Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 348 - 228 Another Possibility (9000 words for monthly passes)_5

Chapter 348: Chapter 228 Another Possibility (9000 words for monthly passes)_5

Imperial autocracy is almost irreversible. To actively strengthen imperial power for the sake of implementing reforms would mean that once the emperor turns his slaughterous hand toward oneself, it would be very difficult to muster the power to resist.

Hence, there are ultimately only three outcomes.

While the current emperor is alive, he realizes something is amiss and ruthlessly purges the chancellor.

After the current emperor dies, the new emperor detects something is wrong and with ruthless measures purges the chancellor.

The old emperor dies, the new emperor ascends the throne, but temporarily fails to take action; once the chancellor passes, he will then use even more ruthless methods to purge the chancellor’s descendants and all of their factional followers.

Viewed from a longer-term perspective, ascending through such means would have an extremely bad influence on the court’s climate.

Other officials will certainly follow suit, beginning to curry favor, engage in factional struggles, and dig up dirt as their main tactics, and brutally suppress dissenters in their quest for higher positions.

And the emperor will become more suspicious of his officials, perhaps constantly weighing and restricting them, ensuring the stability and concentration of imperial power.

Even by resorting to such extreme measures, one might be able to promote the new laws as much as possible during Wang Wenchuan’s tenure, but the results of the new laws are most likely still not very good.

The national treasury would definitely be full, and foreign warfare might improve, but the lives of the people might not necessarily get any better.

Most likely, one would still end up with a thousand years of infamy among the common people.

During this process, if there were a chancellor or emperor who truly possessed exceptional talent, then he would be able to extend the dynasty’s lifespan; without one, the entire dynasty would collapse at an even faster pace.

Because the blunders of a foolish ruler would naturally be unchecked by anyone.

Although Wang Wenchuan never once considered the chancellor’s path, he still encountered frequent conflicts with the old party’s officials during the reform process, and he had plenty of experience in political struggles.

However, Wang Wenchuan still tried to maintain the bottom line of factional strife, and although he had ostensibly expelled all the old party from court, he had at least left them some margin.

Towards the emperor, he neither listened and submitted nor blindly flattered. Instead, he always stood by his own views, even causing the emperor’s displeasure.

Judging by the results, his implementation of the new laws was not successful, but at least he managed a good end, and the intense factional struggles between the old and new parties only began after his death.

As he stubbornly held to his bottom line, he also tried to offer his best efforts, though these attempts ultimately ended in failure.

Therefore, even though Wang Wenchuan now saw Chu Ge’s approach and was aware that such a chancellor’s path could push the reforms deeper, he only sighed with admiration and showed not too much enlightenment in his mood.

This was a solution, but it clearly did not align with Wang Wenchuan’s character.

Meng Yuan seemed to have anticipated this, and he waved his hands, mist swirling before them, revealing another timeline.

"Please look again, Lord Jing; this is the second of the three other possibilities that I have prepared for you."

By the fifth episode, it was yet another possibility that Meng Yuan was showing to Wang Wenchuan.

Wang Wenchuan once again geared himself up, clearly wanting to know what exactly this other solution entailed.

As for the audience in front of the screen, they felt anticipation mixed with some confusion.

Are there really three other possibilities?

Considering previous players’ experiences with the game, Chu Ge’s method was already acknowledged as the most effective solo mode solution, and regardless of the outcome, the chancellor’s path at least made for a more enjoyable process.

One would have thought that Meng Yuan would save the chancellor’s approach for last, yet surprisingly, he had shown it first.

If the final possibility is a group entry by the players, then what exactly is the second possibility?

The audience continued to watch the content of the fifth episode with serious interest.

...

As the fog cleared, Wang Wenchuan was stunned, and so were the viewers in front of the screens.

Because... before them lay an utterly unfamiliar scene.

Among skyscrapers, old-fashioned cars shuttled back and forth endlessly. Dense crowds dressed in modern Western clothing hurried along, each face brimming with happiness and confidence.

Wang Wenchuan was somewhat astonished: "What is this..."

Meng Yuan explained, "Lord Jing, this is a foreign land some nine hundred years later."

Wearing a somewhat dazed expression, Wang Wenchuan mused, "Nine hundred years later... it has flourished to this extent?"

In the scene before him, there were too many elements he didn’t recognize, whether it was the speeding cars or the towering skyscrapers; they all seemed unbelievable to him.

But no matter how much the times may change, people ultimately do not change much.

Yet what surprised Wang Wenchuan even more was that in this great metropolis before his eyes, although the pedestrians on the roads were hurrying along, the happiness and confidence brimming from them made one genuinely feel that their spirit was completely different from the ancient people hundreds of years ago.

This scene even somewhat approached what Wang Wenchuan had once imagined the periods of Emperors Yao and Shun to be like.

In ancient times, all scholars would speak of Yao and Shun, because in the eyes of the ancient literati, they had already become something akin to political correctness.

In fact, from the perspective of modern people, no matter how much the Yao and Shun era was glorified, it was still a primitive society, and an era of universal happiness and peace under extremely limited productive forces was absolutely impossible.

Therefore, modern people never envied the ancients.

Yet when Wang Wenchuan implemented his reforms, he had to evoke the pretext of emulating Yao and Shun for his policies to be carried out. It had to be said that this was quite a sad affair.

For the audience in front of the screen, however, this scene was quite familiar.

"Eh, isn’t this just the scenery from the early 20th century?"

"Why are they showing this to Wang Wenchuan?"

Many players were somewhat puzzled.

Indeed, Meng Yuan had previously shown Emperor Taizu of Sheng the living conditions of modern people, but that was after all at Emperor Taizu’s own request.

But now, while Meng Yuan was clearly showing Wang Wenchuan another possibility for reform, why did he turn the camera to the early 20th century in a foreign country?

Wang Wenchuan asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with the new laws?"

In his view, the days of this foreign country were already far superior to those of the Qi Dynasty, even surpassing the imagined era of Yao and Shun. If so, what did it have to do with the reforms he had once vigorously advocated?

After all, his reforms back then were prompted by seeing the grave issues of the Qi Dynasty—three redundancies,accumulated poverty and weakness, and internal and external troubles—which had reached a point where failure to reform would mean a slow death.

And what did this harmonious scene have to do with reform?

Meng Yuan did not answer directly but waved his hand, making the flow of time in the vast city before them speed up: "Lord Jing, look again."

Clouds in the sky flew by swiftly, vehicles on the ground shuttled back and forth non-stop, and the gigantic city continued to alternate between night and day. The daytime was bustling, and the nighttime was brightly lit.

But on one particular day, the prosperous scene suddenly disappeared, never to return.

The faces of the people were no longer brimming with confidence and smiles, but instead, were filled with worry, their eyes seemingly completely devoid of luster.

Then, this mood spread quickly across the entire city like a contagion.

Construction sites that were once bustling with activity came to a halt, and the people who used to smile as they moved through various buildings now wandered the streets aimlessly, either with signs of seeking employment on their backs or in their hands, or in long queues in front of relief stations.

The camera gradually zoomed in, following a person dressed in ragged clothes, devoid of energy.

He had a sign on his back with several lines written in foreign characters.

Wang Wenchuan couldn’t help but ask, "What does this mean?"

Meng Yuan translated, "It says: ’I know three trades, can speak three languages, have struggled for three years, have three children, have been unemployed for three months, and all I want is one job.’"

Surprise showed on Wang Wenchuan’s face, "Could it really be like this?"

Obviously, he couldn’t comprehend what was going on at all.

In the view of the ancients, if a person had three trades and could speak three languages, why would they have nothing to do?

Even as a craftsman, shouldn’t they be highly sought after everywhere?

Meng Yuan obviously could not explain the concept of an economic crisis in a few words to someone from hundreds of years ago, nor could he easily clarify the concept of "relative overproduction." So he could only give a general response.

"One can only say that a thousand years later, people will always encounter new problems."

Wang Wenchuan was still perplexed, "But what does this have to do with the new laws?"

Meng Yuan explained, "Because what I am now showing Lord Jing is a reform that took place in a foreign country more than nine hundred years later.

"It can be called: The Roosevelt Reforms.

"And this reform has some striking resemblances to your own, Lord Jing."