After "buying off" Xue Shao to smooth the way, Pan Yun and the others brought the wealth gathered by the various tribes through the pass and headed south for the Capital City.
Five months later, the Crown Prince, who had gone out to travel and learn, returned to the Capital City. Before his other seven teachers could even celebrate, Pan Yun took him traveling again.
This time, she wanted him to witness the prosperity of South of the Yangtze, the corruption of officialdom, and the hard lives ordinary people endured beneath that prosperity.
While they were at it, they could also shake off the spies who had followed them to the Capital City.
They had already ordered a batch of discarded weapons from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works. There were not many, only enough to deal with the people of the grasslands.
Pan Yun taught Zhu Jianji, "These things are only meant to whet their appetites. The real weapons are the silks, porcelain, tea, and all manner of rare treasures we will bring in from South of the Yangtze."
Zhu Jianji asked, "What kind of weapons are those?"
"They are sharp weapons," Pan Yun said. "Tell me, since the Emperor ascended the throne, what was the one policy he and Grand Secretary Yu had continuously carried out?"
Zhu Jianji thought seriously. "Lightening corvée labor and reducing taxes?"
Pan Yun wagged a finger. "That only applies to designated regions; it is not a nationwide policy. The nationwide policy they have persisted in, never once abandoning it, is rectifying official administration."
"Why do the Emperor and Grand Secretary Yu place such importance on official administration?"
"Only when official administration is clear can government function smoothly and the people live in harmony."
Pan Yun snapped her fingers and said