Chapter 45 The conditions for the destruction of the country, otherwise she...
The surrender ceremony was held amid mixed emotions among the princes.
Sen arrived in Jingchang three days in advance. The road from Yongming City to Jingchang was not too far. Sen had never walked this way before. This was his first time, and perhaps it would be the only time in his life.
The scenes he saw along the way made Sen change from his initial resentment to decadence.
He was unwilling to accept such a failure, but had to choose such a failure. He resented the emperor's dominance, the injustice of the world, and the fact that the King of Anguo joined forces with the princes to force him. In fact, he thought about regretting many times while walking on this road, but whenever such an idea came up, he would always be defeated by his cowardice.
When he saw the bountiful harvest in the farmlands near Jingchang, heard the cheerful laughter of the common people, and walked on the broad road, he finally realized that even if nothing had happened today, he would be defeated by the emperor one day.
Jingchang has become very different. Now it seems that the people of Jingchang live better than those in Bian State and An State.
It's just that the nobles didn't live well. There weren't even many great nobles near Jingchang. I heard that the emperor had set a 70-year ownership limit for some lands. Common people had no right to sell the land, not even the nobles.
During the validity period of the property rights, the land is yours. You can use it as you please and do whatever you want, but you cannot sell it. In name, the land still belongs to the king, similar to a tenant renting the land of a noble. The only difference is that when you rent the king's land, you don't have to pay too much tax. You only need to honestly pay the agricultural tax that should be paid to the country.
When Sen first heard about this matter, he thought that the king was too young and was really acting recklessly. How could the nobles accept such a situation!
Unexpectedly, Jingchang did not make any move. Half a year had passed since the so-called 70-year property rights appeared. I heard that many nobles in Jingchang had registered their family land and obtained the so-called 70-year property rights.
Sen didn't understand and was shocked. He wondered how the nobles of Bian State knew about this policy and would definitely rebel.
The situation in Jingchang is rather special. The nobles here are not very powerful, and with the actions of officials such as Gui Yang and Wen Tao as examples, they are of course willing to sell out the emperor.
The emperor's orders can only be executed near Jingchang. They still have a lot of land outside. Why not use the land of Jingchang to appease the emperor?
Anyway, the 70-year property rights can be renewed at any time. The land does not really belong to them in name, but in reality it is theirs.
In the past, the nobles of Jingchang could sit still, but now the emperor has conquered the State of Bian. Seeing that the king of Bian has entered Jingchang to attend the ceremony, many nobles are anxious, fearing that the State of Bian will also execute the king's orders, and they will lose a lot of land in the State of Bian.
The scene they least wanted to see finally happened. After Sen handed over the letter of surrender and presented the map of Bian State, Shen Zhiwei announced on the spot that she would take back all the rewards promised by the king of Bian State.
The entire Bian Kingdom became the king's spoils of war.
The nobles of Jingchang had not yet fainted when the news reached Yongming City, and the nobles of Yongming fainted first.
They have been in Bian State for over a hundred years and have built up a huge fortune. Now, under the king's order, everything they have has become empty talk. How can they accept this?
For a moment, some people were crying and shouting, while many were slamming the table in anger. The entire Yongming City was in chaos.
Wencheng Jun, who had been seriously ill in bed, had to get up and force himself to take charge of the situation. However, he could not even stop the king from surrendering, so how could he stop the public anger?
Facing his friend who refused to listen, Lord Wencheng sighed, "The emperor's wrath cannot be quelled by ordinary men. Bian State has been defeated, and it deserves to face the consequences of national defeat. The royal army has been extremely merciful by not massacring the city. You are clinging to those dead things, but you are desperate for your lives!"
Wen Chengjun had said so much and thought he had said enough, but unfortunately, the people who were blinded by anger would not listen to his pertinent words at all and were heading towards their own death.
Not only was Wenchengjun unable to persuade others, but because he persuaded too many people, the nobles accused him of having already defected to Jingchang. They believed that he had long been the king's man, so he kept speaking to Jingchang's emperor. Anyone who listened to him was compromising and wanted to give all the ancestral heritage to the emperor.
Only a spineless, incompetent, and pure loser would do such a thing!
People have the ability to think independently, but the premise is that there is only one person. When there are more people, people will only have a group consciousness.
Humans are creatures that are very easily led astray. This is human nature and cannot be changed. Wen Chengjun understands human nature, but he has never encountered this kind of human nature in the past few decades. He naively thinks that he can fight against this kind of human nature.
Such naive ideas will surely be hit by reality.
Shen Zhiwei was still in Jingchang waiting for the Yongming City uprising when he heard some bad news.
Wen Chengjun, the leader of the uprising in Yongming City that she favored, turned against his friend. The two quarreled for a long time, and finally Wen Chengjun vomited blood due to anger and fell ill. Obviously, the uprising leader that Shen Zhiwei favored was ruined.
After the princes who witnessed the surrender of the king of Bian State returned, most of them chose to withdraw their troops very honestly. A small number of those who were unwilling to withdraw turned around and attacked the small countries neighboring Bian State, as if they didn't want to leave in vain. The scene that Shen Zhiwei wanted to see of the princes' alliance to resist her was directly shattered.
Among the bad news, the one that broke Shen Zhiwei's defense the most was An Guo. The An Guo she had high hopes for not only withdrew its troops neatly, but also took Jiang Cheng as an opportunity when returning. Jiang Cheng was adjacent to An Guo's territory. Although it was the hometown of the lineage of the king of Bian Guo, it had no economic value. It was a place with poor mountains and bad waters. It was given to Shen Zhiwei, a desolate wilderness that Shen Zhiwei did not want to govern.
Now that Anguo has taken it, Shen Zhiwei's subsequent governance difficulties have been greatly reduced, and it has even attracted a lot of firepower from the old forces of the Bian Kingdom for Shen Zhiwei. Compared with the country's demise, they care more about whether their hometown still exists.
After all, their hometown is their last face. Now that An Guo has captured Jiangcheng, it is a heavy slap in their faces. They can't afford to offend the emperor, so they turn around and start a war of words with An Guo.
The hostility towards her that Shen Zhiwei wanted to see disappeared by accident.
The only thing she could look forward to was the resistance in Yongming City, and then she received the military report from Hu Youan and the special event settlement from the system.
The military newspaper said that Hu Youan discovered that some nobles in Yongming City wanted to rebel, so Hu Youan took action first. Based on conclusive evidence, he sentenced those nobles and their entire families to death.
The uprising that Shen Zhiwei had envisioned was completely hopeless.
And the system settlement was the last straw that broke Shen Zhiwei's back.
[The national war for this special event has concluded, and the outcome is being settled... Completed! Congratulations to the host for achieving an SSR-level outcome and earning 100,000 achievement points! This special event has been recorded. The host can freely browse the event log to view the progress of the world special event!]
Shen Zhiwei: ...
Chilled, not a fuss...
Even if he got 100,000 achievement points, Shen Zhiwei couldn't smile!
In modern times, Shen Zhiwei would never believe that when 100 million was placed in front of her, she could still not laugh. She was really too proud.
But she really felt something was wrong!
First, she has been working hard to develop the country in the direction of destruction. Second, she needs to complete the main task before she can go home. Finally, only when she returns home can she get the money!
So, even if she has a bunch of achievement points lying around, what’s the use if she can’t return to reality?
The main storyline is what she must pay attention to. Once the main storyline fails, it will be useless no matter how many special events she completes.
[The host has been detected to be in a negative mood and has questions about the use of achievement points. The system provides additional explanations here.
In addition to being redeemable for cash, achievement points can also be redeemed for the true ending, which is the ending for completing this world, in case the host fails to complete the main quest and is trapped in this world forever! 】
What is timely rain? This is timely rain!
Shen Zhiwei's eyes, which had been dimming, suddenly shone with light. She quickly asked, "How many achievement points do I need to redeem the true ending? Can I redeem it now?"
[Achievement points required to redeem the true ending: 100 million]
It was even thoughtful enough not to display eight zeros, but instead used the word "100 million" instead.
Shen Zhiwei glanced at the achievement points in the background that had not yet broken through six digits, and then looked at the billion units that symbolized nine digits, and felt a little short of breathing.
"No, I can't just give up like this. Things haven't reached the worst point yet. It's just the destruction of the country. I can handle it!"
Shen Zhiwei felt that she was motivated again. One hundred million achievement points were equivalent to one hundred billion in cash. One hundred billion, if she really spent it like this, she would have heart pain just thinking about it.
"Alas, it's so easy for others to destroy their country, but why is it so difficult for me? The righteous path is not working, why don't I try the evil path?"
Shen Zhiwei had a brilliant idea. Why not declare the country's demise today, and then create a new country tomorrow? Would this be considered the achievement of a king who lost his country?
[For a nation to be destroyed, it must undergo a fundamental transformation. If there is no fundamental change in the nation, the standard for destruction cannot be met.]
What does fundamental change in the country mean?
Shen Zhiwei stared at the system's words and fell into deep thought. How come she seemed to have become a hopeless illiterate?
The new dynasty also inherits the old dynasty, and there are connections between the modern and ancient times. How can it be considered that there has been a fundamental change in the country?
As Shen Zhiwei was thinking, she was suddenly startled. She quickly asked the system: "Does the emergence of an emperor count as a fundamental change to the country? If my country is destroyed and the next monarch does not become emperor, does that mean that my country has not been destroyed?"
【Yes. 】
When Shen Zhiwei saw these two words, he almost cursed out loud.
If she had not asked this question, she would have thought that her mission was accomplished and she could go home after she watched the rebels invade the palace and abdicated to let the wise man be killed!
It turns out that she not only has to train someone who can destroy the Zhou Dynasty, but also someone who can think of becoming emperor!
She might as well declare herself emperor!
Shen Zhiwei walked around twice in a huff, then sat down, panting twice before calming down.
Fortunately, there was no one in her room, otherwise the king’s image would be ruined.
She certainly could not become emperor herself, because no emperor could even unify the country.
And let her go to unify the world? Haha, seriously? Her?
An ordinary office worker travels back in time to ancient times to become an emperor, and fights his way out from hundreds of princes. Is this some kind of Warring States 101 talent show?
When she was in modern times, there were 50 or 60 people in her high school class, but she couldn't always get first place. Who would believe that she could become the champion in ancient times?
She just traveled through time, not evolved.
After Shen Zhiwei calmed down completely, she made a decision. First, she could not give up Anguo, and second, she could not give up any of the vassal states.
It doesn’t matter if Bian State is destroyed, she still has more than a hundred alternatives!
Shen Zhiwei stood up and planned to formulate a strict plan to train the future ruler of the world. By the way, he would keep a few people to talk to the future ruler of the world about becoming emperor.
Then she spread out a piece of paper, ground ink and picked up a pen, and planned to write the beginning.
Title: Plan for training the future ruler of the world.
one,
I've finished writing and can't write any more.
The characters people use nowadays are really too difficult to write. Not only do they have so many strokes, but the characters are also crooked. When Shen Zhiwei took a sudden look at them, he felt like he was looking at earthworms. It was a kind of beauty that someone who had never learned calligraphy felt when looking at oracle bone inscriptions.
She relied on the little remaining memory of the original owner to recognize the general idea. Later, she followed Wen Shao to learn and recognized most of it. She could also write a little by herself, but her hands were really sore from writing too much.
That’s right, she was just very tired from writing too much, it was definitely not because she couldn’t continue writing.
Writing is too difficult, so why not promote simplified Chinese characters?
What about traditional Chinese characters being a cultural treasure, what about everyone using traditional Chinese characters and your promotion of simplified Chinese characters being hindered? These issues don't matter to Shen Zhiwei at all!
The world is in chaos now, with various dialects and fonts popping up like mushrooms after rain. It doesn't matter if Shen Zhiwei takes out simplified Chinese characters. It's okay for her to change the elegant language into Mandarin.
For the nobles, it was just a matter of learning more fonts and languages, not too difficult.
Shen Zhiwei took out a book and wrote a simplified Chinese version. Then he called Wen Shao into the palace and asked him to take a look.
By the way, I would like to inform Wen Shao that Wen Tao will be back from Taisheng in a while. This time, she will not only be promoted, but will also stay in Jingchang for a long time.
As for the new governor of Taisheng, Shen Zhiwei decided to let Wen Tao's senior sister Bian Xiao take over, and the position of county magistrate was given to a classmate of Wen Tao who had performed well in logistics this time and had the idea of staying to serve as an official.
The future of Wen Tao's other classmates will be discussed after Wen Tao returns to Jingchang.
Wen Shao was very happy that his daughter had returned to Jingchang. When she was young, she was busy studying and rarely saw her family. When she was older, she went out to serve as an official, and they had not seen each other for almost a year. Not only did he miss Wen Tao, but all the relatives at home missed her.
"Shao Daitao thanks the king for his grace."
Wen Shao bowed in gratitude, and Shen Zhiwei waved her hand to indicate that she was welcome, and then handed the book that she had spent the entire afternoon copying to Wen Shao.
On one side was a thick bamboo slip, and on the other side was a thin piece of paper. Wen Shao looked at them left and right, and finally carefully picked up the paper full of words, leaned in and smelled it. There was only the scent of ink, no other smell.
Look at the paper again. It is much plainer than the paper on the market that has a slightly pearlescent color and sparkles with gold dots. The paper is even a little rough, and it is not as soft as the paper on the market when held in the hand. But it is enough for writing. It has some hardness and the ink will not smudge.
"Your Majesty, this paper..."
Shen Zhiwei then remembered that she had not yet told Wen Shao about her papermaking.
Didn’t you say that?
Shen Zhiwei thought about it and realized that he really didn't say anything.
Wen Shao went to the palace every day to teach her. She hardly spoke in class. Because there were spies who wanted to steal the secret of iron forging at the Baigongfang, there were three layers of guards inside and outside. Wen Shao was not the type to ask around, so of course he didn't know what was going on at the Baigongfang.
Gui Yang knew it, Yanxia knew it, but Wen Shao, her teacher, didn't know it. He could tell the difference in closeness and distance at a glance. Shen Zhiwei felt a little guilty, and her eyes wandered for a moment before she explained to Wen Shao.
"This is paper made by the papermakers at Baigongfang. It's very cheap, a bit rougher than the paper on the market, but it's usable. It was newly delivered today by Baigongfang."
Actually, it wasn’t given to me today. It’s been a few days. Shen Zhiwei just remembered to use it today.
She has been using toilet paper for many days. Most toilets in the palace should be equipped with paper. Doesn’t Wen Shao go to the toilet in the palace?
Shen Zhiwei had no idea that paper was valuable, and the ministers didn't dare to think too much when they saw it.
As for why no one has raised the issue of the ministers not using paper, it is of course because the ministers took the paper away.
Because the paper was taken away when going to the toilet, the palace people thought it was used, but the ministers did not ask because they were afraid that if they asked, there would be no paper in the toilet.
Then where can they get the paper?
"I didn't expect there was such an outstanding craftsman in the palace. Your Majesty should reward him handsomely. Paper is a truly valuable commodity!"
When Wen Shao said this, he suddenly thought of the toilet paper. He actually took two sheets and when he used them back, the ink was severely blurred.
Now that I think about it, it should be a failed product, but why would it be placed in the place where grains are recycled?
Wen Shao wanted to ask, but he didn't dare. He intuitively knew that the answer was not one he could accept.
Shen Zhiwei had no idea what was going on in the old man's mind. Seeing that he no longer asked questions around the paper, she quickly asked him to look at the words.
"Taifu, what do you think of this calligraphy?"
Shen Zhiwei's handwriting of the characters of this era is not very good. Even a six-year-old child from an aristocratic family is better than her. But she is much better at writing modern characters. Although you can still see that she lacks strength, the font and type are all there.
After so many years of writing hard-pen calligraphy, Shen Zhiwei has mastered the art since childhood.
"Good! This character has simple strokes and is very neat. It's a bit like words carved on a stone tablet. Because of the difficulty in following the grain of the stone, the horizontal and vertical strokes are straight and unbending."
Wen Shao's skills are very impressive, and he can tell the prototype of this character at a glance. However, modern simplified Chinese characters are a combination of the strengths of various schools, and not just the characteristics of stone carvings.
Shen Zhiwei did not discuss the origin of the word with Wen Shao. She also had only a vague understanding of it. Now she just wanted to know whether this word could be used.
"Of course it can be used. Such simple characters are very suitable for teaching beginners. However, when recording accounts, the characters such as one, two, and three should be replaced with other characters. These characters are too simple and can be easily tampered with."
The simplified Chinese characters have been taken out, and Shen Zhiwei has also taken out the simplified numbers. If you want to make changes, you have to make them all in one go.
She took a piece of paper and wrote 1-10 again, and asked Wen Shao if this simplified number could be promoted. Wen Shao took the number and looked at it. He found that this simplified number was related to the font that Shen Zhiwei had just written. It was almost the same as what it looked like after writing quickly. He immediately said that there was no problem.
Just count it as a set of fonts.
"Where did Your Majesty learn this calligraphy? Creating a font is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Anyone who can create such a simple and easy-to-understand font must be an extraordinary person."
Wen Shao was quite envious and wanted to find that person so that he could have a detailed discussion with such a talented person.
Shen Zhiwei looked at the familiar simplified Chinese characters and realized that since she came to this era, she has been trying to create a living environment similar to the modern one. However, similar food and similar systems are not as safe as the characters.
Why didn’t she think of promoting simplified Chinese characters before?
Maybe it’s because words can’t be eaten or drunk, so they are not that urgent.
"The master has long passed away, and it is hard to find him in the world."
Wen Shao sighed repeatedly, what a pity.
"I will be rewriting a few more books in the next few days. Would you like to write with me, Master?"
Wen Shao nodded repeatedly: "Good, Your Majesty, please do not despise your student for being dull."
"Taifu is my teacher, so you cannot call yourself a student."
Which teacher calls a student teacher? Shen Zhiwei quickly stopped Wen Shao from changing his words.
Wen Shao didn't care and insisted on having his own opinion. Shen Zhiwei wanted to teach him new characters, so Shen Zhiwei was the teacher.
Shen Zhiwei couldn't persuade this stubborn old man at all, and only hoped that Wen Tao could control her father after arriving in Jingchang.
When Wen Tao returned to Jingchang, the wheat harvest had already passed. This year, wheat was planted in many places in Jingchang. Part of the seeds used were the bumper harvest of wheat from Mengnu's field, and part were purchased from outside by businessman Zheng.
Shen Zhiwei had stone mills built at the entrances of some villages to promote noodles, which were well received by the common people. Wen Tao had cold noodles at a small shop on the way back.
The noodles that have been rinsed with cold water are very chewy, and are paired with the sauce prepared by the store, which also contains a little dogwood to enhance the flavor. It makes your mouth feel a little hot and painful when you eat it, but it is really delicious.
This way of eating was first practiced in restaurants in Jingchang City.
Restaurant, this is another fresh name. Wen Tao knew what a restaurant was. It was a place for eating opened by Gui Yang in Jingchang on the orders of the king. The business was very good and the nobles would go there for a meal whenever they had nothing to do. The food inside was very different from that outside, and was mainly the king's favorite stir-fried dishes.
I heard that recently some ministers have submitted petitions, hoping to have fried dishes at banquets.
Wen Tao recalled the king's expressionless face when he ate the dishes cooked in the cauldron. It seemed that the king didn't like dishes cooked in the cauldron at that time. After a while, there would be no more dishes cooked in the cauldron at Jingchang's banquets, only stir-fried dishes.
As for the tripod, it has gradually become a symbol over the years. The nobles themselves do not like to eat dishes cooked in the tripod, but prefer to eat roasted meat.
Wen Tao had also traveled outside the city when she was in Taisheng. She thought the common people in Taisheng were different enough, but she didn't expect that the common people in Jingchang were even more different.
There was laughter and joy everywhere, and everyone had a vitality as vigorous as spring grass, as if the cruel winter had completely passed and only the hope of spring remained.
Hu Youan had told her before that there were many girls in the army. They fought in the battlefield and were as brave and hardworking as men.
In just one year, the world around Jingchang has become something Wen Tao has never seen before.
I wonder if there will be people laughing out loud in Bian in the future, and if there will be another Hu Youan?
With anticipation for the future, Wen Tao stepped into the gate of Jingchang and headed all the way to the palace.
When she saw Shen Zhiwei, Shen Zhiwei was eating watermelon.
A watermelon that is not red at all, has no sweetness, and requires sugar to be added before it can be swallowed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
