I'm the villain in the book

Page 361

"Have you heard? This time the main general of the imperial court's anti-rebellion army is Han Zhaoli, the general of Zhenguo!"

"Brother Zhang, what a mouth...now that Weiyang Palace is our court!"

"Hahaha, I'm used to it, and I can't change it for a while."

"..."

The small tea stall was not far from the Xinyamen of Shuzhou City. It was noon at this time, and many porters and shopkeepers were gathering here to drink tea and play jokes.

Ever since the Shu Prefecture Yamen was converted into a royal palace, Wei Changtian re-selected a mansion in the north of the city for the new Yamen.

Because it is located in a busy city, there are quite a lot of people coming and going around here.

At first, everyone was a little afraid of those official posts with knives on their waists, but after a long time, they also found that these official posts seemed to be different from before.

He never arrests people indiscriminately, he pays the price for food and tea, and patrolling the streets to catch thieves is not as perfunctory as before.

More importantly, they are extremely kind to others.

It's like someone said something wrong in the chat just now, even if the yamen guards overheard it, there would be no big trouble, at most they would be reprimanded and fined a few copper coins.

If this were the past, he would have been sent to prison early and charged with "demagoguery, treason and rebellion"...

The sun was rising, and it was sunny again.

Although it is autumn, it is still hot at noon. Some porters who have just finished their work have taken off their sweatshirts, and they just gulp down a copper plate of "unlimited refillable" herbal tea with their upper body naked.

Everyone chatted to get excited, but suddenly they heard a noise coming from the Yamen, which seemed to be accompanied by all kinds of yelling.

"What's wrong?"

Someone looked up suspiciously: "Why are there so many people around the gate of the yamen?"

"It seems that a new bulletin has just been posted!" A sharp-eyed person replied loudly.

"annunciation?"

All the men lost most of their interest when they heard the words.

The announcements posted at this time must have something to do with fighting, and fighting is a matter for warriors, so it has nothing to do with them.

Such a "reasoning" was originally correct, but as more and more people gathered around the gate of the yamen, everyone was still more and more curious about what was written on the list.

Until the shouts from the yamen gradually became clear.

"The empress ordered that the land tax be reduced!"

"The field tax has been reduced!!"

Someone was yelling and running this way, the excitement on his face was irrelevant.

"This dude!"

A porter grabbed the man's arm and hurriedly asked, "What's going on? What's written on the bulletin board?"

"That's not a list!"

The man in ordinary clothes excitedly said: "That's the new policy of the Ministry of Household Affairs! The empress has ordered it! From now on, the land tax for the common people in Sichuan is only [-] tax per mile!"

"Fifty tax one?!"

All the porters suddenly widened their eyes: "Dude! Did you read that right?!"

"I can't read, but the official said it himself! There's nothing wrong with that!"

The man smiled and pointed at the gate of the yamen: "If you don't believe me, just ask yourself!"

"..."

"Wow!!"

A group of people looked at each other for a while, and then rushed to the gate of the yamen in a swarm.

Even the owner of the tea stall didn't care about the stall anymore, and followed behind in a hurry, just like the old man and old lady who were anxious to grab free eggs in the previous life.

It's no wonder that these people behaved like this, because the reduction rate of [-]% tax is too exaggerated.

If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes and heard it with your own ears, it would have been something you wouldn't even dare to dream about!

"The emperor's grace is mighty! The emperor's grace is mighty!"

The man who announced the good news watched a group of porters run away, and after a few words of heartfelt exclamation, he continued to run forward, intending to continue to tell more people about this great news.

The scorching sun still hangs high in the blue sky, cloudless.

Just like the dazzling golden sunshine, the haze brought to Shuzhou City by "the imperial court has sent troops to quell the rebellion" was instantly dispelled by this new policy of "tax reduction".

One spread to ten, ten to hundreds, and the matter has spread throughout Shuzhou in a very short period of time.

Everyone praised Ning Yuke's benevolent government and good deeds, and their ratings for the "female emperor" soared by a large margin.

And many people are no longer indifferent to this war.

They hope that the Kingdom of Shu can defeat the imperial army, and that Ning Yuke can win!

Because only in this way can the new land tax policy of [-] taxes and [-] tax be able to continue for a long time.

This may be selfishness, or short-sightedness, or "seeing profit and forgetting righteousness".

But for ordinary people who face the loess and back to the sky, and work diligently in the fields, their way of thinking is so simple.

They don't have any great ambitions such as "creating a heart for the world, and creating peace for all generations"; they don't quite understand the principle of "loyalty to the monarch and righteousness, everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world".

However, they know which emperor is good to the people.

If you treat me well, I will support you.

This is actually what Mencius said, "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world."

It's a pity that many rulers don't really understand this truth.

Chapter 416

Weiyang Palace, Fengming Palace.

"Your Majesty, Young Master, the yamen of each city have posted notices about the new land tax policy."

Chen Zhong, who was sitting on the chair, took a peek at Wei Changtian, and said in a low voice, "Roughly speaking, this year Shu will at least reduce taxes by 50 taels."

"It's only 50 taels. As long as we can attract more people from other places, we can earn it back in a few years."

Waving his hand, Wei Changtian asked casually, "By the way, Mr. Chen, didn't you ask you to count all the big landlords in Shu before? How is this going?"

"Master, it's done."

Chen Zhong answered truthfully: "Nowadays, in the entire territory of Shu, there are a total of 83 households with more than [-] mu of fertile land. Among them, the Zuo family in Ning'an County is the most, with one household owning more than [-] mu."

More than 5000 acres, good guy.

This shit is as large as a small town.

Wei Changtian didn't directly tell Chen Zhong what to do, but curled his lips and said, "Master Chen, give the roster of these 83 households to Chu Xianping, and you don't have to worry about the rest."

"Yes, the subordinate understands."

In Chen Zhong's mind, there was no such concept as "strike the landlord and divide the land", so of course he didn't know what Wei Changtian was going to do.

However, the latter is not actually trying to catch all the landlords, but has other plans for the characters on this list.

"Okay, Mr. Chen, you go down first."

Glancing at Chen Zhong, Wei Changtian ordered: "I hope you will pay more attention to the new policy of Tian Fu."

"Yes! This is the duty of the lower officials. Please rest assured, Mr. Wei and His Majesty!"

Chen Zhong stood up and said goodbye immediately with winking eyes: "I will leave, my subordinate."

"..."

As Chen Zhong got up and left, only Wei Changtian and Ning Yuke were left in Fengming Hall.

Now that the "tax reduction" has been implemented, it can be regarded as a timely stabilization of the people's hearts.

Although due to various considerations, Wei Changtian's "One Hundred Taxes" eventually became "Fifty Taxes One".

However, judging from the feedback collected so far, this effort has achieved the expected effect.

Then the next thing to do is to go all out to deal with the 30 counter-insurgency army.

"When are you going to speak?"

Looking at Ning Yuke, Wei Changtian said, "Now that Ning Yongnian has issued a crusade edict, we need to respond quickly, and we can't delay too long."

"..."

"Speech" is not only a new word "invented" by Wei Changtian, but also a brand new creation.

The emperor is the supreme being of Kowloon, and has been unique in social status throughout the ages.

In order to maintain this sense of "mystery", these "sons of heaven" seldom appear in front of the common people unless there are some big events.

Therefore, if the emperor has something to tell the whole world, it will usually be in the form of "Wanmin Zhao".

For example, in this crusade against Shuzhou, Ning Yongnian had written a volume of "crusade papers" this morning, and then informed the people of Daning through the state government.

Under normal circumstances, Ning Yuke should also write an "edict" in response, but Wei Changtian is planning to give a "public speech" in order to better achieve the effect of "inspiring the hearts of the people".

To put it bluntly, it is to let Ning Yuke give a speech in front of the people of Shuzhou.

Needless to say the importance of this speech, and the timing must be just right.

If it is too early, it will appear as if it has been expected, and if it is too late, it will lose momentum.

Wei Changtian had too many things to do and didn't have time to take care of these details, so he let Ning Yuke make up his own mind.

And the latter...

"Master, the Ministry of Rites is already arranging this matter, and it is tentatively scheduled for the next day."

Slowly standing up from behind the desk, Ning Yuke walked up to Wei Changtian and knelt down beside Wei Changtian, raised her head and asked softly, "Do you think it's okay?"

"The day after tomorrow... OK."

Wei Changtian nodded, and asked again: "Then have they prepared the speech? If they are ready, they will show it to Chu Xianping in advance."

"this......"

Ning Yuke's complexion changed slightly, and she slowly lowered her head: "Master, this servant wants to draft this speech by herself."

"Write it yourself?"

Wei Changtian was a little surprised, but soon figured it out.

Since it was a response to Ning Yongnian, the main purpose of this speech must be to rectify the name of "Shu Kingdom", so naturally it will mention the big case of Prince Shun last year.

It seems that Ning Yuke wanted to "blame" Ning Yongnian in person.

"Okay, you can write it yourself."

After thinking for a while, Wei Changtian did not refuse: "But you should be clear about what to say and what not to say."

"The servant understands."

Ning Yuke responded softly, but when she looked up again, she found Wei Changtian rubbing her temples.

She immediately asked in a low voice, "Master, are you tired?"

"Ok?"

Wei Changtian subconsciously stopped his movements.

He is indeed a little tired now.

Last night, I first studied the matter of Dafeng for a long time, then learned the news of Yuanzhou sending troops, and finally chatted with the remnant soul in Xuantian Sword for a long time, which made him not only stay up all night, but also overuse his brain .

Of course, as a fourth-rank warrior, no matter how hard he tried, he would basically never get sick.

But there will still be fatigue.

"Well, a little bit, it's okay."

Shaking his head, Wei Changtian answered casually.

Then he heard Ning Yuke's seemingly urgent request.

"Master, this servant will rub it for you."