Chapter 1344: The People's Hearts Are for Deceiving! (Deceiving for Monthly Tickets!)

Chongqing Prefecture, Fengdu County — the traveling seat of the Ming Son of Heaven.

Zhu Cilang's traveling palace did not remain at Yong'an the whole time; at the beginning of the ninth month he arrived at Fengdu County, which belonged to Chongqing Prefecture. This was the legendary Fengdu, the City of Ghosts!

The reason the Son of Heaven had come to the City of Ghosts was that the Shun emperor Li Laiheng had reached the seat of Chongqing Prefecture, so Zhu Cilang decided to move a little closer — he could not afford to show weakness!

Moreover, the political significance of the two Sons of Heaven, the Hongxing and the Dongxing, meeting at Chongqing Prefecture was enormous — now it was emperor against emperor. Whichever one slipped away from Chongqing Prefecture first would see his side's morale and popular support collapse, and the outcome of the Sichuan war would be decided.

So Zhu Cilang's advance also nailed Li Laiheng down in Sichuan. At the same time, because Fengdu was close to Shizhu, it was convenient for Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying to come and pay their respects.

"Your son respectfully wishes Imperial Father boundless peace!"

"Your daughter-in-law respectfully wishes Imperial Father boundless peace!"

"We are well. Lucky Boy, Yuying, both of you sit."

The young couple performed their salutations, and Zhu Cilang smilingly bade them be seated. Then, beaming, he looked at his precious daughter-in-law Ding Yuying and asked, "Yuying, have you been well these days? Any nausea? Has the child in your womb begun to move yet?"

"Imperial Father, your daughter-in-law is perfectly well. I eat with a fine appetite, not a trace of nausea, and I have even put on a little weight lately." Ding Yuying said with a smile. "The child in my womb has not stirred yet. The palace women attending me say that because this is my first pregnancy, the quickening comes later, and it will still be some days."

This was the advantage of adding a martial arts test to the Crown Princess selection — a strong body makes for a steady pregnancy!

Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "Yuying, while you were in Shizhu County, did you get out and about? Did you pay any attention to government affairs?"

The moment this question came out, Zhu Hexing, standing at the side, could only knit his brows. The Crown Prince naturally knew that Zhu Cilang intended to cultivate Ding Yuying as Crown Princess, but no matter how much she was cultivated, should it not still center on himself, the Crown Prince? How could the Crown Princess be asked first?

At that thought, Zhu Hexing jumped in and answered, "Imperial Father, while your son was in Shizhu County I did quite a lot. First I presided over the trial civil examinations in Shizhu County. Then I led men on inspection tours in all directions, supervising the land equalization. While supervising the land equalization, your son also discovered that Shizhu's homespun cloth is extremely coarse. If Jiangnan silk and cotton cloth enter Sichuan, no one will want this homespun cloth."

Zhu Cilang nodded, thinking to himself: You lucky boy, you certainly know how to grab credit. That you would notice Sichuan's hemp cloth is coarse — that would be a miracle! This must have been Ding Yuying's discovery!

What a fine daughter-in-law!

At that thought, Zhu Cilang nodded approvingly at Ding Yuying, then asked Zhu Hexing, "Lucky Boy, We already know of this matter. Do you have a remedy?"

A remedy?

Zhu Hexing shook his head, looking utterly blank.

Zhu Cilang then looked at Ding Yuying. "Yuying, do you have a way?"

"Your daughter-in-law has no way either," Ding Yuying said, gazing at Zhu Cilang. "But your daughter-in-law knows that Imperial Father will surely have a way!"

Imperial Father will have a way? Zhu Hexing looked at his wife, then at his father, his face full of question marks.

Zhu Cilang asked with a smile, "Yuying, why do you think We have a way?"

Ding Yuying said with a smile, "Because Imperial Father is a rare genius at securing the realm and promoting prosperity. Since ancient times there has never been a sovereign who surpassed you in securing the realm and promoting prosperity. If even you had no way, then the people of Sichuan could only endure the pain of a collapse in hemp cloth prices."

Zhu Cilang nodded and said, "Yuying, do you think the people of Sichuan can escape the pain of a collapse in hemp cloth prices?"

"That..." Ding Yuying shook her head. "Your daughter-in-law thinks they cannot escape this pain."

Zhu Cilang looked at Zhu Hexing again. "Lucky Boy, what do you say?"

Zhu Hexing said with a smile, "As long as Imperial Father wants them to escape this pain, they can escape it!"

"You are wrong!" Zhu Cilang shook his head. "Lucky Boy, remember this well: the Son of Heaven is not omnipotent, nor is he a divine immortal with boundless powers. Therefore the Son of Heaven cannot defy common sense. He cannot turn something precious into something worthless, nor can he make something worthless into something of great value. Of course, the Son of Heaven can also quarrel with the money in his own pocket and forcibly buy back worthless things at high prices. But that is not the divine might of the Son of Heaven — it is the might of money.

As for Sichuan homespun cloth, there are several million to over ten million bolts a year. Can We spend several million taels of silver to buy them all? If We truly did that, the unscrupulous merchants in the southeast would certainly spin out several million or ten million more bolts of hemp cloth to pass off as Sichuan cloth. We could never buy it all!"

Zhu Hexing frowned. "But the people of Sichuan are so poor. If they lose the profit from women's weaving as well, I fear they will find it hard to make a living. Right now is the critical moment in our contest with the roving bandits for Sichuan — surely we should try to win over the people's hearts a little more?"

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Lucky Boy, do you think the people's hearts are of any use?"

"That..." Zhu Hexing said, "They all say that he who wins the people's hearts wins the realm!"

Zhu Cilang snorted. "When Li Guo first came to Sichuan, did he not win the people's hearts? Was it not the people of Sichuan who welcomed him into the province with songs? And how many years has it been? Now the people of Sichuan have come to welcome Us. How is that?"

"That..." Zhu Hexing could not answer.

Zhu Cilang glanced at Ding Yuying. "Yuying, you answer!"

Ding Yuying glanced at her husband, then at her father-in-law, and sighed softly. "The people's hearts are like flowing water. Though they can carry a boat or capsize it, they change at a word and are extremely hard to grasp. So after the roving bandits entered Sichuan, they did not care about the people's hearts. At the very beginning they won some popular support because at that time their garrison troops were few and could not divide up all the land of Sichuan, so they equalized a little for the people of Sichuan, to make it easier for the bandits' false dynasty to collect taxes. In truth it was an unintended gain. But the foundation of the roving bandits is still their garrison troops, not the people's hearts!"

Zhu Cilang nodded and said, "There is some truth in that, but it is not entirely correct!" He paused. "Though the people's hearts are like flowing water and hard to hold for long, in the short term they can still be deceived! Back then, the traitors Li Zicheng and Li Guo both deceived quite a lot of popular support. At the calamity of Jiashen, the people's hearts were deceived away by the traitor Li Zicheng, and that was why Beijing could not be defended. Later, when Li Guo entered Sichuan, he used the method of land equalization and enclosure to deceive the hearts of the people of Sichuan, and that was why We could not send a great army to attack Sichuan in haste — otherwise We would most likely have been defeated."

So that was how it was!

Zhu Hexing and Ding Yuying both nodded — they had learned something!

Ding Yuying asked, "Imperial Father, do you think it is possible to win the people's hearts for good?"

Zhu Cilang shook his head and sighed. "That is wishful thinking! Such delusions have harmed who knows how many emperors, ancient and modern. Your Imperial Grandfather also had such a delusion — he wanted to win the people's hearts and be a sage sovereign. We have no such delusion, nor do We expect the common people below to all regard Us as a sage sovereign."

He paused, then continued, "Confucius said: I have heard that for those who possess a state or a family, the concern is not scarcity but inequality, not poverty but instability. For with equality there is no poverty, with harmony there is no scarcity, and with stability there is no collapse. That is very true — but equality without poverty, harmony without scarcity, and stability without collapse cannot be achieved!

Because in this world there is inequality, there is more and less, and there is little peace! Moreover, the suffering people of the world are always more numerous than the fortunate. No matter how hard a sovereign strives, he cannot change this state of affairs. Therefore one who rules can only deceive the people's hearts for a time. Do not delude yourself that you can win the people's hearts for long — the idea of winning hearts for long will only make a sovereign muddled and benighted!"

"Your son understands!" Zhu Hexing had only half understood, but he still nodded repeatedly.

"Your daughter-in-law also understands." As Ding Yuying answered, she was thinking: Father-in-law is a clear-sighted man. He has ruled so well himself, yet in Huya Town there are not many among the common folk who speak well of him, while there are quite a few who long for the Roving King to come again and divide the land once more.

She thought for a moment, then asked, "Imperial Father, how do you plan to deceive the people of Sichuan?"

Had anyone else asked this, the Zhu Emperor would certainly have been angry, but coming from Ding Yuying, it greatly pleased Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang said with a smile, "Naturally We must push a little in the direction of equality without poverty, harmony without scarcity, and stability without collapse. Though We cannot achieve these things, We can let the people of Sichuan live for a time amid an illusion! For example, We can control the passes into Sichuan and keep eastern silk and cotton cloth out of the province for the time being. We can also maintain the roving bandits' anti-commerce laws and let the people of Sichuan continue to farm in peace. As long as We can deceive Li Laiheng into fleeing Chongqing Prefecture, the great achievement will be complete! As for what comes after, that is beyond Our control!"

(End of Chapter)