Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 302 - 220 The Intersection of Two Lines_2

Chapter 302: Chapter 220 The Intersection of Two Lines_2

They either restrained themselves, refraining from blatantly enforcing green seed loans or raising interest rates, or they tried to deceive the heavens and cross the sea. The latter was obviously very difficult and risky.

To some extent, the implementation of the Green Seed Law was slightly better than in history.

Chu Ge estimated that, given the current situation, winning the battle at Niu Zhu Pier in four years should not be a problem.

At least in terms of military resources, they were sufficiently plentiful.

After all, laws like the Military Weapons Supervision Law and the Reduction Law, which could enhance the military’s combat effectiveness, had been implemented earlier, and coupled with the recent rich fiscal revenues, there was a good chance of defeating the Jin soldiers at Niu Zhu Pier as long as Yu Jiaxuan’s line functioned normally.

Once again arriving at the imperial court.

However, what surprised Chu Ge was that the emperor’s complexion seemed somewhat amiss today.

"Minister Wang, are you aware of this matter?"

As the emperor spoke, he had a nearby eunuch hand over an item.

Chu Ge was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized he might have triggered some special plot and hurriedly took the item.

It was a scroll painting and a memorial.

Chu Ge slowly unfurled the scroll, and his heart couldn’t help but "thump."

It was a "Picture of Refugees"!

In the painting, every one of the displaced persons was scantily clad, with a haggard appearance, each leaning on a tree branch as a crutch, a vision of purgatory on earth.

The memorial outlined the harm brought by the reforms to the people, stating that the new laws had caused "nine out of ten households to be emptied, and the people to be displaced and homeless" as a grave consequence.

Moreover, it concluded with a line: "Seeing such a sight, one can already weep, and what more for even worse situations than this? The drought was caused by Wenchuan’s reforms. As the imperial servants have said, dismiss Wenchuan, and the heavens will surely rain. If there is no rain in ten days, I ask to be beheaded outside the Xuan De Gate to atone for the crime of deceiving the sovereign."

The message was that the scenes before one’s eyes were already enough to make one weep, so how much more terrible must the reality be? This drought was all because of Wang Wenchuan’s reforms. If the emperor would follow my advice and dismiss Wang Wenchuan, it would definitely rain! If it doesn’t rain within ten days, then behead me outside Xuan De Gate to punish me for the crime of deceiving the emperor.

This memorial was literally damning.

And then, looking at the name on the memorial: Zhang Renxia!

Just as Chu Ge was stunned by the name Zhang Renxia, the emperor had already slammed the armrest in anger and asked: "Minister Wang! What is the meaning of this?

"Has the implementation of the new laws always been like this?"

It had been a long time since Chu Ge saw the emperor so angry, and within that anger, there was even a hint of sorrow.

He hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, this is not a fault of the new laws..."

But his explanation was to no avail, and amidst sorrow and anger, the emperor once again decided to dismiss Wang Wenchuan from his post as chancellor.

"Damn! This damn emperor!

"He’s way too easily swayed!"

Returning again to the crucial five-year mark, Chu Ge was simply fuming.

This failure had come too suddenly, leaving him completely unprepared mentally.

Of course, part of the reason was that he had already suppressed the old faction to almost nonexistence, so he had become complacent without realizing it, and as a result, these old faction members had stolen home base.

After calming down, Chu Ge reflected on the pain and began analyzing the reasons for this failure.

On the surface, the failure seemed very abrupt.

Logically speaking, Wang Wenchuan had essentially cleared the old faction from the imperial court, and the officials who supported the new laws were already in the majority.

Moreover, he had gained the emperor’s trust through the official system law.

But why was he dismissed from his post because of a painting?

This matter, when explained in detail, is quite complicated.

The key this time was the "change in the heavens."

People in ancient times were deeply superstitious, particularly in the belief of cosmic resonance. Emperors, styling themselves as the sons of heaven, were especially credulous in this belief.

Therefore, in ancient times, whenever there was a severe drought, many emperors would fast and pray for rain, and even issue edicts confessing their sins, as in the eyes of the ancients, natural disasters like droughts were warnings from heaven, and the emperor must earnestly reflect and correct his errors.

So why did a "Picture of Refugees" have such devastating impact this time?

Because indeed, there were many displaced people at that time.

The emperor was originally unaware of how severe the disaster was, but after seeing the "Picture of Refugees," he was greatly shocked mentally, to the extent of grieving and barely eating for several days.

Once the disaster was brought to the emperor’s attention, he had many ways to verify the extent of it.

After confirming the severity of the disaster, things became complicated.

In the emperor’s view, the drought started not long after the implementation of the new laws, which was clearly a warning from heaven. Coupled with impeachment from officials everywhere, claiming that the Green Seed Law from the new laws caused people to starve and become displaced, the combination of multiple factors naturally shook the emperor’s confidence in the new laws.

At that time, although the Wang Wenchuan character played by Chu Ge had become a powerful minister with influence throughout the court, he had not yet grown to the point where he could confront the emperor directly.

And those old faction senior officials who had not been completely dealt with took this rare opportunity to fiercely attack the new laws.

Only after another three to five years, when the Green Seed Law was successfully implemented and the entire imperial bureaucratic system was built up from top to bottom, rooted in the new laws, could the Wang Wenchuan character played by Chu Ge truly grow to the point where he could completely deceive the emperor or stand up against the emperor.

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