In the period that Yan Wang was absent, the contradiction between the new officials and the aristocratic forces in the dynasty became more acute. One group trying to preserve their nobility and righteousness, while the other raised up with the wind. Sometimes, the gap between those from the social classes and those from all walks of life was no less than that between the Barbarians of the Eighteen Tribes and the Great Liang people.

      The aristocratic family has been handed down from generation to generation. Almost every family owns a large area of land. Since the price of grain kept falling in the year of Yuan He, for the sake of their income in the future, aristocratic families had dipped their hands in doing business, changing from carrying it out in secret when under Emperor Wu’s ruling to a well-spread trend. On one hand, it gives the merchants who used to be the lowest rank in society a chance to step up, on the other hand, it also had a bad effect on private merchants.

      Since Emperor Tai Zu's generation, there have been laws and regulations in Great Liang — any renowned individuals, or anyone with the status of princes and nobles, and the like, were not allowed to compete with the people for profits, because once the word ‘official’ was involved in business, it will no longer be purely business. Even if they did not actively bully others, there would be villains who would ride on their coat tails.

      The feud between the old aristocratic family and the new officials had a long history and was not a matter of one generation or dynasty.

      At this time, the new nobles came to power, just like a salted fish turning over*. Whether be it the east wind prevailing over the west wind or the west wind prevailing over the east wind, of course, the old aristocratic family would spare no effort to suppress it. New hatred and old hatred stacked together. They could hold their noses and work together when the country was in a mess. At this time, the Barbarians had already bowed down and Jiangnan could free up their hands again. The war situation was not so urgent, their conflict immediately broke out once more.

*idiom for ‘reversal of fortune’/’underdog achieves success’

       Yan Wang did not even have time to ease things up when he returned to the court, what was waiting for him was the noisy fighting in the Grand Court Meeting.

      They argued from whether to abolish the Feng Huo tickets to the malpractices of the new administration of officials, then at last, attacking the Canal Office. Then, from imperial power to the civil rights, from civil and commercial order to the patriarchal clan system, finally the argument has somehow even moved to the army. From the current expenditure of the garrisons on all four borders, breaking out like a wild horse and going straight to the question of whether Jiangnan should continue to fight or not — the Fang Qin party had grasped the root of Yan Wang. If not for the huge war expenditure in recent years, the Treasury crying out in poverty, Yan Wang would not be able to seize the opportunity to make money the priority, plunging the court in chaos like this.

      A certain noble family member came out to pick a fight: "Your Majesty, the Eighteen Tribes had surrendered, from now on we will have rich Ziliujin sources. The vitality of the country is slowly recovering, it is really not suitable to fight again within three to five years. I think the peace talks presented by the Westerners recently are very sincere. They can withdraw from Changjiang, give up the occupied land, we can allow them to open up western ports along the East Sea and disperse the garrison to ports along the coast, which can not only provide peace for the people, but also serve as a transit place for our maritime trade in the future. Marshal Gu, regardless of reason, is always provocative. Continuing to add more conditions, it is quite heartless. "

Naturally, someone from Yan Wang's Party retaliated: "Why should we give up the fertile land along the East Sea to a group of Western monkeys? Can't we open ports ourselves? Don't we have our own merchant caravan? The lands that the ancestors passed down, you’ll just give them up to the Westerners just like that. Looking at the entire court, there is no one more generous than you!" +

      Fang Qin went to the battle in person, casting the ‘betraying the country’ topic aside and said without hesitation, "The Westerners came from a long distance, most of their resources needed to be supplied from thousands of miles away. The soldiers they brought were only tired people far away from their home country. In my opinion, we do not have to overreact like facing off a formidable opponent. We can pretend to negotiate with them. In ten or eight years, it would be difficult for them to continue. Marshal Gu devoted himself to Great Liang, these years he had been continuously injured, never had a few comfortable and reassuring days. For the sake of hundred thousand soldiers bathed in blood on the front line, I also agree it's time to stop fighting and rest — this matter can be discussed later, I don't know if Your Highness Yan Wang has any...plan for the Feng Huo tickets?" +

      Yan Wang, who had been listening on from the start was dragged out by him at this time, he looked up at Fang Qin and said, "There's no need to discuss it again later, after all, Feng Huo tickets has ‘Feng Huo’* as its name, it is closely related to the war. Since you gentlemen want to cut off the land to feed the wolves and tigers, the third batch of Feng Huo tickets has no reason to be issued. The court can always repay the debt with the tax revenue of the next five years as guarantee.” +

*reminder that feng huo literally means 'fire beacon', which was a fire lit to give warning to local people of the approach of an enemy +

      Fang Qin shook his head and said with a smile, "Yan Wang had spoken from temper. Can a truce be called 'feeding the wolves and tigers'? The Westerners have been losing day by day, this is a defeated enemy seeking surrender! When they arrive at sea, they are nothing but a group of rootless duckweeds, not adequate enough cause any serious trouble." +

      Chang Geng also smiled and said: "It's really impressive that Master Fang knows everything in the world without leaving home. He knows that the Westerners are rootless duckweeds from thousands of miles away. Such far-sighted ability, people truly cannot catch up to your shadow." +

      Seeing that the two people were getting acrimonious in the tone of greeting each other, Li Feng had to come forward and say, "Matters of the army, there are soldiers in the army to decide, I called you all here to discuss the urgent matter of the Feng Huo tickets. Why are you arguing about the Liangjiang battle? Can't calculate a few meager account books, but brought up so much troubles instead —— A Min, you should also talk less." +

      An assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue came out at the right time and continued the Emperor's words: "Your Highness Yan Wang has just returned from Jiangbei. I'm afraid you haven't figured out the reason why the third batch of Feng Huo tickets are delayed.  +

      “As you know, although the salaries of the civil and military officials in our dynasty are rich compared with those in the previous dynasty, but everyone has their families to take care of, this little salary is just enough to maintain a little face, how dare anyone be rich and powerful when the country is in trouble? How many people have gone bankrupt since the subscription of Feng Huo tickets was included in the official inspection? At present, we can't get any more money. Your Highness has always had intimate relations with the merchant alliance tycoons and Du Wan Quan. Do you think you can come out to ask them for their donation once more?"