Chapter 53: The Beauty’s Cabinet Amidst the King's Decree for Reform
Although her husband was now quite stern, Jingni had no choice but to rise to her feet. When his wife wished to speak, Lin Shu simply fell silent.
“Your Majesty, if we reclaim the land, I fear the remaining officials and scholars in the county towns will all depart from Liao territory!”
Jingni never even considered whether the landlords might resist—such defiance was a death wish! The Donghu cavalry would be only too glad for the chance to take action.
“Chief Minister, it would be best if they all left. The Empire has no need for those of divided loyalty!”
The Empire had already occupied Liao, but in truth, only the farmers and craftsmen of the land had truly submitted. If they were in the wild northern frontiers, Lin Shu would likely have every unyielding landlord and noble reborn through fire.
“Alas! The Cabinet shall obey Your Majesty’s command!”
The King showed even greater coldness toward the landlord gentry, and Jingni, seated again, offered no further persuasion.
“Wife, rest assured. I have my own methods for handling this,” Lin Shu said, gazing at his beautiful consort before becoming solemn once more.
“Hear this! All households unwilling to submit to the Empire, and all scholars who refuse to serve, are to leave Liao territory within five days.”
“Hear this! All great households are to be divided into smaller units, with ten households making one team. From among themselves, the heads of households shall elect a chief and deputy for each team. Ten teams form a village; the heads of households shall then elect a chief and two deputies as village leaders. Six villages form a village division, and from among the village leaders, one chief and three deputies shall be elected as division heads. Five village divisions make a township, and all village and division heads together shall elect one chief and three deputies as township leaders. Each team and village will manage its own affairs. The county towns will establish public security guards to monitor the townships and villages, while the Cabinet will oversee the city’s militia to manage each county and township.”
“Henceforth, the leaders of teams and villages shall be re-elected every six years, with a review held every two years. Beginning immediately, forty thousand infantry from the Liaodong garrison shall be dispatched to notify and supervise all households. If a county lacks officials, the elders of virtuous townships shall nominate suitable candidates, and the Cabinet will appoint them after investigation.”
Yanfei’s eyes shone—this system was very similar to the self-governing divisions she had suggested, but even clearer and more detailed.
Each village would contain several hundred people, each division about three thousand, and each township more than ten thousand but less than twenty thousand—just right, since Liaodong and Liaoxi consisted of only a handful of county towns.
After some thought, Jingni found the plan workable.
“The Cabinet obeys Your Majesty’s command.”
“Your Majesty’s governance is like that of the legendary sage-kings—enough to replace the officials and gentry of every county and township!”
There were only about four hundred thousand people of Han descent in Liao, so even the Moon Goddess felt reassured at such sweeping reform.
Shaoshao, whose experience was limited, understood that this reform would greatly streamline the Cabinet’s administration. At the very least, no county could arbitrarily dictate to the villages and teams, nor could they dare to feign compliance while secretly defying the Cabinet.
With the lessons of land reform from later ages, Lin Shu was confident in this restructuring—otherwise, he would never dare to proceed so boldly.
Seeing that the King had not yet resumed his seat, the four Cabinet beauties continued to wait in silence.
With their company always making his mouth dry, Lin Shu took a sip of soda from the carriage before continuing.
Jingni frowned—just how many decrees did this king intend to issue?
“I shall travel to the Liaodong Bay to construct the royal capital, the harbor, and the Grand Temple of Heaven. Proclaim this to all households: Sons and daughters aged five to fifteen who are sent to the Yanhuang Academy will be granted a residence in the imperial capital, and the Empire will provide both employment positions and subsistence. All academy students will have their living expenses covered by the Academy. Those admitted may receive partial exemption from land taxes, as determined by the Cabinet.”
“The first intake for Yanhuang Academy shall be ten thousand students. Two years later, those who graduate may enter the various departments of the Empire’s civil and military administration.”
That the King wished to build a royal city and a Temple of Heaven did not surprise Jingni—but what was this Academy?
“Your Majesty, we have no teachers, and isn’t ten thousand students far too many?” The Moon Goddess frowned—an academy on this scale was beyond even the Empire’s means!
The taciturn Shaosi, equally puzzled, spoke up: “Your Majesty, do you truly mean both boys and girls may enroll?”
In this martial world—one of hidden power, slight mysticism, and scant magic—the status of ordinary women was very low! Across all the realms, few women held military or civil office.
Lin Shu glanced at Shaoshao for a moment, then nodded.
“In the Yanhuang Empire, men and women hold equal status. As long as one is capable, a woman can become a general or a minister!”
“Little Moon, the Empire has no need for traditional teachers. The various philosophical schools—Confucian, Mohist, Daoist, Legalist, Military—are not suited to our Empire.”
The Moon Goddess was left even more bewildered—did the King truly dismiss all these ancient schools?
The philosophers contended as a hundred flowers bloomed, in an age where ideas soared, but also an age when the schools were beginning to stagnate. Though brilliant, they could not compare to the accumulated wisdom of over two millennia.
Jingni was utterly perplexed—did her husband expect their family alone to serve as teachers? To instruct a handful might be possible, but a thousand would be fatal!
No one raised further questions. Lin Shu smiled secretly and decided to reveal the truth.
“Xinying, explain to the ladies.”
He spoke to the air—for the first time, publicly calling Xinying’s name.
Xinying? Who was that? Was there another woman hidden in the hall? Jingni wondered if her husband had a secret concubine.
[This is Xinying, the main brain of the starship, greeting the esteemed Cabinet ministers and madams.]
As the soft voice sounded in their ears, the Moon Goddess immediately understood—so the carriage’s spirit was named Xinying!
“No need for formality—so your name is Xinying,” Jingni said, closing her eyes in an attempt to sense her presence, but it remained elusive.
[Queen, His Majesty has appointed Xinying to oversee the Academy’s instruction. Please assure the Queen and the Cabinet ministers.]
Jingni understood at last.
How formidable! She could teach ten thousand students at once! This spirit was likely no less powerful than the Azure Dragon and the Seven Stars. No wonder the King was willing to trade the bronze box for her!
The more she learned, the more curious Dongjun became—she could not even perceive a trace of the carriage’s abilities.
“Tomorrow, I will set out for the river mouth.”
“Little Moon, the grand ceremony and the wedding will also be held in the new capital. A month’s time should be sufficient.”
Lin Shu was a man of impatience, though it was already afternoon, or he would have set out at once.
“Your command, husband!” The thought of the wedding in a month made the Moon Goddess nervous, and she let slip her words.
Husband? Yanfei looked at her in surprise—had something already happened between them?
Lin Shu smiled secretly, scooped up the drowsy Little Yan’er, and departed.
With Jingni’s consent, he and the Moon Goddess had already completed their nuptials not long ago. Of course, such matters were best left unsaid.
The Moon Goddess, a daughter of the martial world, cared little for the era’s complex rituals, and King Lin was not known for his patience—so things had naturally moved quickly.
The Moon Goddess always wore loose, proper, and conservative clothing, and walked with slow steps, so even Yanfei, her own elder sister, had failed to notice before!
Alas!
The thought of what was to come left Jingni sighing in frustration. After the wedding, their matrimonial bed would have another sister. From then on, she, Little Moon, and their husband would have to face such matters together—an embarrassing prospect to even contemplate.
The next day, as forty thousand infantry set out to deliver the royal decrees to every household, Lin Shu led several thousand craftsmen and twenty thousand cavalry toward the Liao river mouth.
Naturally, these twenty thousand cavalry were not for his protection or to show off—their new roles would be as construction workers and sailors.
The Liaodong Bay at the mouth of the Liao River was not the ideal site for a deep-water port, not even as suitable as Yingkou to the east. But this was not to be a modern international heavy port—now, the sheltered river mouth was more than adequate.
With fair weather and gentle sun, the Liao river mouth was a perfect place for seaside leisure and sunbathing. One could even catch seafood and cook it on the shore, but the thousands of craftsmen had no such thoughts.
Some of the older craftsmen glanced around, their eyes full of desolation.
The head craftsman, Ma Bao, felt a pang in his heart just looking at the beach—building a harbor and ships by the sea would be extremely difficult!
“Alas! Who knows if I’ll survive this hardship and make it home again?” sighed a young craftsman bitterly. His child was still small, his wife still young—if he died, she would have no choice but to remarry, perhaps even to one of the wild Hu nomads who had entered Liaodong!
The craftsmen suffered, but dared not voice it aloud. The barbarian army was even more terrifying than the Qin forces—at least the Qin did not eat people, but the barbarians cared not whether their meat had two legs or four.
To begin construction, they would need to build work sheds and dormitories; otherwise, all twenty thousand would be left shivering in the sea breeze.
If it were left to the few thousand craftsmen, even the simplest preparations would take more than ten days—especially since there was not a single building material to be found at the river mouth.
To build a city and harbor from nothing, the craftsmen could almost see their own burial place before them.
Perhaps it would be best to have their comrades give them a sea burial—otherwise, their bones might be dug up and roasted by wild men. The elder craftsmen nodded grimly to themselves.