing to stake everything on this!