My words are the rules! To farm, you have to be the king...
Shen Zhiwei felt like a lifetime had passed.
She was originally waiting for Hui'an Jun to go to Anguo and talk to his uncle about when to lead troops to attack Jingchang and send her to become the king of a fallen country.
As a result, the first step of the plan went wrong.
Hui'an Jun is dead.
This obvious enemy, the empress dowager's son, died in an instant.
This is simply outrageous!
"Yang, you are truly a good subject of mine."
When Shen Zhiwei said this, his back teeth were almost broken.
But Tai Buyang didn't hear anything and thought Shen Zhiwei was just praising him. The joy that he had suppressed with great difficulty emerged uncontrollably at this moment, and the corners of his mouth rose wildly.
"Everything is due to the king's wisdom. Hui'an is trying to betray the king at this moment. He has completely forgotten the kindness the previous king bestowed upon him. Such a disloyal person deserves this fate."
Ziman is indeed a heartless bastard.
The original body's adoptive father had many faults, but those were all directed at the original body. To Ziman, this stepfather who appeared halfway and had no blood relationship with him was already good enough to him.
He was given the title of lord and the princess was allowed to call him brother. If he was the biological son of the previous king, the throne would have been his.
The original body particularly disliked Hui'an Jun, because in the original body's opinion, it was this person's existence that made her remain unknown and ignored when there were no other royal heirs in the harem.
According to Shen Zhiwei, her original body had misunderstood. The person she should really hate was the late king, as all the conflicts arose from him.
Of course, Ziman himself was not a good guy either. In the past, relying on his favor from the king, he often ran to the original body to show off his power. Shen Zhiwei could still remember his fearless look.
Forget it, let someone who is hated by the original body die.
Shen Zhiwei also figured it out. She couldn't come back to life. She had lost her head. Could she stand up like Xing Tian?
The key now is Taibuyang.
After Shen Zhiwei figured it out, he gave Taibu Yang a bunch of palace maids and a carriage frame.
Taibu Yang was so excited that his face turned red. He couldn't say a word of refusal at this moment. He expressed his loyalty and said that he would work for the king in the future.
Nice words are like cheap wholesale goods, spoken without hesitation, which makes them seem a bit flattering.
After Taibu Yang left, Hu Youan finally stopped being a background figure and said awkwardly, "Your Majesty, this boy has a heart of a jackal and a fox, and he has an affair with Youxia'er. I'm afraid he will attract criticism from the nobles in the future."
The term "having the heart of a jackal or fox" means that a person is as cruel and cunning as a jackal or fox. It is a purely derogatory term.
"You think quite highly of him." Shen Zhiwei didn't seem to take it seriously at all, and instead teased Hu Youan.
In the original world, the phrase "heart of a jackal or fox" was used to describe the King of Chu. In this world, it is also used to describe a monarch. How could Taibu Yang be so worthy of being compared with the monarch of a country?
"My lord, this is not my intention. I am just trying to flatter you. You need to be more careful."
"I know you're thinking of me. If he were a treacherous villain, it would save us a lot of trouble."
Shen Zhiwei now hopes that Taibu Yang is a villain who brings disaster to the country and the people, and can make up for the progress of the country's destruction caused by Hui'an Jun's failure to go to Anguo.
Hu Youan opened his mouth and wanted to persuade him again, but when he looked up and saw that the expression on the king's face seemed to imply something, he lowered his head and began to think.
Although the time he had been back with the king was not long, Hu Youan had already seen that the king was now more calculating than before and would never act without a purpose.
So is there any special reason for favoring a treacherous villain?
Thinking about the reason why the king was in a good mood this time (?), Hu Youan had a vague guess.
"Your Majesty, there are indeed few capable people in the court. Although Taibu Yang is flattering, he is indeed a capable candidate. Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It is all because I am too weak and cannot share your worries."
It is absolutely perfect to let Taibuyang commit evil deeds such as murder and arson.
Didn’t you see how quickly the other party killed Hui’an Jun, and without leaving any evidence? Rangers sometimes do attack nobles, and killing is also a common occurrence.
Just bringing back the head is too careless. The king must have a good reputation. How can he bear the infamy of killing his brother?
Hu Youan's train of thought had completely gone in a direction that Shen Zhiwei did not understand.
Seeing Hu Youan completely immersed in his art, Shen Zhiwei fell into deep silence.
Shen Zhiwei was originally thinking about how to "comfort" Queen Mother An when the news of Hui'an Jun's death reached the palace. Unexpectedly, until dinner the next morning, Shen Zhiwei did not hear any news about the accident of the members of the delegation sent to Anguo.
So, this was completely suppressed?
Even though someone died, the news was suppressed so strictly. It must be the person in charge of the delegation who was covering up the news. Shen Zhiwei didn't expect that the envoy chosen by Empress Dowager An was not her person.
So can the craftsman still be asked for? Shen Zhiwei was very concerned about when he could make a big iron pot.
Since he can no longer eat stir-fried dishes, Shen Zhiwei has to go into ironwork himself!
We went to the farm in the afternoon. Taibuyang was a very active man. When Shen Zhiwei arrived, the slaves he sent had already started plowing the fields.
There were one thousand acres of land, and the fifteen people sent by Taibuyang, plus the common people who came before, made a total of forty-seven people, five families in total, with only two cows and even fewer farm tools, only three plows and hoes.
These people were cultivating a thousand acres of land, and Shen Zhiwei could already foresee a scene where they would work from morning till night, with little food growing in the fields and weeds taller than people.
Even if everyone including the two cows were exhausted, it would still be impossible to cultivate a thousand acres of land intensively.
Standing on the ridge of the field, Shen Zhiwei put his hands in his pockets and sighed deeply.
The common people who were working in the fields nearby straightened their hunched backs and wiped the sweat from their foreheads. Their tanned, wrinkled faces showed an expression of tiredness and numbness.
"Let's take a break, brother. You should take a break too."
Shen Zhiwei couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so she decided that since she couldn't eat a fat man in one bite, and she didn't have enough manpower, she would plant less land. Instead of wasting manpower and resources, it would be better to focus on cultivating a few acres.
The commoner who looked almost forty was actually only twenty this year. He was one of the three commoner families that had originally stayed. He also had an "old mother" in his family who was only in her thirties this year. Shen Zhiwei had seen her before, but her hair was already gray, and her teeth had been worn down to look like she was in her seventies or eighties because she had been eating wheat and bean rice for many years.
Then there are his wife and two children, including two children, the older one is five years old and the younger one is one year old.
There were two more in the middle, but they couldn't be kept alive and died.
The younger one might not even be able to be raised. Shen Zhiwei came twice but didn't see his wife and children. He only saw his mother coming to bring him water and then hurried home to weave.
The common people in those days had a very hard life. Although they were free, they had to bear heavy obligations.
Young men had to farm for the nobles, pay taxes to the government and serve in the army. If the nobles went to war, they would be forcibly conscripted. There were only two outcomes on the battlefield: one was death on the battlefield, and the other was returning home with a broken body after the war. However, very few returned home, as medicinal herbs were not available in those days. If they were injured on the battlefield, tetanus and bacterial infections would be waiting for them. Survival was a miracle for mankind.
Young women had to weave cloth and pay taxes. In addition to weaving, they also had to undertake heavy housework. If their husbands were conscripted as laborers or soldiers, the women would also be responsible for working in the fields. In addition, the burden of reproduction fell on them.
As for wanting to change your destiny by killing enemies on the battlefield, forget it. The system of conferring titles based on military merit was only available in the Qin Dynasty. In the current Zhou Dynasty, nobles were born as celestial dragons, while slaves and common people were ants kneeling on the ground their entire lives.
When Shen Zhiwei said "old brother", the common people didn't understand and thought that the nobles wanted to sing.
Nowadays, when the nobles are in a good mood, they will sing and recite rituals and music, and the common people will be very happy if they hear it.
There is no way, there are too few entertainment activities, and listening to music is one of the rare relaxing times in life.
The common people bowed their heads humbly, waiting for the king to sing.
Of course the king didn't plan to sing. Shen Zhiwei didn't understand Heishou's expectations at all. She was in a heavy mood now. Let alone singing, she didn't even want to talk.
After calling over all the people in the small farm, including the woman weaving in the house and the frail child, Shen Zhiwei felt even more depressed when he saw the group of old, weak, sick and disabled people gathered in front of him.
The 100 acres of land originally planned for cultivation were reduced to 50 acres.
Shen Zhiwei felt guilty for asking them to cultivate five acres of land! Farming these days depends entirely on manual labor. If it weren't for the two oxen, these people would even have to carry the heavy straight-beam plow on their backs to plow the land.
The common people were terrified and shrank their necks like quails, not daring to make a sound. The mothers held their children tightly and covered their mouths, fearing that their children would make a sound and disturb the king, which would lead to his punishment.
The last person to ask questions was the new slave who arrived today.
He was the only man among the fifteen who had been an agricultural official.
He was also the best-looking among the group. He even had some flesh on his body, his skin was relatively white, and his teeth were straight.
He stood up and bowed to Shen Zhiwei, then asked in a trembling voice, "I wonder if the king has summoned me here to tell you something?"
To say he has a good appearance is all exaggeration. Compared to a real noble, this peasant official is obviously much more disheveled, with tangled hair, torn clothes, and occasionally you can see the red whip marks on his body.
But even so, he is much better than the common people and stands out among the crowd.
"From now on, you won't have to pay taxes on weaving cloth, nor will you have to worry about being conscripted into the army. I only have one request of you: farm well. Do whatever I tell you to do." Shen Zhiwei said this, then realized that he was actually an amateur at farming, and added, "You can give me some suggestions."
It’s Shen Zhiwei’s business whether to listen or not.
The obedient farmer who was singled out was probably because he had been beaten many times during his time as a slave and did not dare to resist at all.
"From now on, I will only cultivate fifty acres of land. In addition, each of you can take five acres of land as your own. You can plant any crops on those five acres, and everything you plant will belong to you. But there is one thing: if you don't take good care of the fifty acres, any food shortage will be paid from the five acres you keep."
Shen Zhiwei remembered, why should she follow the established rules of the Zhou Dynasty? She is a tyrant, she is the emperor! What she says is the rule!
The common people who were suddenly hit by a pie falling from the sky were not very happy. Some of them had their eyes brightened, realizing the king's kindness, while others were confused.
Overall, most people are confused, and as a result, the group has developed a fear of an unknown future.
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