Chapter 143 Wang Family Ancestral Hall This is her daughter, but not hers...
The emperor wore the reading glasses that Mo Zhe had tailored for him and read the disaster reports from various places.
Because of this wave of pollution from the gods, there are countless people who have gone crazy, gone mad, gone missing, or committed suicide.
However, there were also many people who took advantage of the natural disaster to settle personal grudges, but most local officials turned a blind eye and did not want to create any more trouble.
There were also some "madmen" who set fires everywhere, damaged granaries and salt warehouses, and even attacked government offices and released serious criminals without permission.
All those unclear accounts in the past were wiped out in an instant.
Who said that gods don’t care about mortals? After this disaster, many people can finally sleep well.
Taizu watched the emperor reviewing each book with great interest, and was surprised to find that she did not look very angry.
Family members know their own business. He doesn't think that his great-great...great-granddaughter can't see through the cunning intentions of these local officials.
"I didn't expect that the emperor is such a benevolent monarch." Taizu said jokingly.
The emperor smiled and said, "We are all ants. We should just live one day at a time. Why bother about these things?"
Tai Zu raised her eyebrows. Was she going to give up and live a life of drunkenness and debauchery in her limited days? But if that was the case, why would she approve the memorials?
Glancing at Pei Shang Gong who was standing solemnly beside him, feeling the lingering murderous atmosphere in the Purple Palace, Tai Zu closed his mouth in understanding, but his eyes became more playful.
It's fun to watch.
Agarwood was floating in the air, and the only sound in the hall was the slight sound of a brush sliding across paper. The palace servants held their breath and no one dared to make a sound. After an unknown amount of time, a report came from outside the hall.
"Wei Xianfeng is back."
The emperor dropped his pen, and ink splashed on a memorial complaining that a madman had snatched and eaten the government account books. The thick black liquid suddenly looked like blood, emitting a cold smell of rust.
"Good minister!"
As soon as the young general, whose figure was like an iron tower, walked into the hall, the emperor, who hurriedly stepped down from the throne, held his hands.
Wei Liangchen and Wei Xianfeng wanted to salute first, but they were a little overwhelmed by this handshake, but they still nodded and said, "Your Majesty, the southwest is now in the hands of Princess Changning."
As early as when the Inuyi wanted to marry the princess, the emperor sent Wei Xianfeng to the southwest on the pretext of escorting the princess to marry.
The northern border has not recovered since being conquered by the eldest princess, while the southwest is full of wolfish ambitions and keeps making small moves.
In the emperor's original plan, Wei Xianfeng was going to use this trip to take down the Quanyi tribe and ensure that there was no worry on the border, and then she would have time to rectify the administration of officials.
The appearance of Duotian Sect Master caused some deviations in the plan, but fortunately, the result was better than expected.
Princess Changning controlled the southwest, and with this qualification, Wei Xianfeng could naturally be promoted to General of Cavalry.
After receiving the "damage reports" from various places, the emperor had been waiting for her to return to Beijing.
"With good ministers around, I can do what I want." The emperor took Wei Xianfeng's hand and patted the back of her hand hard.
Wei Xianfeng was still a little hesitant before returning to Beijing. If the emperor wanted to kill corrupt officials, she would naturally be happy to do so. However, civil servants were not monsters. Could His Majesty really be so cruel?
If the emperor was just making a gesture and she took it seriously, the civil servant's pen was more ruthless than the devil and she couldn't resist it.
Now seeing the emperor being so close, Wei Xianfeng's uneasy heart finally settled down.
"These people are just trying to muddy the waters. There are too many of them. I dare not and cannot kill them, right?" The emperor ordered Pei Shanggong to hand the memorial to Wei Xianfeng. "I want them to know whether the law can hold everyone responsible."
Although Wei Xianfeng was a military general, after briefly reading the memorial, he roughly understood what these officials were thinking.
It's nothing more than the same old routine: fire dragons burning warehouses, ghost soldiers borrowing food, and fishing in troubled waters. It's a confusing account.
Wei Xianfeng said in a deep voice: "Who does your majesty want to kill?"
"No hurry." The emperor said, "I don't want my good minister to go alone."
As they were speaking, another eunuch came to report that Wannian County Magistrate and Yiyong Marquis Gu Sheng was waiting outside the palace.
The emperor smiled slightly, looked at Wei Xianfeng and said, "The second person I'm waiting for has arrived."
Wei Xianfeng heard the name sound familiar, and after a brief recollection, he said, "Could it be the Lord Gu who climbed the ladder and slew the evil god?"
"It's her."
Wei Xianfeng was certain.
Born into a family of musicians, he passed the imperial examination and became famous in one battle. Who else could be more suitable than Lord Gu to judge those parasites who took advantage of natural disasters to settle their accounts?
On the way to the capital, she often heard people talk about the wonderful deeds of this adult, and she didn't expect to meet him so soon.
The emperor quickly summoned Gu Sheng into the palace. Compared with Wei Xianfeng, this civil servant of humble origin seemed more cautious.
Before the emperor could hold her hand, she had already prostrated herself before him.
"Marquis Gu, get up quickly." The emperor pulled her up forcefully, returned to the dragon throne, and carefully explained what he wanted her and Wei Xianfeng to do.
Starting from the southwest, he would inspect the four directions on behalf of the emperor. If any official took advantage of natural disasters to commit illegal acts, he would be brought to justice on the spot regardless of his rank.
The reason why they went to the southwest first was naturally because the leader of the Duotian Sect was there, and Princess Changning was guarding the Quanyi. With them there, there would be no chaos in the southwest.
Gu Sheng was so shocked that she couldn't speak for a long time. From what the emperor said, if they didn't kill many people, she and General Wei would have no face to return.
Wei Xianfeng smiled and said, "I thought I was the only one who would take advantage of the power of others, but I didn't expect Your Majesty to do the same."
Pei Shang Gong glanced at the emperor who nodded. His Majesty had been very afraid of the leader of the Duotian Sect before, but now he accepted the word without any burden and admitted that the leader was the tiger.
Gu Sheng was not like Wei Xianfeng, a simple-minded general who had only three words in his mind: kill corrupt officials. After a little thought, he understood that the emperor wanted to rectify the administration of officials on the surface, but in fact he was eliminating the hidden danger of a counterattack by clan forces.
What kind of means can completely eliminate the aristocratic family clan?
Of course it’s murder.
Reforming the imperial examination system, promoting the poor, allowing married women to return home to fight for inheritance rights, dividing large families into small families... these and other methods can certainly undermine the power of local families, but they are too mild and too easy to backfire.
Although the concept of clan has disappeared now, as long as people are still around, it will surely revive within three to five years.
Only by making the core figures of the clan disappear from this world can we truly shape a new social form.
That's why the emperor sent out one civil and one military general respectively. The military general was a general who had fought in the southwest... This configuration was not for investigating illegal activities, but was aimed at suppressing rebellion.
The emperor is ready to incite rebellion at the local level!
Gu Sheng took a deep breath, looked into the emperor's calm eyes, bowed and said, "I will definitely fulfill your mission."
The two imperial envoys left after receiving their orders. Taizu walked out from behind the screen and looked at the emperor who was drinking tea with his head down: "Is this what you mean by not caring?"
The emperor glanced at him and asked: "Would you bother with the dead?"
Tai Zu laughed loudly, but then his face darkened again and he said calmly: "You are enjoying killing now, but I am afraid that in the future, you will not be able to sit on the throne securely."
The royal family is, after all, the largest family.
What's the difference between the emperor's drastic actions and digging his own grave?
The emperor raised his eyebrows and ordered Pei Shanggong to show Taizu two drawings, one for the improved loom and the other for firearms.
Although Taizu did not understand technology, he could see what changes these two things would bring to ordinary people.
He also saw that on the emperor's desk was the progress of Mozhe's promotion of looms and training of the Shenjiying.
"...You are crazy." Tai Zu was silent for a long time before he shook his head.
He almost suspected that his great-great...great-granddaughter was tired of living and wanted to die and be reborn as soon as possible.
Although these things are beneficial to the country, they should not be carried out simultaneously with the elimination of aristocratic families.
Everyone says that whoever wins the hearts of the people will win the world, but in reality, the base of imperial power lies in the aristocratic families and has nothing to do with the common people.
The emperor was destroying his base while strengthening the power of the common people. A farmer holding a firearm could be as powerful as a son of an aristocratic family who had practiced hard for many years.
Then who would be willing to farm the land honestly, pay taxes, and be exploited by the court?
When everyone comes to their senses, why should you, the emperor, continue to exist?
Aren't you really afraid of sending yourself to the guillotine?
Taizu shook his head and looked at the emperor with pity.
The emperor smiled slightly, but there was a hint of contempt in his eyes: "If that day really comes, wouldn't it prove that the world's situation is ultimately under my control?"
She could not participate in the creation of the Sword of God-Slaying, but the Sword of King-Slaying would be forged by her own hands.
She would become the first emperor to commit regicide.
By then, who can surpass her and deserve the title of the greatest emperor of all time?
Tai Zu was stunned, and cursed with a strange look on his face: "He is really a madman!" In order to become the first person in history, he was willing to sacrifice himself.
The emperor showed his white teeth and smiled: "Thanks to our ancestors!"
…
The fortune teller Li Zhou returned to the deserted Wangjia Village. When he passed by the temple, he saw that the two statues had collapsed and the couplets at the door were mottled and peeling, as if countless years had passed and the temple was in a state of decay.
Not only did the people who followed Li Zhou to sea die, but the villagers who stayed behind also disappeared.
Wan Niang, who was holding the flower pot, felt a chill in her heart and subconsciously wanted to remind her daughter.
However, when she saw Li Zhou, with Xie Lingwei's face, full of curiosity and without the vigilance that a normal person should have, she realized that this was her daughter, but not her daughter.
Wan Niang lowered her eyes and swallowed the words in her mouth.
Li Zhou poked around in the village, trying to find evidence that Xie Lingwei's father was murdered by the villagers.
If someone were watching from a high place, they would see a panicked fishing net flying out from the sky above Wangjia Village, and then a harpoon jumping up in panic.
The creatures that had turned into spirits hid here and there, fearing that they would be encountered by this living devil.
Finally, after Li Zhou had traveled around most of the village, he arrived at the Wang Family Ancestral Hall.
What’s strange is that there is no one with the surname Wang on the tablets enshrined in the Wang Family Ancestral Hall.
"Shi Chengyou, Shi Jiye, Shi Jianxun..." Li Zhou recognized the names on the tablets and paused when he came to "Shi Yun". He glanced at Wan Niang beside him, then lowered his head to study the altar, as if there was some mechanism on the table.
When people are embarrassed, they always act like they are busy.
Wan Niang didn't notice that Li Zhou encountered a word he didn't recognize. She followed her gaze and landed on the last tablet. She was slightly startled and said, "Shi Yun (bin), isn't this the name of the last emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty?"
In the Wang Family Ancestral Hall, it is actually the royal family of Daxia that is worshipped.
Just when Wan Niang had this thought, two maids with bare shoulders and necks, shawls hanging around them, and graceful figures walked out from the east wing. Their clothes were obviously in the style of Daxia.
Seeing Li Zhou, the two looked a little stiff, but still bravely bowed and said, "My master has been waiting for you for a long time."
Wan Niang caught a glimpse of a big red "囍" character behind the two maids, and immediately felt something was wrong.
The next moment, one of the maids said, "Daxia has been destroyed for more than a thousand years, and my master has been waiting for you for more than a thousand years. Now he has four sons. The eldest son is gentle, the second son is smart, the third son is healthy, and the youngest son is naughty. If you are willing to take them in, my master is willing to entrust Daxia's thousand-year foundation to you, and only asks that we divide the country into north and south. This can also be regarded as the kindness of summoning you to this world with the strength of the whole country."
The amount of information contained in this passage made Wan Niang's heart beat like thunder and her ears tinnitus.
Why has the daughter been different from others since she was a child? Why is there someone targeting her daughter and wanting to change her fate? It seems that the misfortunes that have happened to both mother and daughter in this life have their reasons.
For a moment, countless speculations emerged in Wan Niang's mind, and she didn't know where to start with so many words.
However, fortune teller Li Zhou pondered for a long time, and more and more question marks appeared in his head.
What does it have to do with the maid's business how many sons her master has? She doesn't want to raise children.
She herself is still young.
Li Zhou, who thought of himself as still a baby, naturally would never have thought that the royal family of Daxia would actually want to use beauty to exchange for an opportunity to restore the country.
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