Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 182 - 177: Refutation (Extra - for Votes 6)

Chapter 182: Chapter 177: Refutation (Extra Chapter for Votes 6)

"Subject Fang Shiyong, paying respects to Your Majesty!"

Emperor Weizhao waved his hand, "Rise."

According to the customs of the Great Sheng Dynasty, many ceremonial practices for officials were carried over from the previous dynasty; however, eventually, Emperor Taizu of Sheng considered the excessive kneeling during daily activities such as banquets and wine offerings, and thus he decreed a new bowing ceremony, reserving kneeling only for more formal occasions.

Of course, an audience with the emperor to present a petition was certainly such a formal occasion.

Emperor Weizhao appraised the Confucian scholar named Fang Shiyong.

He appeared to be in his forties, with a few strands of long beard and a piercing gaze, exhibiting quite the demeanor of a learned man.

As for Fang Shiyong, Emperor Weizhao was naturally well-aware of him.

From historical records, he indeed was a great scholar and considered distinguished in his time. As to whether he had been corrupt during his tenure, that remained an uncertain issue with no concrete evidence.

But judging from his conduct, even if he were corrupt, it would not be by much; he wasn’t a villain of extreme wickedness.

In terms of ancient societal virtues such as loyalty to sovereign and country, there likely wasn’t any significant problem.

But this did not mean that what he said was correct.

In fact, at the beginning of the establishment of the Great Sheng Dynasty, Emperor Taizu had also favored many renowned scholars. Among these scholars, there were indeed some capable ministers, but there were also plenty who were all talk and no action.

And this Fang Shiyong seemed to be more of the latter.

Therefore, when the Blank Seal Case broke out, none of the other officials dared to offer remonstrance, except for him, who alone submitted a petition in opposition.

He considered himself brave compared to the cowardice of others, but in reality, it was more because he did not understand politics.

In Fang Shiyong’s own words, "The Son of Heaven is enraged by the Blank Seal Case, deeming it deceitful. The Prime Minister and ministers all know that the Blank Seal Case is not so serious of a crime and is forgivable, yet none dares to remonstrate. Alas, if someone conveys this properly, and the Son of Heaven is so wise and enlightened, how could he not understand?"

The implication was that the emperor considered the Blank Seal Case to be an unforgivable offense of deceiving the sovereign, while all the officials knew it wasn’t such a grave crime and warranted forgiveness, yet they all feared to offer counsel.

But surely, if someone could elucidate the matter properly, with His Majesty being so wise, how could he not comprehend?

Hence, he came forth to submit his petition and offer advice.

"Your petition has already been perused by Us. Regarding the Blank Seal Case, We now grant you an audience to present your case in person. Repeat the arguments from your petition once again," said Emperor Weizhao indifferently.

This scene reminded him of the time when the scholars reenacted Yang Yan’s audience with Emperor Weizhao.

Only now, the roles of sovereign and subject had been reversed.

On Fang Shiyong’s face appeared an unmistakably joyous expression.

In his view, could it be that the emperor’s demeanor was not so furious, perhaps he had taken his advice to heart?

With this thought, he hurriedly spoke, "Your Majesty, I believe, without doubt, that the Blank Seal Case is a case of injustice, and I have three points of appeal:

"Firstly, the scrutiny of financial records is extremely stringent, demanding final confirmation at the Ministry of Revenue. This relentless to-and-fro, for those far away, spans six or seven thousand li to the Ministry of Revenue, and for the nearer ones, three to four thousand li. Such travel is arduously long, often taking years; therefore, the use of blank seals was but an expedient measure, a necessity under compulsion."

Emperor Weizhao nodded.

As expected, it was the same old defense.

He paused in silence before retorting, "I’ve heard you’re well-read and full of profound knowledge. Very well, let Us test you with a question.

"During the Liang Dynasty, from Shangdu to Liangguang, if a courier carried an official document using the postal relay, how long would it take to arrive?"

Shangdu was a vital stronghold in the north at that time, and the distance from Shangdu to Liangguang was roughly twice that from Liangguang to the capital city of Great Sheng Dynasty. This distance could also be seen as roughly equivalent to the distance from the northernmost major town to the southernmost major town.

Fang Shiyong was taken aback, "This... I do not know.

"But, considering the vast distance from the South Sea to the Northern Barbarians, it would surely take many months or even years."

Emperor Weizhao chuckled and shook his head, "Then let me inform you, in the Liang Dynasty, a document traveling via official relay could arrive from Shangdu to Liangguang in just over a month! And if the postal station employed fast horses, sometimes it only took twenty-four days!

"Now, the capital is situated at the heart of the land, most states and counties can travel to and from the capital within one month!

"Even if you were transporting tax goods and had to move much slower, two months would suffice for a round trip.

"What is this nonsense about ’not permissible except in annus non-periodicus’? Is it that all officials from all over the realm have to crawl to the capital?"

Fang Shiyong’s face darkened involuntarily, clearly stumped by the first question.

The so-called "not permissible except in annus non-periodicus" excuse clearly showed that these officials hadn’t really tried to travel from these remote counties to the capital, or perhaps they considered the travel time as if they were on a leisurely tour.

After Chu Ge threw out the data, they suddenly found themselves at a loss for words.

Fang Shiyong paused, then said, "But Your Majesty, what about the garrisons on the borders of our Great Sheng Dynasty?"

Chu Ge sneered, "Garrisons? Garrisons don’t need to report to the capital to pay taxes!"

"Fine, if you have no concept of time, then I’ll ask you two more questions.

"Firstly, your Jining Prefecture to the capital takes but ten days to half a month, and you call that ’not permissible except in annus non-periodicus’?

"Taxation is a major national concern; what’s wrong with making the trip a few more times if it only takes ten days to half a month?

"Besides, it’s not you officials who have to run these errands but your subordinates. These clerks’ jobs are to report the accounts. They feed off the nation’s salary; running errands for the country is their rightful duty, isn’t it?

"Then I’ll ask you another question, there are hundreds of officials involved in this Blank Seal Case, so how many counties does our Great Sheng have?"

Fang Shiyong’s voice gradually lowered, "To Your Majesty... there are over one thousand four hundred..."

Chu Ge nodded, "Then why is it that the other half of the prefectures do not use blank seals? How do their accounts tally?

"Moreover, those involved with the Blank Seal Case are mostly concentrated near the capital. Why is it that the nearer you are, the more inclined you are to use blank seals?"

Fang Shiyong was left speechless, "This..."

He was at a loss for words.

Had it been some other emperor, perhaps Fang Shiyong’s words might have had some sway.

For example, emperors who are out of touch with the people, like those who asked ’why not eat meat paste?’ or who didn’t even know how much a few silver pieces a chicken egg cost. These emperors had little understanding of basic grassroots data, so deceiving them would be particularly easy.

But Emperor Taizu of Sheng was different.

He had worked his way up from the grassroots, keenly sensitive to all kinds of data. Not only knowledge of the travel time from various prefectures and states to the capital but also a thorough grasp of the content of accounting at the grassroots level – it was impossible for him to make such an elementary mistake.

If he couldn’t even keep accounts, how would he supply food and fodder to the front in times of war? How would he have conquered the world?

So, for a scholar like Fang Shiyong to think he could out-argue Emperor Taizu of Sheng in this respect was truly wishful thinking.

Chu Ge sneered, "Continue with your second point."

A cold sweat began to form on Fang Shiyong’s forehead.

He was beginning to realize that convincing Emperor Taizu was not as simple as he had thought.

But since it had come to this, he pressed on, "Your servant believes the matter of the ’blank seal’ is a traditional practice, its origin dates back far. Your Majesty is not aware because it is a deception, a wrongdoing that has become customary..."

Chu Ge nodded, "Customary?

"Fine, then I’ll ask you, which dynasty’s custom is it?

"Yan? Chu? Wei? Or Liang Qi? Which dynasty?"

Fang Shiyong was caught off guard, "It’s... it’s..."

He stumbled over his words, unable to name a specific dynasty.

Chu Ge chuckled, "Hard to say? Then I will say it for you; it’s a Northern Barbarians’ custom!

"The physical goods tax has been a tradition since ancient times. Can it be that Liang, Qi, also used blank seals?

"The practice of blank seals is nothing more than a leftover bad habit from the Northern Barbarians!

"Since they ruled the world, customs changed, over ninety years! Those without ambition imitated blindly; despite my exhaustive pleas and concerted efforts, I could not bring about reform all year.

"You officials, whose dynasty’s customs would be good to learn, yet you choose to follow the customs of the Northern Barbarians!

"Do you wish for the Great Sheng Dynasty to plunge into chaos after just over ninety years?!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.