Chapter 235: Both Routes Are Pretty Good
Regarding scholarly pursuits, Yun Ce has always believed that proceeding from shallow to deep, from simple to complex, is an essential process.
Everything is like this, even cooking starts with the simplest tasks like chopping and washing vegetables, and only then can one become a master chef. Asking an apprentice to prepare a grand palace banquet right away would be absurd.
“The blue-faced devil Shu Tuo will wake up from a nap and sing 《Black Wind Great King Saga》.”
Feng An greatly approved of Huo Liao’s pursuit of learning and quest for truth, and for this reason, he specifically used Shu Tuo that idiot as an example.
“You’re lying, right?”
“With Shu Tuo’s brain, could it even deceive anyone? Is it even worthy?”
“Persistent rote memorization might also be possible.”
“Impossible. I forced it with a whip to recite the 1,700 words of 《Mountain Villa Current Management Regulations》. One mistake meant one lash. On the first day, it took nearly two hundred lashes.”
“Did it get better slowly afterward?”
“No, the second day it took even more. On the third day, I let it go, otherwise it would have been beaten to death.”
1 “Huh? This guy endured two hundred lashes?”
1 “You can’t help but admire the devil’s physical constitution. After beating it the first day and letting it recover overnight, it could take more lashes the next day. As long as you don’t kill it all at once, it always comes back to life.”
1 “Huh? Another Peng Zeng?”
1 “It can’t become Peng Zeng. I tried drawing its blood and injecting it into injured cattle and horses, but the cattle and horses died immediately. The devil’s blood is useless.
1 Lord, no need to change the subject. Let me tell you, I’ve only heard Shu Tuo chant 《Black Wind Great King Saga》 up to the chapter where Black Wind Great King battles Ghost King Shu. I’ve calculated it: it’s a full 180,000 words. Shu Tuo said this is merely three-tenths of the entire 《Black Wind Great King Saga》.
1 Lord, an idiot learning and reciting 500,000 words of 《Black Wind Great King Saga》 in one night—if a clever youth like Huo Liao truly masters 《Advanced Mathematics》 in the future, don’t be too surprised.
1 Also, Lord, in the future, face your subordinates with a broad mindset. Don’t easily discourage their zeal for learning and self-improvement. That’s not what a qualified lord does. A lord should encourage, help, and guide them—that’s the right way.”
1 Truth be told, Feng An, Liang Kun, and the others already have the demeanor of great ministers, while Yun Ce’s lordly demeanor has yet to emerge. Feng An believes that as a vassal, he has a responsibility to teach his lord to become a dignified yet amiable lord.
1 For example, not being surprised by anything strange.
1 And never saying things like “impossible” on your lips. That way, when something unexpected happens, people will admire the lord’s foresight.
2 Also, the wife can chat idly with the pregnant women, but the lord cannot. Dignity is a trait the lord must possess. No more kicking those bare-bottomed kids running around.
2 Such rigid class barriers are not what Yun Ce hopes for. His ancestors always required him to mingle with the people. He became an official not for personal glory, but genuinely to serve the people. Compared to the people, he is a public servant, not some lofty official.
2 Although his ancestors’ words went astray in the inheritance process, the intent was good overall, and the hope was exceedingly beautiful.
2 So, seeing the little bare-bottomed kids in the nursery mixing urine and mud, he still walked up and smacked two hard slaps on the bare buttocks. After all, mud pies made from urine and mud can’t be eaten like real flatbread.
2 The first batch of children born in Yun Clan Villa can already toddle everywhere. These children are much better looking and stronger than the slaves’ children.
2 A woman in plain cloth and straw bun emerged from a low thatched hut, carrying a wicker basket woven from reeds. She had just sat down in the shade when a little bare-bottomed kid thrust his buttocks toward her. The woman irritably smacked his buttocks, then took out thread to mend his pants.
2 “Her name is Dong Lan. Her father was Embroidered Clothing Envoy Dong Ting. When Grand Marshal and the emperor battled in Chang’an, her father died defending the emperor and was killed by Grand Marshal. His family was all demoted to slaves and sent to the Great Wall Defense Line as slaves for the armored soldiers. Finally, Cao Kun sent them here.
2 She’s a very good woman.”
2 Yun Ce glanced at Feng An and said, “You want to sleep with her.”
2 Feng An cupped his hands and said, “That’s my intention, but I still need the lord to mediate.”
3 “Huh, this time you’re not correcting my crude speech?”
3 “Mainly because the result is just that, so it’s not crude.”
3 “Alright then. Since she’s nominally my property, I’ll grant her to you, and you can have your wish tonight.”
3 Feng An said helplessly, “If I just wanted to sleep with her, I could do it without the lord’s word. The problem is, I want to marry her now.”
3 Hearing this, Yun Ce ignored Feng An’s obstruction and strode up to Dong Lan. Before the woman could kneel, he hurriedly said, “One of my vassals has taken a liking to you.”
3 The woman turned pale upon hearing this, quickly lowered her raised face, and said softly, “This is this slave’s honor.”
3 Seeing the woman so compliant, Yun Ce lost all interest in joking and called to Feng An, “She’s a very uninteresting woman. You tell her yourself. If she has a lover, just hack him to death and dispel her notions.”
3 The woman’s body trembled, and she lowered her head even further.
3 Feng An walked over to Yun Ce and said, “Lord, please carry on.”
3 Yun Ce shook his head and said, “No rush. I’ll watch from the side. If she doesn’t agree, I’ll order someone hacked.”
4 Feng An said with a bitter face, “Why make things difficult for me, Lord?”
4 “Because I’m your lord. You just said a lord must have sufficient dignity. Look at me now—dignified or not?”
4 Seeing the woman kneeling on the ground sobbing convulsively, Feng An directly pushed Yun Ce out of the courtyard and closed the gate.
4 Yun Ce’s head appeared over the low wall as he shouted loudly, “If you’re doing it now, I can stand guard for you.”
4 The exasperated Feng An roared, “Get lost!”
4 Yun Ce left laughing heartily.
4 This is Feng An’s one flaw: he wants to mold Yun Ce into the sage king described in ancient books, but he doesn’t consider that if Yun Ce truly becomes that, there won’t be good days for us vassals.
4 Nowadays, the agricultural commune model in Yun Clan Villa has taken shape. Only when everyone lives well can the concept of family ultimately form.
4 At this time, we can’t implement the harsh laws Cao Kun introduced, nor the overt and covert demands for hierarchy from Feng An. Since we’re in the early development stage of the career, identities must be as equal as possible. Only after they all get used to equality can we establish the sanctity and inviolability of law.
4 Punishing and killing people must be done by law, not power. Of course, that’s for the next step—it’s not time yet.
5 He once thought Great Han was a rigid feudal society, but over these years, Yun Ce sees clearly that Great Han is actually in a semi-feudal, semi-slave society, and this set of norms has deeply entered people’s hearts. People take it for granted that nobles have life-and-death power over commoners.
5 Feng An has actually taken a liking to this woman named Dong Lan, but he looks down on her slave status. He hopes through the lord Yun Ce’s word to change her status, so her status won’t be much different from his, and he can marry her home as a wife.
5 This is an extremely twisted mindset. Yun Ce won’t indulge his bad habit today. If you like someone, exchange true feelings for it—don’t mess with all that nonsense.
5 Even if it’s for her beauty, only mutual consent in bed is good. Otherwise, conquering here while whimpering there like after a city massacre—utterly devoid of romance.
5 Thinking of this, Yun Ce also felt like conquering. Returning home and seeing the two big-bellied women whose stomachs weren’t yet big, his just-risen urges immediately vanished.
5 Change is ongoing, just not so obvious. This is a grinding stone effort—can’t rush it. Only when the people here confirm they are individuals can the next big move happen. Otherwise, abruptly telling them now that their lord is equal to them would scare them to tears.
5 In terms of approach, Doggy the dog-headed strategist is leaning left, while Feng An, Liang Kun, and the other civil officials are leaning right.
5 The left-leaning approach advances the revolution quickly but leaves irreparable loopholes.
5 The right-leaning approach is too mild. Long-term implementation will disrupt the popular support Yun Ce has painstakingly gathered and lead back to the old path.
5 Therefore, Yun Ce stubbornly believes his chosen path is the most suitable for current development: subtle like moistening things silently, while adding some steel reinforcement to the soft popular sentiment. Only such a road can last long.
6 That evening, as Yun Ce prepared to wash his feet and sleep, E Ji and Zhang Min each carried a basin in. E Ji grabbed his left foot and put it in her basin; Zhang Min took his right foot and put it in hers.
6 Clearly, Zhang Min had long planned to wash Yun Ce’s feet, while E Ji was a last-minute decision. This is evident because the water in Zhang Min’s basin was warm, while E Ji’s was cold—ice water just drawn from the water well.
6 He wanted to refuse at first, but seeing the two women forcing smiles, Yun Ce decisively chose one foot in warm water, one in ice water. Though the hot-and-cold sensation wasn’t great, he decided to endure it.
6 “So nice today, even washing my feet?”
6 Zhang Min forced a smile and said, “In Great Han, women in pregnancy can’t serve their husband, so they generally wash his feet instead. This shows that even pregnant, the woman doesn’t forget to serve her husband.”
6 Yun Ce nodded and said, “That’s pretty good. It can increase marital affection.”
6 E Ji glared at Zhang Min and said, “To prevent the young master’s lust from rising, this concubine will come every night to cool the young master with ice water.”
6 Chapter 1
