Chapter 2835 - 1759: Illness

Chapter 2835: Chapter 1759: Illness

Boss Jiang went out to take a call.

Thus, as the person with the nominally greatest power present at the scene, CEO Luo Peng naturally wouldn’t feel stage fright. Like Bai Zheli and Li Shao, he didn’t dwell on the changes in Li Shuru and cleared his throat:

"The founding rulers are generally wise and powerful. However, people always grow old. When the dynasty passes to the third or fourth generation, it enters its youthful period. The emperor at this time, we call him Xiao Zhu."

Li Shuru’s gaze fell on Luo Peng’s face, seemingly very earnest. After all, according to the hierarchy, as a general manager, she was subordinate to Luo Peng. Luo Peng was responsible for the group’s strategic level, while she was in charge of executing Luo Peng’s decisions, so she had to listen carefully.

"Xiao Zhu has never experienced hunger, never been on the battlefield. He grew up in the Imperial Palace. What he sees every day is not the starving disaster victims but the exquisitely crafted palace. The people he interacts with daily are not bloodthirsty generals but learned teachers.

These teachers would teach him benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust. They taught him to love the people as his children, to govern the world alongside the scholars, much more civilized than his ancestor, who only knew fighting."

Luo Peng shifted his tone, knocking on the table.

"And here lies the problem. Governing the world alongside scholars, translated, what does it mean? Simply put: Emperor, don’t tire yourself too much. The world is so vast, you cannot manage it alone. Let us, the educated and wise, help you manage it."

"Isn’t this quite reasonable?"

Not only was Li Shuru listening attentively, but she also interacted, "A person’s energy is limited."

Luo Peng snapped his fingers, "Right. Well said. Human energy is limited, and one emperor certainly cannot manage such a vast country alone, nor does the Imperial Family have enough people. So the emperor has no choice; whether voluntarily or out of compulsion, he can only accept governing the world alongside the scholars. But then arises the question: Who are the scholars?"

"The literati who have passed the imperial exams and entered the system," Li Shao hit the nail on the head.

"Correct answer."

Luo Peng immediately nodded, both arms resting on the conference table, "These scholars, through the imperial exam, bearing the banner of sharing the monarch’s worries entered the court, forming a new class, a bureaucratic group, which is larger than the Imperial Family, larger than influential families and will also have its own interests.

Not like in Old Zhu’s era, where everyone was merely a tool of the emperor. Now this group wants to become the emperor’s partner, and for this goal, they quickly set off into action.

Thus began the large-scale class transition.

An official in Beijing, once in office, his relatives back home would frantically annex land; buying hundreds of acres today, acquiring thousands through means tomorrow because he’s an official, his family’s land enjoys tax reductions.

And unlike now, where distant relatives frequently lose connection after three generations.

Back then even nine kin could be related. There was even legal precedence for exterminating nine kin."

That’s how the first circle of fat grew, just like hitting middle age and growing stout. It doesn’t directly create value, it only consumes energy, and like a snowball, it gets bigger and bigger."

"What about the emperor? Can’t he see it? Won’t he manage it?"

Li Shuru inquired again, leaning back in her chair, her appearance elegant, in a calm demeanor.

"Of course he can see it. And he wants to manage it. Xiao Zhu looked at the revenue numbers reported by the Ministry of Revenue, decreasing year by year, looked at the memorials delivered by the local officials, noting that the number of vagrants is rising year by year. He knew the country was sick, and it worried him immensely.

He understood that it was those scholars, gnawing at the Empire’s foundations like ants below.

So he began reforms, checking the field measures, intending to re-register and tax those hidden lands.

But things didn’t go as planned.

There’s a reason for the saying, ’strength in numbers’; the officials he dispatched were part of the scholars themselves.

These people went to the local areas, drank heavily with the local gentries, received a few red envelopes, became sworn brothers, and after being well-fed and watered, reported back: Your Majesty, the world is peaceful, the measures are correct."

Bai Zheli, between scribbling with his pen, smiled slightly.

"Just like you ladies."

Luo Peng looked at Li Shuru, speaking eloquently, "The emperor is like a brain. He issued the command: Make me lose weight! But the fat cells in his body, the scholar group, united and blocked this command.

They even told the brain: Master, you are very healthy as you are now, very affluent, it is a sign of prosperity."

Luo Peng shrugged, "If you were the emperor, what could you do? Kill all these people? Who would govern the state afterward? The entire Empire’s operation depends on this vast bureaucratic system. Emperor Xiao Zhu is like a patient hijacked by his own body: he knows he’s sick, but he can’t perform the surgery. The surgeons available, are those cancer cells wishing for his early death."

At this point, Luo Peng suddenly lowered his voice and glanced at the conference room door.

This call Boss Jiang took was indeed rather lengthy.

"Just like our dear President Jiang."

Luo Peng continued, "Suppose he is Xiao Zhu, and we several are the scholar group beneath. As long as we wish, by uniting, then he can only see what we want him to see. I can cover his eyes, Shuru can block his ears, Xiao Bai can block his nose, Brother Shao can bound his limbs...