Chapter 62: Rest assured, with me here, the aristocratic families will not get their way.

Inside the Estate of Duke Yang.

The heads of the three great noble clans were all present.

Duke Yang met with the three of them.

Among them, Wei Zheng of the Wei clan wore a very ugly expression. "Duke Yang, Zhang Zhihe, what were your two families implying in the imperial court today?"

Regarding everything that had happened in the court, their respective officials had already reported back to them in detail.

Xue Qiren of the Xue clan also spoke in a deep voice, "Duke Yang, Qin Hao has no blood relation to you. Could it possibly be that you think an outsider would help the Yang family?"

"Or is it that Qin Hao helped the Eldest Princess swindle one million and two hundred thousand silver taels from our noble clans, and you had a share in it as well!"

Duke Yang's expression was not pleasant either.

During the morning assembly today, he had been restricted at every turn and had no opportunity to perform at all.

He replied, "Qin Hao has nothing to do with me. I did this simply to save my grandson."

"The same goes for the Zhang family."

"You can ask Zhang Zhihe."

"If we hadn't acted this way today, my grandson and his grandson would both have been exiled to the northern frontiers as corvée laborers."

Wei Zheng said coldly, "That is your family's affair, what does it have to do with us!"

Xue Qiren shared the same attitude. "Duke Yang, we lost three hundred thousand silver taels, and our people simply wanted to seek revenge, but it all failed because of your Yang family and the Zhang family!"

Duke Yang let out a heavy, cold snort. "Do you even remember that the Eldest Princess produced three hundred thousand taels in silver notes during the court session?"

"If not for my grandson and Zhang Zhihe's grandson finding the source of the famous wine."

"If not for them discovering the Eldest Princess's scheme in advance, giving us the opportunity to plan ahead."

"How could we have possibly come up with the trick of substituting the pillars with rotten timber overnight?"

"If saving them makes you dissatisfied, then whenever talents emerge from your younger generations in the future and they get into trouble, we won't lift a finger either!"

Zhang Zhihe echoed, "That is the truth of the matter."

Wei Zheng and Xue Qiren's momentum waned slightly.

They understood the logic, but being outmaneuvered by the Eldest Princess in this matter had indeed left them feeling deeply resentful.

After everyone had calmed down a bit, the men began discussing how their family-owned businesses across various industries could raise commodity prices.

At the Eldest Princess's Estate.

Li Qingyao's expression turned gloomy.

As expected, the aristocratic clans had a purpose in doing so.

From the side, Emperor Xuande asked calmly, "Hao'er, what is the deeper meaning behind the actions of the aristocratic clans?"

Qin Hao nodded and said, "Teacher, you and Li Qingyao may be adept at court struggles, and you can leverage your advantages to secure the title of baron for me."

"But..."

"You do not understand economics."

"To put it bluntly, you do not understand business."

Li Qingyao asked doubtfully, "What does this have to do with business?"

Qin Hao's gaze was very earnest as he said, "It has everything to do with it. This involves many theoretical points."

"As far as I know, the Great Jing Dynasty currently lacks a department to regulate national prices."

"Meanwhile, the four major aristocratic clans are involved in every industry and operate as massive commercial guilds."

"Based on this alone, the aristocratic clans can manipulate commodity prices at will."

"If they join forces tomorrow and forcibly drive prices up by two, three, or five times."

"Never mind one million and five hundred thousand taels, even three million taels—how many supplies could that actually buy?"

"Furthermore, during famine years, it is not as if they have never done this before."

"Otherwise, how did the wealth and land in the hands of the common people end up falling into the possession of the noble families?"

"This touches upon the hazards of land annexation."

"Since ancient times, the fundamental cause of the collapse of dynasties has been land annexation."

"In short, it is very complicated."

"Anyway, the aristocratic clans are extremely dangerous, especially given that farming and grain production remain the primary industries at present. It is inevitable that land annexation will occur."

"One might say that once land annexation becomes severe, it will be even harder to move against the noble families."

"Even now, touching the noble families is like pulling a single hair that moves the whole body. Otherwise, why has Your Majesty the Emperor never acted against the noble families?"

"I daresay he has thought of these things as well."

Li Qingyao secretly glanced at her imperial father.

Emperor Xuande sat motionless as a mountain, his expression completely unreadable.

In truth, upon hearing what Qin Hao had said, he felt a profound sense of enlightenment within his heart.

He finally understood the purpose behind the noble families substituting silver with material goods.

Therefore, he took the concept of a department to regulate national prices to heart and resolved to find an opportunity to establish such an institution.

Yet, regarding the theory of land annexation, he vaguely sensed something, but lacked that final spark of inspiration.

Thus, he spoke up, "Hao'er, explain this theory of land annexation to your teacher in detail."

Without immediately explaining, Qin Hao asked, "Teacher, are you going to report these words to His Majesty the Emperor?"

Emperor Xuande nodded.

Qin Hao, however, said, "If that is the case, I suggest prioritizing the concepts of the Theory of Enriching the People and Wealth Hidden Among the People."

"My personal suggestion is that the sole problem needing resolution at present is to change the current status quo where farming is the primary resource element for the common people."

"Only when the common people learn more ways to make a living,"

"and grow wealthy,"

"will they no longer place land as the absolute priority in their minds, making it possible to implement the nationalization of land."

"Only then will there be a foundation for overthrowing the noble families."

"In short, a country takes strength as its foundation, and the people take wealth as theirs. When the people are wealthy, the country is strong."

"A country that is vast yet lacks strength, or where the state is rich while the people remain poor, is fundamentally flawed."

"Only when the people are wealthy and the country strong can an immortal system be established."

At this point, Qin Hao proceeded to give a detailed and thorough explanation.

Hearing this, a strange light gleamed in Emperor Xuande's eyes.

The Theory of Enriching the People, Wealth Hidden Among the People—these were concepts he was hearing for the very first time.

Yet he understood them.

Neither a wealthy state nor wealthy noble families could make a country truly strong.

Only when the common people were wealthy could the nation be powerful.

Yet the current reality of the Great Jing Dynasty was that neither the state nor the people were wealthy; only the noble families possessed wealth.

In an instant, boundless killing intent surged within Emperor Xuande's heart.

As expected, from any perspective, the aristocratic clans were the stumbling block of a nation.

Suddenly, Emperor Xuande asked, "Hao'er, you always manage to articulate such novel concepts. What does the most ideal dynasty in your heart look like?"

Qin Hao fell into memories.

Recalling the silhouette of that great man from his past life bathed in the morning sunrise, he slowly uttered four-word phrases, one by one.

"Education for the young!"

"Labor with just rewards!"

"Medical care for the sick!"

"Support for the elderly!"

"Housing for all!"

"Peace and joy for the masses!"

"Peace throughout the realm!"

By the end, an ineffable brilliance shone in Qin Hao's eyes!

"Bang!"

Emperor Xuande abruptly slammed his palm on the table and stood straight up, the shock clearly written across his face!

What a magnificent ambition this was from Qin Hao!

Li Qingyao stared in a daze at the man before her, who usually broke the rules and wore a cheeky smile.

At this moment, his figure gradually merged with that of her imperial grandfather.

When she was young, her imperial grandfather had once said that in his lifetime, he would accomplish only one thing.

And that was peace throughout the world.

Yet peace was easy to speak of, but how tremendously difficult to achieve!

The distance was no less than that between ideals and reality.

Having finished expressing his thoughts, Qin Hao blinked and inexplicably sized up his teacher and Li Qingyao. "Aigoo, sit down, sit down, you don't both need to stand in front of me. Playing along with me like this makes me feel embarrassed."

Li Qingyao burst into a laugh.

She gently spoke, "Stop boasting. First tell me how we are supposed to deal with the noble families arbitrarily raising prices."

"Rest assured, with me here, the noble families will not get their way." Qin Hao flashed a sinister smile and said, "I already have a method, though it's a bit vicious. I guarantee it will work with a single move."