Wei Zi spun his words, and the Upright Officials all fell silent!
But Qi Zhao could not remain silent!
A debater could not wait for an opening; he had to create one.
So Qi Zhao stepped forward, stopping half a pace behind Kou Yuan, and held his Court Tablet crosswise.
"Cunning words and a fawning demeanor!!!"
The moment those words landed, the atmosphere changed.
Qi Zhao continued at a rapid clip.
"The wealth of all under heaven should serve all under heaven!!
If it all enters the Son of Heaven's private treasury, the Three Armies will have no pay, the officials no salaries, and the Common Folk no food.
Without pay for the Three Armies, border defenses will slacken; without salaries for the officials, administration will decay; without food for the Common Folk, all under heaven will fall into chaos!
This is not 'benevolence,' but 'oppression'!
Vice Director Wei has a tongue as nimble as a reed, likening the Ruler-Father to Heaven and Earth, but Heaven and Earth do not starve the people to death.
If Your Majesty locks this silver in the inner treasury, will Vice Director Wei feed the people left to starve?!"
He argued not principles, but consequences!
If you locked the money away, who would bear the consequences?
Qi Zhao was not Kou Yuan. He did not need to cite the classics; he only needed to lay the picture before everyone.
The Three Armies without pay, the officials without salaries, the Common Folk without food.
Those three instances of [without] were enough to tighten any listener's heart.
At those words, Wei Nisheng first tilted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly, then slowly turned to face Qi Zhao.
Qi Zhao suddenly felt something was wrong, but it was already too late.
"**Vice Minister Qi still knows the