Chapter 446: Investigation and analysis report
Lou Huai, Governor of Nanyang Commandery, had killed himself.
Officials of Two-Thousand-Shi rank were almost never executed. Most committed suicide, preserving one final shred of dignity.
Wang San was not quite an ordinary commoner. After all, the Property Tax targeted the middle class and above. He had possessed assets worth tens of thousands of cash, all of which had vanished like smoke in this upheaval.
But Wang San was very satisfied, because Governor Lou Huai was dead. He had wondered before: what if going to Chang'an proved useless?
He would turn bandit or conceal his identity and seek revenge. In any case, he would never let the vermin who had ruined his family and destroyed his fortune live comfortably.
His first targets would naturally have been the county-level officials. Wang San did not know whether the others were innocent, but the County Magistrate certainly was not. As for the Commandery Governor, that remained to be seen. Last came Grand Minister of Agriculture Sang Hongyang and Emperor Liu Dan.
Being master of the Altars of State and king of All Under Heaven was not so easy. When things went well, the emperor was wise; when things went poorly, his subordinates were at fault. Where in this world was there such a convenient arrangement?
The classics of the Hundred Schools of Thought all recorded a saying of the Sage King: "A ruler's foremost duty lies in selecting the worthy and promoting the capable. The unworthy and incapable endanger the people; half the blame for calamity belongs to the king. Such is the responsibility of the master of the Altars of State."
What did this mean?
The most important ability of a ruler-an emperor, a Lords King, a High-ranking Marquis, a Recommender, or a sponsor-was choosing suitable