His Majesty’s decree is very simple.
He supported Xu Qingnian unconditionally.
He even transferred 30,000 men from the Divine Machine Battalion and the Kirin Army, with Xu Qingnian temporarily in charge of the army.
This is a great favour.
What does an emperor care most about? It was the power of the army.
Xu Qingnian had to behead more than 300 people to purge the merchants of Wei, which was indeed too much.
But to her surprise, the empress did not come out to round things up this time, and even supported Xu Qingnian unconditionally by granting her military power.
This is how much she thinks of Xu Qingnian.
At this moment, many powerful people in Great Wei suddenly realised something.
Everyone thought that Xu Qingnian did not have any background, and even if he did, it was only the group of State Dukes, but the relationship between this group and Xu Qingnian was not that good, and to put it in a bad way, it was not strong at all.
There were no interests tied up in any way.
The military officials will help Xu Qingnian in small matters, but in big matters, these military officials will also weigh in, after all, their own interests are the most important, where are the saints in this world?
The world is not full of saints, but there are old foxes in the court.
The government has been curious as to why Xu Qingnian has dared to make such a mess, to do whatever he wants to do, to do whatever he wants to do, to make a scene at the Ministry of Justice, to behead the county king, and now to move against these merchants.
In the smallest sense, many people’s interests are affected and many things are involved.
On a larger scale, these merchants represent foreigners from various countries, which could really cause some local wars.
What does Xu Qingnian have to go on?
What exactly is he relying on?
At this moment, they understood completely.
The person behind Xu Qingnian was the empress.
Why did Xu Qingnian dare to be arrogant? Because the Empress of Wei supported Xu Qingnian and even dared to hand over military power to Xu Qingnian.
It would not be too much to kill a prince, let alone a county prince.
Outside the Ministry of Justice.
As His Majesty’s decree came, Xu Qingnian did not have any expression on his face, instead he looked at the King of West China.
Zhen Xi Wang’s face was ugly, and his gaze was slightly gloomy.
The empress’s decree was clearly to support Xu Qingnian, and to the end.
Pfft!
Poof!
Poof!
Several more heads fell to the ground.
King Zhen Xi’s face was gloomy, he knew that the Empress supported Xu Qingnian unconditionally and that he could not save the day.
But if Xu Qingnian was allowed to kill like this, everyone would not be able to afford the loss.
This group of merchants meant a lot to them, and if Xu Qingnian ended them all in one pot, they would really get into big trouble.
But if they played hardball with Xu Qingnian, Xu Qingnian would not agree at all.
Thinking of this, King Zhen Xi could not help but take a deep breath as he looked towards Xu Qingnian, his tone much gentler.
“Lord Xu, these merchants are indeed extremely guilty, but in the end they are just blackmailing people for money, this is not a big deal, if we really kill them, we will get into big trouble.”
“How about this, the king can make the decision, the money they blackmailed, the king let them pay back ten times, and at the same time another ten times the fine to replenish the treasury, what do you think?”
The King of Zhenxi still wanted to save them down, hoping Xu Qingnian would stop there.
“Your Majesty!”
“The Ministry of Punishment, is not a place to bargain.”
Xu Qingnian gave his reply, very coldly.
Are you kidding, these merchants, killing one of them is a few million taels of silver, and fining them ten times? What do I need this money for? Wouldn’t it smell good to just raid the family?
“Lord Xu, if you do this, it will only lead to war, and if all these merchants are killed, who will dare to do business in Wei in the future?”
The King of Zhenxi said reluctantly.
“Your Majesty, what does it matter to me whether they do business in Great Wei or not? Furthermore, what good does it do to Great Wei if they don’t pay taxes and do business in Great Wei? I might as well let the people do business.”
“At least it will also increase tax revenue and benefit Great Wei. Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I beg you to sit aside and stop disturbing this official in his work.”
Xu Qingnian was completely fagged out.
Since he had decided to kill, he had to kill this bunch of Fan merchants in fear.
As for whether these merchants would do business in Wei in the future? Xu Qingnian did not panic at all.
The reason is that there is no shortage of businessmen in the Great Wei Dynasty.
Merchants are profit-seekers.
If there was a profit of two hundred percent, the merchants would not even be afraid to die, not to mention that their profit in Great Wei was more than two hundred percent.
In fact, Xu Qingnian had investigated these merchants and found that they mainly offered three kinds of things.
Jade, precious medicine and gourmet food.
All these things had good effects. For example, there was a kind of blood jade that martial artists could wear to nourish their qi and blood, although the effect was not very great, but if they wore it for ten or twenty years, the effect would be very good.
The powerful and noble people in the capital are very fond of this kind of thing, while some cheap blood jades, which the people can also afford, are not as effective as the top ones, but they are still somewhat beneficial, as they can at least enhance a little bit of blood energy and do not move around and get sick.
The price is not expensive either. Normally, one can buy it for thirty or forty taels of silver, and these merchants can buy it for ten taels of silver, which is about twenty taels of silver, including the transportation fee.
If you sell them for thirty or forty, the profit is fifty or ten percent, which is indeed considerable.
At the beginning, these merchants did trade in this way, and everyone made a good profit. Later, some people, for the sake of profit, could not lower the price, so they took second-rate jade, or fake jade, to cheat people.
The people were not stupid and would not buy fake jade.
The people are not stupid, they won’t buy the fake stuff. The traders who cheat people make a lot of money, and those who don’t cheat people have a hard time.
In the end, we all do this together, a typical ‘bad money expelling good money’ phenomenon.
The market will be regulated.
The people will be able to buy with confidence and the merchants will be able to make money, but the taxes will have to be paid honestly.
Once this happens, it will be a very good thing for the Great Wei.
Therefore, Xu Qingnian did not listen to a single word of what the King of Western China said. It would be better to let them sit at home and eat and drink honestly.
At least they won’t bring any burden to the Great Wei.
At this moment.
One by one, heads fell to the ground, and with each one, King Zhen Xi’s face became more and more ugly.
He sat there, his heart furious.
These merchants, with whom they had great collusion, gave them an unknown amount of money and silver every year.
Now that they had all been killed, the impact on them was enormous.
To put it mildly, tens of millions of taels of silver per year would be lost.
To put it in a bigger way, it would affect their future.
It was precisely because of this that he had come here on purpose, even going so far as to risk going to the capital, but what he hadn’t expected was that he still hadn’t been able to stop it.
He even felt, inexplicably, that Xu Qingnian had known he would come, and had deliberately killed these merchants in front of him.
Hate! What a hateful thing! The King of Zhenxi clenched his fists.
But soon, he exhaled a long breath.
“Xu Qingnian! Do you really think you have the victory in your hands? You have no idea what kind of trouble you’ve gotten yourself into.”
King Zhen Xi muttered to himself in his heart, and he could only vent the anger in his heart in this way now.
“Originally, we had to wait three years for the great event, but now you have killed all these Fan merchants, you are forcing us to have to rebel.”
The King of Zhenxi lamented, in his eyes, he actually really believed that stopping Xu Qingnian was for his own good, for the good of Great Wei.
The va*sal kings have long had other ideas, but everyone felt that the time was not ripe, such as money, to make a little more money and wait until their wings were full before starting a rebellion.
The merchants in the capital account for about 20% of their income, and if they lose this 20%, their plans will have to be delayed for a year or even two.
I don’t know how many va*sal kings are now very upset, they are afraid that the night will be too long and they are eager to rebel sooner.
Nowadays, the idea is to strike within three years, and not to delay for five years at the latest. Everyone agrees with this, after all, they have waited for such a long time, so what can they do if they wait for another three to five years?
The reason for this is to earn more silver and taels to train the army and fatten themselves up, so that when the time comes to fight for the division of the Great Wei, they will have more strength.
But what they didn’t expect was that Xu Qingnian would ruin their plans and move the piece of fat they cared most about.
If this happens, how can everyone not be angry? Would they dare to continue to delay?
This matter would probably become a fuse, and once it ignited, it would be a big deal.
Therefore, he was confident that he would be able to take revenge for today’s incident soon.
Xu Qingnian, Xu Qingnian.
When this king enters the capital, I will wipe my a*s with your head.
The King of Zhenxi roared in his heart.
And finally, half an hour later, the execution was over.
Three hundred and ninety-five corpses were covered with white cloth, and even so, the images were extremely shocking.
But the people were not frightened or intimidated, all they felt was pain and pleasure.
All the big leaders of the merchants had been beheaded.
The rest of the merchants were already stunned, they were not as good as the big merchants, but they were not as bad, they could only say that these three hundred and ninety-five people were the top of the group.
“Pa*s on the other merchants.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, and in a flash, 400 to 500 people were escorted up, among them a group of merchants who had long since fainted from fear.
They were then woken up by the officials of the Ministry of Punishment and continued to be tortured.
“My lord, we know that we are wrong, my lord, we will never dare to do it again.”
“My lord, forgive me, my lord, I have an old man and a young man under me, I beg you to spare my life.”
“My lord, I am willing to take out all my family’s belongings and pay compensation to the people, I hope your lordship will spare my life.”
They shouted loudly, not even needing Xu Qingnian to ask, one by one they took the initiative to shout that they would take out all their family a*sets and offer them to Xu Qingnian, hoping that Xu Qingnian would let them live.
“Silence!”
Xu Qingnian slapped the wood of the hall and looked coldly at the merchants.
The crowd instantly fell silent, and did not dare to say anything else.
At that moment, Xu Qingnian continued to speak.
“You have done a lot of evil in the Great Wei, and according to the style of this official, today you will have your heads on the ground.”
“But in the light of the goodness of God and the fact that you may have been compelled by others, it is not impossible for this official to forgive your death.”
“Only, in order to prevent this from happening again, this official has set down three rules, if you agree, your death sentence will be forgiven today, if not, then you will go to the Yellow Springs with them.”
Xu Qingnian spoke up, killing to this extent was enough, close to four hundred lives, this was no longer a demonstration of authority, this was killing madness.
If the killing continued, it was estimated that His Majesty would really have to step in to stop it, so when it was time to stop, it was time to stop.
However, once these words were said, the King of Zhenxi was somewhat speechless.
The gods have goodness in their lives? How dare you kill four hundred people and then say that?
That was a good deed.
“My lord, we are willing, we are willing.”
“My lord, we promise, we promise, as long as you let us live, we promise everything.”
“Yes, yes, my lord, we promise.”
After hearing Xu Qingnian’s words, the merchants replied directly that they would definitely agree.
How could they not agree? Isn’t that really wrong in the head?
Xu Qingnian’s slash was really cruel, killing 400 merchants, how could they have the guts to bargain with Xu Qingnian now? To put it bluntly, Xu Qingnian wanted to punish them with all their belongings, as long as they were allowed to live.
They were all willing to do so.
“Don’t rush yet, listen to the rules before you do.”
Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, making the crowd quiet, and then continued to speak.
“Firstly, from now on, no more cheating, cheating, forced buying and selling, you must obey the laws of Great Wei, once you make a mistake, the crime will be aggravated, the lighter the crime, the heavier the punishment will be beheading.”
Xu Qingnian stated the first rule.
At once, the merchants nodded their heads, they had no objection to this rule.
And the people nodded their heads.
“Secondly, from now on, all of you merchants will pay 40% of the tax, and at the same time, in order to punish you, you will have to pay three years of tax, but considering your situation now, you only need to pay 30%, can you?”
Xu Qingnian said the second rule.
“We are willing, we are willing.”
“What your Excellency says, we all agree.”
“Yes, yes.”
The foreign merchants were now scared silly, not to mention the forty percent, ten percent would do, let’s save our lives first.
But at this very moment, the King of Western Town could not sit still.
Thirty percent of the tax would be paid back? And he had to pay back three years’ worth of taxes? Wasn’t this equivalent to giving Xu Qingnian all of last year’s income?
This was fine, it was just a fine, so it was just one less year of income, but Xu Qingnian had to pay 40% of the tax!
Forty percent! What kind of concept is that?
What a concept! Ordinary Wei merchants are only taxed at 25%, but if they are taxed at 40%, the advantage of these merchants will be completely lost.
In that case, how could they have any silver to hand over to them?
This is not touching their interests anymore, it is a direct attempt to bring them to an end.
So this was absolutely impossible.
“Xu Qingnian.”
“The taxation of the merchants is a decree from the previous emperor to show the prestige of our country, if these merchants are made to pay the tax, then won’t Great Wei be faithless? How would the foreigners in the world laugh at Wei? This is not acceptable!”
The King of Zhenxi spoke directly to stop Xu Qingnian from making this statement.
These merchants were already scared silly, but he was not. If this rule was established, they would not lose millions or tens of millions of taels.
In the long run, it would be a great loss.
This would never do!
“Your Majesty.”
“This official asks you one last question, is this official hearing the case today, or is the king hearing the case?”
Xu Qingnian looked straight at King Zhenxi and said in an icy tone.
“Xu Qingnian, you should not go too far, this matter affects the national prestige of Great Wei.”
“But what you are doing now is an insult to Great Wei. If you go back on your words and have no credibility, who will dare to submit to Great Wei in the future?”
The King of Zhenxi did not care about Xu Qingnian, he had to argue his case on this matter.
“The fact that the ancestors of the previous emperors exempted the merchants from taxation is a sign of the emperor’s grace and generosity.
“And these merchants are doing wrong and cheating in Wei, if the late emperor were alive and saw this scene, wouldn’t he be chilled?”
Xu Qingnian said coldly.
“In short, it cannot be so, it must be decided by His Majesty’s court, what you say is useless!”
The King of Zhenxi simply ignored Xu Qingnian, he just wouldn’t allow Xu Qingnian to make this rule.
“Fine! Your Majesty is right.”
“Someone, pa*s on this official’s order, all officers of the Ministry of Penalty, all officers of the Ministry of War, the Qilin Army and the Divine Machine Battalion, 30,000 elite soldiers each, enter the capital to arrest the Fan merchants.”
“All the merchants will be arrested and beheaded in front of the King of Western China!”
“Gentlemen, I had already decided to let you go, but it is the King of Zhenxi who is unwilling to let you go, so you can’t blame me for that.”
Xu Qingnian ordered directly.
Stop me, right? Fine, then kill all the merchants.
Will there be innocent people among them?
There must be.
But so what? Blame it on the King of the West, not on yourself.
Sure enough, the order came down.
The officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Punishment spoke up.
“Respectfully, I obey Your Excellency’s order.”
After saying this, the crowd directly began to mobilise, they were not playing around, Xu Qingnian had given the order and they had to carry it out.
If the sky fell, it would be Xu Qingnian who would resist, it had nothing to do with them.
“Xu Qingnian!”
“You’ve gone too far!”
The King of Zhenxi was a little impotent and furious, he did not expect Xu Qingnian to be so cheap, he would smash the plates if he did not comply with his wishes.
If they killed all the merchants, it would be a worse loss for them.
And Xu Qingnian didn’t bother to pay attention to the King of West China, if you stop me, I will kill all of them.
You don’t think I wouldn’t dare, do you?
What can I do if I really kill them all? If you are not a fan, you will be able to get a lot of money from the treasury.
As for the flood of money that will follow, Xu Qingnian doesn’t care at all.
If these foreigners were really willing to go to war with Great Wei for their people, then Xu Qingnian would have nothing to say.
“Lord Xu, we promise, don’t listen to Zhen Xi Wang’s nonsense, we promise, we promise.”
“Lord Xu, 40% tax levy and 30% back tax, we all agree, King of Zhenxi, why are you suffering?”
“King Zhenxi, who are you to decide for us? We fully agree, Lord Xu, we are definitely not agreeing out of fear of death, we are agreeing with all our hearts.”
“Yes, Lord Xu, say one thing, Wei has been too good to us over the years, we want to do our part for Wei too.”
“Lord Xu, my brother is right, we have eaten and drunk well in Great Wei all these years and earned silver, not to mention that we can’t bear to not pay taxes.”
“Yes, yes, Lord Xu, to be honest we have thought about paying the tax before, but we never knew how to ask, now that you have asked, we are especially happy, we are very happy to pay the tax.”
But as Xu Qingnian gave the order, the merchants were the first to scream.
The merchants were the first to shout, they really didn’t know why the King of Western Town was so fond of meddling?
What does it matter to him? What’s wrong with you? We want to live now and pay our taxes.
To put it bluntly, although we don’t usually pay taxes, we don’t pay a lot of F**king protection money, do we? What’s the difference between these silver taels and taxes?
There’s no difference at all, so why not give it to the Great Wei?
The voice of the foreign merchant rang out, and Xu Qingnian held out his hand, stopping the officials from moving.
“Don’t say these words to this official, you have to speak to the King of Zhenxi.”
At these words, the King of Zhenxi’s face turned pale.
And the Fan merchants couldn’t help but break into curses.
“Your Majesty, please have pity on us, we are just doing business, we really don’t want to lose our lives here, you have eaten a lot of benefits from us over the years, it’s almost time!”
“Your Majesty, just mind your own business, we really don’t need your help.”
“Your Majesty, there is no problem at all with this tax, please, don’t help us, we don’t want your help.”
The foreign merchants cried out.
In their eyes, King Zhenxi was not here to help them at all, he was here to harm them.
In the face of the merchants’ accusations, King Zhenxi was so angry that he vomited blood.
Xu Qingnian’s trick was perfect, almost flawless.
First, he killed the merchants to create a threat, and then lured them into agreeing to pay the tax, and if anyone came forward to stop it, Xu Qingnian simply smashed the plate and killed them all to make an example of them.
The reason is that Xu Qingnian dared to kill even the county king after the previous incidents, so they really believe that Xu Qingnian would dare to kill all the merchants.
Especially when Xu Qingnian had killed 400 people, it had planted a seed in almost everyone’s heart, the seed of a madman.
Who would dare to bet on whether Xu Qingnian would go crazy?
If they won, that was fine.
If they lost, their lives would be lost.
Naturally, these fan chambers supported Xu Qingnian unconditionally.
This move was really an easy way in and out.
Thinking of this, King Zhen Xi took a deep breath as he got up and came to Xu Qingnian’s side, almost in a very gentle tone, suppressing the endless anger in his heart.
“Xu Qingnian.”
“Calm down for a moment and listen to this king.”
“This matter, it really has a great impact, this king can guarantee that even your killing of the Huai Ping County King is far less troublesome than this matter, not just for you, but even for Great Wei, for His Majesty.”
“In this way, half of their family a*sets will be forfeited as punishment, and when this matter is over, the king will have a proper talk with you.”
“Lord Xu, you are a wise man, sometimes you take what you can get, between you and me, there is no great grudge, perhaps we can become friends.”
“Also, these Fan merchants have not really offended you, there is no need to make such a fuss, they are submissive now because they are afraid of the sword in your hand.”
“But if once they come around, even if they promise to pay the tax, the king can guarantee that they won’t be that pained.”
“Xu Qingnian, you should think more clearly, you don’t need to offend so many people because of these people.”
The King of Zhenxi pressed his voice as he said so in front of Xu Qingnian.
At this point in time, he knew that if he was still so tough, he was afraid that he would bring the matter to an unbearable situation.
He was the King of Zhenxi, a va*sal king, and he knew what was right and what was wrong.
As long as there is no taxation, it does not matter if all the family’s a*sets are confiscated, the big deal is to start all over again.
As for cheating, don’t do it for the time being, or if you want to be honest before Xu Qingnian is screwed out of power, you can still make money.
But once the tax is levied, then it will be absolutely impossible for these Fan merchants to hand over their silver to them again, after all, the Great Wei levies 40% of the tax.
The 60% profit, after deducting the various costs, would not amount to much.
What about the money they had to pay? The merchants were unwilling to do so.
If their a*sets were confiscated, they would just be hit with a stick, but if a tax was imposed, it would break their bones.
So he doesn’t want Xu Qingnian to go on, it’s almost time to stop at this point.
If Xu Qingnian is willing to stop, then the matter will end here and he won’t say anything more.
Of course later on when he killed himself in the capital, he would still have to wipe Xu Qingnian’s head, this was his principle of being a man, he would do what he said.
As for being friends? A fox friend is also a friend.
Unfortunately.
How could Xu Qingnian not know what he was thinking?
What he had done today had already affected the interests of this group of people.
So what Zhen Xi Wang said about sparing himself? Or even be friends with himself?
Is this possible?
Even if the King of Zhenxi agrees, will the King of Huaining agree? Will the other clan kings agree?
So this is already a deadly feud.
At this point, to agree to a reconciliation? He is not in over his head.
But what the King of Zhenxi said made Xu Qingnian feel even more disgusted.
At this moment, all the people watched as the King of Zhenxi came in front of Xu Qingnian, not knowing what they were whispering about.
For a moment, the people were somewhat inexplicably panicked, as they were afraid that Xu Qingnian was being threatened and that Xu Qingnian had been persuaded by the King of Zhenxi.
They supported Xu Qingnian no matter what, as long as Xu Qingnian was doing it for the people.
This group of merchants had done wrong in Wei, and Xu Qingnian punished them severely, and the people were excited and happy to see that this was for the people.
As for the increase in tax revenue, they even applauded it.
After all, if these merchants did not pay taxes, they would be eating and drinking for nothing, but now Xu Qingnian ordered them to pay 40% of the tax, so they were naturally satisfied.
Although the silver was not given to them, it was given to the treasury, and when the treasury had money, it would naturally benefit the people of Great Wei.
This was a truth that everyone still understood.
Outside the Hall of the Ministry of Punishment.
Xu Qingnian felt the people’s gazes as he looked again at King Zhenxi and said in an extremely calm tone.
“Your Majesty.”
“Mister Xu respects your status, but don’t say what you said just now a second time, Your Majesty.”
“Mister Xu is punishing these merchants today because of the people, in Mister Xu’s heart, Mister Xu is a subject of Great Wei, then Mister Xu will definitely protect each and every one of the people.”
“Whether it is one person, or a hundred, or ten thousand, as long as they are the people of Great Wei and have been wronged, Xu Mou will definitely stand up for them.”
“Your Majesty, you said, don’t make too much of a stalemate over these people.”
“I will solemnly tell Your Majesty today, and I will also be considered as telling the people of the world.”
“In Xu Mou’s heart, the people are more important than Zen Mountain.”
Xu Qingnian said incomparably serious, he was not suddenly emotional, nor was he pretending to be, but rather he was indicating his state of mind.
He knew that with the fall of His Majesty’s decree just now, everyone in the world would think that he, Xu Qingnian, could be so arrogant and act without fear of power because there was a female emperor standing behind him.
But they all thought wrongly.
The reason why he, Xu Qingnian, dared to act so arrogantly and defy power, whether he was a great scholar, a minister, a county king, etc., it was not because of the empress that he dared to do so.
It was the people.
The people of the world.
With so many things happening, Xu Qingnian gradually understood a lot of truths.
Those who win the hearts of the people will win the world.
Emperors need to win the hearts of the people.
Officials, too, need to win the hearts of the people.
If you do not win the hearts of the people, everything will not go smoothly.
If you win the hearts of the people, everything will go as planned.
Xu Qingnian’s words were not impa*sioned, and he gave people the impression that he was just explaining the truth.
However, to the people’s ears, these words were different.
There was no emotion, no blood, but these were the words from Xu Qingnian’s heart, and the people understood them.
It was simple and clear, but also the truth.
At this moment, Zhen Xi Wang’s face was ugly to the extreme. He had humbled himself to this extent, but he did not expect Xu Qingnian to still not give him half face.
Moreover, he directly opened up his words and used the people’s intention to attack himself.
How could he not be annoyed?
At this moment, Zhen Xi Wang did not pretend anymore, and since Xu Qingnian had no intention of talking at all, Zhen Xi Wang did not even talk nonsense and directly opened his mouth to sneer.
“Xu Qingnian, you are blatantly saying that you are for the people, but this king would like to ask, is that matter of yours really for the people?”
“You disliked the great scholars and said that you were seeking justice for the people, but the king knew that your subordinates had committed the murder first, and although you kindly apologised to Yan Ru, but murder is murder and it is normal for Yan Ru to refuse, but you used your talent to humiliate the great scholars of Wei, is this what you said for the people?”
“You made a scene at the Ministry of Punishment, saying that you were seeking justice for your subordinates and that you thought the Ministry was unfair? But the King also knows that when you joined the Ministry of Punishment, Minister Zhang Jing was worried that you were new to the Ministry and did not know what to do, so he deliberately let you do nothing for some days to sharpen your patience, but you used the issue to play on the issue and attacked the officials of the Great Wei, is this what you say is for the people?”
“You said that the King of Huaiping had embezzled the relief money, but I also know that the King of Huaiping had a grudge against you before, and he used his power to oppress you in front of the great scholar Chen Xin, so you lost face. For the sake of the people?”
“Xu Qingnian!”
“The king wants to ask you, the treasurer of the Ministry of Justice’s case library, when he tortured your subordinate Zhou Nan, you were furious? Why were you so biased when your subordinate Yang Hu and Yang Bao a*saulted the scholars?”
“You said that the King of Huai Ping had killed countless people and treated human lives as if they were wastes, but today you beheaded 400 merchants, who, despite their evil deeds, did not deserve death.
“You say that you are for the people, but what you do is all for yourself.”
“Today, if you do not tell me the reason, the King will not let you go.”
“You can send the Qilin Army and the Divine Machine Battalion to subdue the King.”
“But this king can guarantee that you will not live more than seven days.”
The King of Zhenxi was completely unconcealed at this moment, and he questioned Xu Qingnian about all sorts of things with every word.
Knowing a lot of things, knowing a lot of things, he told Xu Qingnian everything he had done over this period of time.
He didn’t even care about the empress anymore, and his last words were a blatant threat.
If you dare to touch me, the clan king will commit a crime.
As a matter of fact, once this was said, the faces of the three Shang Shu all changed. As Shang Shu of the six ministries, how could they not hear what the King of Zhen Xi meant by this?
At this moment, the people did not know what to say, they naturally believed Xu Qingnian, but it was just that the King of Zhenxi was so angry, how could they, as commoners, possibly fight with the king?
And in the face of Zhen Xi Wang’s rebuke.
Xu Qingnian did not change colour in the slightest, instead he said incomparably calmly.
“To rebuke a great scholar in anger, Xu was indeed angry at first because of a few of his subordinates, there is no doubt about that.”
“But on the very day of the South Yu House Banquet, there was a woman who, when she knelt before Mister Xu with her children, cried loudly and tore her heart out that her husband had been taken to prison and would most likely be sent a thousand miles away.”
“At that moment, Xu was speaking out for the people.”
“It is also true that Xu was angry at first because of the coldness of the Ministry of Punishment, there is still no doubt about that.”
“But when Xu came to Zhou Nan’s home, Xu saw that the people in the courtyard all had a kind of resistance to Xu, Xu was a parent official, a minister of Great Wei, Xu often wondered why the people of Great Wei, would have resistance to officials.”
“It was not until I saw the tragic situation of Zhou Nan with my own eyes that I understood!”
“It turned out that the reason why the people were afraid of the officials, why they did not treat them well, was because in their eyes, the government and business colluded and the officials protected each other, they were just people at the bottom, and when they encountered injustice, they had no way to speak out or fight for it.”
“At that moment, Xu was still speaking out for the people.”
“When I beheaded the County King in anger, Xu Mou still did so out of anger in his heart. The King was right, the Huai Ping County King did oppress me with his power, and Xu Mou did hold a grudge against the Huai Ping County King.”
“But when I saw with my own eyes what was written on the paper and pen with a few ink marks and a few words, I thought about it for a day, and the eight words, “One million hungry corpses, one son for another,” kept me awake for several nights.
“At that moment, Xu Mou still spoke out for the people.”
Xu Qingnian slowly explained.
Yes, that was right, the Zhen Nan King was right.
These three incidents did indeed happen for a reason, and there was indeed an enmity in the first place.
But these three incidents, why did they come to a head? It was not because one really had little temper, but because of other factors.
The cries of the women.
The fear of the people.
The eclipse of the son.
In a few words, the people’s suffering could not be told, and the hurt could not be said.
“Joke.”
The King of Zhenxi shook his head as he laughed coldly.
“Xu Qingnian, you are really as clever as a tongue, why should this king believe what you say?”
“What makes what you say true? You say you have no selfishness? And who can prove it?”
The King of Zhenxi didn’t eat this at all, his meaning now was simple.
If he could not produce evidence that would convince him, you, Xu Qingnian, would not have an easy time today.
Who are you to say that your heart is for the people?
The voice rang out.
Xu Qingnian was silent.
The Shang clerks were also speechless, and all the people were speechless.
Because it was indeed impossible to produce evidence.
How could one convince the world that one was single-mindedly for the people?
Would it be useful to say so?
The people must understand.
But the King of Western China wanted Xu Qingnian to produce evidence, how could he do that?
This has already torn the face.
But at that moment.
A voice rang out.
“Lord Xu, I believe you!”
The voice was not loud, but in such a quiet situation, it was extraordinarily piercing.
In an instant, all eyes could not help but look over.
The person who spoke was an ordinary citizen, his fists clenched, his face red, his heart beating even more furiously after he felt the gazes of the crowd, a little uneasy, a little panicked, but his gaze, however, was incomparably firm, and his tone was also incomparably certain.
“I believe in Lord Xu!”
He shouted again with a stiff voice.
“Silence!”
The King of Zhenxi roared, staring viciously at the other man to shut him up.
However, the next moment, one voice after another rang out.
“I believe in Lord Xu too!”
“Yes, we all believe in Lord Xu.”
“Lord Xu is dedicated to the people, we the people see it in our eyes, he is a good official, a good official.”
“Lord Xu is a true parent official, I believe you too.”
“I support Lord Xu.”
“I believe too.”
At this moment, countless voices rang out as one after another of the people spoke up for Xu Qingnian, they shouted out that they were willing to support Xu Qingnian and also believed in his red heart.
The voices gradually grew louder and louder, and in the face of the Zhen Nan King’s angry rebuke, the people made common cause, they were fearless of the powerful and looked deadly at the Zhen Xi King.
Soon the voices grew louder and louder, and the whole of Kyoto was filled with words of support for Xu Qingnian, and the people were abuzz with voices.
“You and others! Foolish!”
King Zhenxi’s face turned white with anger, at this time, he did not expect the people surrounding him to be so biased towards Xu Qingnian.
Originally, he had already pushed Xu Qingnian to a desperate situation ah.
But unexpectedly, Xu Qingnian had defused it like this.
He was angry!
He was furious!
He was really unconvinced!
However, just then.
Xu Qingnian suddenly made a sound.
“Your Majesty.”
“You asked me earlier how to prove that Mister Xu was for the people?”
“Then today, Mister Xu will prove it to you.”
The voice was not loud.
The next moment.
Xu Qingnian slowly walked out and looked at the countless people around him.
He bowed deeply, grateful for the people’s solidarity.
Then his voice boomed.
“I am Xu Qingnian.”
“Today, in the capital of Great Wei, outside the Ministry of Punishment, Confucianism stands for speech.”
This voice was extraordinarily loud and carried throughout the entire capital of Great Wei.
And along with Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out.
At this moment, the whole of Kyoto was once again abuzz with excitement.
Xu Qingnian made a speech?
Hadn’t this just broken through to the seventh rank? How could she have made another speech?
This is too fast of an upgrade, isn’t it?
The first to be shocked was the Great Wei Palace of Literature.
Xu Qingnian had entered the seventh rank two months ago.
Now, two months later, she has made another speech? If she succeeds in making a speech, she will be a real a*set.
Before the seventh rank, it would be useless to ascend as fast as possible.
Because after the seventh rank, every rank is different from heaven and earth.
Outside the Ministry of Justice.
The voice of Xu Qingnian’s speech rang out.
“May, the people of the world be free from humiliation and injustice, have farming for the day, a full meal for the afternoon, and a peaceful bed for the night.”
“May, the officials of the world, rid of coldness, not have to listen to the words of self-loathing, those who can engage in it, those who can speak out.”
“Those who have pa*sionate blood, let their light shine.”
“Even though it is like a firefly, it still has a shimmering light.”
“After this, if there is no torch.”
“I am the only torch.”
Xu Qingnian’s words rang out.
These were his words.
May the people no longer be humiliated, no longer suffer grievances, may they be able to farm during the day, have a full meal at noon, and have a place to sleep in peace at night, and may the officials of the world, free from this environment, stop giving up on themselves, and do what they can, and what can happen with their voices.
Even a firefly has a glow in the night sky.
If so, even if there is no more light between this heaven and earth.
Xu Qingnian would like to be the only light.
This is Xu Qingnian’s words.
It is not such noble words as establishing his heart for heaven and earth, nor is it such noble words as establishing his life for the living people.
It is because he cannot do it, and it is difficult for him to do it.
What he can do is this.
This is his lifelong pursuit.
For the people.
For the people of the world.
To be the only light.
The only torch flame.
The voice falls.
In this moment, there are no clouds of mystery.
At this moment, there is no light rushing into the sky.
At this moment, there was no heaven and earth vision.
Everything seemed to be very calm.
Countless gazes throughout Great Wei fell on Xu Qingnian.
Many Confucians in the Great Wei Palace of Literature breathed a sigh of relief.
Many powerful people in Great Wei also breathed a sigh of relief.
Because there were no visions, it meant that Xu Qingnian had not entered the sixth rank.
Fortunately.
Fortunately.
However, at this very moment.
At the court of Great Wei, an incomparably terrifying bell rang out.
In an instant.
In the palace of King Huai Ning.
A cry of alarm rang out.
“It’s the Zhen Guo bell!”
The voice was filled with shock.