Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

Click... click...

The warhorse moved forward slowly, carrying Lu Chen under the almost fanatical gazes of the people of Yuzhou.

When Lu Chen walked over, although he didn't say anything, he raised his hand from time to time and bowed to the people on his left and right. Whether in his behavior or words, he did not have the airs of a first-rank official in the court.

At the same time, all the soldiers who came to Yuzhou for the first time felt Lu Chen's terrifying influence here.

The people of Xingping County who joined the army looked at the pairs of eyes full of admiration around them and inexplicably recalled the time when they were infected with the blood plague. Lu Chen ran back and forth in the epidemic area regardless of his own safety, inspecting and comforting each ward. Their eyes could not help but tear up.

They understood better than anyone else why these people were so crazy about Lu Chen.

After all, their lives were given by Lu Chen. With such grace of rebirth, their love for Lu Chen is no less than anyone else’s.

The large army continued to move forward, and as soon as the people on both sides saw Lu Chen, they would cheer loudly to welcome Lu Chen's arrival.

Feeling the people's heartfelt respect, the soldiers suddenly had a feeling of honor and a strong sense of mission. They couldn't help but look ahead at the towering "Lu" military flag with respect on their faces.

Being able to follow such a person is simply the greatest honor of their lives.

Jiang Chengyue looked at the lively faces on both sides of the road, and his expression inexplicably became a little complicated.

Then she took a deep breath and looked at Lu Chen who was condescending to bow to the people in front of her, and she gradually had a clue in her mind.

She seemed to understand why Lu Chen could always create miracles that were difficult for ordinary people to understand and imagine, and she also understood why her sister valued him so much.

This man is not only talented and determined, but also has an irresistible personal charm. He has almost no shortcomings, and you will be deeply attracted to him without realizing it.

When she thought of this, her eyes narrowed slightly, and there was a depth in her eyes that did not belong to her age.

The welcoming team of Yuzhou people was extremely long, stretching for several miles all the way to the Yuzhou city gate, and all the soldiers of Lu Chen’s army slowly walked into the outer city amid waves of loud shouts.

"Cang Yue."

After crossing the outer city gate, Lu Chen took out the command flag and called Cangyue.

"The general is here!"

Cangyue responded loudly without hesitation, as if she had been waiting for a long time, then rode forward and bowed to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen glanced at her strangely.

This girl's reaction...why does it feel weird...

Are all the senior generals of the Cang Ling Army of such high quality...

Shaking his head, he didn't think much about it, and directly took out the command flag and half a tiger talisman from his waist, handed them to Cangyue, and then said seriously: "You will be responsible for the placement and training of the army later. Before I give the order, the army will stay in the outer city and must not move lightly."

"promise!"

Cangyue bowed in response, then took the tiger talisman and the command flag, and led the 60,000 troops towards the camp in the outer city.

Soon, only Fu Ya and Chai Hongyu were left by Lu Chen's side, as well as a group of civil servants and the elite Xuan Ji Guards assigned to him by the empress.

"Let's go."

He spoke calmly.

"The unprecedented change in Zhongzhou in ten thousand years begins here."

Hearing this, the two women behind him suddenly looked stern.

Although these were extremely simple words, the weight conveyed between the lines was so heavy that even they subconsciously felt suffocated.

Two years ago, Fu Hua was attacked when she was breaking through the Guiyi realm in Yuzhou, and Lu Chen was nearly killed in the battle. The empress was furious and massacred all the local noble families on the grounds of reselling official grain and killing court officials. She wiped out most of the big families like plowing the land.

After this incident, all people of some status in Sui and Yu states were frightened by the bloody massacre. The small and medium-sized landlords who were not implicated basically spent all their wealth and fled. Even the King of Sui did not dare to be arrogant and always restrained the people in the palace. After that, there was no force in the two states that could affect the operation of the government.

At the same time, as Lu Chen carried out a series of drastic reforms in Sui and Yu states, local officials such as Fang Yu tried their best to promote and continue his policies, which made the people's livelihood and customs of the two states completely new. Thanks to Fang Yu's efforts, countless merchants rushed to various counties in Yuzhou to do business.

Without the oppression of landlords and wealthy families, local people directly demonstrated their strong production and creativity, constantly reclaiming wasteland and building farmland. In addition, with the guidance and innovation of local officials such as Li Xuan who were proficient in agriculture and sericulture, the grain output of the two states increased several times. Even with the policy of light taxes and levies, the grain taxes paid were comparable to those in the Jiangnan region, which was known as a land of fish and rice.

Today, Yuzhou has extremely developed industry and commerce, and its benefits are shared with the whole world. Its planting and animal husbandry industries also rank first among the surrounding provinces.

Here, whether farming, doing business, or working in the city, industry, agriculture, or commerce, as long as you work hard, you can live a good life. Compared to the past before Lu Chen was in charge of the two states, when people were like walking corpses and had no hope, life now is like a god.

Not only that, because the commerce in Sui and Yu states was extremely developed and the merchants themselves were very mobile, they spread the message that the two states implemented benevolent policies and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, which immediately attracted people who had suffered from disasters in various provinces to migrate and settle down. The local government accepted everyone, no matter how many people came, and registered them all.

As a result, the population of the two states has continued to grow rapidly, further stimulating the potential here.

The spiritual energy in the two states is already extremely rich. With a large population invested in development, the output of various crops and livestock has skyrocketed. In a continuous positive cycle, the development speed here is no less than that of the capital, and even faster.

This is also the reason why Jiang Chengwan asked Lu Chen to come to Yuzhou to set up a government office instead of going to a provincial capital of a higher level.

Therefore, the current situation of Lu Chen in charge of the two states is completely different from the last time when he worked so hard that he almost died of exhaustion in office.

Now he controls the Sui and Yu states, which have a huge amount of money, grain and military equipment. He also has a very high popularity among the people, and almost all the people are united. Both the economic potential and the war potential are extremely high. He also has the military and political power of seven provinces, and holds the Human Emperor Sword...

You can almost say that you can get whatever you want.

With such terrifying resources at his disposal, there are so many things he can do.

The first thing he did when he entered Yuzhou City Defense Office was to establish Lingyun Prefecture with reference to the general framework of the imperial court. He appointed all the civil and military officials he brought with him and made the highest authority of the seven provinces function as soon as possible.

Xia Yan was appointed as the Chief Secretary of Lingyun Prefecture.

When Lu Chen was busy administering the local government.

Suizhou City, inside the Sui Palace.

"Uncle Wang."

A young man wearing a jade-scale robe that only the royal family is qualified to wear frowned and said earnestly to the Sui king who was sitting high on the main throne: "Now treacherous ministers are in power, traitors are in chaos, the country is in turmoil, and the people are living in misery. Daxia is in danger of collapse. It is time for us, the descendants of the royal family, to stand up and face the national crisis together."

"Countless people of noble character and lofty ideals have gathered under the command of the King of Chu. Famous families have given their all to help. Five dukes have even spent all their wealth just to help the King of Chu launch an expedition to the north. If we allow the thief Lu and King Cangming to do what they want, there will be no place for people of insight like us to survive in the world."

"Uncle Wang is now in the heart of the rebels, so he can help us act in secret..."

However, before he could finish, the obese King Sui scolded him coldly and shouted angrily: "Shut up, you disloyal, unjust, unkind and unfilial person. I was personally conferred the title of king by Emperor Long'an. The previous emperor and the current emperor have never treated me badly. On the contrary, I have shown a lot of favors. How can I do as you wish and join forces with the rebel King Chu to commit treason? How can I do such an ungrateful act?!" "I have seen that since Your Majesty came to power, he has always put national affairs first, worked diligently and loved the people, implemented benevolent policies, and his achievements have spread to the four seas and his virtues have shone through the nine states. He has the appearance of a sage monarch. Lu Shaobao and Cangming Shengwang are also pillars of the country. They are loyal to Daxia and work hard with Your Majesty to work together for the most prosperous era. How can there be talk of treacherous ministers disrupting politics?"

Hearing this, the young man was stunned.

"Uncle Wang...you..."

He looked as if he was doubting life.

What?
Did I hear it right?
The King of Sui is actually... praising the current court, the Empress, the thief Lu, and the old thief Cangming?

Not
Isn't this right?

King Yu died tragically, and the two states of Sui and Yu were in chaos because of Lu Chen and his disciples. Some of the noble families died, some fled, and the lowly peasants turned against Tiangang. The Sui Palace voluntarily handed over a lot of property, and even the Sui King himself went to some of the peasants' homes to apologize and beg for forgiveness by giving away land. He was not involved in the conspiracy to kill Lu Chen, so he escaped the empress's reckoning...

Immediately afterwards, the Tian Ce Mansion was restructured and the treatment of the royal family in their fiefdoms was changed. The King of Sui was the first to be affected and his interests suffered the most.

Logically speaking, after suffering such a huge loss and humiliation for no reason, the King of Sui should be extremely disgusted with the current court and would do his utmost to cooperate with them to overthrow the empress. Why would he react like this?
This is unreasonable!

The King of Sui did not give him a chance to speak. He stood up suddenly, pointed at him and cursed: "Shut up! Don't call me uncle. I don't have a shameless nephew like you!"

"Come here, capture this villain for me, send him to Yuzhou in prison, and hand him over to Lu Shaobao for punishment."

"Here!"

The moment the Sui king finished speaking, the Sui king's guards outside the door immediately responded and took action. Before the young man could react, he was controlled by the guards who were holding sharp weapons shoulder to shoulder.

The young man looked at King Sui in shock and said loudly:

"Uncle Wang, why is this?"

"Why did you still side with that thief Lu when he insulted you so much? Even if you have concerns and don't want to join us in this great cause, you won't harm your nephew, right?"

"Humph!"

King Sui snorted coldly.

"Although your father and I have a history, I am the prince of Daxia. I should be loyal to the court and put the Jiang family's country first. How can I ignore the greater good because of personal feelings? If it were other things, it would be fine, but you assisted the King of Chu and conspired to rebel. This is a crime of treason. If I let you go, how can I be worthy of my ancestors of the Daxia royal family?"

The young man opened his mouth and wanted to say something else, but the King of Sui directly ordered the guards:

"Take away."

"Here!"

The guards of the Sui Palace carried out the Sui King's orders with great loyalty. They ignored the young man's struggles and wailing and carried him out without any courtesy.

After the young man was pressed down, King Sui sat down heavily.

"Huh... Fortunately this guy doesn't have any backup plan."

After a while, footsteps were heard behind me.

"Father."

It was the voice of his son, Crown Prince Jiang Yunke.

King Sui turned his head and looked at Jiang Yunke. The anger and solemnity he had just shown disappeared, replaced by a deep look of kindness.

"Ke'er, why are you here?"

Jiang Yunke bowed and said, "I heard that a cousin from the south came to visit you, father, so I came to see you. Father, where is the guest?"

King Sui shook his head.

"What cousin? He's just a traitor. He's been captured by your father and sent to Lu Shaobao."

Hearing this, Jiang Yunke's expression suddenly relaxed, and then he said with a smile:

"Father is wise."

King Sui was stunned for a moment, but then he quickly reacted and couldn't help but laugh.

"You, don't think that I, your father, would do anything stupid at this time, do you?"

Jiang Yunke smiled but said nothing.

King Sui sighed with emotion and continued:
"The Tiance Mansion has been restructured. Although our palace has lost the fixed salary it received from the court every month, thanks to the rapid development of Suizhou in the past two years, the taxes paid by the people to the government have increased, and the share we can get from the local government has also increased."

"Compared to the half-tax revenue from the Suizhou government, the income and salary from our palace are nothing!"

At this point, he couldn't help but say a dirty word that was totally unbecoming of a royal family.

Jiang Yunke didn't care at all and even nodded in agreement.

"Yes, father, the new policy implemented by the Tiance Mansion seems to harm the interests of our royal family, but in the long run, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages, especially here in Suizhou."

"The money and grain we received from the government last year is almost equal to the income of the palace in the previous five years."

"Ha ha!"

The King of Sui laughed heartily.

"I have now figured it out. The royal family of Great Xia shares weal and woe with the country. The royal family and the people share weal and woe and have common interests. We should stand on the side of the people. As long as the people live a stable and better life, they will naturally pay more taxes. When the tax revenue goes up, the lives of our royal children will naturally be better."

"What's the point of hanging out with scholars and nobles like before? Those people rely on the imperial dynasty's policy of preferential treatment for scholars and monks and never pay taxes. Our royal family can't get their money at all."

"The gifts they gave us before were essentially plundered from the people. Logically, part of that money should have been used to pay taxes, and then legitimately fell into our pockets. In the end, they took a lot of it. The reform of Tiance Mansion is actually returning to us what we should have received."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunke immediately bowed to the King of Sui.

"That's indeed the truth. I hope you can understand it, Father."

At this time, the King of Sui suddenly remembered something: "I heard that the proposal to reform the policy of supporting the royal family was actually proposed by Lu Shaobao, but he was a low-ranking official at the time, so Your Majesty asked the Holy King Cangming to preside over this matter." (End of this chapter)