Chapter 604

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“Yes, Your Highness.”

With the appointment of officials settled in the Qingzhou Grand Camp, Fei Ji’s excitement was overflowing. He had been thoroughly annoyed by these idle officials lately.

However, remembering something, he asked, “Your Highness, I heard that even innocent powerful families in Wei will have their property confiscated this time. Is that true?”

“It is true. This is the policy used three years ago when dealing with the powerful families in the state,” Xiao Ming nodded, awaiting Fei Ji’s elaboration.

Fei Ji’s expression showed some worry upon hearing this. He said, “Your Highness, I believe that the policy from three years ago is not suitable for Wei. The Southern Expeditionary Army was able to take the cities of Wei so quickly, firstly, because of its strong combat power, and secondly, because Your Highness promised to spare the lives of those surrendering powerful family members. Now, if Your Highness confiscates their property, they might harbor resentment and rebel again. In that case, the difficulty of governing Wei will greatly increase. Your Highness must not forget that even now, there are powerful families within Your Highness’s state who have turned bandit and are plundering.”

“Elder Fei Ji, what you said is wrong. It’s not that His Highness is not benevolent, but after His Highness spared these powerful families three years ago, they not only showed no gratitude but instead tried to assassinate His Highness. The powerful families in Wei are even more deeply entrenched than those in the original state. If evil is not eradicated completely, future troubles will surely arise.”

“What Governor Niu said is precisely what I am worried about. Compared to the number and influence of Wei’s powerful families, the powerful families of the original state were merely small fry. However, my confiscating their property is only taking back what they embezzled from the common people. What’s wrong with that?” Xiao Ming said.

Fei Ji chuckled softly. He said, “During these days of being with Your Highness, I have found Your Highness’s character to be very strong. This is a good thing for a monarch, but rigidity is easily broken. If Your Highness wishes to become a wise ruler for a generation, you must have both the might of a tiger and the cunning of a fox.”

Xiao Ming paused. Pang Yukun had also said this about him, but he thought he had changed a lot. He didn’t expect to still have this image in Fei Ji’s eyes.

“Elder Fei Ji, please speak plainly.”

Xiao Ming was still open to harsh but loyal advice, and Fei Ji was knowledgeable and understood the Great Yu Empire far more deeply than he did. He was happy to learn.

“Then I will be blunt,” Fei Ji pondered for a moment, then said, “Your Highness’s main task now is not to suppress the powerful families, but to end the internal strife and unify the Great Yu Empire. Although Wei’s powerful families are still powerful, they can no longer threaten Your Highness. After all, Prince Wei himself couldn’t contend with Your Highness, so who else could possess such ability?”

Xiao Ming nodded.

Fei Ji continued, “Since no one can threaten Your Highness’s rule over Wei, why should Your Highness create enemies in Wei, thereby allowing a prosperous Wei to continue to fall into war and internal strife? Now, Your Highness aims to conquer the world, and what you need is money, grain, and supporters. The powerful families of common people throughout history have all been opportunists. If Your Highness bestows favor upon them, they will certainly become Your Highness’s pawns, and when Your Highness conquers the world, the powerful families in various vassal states will certainly not resist to the death.”

Niu Ben glanced at Fei Ji, his expression somewhat complex.

“I naturally know that Your Highness was almost assassinated by a powerful family three years ago. However, circumstances have changed. Your Highness is no longer the weak Your Highness of that time, and I also approved of the handling of the powerful families in the state three years ago. After all, at that time, there were internal and external troubles, and no hidden dangers could be left within the state,” Fei Ji said.

“So, Elder Fei Ji means to win the support of the powerful families?” Xiao Ming said, now understanding Fei Ji’s thoughts. He had already understood that the most important thing for His Highness was to unify the Great Yu Empire.

“Precisely. The powerful families of Wei should be suppressed, but absolutely not driven to rebellion. In this way, Wei can quickly resume production and become Your Highness’s granary.”

Xiao Ming frowned. He looked at Wei on the sand table. This fiefdom, with its thirteen prefectures, was larger than his original state, and its population was three times that of the six prefectures.

As Fei Ji said, forcing the powerful families to rebel would be a very troublesome matter, because it would mean a significant increase in the cost of governing Wei, and he might even need to divert some soldiers to suppress the rebellion.

This could lead him into a quagmire of war, exhausting national strength, which would be extremely detrimental to him because his true enemies were the vassal princes.

It was not too late to deal with these powerful families after he had dealt with the vassal princes and there were no longer any separatist forces within the country.

However, temporarily shelving it did not mean he would not deal with it at all, but rather change to a method of slow boiling. Looking at Fei Ji, he wanted to continue to test Fei Ji’s abilities, so he said, “Then tell me, how should they be dealt with?”

“Firstly, confiscate the land of the major powerful families in each prefecture and distribute it to the local common people, and seize their family property, because these powerful families were all firm supporters of Prince Wei, and many of their children held official positions in the government offices. Secondly, suppress the medium powerful families and ally with the small powerful families. These powerful families are numerous, and they are dependent on the local major powerful families, but they resent the suppression of the major powerful families, so their land and property can be partially confiscated. Thirdly, for some enlightened and virtuous powerful families in each prefecture and county, Your Highness should appease them and win their support. In this way, Wei can be pacified,” Fei Ji said with a smile.

Xiao Ming burst out laughing upon hearing this. He said to Fei Ji, “Elder Fei Ji, have you been reading some interesting books at Bowen Academy recently?”

“Did Your Highness guess?” Fei Ji was a bit embarrassed.

Xiao Ming said, “These books were written by me, how could I not know? You are right, this time I was a bit careless and did not formulate policies for Wei in a timely manner that suited the local conditions. However, it seems it’s not too late. This matter of dealing with Wei’s powerful families will be left to Elder Fei Ji. As you said, I need a stable and prosperous Wei, not a Wei embroiled in war.”

Fei Ji breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Ever since he was reprimanded by Xiao Ming last time, he had diligently studied the books in Bowen Academy and gradually learned about some marvelous policies.

His bold proposal this time was made at the risk of being scolded, but this time he was right.

“Yes, Your Highness, I will certainly not disappoint Your Highness’s expectations,” Fei Ji said solemnly.

Niu Ben, gradually understanding after Fei Ji’s explanation, said, “Elder Fei Ji lives up to his name. If Wei can achieve smooth governance and harmony, then the Southern Expeditionary Army won’t need to be bogged down in Wei suppressing bandits.”

After a pause, he confidently said to Xiao Ming, “Your Highness, this battle in Wei is enough to prove the strength of the state army’s combat power. In my opinion, none of the other vassal princes are Your Highness’s match. After taking Wei, Your Highness should take the initiative to attack, quickly pacify the six directions, and ascend the throne.”