Chapter 53: Determined to ensure that all people under heaven live in peace and prosperity
He died peacefully in his eighties. In ancient times, seventy was considered a rare age, hence the term "ancient rarity".
Su Zhenzhen remained silent, keeping all her thoughts to herself, and simply listened to what the two had to say.
General Huo looked dejected. "To die peacefully in one's sleep. How many people in this world can die peacefully in their sleep? General Hu can rest in peace with a smile on his face."
"You know what," the one-eyed old man comforted his old friend, "you fought to the death and refused to surrender, and you were no less capable. You don't know, the people in Bianzhou and Huzhou all remember your kindness."
General Huo was only saddened for a moment before asking, "Old buddy, how are those brothers doing now?"
“There are still more than three hundred people left. They can’t live as long as I did. When they were seventy or eighty, they got sick and couldn’t walk. They passed away after only a few days.” The one-eyed old man glanced at Hensheng. “The war is over. We still have to make a living. Many brothers came here to get married and have children. Now, we can finally enjoy our old age.”
General Huo was speechless for a moment. He wanted to overthrow the country, and these 300-plus people were the foundation of his power. But One-Eyed, knowing his intentions, said that they had married and had children, making his refusal all too obvious.
Hensheng, however, took the initiative to give up, saying, "General Huo, since this old gentleman has said so, we shouldn't bother our seniors any further. Why don't we return home now?"
General Huo nodded. "As Your Highness wishes. Old friend, I'll be off then."
Hensheng turned and left without hesitation.
Seeing this, Su Zhenzhen also turned back. She felt that she hadn't lost out on this trip. Not only did she get an extra order, but she also got a lot of delicious food for free.
After walking about ten steps, the one-eyed old man, seeing that they were serious about leaving, quickly called out, "Wait a minute!"
General Huo floated over first, "What's wrong, old buddy? Is there anything we can help you with?"
Hensheng stopped and looked at the black monkey. "Miss Su, I think that senior monkey really liked the yellow food you gave him. Do you have any more?"
Su Zhenzhen then realized that bananas didn't seem to exist in this era.
“That’s called a banana, monkeys’ favorite food.” Su Zhenzhen bought some more from the system shop. “Hey, senior monkey, here you go.”
The banana was thrown from Su Zhenzhen's hand, and the black monkey leaped up and caught it steadily.
"Hiss—" the black monkey hissed twice, looking much friendlier.
“You’re much better than your father, kid.” The one-eyed old man took a few steps forward, closing the distance between himself and Hensheng. “Don’t rush off. Let the brothers meet you. Maybe they’ll be willing to abandon their families for you.”
Hensheng shook his head. “Old sir, my desire to overthrow the country is not because I am a descendant of an emperor. It is because countless people sacrificed their lives to protect me and escape, and I carry their wishes on my shoulders. Furthermore, the world is currently plagued by constant warfare, and those in power cannot provide a good life for the people. As a descendant of the emperor, I have a responsibility to uphold the country and restore peace to the people.”
Su Zhenzhen looked at Hensheng in disbelief. His level of awareness was truly remarkable. She had initially thought that Hensheng had only taken on this responsibility because the Hu and Xu families had high hopes for him. She hadn't expected this young man to have such grand ambitions. Was this what they meant by the old saying, "Like begets like"?
Hensheng continued, "I am determined to make all people in the world live in peace and prosperity, so that they will not have to suffer the pain of displacement due to natural disasters and man-made calamities. How can I let my people and soldiers abandon their wives and children because of my own personal safety?"
The one-eyed old man's gaze toward Hensheng became increasingly different, his cloudy eyes filled with a bright, gleaming light.
“Well said, well said! This is a wise ruler, this is the kind of person we brothers should follow! I, One-Eyed, used to serve General Huo Zhenyue, he was a truly good official who wholeheartedly cared for the people. That emperor of the Jiang Dynasty, all talk and no action, his decrees were a complete mess. Officials hated him, and the common people hated him too. I always thought, how could such a person be an emperor? He'd be more suited to be a schoolteacher. I never expected his son to have the qualities of a benevolent ruler.”
Su Zhenzhen immediately perked up her ears, "Senior, why did you say that the Jiang Dynasty emperor was promiscuous? Why do officials and common people alike hate him?"
Jiang Yichun caused a lot of trouble during his time in office, but many people were also his die-hard fans. Su Zhenzhen was always curious about what kind of shady things this man did, but no one ever explained the background of it clearly.
The one-eyed old man glanced at Su Zhenzhen, then at General Huo. "Young Master Yue is a government official, and he usually only does military work, so he doesn't know the lives of ordinary people. But I know these things. When my father and I lived in the mountains, there was nothing there in the winter. Didn't I have to come out and find some work to support my father? Back then, the emperor was still the crown prince. When he came to the border region for some kind of tour, he saw that the people here were living in poverty and paid out of his own pocket to buy rice and grain for them. Don't you think he was a great philanthropist?"
Su Zhenzhen nodded. If they gave him real money, wouldn't they be a good person? There's a saying in the 906th century: "Where money is, there is love."
Hensheng pondered for a moment, "How much grain should we buy for the people? And how much grain should we buy?"
The one-eyed old man clapped his hands. "That makes sense. Back then, some people asked him about it, and the prince said he would buy winter food for anyone who had no food. Think about it, once he said that, everyone, whether they had food or not, would say they had nothing to eat. And the rice shop owners, how could they dare to make money off the prince? That winter, the grain merchants really lost money hand over fist."
"People in the border region usually grow some winter wheat and rely on the free grain they receive throughout the winter. The Crown Prince can't stay here forever, can he? But before he left, he instructed the officials, big and small, in the border region to encourage the wealthy merchants in the city to help the poor. These officials readily agreed on the surface, but once the Crown Prince left, with the emperor far away, how could we lowly people possibly go to the capital to file a complaint? Wouldn't that just lead to even greater exploitation?"
“When I was in the mountains, I knew that if I picked a fruit, I should save some for next year’s seeds. But the Crown Prince has almost skinned the local officials dry. The people didn’t plant anything in the winter, and by the spring, the grain they received from the Crown Prince was all gone. What could they do? Borrow from the rich! But the rich charged interest, and life became even harder than before.”
Su Zhenzhen was utterly dumbfounded. In this era, there was a delicate balance between officials and the people. No matter how much or how little officials embezzled, the common people could at least breathe a sigh of relief. But Jiang Yichun's actions directly shattered that balance.
Imagine if the people ate free food all winter and became weak and emaciated, would they still be willing to work the following spring? When Jiang Yichun was in power, these officials were of course just putting on a show, but the people took it seriously.
Once Jiang Yichun left, the officials and wealthy merchants stopped indulging him, while the common people, having been spoiled by Jiang Yichun, developed bad tempers, exacerbating the already conflicting positions between the two sides.
But life goes on, and the people dare not blame the officials who oppressed them. They can only blame Jiang Yichun.
And those officials, needless to say, lost a lot of money and made a huge sacrifice during Jiang Yichun's winter in office.
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