Chapter 222: Gu Changxiao Killing His Way Through Chang’an
Yan Shiyi almost choked on the tomato juice: “Do you dare to say that in front of the officials at the refugee camp?”
Jinsui chuckled: “Why wouldn’t I dare? You should ask them first if they dare to listen. Do they dare to refute it?”
Yan Shiyi pondered for a moment and nodded: “Indeed, you dare to say it, but no one dares to listen! I pity His Majesty a little.”
This time, it was Jinsui’s turn to be speechless: “Pity His Majesty for what?”
Yan Shiyi muttered softly: “For marrying such a fierce wife…”
Jinsui leaned forward: “What did you say?”
Yan Shiyi quickly changed his tune: “I didn’t say anything.”
He was also the type who, even if he heard it, wouldn’t dare to refute.
“I truly admire you. How did you think of governing the officials in Chang’an like this? Look at the new arrivals; they’ve heard about the officials at the refugee camp and are all very well-behaved.”
Jinsui smiled: “What’s so difficult about that? If we’re being honest, Huo Imperial Guards has the most experience. I haven’t even used the tactics I used on him on these officials.
They weren’t starved or frozen at the refugee camp, yet they were still reluctant. Honestly, if all officials from Chang’an were like this, they might as well not come. We’ll hold the Imperial Examination in our border city and promote new officials.”
Despite the complaints, with the officials from the Six Ministries arriving one after another, Jinsui still had to arrange for them.
By October, Gu Changxiao had gone too far. He claimed that since half the officials had arrived at the border city, memorials should be sent to the nearest location. Those closer to the border city were sent there, and Jinsui would approve them on his behalf before issuing directives to the officials.
This wouldn’t do at all! Jinsui felt she would be scolded to death by the censors! Moreover, she was already busy enough, and now she was being given more work!
So, she selected the highest-ranking and most capable officials from the Six Ministries to form a memorial review group. Cheng Yu became her deputy, and even Li Heng joined, mainly because Li Heng was more familiar with the situation in Yandi.
This way, the censors would have no reason to accuse her of a hen ruling the roost and interfering in state affairs. If they wanted to scold someone, they could scold the entire group. Of course, the one who should be scolded the most was their Emperor, for initiating this mess!
The border city entered a mode of intense competition and struggle in its officialdom, completely changing the slow pace of work and the tendency to shirk responsibility among Chang’an officials.
Under Miss Ling’s leadership, when local memorials arrived, their authenticity was first verified, then a meeting was held to discuss solutions. If an Imperial Commissioner needed to be dispatched, one was sent immediately.
If an Imperial Commissioner was not needed, a solution was immediately provided and an imperial edict was sent to the local authorities. Yes, Gu Changxiao had even granted Jinsui the power to write imperial edicts.
Although she, as Empress, had not yet formally married and been registered in the imperial genealogy, she held more power than any Empress in previous dynasties.
She privately said to Cheng Yu: “Do you remember when you knew I was the fake Li King and you directly told me that you would support me if I wanted to be the real Li King?”
Cheng Yu chuckled: “Of course, I remember. Those were my sincere words!”
Jinsui smiled: “Look at your Emperor. How much does he trust us? Isn’t he afraid we’ll rebel in the border city? Honestly, what is he so busy with in Chang’an?”
What was Gu Changxiao busy with? Of course, he was busy killing people!
He didn’t want to bring his killing intent back to the border city; the border city should be a pure land.
It was like home. When he returned, he would have his wedding with Suisui. The bloodshed and slaughter would all be left for Chang’an!
Therefore, he finished killing those who needed to be killed in Chang’an, as he was implementing the land reform system with an extremely strict hand.
The land reform system had little to do with minor officials and clerks, as they didn’t possess much land. Therefore, Gu Changxiao sent officials with clean backgrounds, who were not deeply involved with the gentry, to the border city in batches.
First, he let Jinsui establish the imperial court there, while he, in Chang’an, forced the powerful clans, aristocratic families, and influential figures to relinquish their land.
Gu Changxiao’s methods were too iron-blooded, giving the powerful and the gentry the impression that he had not inherited the throne from the Former Emperor, but had shattered the Jun family’s dynasty and founded a new era as a new monarch.
Simply put, the powerful figures desperately wanted to shout at him: “Your Majesty, why are you rebelling?”
Indeed, in the eyes of the powerful and the gentry, some of Gu Changxiao’s policies were practically ‘rebellion,’ overturning various policies established by the Jun family’s ancestors and shaking the foundation of the nation!
First, he changed the land tax law, no longer collecting taxes per person but per mu.
Jinsui provided a simple explanation: ‘Tanding Rumu’ and ‘Diding Heyi,’ abolishing the head tax that had been in place for thousands of years.
Collecting taxes based on the number of adult males placed immense pressure on the common people. Poor families dared not have many children, especially daughters. In some areas, the abandonment and drowning of baby girls were extremely severe.
Although women were only taxed half the amount, if a family had many daughters, they ate more, and the land produced less. Women also had less physical strength and did not contribute much to farm work. They also could not go out to work publicly. For families with poor conditions, they dared not have baby girls.
Even if a baby girl was born, if she was raised for a few years, in years of poor harvest, the girl would be sold.
On the market, human traffickers bought young girls. Ordinary girls cost only two taels of silver, and during times of disaster, they could be exchanged for a bag of grain without silver.
A cow, on the other hand, cost between ten and twenty taels. Heh, this was the true bottom level, where human lives were like grass!
However, the head tax meant nothing to the gentry; their meal expenses could cover that small amount of tax.
But they acquired land through ancestral rewards, land earned by family members with official titles, and sacrificial land, among other means. The government received very little land tax.
And the powerful even enjoyed tax exemptions, only needing to send tribute to the Emperor annually.
Gu Changxiao, with extremely strict methods, enforced the Tanding Rumu system from top to bottom. He began collecting taxes strictly with this autumn harvest.
For this reason, the royal family attempted to unite and resist. However, they dared not truly rebel because with the Hu people entering Chang’an and the Prince Yu’s faction defeated, they had no troops left.
They could only resort to moral blackmail, using tokens granted by ancestors, imperial genealogies, or clan laws, asking Gu Changxiao: “You also bear the surname Jun, and we are also descendants of the Jun family. Why do you treat us so harshly?
According to the new law, we can’t even afford to eat! Do you dare to go to the Imperial Mausoleum and tell the ancestors of the Jun family about your new tax law?”
Gu Changxiao had nothing to fear. He not only went to the Imperial Mausoleum but also held a grand autumn harvest sacrifice, proclaiming to the world that this year’s autumn grain would be collected according to the new tax!
Anyone who violated this would be beheaded!
An old imperial uncle, who didn’t even know which generation he was related to, and other members of the royal family were brought out. At the Imperial Mausoleum sacrifice, he cried his heart out, lamenting that the Jun family’s descendants were unfilial and gave no way out for the royal relatives.
Honestly, at that moment, Gu Changxiao felt a pang of sadness. Even the royal family did not support his new policies. It was no wonder the gentry and aristocratic clans were so rampant!
He was also fortunate. Fortunate to have met Jinsui, fortunate to have the Black Feather Camp, fortunate to have fish oil and gunpowder as his trump cards, and fortunate that the border city’s granaries were abundant, allowing him to implement his iron-blooded new policy.
To uproot this rotten imperial court and sow anew.
To forge a brand new Main Road of Yang Kang with blood, allowing the entire Great Xia imperial family to usher in a new era.
What he was even more fortunate about was not letting Suisui come to Chang’an. Otherwise, seeing him kill people every day, Suisui would surely be heartbroken.
And if these people knew that Suisui was his weakness, they would try to use Suisui.
Lost in thought, the imperial uncle finished his crying. Gu Changxiao looked down at him and asked: “Does Imperial Uncle not wish to implement the new policy and disobey the imperial decree?”
His voice was calm, but to the royal family members listening, it sent shivers down their spines.
But soon, they regained their confidence. In the Imperial Mausoleum, surely you wouldn’t kill members of the royal family?
Gu Changxiao did not kill, but the imperial uncle sought his own death: “If Your Majesty does not give the royal descendants a way to live, I will throw myself against the Imperial Mausoleum and accuse the ancestors in the Yellow Springs!”
Gu Changxiao pointed at the stone tablet in front of the Imperial Mausoleum: “Then Imperial Uncle, show me.”
At this point, everyone still thought they were in a tug-of-war, seeing who would back down.
The imperial uncle glanced at the royal relatives, signaling them that if he were to strike himself, they should immediately find an Imperial Physician. They understood each other and nodded at him.
Then, he declared with righteous indignation: “Ancestors, judge me!”
He threw himself against the stone tablet, blood gushing out. The royal relatives immediately began to wail and cry loudly, trying to awaken Gu Changxiao’s ‘conscience.’
As they moved to lift the old imperial uncle, they saw Gu Changxiao wave his hand. A squad of the Black Feather Camp stepped forward and surrounded them.
Gu Changxiao said in a very calm and indifferent tone: “I said, not obeying the new policy is defying the imperial decree.
And those who defy the imperial decree shall die!
If anyone wishes to die with him, step forward.”
Everyone fell silent, watching the old imperial uncle bleed more and more, his breathing growing weaker, yet no one dared to step forward.
Ultimately, the old imperial uncle died in the Imperial Mausoleum as he wished, but it did not shake Gu Changxiao’s determination to implement the land reform.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If it were missed, and the gentry were given time to grow, it would take more manpower and energy to slowly implement land reform, and there would be more unrest!
At that time, more people would die than now.
At least, no commoners died now. As for the powerful and the gentry, Gu Changxiao saw very clearly that they were the vermin of the nation; if they died, they died.
The death of the old imperial uncle made all the powerful figures in Chang’an understand that His Majesty was determined to implement the land reform.
Unless His Majesty died, they could not protect their land.
Unfortunately, Gu Changxiao was not so easily killed. No matter how many gods they prayed to in secret, how many assassination attempts they plotted, or how many peasant revolts they incited, it was all in vain.
Spreading out from Chang’an, the loyal gentry and powerful figures first pledged their loyalty, personally implemented land reform, and delivered the autumn grain tax to the imperial granaries without a single jin missing.
And there were many like the old imperial uncle who resisted, holding their imperial tokens, or tokens from the Former Emperor, and resisting tax officials entering their manors.
Then they witnessed the new Emperor’s cruel methods. The Black Feather Camp arrived with gunpowder. Anyone who organized armed resistance was executed for treason, and their families were exterminated!
Those who surrendered their weapons had their land confiscated, and their entire families were exiled to the borderlands.
Of course, not the borderlands of the border city, as that would be too lenient for them. Instead, they were exiled to Hainan or the northwestern frontier.
As a result, the Sixteen Prefectures of Yandi became a pure land. However, news of the land reform soon spread.
Yan Jiu had informed the gentry of Yandi about this in advance, so they were mentally prepared. Furthermore, the gentry of Yandi discovered that land yields were far inferior to those of merchants. Trade with the Northern Frontier, as well as maritime trade, yielded higher profits than land.
And with high-yield crops, grain prices were bound to fall. They were more inclined for labor to shift from farming to industry. Therefore, although there were still some stubborn old gentry who opposed it, most did not resort to force and successfully implemented land reform.
Yan Jiu was in Chang’an, and he witnessed Gu Changxiao implement the land reform system with iron-blooded methods throughout. This Gu Changxiao was very unfamiliar to him.
He was completely different from when he was at the border city, in front of Miss Ling.
He was decisive, overbearing, and peerlessly majestic, while also possessing great strategic vision.
He embodied the spirit of Emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han.
This made the powerful figures in Chang’an feel unfamiliar, as he was not like this at all when he was the Crown Prince.
It was hard to say whether being exiled to the border city had stripped His Majesty of a layer of skin and caused him to transform.
Or perhaps, the him at the border city was not his true self, and the current him was the one who had shed his restraints.
The one who had confined his murderous intent was Jinsui.
Yan Jiu somewhat wished that Gu Changxiao would quickly move the capital to the border city. Without Miss Ling by his side, His Majesty’s killing intent was too strong.
Not counting the number of people who died from the Hu people entering Chang’an and the defeat of Prince Yu’s faction, the implementation of land reform alone had resulted in over ten thousand deaths.
Although new policy reforms were always bloody and pushed forward with human lives, it was truly disheartening that an Emperor pushing for new policies would result in so many deaths, making him seem like a tyrant!
There were milder methods available. For example, in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yandi, if His Majesty had proposed land reform last year, at least ninety percent of the gentry would have rebelled.
But this year, ninety percent of the gentry immediately agreed.
As long as the people in Chang’an saw the development of the border city, they would, like the gentry of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yandi, realize that the future profits from land would not be as high.
Implementing land reform was a matter of benefit for generations to come, but His Majesty did not intend to do so.
Yan Jiu sighed softly. His Majesty’s task for him was the autumn tax for the Sixteen Prefectures of Yandi, which he had successfully completed.
However, His Majesty did not intend to let him return to Yanzhou first. Yan Jiu felt a bit sad in his heart. Did His Majesty still worry that he would snatch Miss Ling away at this point?
At the Northern Frontier Royal Court, His Majesty climbed the sacred mountain where Miss Ling was imprisoned with his bare hands, and the two flew out of the Royal Court.
At that moment, Yan Jiu knew very clearly that he no longer had the right to express his love for Miss Ling…
Yan Shierniang came to find him: “Big Brother, can you ask His Majesty not to let Han Xing raid houses? Every time he comes back, the smell of blood on him can’t be washed off.”
Yan Jiu asked her in a low voice: “Are you disgusted by the smell of blood?”
Shierniang said loudly: “Of course not! I’m worried about Han Xing; he’s working too hard.”
Yan Jiu felt a slight pang in his heart again. He didn’t even have the right to worry about Miss Ling. Clearly, he once had the chance.
“General Han is His Majesty’s sharpest blade, and His Majesty wants to keep him to guard Chang’an, so the house raids must be handled by him.”
Shierniang didn’t understand: “Why? His Majesty has so many generals under him.”
Yan Jiu didn’t know how to explain the Emperor’s strategy to his naive sister. Chang’an was a place of prosperity and wealth that could dazzle the eyes. If the capital were moved, and Han Xing remained, he might be corrupted by the powerful with “sugar-coated bullets.”
It’s not that Han Xing wouldn’t be, but people change. How many dragon slayers eventually became dragons.
And His Majesty ordering Han Xing to raid houses completely cut off the possibility of Han Xing colluding with the powerful. Remaining in Chang’an while holding heavy military power, Han Xing had to be a solitary minister, an upright minister.
Yan Jiu said softly: “Don’t worry! After the autumn harvest, General Han’s blade will be sheathed.”
