Chapter Fifteen: To Hear the Way at Dawn, and Die at Dusk Without Regret

Xue Da, relying on his innate gift of "Greedy for Wealth, Ruins the Seal," had found what they had just captured—a rare swallowtail cold amberjack. No one could have anticipated a tax collection, so naturally, they had not yet processed their catch.

"Stop! Put down our hundred-thousand sea treasure!"
The two boatmen left to guard the ship tried to intervene, but Xue Da shoved them aside effortlessly. His mastery of the Yaksha staff technique made him a prominent figure in the military, far beyond what two boatmen could withstand.
He had no interest in inspecting the other worthless catches; he grabbed the wooden bucket and leapt off the boat.

When the two tax officials saw the strange-looking sea treasure, their eyes gleamed. Feigning authority, they addressed Wang Cheng and his companions:
"The imperial law is clear: both payment in goods and in coin.
Our lord is kind-hearted, sparing you the trouble of selling your catch for silver. This time, you may pay your taxes entirely in goods.
I deem this fresh fish’s value to be quite suitable."

Wang Cheng nearly laughed in anger at the uniform greed displayed by the Water Bureau officials.
Collecting fish taxes was indeed similar to collecting grain, with options for payment in goods or in coin.
Goods referred to processed fish products—dried fish, fish oil, swim bladders—usually local specialties.
Coin meant paying the equivalent in money or silver based on market prices.
The ratio varied: sometimes all coin, sometimes all goods, sometimes half-and-half or seventy-thirty, endlessly complicated.
It was common practice for tax officials to manipulate and extort more.
Faced with illiterate fishermen, they held all the interpretive power.
Anyone daring to resist or pay less was swiftly conscripted for labor; if provoked, summary execution was not unheard of.

A crowd of tax officials and assistants admired the sea treasure worth 230 incense coins—the hundred-thousand sea treasure, the "Swallowtail Cold Amberjack"—and magnanimously waved Wang Cheng and his group away.

Yet no one could accept such a loss!
Incense coins were the universal currency among all spirits and gods, quantifying the power of incense and wishes. Even at its cheapest, one coin could be exchanged for an ounce of silver; in theory, an ordinary farmer would have to go without eating or drinking for years to buy such a sea treasure.

"Let go of our hundred-thousand sea treasure! How is the government’s theft any different from the tyranny of the fish overlords?"
The Zhang brothers tried to argue, only to have crossbows and firearms aimed at their heads by the tax assistants.
Xue Da, himself a fish overlord, wore a cruel grin, abandoned the bucket, and raised his black dragon staff.
"You ignorant boat people—do you really want to test whether my staff is harder than your bones?"

The boat people's momentum faltered.

Wang Cheng’s spiritual sight revealed blurry, crimson beasts rising behind the tax assistants, making him step back in envy:
"This is why even my father, the strongest water gatherer, wanted me to pursue an official career, viewing imperial appointment as the grandest path.
The sages forged alliances with Daoist energies, establishing the Three Officials' authority—Heaven, Earth, and Water officials, all serving the 'Master of State,' harmonizing yin and yang via the 'Twenty-Four Solar Terms.'
The nine ranks of imperial officials are all servants of the Master of State. Not only do they rarely face equals, but they also enjoy the benefits of the entire dynastic system and the protection of the 'Divine Energy of the First Emperor.'
Even the lowest clerk, receiving only a fraction of official energy, is distinct from commoners.
They wield great momentum—hence, the saying 'bullying others with power.'
If officials are slain and rebellion started, even if not caught immediately, the 'Twenty-Four Solar Terms' will mark them, rendering them fugitives unable to move within the realm—unless they flee to become pirates beyond the Divine Land."

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"In comparison to cultivation worlds, the Great Zhao Dynasty is the greatest sect of divine cultivation!"
For this reason, though Xue Da was not an official, merely donning the uniform made him swagger, completely disregarding his former boat people kin.

As the tax assistants pressed forward, Wang Cheng suddenly stopped and blocked the fierce Xue Da, as well as the sea treasure.
He did not spare the traitor a glance but respectfully addressed the two tax officials, speaking confidently:
"Gentlemen, regarding the poll tax—so long as the person lives, even if they do not fish, the boat people pay more than farmers, and we accept this. But as for the goods tax...
According to 'The Laws of Great Zhao,' the court established the Water Bureau.
Taxation covers lakes, ponds, rivers, ports, shallow waters, and high ponds, with five categories: official lake tax, pond tax, floating tax, shallow water tax, and high pond tax.
To this day, nowhere in 'The Laws of Great Zhao' is there an 'East Sea Tax!'
May I ask, if the imperial court curses the mountains and seas, forbids boat people from settling on land, and forces them to survive at sea—
Now, suddenly, boat people are required to pay fish taxes, even for a hundred-thousand sea treasure. Does this mean they now have legal rights to fish and trade at sea?
Has the sea ban been lifted?
Is that your intention?"

Wang Cheng quoted the law fluently, every word striking with force.
On neighboring boats, fishermen pleading with the tax assistants began to brighten—the argument was too sound, too righteous.
The government always invoked law for taxes.
In the end, there was no law for this at all!

"This..."
The two clerks fell silent, speechless.
To commoners, they were gods, but in the official hierarchy, they were mere bugs, trampled by anyone. How could they answer such matters of state?
Moreover, their orders did not come from the imperial center, but from a provincial lord from Minzhou.
Whether there were others behind their lord, they were not qualified to know.
Their lord commanded them to collect taxes, so they did.
As for the law? Their lord’s word was law.
The chief official, the "Water Bureau Supervisor," was absent. If they spoke wrongly, they would lose their uniforms and return to farming the next day.
No, clerks were of low status, with no land—only begging, living worse than boat people.

Unable to suppress their fear, they barked,
"And who are you?"

Zhang Wen had already retrieved a scholar’s blue robe from the boat and respectfully draped it over his master.
Wang Cheng brushed the creases from his robe, smiling sharply:
"I am Wang Fugui, scholar of Xiangzhou Prefecture, thirty-eighth year of Shaozhi."
A petty commoner was not frightening—only a literate commoner was.
Even the lowest attached scholar was exempt from labor and poll tax, and need not bow to officials.
In the feudal dynasty, possessing the status of scholar made one a true person, not mere cattle.

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The Water Bureau had no authority over a scholar.
What the tax officials and assistants did not realize was that, as Wang Cheng exposed their violation of the law and the fishermen became righteously indignant,
Buzz—!
A strand of official energy above their heads dimmed, undergoing a subtle, unknown transformation; their aura plummeted, nearly vanishing.

The two tax officials kept silent, but Xue Da swung his black dragon staff, producing a shrill wind that blew Wang Cheng’s hair back, and said violently,
"Scholar Wang, are you standing up for these boat people?
Even the most powerful water gatherer, Prince Jinghai, was crushed by the court—think carefully whether you can bear the consequences of associating with boat people."

Zhang Wu and Zhang Wen, seeing him resorting to violence and disrespecting the Prince who died for the boat people, were filled with old and new hatred, ready to fight the traitor.
But Wang Cheng, his eyes flashing coldly, stopped them and shook his head.
He turned, seemingly cowed by Xue Da’s ferocity, shrinking his neck and stepping aside from the bucket.
"Take it, then. But this isn’t a tax—it’s a sale from this scholar to you."

Xue Da cared little, so long as he got the goods.
"Smart move." He snorted, taking the swallowtail cold amberjack.

The "transaction" was completed!

Wang Cheng, as if relieved, led the still angry boat people away from the dock; his timidity vanished instantly.
Everyone looked at their "leader" in confusion—how could someone who once shot a fierce sea ghost with a single arrow possibly fear a mere fish overlord?
He must have a deeper plan.

Wang Cheng smiled coldly:
"Zhang Wen, you read the most—have you heard a saying from the Analects?"
The young boat people, their fists clenched and eyes red from having their hard-won treasure stolen again, turned in confusion.
Wang Cheng recited, word by word, the sage’s famous phrase:
"In the morning, if one learns the Way, one can die in the evening!"

By "selling" the swallowtail cold amberjack to Xue Da, he had completed a transaction,
Satisfying the other party’s wish for wealth and, through the "Four Seas Treasure," discovered the route to his house:
"Moon Harbor, Green Willow Lane, third house on the west side!"

Moreover,
Imperial officials only enjoyed the protection of the "Twenty-Four Solar Terms" if they obeyed the relevant laws and could bully others with their power.
If their crimes were not exposed and they did not incur public resentment, everything went unpunished.
If the people did not speak up, officials would not be investigated, and corruption would continue as usual.
But once an official was exposed for knowingly breaking the law and publicly shamed, their protective official energy dimmed. If someone then secretly killed them, it would be their own fault!

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