But now, the imperial court is keeping its word. There is no need for corvée labor. Instead, merchants will be recruited from the populace to form a team to undertake construction projects, and the court will distribute salaries according to regulations.

This is the first time since the founding of the country.

The exact time of recruitment was originally only known to the wealthy merchants of Tokyo, as they had close ties with the officials of Tokyo. However, the matter was soon leaked by the Song Dynasty's official gazette, and soon not only Tokyo, but also Jingdong Road, Jingxi Road, Hebei Road, Hedong Road, and even Shaanxi Road knew about it.

Of course, many people in other places knew about it, but they hadn't experienced it firsthand, because this was just the beginning. It started in Tokyo, and people in other places were just watching for fun, only knowing that the imperial court seemed to be "neglecting its duties" lately.

However, this was a tremendous change after all. Merchants in the Song Dynasty had a keen business sense, and after learning about this, they immediately sent people to the capital to inquire whether it was true. After it was confirmed, many merchants saw a lot of business opportunities.

The emperor's execution of all members of the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce did indeed enrage the merchants, but the good news released by the court immediately made these profit-driven merchants unable to resist praising the emperor's wisdom.

Damn it, what does it have to do with me that those idiots in Qingzhou got killed? They brought it on themselves!

However, the Qingzhou case was only the beginning of the new laws on taxation and corvée labor. Most of the merchants did not have businesses on farmland, so they were naturally not too concerned about it. They could afford to lose a little bit. But the scholar-officials and the traditional landlord class were not sitting still. The emperor was trying to cut off their source of income and make them pay for the lowly people!