Chapter 840: As Difficult as Ascending to Heaven
Luo Qinghan held the human-shaped pillow in one hand and spoke coldly, suppressing his anger.
"If I hadn't come to see you, I wouldn't have known that you were sleeping with another man behind my back!"
Xiao Xixi blinked, looking confused: "Which man did I sleep with?"
Luo Qinghan threw the human-shaped pillow in front of her and motioned for her to look at it herself.
Xiao Xixi looked down at the human-shaped pillow, her still confused brain slowly started to work, and she finally understood what Luo Qinghan meant.
She cried out in injustice: "It's just a pillow!"
Luo Qinghan: "It's just a pillow, why did you make it look like a man's? You even hugged it to sleep, and you hugged it so tightly, don't you feel ashamed?"
Xiao Xixi: "Because I miss you so much, I can't sleep because of you. I have no choice but to ask someone to make me a pillow like this. I treat it as you and hug it when I sleep at night. This way I can fall asleep."
The more she spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, and her lips became flattered, looking like a pitiful young wife who had been bullied.
Luo Qinghan was stunned.
He originally thought that he was the only one missing Xixi.
But he didn't expect that Xixi was also missing him.
It was like a gentle hand caressing his heart.
His jealousy and unhappiness disappeared in an instant.
Luo Qinghan sat down next to her, put his arms around her, and whispered in her ear.
Xiao Xixi leaned into his arms, put her arms around his waist, and hummed softly.
"I haven't seen you for a long time. I didn't expect you to be so mean to me as soon as we met."
Luo Qinghan: "I was wrong. I shouldn't have been so mean to you."
Xiao Xixi: "I don't accept verbal apology?"
Luo Qinghan was in the wrong first, so he said in a good-tempered manner: "Tell me, what do you want me to do in order for you to forgive me?"
Xiao Xixi: "You have to give me something as compensation."
Luo Qinghan: "What do you want?"
Xiao Xixi: "Take off your clothes."
Luo Qinghan was stunned.
He lowered his head and looked at her in disbelief.
"What are you taking off your clothes for?"
Xiao Xixi stepped out of his arms and urged, "Just take it off if I tell you to."
In the middle of the night, a man and a woman were alone in the same room, and they were in tune with each other. If they took off their clothes at this time, wouldn't it be...
Luo Qinghan looked at Xixi deeply.
He slowly took off his coat and was about to untie his belt when he saw Xiao Xixi snatch his coat and put it on the human-shaped pillow.
She hugged the pillow and clothes into her arms, buried her face in them, rubbed them hard, and said with satisfaction.
"With your scent on my pillow, I will definitely sleep better at night!"
Luo Qinghan: “…”
It turns out that she asked him to take off his clothes just for this!
That unhappy feeling came up again.
"I'm already here, why are you still holding on to a pillow?"
Xiao Xixi raised her head to look at him and muttered, "You can't stay here tonight."
Luo Qinghan was speechless.
Although the Empress Dowager had been banished to the Imperial Ancestral Temple by him, her punishment of confining the Imperial Concubine to her home for a month still remained.
If Luo Qinghan asked the Imperial Concubine to sleep with him right after the Empress Dowager passed away, it would be tantamount to pushing the Imperial Concubine into trouble, and everyone would then scold her for being a beauty who brings disaster and seduces the king.
Luo Qinghan didn't want Xixi to be blamed again because of his momentary impulse.
He suppressed the chaotic emotions in his heart and spoke softly.
"I blame myself for being so useless and letting you suffer."
Xiao Xixi looked at him without blinking.
Luo Qinghan felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by her.
He frowned and asked, "What are you looking at me for?"
Xiao Xixi didn't answer but asked: "Are you in a bad mood?"
Luo Qinghan was very surprised: "Why are you in a bad mood?"
Xiao Xixi: "You didn't sleep in the middle of the night and suddenly came to see me. You must be worried about something. Tell me, what trouble did you encounter?"
She was the person Luo Qinghan trusted the most in the world. Luo Qinghan had always been defenseless towards her. When she asked him this, he told her all his troubles.
The main reason is that the national treasury is short of money.
Luo Qinghan frowned and said, "I really didn't expect the national treasury to be so poor."
Xiao Xixi: "Didn't they just raid the Hongguo Mansion not long ago? I heard that the Hongguo Mansion is quite rich."
Luo Qinghan: "All the money confiscated from the Hongguo Mansion went to the Shaofu."
Xiao Xixi looked at him in surprise.
Luo Qinghan understood what she meant and said helplessly, "There are so many people in the palace, and all their food, clothing and daily expenses require money. Where does so much cash flow come from? In addition to the tributes sent from all over the country every year, the other is the proceeds from the confiscation of property."
Starting from the previous dynasties, all the property obtained from house confiscations had to be deposited into the imperial palace's Shaofu.
This has always been the established rule.
Luo Qinghan didn't expect that the national treasury was so poor at that time, so he asked his subordinates to follow the rules.
In fact, even if the things in the Duke Hong's Mansion were sent to the national treasury, it would only be a drop in the bucket and would still not solve the fundamental problem.
Luo Qinghan: "The reason why the national treasury is out of money is fundamentally due to the aristocratic families."
Xiao Xixi pretended to listen attentively.
Luo Qinghan said slowly.
“The Great Sheng Dynasty continued the custom of the previous dynasties and gave preferential treatment to aristocratic families.
Land owned by aristocratic families does not have to pay taxes, and people from aristocratic families do not have to pay taxes when doing business.
However, most of the land and businesses in the Dasheng Dynasty were in the hands of the aristocratic families.
They occupy most of the country's resources, but don't have to pay a penny in taxes. How can the national treasury not be poor? "
He couldn't say these words to others. After all, most of the officials in the court were from aristocratic families, and those people naturally stood on the side of the aristocratic families.
In the entire palace, Xixi was the only one who could discuss these matters with him.
Xiao Xixi: "Are you planning to reform the taxation system of the Great Sheng Dynasty? Do you want the noble families to pay taxes like the common people?
Luo Qinghan nodded slightly: "Yes."
Xiao Xixi gave a concise two-word reply.
"It's difficult."
Luo Qinghan: "It's not just difficult, it's as difficult as ascending to heaven."
Although the aristocratic families of the Great Sheng Dynasty were not as powerful as those in previous dynasties, they still maintained an unshakable position and they almost monopolized all kinds of resources in the country.
Trying to make the noble families pay taxes is like pulling teeth from a tiger's mouth.
How could the noble family possibly accept this?
By then they will certainly try every means to prevent the reform from being carried out, and the result will inevitably be a fierce battle.
Xiao Xixi glanced at him.
"But I think you won't give up. No matter how difficult it is, you won't back down."
Luo Qinghan smiled softly.
The person who knows him best in this world is her.
Luo Qinghan took her hand, held it tightly, and spoke slowly.
"In fact, I have wanted to reform it for a long time. Not only the taxation system, but also the land and foreign trade... I want to re-plan everything. Now that I have taken over this country, I have to make it flourish in my hands."
He didn't want to be just a conservative emperor.
What he wanted to do was to be an emperor who could create a new era.
…
It’s too late. I’ll update these two chapters first and the remaining chapter tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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