Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 277 - 211: Attempting Improvement

Chapter 277: Chapter 211: Attempting Improvement

Chuge lightly touched the card belonging to Wang Wenchuan, choosing this new identity to continue the trial.

In front of him, new talent cards appeared.

[Xin · Generous and Persuasive Speech (Blue): Your speeches become more infectious and persuasive.]

[Geng · Strong Will (Blue): Your will is strong, and you have great stress resistance, but you also become more stubborn.]

[Geng · Keen Observation (Blue): Your observation and memory towards details are enhanced.]

"Three blue talents, not bad luck.

"But...which one should I choose?"

Chuge hesitated.

All three talents seemed useful at first glance.

Since he was to play Wang Wenchuan, his task would certainly involve implementing new laws. In the process of implementing these laws, various difficulties and setbacks would inevitably arise.

The Generous and Persuasive Speech talent would help him better persuade the emperor and suppress the other officials.

The reason Wang Wenchuan was able to reform was ultimately due to the emperor’s support, so persuading the emperor was very important. Especially combined with the player scholars’ righteousness and the new inherent talent to inspire spirit, so although it was a Xin-level talent, the actual benefit should not be less than that of a Geng-level talent.

Strong Will seemed useful, but perhaps not that much. Moreover, it had a negative effect of making one become more stubborn.

As the saying goes, "Listening to all sides is illumination, listening to one side is darkness." If one was particularly stubborn and single-minded, it would be difficult to correct oneself.

Thus, Chuge first eliminated this option.

As for the third option, Keen Observation, it would obviously be more useful in solving cases. But at this moment, the main task for Wang Wenchuan was to make and supervise the execution of laws.

Keen Observation might be somewhat useful in administration, such as enabling Chuge to observe the officials around him, to promote or suppress certain individuals who might threaten the new law early.

But considering whether the new law could be smoothly implemented, the key was not the people around Wang Wenchuan, but rather the lower-level officials, so the benefit of this talent was also not very high.

Chuge’s most time would definitely be spent working in the capital, unable to afford wandering around to inspect the work situations of local officials.

After pondering, Chuge lightly touched the Generous and Persuasive Speech talent and finally selected it.

The fog before his eyes dispersed, and Chuge saw the initial scene when playing Wang Wenchuan.

This place was an official office, also known as the Political Affairs Hall, East Mansion, or Political Affairs Hall.

This was during the Qi Dynasty, the place where the current prime ministers worked, which could also be seen as the central power of the entire Qi Dynasty.

Outside the East Mansion was also the West Mansion, or the Privy Council, which mainly managed military affairs, and was relatively less related to the reforms that Wang Wenchuan was about to undertake.

Chuge could even vaguely guess the tasks he was about to undertake.

As the current prime minister, Wang Wenchuan’s sole purpose was reform. Thus, he mainly appeared in two places: the first was the court, and the second was here in the Political Affairs Hall.

In the court, his main task was to attend the morning court to report to the emperor, and to handle other officials’ criticism of the new law, ensuring the emperor’s full support for the new laws.

Meanwhile, in the Political Affairs Hall, his main task was to handle various political affairs, including making specific policies of the new law, correcting problems that arose in the implementation process, and so forth.

At this moment, there was a draft of the new law’s regulations in front of Chuge, which he needed to finally approve.

This also meant that the game entered a similar "management mode" as when playing the "emperor" Emperor Taizu of Sheng.

Chuge first picked up the draft regarding the new law and started to read it attentively.

Indeed, it wasn’t much different from what he had learned about Wang Wenchuan’s reforms in history.

The core purpose of Wang Wenchuan’s reforms was to enrich the country and strengthen the military, changing the Qi Dynasty’s situation of accumulated poverty and weakness.

And to enrich the country and strengthen the military, a prosperous country was the prerequisite condition for a strong military. Therefore, this reform was ultimately aimed at improving fiscal circumstances.

Only with a full treasury could there be sufficient materials and armaments to then consider training the troops.

This point had already been understood by players in the instance "Nobility Was Not My Intention." Without money, even a great general like General Deng could do nothing without rice.

So, where would the money come from?

Clearly, through all the reforms, the money came from only one place: the class of wealthy merchants, gentry, landlords, etc.

That is, the so-called "taking from the rich to aid the poor."

It wasn’t difficult to understand, if a country’s finances were in trouble, it definitely wasn’t a problem for the lower echelons.

Because the lower echelon had the least resistance, their taxes were only going to increase and not decrease. Even in a peaceful and prosperous age, the common people could barely manage a full meal, to say that it was because of too many stubborn people that taxes couldn’t be collected was utterly nonsensical.

Ultimately, it was because the middle layer retained the taxes that should have been handed over to the state through various means.

So, the fundamental purpose of the reforms was to make these people cough up the money.

Of course, the result of taking from the rich wasn’t necessarily aiding the poor. After this money was collected, whether or not it could or would improve the lives of the lower class was the least important matter.

But regardless, having a full treasury and a strong country could at least solve the Qi Dynasty’s predicament and prevent it from being annihilated by Jin.

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