Chapter Fifty: Display

Two days later, at dawn, Liu Tan bathed and burned incense. At the resounding call of the eunuch Wang Li, he once again stepped into the Hall of Virtue and Rectitude. The assembled ministers waited in silence for the emperor to take his seat before loudly proclaiming, “Long live His Majesty!”

Compared to his first time presiding over court, there was less anticipation in the air and more astonishment.

“Rise, my loyal subjects,” Liu Tan gestured. After they stood, he continued, “Is there any memorial to be presented?”

“Your Majesty, I have a memorial to submit!” At this, one man stepped from the ranks of the officials and bowed. Liu Tan already knew him: Jia Li, the officer in charge of national tax collection, subordinate to the Secretariat, with the title of Left Deputy Director. Jia Li spoke, “Your Majesty, this year, the counties of Zangke Prefecture have suffered scant rainfall. The rice harvest is far below previous years. The Prefect of Zangke has submitted a petition, requesting that Your Majesty reduce tax collection by ten percent, so that the people may have enough to eat.”

With these words, he drew out a silk scroll from his breast and, bowing, raised it above his head.

Seeing this, Wang Li immediately stepped forward to present it to Liu Tan.

Liu Tan read the memorial: the Prefect of Zangke had clearly outlined that although this year’s drought was not absolute, the grain yield had fallen sharply. If taxes were collected as usual, there would be starvation. The prefect thus requested a ten percent reduction in taxes.

After reading, Liu Tan set the scroll aside and looked up. “What are your views on this, my loyal subjects?”

This time, it was Li Yan who bowed and replied, “Your Majesty, I have verified that the drought in Zangke is indeed severe. I believe it is right to reduce the tax by ten percent, in order to sustain the people’s livelihoods.”

“Your Majesty, I disagree! Taxes and corvée are the foundation of a nation. How can such laws be altered at will? If Zangke is granted a reduction, others will surely follow. I believe the law must not be changed!”

Liu Tan looked over. The man was tall and broad—standing at the full eight-foot stature—with a face as red as a ripe date. The face of Guan Yu was said to be red, but this man’s complexion was so darkly red it was almost black; hence, later generations would describe Wei Yan in this manner.

Recognizing him, Liu Tan nodded, “Uncle Wen Chang speaks with reason. The laws of the court must not be profaned or changed at a whim!” He then turned to Zhuge Liang, “What say you, Prime Minister?”

Zhuge Liang, fanning himself with his goose-feather fan, shook his head and replied, “Your Majesty, while the laws must not be defied, the hardship of Zangke cannot be ignored. I believe the reduction of only ten percent is too little—it should be twenty, so the people may survive the lean season and weather the difficulty.”

Liu Tan nodded, “It should be so. As the Han of Shu, we must uphold the spirit of the Han and ensure our people live in peace and prosperity. Now that Zangke suffers drought and poor harvest, it is the court’s duty to help them through hardship. Deputy Jia, as the Prime Minister has advised, exempt Zangke from twenty percent of its taxes.”

“I obey, Your Majesty. On behalf of the people of Zangke, I thank Your Majesty and the Prime Minister!” Jia Li said.

“Are there any further memorials?” Liu Tan asked. Seeing that no one else came forward, he continued, “Wang Li, distribute the papers to the officials for review.”

“At once!” Wang Li responded, producing a sheaf of seven or eight sheets from his sleeve and handing them first to the Prime Minister, the Chief Secretary, and other leading ministers.

Zhuge Liang and Li Yan had been forewarned, yet even so, upon seeing the paper again, they were startled anew.

The paper was densely covered in characters. What first drew the eye was that the writing seemed not penned by hand, but rather printed in ink.

Furthermore, each character was square and upright, the ink sharp and clear, easily legible.

Looking at the sheets in their neighbors’ hands, they saw that every page was nearly identical in ink and content.

Reading further, Zhuge Liang and Li Yan saw that the text was the patent law for the protection of intellectual property, which the emperor had proposed the day before.

The content was plainly written, proposing legislation to protect inventors in Shu, allowing them to profit from their creations.

“What is this?” Wei Yan asked a colleague beside him.

“This? Could it be paper?”

Liu Tan nodded to himself—there was no shortage of discerning men in this court.

“Intellectual property law? With this, the people of Shu will be greatly motivated. Invention and innovation can bring prosperity—why, this makes me want to invent something myself!” one official exclaimed.

Another nodded in agreement, “The court offers protection and collects a ten percent royalty as a fee. With taxes, the state gains even more revenue, but not so much that it breeds resentment. This is brilliant!”

After a long while, Liu Tan cleared his throat, restoring order to the hall. He declared, “First, let me confirm: what you hold in your hands is paper—paper for writing, which can be mass-produced at extremely low cost. Each sheet costs but one-hundredth that of the same-sized silk. Imagine, before long, you will have such convenient writing paper in your own homes!”

“Truly?” one minister asked. When Liu Tan nodded, he continued, “Your Majesty, you cannot know how much anxiety I have felt writing memorials, always fearful of wasting bamboo or silk by making a single mistake. Practicing calligraphy, or teaching my children to read and write, I have always been reluctant, for silk and bamboo are too dear to waste. If it is as Your Majesty says, I can finally write freely!”

Liu Tan had already learned from the Empress that this official was the greatest calligrapher in Shu, famed for his beautiful hand. Most of his salary was spent on silk, and he practiced on stone slabs in his yard.

His words struck a chord—soon, all the ministers were praising the new writing paper.

Liu Tan raised his hand for silence. “Furthermore, have you noticed the characters printed on the paper? From now on, I will have ancient classics and virtuous writings printed as books for sale at low prices. Imagine: in the future, a single bookshelf in your studies will hold all the books you desire. Is this not a beautiful thing?”

“If this is true, it is indeed a beautiful thing!” one said. “Your Majesty, you may not know—when I campaigned with the late emperor, what troubled me most was not fighting the enemy, but how to bring my books along!”

Another concurred, “My father wished me to study literature and spent his fortune to buy me a cartload of books. But after moving house twice, not a single book remained, and I had nothing to read—so I took up martial training instead! In truth, my dream was to be a wise minister in a time of peace.”

Wiping his eyes, he continued, “To see so many characters printed on paper of this size—if only I’d had paper as a child, I might have fulfilled my dream!”

“Your Majesty, I must say, using these printing blocks to reproduce all the books in the world will be no easy task!”

At this, the official in charge of manufacturing stepped forward.

Liu Tan smiled. “Beloved subject, I have considered this as well, and I have a solution!”

He feigned a mysterious air, ready to reveal more.