Chapter 211: The Last Samurai
Many things in this world are simple when you talk about them.
Especially after humanity entered the information age, it became very easy for most people to acquire knowledge. As a result, everyone can claim to be knowledgeable. Whether it’s aerospace or embroidery and bird-keeping, whether it’s fixing toilets or astronomy and geography, grab any modern person, and they can explain it to you thoroughly. Moreover, if you give them a bottle of beer and a pig’s tail, they can chat with you all night while drinking and sucking.
But talking is talking, and chatting is chatting; in this world, things have always been easy to know but hard to do.
Many times, when you truly want to do something, you realize how incredibly difficult it is, and you don’t even know where to start.
Yuan Ye intended to nationalize the Wanjin system, at least to give it the rudimentary form of a nation, to make it more formal and presentable. However, after returning home from the Wanjin Theater, he pondered for days but found it difficult to make a decision.
What kind of political system should be used?
Which path should be taken?
Should I become an emperor? I’ve already transmigrated, so not experiencing the life of an emperor seems a bit foolish and could lead to being labeled a disgrace to transmigration. However, as a modern person, to turn back after transmigrating, isn’t that also shameful? Have all those years of reading gone to the dogs?
Should I revolutionize myself? Should I give up my vanity?
Or should I handle this situation specially, according to the demands of the era, to avoid taking too big a step and hurting myself, and become an emperor? Should I be a traditional emperor or implement a constitutional monarchy?
Should there be a separation of powers? Should power be locked in a cage?
Sometimes, knowing too much is not good. Knowing more leads to more choices, and more choices lead to indecision. Right now, Yuan Ye is very conflicted.
He locked himself in his room for seven or eight days, pacing around. Grinding beans could produce at least three to five piculs of beans, yielding dozens of barrels of soy milk. Finally… he gave up.
His aptitude is limited; he cannot figure out such things, so…
Knowing and acting are one, but acting comes before knowing. Some things can only be understood by doing them; otherwise, everything is just empty talk.
Well, this sentence is a bit convoluted and sounds a bit foolish, but many things in this world are like this. Nothing is done with certainty; just do it and then talk about it.
Learn, think, and adapt while doing.
There is no political system or route in this world that is perfect or necessarily suitable for him or this era. He discarded those complicated ideas and, taking advantage of the rare peace in the surroundings, started from the most basic—first, within the Wanjin sphere of influence, he would eliminate all the samurai!
Yes, that is, he would first eliminate his own samurai status, and incidentally, eliminate that of A Man, A Qing, and Maeshima Shichiro.
A Man was bewildered by this. After being summoned with A Qing and Maeshima Shichiro, she incredulously asked, “Ha, I’ve only been a samurai for a few years, and I can’t be one anymore? Then what will I be?”
“You will still be you, just A Man,” Yuan Ye said, pulling out the draft of the Wanjin Equality Decree he was holding and handing it to A Qing and Maeshima Shichiro, casually adding.
A Man still didn’t understand. She looked down at the wakizashi and katana at her waist and asked inexplicably, “Then I won’t be able to carry a sword anymore?”
“That won’t be a problem. You are responsible for Wanjin’s intelligence and surveillance work, and you are qualified to openly carry weapons.”
“Then what’s the difference from before?”
Yuan Ye patiently explained, “There will be no personal dependency. Wanjin will no longer permit any form of personal dependency. No one can possess privileges in the general sense.”
A Man still didn’t understand and asked strangely, “What does that mean? What personal dependency? What nonsense are you talking about?”
Yuan Ye was speechless for a moment, then sighed helplessly, “It means you don’t have to call me Lord anymore. We are no longer in a lord-vassal relationship.”
A Qing, who had been acting as background scenery, immediately looked over with a surprised expression, while A Man was even more shocked: “Am I being banished? What did I do wrong to be banished?”
“You did nothing wrong. It’s just that we no longer need this kind of relationship. Wanjin people will not need this kind of relationship in the future either. Even I cannot arbitrarily seize anything from anyone,” Yuan Ye explained patiently. “Only by dissolving this personal dependency, fixing it with laws, obtaining everyone’s consensus, and making everyone believe and abide by it can we talk about protecting personal property and implement many policies. This is the foundation, indispensable.”
“But I need it! I voluntarily became a vassal!” A Man was displeased. She hadn’t even been the “head junior retainer of the Yuan Ye Family” for many years before being inexplicably dismissed.
How would she be able to act arrogantly outside under Yuan Ye’s banner in the future?
How would she receive widespread respect in Wanjin?
How would she be able to kick anyone’s backside casually?
If it’s equal, then kicking someone’s backside in the future would be illegal? Like assaulting another samurai? And if someone retaliated, she couldn’t just draw her sword and cut them down?
Isn’t this turning the world upside down?
Yuan Ye ignored this. His mind was always firm. He directly said, “Even if you are willing, it’s not allowed by law. And this is Wanjin’s first official decree. As a high-ranking official of Wanjin, you must set a good example and must comply!”
A Man couldn’t help but touch the hilt of her sword, feeling like she wanted to stab her Lord a couple of times. She began to think of reasons to object: “What about loyalty? I… and them, who should we be loyal to from now on? If no one is loyal, won’t everything fall into chaos?”
Yuan Ye directly replied, “Be loyal to Wanjin!”
“Wanjin is yours, so isn’t it still being loyal to you?”
“Currently, yes. But… in the future, everyone must abide by the law. Even I will abide by the law in the future. I can only retain nominal privileges, perhaps…” Yuan Ye hadn’t fully thought it through. Such matters cannot be considered from all angles before execution; he can only take it one step at a time. He said very seriously, “Similarly, in the future, I will also need to be loyal to Wanjin. So, everyone will be the same. No one can depend on anyone else, and no one can belong to anyone.”
A Man looked at him speechlessly for a moment, then turned to A Qing and complained, “Did his head get kicked by a donkey again? I told you long ago to slaughter that donkey and eat it, but you didn’t listen and insisted on keeping it at home… Now, like a dung beetle rolling a dung ball, it’s truly over. He’s been completely kicked silly!”
A Qing tilted her head slightly, also not understanding why Yuan Ye was doing this. However, she didn’t care about her samurai status; it didn’t matter whether she had it or not. She lowered her eyelids and said nothing.
Yuan Ye ignored A Man’s crazy talk and looked at Maeshima Shichiro, asking politely, “Maeshima… I should still call you Lord Maeshima, what do you think about this matter?”
If Maeshima Shichiro insisted on not giving up his samurai status, then Yuan Ye would have no choice but to give him a large severance package and send him away.
Maeshima Shichiro was hesitant. But without Yuan Ye, he would still be a subordinate official in the Oda Family. He wasn’t a proper samurai to begin with, and coupled with his honest and straightforward personality, his reaction wasn’t as intense as A Man’s. He just asked hesitantly, “This… Your Highness, if I’m no longer a samurai, what will my status be? Will I be… a commoner?”
“You will be a Wanjin citizen,” Yuan Ye said directly. “Consider yourself one of the first Wanjin citizens!”
“Citizen?” Maeshima Shichiro savored the word. His knowledge of Chinese Classics was good, and he knew the term originated from the book *Han Feizi*, originally referring to “a person who serves the state,” distinct from “private subjects,” emphasizing obligations to the state rather than rights.
As for the distinction between “duty-based” and “rights-based,” “personal dependency” and “personal independence,” “passive obedience” and “active participation,” and “ethical community” versus “contractual community,” he couldn’t figure it out. Even Yuan Ye didn’t fully understand. He was just imitating; he felt this was the right thing to do.
Perhaps, one day in the future, he would suddenly realize why he had to do this, but not now. Now, in the process of acting and knowing, he was like a blindfolded person crossing a river, testing the stones.
He might stumble, but he would always move forward. It was better than standing still.
Maeshima Shichiro felt the same. He understood some things but not more. However, even if he didn’t fully understand, he didn’t want to leave Wanjin. Here, he was respected and well-compensated. He didn’t need privileges anyway and had no interest in testing his sword on passersby, gathering followers, or acquiring fiefs.
As for passing privileges to the next generation… these things were too far away for him.
He hesitated for a moment, then backed down. He lowered his head and said, “If this is what Your Highness wishes, then… I am untalented, but I am willing to become… a Wanjin citizen and serve the… nation.”
“Welcome, Mr. Maeshima,” Yuan Ye changed his form of address and smiled. “Don’t worry, not much else will change. Everything will basically remain the same. And if you’re happy, I can give you number 001 for the future Wanjin identification card.”
“Your Highness, please don’t. Number one should naturally be you!” Maeshima Shichiro said with a wry smile, not changing his address. He was probably still unsure about the nature of this matter, suspecting that, as A Man said, Yuan Ye had suddenly come up with another whimsical idea and was being foolish again—an eccentric, that’s how they are. Oda Nobunaga wasn’t much better.
Having dealt with Maeshima Shichiro, Yuan Ye turned to A Man and asked, “A Man, what do you say?”
“Whatever you want, as long as you’re happy!” Since she was no longer a vassal, A Man didn’t bother to watch her words as much and said with malice, “If I’m not your vassal anymore, I’ll have to discuss your marriage to A Qing with you again. An elder sister is like a mother. It wasn’t easy for me to raise her, and she suffered a lot. You’ll have to compensate me with more money.”
She didn’t care about being a samurai or not. She lived with Yuan Ye and was a sworn friend. The title of samurai was irrelevant. Anyway, she lived off Yuan Ye, and Yuan Ye couldn’t refuse even if he wanted to—she had saved Yuan Ye’s life and almost got shot full of holes for him, so it was only natural for her to live off him for a lifetime.
“Get lost!” Yuan Ye had finished his business and wasn’t polite to her. He and A Qing were in “free love,” and it was all his credit that A Qing had grown to almost 1.6 meters tall, not A Man’s. In fact, if A Man hadn’t always snatched A Qing’s food, A Qing might have grown even taller.
A Man gave him the middle finger and got up to leave. But after two steps, she suddenly remembered something and asked Yuan Ye, “We’re easy to talk to, so you can do whatever crazy things you want. But what about Inu-hime’s three warrior officials? Do we need to make them give up their samurai status too? Should I call them over now?”
“No, wait until the decree is officially promulgated!” Yuan Ye shook his head. “Prepare yourself. Anyone who opposes will be thrown into Atsuta Port. Don’t be polite.”
A Man and A Qing were his own people, and Maeshima Shichiro was an old subordinate, so they naturally received preferential treatment. As for others, it didn’t matter. If they were unwilling, they would be sent away. If they dared to cause trouble, they would be tied up and thrown out. If they caused too much trouble, they could even be killed.
“Understood!” A Man replied and went out, not needing any preparation. The three warrior officials brought by Inu-hime when she married were already her primary targets for surveillance. They could be tied up with a single command, without any difficulty.
…………
Yuan Ye eliminated the last samurai of Wanjin, then met with Endo Chiyo, Izumi Heiji, Yu Da, Shi Pusa, Qi Sanlang, and other mid-to-high-ranking officials and military officers. After discussing and informing them, he officially promulgated the Wanjin Equality Decree and its attached decrees: the Wanjin Household Registration Management Decree, the Wanjin Personal Property Protection Decree, the Wanjin Property Management Regulations, the Wanjin Abolition of Corporal Punishment Notice, the Contract Law, the Labor Employment Management Regulations, the Education Decree, and other detailed legal provisions.
Of course, these were all independently drafted by the new “jurist” Yuan Ye. After being supplemented by Endo Chiyo, Izumi Heiji, and others, they began to be promulgated for trial. Overall, they were very rough, with countless loopholes, but the overall framework was in place. They could be gradually supplemented and revised in the future.
Everything is difficult at the beginning. Those who want to achieve everything in one go are idealists. Such people cannot accomplish anything.
As various decrees were issued like rain, Wanjin was momentarily… not shaken. Except for the three warrior officials of Inu-hime who were escorted out of the territory by A Man and her men, Wanjin remained calm and undisturbed.
Yuan Ye had been cracking down on the feudal personal dependency relationships in Wanjin all along. Apart from A Man and A Qing, who were vassals but not vassals, he didn’t even want to take followers. Therefore, he had always been the sole lord of Wanjin, at the apex of Wanjin’s feudal loyalty chain.
Now, he voluntarily gave up his “right to kill at will” over everyone and publicly declared that he “will respect and protect everyone’s legal earnings. No one, including himself, will arbitrarily deprive others of their property.” During this process, there were no parties who suffered losses, so naturally, there were not many people who opposed it.
The surrounding samurai daimyo, namely Oda Nobunaga and Matsudaira Motoyasu, did not express any opinions on this matter. They truly ignored him. Even though Yuan Ye sent back the warrior officials dispatched by Oda Nobunaga, Oda Nobunaga didn’t say anything, probably thinking he was acting crazy.
Similarly, because Yuan Ye had never arbitrarily deprived the commoners of their personal property before, most people in Wanjin lacked the cognitive ability to understand this “epoch-making” decree. There was no behavior art of kneeling and kowtowing incessantly, lamenting that Yuan Ye was a living sage.
Yuan Ye, who had been on high alert for unexpected events, was left with nothing to do. And A Man, no longer a vassal, reverted to her old ways. During breakfast, she severely mocked him, calling him a fool for doing such thankless tasks all the time.
However, she started visiting the Wanjin Army more often and would casually tell Yuan Ye to keep a close eye on the Wanjin Army, fearing he would hand over military power as well. As long as he had the Wanjin Army in hand, it didn’t matter how crazy Yuan Ye acted. If he messed things up, she would lead the charge and kill all the troublemakers, and the mess would naturally be gone.
It was completely inconsequential.
She had a sense of crisis, but Yuan Ye ignored her. He had no intention of establishing free democracy in the army. After all, “power comes from the barrel of a gun” was something he had heard since childhood. The army must obey his command alone. The army didn’t need brains; it just needed to follow orders.
After spending nearly three months completing various messy detailed decrees, he barely managed to cobble together a two-finger-thick, somewhat thin Wanjin Civil Code. Then he started bothering Endo Chiyo and others again, further refining the structure of government departments, dividing them into increasingly finer segments.
Gradually, Wanjin no longer resembled the territory of a samurai clan and began to look peculiar.
