allonlinenovel Chapter 115 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 46
Chapter 115 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 46
On the day of the execution, Tongzhou City was brought to a standstill.
Busy Tongzhou residents gathered at the gate, and even villagers from outside the city, informed by the border troops, braved the wind and snow to come to the Tongzhou city gate.
In no time, the city gates were completely surrounded, and the yamen runners who were maintaining order were so crowded that their hats fell off. Helpless, Xiao Yao had to order the border troops to come and form a human wall to prevent the people from getting too agitated.
A loud-voiced clerk stood at the city gate, loudly proclaiming the crimes of those to be executed, and families were pushed outside the city gate.
Some of them wept uncontrollably, some looked numb, and some cursed loudly.
But no matter what attitude they had, they couldn't escape the fate of being beheaded with a swift stroke of the knife.
Officials who were guilty of crimes deserving death were all beheaded. Their family members under the age of twelve who had not abused or killed servants were simply put into slavery and were not pardoned even if they were granted a pardon.
Even so, nearly twenty children were taken to the execution ground.
Blood stained the ground, and the people went from cheering to silence, and then to wailing.
They didn't care whether it was unlucky for someone to die before the New Year. They only knew that these people died before the New Year, and when they visited the graves of their families who died under the heavy taxes and the trampling of barbarians, they had a lot to say.
The death of these people is the greatest blessing for them!
Looking at the heartbroken people, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review sighed, "It is our fault."
The other elders watched this scene indifferently, feeling a few emotions, but not many.
At this moment, what they were thinking about more was taking the evidence they had found concerning officials in the capital back to Beijing and killing another batch of people.
"From this point on, there is no place for us in the imperial court." The Minister of Revenue sighed dejectedly, "With this matter settled, I will retire and return to my hometown!"
If he doesn't return to his hometown soon, he'll probably die in the meat grinder in the capital.
His former ambition to support the new emperor and extend the family's lifespan for another fifty years was suddenly shattered by the emperor's repeated crackdowns and suppression.
This incident is the emperor's punishment for their incompetence and also his dissatisfaction with their excessive instigation of the emperor's internal strife.
In the past, even if he had received a warning, he would not have dared to back down even a step due to the infighting among his students, friends, and officials, fearing that his family would collapse because of him and that his own old age would be in jeopardy.
But now?
The family has already collapsed, and he is already in danger in his old age, so why should he care about anything else?
You can fight it out yourselves, I'm going back to my hometown to farm!
The other elders exchanged glances, then nodded silently.
This imperial court is truly unbearable to stay in.
The merit of following the emperor is not worth having.
Members of the family must wait until the new emperor ascends the throne before they can enter the court.
Although it's a pity that they didn't get to contribute to the rise of the new emperor, it's still better than the whole family dying in the power struggle.
The emperor's manner of killing people based on his family and relatives' genealogy was truly terrifying!
While the crowd was excitedly trying to tear apart the corrupt official's body to take back to their families, the elderly men quietly withdrew from the crowd.
They didn't wait a moment longer; they packed their bags and headed home.
Xiao Yao asked in surprise, "There are still seven days until the New Year. Don't the adults stay until after the New Year to leave?"
The senior officials bowed politely and said, "There are many matters to attend to in the capital, Your Highness Prince Rui, there is no need to keep us any longer!"
When they no longer wanted to participate in the struggle for the crown prince, Xiao Yao, the prince far away in the northern desert, lost his value in winning them over.
The future emperor's brother is someone whose authority cannot be compromised by these old men.
As for whether he will become the final winner in the battle for the throne?
Haha, this guy can't even see through his own queen's talent, he should just keep messing around in the northern desert!
Xiao Yao wasn't annoyed by the cold reception. He smiled and prepared some dry rations before politely seeing them off at the border.
The officials left 70% of the confiscated property in the northern desert to rebuild Tongcheng.
Adults, be kind!
"By my decree, officials' salaries shall be doubled during the New Year holidays, and work shall not be suspended!"
"Slaughter half of the remaining cattle and sheep outside the city! We must not allow a situation where there is no meat available inside or outside the city during the New Year festival!"
"By order of the Princess, fireworks will be set off for half an hour on New Year's Eve. The people and the military camp are invited to watch!"
"The Princess also decrees that the border troops' meat rations be doubled during the holidays, and each set of clothes will be provided with double pay!"
"The Princess has issued another decree: all work inside and outside the new city shall be suspended for three days, and each person shall be given one pound of grain!"
The officials of all ranks in Tongcheng were overjoyed to see the prince's spirited announcement of the princess's decree.
When those old officials were still around, the Princess Consort seemed to have disappeared.
Although they didn't know why, they felt sorry for the princess who had killed the barbarians and brought them delicious meat. They thought the prince was just like other officials who talked a lot of classical Chinese, and he wouldn't let the princess leave the inner quarters.
Now, the prince's pedantic mind has finally returned to normal, and they can finally see the princess riding a horse again!
Xiao Yao was unaware that he had been scolded by the people and was smilingly boasting to Ling Yi about his achievements!
Ling Yi: "..."
She researched gunpowder for war, the fireworks were an accident, she only wanted to set them off for Xiao Yao to play with, the extra meat at the border camp was real, the holiday in Xincheng was real, but everything after that was fake!
Humans' threshold for satisfying desires will continue to rise. Lingyi wants to proceed step by step, maximizing benefits and winning people's hearts while minimizing expenses.
But what about Xiao Yao...?
This prodigal son!
Suddenly, Lingyi felt a pang of nostalgia for him from the first world.
Cold-blooded capitalists will never give their employees a penny more than reasonable incentives!
"Don't be sad, Yi Yi. It's the New Year, and we should celebrate with everyone!" Xiao Yao chuckled and tugged at Ling Yi's sleeve, leading her to see the New Year's goods he had prepared.
After this period of training, he is no longer some ignorant and extravagant young master.
He was like this...
It's all for the sake of stimulation.
Although Yi Yi looked adorable with her little abacus all day long, he always felt that it wasn't quite right, and it always reminded him of Yi Yi's cold demeanor that night.
He always felt that Yi-Yi was still affected by that night.
He didn't want Yi Yi to become like a sword, so he had no choice but to tighten his belt and cut his own wallet!
The extra money all went into Tongcheng's accounts through his private savings, and was not used for next year's construction funds at all!
and……
Yi Yi's distressed look is actually quite cute!
Xiao Yao smiled secretly, his eyes crinkling. He took Ling Yi's sleeve and went to see all kinds of fireworks, to see the strange and wonderful local specialties of the northern desert, and to see the double New Year's red envelopes he had prepared for his servants.
what……
Why is Yi Yi's face dark again?
Whatever, it's cuter than when she's frowning!
Ling Yi's brain was buzzing with anger at Xiao Yao's extravagant behavior.
At this point, she stopped calculating how to exploit the people and started figuring out how to rob the barbarians a few more times so that the Prince Rui's mansion wouldn't go bankrupt.