Chapter 19: Cybernetics and Justice
All great evils in the world are committed in the name of justice and great good!
Revere the King and exterminate the barbarians is exactly this.
In the tenth year of the Marquis of Shang’s reign, the Lady of Shang appointed Zhang Yang as Chief Minister and Chancellor of the Shang Kingdom, concurrently serving as Grand Marshal.
Under Zhang Yang’s leadership, the Shang Kingdom abandoned its previously conservative policies and actively engaged in international conflicts.
Of course, this was all done under the banner of Revere the King and Expel the Barbarians.
Our Great Shang acts not out of selfish desire, but entirely for the Son of Heaven of Great Heng and the ancestors of Great Heng.
You, as descendants of Great Heng’s forefathers, how can you recklessly annex your own kin? Is this right?
Do you still have a conscience? Do you still observe the rules?
Without rules, nothing can be properly established.
Great Heng is one big family, a vast collective.
Our ancestors of Great Shang, being the younger brother of King Hengwu, have the duty, the responsibility, and the right to stand in for the ancestors of Great Heng to safeguard the realm and maintain order.
From now on, you just need to follow Great Shang.
Tribute, such a complicated matter, can simply be sent directly to Great Shang.
In the eleventh year of the Marquis of Shang’s reign, in March,
Zhang Yang personally led ten thousand cavalry to escort the Lady of Shang to Tang Mountain, eight hundred li east of the Shang Kingdom, to convene a summit of the Feudal States.
Fifty-six Feudal States took part in this alliance meeting.
Each state expressed high praise for Great Shang’s policy of Revere the King and Expel the Barbarians.
They unanimously agreed that Great Shang’s actions were in harmony with Heaven and the will of the people, beneficial to both the nation and its citizens, and stood as a model for upholding the order of Great Heng and protecting the foundations of civilisation.
They also offered great acclaim for the Lady of Shang’s dignity and Zhang Yang’s prominence.
The alliance meeting lasted for three days and ultimately reached a consensus amid much laughter and celebration.
Looking at the present situation, the Shang Kingdom’s policy of Revere the King and Expel the Barbarians carries forward the spirit of the Three Dynasties’ rites and music, while responding to the people’s hope for stability. It rectifies internal order and strengthens border defences, truly serving as the core measure for maintaining the order of Great Heng.
The feudal states deeply admired its achievements and vowed to uphold this policy alongside the Shang Kingdom, united in their dedication to honour the Royal Family, resist the Barbarians, and jointly safeguard the flame of Great Heng’s civilisation, working together to create an era of peace and prosperity throughout the realm.
We are all here for the people of the world, for all living beings under heaven.
Our spirit, our greatness, is truly heroic and moving!
Of course, maintaining peace across the realm is never going to be smooth sailing.
The feudal states surrounding the Shang Kingdom fear its armies—no, they respect the greatness of the Chief Minister of Shang—and do so willingly.
But the feudal states farther from the Shang Kingdom, those with greater strength, do not concern themselves with this.
Across a thousand miles, the financial and material cost for the Shang Kingdom’s army to mount expeditions is simply incalculable.
They firmly believe that the Shang Kingdom could never sustain large-scale distant campaigns.
In fact, their assumptions were quite accurate.
The Shang Kingdom truly could not afford large-scale distant expeditions.
It simply wasn’t worth it.
Who would spend two hundred coins on delivery fees for a takeout voucher worth only twenty?
But!
Killing doesn’t always require swords and knives.
Money can kill too!
To the south of the Shang Kingdom lay a state called Yunmeng.
The State of Yunmeng was renowned for producing Yunmeng Brocade.
This fabric was softer and tougher than ordinary cloth, with more vivid and dazzling colours.
The State of Yunmeng harboured a deep hostility towards the rise of the Shang Kingdom.
How should one deal with such a nation?
Zhang Yang openly praised Yunmeng Brocade as the finest fabric under heaven and began purchasing it extensively.
Who was Zhang Yang?
He was the Shang Kingdom’s Chief Minister, Chancellor, Grand Marshal, and the greatest martial arts master in the land.
As soon as he started buying, merchants and nobles of the Shang Kingdom swiftly followed suit.
Seeing this, other states also jumped on the bandwagon.
That year, the demand for Yunmeng Brocade far exceeded supply, causing the price to soar tenfold.
Such enormous profits drew nobles and commoners across Yunmeng into the production and manufacture of Yunmeng Brocade.
They even stopped planting grain altogether and devoted all their fields to cultivating the raw material needed for Yunmeng Brocade—li.
In the second year, the production of Yunmeng Brocade skyrocketed fivefold.
Grain yields plummeted.
However~~~
Zhang Yang immediately issued an order banning the wearing of Yunmeng Brocade throughout the entire realm, forbidding any trade involving it. At the same time, he sealed off the border with the State of Yunmeng, prohibiting any country from trading grain with Yunmeng.
For a time, the State of Yunmeng was thrown into chaos. Severe food shortages struck the common people, who fled in large numbers.
Faced with such circumstances, Yunmeng backed down.
By the end of that year, the Sovereign of Yunmeng sent hostages to Great Shang to apologise and expressed willingness to submit to Shang’s leadership.
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In the fifteenth year of the Marquis of Shang’s reign, in August.
In Hao City, within the Chancellor’s residence.
A delicate boy, as finely carved as jade, held a newly hatched chick in his hands and eagerly approached Zhang Yang, asking, “Father, look, a chick, just hatched.”
“Daddy, how can a chick come out of an egg?”
“Aren’t there some eggs that don’t hatch chicks?”
Wuyou, Zhang Yang’s eldest son, was ten years old this year.
Zhang Yang smiled and said, “That’s a very good question.”
“Why do eggs hatch chicks~~~”
Zhang Yang paused.
He stood up, fetched a pebble from the garden nearby, and placed it in front of Wuyou.
“If this were an egg,”
“how many possibilities are there for its future?”
Wuyou thought for a moment and said, “Three.”
“One, the egg cracks open.”“A chick hatches from the egg.”
“Or the egg remains just an egg.”
Zhang Yang smiled and said, “That’s a very good analysis.”
“Can we, through some method, change the egg’s future?”
Wuyou replied seriously, “Of course we can.”
“We can build a safe nest for the hen, or have someone watch over the egg, keeping it in a secure environment.”
“That way, we reduce the risk of the egg being damaged and increase the chances of it hatching.”
“That’s the control theory Father taught me some time ago.”
“When a situation has multiple possible outcomes,”
“within the space of possibilities, effective control narrows that space, thereby controlling the result.”"Just like the egg,"
"we can use deliberate intervention to tilt the possibilities towards the outcome we desire."
“Father also said that everything in the world can be controlled.”
“The rise and fall of a nation, the continuation of a clan—these can all be steered by narrowing the range of future possibilities through human control, ultimately reaching the desired outcome.”
“It's just that I am simple-minded; the egg has very few variables, so manipulating it isn’t difficult.”
“But a family, a country, faces so many uncertainties—how then can one manipulate and control them?”
Wuyou tilted his head, his innocent face filled with doubt.
Zhang Yang gently ruffled Wuyou’s hair and smiled, “These questions are still a little early for you.”
“In time, Father will teach you.”
“Mm.”Wuyou obediently responded with a soft whistle.
Before long, Heitu arrived before Zhang Yang, led by a servant.
“Disciple pays respects to Master,” Heitu said, clasping his hands in a formal bow.
His brow was slightly furrowed, clearly burdened by a troubling matter.
Zhang Yang patted Wuyou on the shoulder. “You go and play. I have something to discuss with Uncle Heitu.”
Wuyou respectfully saluted Heitu before leaving the courtyard.
Zhang Yang asked, “Why the long face?”
Heitu spoke in a low voice, “Recently, someone has been speaking ill of Master in front of the Marquis of Shang.”
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Zhang Yang’s lips. “I expected it to be something serious, but it’s just petty nonsense—not enough to cause you such worry.”
Heitu complained, “If it weren’t for Master, the Shang Kingdom wouldn’t be where it is today.”"When we first came to the Shang Kingdom, it was merely a territory of ten cities," Heitu said.
"Now the Shang Kingdom commands nearly a hundred cities, and this year alone, a hundred feudal states have come to pay tribute."
"Such splendour, such wealth, it all came from Master leading the brothers, fighting city by city, sword by sword."
"Those bastards only know how to play with words."
At this, a cold edge crept to the corners of Heitu’s lips.
He continued, "The Marquis of Shang is already seventeen years old this year. By custom, in three years’ time he will undergo the capping ceremony and be considered fully an adult."
"Once he comes of age, Lady of Shang should return governance to the sovereign."
"Those people are surely trying to seize power from Master by taking advantage of the Marquis’s coming of age."
"Master, we—"
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