Chapter 93: Fan Li Governs the State

"Dismiss the court! Dismiss the court!"

Xiang Chong was mortified to the core. In the end, he could hold it in no longer and brought his first audience after ascending the throne to an early close.

"His Majesty returns to the palace," sang Eunuch Chen.

"See His Majesty off."

The voices of the civil and military officials were sparse and scattered, even less spirited than their cries of "Long live the Emperor" when court had begun.

Xiang Chong had no mind to fuss over such trifles. He only wanted to flee the scene.

"Farewell, colleagues," Fan Li said, cupping his hands to the assembled ministers.

"See the Prime Minister off!!!"

This time, however, the response rolled out like a tidal wave, perfectly synchronized and thunderously imposing.

Smiling, Fan Li strode out of the Hall of Golden Chimes with his head held high.

The Fan Residence.

The Realm Pavilion.

Back home, Fan Li was still busy.

As both the Duke of Jin of Great Chu and the Prime Minister, overseeing the affairs of the court, he was of course snowed under with work day in and day out.

That Hall of Golden Chimes in the imperial palace was no longer the true place where state affairs were handled. That place was the Realm Pavilion in the Fan Residence.

Beside the writing desk, a towering stack of official memorials rose like a little mountain, all the work Fan Li had to deal with today.

He was long since used to it. Sitting down with calm ease, he pulled out one document at random and began to review it.

Time slipped away little by little. By the time the sun was sinking in the west, the servants of the Fan household had already lit the candles and hung up the luminous pearls.

Within the Realm Pavilion, light blazed as bright as day, so bright it even overshadowed the lights of the imperial palace.

"Hello?"

"Hello, hello?"

"Um... Fan Li, are you busy?"

Just as Fan Li set down a memorial, he heard a familiar voice.

Was it Xiang Ning?

He lowered his head and, sure enough, the voice was coming from the Fate Necklace.

"Your Majesty, is there something you need? This minister is handling state affairs."

"Oh..."

Hearing that he was busy with proper business, Xiang Ning gave a soft reply, sounding a little disappointed.

Fan Li thought that was the end of it and continued working.

But only a moment later, Xiang Ning's voice came again.

"Are you done yet?"

Fan Li did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He glanced at the desk; there was still a third of the work left untouched.

And yet he answered, "Mm, almost done."

"Then keep me company and chat for a while... no, chat about state affairs?"

Somewhere Fan Li could not see, a faint blush crept over Xiang Ning's cheeks.

"Very well."

For a request like this, Fan Li thought it perfectly reasonable, and immediately began reporting.

"This year's harvest has been abundant, which should have been a good thing. But in recent years the weather has been favorable, and Great Chu does not lack grain, so the farmers have found it hard to sell their harvests, and the prices are low."

"When grain is cheap, farmers suffer. If the people come to believe that farming cannot provide for their survival, they will abandon the land and turn to other trades instead. Some will take up craft, commerce, or the army; others may even become bandits."

"Agriculture is the foundation of the state. We must maintain a sufficient rural population and ensure they keep planting and producing grain. Otherwise, the country will fall into disorder."

"What should we do, then?!"

Xiang Ning had only used talk of state affairs as an excuse in the first place.

But after listening to Fan Li's long explanation, she realized that even a mere problem of grain prices and sales concealed such grave danger. At once, she grew anxious.

"Your Majesty need not worry. This minister has already found a solution."

"I have heard that Great Han is suffering a drought this year and is short of grain. The surplus grain of Great Chu can be exported to Great Han."

"I have already drawn up the export price. Taking into account the farmers' profits, export tariffs, transportation costs, and so on, the final price is set above the normal market rate for grain."

Xiang Ning listened in a daze. It took her quite some time to understand what Fan Li was saying.

She asked in surprise, "Our grain is very expensive? Will the common people of Han be able to accept it?"

Fan Li smiled. "Rest assured, Your Majesty. This minister has a strategy. For this shipment to Great Han, I plan to send people ahead to advertise in Han."

"Ad... advertise?"

The word was so novel that Xiang Ning simply did not understand it.

"Yes."

"For example, our Chu rice. I will package it as imperial tribute rice."

"On the outer wrapping of each bag, we can print a large Xiang character to match the imperial surname."

"Besides that, beside the Xiang character, we can also print the phrase spoken by our founding overlord: 'My strength can uproot mountains, my spirit towers above the world!'"

"That phrase can give consumers a psychological suggestion: if they eat the imperial tribute rice of Great Chu, they too can become as mighty as the Overlord of Chu."

Xiang Ning was thoroughly dumbfounded.

After a long while, she recovered and murmured, "Isn't that... deceiving people?"

Fan Li laughed. "How is that deception? The rice Your Majesty eats every day was grown by the hands of Great Chu's farmers. Great Chu rice truly is imperial tribute rice."

"Oh, but can advertising alone make the people of Han accept more expensive grain?" Xiang Ning asked worriedly.

"Of course it is not that simple. I still have a second move."

The smile on Fan Li's face grew even brighter.

"For this export to Great Han, I also plan to divide the grain into a discount edition, a deluxe edition, and a limited edition."

Xiang Ning did not understand.

What did that mean?

"Taking this export opportunity, I intend to clear out a batch of old grain at home. The so-called discount edition will be the oldest grain in storage. If it is not eaten soon, it will be infested with insects, so its price will be the lowest. I can guarantee that the price will be one the people of Han can accept."

Though it would still be more expensive than Chu grain, and probably not as tasty either, Xiang Ning thought to herself, though she did not dare say it aloud.

"As for the deluxe edition, that will be this year's fresh harvest. Naturally, the price must be somewhat higher. At the very least, only families at the level of wealthy peasants or above in Han could afford it."

"And what is the limited edition? Surely... surely it's even more expensive?" Xiang Ning could not help asking.

"Hahaha, not just expensive. I have priced it on the level of gold."

As he said that, Fan Li could not help laughing out loud himself.

"On the level of gold? How would that ever sell?" Xiang Ning exclaimed.

"It is not difficult. I will launch a round of publicity saying that the limited edition grain was not produced by ordinary farmers, but personally cultivated in the fields by a group of spirit-bearing immortal cultivators."

"Grain grown by immortal cultivators—I believe that will stir the interest of the wealthy in Great Han. By then, they will scramble to buy it at any price, and perhaps the limited edition grain I prepare still will not be enough to meet demand."

Xiang Ning's mouth fell open in astonishment, though Fan Li could not see it.

After a long time, she said, "...Isn't that still deceiving people?"

Immortal cultivators farming?

She had never heard of anything so absurd.

And as the emperor of Chu, she could not shake the feeling that such false publicity would damage the dignity of Great Chu.

Yet Fan Li said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I never deceive anyone. Every word I say is the plain truth."

"Great Chu really does have cultivators who farm?!" Xiang Ning was stunned.

No way.

What a waste of talent!

Even a body-refining cultivator at the lowest level was an excellent soldier. Why would one be made to till the fields?

Fan Li explained, "Your Majesty, there has been no war among the Three Kingdoms for many years, and in Great Chu's army it has long been customary to set aside land for military farming. On top of that, the weather has been favorable these past few years, so the army has been producing grain in excess. Every year, we entrust the Fan Trading Company to sell the surplus, and the income is turned into military funds."

Xiang Ning understood.

The soldiers of Great Chu all practiced cultivation to one degree or another, so the grain they grew was naturally grain grown by cultivators.

Still, Fan Li was far too good at packaging things.

"Twisting lies into truth is not much of a skill. Turning the truth into a legend—that is Fan Li's real ability," Xiang Ning thought to herself.