Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 296 - 218 New Plan_2

Chapter 296: Chapter 218 New Plan_2

Chuge was well aware that Liu Zhi’en was capable.

Of course, Chuge didn’t plan to let Liu Zhi’en work in vain, he had already thought of the benefits to offer the Wude Bureau.

First, he told Liu Zhi’en he planned to petition the emperor to increase the Wude Bureau’s salaries and treatment.

Second, he drew a picture, telling Liu Zhi’en that as long as this matter was managed smoothly and made the emperor happy, the Wude Bureau’s power would grow increasingly greater in the future.

Lastly, he clarified the stakes: if this opportunity was missed, there wouldn’t be another. If he wanted to regain his face in front of important officials like Wen Jun, this was his only chance.

Chuge mentioned that a Prime Minister who would help the Wude Bureau like himself was a rare find. If someone else were in his position, they would likely suppress the Wude Bureau to death along with Wen Jun.

By then, not only would the personnel of the Wude Bureau potentially lose their positions, but they might also end up in prison.

This time, Chuge didn’t employ his talent for eloquent speech, but rather adopted a "low-key approach."

But after his arguments, Liu Zhi’en was thoroughly convinced.

Because Chuge’s analysis was just too accurate, every sentence struck deep into his heart. Under these circumstances, there was no need for the talent of a debater to make him utterly devoted to Chuge!

Liu Zhi’en had no reason to refuse but instead was moved to do his utmost to help Wenchuan and handle this matter well.

...

After Liu Zhi’en left, Chuge gave a slight smile like a major antagonist, continuing to immerse himself in the new legal propositions on his desk.

Although he now prioritized the factional struggle, the new laws still needed symbolic advancement.

First was the official system law.

This was something the emperor had long desired and was, of course, the priority. Even if all other laws were abandoned, this one had to be retained.

Next was the Green Seed Law.

This was the core of Wenchuan’s reforms but also the most controversial. From the resulting outcomes, it indeed brought substantial revenue to the national treasury, but it also triggered great controversy and led to the bankruptcy of many farmers.

Chuge thought it over and directly struck out the Green Seed Law.

The Green Seed Law was temporarily unsuitable for implementation, it could wait until later.

Equal Distribution Law, Market Trading Law.

These appeared promising at first glance. However, to the old party, they were seen as competing with the populace for profit and were difficult to achieve under the social conditions at the time, ultimately bringing limited financial revenue to the state.

Consider those later.

The Baojia Law had little significance, so it would not be considered.

The Exemption Law was the one Wenchuan was most confident about, and many conservative ministers actually supported the Exemption Law, although they had differing opinions about some of its details.

Apart from Wen Jun, who in his later years demanded the Exemption Law be abolished within days, many old party members turned to support the Exemption Law.

Moreover, the Exemption Law was among the new laws that brought the most financial revenue to the state.

Thus, after considering, Chuge decided to retain the Exemption Law but with some adjustments to the details.

According to Wenchuan’s original plan, the Exemption Law required collecting money from everyone, but some in the old party believed exemption money should only be collected from the wealthy households.

Chuge decided to make a compromise and exempt certain special groups like single-person households and widows from paying exemption money. Although this would reduce some revenue, it at least presented an "affection for the populace" and could sway some from the old party.

Of course, Chuge knew the implementation might deviate at the lower levels. But no matter, at least during the initial phase of "scriptural debate," it would provide him with a significant advantage.

The Agricultural Water Law benefitted both the nation and the people, and was not very controversial, so it was retained.

The Reduction Law and the Military Weapons Supervision Law related to the military. The former mandated that soldiers must retire after age fifty, those who failed tests in the Imperial Army were demoted to the Xiang Army, and those failing in the Xiang Army were demoted to civilian status. The latter dictated that the supervision of weapon manufacturing improved weapon quality.

Both laws were considered successful by future standards and were retained.

The Imperial Examination Law abolished the Mingjing Examination, and the Advanced Scholar Examination instead focused primarily on classical and policy-based evaluations, enhancing the practical capabilities of those selected through the examinations. This law was also successful and very useful, so it was retained.

Finally, Chuge reviewed the reform content he had summarized from the beginning.

Official System Law, Exemption Law (certain lower-income groups exempted), Agricultural Water Law, Reduction Law, Military Weapons Supervision Law, Imperial Examination Law.

These contents definitely couldn’t all be implemented at once. Chuge’s idea was to first try pushing the official system law, Exemption Law, and Agricultural Water Law, and then gradually advance the others.

According to the proposal before Wenchuan’s reforms, this new plan seemed somewhat mild.

The opposition it would provoke was indeed much smaller than before, but even if all these plans were implemented smoothly, they couldn’t save the gradually deteriorating Qi Dynasty.

And that was exactly what Chuge wanted.

His primary goal now was not the reforms, but to eliminate dissidents.

This plan could not only show the emperor that he was actively working on reforms, solidifying a good impression in the emperor’s mind, but also genuinely increase the state’s treasury surplus, allowing the emperor to see the effects of the new laws, and it could temporarily smooth over conflicts with conservative officials, barring Wen Jun, effectively paralyzing them.

Chuge even planned to show weakness to the old party voluntarily, agreeing with them on some aspects.