As Qin Ze looked at the numerous words, the clauses, and the red seal already affixed, his face visibly flushed red, and his eyes grew increasingly cold.
Mai Lirui was filled with unease, while the people had only seen the humiliating treaty document today. They did not know the specific contents, but seeing Qin Ze's face turn into rage, everyone understood that the contents of the treaty must be extremely unfair.
Silence fell over the room, broken only by the rustling sound of Qin Ze gripping the papers. He then spoke:
"Compensation of 400 million taels of silver, secured by customs duties, regular customs duties and salt taxes, to be paid off in 40 years with an annual interest rate of 5%."
“Designate an embassy district, where no one may reside, and allow all countries to station troops there. Dismantle the fortifications of major seaports and allow all countries to station troops.”
"The imperial court forbids anyone from establishing or participating in any organization 'hostile to other countries,' and violators will be executed..."
With each line read aloud, the people's anger rose a notch. Dian Wei glared with his bull-like eyes, his hand already reaching for the sword hanging at his waist.
Meanwhile, Mai Lirui and the others had completely lost their color in their faces.
They never imagined that writing these treaties would put them in such a dangerous situation today.
A flustered and disoriented Mai Lirui hurriedly interrupted, waving his hands repeatedly and saying, "It doesn't count...it doesn't count!"
"These are all drafts, they don't count!"
Qin Ze glanced at him coldly, closed the document, and said:
"It doesn't count? If I hadn't come to Nangang, it might have come true, right?"
Mai Lirui immediately said, "Then...then too..."
Before he could finish speaking, Qin Ze took a step forward and said angrily:
"Indeed, this is banditry. Your men died without cause! I think we killed too few!"
"The prisoners you're going to kill, I say they're all heroes, they have the backbone of the Yan people! Well done!"
Having said that, Qin Ze looked up at the high execution platform, and then said in a deep voice:
"Bring this villain upstairs!"
After speaking, Qin Ze took the document and walked towards the execution platform.
Dian Wei strode forward, grabbed Mai Lirui, and held him firmly in his large hand, unable to move, but Mai Lirui kept crying out:
"What are you doing?! What are you doing?!"
"Why did you take me up there?!"
Dian Wei grabbed his mouth, lifted him up and left. The foreigners kneeling on the ground dared not utter a word, and were all sweating profusely, not daring to move an inch.
As Qin Ze walked toward the execution platform, the people naturally followed him.
Upon reaching the wooden ladder, Qin Ze walked up without saying a word, his face grim. Dian Wei pinched the wriggling Mai Lirui hard and followed him onto the execution platform.
The sunlight was intense, and the wind grew stronger as they went higher. Qin Ze could hear urgent voices coming from above.
Upon reaching the last step, one sees prisoners in shackles, surrounded by a group of civilians dressed in civilian clothes.
They were using various tools to pry open the shackles.
Upon seeing Qin Ze approach, everyone stopped and turned to look at him.
"Greetings...Greetings, Your Majesty..."
Just as everyone was about to speak, Qin Ze gestured that there was no need for formalities.
At that moment, his gaze was drawn to one of the prisoners.
Even though a chubby-cheeked little girl was standing in front of her, Qin Ze recognized the person behind her at a glance.
She was none other than Jin Changge, the daughter of Prince Qing and a remnant of the Jin family, and the Princess of Yongning.
At this moment, her face was deathly pale, her eyes were tightly closed, and she was leaning limply against the little girl next to her.
"Your Majesty, you've arrived..." Qing'er, standing before Jin Changge, spoke with tears in her eyes.
Seeing Qin Ze slowly approaching with a gloomy face, Qing'er felt a mix of joy and worry, but at this moment she was filled with great fear.
The person before me is His Majesty, who fought for the people. After he went to Beiliang, he immediately wiped out the bandits in Beiliang and then went to resist the Beiku Huma, completely eradicating the threat to Beiliang.
After that, he went to Xijing to fight against the Tuyuan Kingdom, defeating them and forcing them to retreat to Tuyuan, where they dared not come to Xijing again.
After that, he led an uprising, vowing to overthrow the court, exterminate the Jin clan, and restore a bright and sunny sky to the people of this land.
This emperor, whom she had never met, had always been the person she admired most.
His Majesty intends to overthrow the Jin family and exterminate them all.
Right now, standing behind him is Miss Jin Changge from the Jin family.
Over the years, Qing'er has been working as a spy in the Jin family. She has gathered countless pieces of intelligence in the Jin mansion. The letter that Qin Ze received the night before he left the mansion to go to the palace to meet the emperor and receive the title of Prince of Zhenbei was information that she had obtained from Prince Qing.
She handed it over to her former subordinates of the Crimson Flame Army, who then delivered it to her residence.
Over the years, she had been following Jin Changge. Through their long-term daily interactions, Qing'er gradually realized that although Jin Changge was a member of the Jin family, he was different from others.
She had wondered why, even though they were from the same family, they could produce completely different people.
The Jin family sons were either ruthless and vicious, violent and tyrannical, or greedy and lustful, while Prince Qing was the most ruthless of all.
Why is it that Jin Changge could emerge from such an environment?
Qing'er had also suspected that the princess she served was a deep and calculating person who never showed her emotions, and that all of this might be a disguise.
But when she chose to take up her sword and fight those foreigners alone, Qing'er finally understood that no one would pretend to be willing to give up their life.
Why is that? How can a good person emerge from among bad people?
Just as the sun always rises in the east, and the moon waxes and wanes, these are ultimately difficult questions to answer.
The myriad things in the world are already difficult to unravel, let alone the most complex human being.
Before Jin Fengluan ascended the throne, in much earlier times, the Jin family had also devoted themselves to the Great Gan and worked tirelessly for the people.
But once the crown is placed on one's head, once power is completely controlled, everything begins to change.
It is said that a family that accumulates good deeds will surely have abundant blessings, while a family that accumulates evil deeds will surely have abundant calamities.
Qing'er could only conclude that although the Jin family was deeply sinful and could not possibly be a good family, Jin Changge possessed the last remaining conscience of the Jin family, and thus became that final blessing.
But Qing'er also clearly understood that His Majesty wanted to eradicate the corrupt and decadent Jin family. There was an irreconcilable hatred between him and the Jin family, after all, his father had died in the Jin family's conspiracy.
Now, the only conscience the Jin family has left is behind them.
All Qing'er wanted was to protect her, so that this caged bird, which had been confined for so many years, could finally let go of everything and fly into the unbound sky with a pure heart on the day when the clear blue sky was about to return.
So she looked at Qin Ze, who had walked up to her, with teary eyes and a face full of fear.
Qin Ze frowned as he looked at Qing'er, whose face was streaked with tears, and asked in a deep voice:
"Is she... already dead?"
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