Chapter 59 Sending You on a Journey into the Struggle for Hegemony Under Heaven

"Be careful now. Although the weather is somewhat warmer, you must not cast off your garments simply because you crave the cool breeze." When Xinniang lifted her little blessed doll down from the bed and set him on the floor, she still could not help repeating her admonitions.

She was already accustomed to Yun'er running outside every single day. Indeed, Li Fu would take Yun'er with him to discuss matters in the study on almost any pretext, leaving him no time even to teach Yi'er.

When Lady Bu had brought this up some days prior, Li Fu had simply suggested engaging an excellent scholar to lay a proper foundation for Yi'er first, adding that it would be soon enough for Yi'er to formally study under a renowned master when he was a few years older.

Only then was Lady Bu satisfied.

In truth, she had not been truly angry; she had merely wanted to remind Li Fu that he still had an elder son, prompting him to occasionally assert his presence.

Yun'er responded cheerfully and bolted out the door, heading straight for the dog to grab his morning meal.

The dog had grown rapidly and lean, and at a glance, it looked almost as large as Bu Hong.

Upon reaching the front hall, Yun'er caught sight of Li Fu, who was sporting heavy dark circles under his eyes and looked as though he had been subjected to an all-night interrogation. Both Xinniang and Lady Bu could not suppress a chuckle at the sight.

Li Fu could truly no longer fight off a massive yawn. "I shall rest a little while longer later. Yun'er, Ziming has arrived with his friend. He mentioned yesterday that he wished to have you show him around Long County, so you should go and seek him out once you head out."

No ordinary parent could bear to have such a young child play the host.

Yet, over this past period—whether it was establishing the village or drilling the troops—although Li Fu frequently stepped forward publicly, the mastermind behind the scenes was always Yun'er. Li Fu had long since subconsciously placed Yun'er on equal footing with himself, no longer viewing him merely as a child.

"Ah, Old Man Zheng has arrived!" Yun'er was genuinely delighted, as it had been quite a long time since he last saw an old acquaintance.

Yun'er possessed a lively disposition and inherently enjoyed exploring new things as well as making new friends. That Old Man Zheng and Old Man Meng had even presented him with books and the four treasures of the study.

Later on, Yun'er had even quietly inquired and discovered that they had also sent gifts to Yi'er. However, the gifts from Old Man Zheng and Old Man Meng were respectively a small model sword and an exquisite sachet.

They had clearly deliberated over their choices; the two old men had been quite thoughtful.

Hearing Yun'er's uninhibited remark, Xinniang instinctively tapped his arm lightly, primarily out of fear that Li Fu might take offense, as he attached the utmost importance to propriety. However, Li Fu was simply too exhausted to hear clearly, and moreover, he had already grown somewhat accustomed to Yun'er's occasionally eccentric utterances.

After finishing breakfast, Yun'er patted Yi'er's head with the air of a miniature adult, and then, amidst the envious gazes of both Yi'er and Bu Hong, he led the dog directly out of the Li residence.

Outside the gates, Jiang Guang and Le Dan, along with others, were already waiting.

Since Yun'er constantly roamed everywhere, they served essentially as his personal guards and were bound to protect him closely at all times. As for Li Fu, he kept the bells with him so that the silent apostles could protect him instead.

"Uncle Jiang, have you all eaten breakfast? I tell you every time to come and eat with us at our house, but you always insist on waiting outside."

Jiang Guang smiled. "We have already eaten. With so many of us, it would be inconvenient."

Yun'er's mind was already spinning with the thought that once this current busy period concluded, he ought to take everyone out for a spring outing and a barbecue. He was practically being worked to death these days; truly, Yun'er could practically weep...

Yun'er felt that combining labor with proper rest was absolute necessity, otherwise his childhood would lose all joy.

With these thoughts swirling in his head, Yun'er walked down the street with his hands clasped behind his back and his chin tilted upward, strutting about like a young aristocratic scion. Flanked closely by nearly twenty fierce-looking men wielding broadswords, he looked thoroughly formidable at a single glance.

Yet, as Yun'er passed through the streets, the nearby street vendors and pedestrians merely stepped aside slightly, without fleeing in terror from afar.

Even a seller of dumplings called out to him: "A village has been established and wasteland reclaimed over at Liangqi Township. A huge wild boar ran down last night and was beaten to death by everyone working together. I ran out overnight to buy a massive piece of meat, and this morning my good wife minced the filling and just made these. They taste exceptionally delicious—would Yun'er like a bowl?"

Ever since the population of Long County increased, coupled with Wei Guan leading engineering crews to work, everyone had been earning quite decent wages. Furthermore, the newly recruited soldiers received even higher monthly pay.

Even if these people were reluctant to spend, a certain amount of consumption was inevitable, which in turn caused the stall economy in Long County to flourish overnight.

Initially, Li Fu had also subconsciously disliked merchants, harboring the lingering notion that if more people engaged in such pursuits, fewer would till the fields. These merchants merely bought and sold goods or processed them slightly before reselling them at double the price, which he deemed a form of unearned reward.

Yet Yun'er had told him to wait and see.

Now that this petty-vendor economy was just taking root, once the area grew even more prosperous in the future, commercial taxes could be levied.

At the time, Li Fu had listened with a bewildered expression, because the concept of commercial taxes had not yet emerged. There were only marketplace taxes and foreign merchant taxes, and even those had only been proposed during the mid-to-late period of the Liang Dynasty.

Because the early founding period of the Liang Dynasty was marked by devastation and recovery, the founding emperor, Zhu Yuan, focused primarily on encouraging farming and restoring the population. Moreover, although he deeply empathized with the hardships of the common people, he also suffered from certain limitations.

Back then, he believed that the common people ought to honestly farm the land and bear children at home, and that having enough to eat and wear constituted the finest existence. He detested frivolousness above all else and abhorred the populace wandering aimlessly without farming, as it easily bred hidden security risks; consequently, he despised merchants.

Viewing traveling merchants roaming from alley to alley and running across various regions as unruly elements, he cracked down on them severely. This resulted in an extremely underdeveloped commerce at the time, leaving Zhu Yuan with no reason to establish any commercial taxes.

Later, in the middle and late periods, while the internal administration of the Liang Dynasty declined, its external facade burned brightly like oil poured over flames, blazing with the final splendor of a golden age.

Moreover, the later emperors of the Liang Dynasty were mostly weak-willed or absurd, though very few were truly tyrannical, which conversely allowed commerce to flourish.

It was then that the emperors of the Liang realized agricultural tax revenues had plummeted sharply, prompting them to institute marketplace taxes and foreign merchant taxes. The marketplace tax required merchants transporting goods into a new city to pay a certain tax based on the volume and value of their cargo upon entering the city gates, whereas the foreign merchant tax required outsiders coming to trade in the Liang Dynasty to pay an additional fee before leaving.

One could say this collection method was exceedingly crude. Furthermore, if a merchant entered a city gate without selling out all their goods, they had to pay the marketplace tax all over again upon leaving; in short, it was defined by utter chaos, causing the marketplace tax to rapidly degenerate into something resembling highway robbery. The local constables and minor clerks were exceedingly fond of skimming profits from this, while the actual commercial tax revenue that managed to reach the imperial treasury of the Liang Dynasty was pitifully meager, rendering this tax collection system perpetually ineffective.

Li Fu had also discussed this issue with Yun'er.

He had argued that merchants were cunning and petty clerks greedy, making commercial taxes exceedingly difficult to collect.

Yun'er had debated with Li Fu for an entire day before finally convincing him. In truth, much of what Yun'er brought up later—such as economics and the parallel development of agriculture and commerce—had completely bewildered Li Fu.

Eventually, he figured: *Oh well, I'm going to rebel anyway, even if I'm not naturally cut out for it. Since your ideas sound far more numerous than mine and are presented in such a systematic fashion, I'll just let you have your way.*

*Even at worst... things surely couldn't turn out any worse than they already were.*

Yun'er had even declared that if the rebellion failed, they would simply build ships, head out to sea, continue their rebellion overseas, and then lead an army back to conquer the realm anew.

Hearing back then that Yun'er had already mapped out his ultimate fallback plan, Li Fu could only think that the boy was truly much more promising than he was.

To return to the present: while the outside world was locked in life-and-death struggles, Long County remained a rare sanctuary of earthly peace. Take this little dumpling stall, for instance; on the very first day it tentatively opened for business, Yun'er had eaten a bowl.

Since the young master of the Li residence had eaten there, could it possibly taste bad?

With the celebrity endorsement taking effect, an endless stream of patrons subsequently came to partake of the dumplings. The proprietor had once even prepared a large food box filled with dumplings to present to Yun'er, because he wished to rename his stall the "Yun'er Dumpling Stall," hang a banner beside it, and post a sign reading: *Passersby, do not miss this! The young master of the Li residence ate here and gave his highest praise!*

That very afternoon, Yun'er had smilingly accepted the large food box of dumplings and instructed Jiang Guang to take them home for Mother Pan to cook up and eat.

To put it plainly, these dumplings were simply wontons.

Ever since that day, the stall economy of Long County grew even more robust, and the townsfolk throughout the entire city harbored an even deeper affection for Yun'er.

With the economy thriving, people could even be found casually setting up stalls along the streets to tell stories.

Yun'er had now become a character within those very tales—stories bearing titles such as *The Child Prodigy Cleverly Sells Dumplings* or *The Li Brothers Eradicate Bandits*, which, after being artistically embellished, made anyone who heard them blush. Li Fu, for one, could not bear to listen to them, but Yun'er could relish listening to them for an entire day.

Because of all these factors, despite Yun'er striding along in such an exaggerated manner, practically no one feared him. Instead, people called out to him from a few paces away, urging him to eat something, offering him bamboo whistles, woven grass crickets, or even bringing out pretty little birds caught in the mountains specifically as gifts for him.

Although Yun'er maintained a safe distance for the sake of security, he still beamed with a radiant, blessed smile, waving his hands and calling out "Uncle" or "Aunty" to decline politely.

Watching this, Jiang Guang could not help but smile knowingly.

When Yun'er was drilling troops or handling grave matters, his words carried the weight of an adult, possessing an even greater capacity to inspire trust than a grown man. Yet when it came to play and leisure, he retained entirely the demeanor proper to a child of his age.

Having a child like this was truly the fortune of the Li family—and naturally, his own good fortune as well.

Thoroughbred horses are common, but discoverers of talent are not. Walking along amid smiles, Yun'er had not yet found Old Man Zheng when, unexpectedly, Old Man Zheng found him first.

At that moment, Old Man Zheng was seated outside a wine shop, right beside a place where a storyteller was holding court. Today's tale was titled *The Young Master Wisely Pacifies Refugees, and the Old Man Fortuitously Meets His Benefactor*.

It recounted how Yun'er had previously distributed gruel and subsequently forged a viable path for Wei Guan and his companions. To think that the old man who had been on the verge of starvation was now the head of the "Engineering General Administration," overseeing over a hundred men working under him and handling daily payrolls of unknown sums—what marvelous fortune indeed.

For someone of such advanced years to suddenly attain such prosperity—who could help but feel envious hearing of it?

Old Man Zheng spotted Yun'er's party at a glance. But whereas Old Man Zheng looked him up and down, Yun'er's attention was drawn first to Qian Gui.

Could this be the Qian Zhiyi whom his father had described as the preeminent talent among the Seven Scholars of the Qian clan?

Lifting his chin, Yun'er looked him over as well.

His initial impression was that the man was handsome—genuinely, strikingly handsome for a middle-aged gentleman. Although Ma Yi was not bad-looking either, people of Ma Yi's ilk wore emptiness written all over their interiors; the slightest fright would strip away their facade and instantly expose their true nature.

Yet this Qian Gui was different.

Yun'er found it difficult to categorize such a person. He felt that the man neither resembled Old Man Meng—who wore his misanthropy on his sleeve and acted as a professional contrarian—nor Old Man Zheng, who radiated righteousness and idealism, nor yet his own father, who possessed a stern, uncompromising seriousness and deep reverence for the rituals of propriety.

Instead, this man gave one the sensation of a gentle spring breeze, naturally inspiring a sense of closeness.

As Yun'er sized him up, Qian Gui likewise stared intently back at Yun'er.

He and Zheng Zuosheng had arrived in Long County around midday yesterday, and although they had witnessed the bustling liveliness of the county, it certainly had not touched their souls quite as profoundly as what they witnessed today.

Early this morning, they had leisurely listened to the cries of vendors drifting across the otherwise tranquil streets of Long County, and watched the local militia members jogging in formation around the town.