Chapter 127 - 94, Forty-nine Heavens
Late autumn dusk, and the sunset cast its slanting rays.
The young men in the ox cart were laughing and jesting, writing on each other’s dusty faces.
After the laughter and noise, the Princely Heir sat on the ox cart and looked towards Chen Ji, "Not many have been able to outsmart my father over the years. Half a year ago, during the floods in Henan Province, he went south to levy grains. The local scholars banded together to underreport their land acreage to dodge taxes. Each household donated grain like they were dispensing alms to a beggar, only ten stones each, and on the very same day, they hosted guests on the Qinhuai River, pouring a hundred jars of fine wine into the river, claiming it was an invitation for ’all under heaven to drink together.’
"And then what?" Liu Quxing perked up—they rarely heard such interesting anecdotes about court and politics.
The Princely Heir laughed heartily, "My father didn’t get angry with them, but instead had craftsmen transport a stone stele over ten feet tall and had it erected squarely in front of the Jinling Prefecture government office. Etched clearly on it were all the scholars’ names and the amount of grain they donated, ostensibly to extol the virtues of these scholars’ charitable deeds, but in truth, it let the common people see the true faces of these scholars. At that time, even the storytellers in the tea houses started making up tales to ridicule how these scholars talked loftily of benevolence and morality but were actually unkind and extremely hypocritical when rich."
Chen Ji appeared thoughtful, "The stories told by the storytellers, were they orchestrated by the Prince?"
The Princely Heir widened his eyes, "How do you know?"
"What happened afterward?"
"Not half a month later, the scholars couldn’t afford to lose face and obediently donated the grain."
Liu Quxing praised, "The Prince sure is skilled at using clever strategies to achieve great ends."
The Princely Heir looked at Chen Ji, giving him a thumbs up, "You kid being able to outsmart my father makes you quite a character!"