flstandardbreds Chapter 117 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 48
Chapter 117 Rebellious Officials of the Former Dynasty 48
Because Tongzhou City was in dire need of reconstruction, Xiao Yao, who was so busy that her eyes were swollen with sweat, gritted her teeth and said, "Yi Yi, stop talking!"
They were responsible for building factories, ironworks, and coal yards; renovating the city and constructing buildings outside the city; managing the logistics of the military camps; and overseeing the cattle, sheep, and slaves that Ling Yi had brought back.
However, Xiao Yao, who had come of age, felt that he had grown more than ten years older in just one spring.
But if he's so busy, what is Yi Yi doing?
Oh, she's out buying snacks, tricking the maids in the mansion out of candy, and running around attending soldiers' weddings.
This person had a lot of excuses. She didn't think she was being idle; she just thought she was investigating the people's conditions and sharing their joy!
Damn it, how could his Yi-Yi be so awful!
His Highness Prince Rui puffed out his cheeks in protest, but quickly withdrew them when a minor official entered, adopting a dignified demeanor.
After this period of busy work, he has gained considerable prestige in the city. The officials under him, big and small, would never know that while His Highness Prince Rui is busy during the day, he pretends to cry and rolls around on his bed in the Prince Rui's mansion at night, asking the Princess Consort to help him go to work.
Unfortunately, the princess's hearing was sometimes impaired, and she couldn't hear his pleas.
Ling Yi raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong? Am I not allowed to remark on the prosperity under my rule?"
She bowed respectfully to Xiao Yao, saying, "Your Highness Prince Rui is truly talented, managing to make such a small city as Tongcheng so vibrant. I admire you!"
Under her praise, Xiao Yao almost wagged his tail, and the corners of his lips turned up high.
After a moment, he cleared his throat and said, "Stop with the sweet talk, let's get down to business!"
As he spoke, he handed several letters from the capital to Ling Yi.
Ling Yi glanced at it for a moment, then smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen."
The old men who had beheaded nearly a thousand people in Tongcheng returned to the capital and, disregarding the New Year celebrations, still raised their knives.
Those who had once protected Sun Gaoshuo and Gao Xu all became victims of their blades.
Even those officials who had not been protected, but only had ordinary acquaintances with them and had received small gifts from them, were demoted several ranks and sent to Yazhou to take up their posts.
This winter, not only was the northern desert stained with blood, but the capital city was also stained with blood.
More importantly, the second prince also perished in this ordeal.
There was no other reason than that he was Sun Gaoshuo's biggest backer in the capital.
This robust prince, who had also fought alongside the emperor on the battlefield, had shared several months of camaraderie with Sun Gaoshuo.
So when Sun Gaoshuo presented the gift, he only hesitated for a moment before accepting it.
He must have known that Sun Gaoshuo had done some shameful things, but he did not know that Sun Gaoshuo was so depraved that he aroused his father's murderous intent.
Now things are really messed up. His mother was demoted, and he himself was stripped of his title and adopted by the emperor's half-brother, who had died decades earlier, as his heir.
The younger brother died at the age of three, and it's unknown how the emperor, who was over seventy, came to think of him.
In just one year, several princes have been killed. The struggles in the capital are getting more and more intense.
Ling Yi shook the paper and turned the letter over without much interest.
But what does this have to do with her?
What she wanted to see wasn't the affairs of these princes, but the death of the Third Prince, Xiao Xian!
This second letter is interesting.
In the winter, along with the elders returning home, Xiao Yao also brought them New Year's gifts.
Among them were some special products from the northern desert, but the most unique were the little things that Ling Yi had researched.
For example, soft fabrics made of cashmere.
In addition to offering tributes to Lady Yu and the Emperor, a small shop selling local specialties from the northern deserts opened in the capital.
In an era when royalty and nobility were still using various animal hides and wearing silk and satin to get through the winter, these cashmere fabrics were truly a groundbreaking invention.
This wonderful item, which could keep adults warm on their way to court, quickly became something that the powerful and wealthy flocked to.
Leaving aside how much of this involved currying favor with Prince Rui, who had led the emperor to commit massacres and remained a favorite of the emperor, Ling Yi only knew that these things had already become a hot topic in the capital.
Her cashmere fabrics are going to be subject to luxury tax in Beijing, a ruthless rip-off for the rich!
The last letter was a message from the emperor dispatching new officials to the northern desert.
The minor officials and clerks who were left behind could not fill the empty government offices that had been emptied by the killings; the big shots still had to be sent from the capital.
Ling Yi didn't even bother to guess how many of them were spies sent from the capital.
With such a sudden and significant move in the northern desert, it would be strange if the emperor and his princes weren't keeping an eye on them!
After pondering for a moment while holding the paper, Ling Yi said, "Before they arrive, I need to go and rob one more group!"
Although she attacked the grasslands a few days ago under the pretext of discovering barbarian cavalry in the villages, this reason could not withstand close scrutiny. A closer look would reveal that the cavalrymen who appeared in the villages might have been washing wool in the Queen's wool factory the day before.
Now that these officials with their classical Chinese sayings have arrived, if she continues to act so recklessly, she might be accused of violating the law.
Therefore, Lingyi decided to go ahead before they arrived, so as not to waste the station's manpower on transporting these boring words.
So, the barbarian cavalrymen, who had just finished patrolling the grasslands and hadn't even had a chance to sit down in their tribes, discovered that thieves had broken into the grasslands again!
They had already investigated the caravans heading to Tongcheng and found out that the woman who came to take their cattle and sheep was none other than the Princess Consort of Prince Rui!
That woman who roams the underworld is ruthless!
For the first time, the people of the grasslands felt a sense of disappointment and frustration towards the emperor of the Southern Dynasty.
What happened to your supposed emphasis on family background? You just married a nobody from the underworld?
Do you even know what it means for people of different social classes not to marry? Quickly divorce this devil and marry a truly virtuous and kind woman!
Some shamans have even started performing rituals, cursing the woman who committed the robbery to die on the grasslands.
No matter how much these people curse Ling Yi, Ling Yi will still take what she wants!
She killed or captured the barbarian cavalry, took away the slaves who were working, and took away the cattle, sheep and gold and silver treasures, leaving only the old, weak and sick to the grassland.
In the past, women were an important resource on the grasslands.
In order to reproduce, countless tribes even turned against each other with weapons.
But after Ling Yi robbed them a few times, the grassland tribe that received her remaining spoils suddenly realized that they couldn't afford to feed them anymore!
Although these women can work, they can't wield knives, and they still give birth!
The original number of cavalry was simply insufficient to protect the vast number of tribes, and the newborn children seized too many resources, causing frequent conflicts among the various tribes.