"Your Majesty, why don't you try to emulate it?"
"What Ding Yun has done is essentially out in the open. It boils down to nothing more than grain and money. Can the grain and money you can mobilize truly be inferior to a mere grain merchant?
As long as Your Majesty begins to cultivate personnel now and imitates and learns from what the other party does, whether Ding Yun has malicious intentions or encounters some unforeseen accident in the future.
Your Majesty will have sufficient confidence to take over and maintain stability.
Naturally, there will be nothing to worry about."
The leader of the dark guards did not know if Emperor Yuanyuan had not thought of this or what, but regardless, this was what he thought, and naturally, he said it.
As for Emperor Yuanyuan, he still shook his head and gave a wry smile:
"Some things she can do, but I cannot.
In fact, haven't we always had similar measures? Allowing local prefectures and counties to retain a portion of tax silver and grain was precisely to enable them to respond promptly in times of disaster. But what was the result? In times of disaster, what was supposed to happen still happened!
As for grain, the more you investigate, the more you find.
Upon inspection, it was all corruption and deficits. Using old grain and bran to substitute for new grain was already considered conscientious.
She can dismiss her shopkeepers and clerks at will.
If the accounts are even slightly amiss, she deals with it immediately.
But I cannot.
The court has civil and military officials to balance, aristocratic families and humble scholars to balance, nobles and ordinary officials to balance, and even the imperial clan needs to be balanced.
It is difficult to know the actions of local officials.
Local cover-ups are commonplace.
I fear that even if I try to imitate what she is doing now and learn from it, before long, everything will return to how it is in the court now, appearing good on the surface, but in actual operation, it will be full of constraints."
Being an emperor often means not being able to do whatever one wants. They have too many considerations and too many forces to balance. In terms of resolving and dismissing subordinates, they are even inferior to merchants.
A merchant can dismiss a shopkeeper or even hand them over to the authorities if they find any issues, but this emperor, even knowing that the Four Kings and Eight Dukes have committed many illegal acts, can only note it down and wait for a better opportunity to deal with them.
This is the disparity and the reality.
He used to think that what restricted him from making great strides was his father, the Supreme Emperor, who had never abdicated.
But now that his father has passed away.
He realized that there were many, many more constraints on him.
Many things, if he disregarded the consequences, could be done, but he also cared about his reputation, which is why he became indecisive and tied his own hands. If this cannot be changed, no matter how much he does, he will ultimately be bound by the officials.
As Emperor Yuanyuan spoke, the leader of the dark guards didn't know how to respond. He was well aware of the character of some officials. No matter how good the policy, it couldn't stop the officials below from being disobedient or intentionally misinterpreting it.
This chronic ailment of the court had been present for more than a day or two.
The two fell silent for a long time. Finally, Emperor Yuanyuan broke the deadlock and asked about other matters.
Such as how the salt merchants in various places were doing recently, the extent of rampant illegal salt, the collection of salt tax, and the relationship between border generals and soldiers.
Having been emperor for several years, Emperor Yuanyuan no longer believed the information presented by the officials in their memorials. He only believed the information investigated by his own dark guards.
Little did he know that in this world, there was no absolute loyalty.
Individual loyalty might not be difficult, but demanding the loyalty of an entire force was pure fantasy.
Ding Yun relied on her willingness to pay to ensure that her relevant information was not completely exposed.
And allowed Emperor Yuanyuan to obtain it smoothly.
Only the part of the information she wanted him to know.
In fact, she was not the only one doing this. Some larger ancient families also secretly engaged in it. It wasn't for rebellion, but mainly to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves and to keep some trump cards for their families.
If the emperor knew everything, and something happened, wouldn't it be possible for them to be wiped out?
...
Outside Jinling City, in the Nanhua Temple.
Ding Yun, as usual, returned a few days after the autumn harvest in various regions. Upon her return to Nanhua Temple, before she could even rest, she was pulled by Yunxi, the female Taoist, to look at the grain growth records for the year.
"Look, the records for this season are quite stable.
With intensive cultivation and a generous supply of fertilizer, the per-mu yield of the two improved varieties you provided can generally stabilize at around eight hundred jin. This data has remained unchanged for four consecutive seasons. Although soil fertility has some impact, it is not as significant as before.
I think the data is stable.
These grain varieties can be promoted on a large scale!"
Although Yunxi, the female Taoist, had personally kept similar records for two years, she was still very happy at this moment. To her, these records were not just numbers, but related to the sustenance of many people.
The earlier these improved varieties were fully promoted,
the more pressure on many common people could be reduced.
It could also reduce the proportion of abandoned and drowned infants.
She had not suffered much herself, but she had personally witnessed many suffering people. Even if she lacked some empathy, it did not affect her compassion.
And her desire to do something for them.
Her tireless help over the years, assisting with land cultivation, controlling the spread of information, and even personally recording, were all fueled by her passion. Ding Yun only provided the seeds and fertilizer; almost everything else was handled and managed by Yunxi.
"Planted continuously for five years, and the seeds have not degenerated further. The possibility of future degeneration is very low. It is indeed time for promotion.
Daoist Master, why don't you submit the report!
The main credit for this achievement is yours. I only helped with some insignificant minor assistance."
Ding Yun did not desire too much fame and reputation because what she was doing now was too extensive and could easily affect people's livelihoods. If she pursued fame further, it would easily arouse the suspicion of those in power.
The reason she had been able to remain safe and sound so far, besides often acting under the name of the court and the emperor during disaster relief, was most importantly that she was a woman, who, in the emperor's eyes, did not possess the direct conditions for rebellion. If she were a man, she would probably have been killed long ago or imprisoned and executed on fabricated charges.
Therefore, this achievement, comparable to Shen Nong,
Ding Yun was certainly unwilling to claim.
However, Yunxi, the female Taoist, was not someone who would take credit without justification. At this moment, she also immediately objected:
"No, how can that be?
The grain seeds were provided by you, and you also solved the problem of soil fertility depletion, which is the most crucial aspect.
I only did work that anyone could do.
The core of these improved varieties lies with you!
Besides, even if you don't consider yourself, you must consider your mother. This is also your mother's painstaking effort. With this achievement, perhaps your mother can be deified after death and receive the incense offerings of all people in the Temple of Shen Nong!"
In this world, there were some gods and immortals, so Yunxi's statement was not entirely baseless.
After they pushed the responsibility back and forth for a while.
They finally compromised.
Yunxi would still submit the report. As for the specific credit, Yunxi would receive all of it, and the credit originally belonging to Ding Yun would all be attributed to her mother.
That is, the deceased mother she had fabricated at the beginning.
By attributing this great achievement to a deceased person, it was undoubtedly the best solution. This way, not only would the credit not be snatched away by others, but there would also be no worry about the emperor's suspicion.
After all, the one who achieved this great feat was a deceased person. Once a person is dead, no matter what posthumous title is conferred, it is inconsequential and does not need to worry about any repercussions.
Thus, it was a win-win situation for everyone.