Leaving the room, Ning Yi sighed. Li Pin was still inside, probably digesting the thoughts, perhaps even writing some down. It didn't matter. Once spoken, he didn't care if they were pondered, scrutinized. They would become Li Pin's own thoughts and path.

Some ideas he voiced, others he kept to himself, as he'd said, "They're all jokes." This wasn't just a pretense to avoid responsibility; he truly viewed it all as a joke, an irresponsible one.

To mend the flaws and loopholes within the current regime was almost a fool's errand. Of course, when simply discussing the issues, he had his own thoughts. For instance, commerce. Commerce wasn't a shortcoming urgently needing development in the Wu Dynasty. It was already a strength, stronger than anyone else's. In terms of balanced development, many other systems were already lagging behind its progress. Further developing commerce, even if it yielded benefits, would be a deformity, a dangerous one for the nation.

And Confucianism had reached the point of saturation and overflow. If a proactive step forward were possible, specializing the division of labor would be a good direction. It would both reasonably divert the excess educational capacity and prepare for the potential industrial revolution. Of course, it looked beautiful, but the problem was, it was just a joke.

The root cause of everything lay in Confucianism.

Ning Yi said he admired Confucianism. This wasn't flattery or sarcasm; it was genuine reverence from the bottom of his heart. He used to be a manager and could clearly see the strengths and weaknesses of various management disciplines. For a company of thousands, even tens of thousands, he could perfect the system, manage people well, and have everyone follow the rules, creating a cycle where everything ran smoothly. But life wasn't that simple, and a country was certainly not so superficial.

Confucianism wasn't just the pedantic and useless teachings of Confucius. The Analects of Confucius simply taught principles of self-cultivation and the laws of life. Later rulers found the key within these laws, discovered how to formulate rules, and utilize and guide these principles. They improved and supplemented them generation after generation. When problems arose, they modified and fine-tuned them, finding compromises. For thousands of years, the top figures of each dynasty dedicated themselves to perfecting this ruling philosophy, like gold being sifted from the sand…

Stripped of its seemingly gentle and pedantic exterior, it was a truly pragmatic ruling system to the extreme. In modern management philosophy, nurturing a company culture and creating a sense of belonging already takes immense effort and is almost the ultimate goal. If modern management is an eight-bit computer program, Confucianism is an entire genealogical chart. It governs the hearts of tens of millions of people without them even realizing it. People simply take it for granted.

Thousands of years of development, evolution, survival of the fittest – if the Han people are considered as a whole, this is almost one of the genetic strands they developed. Even in the millennia to come, anyone ruling this land would ultimately have to use Confucianism in a modified way. It wasn't that anyone genuinely admired Han culture, but without this model, they would be eliminated. In its ingenuity and complexity, whether it was European constitutional monarchy, parliamentarism, church rule, Japanese Bushido, or the Indian caste system, all paled in comparison to Confucianism.

It was like a large spiderweb. If you moved one part, the people around you would pull you back, linked layer upon layer. Trying to reform from within, no one knew where to apply force, no one knew how much force to use to achieve results. It was like punching the surface of water; no matter how high the splash, it would eventually push back. One person wanting to reform faced a giant net composed of tens of millions of people, the collective wisdom of the most brilliant minds of every dynasty, every month, every year, a colossal Taijitu. It was like one person trying to turn a somersault within such a system.

As Ning Yi, he would sit there and think about and admire such a system, even tremble at its exquisite perfection. He viewed it as a work of art. But to ask him to reform it from within, he lacked the confidence for such internal innovation. Some dynasties had exceptionally talented individuals who found the key points, but no one could be certain whether those key points were correct. Wang Anshi's reforms in the Northern Song Dynasty, a genius supported by the emperor, persisted for many years, but was ultimately crushed by the immense pressure from the feedback. Shang Yang's reforms in the Qin Dynasty found a key point, and he succeeded, but as a part of the individual, he offended too many people and was eventually torn apart by five horses.

Chinese philosophy has Taiji and Yin-Yang. The more force you exert, the greater the returning force. Those who want to make major reforms in the Confucian system generally don't have a good end. Of course, those with certain ideas can push this system with their efforts. Li Pin had the qualifications to do so. If he wanted to do it, he should. That's why Ning Yi would casually say those things to him.

However, in Ning Yi's heart, internal reform was thankless and strenuous. Even if he was skilled in intrigue and power struggles, had modern theory to support him, or could use Tai Chi to lead a court astray, he lacked the confidence to withstand the feedback when that power returned.

Of course, why block it? If he really wanted to do something, Ning Yi would only consider becoming another Liao or Jin, toppling the entire Wu Dynasty from the outside. The ruling system must rely on the existence of people. After the country was defeated, the Confucian system would fall into a state of rigidity, and people could take the opportunity to stuff some things they wanted into the system, and also sweep away the many redundancies generated by the operating system for so many years. It was like reinstalling a computer system, and then… seeing what it would slowly digest and become when it ran again…

This was the simplest method of reform in Ning Yi's honest opinion. Of course, even in casual conversation, he couldn't say this to Li Pin. Li Pin wanted means of internal reform, so he spoke about his views on internal reform. Li Pin wasn't the kind of person who blindly followed without thinking. Even if he was alarmed once by his alarmist talk, he would gradually digest it and transform it into his own ideas. If this person could achieve something in the future, Ning Yi would probably watch all these changes from the side and find it interesting.

It was just casual talk. It was only the afternoon, and he was just a leisurely and bored merchant son-in-law. After the empty talk was finished, he left it behind and walked towards the outside of the academy. When he reached the entrance of Yushan Academy, he saw two carriages parked outside the corner of the road, with some followers and guards probably waiting for someone. The carriage of the Prince Yong's mansion. Ning Yi was slightly puzzled and looked back towards the academy.

Could those siblings have run over to challenge someone again and missed him?

Good to miss him. Ning Yi shook his head and smiled mischievously, and left straight away. He hadn't had lunch yet and was going to a restaurant on the street near the academy to get something to eat. As he walked past the corner of the road, he saw Xiao Chan coming from the other side of the road, passing through the shade of a large locust tree by the roadside. Seeing him, she waved and smiled, "Young master." Sunlight shone down from above the locust tree.

Following Xiao Chan was a servant, carrying some boxes in his hands. Recently, there had been many refugees entering the city, although the security was generally good, the Su Mansion still instructed the female family members and maids to be accompanied when going out, to avoid accidents. This servant was probably being used by Xiao Chan as a follower and bodyguard along the way. At this time, he had seen Ning Yi, Xiao Chan turned around and said a few words, then nodded slightly and thanked him, and sent him back. The servant was also a little flattered. When she was in a good mood, Xiao Chan was always the most polite, and was very kind and friendly to everyone.

At the same time, at the entrance of Yushan Academy, from which Ning Yi had just left, a pair of siblings sneaked out, and only became upright when they could not see Ning Yi's figure. Zhou Junwu looked at the streets on both sides, and his shoulders slumped: "Sister, that Ning Yi is very powerful."

Zhou Pei was slightly silent, frowning. After a long time, she glanced at her younger brother: "I also know he is very powerful."

"Then are we still testing him?"

"Of course, we have to ask him." Zhou Pei thought for a while, and went to the carriage, "But come back when we are ready."

"Mmm." Zhou Junwu followed behind, nodding in agreement, "He can even make that Li Pin admire him, he is so powerful, how powerful is he... But I don't understand some of what he said... Sister, sister, do you understand?"

"Shut up."

"Oh... But I think..."

The voices of the siblings disappeared on the street as the carriage started. In the early autumn afternoon, the white clouds were leisurely, and on the other side of the street, Ning Yi and Xiao Chan were heading to a nearby restaurant.

That night, Zhou Pei sat in the garden of the Kang Wang Mansion in a daze. There were no lights around, and no maids came to disturb her. The young girl with the identity of a county princess has always liked to think about things in such a quiet environment. She wore a long skirt, and her hair after bathing was still damp. She took off her shoes and socks and leaned in the pavilion in the garden. The time was approaching the middle of July, the moonlight was bright, and fireflies were flying in the nearby flowers and plants.

Zhou Junwu was not at home tonight. After dinner, he ran to his grandfather, the駙馬 (fuma - Imperial Son-in-Law), to play. At this time, he was also sitting in the garden of the 駙馬 Mansion to enjoy the cool, taking advantage of the free time when the other children were running around and playing, he secretly repeated what he heard today to Kang Xian.

"驸馬 (fuma - Imperial Son-in-Law) Grandfather, that Ning Yi, is what he said reasonable?"

Kang Xian frowned, his eyes as serious as a ten-thousand-foot deep pool. His scholarship has always been known for its seriousness, but he has another kind of seriousness in front of Zhou Pei and Zhou Junwu, not often with such eyes, and unless he really talked about very important things with Qin Lao and others, he would not take out such eyes even between friends.

"He... just said these?"

"Yes. My sister seems to understand some, but there should be a lot she doesn't understand... I think he is very powerful, and that Li Pin also admires him. 驸馬 (fuma - Imperial Son-in-Law) Grandfather, can you ask him to be my teacher..."

At the same time, in the Su Mansion. On the corridor on the second floor of the small building, Ning Yi had long forgotten the nonsense he said during the day. At this time, he was sitting leisurely with Su Tan'er, Chan'er, Juan'er, and Xing'er in the pavilion, peeling oranges. Of course, if you really want to say how leisurely it is, it may not be true. After eating an orange, Su Tan'er wiped her mouth and got up: "I'm full, husband, take your time to eat."

"Hey, don't need to be so fast."

Ning Yi's tone was casual, but it was also a style that Su Tan'er was quite adapted to. There were still many oranges in the small bamboo basket on the table. Su Tan'er turned her head and smiled apologetically and helplessly: "There are still things to do..."

"Need help?"

"No, husband, eat oranges."

Su Tan'er smiled sweetly, turned around and went back to the room. She was indeed quite busy recently. The flood was approaching, the city gates were about to be closed, all kinds of things had to be planned in advance, and then she had to secretly mobilize the funds at hand to accumulate and prepare for a big move. Although tired, her spirit seemed to be good, probably because the matter of the Imperial Merchant had really made a breakthrough.

Everything seemed to be going well, just like this life...

************

I always do theories and ideas seriously. Some people like them and some people don't. Maybe these kinds of things always have the suspicion of being strenuous and thankless, but in a self-consistent world, what should be done must be done.

Next, officially enter the second half of the dark battle pond, the Imperial Merchant link ^_^

As the saying goes, it shouldn't disappoint everyone. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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