Chapter 1672 — Suspended Alone Beyond the Mortal World
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
"The two of you are the most powerful reckoners among all the Heavenly Masters under my command; there is no need to keep wrangling over which of you ranks first! It is only this figure of twenty years that leaves me somewhat uneasy in the gut; I feel it ought to be discounted a little further.
" Meng Yungui bowed and said, "Your Majesty is most sagacious. " Shang Pingyin said, "Issuing more currency is one side of the matter; annexing Jingping is the other. Once Jingping is swallowed up and the myriad heavens are united under one rule, there will no longer be any fear that the currency will collapse. " Meng Yungui shook his head. "Heavenly Master Shang, your words miss the mark.
" Good-tempered as Shang Pingyin was, being contradicted twice could not but provoke his anger, and he said flatly, "What instruction would Heavenly Master Meng impart? " Meng Yungui said, "Just now, Heavenly Master Shang said that issuing more currency would only send it into the hands of the great houses.
Even if Your Majesty gains Jingping and lets the currency circulate without obstruction, the currency will still end in the hands of the great houses, and the common folk of the myriad heavens will still rise in revolt when rise they must—whether Jingping is won or lost has nothing to do with it. " Shang Pingyin raised an eyebrow, and with a smile that was half a smile said, "And how does Heavenly Master Meng think this situation is to be avoided? " Meng Yungui said, "Your servant holds that Your Majesty's greatest enemy in governing the world is not Jingping, nor yet the Heavenly Venerable Mu, the Heavenly Venerable Ling, and their like, but the great houses that have amassed measureless wealth.
Throughout the myriad heavens, countless great and powerful families have seized power into their own hands and seized wealth into their own hands. After a million years, the riches of the myriad heavens have gathered into their grasp, until matters have come to the pass they are at today. More and more of the heavenly currency piles up in their hands, while less and less of it circulates through the myriad heavens; day by day it accumulated, until the people's resentment filled every road, and only then did the upheavals of the myriad heavens come to pass.
The rise of Jingping merely brought this upheaval a few years forward.
" Shang Pingyin gave a snort. "Heavenly Master Meng has said a great deal, but he has set out only the cause and never the cure.
I should very much like to hear Heavenly Master Meng's way of resolution.
" Meng Yungui hesitated and did not go on. "Your servant fears being punished for his words," he said.
The Haotian Emperor laughed aloud. "I am no tyrant—say on freely. " Meng Yungui bowed. "The great houses hold too much wealth in their hands.
No matter how much currency is issued, in the end it will fall into their hands. The only road of resolution is to abolish the great houses.
And the best road to abolishing the great houses is to put every talent to its proper use—" "Presumptuous! " Shang Pingyin said coldly. "Heavenly Master Meng, you presume far too much! Abolish the great houses—and will the next step be to reform the laws themselves? Your Majesty, Meng Yungui is certainly a spy from Jingping. I beg Your Majesty to issue the command at once and have this villain taken to the God-Slaying Platform! " The other civil and military officials spoke up one after another: "Heavenly Master Meng is of the human race; he harbors seditious designs, he deludes the multitude with monstrous talk, he conceals a venomous heart. Your Majesty, sentence this man!
" The Haotian Emperor waved his hand and laughed. "Enough, enough!
Stop attacking Heavenly Master Meng.
Heavenly Master Meng, your words are far too blunt, and they sit ill with the man you used to be.