Chapter 57: An Unconventional Audience in the Hall

Arriving at a grand hall of unknown name, Li Chang'an found it to be vast.

Denied the main entrance, he had been manhandled and shoved in through a side door, then handed over to the custody of two tall and formidable eunuchs.

Along the way, he was drilled in the proper etiquette for an imperial audience—how to prostrate, how to address the sovereign, and how to respond.

Next, he was led behind a translucent folding screen, where he was provided with a rush mat, a small tea table beside it, and a low stool.

"Bow!" commanded the eunuch. Following the cues, Li Chang'an did as he was told.

"Rise!" He stood up straight and stepped aside.

"Sit!" He obediently seated himself on the small stool.

It felt rather like a toddler being led into a kindergarten by a teacher. He had expected to stick his buttocks high in the air, beat his head against the floor, and shout "Long live" three times.

Instead, it had passed so easily, entirely devoid of the endless fuss depicted in costume dramas.

A hoarse female voice coughed. A young eunuch emerged from behind the screen, handing over a copy of the Bianjing Civilian Gazette.

Li Chang'an took it and glanced at it. The article printed upon it was none other than his own piece, *Denouncing Heaven and Ancestors, Heading for Ruin Without a Day to Spare*.

He nodded at the young eunuch to acknowledge that he was indeed the author.

He now felt a mild pang of regret. In his haste at the time, he should have asked Qian Weimin to polish the text. That fellow was obedient and tight-lipped; had he done so, no one would ever have caught him.

A moment later, the young eunuch approached again and asked, "Do the common people truly believe that the will of Heaven is not to be feared and ancestral traditions are not to be followed, exactly as you wrote?"

Ah, so that was how it worked. They did not deign to converse with him directly.

In a feudal society, there were truly too many damned rules. He had even hoped to catch a glimpse of what the emperor looked like.

"This subject reports the truth: it is indeed so. The foundational pillars of the Great Song are these: the imperial guards do not wish to shed meaningless blood; the common people do not wish to endure a chaotic and turbulent world; the powerful clans and noble families have tossed about enough; the southern gentry do not wish to lay down their lives for imperial authority; and the people of the realm are utterly exhausted by the bloodshed since the Five Dynasties.

"The will of Heaven for the Great Song is peace and prosperity, allowing everyone to live in peace and contentment.

"The ancestral precepts of the Great Song are mutual forbearance for the sake of the country, compromise, concession, and letting oneself live while allowing others to live as well.

"Therefore, in this subject's humble opinion, although the Founding Emperor and Emperor Taizong lacked the autocracy and tyranny of the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, and lacked the martial achievements and cultural splendor of the Sui and Tang dynasties, they were equally great.

"For nearly a century, this has been the era in which the common folk have lived most like human beings. The aristocracy does not treat human beings as slaves; powerful clans must abide by the law and discipline; and officials rein in their claws and fangs.

"This is the best era, the most blissful era since the advent of the Son of Heaven.

"This subject implores the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty to revere Heaven and follow the ancestors, and to honor the covenant established between the Great Song and the myriad common people of the realm!"

His voice was sufficiently resonant; surely there was no need for the young eunuch to relay his words. Yet the air suddenly fell silent, and time seemed to stand still.

Although he had refrained from using harsh vocabulary or a critical tone, he had ultimately made a fundamental negation of the Great Song's second round of reforms.

One could not entirely blame them for their shock; after all, this was the mission passed down from Emperor Renzong and Emperor Yingzong. If reforms were not implemented once more, the Great Song would soon face bankruptcy.

After a long wait, his buttocks began to feel rather sore from the hard stool.

Fu Bi stood at the side of the screen, shifting his footing to face Li Chang'an. He frowned, a trace of pity in his eyes, and gave a slight shake of his head.

Was he being told to say no more? Yet opportunities were rare. Having offended the reformist chancellor, an unbacked fop like him would genuinely be hounded to death by Wang Pang if he did not argue his case.

After a long while, the young eunuch turned and returned.

"The Sovereign asks: If one clings to the old ways and remains conservative, how can malignant policies be eradicated? Wang Anshi does not shrink from public execration and yet still fails to drive the momentum of reform. The officials in various prefectures and commanderies all use old laws and customs to drag down the new policies. If this continues, the state revenues will be insufficient for use. How is the Northwest to be pacified? How is the Yellow River to be regulated? How are natural disasters to be relieved?"

This was a difficult question to answer. It was equivalent to you saying the food does not taste good, whereupon someone immediately asks you how to cook.

China had long possessed a flawed tradition: those who raised objections were invariably treated as challengers to power and competitors coveting high positions. It was as if failing to produce a better plan rendered one's dissent unreasonable and idle talk that ruined the state.

For the emperor to pose a problem that the nation's elite could not solve to a twenty-one-year-old fop—such logic was deeply touching.

Yet, at the same time, this was precisely the question Li Chang'an wanted.

Reasoning with an enlightened ruler to loosen the noose choking civilization—that was a highly profitable bargain.

"In reply to the Sage: The current predicament of the Great Song lies in finance, not in legal frameworks. When affairs are undertaken without forethought, the Qingli campaign in the Northwest dragged on for fifteen years, consuming nearly one hundred million guan in military funds and grain provisions, instantly draining fifty years of accumulated wealth from the imperial court. When affairs proceed without reserves, the settlement of refugees, the pacification of bandits, the breaching of river dykes, and the bloated officialdom force the court to rob Peter to pay Paul, clutching the Buddha's foot only when in crisis. This causes all the wealth of the realm to be funneled into the imperial coffers, yet it remains insufficient. Therefore, this subject believes that in governing and executing state policy, there must be a plan of budgets and final accounts. Operations must proceed according to law and protocol, prohibiting arbitrary tyranny and shortsightedness that cares only for the present while ignoring the future."

Before the young eunuch could walk back this time, a young voice spoke from behind the screen: "What is a budget and what are final accounts? Are there mature methods for this?"

Oh? So they were willing to speak to him directly now?

That was a good sign. It seemed his arguments had struck a chord, meaning there was hope for his subsequent remonstrance.

"Taking the miscellaneous goods store of my maternal grandfather's family as an example: the manager is elected every three years through competitive bidding. Upon taking office, he must present a business plan for his tenure, methods for personnel selection, and projected profit margins. Only after negotiating and reaching a consensus with the owner, reduced to writing, may he take charge of the entire store. As for expenses, plans are submitted annually, reviewed and approved by both parties, and disbursed by the owner. Accounts are submitted monthly to monitor progress, and accountability is enforced if deviations occur. Should unforeseen risks arise, contingency plans are activated for emergency risk mitigation to preserve the principal.
"This subject believes that governing a country is like managing a store.
"Therefore, when a chancellor takes office, the responsibility of the chief minister should be set for a term of five years, breaking down the implementation of political strategy and formulating budgetary and final accounting plans to prevent reckless adventurism that disrupts the imperial court.
"Budget for statecraft, finalize for review, and inspect for supervision.
"Only thus can officials devote their utmost efforts, state governance flow smoothly, and the hearts of the people find peace."

When he finished speaking, silence fell behind the screen once more.

Li Chang'an was somewhat reminded of the scene during a thesis defense, specifically during the great pandemic era when defenses were held online—that constant state of dropping the connection.

Fortunately, it did not take long for the other side to come back online.

"If the three redundancies are not eliminated and state revenues are not increased, the imperial court cannot sustain itself. You speak in grand generalities; do you have superior strategies to resolve the imperial court's current plight?"

Tossing and turning, it had come right back around.

The imperial court was brimming with elites; if one Chancellor Wang fell, Chancellor Li, Chancellor Zhang, or Chancellor Chen would step up.

By failing to consider the fundamental aspects of reform and instead obsessing endlessly over the immediate fiscal crisis—whose tutelage had this emperor received, failing to even distinguish between primary and secondary contradictions?

He could certainly speak on it, but would they dare execute it? When a chancellor took office, he did not even possess an administrative team.

Although the political architecture of the Great Song was incomparably complex, it consistently offered only checks and balances without efficiency. Whenever an emergency arose, whoever took charge was rendered blind.

If he were to begin untangling this ball of hemp thread, he could tutor the emperor for three years and still fail to get the point across. He would have to carve out a different path.

He ran through various cases from the *History of World Politics and Economics* and singled out one: Louis XVI and Brienne.

Back then, Louis XV had also pursued bellicose policies and wantonly engaged in grandiose engineering projects while expanding the military.

As a result, he left behind a mountain of debt. By the time his grandson Louis XVI ascended the throne, much like the present moment, a total fiscal collapse was on the verge of erupting.

How had Louis XVI played his hand? By levying taxes on the Third Estate, levying taxes on the Second Estate, and levying taxes on the First Estate!

Later on, the glorious Sun King stretched endlessly into the horizon.

"This subject believes..."