"You've got a good head on your shoulders. Think hard-are there any other tricks we can try?"
In Hangzhou, at the lodgings of the Imperial Envoy overseeing tax collection, Wei Heng held a teacup helplessly as he addressed Wang Dashi, who sat at the head of the room reviewing the tax accounts.
Wang Dashi studied the ledger intently and said nothing for a long while.
Wei Heng waited a little, then ran out of patience. He slammed his teacup onto the tea table beside him with a thud. "Say something!"
Wang Dashi put down the ledger and smiled. "What else could I possibly do? The situation is clear now. If we want to win, we have to clash head-on, blades and spears out in the open. Nobody gets to take shortcuts!"
Wei Heng's brow slowly tightened. A moment later, he suddenly said, "What if we used the tax silver as bait and laid an ambush?"
"Completely pointless..."
Wang Dashi slowly shook his head. "Our opponents were never after the money. Their targets are the New Policies, the Court, the Grand Councillor, and the Marquis of Road Pavilion!"
"The successful reform of the Jiangzhe Tax System has already proved that the New Policies are viable. Even if those traitorous rebels manage to steal the tax silver, they won't shake the New Policies, much less sway the situation at the Imperial Court..."
He raised the ledger in his hand, indicating to Wei Heng that the greatest achievement of this Jiangzhe Tax Audit lay not in the tax silver in the vaults, but in these ledgers.
"By comparison, even inciting a portion of Jiangzhe's people to revolt on the grounds that crushing taxes have ruined their livelihoods and left the land filled with the cries of the suffering would have far more lasting