Zhou Youda truly had no other options. These past days, he had been seeking help everywhere.
Yet his former “close friends”, upon seeing the brand on his face, avoided him like the plague.
Everyone knew that once branded on the face, no matter how talented Zhou Youda was, he could never enter officialdom in this lifetime.
In other words, he had no future left.
His family had also been plundered clean. Anyone with eyes could see that the Zhou family was on the verge of decline.
And it would happen quickly.
Who would still want to associate with him?
Zhou Youda’s main purpose in coming to Great Python Slope today was to seek help from Jin Feng.
However, he did not hold high hopes.
The other commoners around also looked up at Jin Feng.
They were all people whose homes had been burned. When they sought refuge with relatives, no one was willing to take them in, forcing them to come and tend horses for Jin Feng.
Though the escorts did not discriminate against them, they always felt inferior.
Usually, they dared not wander freely, only staying around the horse field and tents.
But today, Jin Feng had called them heroes.
And he said it twice.
The first time was even shouted at the princess.
Many commoners were moved to tears at that moment.
Lately, they had endured too many scornful looks and heard too much mockery. This was the first time someone had spoken positively of them.
Zhou Youda also seemed to glimpse a ray of hope.
Without waiting for Jin Feng’s answer, he asked again, “Sir, do you truly believe we are heroes?”
He feared he had misheard earlier.
“Of course it is true. You are heroes!”
Jin Feng said firmly, “Without you risking your lives to seize the Danzhu horse camp, we could not have won this battle. If we had lost, Great Kang would have to pay tribute to Tubo, and countless commoners would suffer as a result!
So, you saved Xichuan City, and even saved Great Kang!
With such great achievements, if this does not make you heroes, then what does?”
Jin Feng pointed towards Xue Henglu, who was still receiving strokes of the staff. “Could someone like him be a hero?”
“Pah!”
Jin Feng spat in Xue Henglu’s direction. “This kind of spoiled noble who flees when the enemy arrives and comes back to pick up scraps after we win, no matter how finely dressed or powerful, is a deserter, a parasite sucking blood from the commoners. He is not even fit to carry your shoes!”
Jin Feng spoke these words powerfully.
He spoke with great satisfaction.
And he spoke straight to the hearts of Zhou Youda and the others.
Many commoners burst into sobs.
“Sir, if you truly say this, I… I wish to ask you for one thing…”
Zhou Youda wiped his tears, hesitated for a long while, then finally said, “I have heard that sir is highly skilled in ways of generating wealth… Could I beg sir to help us?”
“What is the matter?” Jin Feng asked.
Zhou Youda took a deep breath and explained the situation of the refugees.
After listening, Jin Feng fell silent for a moment, then turned to the Ninth Princess, suppressing his anger as he asked, “Your Highness, is this how you have resettled the commoners?”
Zhou Youda’s eyelid twitched, but he said nothing.
The resettlement of commoners had always been handled by the Ninth Princess and Qing Xin Yao.
By coming to Jin Feng for help, Zhou Youda was essentially slapping the Ninth Princess and Qing Xin Yao in the face.
If there had been any other way, Zhou Youda would not have wished to do this.
But now he had no options left.
If not for the grain and cloth Jin Feng had exchanged for the commoners, who knew how many would have already starved.
Now the weather was growing colder. If the housing issue was not resolved soon, many commoners would not survive the winter!
In any case, he had no future left. For the sake of his comrades who had shared life and death, Zhou Youda was ready to risk everything.
Even if it meant offending the Ninth Princess and Qing Xin Yao.
“Sir, this matter is somewhat complicated…”
The Ninth Princess looked at Jin Feng’s disappointed eyes and, unexpectedly, felt a pang of unease in her heart.
This was something she had never experienced before.
Even facing Chen Ji, she could remain composed, but now, confronted with Jin Feng’s questioning, she suddenly did not know how to respond.
“What is complicated about it?”
Jin Feng sneered, “It is simply that relief funds and grain are skimmed off layer by layer. Your Highness must engage in battles of wits and courage with officials at all levels, and it requires time, correct?”
At these words, the Ninth Princess was quite surprised.
All along, she had thought Jin Feng did not understand much about governance. Only now did she realise that not only did he understand, but he saw through it clearly.
With one statement, he had directly revealed the essence of the problem.
After the surprise, a flash of joy crossed her face.
She bowed to Jin Feng. “Wen’er and Brother Xin Yao have tried every method, yet we are at our wits’ end. If sir has a clever strategy, please advise us!”
She and Qing Xin Yao had recently been plagued with headaches over this matter.
Since meeting Jin Feng, he had often come up with unexpected ideas.
At first hearing, they seemed inconceivable, even somewhat subversive, but upon careful thought, they were the fastest and best ways to solve problems.
“I do have a clever strategy, but I do not know if Your Highness dares to use it?” Jin Feng said with a cold smile.
“Sir, please speak!” The Ninth Princess bowed again.
“The administration of Great Kang is a tangled mess. By the time you untangle the countless threads and balance all parties, the commoners will have long frozen or starved to death!”
Jin Feng said, “Severe illness requires strong medicine. The best way to deal with a tangled mess is with a swift blade! If Your Highness values the commoners as much as you value warhorses, chopping off any hand that reaches out, I believe Your Highness could resettle the commoners properly!”
“This…”
The Ninth Princess wanted to refute, yet found herself speechless.
After thinking, she smiled bitterly. “The principle sir speaks of, how could Wen’er not know? But Wen’er has no way. Xichuan is the chief prefecture of Chuanshu. Apart from Brother Xin Yao, all the major nobles have people here. If we forcibly purge, it would cause upheaval in the court!”
“Then when Your Highness protected the warhorses, why were you not afraid of court upheaval?” Jin Feng asked.
“Sir, warhorses are vital instruments of the state, involving the fate of the nation…”
Before the Ninth Princess could finish, Jin Feng interrupted her directly.
“Your Highness, do you believe the fate of the nation lies in warhorses?”
Jin Feng laughed, a laugh filled with sorrow. “Your Highness, for the sake of our acquaintance, I will tell you what the fate of the nation truly is!”
“The fate of the nation is the commoners!”
“The fate of the nation is the hearts of the people!”
“The ruler is the boat, the people are the water. Water can bear the boat, but it can also overturn it!”
“With the people as the foundation, if the commoners can eat their fill, dress warmly, have fields to till, work to do, money to spend, they will naturally support you, and Great Kang’s national fate will naturally prosper!”
“Conversely, if the commoners cannot eat or dress warmly, if their children are slaves and maids for generations with no hope in sight, who would still follow you? Without the support of the commoners, what use are all your warhorses?”
…
Jin Feng rarely spoke of politics, but today he was truly angered and could not hold back, speaking to his heart’s content.
The Ninth Princess was completely stunned, murmuring repeatedly, “With the people as the foundation… Water can bear the boat, but it can also overturn it…”
Jin Feng’s words completely overturned the feudal era’s theory of divine imperial rule. For a moment, the Ninth Princess struggled to accept them.
Yet they also struck her as profoundly reasonable, giving her a feeling of sudden enlightenment.
“Think it over yourself,” Jin Feng glanced at the Ninth Princess, then pulled Zhou Youda aside. “Mr Zhou, let us go. We will think of a way and solve this ourselves.”
