Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Jingsheng was enraged by the secret report from Jiangnan!

He said coldly:

"Those powerful families in Jiangnan have no sense of national identity whatsoever; they are all parasites sucking the blood of the nation."

"Not only do they not do anything useful for the court, but they also constantly obstruct the implementation of the court's new policies. They deserve to die!"

Emperor Jingsheng was well aware of the nature of the officials in the south, who all considered it an honorable achievement to have their prefectures and counties pay less tax.

from their perspective,

Reducing taxes means that the court will not compete with the people for profit. Of course, the people here refer to the powerful families that can affect their official reputation and future prospects.

They advocated for preferential treatment in taxation for the gentry, who in turn promoted their reputation, calling them good and honest officials who stood up for the people.

However, in Emperor Jingsheng's eyes, these officials were all parasites who deserved to be killed, and their evil was even worse than that of corrupt officials who embezzled and embezzled.

These officials had one attitude towards the gentry and powerful families, and another attitude towards the common people under their rule.

They only considered the interests of the gentry and powerful families, but didn't consider what would happen if the imperial court had no taxes!

He viewed the new policies, such as unified service, unified tax payment, merging land tax with poll tax, and abolition of the fire tax, which harmed the interests of the gentry and powerful families, as evil policies and repeatedly opposed them.

The imperial court had no money for disaster relief, no money for military pay, and was in financial difficulty. Their suggestion was to levy additional taxes on ordinary people under various pretexts, such as Liaodong tax and training tax.

Exploiting the common people while avoiding powerful clans, picking on the weak – that's their way of being an official.

They don't care when ordinary people are forced to the brink of starvation, or when war breaks out across the land.

In any case, even if the Han Dynasty is gone, the real loss will be to the royal family, not them. Most of them can still hold their official positions in the new dynasty.

Emperor Jingsheng had no mood to read any more memorials, so he stood up and paced around.

Unconsciously, he walked to the poem by Jia Jing hanging on the wall, stared at it intently, and murmured to himself:

"If it benefits the nation, I will risk my life; how could I avoid it because of personal fortune or misfortune? How many people have such a selfless heart as Zijie..."

Thinking of Jia Jing, Emperor Jingsheng's lips curled slightly, then he continued to speak to himself:

"I wonder how things are going with Zijie! Judging by the days, his two thousand light cavalry should be arriving at Yulin Garrison by now!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Shouzhong's expression shifted, and he was just about to reply.

Just then, the voices of palace maids and eunuchs came from outside, and Empress Zhou walked in from the outer room.

Empress Zhou stepped slowly into the hall. She wore no heavy makeup, yet her face shone like the bright moon, exuding a gentle yet serene strength. Her phoenix head was slightly lowered, and her posture was gentle.

His attire exuded solemnity without being ostentatious. The bright yellow robe was wide and had broad sleeves. The fabric was made of the finest silk gauze, which was soft to the touch yet crisp, and shimmered with a delicate sheen under the light.

Her hair was neatly styled and secured with a simple jade hairpin, with a few stray strands of hair at her temples making her appear even more gentle and graceful.

Her demeanor was composed and graceful, her back straight but not stiff, and every step she took was steady and dignified, without any deliberate affectation.

With a flick of her wrist, her wide sleeves billowed, revealing a simple jade bracelet on her wrist. It was ordinary mutton fat jade, without much carving, yet it blended perfectly with her overall demeanor.

Lady Zhou was Emperor Jingsheng's first wife, whom he had known and loved since he was a prince. Over the years, they had maintained a very good relationship.

She devoted herself to her husband and children in the palace, never seeking any benefits for her own family, and was renowned for her virtue throughout the court.

Empress Zhou walked to Emperor Jingsheng's side and said softly:

"Your Majesty, it's getting late; it's time for breakfast!"

Looking at Emperor Jingsheng's cold, hard face and furrowed brows, she felt a sense of worry.

His Majesty is so busy every day that he doesn't even eat on time. Recently, he has also reduced the number of staff in the palace, making him look even thinner.

He toils away on state affairs all day long, yet he neglects his own health. How can his body withstand this in the long run?

Empress Zhou sighed inwardly and instructed the palace maids behind her to place the dishes she had brought on the table one by one.

She didn't know much about court affairs and couldn't offer much help.

All they could do was have the imperial kitchen prepare some of Emperor Jingsheng's favorite dishes each day, and then personally deliver them to him, urging him to eat on time.

Upon seeing Empress Zhou's arrival, Emperor Jingsheng's expression softened somewhat, and he sighed:

"There are countless matters to attend to at court, and there's hardly any good news in the daily memorials. How can I possibly have the appetite to eat?"

Seeing Emperor Jingsheng's worried expression, Empress Zhou stepped forward, took his hand, and softly comforted him:

"The affairs of the state are fraught with difficulties; Your Majesty must take good care of your health! The entire nation depends on Your Majesty!"

As the saying goes, "Difficult things in the world must be done by starting with the easy ones, and great things in the world must be done by starting with the small ones. The more complicated things are, the less you should rush them."

"It's just like when we women do needlework. We have a thousand threads in our hands, but the eye of the needle can only pass through one thread at a time."

"Things should be dealt with one by one. Your Majesty should eat when you should eat and sleep when you should sleep. Only by taking good care of your health can you live a long life."

Emperor Jingsheng's expression softened upon hearing this, and he said in a deep voice:

"Zitong's words make sense! This is just like what Zijie said in his memorial to me: we should grasp the main issues and solve them first."

"The most crucial and paramount task for the court now is the war in the Northwest. Only by winning this war can the court have the resources to implement new policies, reorganize the army, and revitalize the nation!"

"Those corrupt officials and censors will finally shut up and stop spouting that nonsense about war and the inevitable destruction of the nation!"

Emperor Jingsheng's attitude clearly showed some dissatisfaction with the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy, and his words were unusually vulgar.

Empress Zhou paused for a moment upon hearing this, then realized that Zijie referred to Jia Jing, a trusted minister of Emperor Jingsheng.

She hadn't known the name Jia Jing for long, so she didn't immediately recognize it.

However, Jia Zijie was indeed trusted and respected by her husband.

Not only did he personally bestow the calligraphy, but he also gained control of hundreds of thousands of troops in the Northwest. Now, he always speaks of what Zijie had said.

It was as if he had memorized every word Jia Zijie had said.

Empress Zhou had never seen such favor from any other official in all these years.

I wonder what kind of magic Jia Zijie possesses that makes His Majesty value him so highly.

As Empress Zhou took the red date and bird's nest porridge prepared for Emperor Jingsheng from the palace maid, she gently comforted him:

"His Majesty has always said that Zijie is a general with both courage and wisdom, a great general bestowed upon you by Heaven."

"Last year, Zijie annihilated 150,000 troops of the puppet Qing dynasty in a single battle, which was one of the few major victories against the puppet Qing dynasty since the founding of our great Han dynasty."

"Given His Majesty's trust and support, it's only a matter of time before he leads the campaign in the Northwest!"

At this point, Empress Zhou smiled faintly and said softly:

"To be precise, this bowl of red date and bird's nest porridge that I'm holding was made with the silver that Zijie presented to me!"