I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 508 The Treasure Ship Returns

Wow! Censor Li is something else, actually daring to commit suicide by running into a pillar in his remonstrance.

[Haha, Prince Rui told everyone to step back and clear the way for Censor Li to run into the pillar. Censor Li was so angry his face turned blue; if Lord Dong hadn't pulled him back, he would have really banged his head against the pillar in anger.]

[Oh my, King Xiao is quite the orator! He debated with the scholars, making two of the three most vehement opponents faint. Luckily, the tyrant had summoned the imperial physician to wait outside beforehand, otherwise he might have suffered heatstroke in this sweltering heat!]

[Haha, the tyrant really loves to stir things up, he actually ordered mung bean soup to be served, saying he was worried his ministers would get thirsty from all the arguing and needed a break before continuing the discussion. Is he afraid of not infuriating those old ministers?]

[The Grand Tutor is more rational; his questions are all on point. Two years ago, Prince Xiao might not have been able to answer them, but in the two years he's been away, Prince Xiao and his group have done more than just investigate and punish corrupt officials. While they may not have a complete understanding of the situation across the country, they have a good grasp of most of it and are capable of handling it.]

[Prince Xiao is indeed resourceful; Young Master Yan really didn't inform his family. He'll probably get a good beating after court.]

Of the six ministers, two opposed, two supported, and two remained silent—quite evenly distributed.

[Hmm... the opposition is mostly composed of civil officials, and so are the cunning and scheming ones. The tyrant's move has hit a nerve; let's see how things develop.]

The live stream post was updated extremely quickly, and Chu Liuzheng scrolled down rapidly.

At first, the ministers used relatively elegant language and maintained a degree of politeness. However, they later began to insult each other's parents and ancestors, using vulgar language comparable to cursing in a market.

[Tsk tsk, no wonder he was the second-highest scorer back then, his vocabulary for insults is so rich.]

[Wow, they've started fighting! They resort to violence when they can't win an argument, how tasteless!]

[Is that so? A gentleman uses words, not fists. Keep arguing!]

[Hahaha, he actually used his official position to settle a personal score by stripping people of their clothes! Wang Yushi is such a scoundrel! If an artist were to paint the scene inside the Fengtian Hall, it would definitely be a masterpiece that will be passed down through generations.]

As Chu Liuzheng flipped through the pages, he grew tired, but the argument inside the Fengtian Hall continued. The argument went on for five days, during which the emperor held two private talks with the Grand Tutor, three talks with the ministers of the Six Ministries, and several other officials.

On the sixth day, before the officials could argue, the emperor made the final decision: tax reform was imperative. It would be overseen by Prince Xiao, the Minister of Revenue, and the Director of the Censorate, with the Embroidered Uniform Guard supervising the process. Specific details would be distributed to local governments.

Under the imperial decree, the garrison was mobilized to cooperate with local governments in surveying and assessing land. Anyone who caused trouble or gathered crowds to resist was imprisoned and, after verification, dealt with according to the law.

Those who are stubborn and unruly, those who instigate trouble, shall be killed!

Blood stained the earth, and wails and cheers rose at the same time.

Messages kept arriving at the emperor's desk, and more were being sent out.

Chu Liuzheng spent several days and nights searching through the system, using Yi Zhen as a shield to reveal the locations of several gold and silver mines, thus relieving the pressure on the national treasury.

King Xiao and his entourage traveled to various places, repeatedly surviving assassination attempts and narrowly escaping death several times.

The lights in the Wenhua Hall stayed on all night. Chu Liuzheng began to stay up with the emperor, and this continued for several months. By the time the situation was settled, snowflakes were already falling outside the window.

Winter has arrived, and everything in sight, except for the roof tiles, is pure white.

Chu Liuzheng exhaled a puff of white breath towards the sky and led his people to the Imperial Garden for a stroll, where they unexpectedly encountered Yi Zhen lying on the ice.

She looked at the thick ice and then at Yi Zhen, who was bundled up like a bear, and asked in surprise, "Is this... your new kind of fun?"

“No,” Yi Zhen said. “I was lying on the ice to catch carp.”

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

This guy's brain must be frozen solid.

"Lie down slowly." She lifted her foot and left.

Listening to the crunching sound of his boots on the snow, Yi Zhen rolled around on the ice and looked up at the gray-blue sky.

[System, calculate when I can leave this world?] [At least five years? Why does it have to take so long?]

I'm not in a hurry, but I'm so bored! Let's go to a place with internet in the next world, I want to play games!

1000 points? Why don't you just rob someone?! 20 is the maximum.

Okay, 200 it is. I want to pilot a mech in the next world!

*
In the fifth month of the eighth year of the Shunguang reign, a messenger on an urgent mission, traveling 800 li, arrived in the capital, announcing the return of the treasure ships.

The emperor was overjoyed and personally led a group to the port to welcome him.

【I'm coming! 】

Chu Liuzheng stood on tiptoe and looked out.

Against the backdrop of the azure sea and sky, sails fluttered like white birds.

The people on the boat waved their arms and shouted towards the shore; Chu Liuzheng even heard a few wolf howls.

The treasure ship docked.

Two hundred treasure ships went out, but only eighty-six returned, and nearly half of the personnel were lost. The hardships they endured can be glimpsed from the haggard faces of those who returned.

The group recalled the days of tossed and turned at sea, the countless times they doubted themselves, the countless times they gritted their teeth and persevered, fighting pirates, being tricked by natives, and almost being boiled alive. Laughter gradually mingled with sobs. Finally... they were back! They were back!

"We have successfully carried out our mission and brought back all three divine artifacts!" The thin, dark-skinned man, as thin as a bamboo pole, knelt down before the emperor with tears in his eyes, holding up a mahogany box about the length of a forearm. "May Heaven bless our Great Sheng! Long live Your Majesty!"

The people on the ship all knelt down, shouting, "May Heaven bless our Great Sheng! Long live the Emperor!"

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The crowd on the shore knelt down and shouted in unison. Chu Liuzheng was about to kneel down with the crowd when Xiao Jingfan grabbed him and made him stand beside the Emperor, listening to the crowd shout "Long live the Emperor!" three times.

Holy crap! Is this what it feels like to be an emperor?

Her eyes widened as she scanned the backs of everyone's heads.

No wonder everyone wants to be an emperor; who wouldn't want to be a father every day?

However, being a good emperor is too easy and leads to an early death; one's life is more important.

Hearing his thoughts, Xiao Jingfan glanced at the woman beside him, took the wooden box from Fan Hong's hand, and personally helped her up, saying, "Rise."

Everyone stood up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Lord Fan was so fat from his wife's feeding that he was nothing but skin and bones, and his face was haggard, but his eyes shone like fire.

He couldn't wait to show the emperor the contents of the wooden box, "Your Majesty, look, this is a potato, this is a sweet potato, and these kernels are corn."

Chu Liuzheng turned his head to look and saw that the box contained round, lumpy potatoes, long, lumpy sweet potatoes, and half a corn cob with dry, hard corn kernels.

Shredded potatoes, stewed beef with potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, sweet potato porridge, stir-fried sweet potato leaves, boiled corn, roasted corn, ...

She mentally recited a string of dish names, which made her mouth water, so she quickly shifted her focus and helped arrange for a doctor to come aboard to examine the crew members.

What was presented to the emperor was merely a sample; the carefully selected seeds were loaded onto the ship.

Fan Hong and his group only discovered after setting sail that the three divine items actually came in different varieties, each growing differently in different places. To prevent them from acclimatizing, they bought and exchanged them, spending almost twice as much time, bringing back a little of each, and even sending people to learn cultivation methods from the locals.

However, in order to grow corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes in Dasheng, a new method suitable for the people of Dasheng naturally needs to be developed.

(End of this chapter)