Chapter 610: Your Majesty, it is guaranteed to fail!

Upon hearing this, Cui Xinghe was struck dumb.

He had indeed overlooked this problem.

Once the people can no longer survive, how could they not take the money for free?

If they cannot pay it back, what does it matter if they are killed?

His expression suddenly turned serious.

Gao Yang continued, "But if there are excessive restrictions, such as limiting each household to no more than one guan and five hundred wen, and requiring five or ten households to act as guarantors, the government indeed won't have to worry about people not paying back. However, this will also make borrowing difficult, as no one will be willing to act as a guarantor!"

"This is where the Green Sprouts Law will inevitably face contradictions. If you don't require five households to guarantee each other, you fear people will take the money for free—after all, once a person dies, that's the end of it. If you do require five households to guarantee each other, then people will be unwilling to act as guarantors, making borrowing troublesome!"

"Once borrowing is not flexible enough, its effect will not be that great!"

Wu Zhao nodded with a serious expression.

What Gao Yang said was indeed a major problem; she had been thinking too superficially. Once truly implemented, there would be no shortage of trouble.

Cui Xinghe's lips trembled, and he fell silent.

A smile appeared on Gao Yang's face, "Of course, if it were only this, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of digging a pit for the Prince of Yan!"

"The truly vicious part of this strategy is that it will incite the massive scourge of factional strife!"

*Boom! *

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhao's fist suddenly clenched, and her heart tightened.

"Factional strife?"

She narrowed her eyes and repeated the phrase.

Gao Yang said indifferently, "Correct. To discuss this issue, one must first address whether, for the officials of this world, the state is greater than the family, or the family is greater than the state!"

"This question is extremely important!"

Wu Zhao's expression was indifferent, and her phoenix eyes suddenly turned cold.

She could almost think of the answer with her feet.

Cui Xinghe could not help but say, "Lord Gao, what does the Green Sprouts Law have to do with this?"

Under Gao Yang's relentless stream of words, he felt as if he were constantly approaching death.

"It is very simple. Because once the laws are changed, the interests of the world's clans are harmed, and two voices will inevitably emerge!"

"'The ancestral laws must not be changed,' as well as 'Heaven's changes are not to be feared, ancestral laws are not enough to follow, and people's words are not worth worrying about!'"

"In the end, any kind of legal reform is essentially a struggle between the conservative faction and the reformist faction, both for the sake of the interests behind them. And the Green Sprouts Law strikes at the root of land annexation—the interests of the world's clans!"

"This brings us back to the fact that although our Great Qian founded the imperial examination, giving ordinary people a path to the heavens, the resources of the two sides are still incomparable!"

"The children of wealthy clans have been tutored by great scholars since childhood and have tens of thousands of volumes of books at home. Every day, besides studying, they do not need to labor for survival. But what about the children of ordinary people?"

"They work in the fields all day, their hoes swinging until they smoke, and at night they are as exhausted as dead dogs. Where would they find the energy to study? Not to mention that they cannot afford private schools and have no books to read!"

"The saying 'it is difficult for a noble child to emerge from a humble family' is extremely apt. But in our Great Qian, in these seven kingdoms, these humble families were once clans themselves; it is only because they fell on hard times that they are called humble families."

"So what more of the common people born and bred?"

"Therefore, a web woven by the world's clans is destined to penetrate deep into the local areas. In officialdom, everyone takes care of each other and promotes each other."

"As a member of a clan, how could one not repay the clan?"

"So, the interests shaken by the Green Sprouts Law—to put it nicely, are the world's clans; to put it bluntly, they are also closely tied to the gentlemen in the imperial court!"

*Boom! *

Hearing these words, Wu Zhao stood up directly.

Her eyes were fixed tightly on Gao Yang. Gao Yang's words were piercing, stabbing into her heart.

In her mind, the faces of the officials emerged one by one.

Is the state greater than the family, or is the family greater than the state?

This question buzzed in her mind, causing her jade hands to clench until her nails dug into her palms!

She knew the answer to this question in her heart!

Cui Xinghe seemed to have lost all his strength; his body went limp, and he relied entirely on sheer willpower to keep his back straight.

"Will this struggle be extremely severe?"

Wu Zhao asked in a deep voice, her face showing gravity.

Gao Yang nodded without hesitation, "One's position determines one's stance. When legal reform touches the interests of the conservative faction, a conflict between the two sides will inevitably erupt!"

"This is inevitable!"

"So by then, it will inevitably lead to a phenomenon: once the Prince of Yan becomes the Emperor of Yan, if he wants to reform the laws, he must use new officials!"

"And if the new laws are to be implemented, the opposing conservative faction must be dismissed and sent back to their hometowns. Likewise, once the reform fails, these recalled conservatives will inevitably dismiss the new party without reservation!"

"By then, factional strife will form and become extremely severe. As long as someone is disobedient or not 'one of my own,' they will be dismissed!"

"From a positive perspective, imperial power will be concentrated as never before, and the emperor can carry out major tasks with bold strokes. But from a negative perspective, if the emperor is a muddle-headed ruler, it will be a disaster!"

"Sycophants will win the emperor's favor and can wantonly squeeze out loyal officials. By then, the imperial court will be a foul atmosphere, and when being an official is no longer about the prosperity of the country and the strength of the people, but about mutual exclusion and power struggles, it will head toward decline!"

"But Yan Wushuang will not be able to perceive any of this, because it will erupt over time and will not manifest immediately. Furthermore, this consequence is something he absolutely cannot anticipate!"

"In other words, this vicious strategy of mine is aimed at the next few decades of the Yan Kingdom. As long as Great Yan produces a muddle-headed ruler, it will suddenly erupt!"

In an instant.

Wu Zhao's expression changed drastically, and she stared deeply at Gao Yang.

Cui Xinghe, whose waist had been struggling to stay straight for twenty years, collapsed completely at this moment. ===== CHAPTER 612 =====