"What guidance?" Master Wushan asked.
The Great Xia Emperor glanced at Lin Xiao, then smiled again. "I gave this child a scolding a few days ago. This time, he finally learned to be clever and knew to seek your advice, Master.
"Xiao has learned a great deal from you lately, Master. We owe it to your willingness to teach him."
Master Wushan was truly lost in a fog this time. What was the emperor talking about?
Seeing that he still looked bewildered, a trace of doubt arose in the Great Xia Emperor's heart, but he continued.
"It concerns the support of the imperial clan."
"Oh~" Master Wushan understood at once. The emperor wanted him to offer ideas for supporting the imperial clan.
The question of supporting the imperial clan had always been an inescapable problem throughout the dynasties.
Yet in Great Xia, the problem was particularly severe.
It had gradually reached the point where "all under heaven supported the Lin Family."
Master Wushan had calculated it before. Even the lowest-ranking member of the imperial clan received an annual stipend of two hundred shi, not counting other income.
Meanwhile, a Great Xia county magistrate's annual stipend was only ninety shi.
(One shi was approximately equivalent to two hundred modern jin.)
In a good mood that day, Master Wushan drank a cup of tea and began to speak at length with easy confidence.
He finished in one breath, unsure whether the other party had understood.
He exhaled and drank another cup of tea.
Lifting his head to look again, he found the two across from him staring wide-eyed at him in utter bewilderment.
Could they have been stunned by my strategies?
Master Wushan deliberately assumed an air as light as the breeze and clouds. "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
"Master... why...