Chapter 62: Treason
"This is?"
Gu Dan frowned unconsciously as he watched waves of farmers who looked like refugees and whose clothes were not even properly dressed walking by amid the shouts of the yamen runners.
Xun Ke was much more straightforward. He stood in front of the yamen runner and asked, "May I ask what this is for?"
The yamen runner, who was already in a bad mood, whipped out his whip and looked around. When he saw Gu Dan, who was handsome and obviously not an ordinary person, looking at him, he finally put down the whip and said impatiently, "Take the peasants and build the fairy palace."
"Building a fairy palace?"
Xun Ke's face flushed, whether because he had been running for too long or because he was angry, "Now is the farming season. Last year, Yuzhou suffered a natural disaster, and grain production was insufficient. Famine was rampant in various places. This spring, we should work hard to farm. The spring rain just came last night, and we should rectify people's livelihood. How can we build a fairy palace at this time?!"
"Get out of the way! What's the point of yelling at me? It's not your problem that Jian can't be found." The bailiff pushed Xun Ke aside, snorted coldly, and walked away.
Watching the large group of people go away, Xun Ke gritted his teeth and said, "Spring planting and autumn harvest are the laws of nature! Forcing farmers to perform corvée labor at this time of year is no different from killing them directly."
A harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger! We cannot just ignore the corvée and continue with it.
The spring planting and autumn harvest are always the busiest times for farmers. Even corvée labor must be avoided at different times. This concerns the lives of the people. Who dares to risk the disapproval of the world? In the cold winter, corvée labor cannot be initiated. Otherwise, there is no need to do it at all. The people who participate in corvée labor will be frozen to death!
"It's definitely not right."
Gu Dan also frowned. No matter how crazy Emperor Zong Ming was, he would not conscript the people to build the Immortal Palace during the spring planting season, right? When Daqing invaded Yuzhou, Emperor Zong Ming knew that the Immortal Palace should be stopped for cultivation during the expedition. Why was he forcing the construction of the Immortal Palace now?
Is it true that people get more confused as they get older?
"Last winter, more than 4,000 people in the imperial city were frozen to death or starved to death in one day! This is just the result of Master Mo's investigation. A natural disaster in Yuzhou can affect the food and clothing of the people in the imperial city, and the impact of corvée labor is more than just one state. If you don't think about revitalizing people's livelihood during the disaster, how can you mobilize corvée labor and build a fairy palace?! Is the selfish desire of an individual more important than the lives of millions of people?"
Xun Ke clenched his fists, extremely angry.
Although he is still young, he has read a lot of books and has a sense of integrity in his heart.
What's more, Mo Qiu had taught him by example, and after seeing such outstanding people with his own eyes, Xun Ke also had his own ideas.
"Let's go back to the yard first."
After all, outside is not a place to talk. Although Gu Dan is not afraid, there is no need to expose himself and cause trouble.
After returning to his own courtyard, Gu Dan wrote a letter and asked someone to help deliver it to Moqiu.
Not long after, Mo Qiu arrived with someone.
It was early spring and it was a rainy day yesterday, but Mo Qiu was only wearing the most shabby short brown linen clothes, which were clothes that even ordinary people with a little extra wealth despised.
After wearing it for a long time, it will inevitably cause itching and discomfort, and even leave red marks. It is truly the cheapest clothing.
Coupled with his already dark complexion, if it weren't for his unusually tall and strong figure, he wouldn't look like a master at all. He would just be a qualified old farmer staying in the fields.
"Brother Mo, do you know about the matter of Wanshou Palace?"
There was no greeting, and Gu Dan got straight to the point.
After Mo Qiu presented his immortal fate, Emperor Zong Ming treated the Mohist School with great favor. As the emperor favored them, people came to him naturally, and the channels through which the Mohist School could obtain information were no longer comparable to the past.
Instead of guessing it yourself, it’s better to ask directly.
"This year, the Emperor is going to celebrate his sixtieth birthday, and it's going to be a grand celebration."
Mo Qiu's face was filled with unrelieved anger. "Naturally, his subordinates all catered to his wishes. Some even directly pushed for the construction of the Wanshou Palace, demanding that it must be completed before the emperor's birthday. They said that only a fairyland like the Wanshou Palace could match the emperor's grace!"
Gu Dan suddenly realized that all the unreasonable things had an explanation.
Last year, Yuzhou suffered a great disaster during the autumn harvest. The people were killed and injured. The grain was poor and there were famines everywhere. What about it? For Emperor Zong Ming, it was a heaven-sent fate! If possible, it would be better to smash a few more.
In the past, when there was no immortal fate, Emperor Zong Ming could always find time to hold a fasting ceremony for himself and call himself "Emperor Wanshou". Now that the immortal fate has actually been obtained, and it is also his 60th birthday, how can he not hold a grand ceremony? The most grand venue for the ceremony is naturally the Wanshou Palace, which has been under construction for a long time but has not yet been completed.
In this era, the sky is big, the earth is big, and the emperor is the biggest.
What about spring planting and autumn harvest, natural disasters and man-made disasters, all have to be put aside! When the emperor smiles, that is the peace and prosperity of the country.
"How dare he ignore the people's livelihood like this! Isn't he afraid that the people will rebel?" Xun Ke at the side couldn't bear it anymore and shouted angrily.
His home was in Yuzhou, and he had seen too many hardships and disasters in Yuzhou. At a young age, he had already experienced the fickleness of the world. He had seen with his own eyes thousands of people suffering from severe disasters, hunger, cold, and even grief, falling into the sea of suffering, and struggling to find a way to survive.
Countless people sold their children for this reason, and the suffering they endured is not enough to describe!
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Now, not only do they not receive any preferential treatment from the government, but they even have to withdraw manpower from the spring planting season to perform corvée labor?
It would be better to just put a knife or a gun in the throat and give it a quick death!
"Of course he dares! As an emperor, why should he care about the suffering of the people? The world fell into a quagmire, not just one day. More than 20 years ago, he sought immortality because of a Taoist priest. After ignoring state affairs, he became a person who only wanted to take support from the people. Why do you need to wait until today to ask?"
Behind Mo Qiu, the man who looked about the same age as Gu Dan spoke in a cold voice.
His ideas were even more radical than Xun Ke's. He was just short of saying that Emperor Zong Ming should have died more than 20 years ago.
If anyone outside hears such outrageous remarks, all nine clans can play Candy Crush together.
Gu Dan looked over and asked, "Who is this?"
"Qin Lisheng is the disciple accepted when Mohist school was just founded. It just so happens that you need someone to look after your place, so let him stay here to recuperate for a while." Mo Qiu said very calmly.
He did not stop the argument between the two, but allowed them to express their own opinions, no matter how outrageous they were.
Of course, this is also because there are no outsiders around in Gu Dan's yard.
The corner of Gu Dan's mouth twitched slightly. This was really because he saw that he was too indifferent, so he just found something for him to do.
If it were before yesterday, he would never have taken in someone like Qin Lisheng based on his philosophy.
But After a moment of silence, Gu Dan nodded slightly, "Okay."
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