Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 197 There’s a fuss
That morning, the post station was in an uproar again, as the envoys who had come from the northern barbarians and southern Miao tribes started causing trouble early in the morning.

Knowing full well that Da Jing didn't even have enough salt to eat, they insisted on demanding that Da Jing provide them with salt, causing a huge uproar throughout the city and making the already tense people even more anxious.

In this situation, who can remain calm and composed? Moreover, after so much commotion, the imperial court has still not given a clear answer, which makes the people feel uncertain.
Coupled with the instigation of certain individuals, the people, who had been holding back for so long, finally couldn't take it anymore. First, some people rushed to the salt office and frantically banged on the door, forcing the officials inside to deliver the salt. After receiving no response for a long time, the crowd became even more anxious. Led by those with ulterior motives, they stormed the salt office and even knocked down the door! But when the people rushed inside, they found that the warehouse at the back of the salt office was completely empty, without a single grain of salt. The people's already tense nerves finally broke down, and immediately someone in the street shouted that the imperial court had no salt left and was keeping it from them, perhaps to prevent the high-ranking officials from having any salt to eat.

Throughout history, humans have been easily swayed by their own kind. If a stranger on the street were shouting that war was coming, you certainly wouldn't believe it. But if your neighbors, your brothers and sisters were all saying war was coming and frantically buying up food and packing their belongings, ready to flee, would you believe them? You definitely would.

People can't buy salt to begin with, let alone open the salt office and find that there really isn't a single grain of salt left. Who wouldn't be anxious in that situation? When people are anxious, their emotions are easily stirred up.

When the Prefect of Jingzhao learned of the news, the entire capital was in an uproar. A massive crowd gathered and headed towards Chaowu Gate. If the people were to gather at Chaowu Gate and create a disturbance, not only would he lose his position as Prefect of Jingzhao, but he might not even be able to save his life.

The Prefect of Jingzhao immediately summoned his subordinates to gather and desperately try to stop them, but for some reason, these usually docile people were so violent today. Seeing that the situation was out of control, the Prefect of Jingzhao also scrambled into the palace to request an audience.

Today happened to be the day of the grand court assembly, and the civil and military officials were waiting to attend. However, they were all curious to see the Prefect of the Capital in such a state of disarray. After he spoke, everyone looked on incredulously. How could this be? In broad daylight, under the Emperor's very nose, how could the common people commit such a violent act?
Moreover, the officials at the Sifang Post Station also reported with worried expressions.

"Your Majesty, envoys from the Northern Barbarians, the Southern Miao, and neighboring small states have been requesting salt trade with us for several days in a row, and their attitude is becoming more and more aggressive each day. They have even attacked the officials at the post stations in all directions. I really don't know what to do..."

Emperor Jingtai, seated on the dragon throne, wore a crown, obscuring his expression from the assembled officials. They could only sense his growing displeasure. Indeed, given the current political climate, no one would be pleased to witness such a situation.

After a moment, Emperor Jingtai slowly rose and walked down from the high platform amidst the horrified gazes of his ministers, waving to them.

"Follow me, all of you."

No one knew what His Majesty intended to do. They exchanged glances and could only follow behind, walking quietly forward. Emperor Jingtai led the group directly to the highest tower in the palace. From there, they could see most of the imperial city and the long river that ran through the north and south of the Great Jingtai through the Chaowu Gate.

At this moment, in everyone's sight, a vast crowd of people gathered from all directions and headed straight for Chaowu Gate. Although they were far away and their words were somewhat inaudible, a few words could still be vaguely heard, the key word being 'salt'.

Those who can become officials are not stupid. At this point, they actually know what's going on, but no one dares to say it.

During Your Majesty's reign, the people of the capital actually gathered to riot—a scene worthy of being recorded in history, and certainly not a good thing. If it were them, they would be frantic with worry, so why does Your Majesty seem completely unperturbed? No, perhaps it's because Your Majesty is inwardly anxious, but doesn't want to show it in front of these officials.

"Did you see it?"

This……

No one dared to utter a sound. Even the Second Prince, who had recently risen to prominence, remained silent in the face of this situation. This was a matter that could lead to eternal infamy if one wasn't careful, and even he dared not do it now. At the same time, he felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, he wasn't the emperor yet. It was better for something to happen during his father's reign than for him to encounter such trouble after he ascended the throne and be unable to resolve it.

"Let's wait and see. What about those envoys from the northern barbarians and southern Miao? Let them come over too."

Hiss, at this moment no one dared to refuse His Majesty, and no one even raised any objections. They obediently summoned those noisy envoys.

The envoys were quite astute; seeing Emperor Jingtai's clearly displeased expression, they refrained from displaying their planned arrogance, especially the Left Prince of the Northern Barbarians, who remained remarkably quiet. Since the Great Jing Dynasty was already in such a chaotic state, even if he remained silent, Emperor Jingtai wouldn't be at ease. He wanted to see how Emperor Jingtai planned to clean up the mess. It was said that emperors of the Central Plains were extremely concerned about their posthumous reputation; if this matter wasn't handled properly, it could lead to eternal infamy. He could use this opportunity to properly mention the name of Princess Ying.

Isn't this a common tactic among men in the Central Plains? When natural disasters or man-made calamities occur, they absolve themselves of all responsibility and let the women take the fall...

By this time, the people had already gathered in front of the Chaowu Gate. A few clever ones had already realized that something was wrong and quietly slipped away, while the majority simply followed the crowd to the palace gate, not knowing what to do next, each one completely bewildered.

Just then, a few people who seemed to have a tacit understanding stepped out from the crowd. They were dressed in the clothes of ordinary people and raised their arms and shouted in front of the bewildered crowd.

"We want salt! Have you given all the salt to the high-ranking officials and nobles? Are we, the common people, just rootless weeds? We are also citizens of the Great Jing! Your Majesty, we pay our taxes and live obediently; we are all law-abiding citizens. Your Majesty, you can't just sit idly by and do nothing, can you?"

"That's right! Your Majesty, you can't just sit idly by. We have to survive! Yancheng produces so much salt every year, where does it all go? You have to give us an explanation. The Prince of Binyang is stationed in Yancheng, yet he can't even get enough salt for the daily needs of the people. Isn't that dereliction of duty? Just because he's Your Majesty's adopted son, does he think he can escape punishment?"

(End of this chapter)