The Land of Ancestors was calm that morning. Calm in the way only a fragile peace could be. The sun hadn't fully begun to rise when the maid gently tapped on the door and opened it with a respectful bow. Aino and her sister Aimo were Emperor Tenji's servants and were taught to arrive early to help him prepare. The time was unusual for an emperor to wake, but since he had commanded it, it was to be done. When they entered, they found the emperor's bed empty and the door to the garden open.
Without uttering a single word, Aimo walked to the table and began laying out the emperor's breakfast, while Aino prepared all of the washing utensils and materials. Every morning, Emperor Tenji woke up before the sun rose and worked out. No one understood why, since as the emperor, he didn't necessarily have to fight personally, especially in times of peace, but he did it anyway. After she had finished her preparations, Aino walked outside and waited for Tenji to finish his movements.
In the training field, Tenji was going through a set of movements he had devised himself. From an early age, Tenji had been taught by his father to rule and govern the Lands of Ancestors. Naturally, he had also been trained to fight, and he was good at it. He was good at everything he did. Tenji was, without question, the most talented individual to ever exist, and it wasn't even close. No matter what it was, intellectual studies, physical labour, games, tests, fighting, Tenji was talented in all fields. It was this talent which led him to want to master as many fields as he could. He read and studied the human body for years, developing the best ways to train himself to reach the pinnacle of what a human could achieve.
Aino observed her emperor as he seemed to be leaving afterimages through the fast katas. His hands shot towards the thick wooden pole, striking at different points and angles. His feet and hands moved so fast, they left imprints on the sturdy wood. One final punch finally broke the pole and brought an end to the morning training.
"Lord Tenji," Aino bowed deeply and presented a towel to the emperor.
"Thank you, Aino," he said and wiped his sweat.
Despite hearing it every day, Aino couldn't get over the fact that the emperor thanked her for something so natural and straightforward as doing her job. No matter how embarrassed she got and asked him to stop thanking her, he refused and told her that he would treat those around him the same as he expected them to treat him - with respect. Tenji believed that something as random as birth shouldn't allow someone to belittle others or be arrogant. For Tenji, only results truly mattered. And the results didn't have to be grand. A maid who did her job correctly and to the best of her abilities was already worthy of praise and thanks.
.
By the time the sun lifted above the hills, Tenji had already finished showering and eating breakfast. He stepped off the palace road and into the fields, his boots sinking into the soft grass. No one seemed to notice him at first, since he didn't travel with guards or a retinue. He didn't even dress as one would expect from an emperor. Tenji valued freedom of movement above all other clothing. The workers were focused on the stubborn channel that refused to distribute water across the terraces evenly.
"This isn't working," one of the men muttered.
"No, it isn't."
"Why can't we do this perfectly? It didn't look or sound hard when Lord Tenji demonstrated it."
"Maybe we should move the field three hundred paces north?"
Tenji crouched beside the small channel.
"No, don't move the field," he said casually. "Just move the boulder half a finger's width. That should do the trick."
The farmers and workers yelped in surprise. One of them dropped his shovel in shame at having spoken so freely in Tenji's presence.
"L-Lord Tenji!!" they sputtered.
"Good morning," he said.
Tenji dipped his fingers into the water and checked the flow.
"This part is a little too fast here. This tells us that the angle is off. But you shouldn't worry about it too much. What I gave you was simply a demonstration. There is nothing we can do to nature that would be perfect."
The overseer hurried over, bowing so low he nearly hit his head on the ground.
"Forgive us, Lord Tenji. We triple-checked the measurements--"
"Oh, your measurements were flawless," Tenji smiled. "It's the foundation that has been lying to you."
The men stared at him, not understanding what he was talking about. Tenji tapped the anchoring stone at the start of the contraptions.
"The rain has been eating away at the ground underneath the stone. It has tilted very slightly. If you move it to the north, as I said, roughly a finger's width, and pack the soil, the water will flow as you intend again."
"Thank you, Lord Tenji. We will get to it right away."
Tenji stepped back, folding his arms and observing the process. The moment the stone shifted into its new place, the water slowed, curved, and slid evenly into the terraces, just as Tenji said it would. The workers looked at Tenji the way one might look at a man who casually predicted the weather. They had heard and seen tales of his talent in practically everything, but it was still fascinating. Tenji smiled and walked away.
.
The Land of Ancestors had been lucky to get an emperor like Tenji. However, he had to prove himself during the early years of his reign after his father's death. The surrounding lands were always looking for weaknesses, especially the Land of That or the Land of Ka, as it was also known. The Land of That was larger than the Land of Ancestors and constantly used any excuse to escalate conflict and expand by military force. Apart from politically, there were also bandits, who were sometimes used by neighbouring countries to sow discord and problems. After taking his father's position, Tenji proved just how competent he truly was, using their relatively small military to eliminate all bandit hideouts across the land and even pushing back other countries in minor skirmishes.
This meant there were no open conflicts, nor raids and no battles with the Land of That in the last couple of years.
After Tenji became emperor, those of higher birth expected him to strengthen the military, expand fortifications and even threaten other lands into submission. He was so skilled in warfare, both strategically and in any form of martial arts, so why wouldn't he, right? Wrong.
Tenji gave his general and those who held higher positions reading lists in economics that he created himself. The first thing he did was cut military spending by a third and drag all those officials into agricultural planning meetings. He reduced the authority of every official and further increased his own power. Unlike what everyone hoped and expected, Tenji wasn't interested in taking over the world or becoming a grand Emperor across a thousand lands. Due to his monstrous talent, life was relatively simple for him, and he was more than content to enjoy it while maximising the comfort and peace of his people. War wasn't something he enjoyed.
These 'foundations of long-term peace' weren't appreciated by those who held some form of power or positions. So Tenji's stance on peace rather than war and attack, sowed some problems. Both in the Land of Ancestors itself and outside of it. The few officials and those of higher birth saw their power slip away and did everything to regain it, blocking the emperor at every turn. The people, therefore, saw that while their emperor was effective in his early years, he failed to improve their lives later. And the hungry Land of That slowly forgot Tenji's martial prowess as the years passed and the memory of his skill faded.
So what did Tenji do?
His political talent quickly became apparent. He outmanoeuvred the unhappy officials and outplayed those who tried to stop his plans and the progress of his land. And then, things started to look well. The new and revolutionary ideas and plans improved harvests, created new trade routes, stabilised prices, and, overall, caused the economy to boom. The people were beginning, albeit slowly, to trust that peace might last longer than a single season and that their emperor knew what he was doing, very much so.
Tenji liked peace. It was interesting. War was predictable after a while. True, anything could happen, but to Tenji, that was only for someone who didn't see all the possible paths that lay before him. To him, war was rather predictable. You threatened; others threatened as well. Schemes, backstabbing, lies, and everyone died in the end, until one side grew just slightly more cunning and turned the tide in their favour. Toji saw war as the worst in people coming to light, and that in itself was relatively simple to deal with, since you knew what everyone was thinking.
But to build a peaceful society? That was hard; that took creativity. It was a balance of diplomacy and strength: innovation and growth, versus stability and contentment.
Franky, after having studied and advanced himself in all aspects the world had to offer, Tenji thought it was far more challenging. In times of peace, there were still those who were greedy and selfish, but there were also those who truly wanted peace and were content to see their families healthy and fed. That made it more challenging and therefore interesting to Tenji.
Now, while that wasn't the only reason, he chased peace; it was a decisive factor.
.
By the time Tenji reached the council house, the morning council was already in full swing. It wasn't about war or about famine, but taxes.
"Lord Tenji," a minister started, "you decreased grain levies again. Again. At this rate, the treasury--"
"Will stabilise," Tenji said as he took his seat slowly.
Every move Tenji made was fitting for his station and the time he lived in. He did everything with precision and efficiency. No movement and no energy was wasted. He seemed like the embodiment of a leader, despite not dressing as the emperor. His presence was more than enough to instil awe and respect.
"The farmers will have surplus to sell, increasing the trade volume and therefore long-term taxable income."
The people looked at one another and then at Tenji. They didn't understand what he was talking about.
"Lord Tenji... what do you mean by that?"
Tenji narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't care if people weren't geniuses or as talented as he was. But they had to do at least the job he gave them to the best of their abilities. He could see that there was still much to be desired and that would have to change in the future.
"I created and showed you the charts last week. Did none of you read them?" he asked.
The man paled. He had tried to read them. Unfortunately for him, Tenji had produced charts so dense and so logically airtight that several councillors had privately considered fleeing the country or committing seppuku rather than admit they didn't understand them.
"I did, Lord Tenji. However, I'm afraid, I didn't quite understand it fully," one of the men said and bowed his head respectfully.
Toji saw that he was genuine and didn't lie, so he nodded. The house of learning he had created hadn't existed long enough to create men and women who knew what he was talking about and the ideas he created. So he was alright with explaining it again.
"The most basic way to make the Land of Ancestors wealthy is not to have those with a lot of wealth save it or take it away from the ordinary people. The proper way to go about it is to have everyone spend more. By investing in our country, we will be able to produce more. Everyone will be able to sell more high-quality goods and, in turn, spend what they earn again. Saving money shouldn't be the way we go about it. So investments are the way to go and will, in the long run, if nothing goes terribly wrong, like a drought or a war, always make more money back than what we spent."
Someone cleared his throat.
"Lord Tenji, perhaps your remarkable... intuition... is advancing a bit too quickly. Could we not take a more cautious approach?" he asked.
"You misunderstand. My willingness to trust this approach is not a gamble. I am cautious. What you are proposing is for us to stagnate our economy."
This caused the people to nod. Suzaku, one of the council members who was always the sceptic, swallowed what he wanted to say. He disagreed with the young emperor. He despised the speed at which they were derailing from their customs. But there was nothing he could do, since most who were dissatisfied and actively opposed Tenji had been removed by now. There was very little he could do apart from voicing his concerns and reminding everyone of their culture.
.
Evening had arrived. After the council meeting, Tenji visited the new water wheels he had designed, which were under construction. In his attempts to learn more and discover new things, which he wasn't very good at, Tenji made it a habit of working with his hands and using his body as much as possible. He hadn't been bored yet; that feeling seemed to elude him, but life had a way of getting rather stale for him. Like eating food you had eaten millions of times, you would still eat it and not feel it was bad, but you wouldn't say no to something different every once in a while.
When the sun dipped beyond the horizon and the evening arrived, Tenji made his way back to his quarters to eat. As he was eating, the guards saw something in the sky that they hadn't ever seen before.
"Look at that!" someone exclaimed.
Hearing the commotion, Tenji also walked outside and looked into the sky.
"It's glowing!"
"It looks suspicious!"
Tenji shook his head at his men. Everything new was suspicious. Though their cautious behaviour was correct, he wanted them to be more open-minded. However, there was indeed something strange about the glowing light in the sky.
"Is it a star?" someone asked.
"That's no star, it's moving!" another one said.
The light slowly moved across the sky and then disappeared. Tenji looked at his soldier.
"Follow it," he commanded.
"Yes, sir!"
The soldiers leave, and Tenji returns to his quarters to rest. He was very interested in what his soldiers had to say when they returned.