NCCnovel Chapter 155 A single spark can start a prairie fire!
Chapter 155 A single spark can start a prairie fire!
"Your Majesty, Grand Tutor Qi is at the door requesting an audience with Your Majesty."
Zhang Ananda's thin figure hurried in from the entrance of Liangyi Hall. He bent his waist slightly, his expression full of respect, and spoke softly.
Li Chengqian was originally gazing intently at Su Zhi's belly, which had not yet shown any signs of pregnancy. Upon hearing the report, his face instantly lit up with a high-spirited look.
He said loudly, "Let Master Qi come in."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhang Ananda received the order and quietly retreated.
Mr. Qi's calm figure stepped into the Liangyi Hall.
He glanced around and saw Su Zhi was also in the hall. He immediately stopped and bowed respectfully.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to the Empress."
Su Zhi nodded slightly and responded with a gentle nod.
Li Chengqian waved his hand casually and was about to call him "Lao Qi" affectionately as usual, but when the words came to his lips, they seemed to be blocked by some invisible force.
A trace of imperceptible loneliness flashed across his eyes very quickly, but it was fleeting and was quickly suppressed by him.
Then, with uncontrollable joy in his tone, he said, "Master Qi, I have good news for you! The Empress is pregnant! I'm having a child!"
When Mr. Qi heard the news, he paused noticeably, a trace of astonishment flashed across his face, and then he slowly smiled with joy.
He quickly said, "Then I would like to congratulate Your Majesty and the Queen right here!"
Su Zhi was very attentive and knew that the two seemed to have something to discuss, so she said softly and tactfully, "Since Your Majesty has government affairs to attend to, I will take my leave first."
Li Chengqian nodded tenderly and said with concern, "Then Queen, go and rest first. Don't tire yourself out. I will accompany you tonight."
Su Zhi responded softly, then walked out of the hall slowly with light lotus steps.
Mr. Qi looked at the smile that still lingered on Li Chengqian's face, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said with a hint of emotion: "It's been a long time since I've seen Your Majesty so cheerful."
Li Chengqian smiled at Mr. Qi with satisfaction, his eyes immediately becoming firm as he asked, "Master Qi, how is the plan going?"
Mr. Qi straightened his sleeves and nodded solemnly, "Everything is progressing steadily according to plan. The imperial edicts have been posted in all prefectures and counties."
"I have carefully selected numerous literate individuals to explain Your Majesty's will in detail. Now everything is ready, and we just need to start the fire."
After hearing this, Li Chengqian's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down.
He looked at Mr. Qi with a determined look and said in a deep voice, "A single spark can start a prairie fire!"
The voice echoed in the Liangyi Palace for a long time.
……
In front of the gates of various prefectures and counties, people gathered under the imperial edict like a tide, shoulder to shoulder, each with their heads raised, their eyes fixed on the words on the imperial edict.
The literate person stood in the center of the crowd, interpreting the contents of the new policy word by word in a clear voice. As the people-friendly measures were explained, bursts of exclamations and cheers broke out from the crowd from time to time.
"Your Majesty's policy is truly a good one! Taxing the land instead of the head of the population."
A country man shouted excitedly, his face filled with irrepressible joy.
"My family only has two acres of land, but the tax is collected from four people! According to Your Majesty's instructions, I only need to pay taxes on two acres of land from now on. This is really great news!"
"This new policy really takes the common people into consideration! It's reduced so much tax, and we can finally have hope for the future!"
An old man was so excited that his beard trembled slightly, and tears flashed in his cloudy eyes.
"That's right, our Majesty is truly a wise and enlightened ruler."
The young man next to him also echoed, his eyes full of anticipation.
Just as everyone was immersed in the heated discussion about the new policy, someone shouted loudly: "Do you know that those noble families are actually trying to rebel and harm our Majesty?"
The sound was like a thunderclap. The crowd was silent for a moment before they started to explode.
"What? How dare the noble family be so rebellious!" "The emperor treats them well, why would they rebel?"
Angry questioning came one after another, and the people's faces were full of astonishment and confusion.
"Why are these noble families rebelling?" someone in the crowd asked loudly.
Seeing this, those who could read patiently explained, "That's because His Majesty wants to make decisions for us common people, which touches upon the interests of those aristocratic families and corrupt officials!"
"As you all know, these noble families have been committing crimes in the local area, seizing our land and leaving many of our people homeless."
"They also secretly raised prices, hoarded food, and then sold it at a high price during famine years. Countless villagers starved to death because they couldn't afford to buy food."
"Moreover, they colluded with corrupt officials to manipulate the imperial examinations, preventing truly talented young men from humble backgrounds from becoming officials. This allowed them to control government affairs and continue to oppress us."
"Take the Taiyuan Wang family, which Your Majesty eliminated, for example. Our children were used as spittoons and toilet paper by these aristocratic families!"
"The Cui family of Qinghe colluded with Tubo and intercepted our army's military reports, causing the defense of Songzhou to be lax and nearly leading to its loss."
"But the villages outside Songzhou City have all fallen under the slaughter of the Tibetan cavalry!"
"Do they take the lives of us civilians as their own?"
"In their eyes, the lives of poor people like us are not worth as much as a blade of grass in their house!"
These words immediately made the people furious!
"These noble families deserve to die!"
"Whoever dares to go against His Majesty! I, Old Three, will not forgive him!"
"I am but a common man! How dare I spill blood for your majesty!"
"Your Majesty, kill the nobles! Well done!"
A middle-aged man raised the sickle in his hand high.
"Yes! Good kill! Not killing is not enough to appease the people's anger!"
"And now they dare to oppose His Majesty! They are courting death!"
"Let's go, I want to go to the front line and fight against the dogs of the aristocratic families!"
"Beat the aristocratic dog!"
"That's right! Whoever dares to go against His Majesty! We will not forgive him!"
The people responded one after another, and their anger was like a surging wave.
"Fellow villagers! You may not know this yet! Your Majesty's new policies have been implemented throughout the entire Hanxi Shaanxi Province!"
"Life is booming now! Every family has enough food and new clothes to wear, and we don't have to endure winter anymore!"
"No need to be bullied by those corrupt officials and aristocratic families anymore!"
"Your Majesty, for those corrupt officials who oppress the people, there is only one word for them: Kill!"
"If it weren't for the cheap anthracite that His Majesty sold us in winter, many of us wouldn't have survived the winter!"
A person who had been to Shaanxi Road said loudly.
"As for the rebellious armies of the noble families, it will naturally be the imperial army that will deal with them!"
"But these chaotic soldiers are all children of poor people like us!"
"Your Majesty wants all the villagers to find a way to contact their children who have been conscripted and are serving in the army!"
"Let them mend their ways and return to the right path! Don't let the noble families use them! Your Majesty will forgive them for what happened. They are still your good soldiers!"
Hearing these words, many people whose families had male members serving in the army blushed.
They thought that if their son rebelled against such an emperor who cared about the people, how would they have the face to face their ancestors in the future!
Look at how many corrupt officials have disappeared since Your Majesty came to power!
When dysentery was rampant in the summer, His Majesty sent people to distribute medicine everywhere to treat it; in the winter, anthracite solved the urgent needs of countless people.
If Your Majesty did not care about the people, how could he waste huge amounts of manpower and resources to do these thankless tasks!
Regardless of whether these policies have been implemented here, the anthracite coal provided for one winter alone makes these simple people grateful.
"Let's go! If you have children in the military, go contact them!"
"Those who don't have children at home should go to the government office together!"
"Your Majesty has said it! Where new policies are not being implemented, those officials are all dogs! We can kill them at will!"
Someone raised his arms and shouted.
"Come on, folks! By His Majesty's order! Let's go and beat the dog!"
Hearing these words, the people became outraged.
Many people raised their fists high, shouting excitedly, "By His Majesty's order! Dog-beating officer!"
"Dog-beating officer!"
"We also want to live a good life like the one in Shaanxi Province!"
The earth-shaking shouts seemed to completely dispel all the injustice and darkness in the world.