You see, the storyteller wasnt really a storyteller but a top secret agent of the penguins. Okay, thats not the truth but the result was the same
The tales the storyteller told influenced the young heir the Crown Xi Chao on his opinion of the social order, as well as economic values. Quietly, and unnoticeable, his stories made Xi Chao much more orientated towards the Middle Class and the Lower classes instead of the Wealthy Rural Aristocrats. And as tradition followed, he soon was given control of collecting tax revenue where he implemented some
. controversial policies on how taxes would be collected. Mainly that taxes would be collected based on the amount of land and the productivity of it. The bigger and more productive, the higher the taxes, the smaller and less productive, the lower the taxes and of course the Aristocrats raised hell and brimstone.
Several notable aristocrats complained and the issue went in front of the High Lord himself who after a heated discussion with his son agreed to support his measures, but had the aristocrats taxes cut by half. Perhaps it was the beginning of a new day, or a new night. No one truly knows, and while the children of the aristocrats continue to play and frolic in the many parks of Shu, their parents begin to worry what shall happen when Xi Chao rises to the Crown
On another note, a young man by the name of Lao Chao Tung arrived in Shu with a cart of books from the North, northeast to be precise. He claimed that he had been to Koryo, or Korea or Silla and had retrieved books from the Demon Chi Yous shrine where he had been buried due to his maxim:
Learn from your enemy, and turn his strength in to his weakness.
What he said to have found as shown by his cartload of books, were ideas written, in understandable Huaren that he said had been written under the order of the Yellow Emperor. Filial Piety, ancestor worship, and respect of elders by their younger peers were the main parts of the books, but it was noted that the books contained intricate comments about rites and music saying that those are the instruments from which a mutual communication can be formed between ones humanity and his social content and both feed social relationships, like the five prototypes: between father and son, husband and wife, prince and subject, elder and youngster, and between friends. Duties are always balanced and if a subject has to obey his ruler, he also has to tell him when he's wrong.
The Priests and courtiers had nothing but praise for the brave and glorious young man and was summoned to the High Priest and the High Lord who asked for his life story. The young man replied quickly and told them of how he was a descendent of the brave Captain Lao Hao Ming, Conqueror of Taiwan for Tong and how he as a third son had no choice but to take to the seas and look towards his fortune. It was by a miracle that he stumbled upon a Chu merchant at Suzhou that was a follower of the Cult of the Yellow Emperor which started his minds journey to Koryo, the homeland of Chi You and search for more clues to the Emperor. The High Lord and Priest both smiled at this and bide him to leave and he was granted wide estates and lands and the Lao joined the family of Great Shu Aristocratic Families enjoying wealth greater then any of the Lao in Tong of course, a fact that Lao Chao Tung rubbed in the nose of his relatives at the family reunions.
And while Lao Chao Tung gained wealth, a man named Kong Fu Xi living in Song noticed that he lost several books and started screaming
And while this happens, a short black and white bird starts talking... "It has begun, the new Maluk must die."