You became an emperor by letting me AFK.

Oops.

The incident is neither a big deal nor a small one; it all depends on whether or not it is pursued.

If the high priest holds the matter accountable, even the city lord who has been granted a fiefdom will be in danger.

Her authority was not something that mere feudal lords could resist.

The autonomy granted by the High Priest is a courtesy offered to win you over. If you fail to demonstrate sufficient ability and hinder the overall development of the Great Qian Dynasty, you will be considered a heinous criminal in his eyes.

Efficiency is the most important thing.

The city lord slumped into his chair with a thud, rubbing his temples with an uneasy expression, and muttered, "Soothe the people as soon as possible, treat those who need treatment, compensate those who need compensation, and as for punishment... leave it to His Majesty to decide."

“That person is always discerning and will never wrongly accuse or unduly implicate others,” the resident priest agreed.

"I hope so, but I'm worried that I'll lose face in my old age."

"Taxation will inevitably create conflict, and this has been anticipated, so there is no need to worry."

"My intuition tells me this is not simple."

"What's the problem?"

"I don't know, but I've disgraced the temple. I might not be able to make up for it even with my life. You must put in a good word for me with the High Priest, for the sake of our past work together."

"I apologize, Your Excellency, the priest is always honest, and our reports are unvarnished."

"...Just record the facts as they are, that's enough."

After much deliberation, they prioritized stability, detaining key personnel and forgiving past transgressions to prevent further escalation. That was all they could do; the rest depended on the temple's decision.

After witnessing a series of actions, Xia He scratched his head and realized that the vassal states in the Daqian version were so weak and had very little financial independence.

Originally, taxes were reported directly to the temple, instead of going through the city lord first.

Tax sharing system?

Feng Tianyin's system has the characteristics of "central and local approval and tax sharing", but it is used in a more restrained manner.

The feudal lords she enfeoffed were not the same as those appointed by the Zhou emperor.

They preferred to outsource a small political entity, but in reality, they had no control over the crucial military, personnel appointments and dismissals, or financial matters. In reality, the local lords only controlled their own cities, and their orders did not extend beyond the city-state.

Xia He's eyes lit up: "No wonder it's always called a city-state or a feudal state."

The answer lies in the riddle.

As the name suggests, you are only like a feudal state if you are limited to the small area of ​​a city-state.

The tribes in the northern deserts seem to have more freedom because of their barren natural environment. They might give you more if they wanted to. The area outside the Great Wall is not like the fertile plains of the south, so the level of control is naturally different.

The little robot is, at its core, a powerful monarch.

She appears clumsy and weak in front of her creator, Xia He, but in reality, the name Feng Tianyin terrifies her subordinates.

In the eyes of many, this scandal has challenged the dignity of an emperor.

The turmoil reached Xiayi.

—That would stir up a storm.

------

Tiandao Temple.

The highest-ranking Imperial Study received a breaking news report, an urgent message relayed through the layers of government, a local emergency communication from the city lord level.

It is a formal document, but it is not necessarily the fastest one.

In fact, they had heard some scattered rumors even earlier, or rather, the people in this room had some premonitions, and most things did not surprise them.

But today is different.

Despite being always busy, Feng Tianyin was meditating, entering a deep state of concentration right in front of her desk.

"Your Majesty, I will take the liberty of opening it first."

Yu Xue naturally had the authority to witness on her behalf, especially since the High Priest was present. After reading the letter, a hint of vicissitude appeared on her face.

Tired.

As he grew older, even he felt a wave of dizziness upon hearing this devastating news. After all, it confirmed, in a sense, the dangers of the tax farming system under the city-state, inevitably sowing the seeds of future trouble. However, the high priest's attitude was even more subtle.

A moment later, Feng Tianyin opened her eyes under the concerned gazes of everyone.

"Heaven has seen this matter."

She had been tracking that peculiar psionic trajectory and guessed that the creator had also received intelligence alerts.

Given Xia He's curiosity, she probably went there, and considering the militia's seemingly divine intervention...

Pfft!

In the Imperial Study, from the highest-ranking officials to the lowest clerks, everyone knelt and bowed deeply before the ancestral tablets, which symbolized the worship of Heaven. Their faces were full of apology; it was truly a disgrace, a great loss of face.

It's bad enough to do something shameful, but to be caught by a high-ranking leader is even worse.

Heaven's will has stopped the trend of the incident from worsening, which is to say, it is a slap in the face and a lesson that makes people lose their footing.

Heaven bears witness.

A moment later, Feng Tianyin waved her hand. Since the Heavenly Dao Agent had expressed his opinion, everyone slowly stood up. Some people even needed to be helped to steady themselves, their hearts pounding with fear.

They didn't expect that this incident would attract the attention of Heaven.

Although no specific instructions were given, it was a great humiliation that must be made up for.

The high-ranking officials of the temple exchanged unfriendly glances, unanimously declaring that the culprit, Long Shanpo's incompetent teammate, should be severely punished. This was outrageous.

It's the other way around!

The high priestess's icy, pretty face revealed her anger, which shows how serious the situation was.

"Li Zhengxuan, you need to present the judicial summons first; the procedures must be followed. Yu Xue, you need to prepare a replacement, and also have our people receive more training."

The two men who received the order immediately bowed in respect.

“Gengtana, you shouldn’t just sit idly by either. Those involved should be expelled from the church and severely punished.”

Yes, sir.

The scribes of the Great Qian Dynasty often held both political and religious affiliations. The former guided specific tasks, while the latter concerned moral development. Therefore, the priestly inner sanctum naturally had to step in. The only question was, who should be the first to act?

Instead of taking any immediate action, everyone looked at Feng Tianyin.

In fact, she was already thinking about it when she issued the order. It was rare to make this super-intelligent brain work so hard. She had initially thought of a major overhaul, but then felt it was unnecessary. She decided to simply enforce the law impartially and set an example.

"Focus on punishing tax officials and village and town administrators, as for the city lord's mansion, just give them a warning for negligence."

The high priest, who held the reins of power, made the final decision.

The implication is that they shouldn't be implicated too much by this small mistake.

Feng Tianyin quickly regained her composure. There was a set of laws and regulations for specific punishment, so there was no need to waste time.

however.

Many of the senior clerks were understandably annoyed, after all, they had been busy with the Longshanpo tax resistance incident and had even earned a record of it from Heaven. In the Great Qian Dynasty, where religious culture was strong, this was practically a stain.

Even if it's not directed at me personally, it's still infuriating.

They have the right to take this warning as a warning, and Yu Xue, the leader, immediately offered her judgment:

“This matter should be publicized to all localities, and case studies should be presented for education. Self-examination should be initiated first. Those involved in tax evasion should be publicly criticized, and those who were not directly involved should also be punished.”

Yes, sir.

Her tone was cold and decisive, instantly deciding the career paths of hundreds of people, yet she remained calm and composed.

It's just a routine self-purification activity. In the entire Imperial Study, who isn't a chess player who easily influences the fate of thousands of people?

The temple has decided to conduct a thorough investigation into whether there are any instances of tax evasion in various locations.

What angers people is that tax officials and tax agents can easily line their own pockets and take some hidden benefits, which is unavoidable. But it's unacceptable to extend your reach to taxes. You exploit your own selfish desires and make Daqian take the blame, resulting in a lose-lose situation in both reputation and profit.

It's all about money.

We cannot swallow this insult; we will punish them severely without leniency.

[Note: The temple's characterization of the "Longshanpo tax resistance incident" as a serious dereliction of duty by the tax officials and their tax agents.]

This incident has attracted widespread attention in the Great Qian Dynasty, causing a stir in the court and among the people.

Xia He saw it, of course.

She guessed that Feng Tianyin would notice her intervention, which is why the little robot reacted so strongly, feeling that it had been criticized for dereliction of duty.

It's time to use leader privileges to perform cheat-like actions.

The agenda that had always been the same was nothing more than "agricultural development" and "reclaiming wasteland," which was meant to make the land abundant with produce, with thousands of acres of fertile land, and people living in peace and contentment... but without collecting taxes, it was all for naught.

To put it bluntly, the purpose of training you is to expand the tax base and generate revenue, so as to make money.

The curve of rising treasury revenue does not match the curve of production expansion.

Is that correct?

Anyone with eyes to see can see there's a problem, and a significant one at that, pointing directly to the tax farmer system, which just can't be completely eliminated. Therefore, Xia He believes that the system must be utilized effectively at this point, and sure enough, Feng Tianyin made a decisive move:

[The implementation of the leader's agenda, "tax control," increases efficiency in related matters by 3% and boosts fiscal revenue.]

[The implementation of the leader's religious agenda to "encourage taxation" explains the legitimacy and legality of taxation from a theocratic perspective; sociology +5]

It was pretty much what Xia He had guessed.

In fact, Feng Tianyin's actions within her permissions are nothing more than these.

The key is still the player's coordinated movements; simply stacking buffs won't work, you have to work together. That's why she pays close attention to the little robot's next moves.

On the day.

The temple's leadership took alarming action, devising a series of illegal and criminal activities and immediately summoning relevant personnel from Longshanpo. Clearly, they were going to carry out this on a large scale, showing no mercy and determined to teach them a lesson.

The group from the distant city-state responded immediately.

The city lord had already taken control of a group of criminals led by the tax collector from the beginning. When he heard that the temple was determined to crack down on these guys, he felt half relieved.

"If that's the case, what about those rebellious peasants? I've also imprisoned several of their leaders."