Chapter 887 A Dream of Youth 419
The Great Zhou Dynasty doubted Wu Meng's sincerity, and therefore, even though it wanted to form an alliance, it remained cautious.
After returning from the Great Zhou, different opinions arose within the Wumeng. Some believed that the Great Zhou was prosperous and powerful, and that the Northern Jin had even reached the capital of the Great Zhou, but in the end, the Great Zhou still returned to the Northern Jin in disgrace.
Although the two countries made peace and the Northern Jin Dynasty obtained a lot of things, it was a drop in the ocean compared to the losses incurred in sending troops.
They didn't think that the Northern Jin was being generous by not asking for compensation; they just couldn't get it. They said it was a lose-lose situation, but in reality, the Great Zhou was slightly better.
King Wumeng sat quietly on his high throne, but his gaze fell on another envoy who had gone to Northern Jin. That was his close advisor.
After everyone else had left, he asked, "Zeng Fu, what do you think?"
Zeng Fu bent slightly, his full beard making him look like a brute, but his eyes gleamed with shrewdness.
"The Great Zhou Dynasty may seem prosperous and powerful, but it is corrupt inside. The soldiers guarding the city are either doing business or drinking in taverns, and they only hire ordinary laborers to take their shifts."
This demonstrates the decline of their military and political power.
Their internal party and government affairs were also in great turmoil, with the two prime ministers at court at odds, just like the situation during Emperor Jing's reign. However, the new policies promulgated by the Great Zhou were much more effective than those during Emperor Jing's time.
And then there's the fact that the Empress's rule... lacked decisiveness.
If it were King Wumeng, he wouldn't care about anything else; he would kill all those useless ministers first, and someone else would always rise up to take his place.
But upon closer reflection, King Wumeng could understand. The Empress of Great Zhou was different from him; the soldiers under her command were all her own.
"as well as......"
Zeng Fu paused for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, I went to attend the wedding of the Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so I didn't get to see many sights. But as far as the capital and the prefectures I passed through were concerned, the people there were indeed living quite well."
Especially in a county town and the capital city I encountered on the road, there were still beggars begging on the streets, but there were very few of them.
I personally witnessed government officials arresting beggars. At first, I thought they were arresting beggars and throwing them out of the city to prevent them from affecting the city's appearance.
But after inquiring further, I found out they had been forced into hard labor.
Speaking of coolies, Zeng Fu subconsciously compared the treatment of slaves in Wumeng Kingdom, then shook his head, "They are called coolies, but their treatment is not bad. They don't get wages, but they can eat their fill and stay warm."
This is much better than being a beggar, since you never know when a beggar might starve or freeze to death.
Zeng Fu couldn't find out the specifics, but he heard from some local people that if the government still had land for beggars or refugees, they would register them and allocate land for them to cultivate.
However, most government agencies did not have enough land to distribute, so many migrants were registered and then assigned to various places to work as laborers.
At first, the government did not pay them wages, but only provided them with food, clothing and lodging. But later, those workers who did well would be registered in another register, where the workers received wages.
However, the wages were very low. The person who told him these things was a commoner who had become a worker after being a refugee. Now that he could earn more money, he took a long cart that was specially used to transport people into the city to buy some things and go to his family to celebrate the festival.
Upon further inquiry, it was discovered that the worker was not alone; he and his family had all fled here as refugees.
Then the government assigned them to work, and even the elderly and children in their families were not spared; they all had to go.
I heard they were going to clear land for farming, mine coal, build irrigation canals, and quarry.
At first, he cried terribly because they knew the bitterness of forced labor. Now that they had finally escaped to a place where they could live, they had no relatives to turn to and no place to stay, so they were recorded as refugees.
They had all thought they would die on the road to forced labor, but unexpectedly, although the work was a bit tough, the government not only provided them with warm and soft clothes to wear, but also enough food to fill them up to about half their capacity.
The place to live isn't bad, it's just that you have to live separately from your family, men and women live separately with other people, but the fact that you're protected from the wind and rain is good enough.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
