Three whips break the father-son relationship, please call me prince

Chapter 208 I am very unhappy

After Li Chengqian returned to Chang'an, he continued to go out.

However, this time he called Wei Zheng and Yu Zhining along and continued his incognito investigation.

"Your Highness."

"Chang'an is a bit too lively."

Halfway through the journey, Yu Zhining took the initiative to bring up this topic.

Wei Zheng snorted coldly: "It is a bit lively, but not too lively."

Li Chengqian smiled slightly and said, "Wouldn't it be better to have some fun?"

Before Yu Zhining could speak, Wei Zheng immediately retorted: "Your Highness, do you think this is a good thing?"

"Openly fighting insults, manipulating public opinion, and fooling the people."

"If we don't take care of it anymore, I'm afraid it will turn into a fight."

Yu Zhining then took over and said, "There are dozens of newspapers every day, with hundreds of thousands of copies distributed."

"Not to mention the content of the war of words between the two sides, this move is too costly and will damage public confidence."

“The people don’t know who to trust.”

"If one side says he is right, the people will believe him; if another side says he is right, the people will also believe him."

He spread his hands and sighed, "This has divided the people into two camps."

"If this continues, it won't be lively and will distract the people."

The struggle between the Jiangnan faction and the Shandong faction is no longer just a fight between two factions, it has already been ignited long ago.

The two sides were engaged in a fierce war of words in public opinion.

The public opinion in Chang'an was almost completely messed up by them, people were confused, and the common people and literati also held different opinions and attacked each other.

Not to mention the common people, what do students and scholars believe in?

Even officials, after reading the contents of newspapers from both sides, could not tell whether they were true or false.

Moreover, the content of the newspapers has become increasingly distorted.

It turns out that there are very few annotations on the classics, and most of them are articles written by aristocratic families with their own personal agenda.

It’s long past the beginning, and both sides can come up with something genuine.

Li Chengqian was quite relaxed.

He looked at the fields outside and was quite satisfied.

Chang'an is the capital after all.

In agriculture, we have put in a lot of effort.

He saw many people reclaiming wasteland, removing weeds, turning over the soil, and waiting for the sun to dry it out. Not only would they set fire to it to eradicate the weeds, but they would also apply fertilizer to the new land.

“Don’t be alarmist, and don’t be overly nervous.”

"The court has always advocated freedom of speech, and even His Majesty has repeatedly stated that if he finds something wrong, he can speak out without hesitation, and he will not be punished for his words."

"Your Majesty is broad-minded and can accept direct criticism."

"Private newspapers have not made random comments on major events in the DPRK, so how can we interfere with them?"

Li Chengqian didn't even look at them, and said calmly: "What a waste of money and manpower, and it will hurt the people's hearts."

"Who is wasting money and manpower?"

"Those newspapers cost one cent each, and they covered all the costs."

“They are the ones who are hurt.”

"The common people could not afford to spend a penny, but there were people who could read and write, and they read it out to broaden their horizons."

"How can it be said that it damages the people's hearts if it inspires wisdom and teaches them truth?"

In fact, everyone understands this principle.

But it is uncomfortable after all.

Yu Zhining said: "Your Highness, although that is true, Chang'an is an important place in the capital and the center of the world."

"These newspapers spread all over the country, further sparking a war of words. If it leads to a split between the North and the South, it will be too late to regret it."

Wei Zheng was also somewhat worried.

He knew that Yu Zhining was not lying.

"Your Highness must be cautious. Thoughts are complicated to begin with. If this causes opposition between northern and southern scholars, leading to a split, the consequences will be disastrous."

Li Chengqian did not comment.

It hasn't come to that.

If there were many channels for information dissemination and the speed of dissemination was fast, he would still be worried.

Right now it’s all about shouting, and the low literacy rate has led to this situation in a short period of time.

That's weird.

Li Chengqian and his party arrived at a county in the capital area.

He first went to a village, found an old farmer and asked for a place to rest and drink some water. Then he asked about purchasing the Zhenguan plow and oxen.

"To be honest, sir, I will accept the exchange of the old Zhenguan plow for a new one if you give me a little extra money. After all, the Zhenguan plow is actually quite useful."

The old farmer sat aside and said, "It's just that I have an ox for farming at home, and one is enough."

"But the head of the village wanted me to buy one more."

"Not only is there one more head, but there is also an extra Zhenguan plow."

"It took more than half of our family's savings to repair the Zhenguan plow. How could we afford to buy another ox and a Zhenguan plow?"

"Why……."

"This is forcing people to death. I don't know what the Holy Emperor is thinking."

That's what I said.

Wei Zheng and Yu Zhining looked very unnatural.

Li Zhi and Li Ke couldn't help but lower their heads.

Li Chengqian asked, "The court will provide subsidies for exchanging old plows for new ones. The price of the Zhenguan plow should not be high, right?"

"I heard from other places that the maximum compensation is 100 yuan."

The old farmer said excitedly: "That's in other places. Here it's two hundred, and some are even higher."

"two hundred?"

Wei Zheng exclaimed, "The court has clearly issued a decree that the court will provide the bulk of the subsidies, and the people can only pay a hundred at most. How could it be two hundred?"

"Impossible. The government said that the court stipulated that the subsidies in different places are different."

The old farmer shook his head and said, "In our county, the subsidy is always 200 yuan."

"Insect!"

Wei Zheng cursed.

Need more words?

Someone must have deceived his superiors and subordinates and used his power to extort money. Li Chengqian looked at the cowshed and said, "Father, why do you still have two cows?"

"And two sets of plows?"

The old farmer's face flushed and he said, "My dear, do you think I am lying to you?"

Li Zhi asked, "Then how did you get this cow?"

"It's a long story."

The old farmer said with a sad face: "My family was already broke, but someone from the county came to our house and said that we must buy a second cow."

"Is it necessary to buy it?" Li Ke asked.

"If you don't buy it, you won't be allowed to go to the fields."

The old farmer said, "I said I had no money, but that didn't work. Then someone came to my door and said they could lend me money..."

"I really had no other choice. If I didn't borrow money, I wouldn't be able to farm. In the end, I had to use the land as collateral, borrow money, and buy a working ox."

"Twenty-five strings of cash."

"My family..."

Speaking of this, the old farmer shed tears, his aged face full of sadness.

Twenty-five strings of cash.

Interest is added, day after day.

They are basically trapped for their entire lives.

Wei Zheng and the others could sense that beneath the prince's calm expression, there was a raging rage.

It was originally a national policy that benefited the country and the people, but it was used by a group of parasites to oppress the people so wantonly.

Twenty-five strings of cash.

That could cost the lives of an entire family.

"Now we have seven people in our family, and even the children have to go to the fields to help reclaim more wasteland. Otherwise, the taxes, food rations, and interest on the money we earn from raising children won't be enough for next year."

"Don't you want to study?" Li Chengqian asked.

"I could study before, but later the school asked for tuition and I couldn't afford it, so I couldn't study anymore."

Yu Zhining could no longer hold back and shouted angrily, "How dare you! When did the court stipulate that the imperial court should collect the tribute?"

The old farmer was startled and said, "The government has this rule."

Yu Zhining wanted to say something, but Li Chengqian waved his hand to stop him, saying, "Father, are all the villagers like this?"

"It's about the same. Some children are still reading, but they can't read much and can't recognize a few words."

"Why can't you recognize a few words?"

"I heard people say that it's because they can't remember the words. They're too difficult for children to recognize."

Li Chengqian asked, "Father, is it convenient for other people in the village to come and have a chat?"

"My dear, forget it. I know this matter is very troublesome." The old farmer said, "I know the court's original intention is for the good of us ordinary people."

"But the people don't fight against the officials, so forget it."

Li Zhi said, "Father, go ahead and call them. We are just asking some questions."

"Go."

The old farmer hesitated, but still got up to call people. It happened that he was not busy, and soon many people came.

Li Chengqian patiently asked them some questions and got answers to all of them.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?"

Someone shouted, "You have nothing to do, so you gathered together to cause trouble, right?"

"Get out, all of you!"

"The government pays you to farm the land, and this is how you repay the government?"

Li Chengqian and others looked over and saw a fat, wealthy man with big ears, surrounded by several strong thugs, squeezing in, and then began to drive away the villagers.

The villagers scattered like birds and beasts.

The wealthy man was a little stunned when he saw Li Chengqian and the others, and then he asked casually: "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" Li Zhi asked in a deep voice.

"The local headman."

Here is the correct way: "I am asking you a question. Where are you from? Where is your registered residence? Please tell me."

"Registered in Chang'an."

"People from Chang'an."

Li Ke said.

Li Chengqian stood up, and everyone else followed suit. The old farmer was trembling with fear and didn't dare to look at the head of the village.

This shows how much harm the tyranny is causing to the people here.

"Don't be afraid, old man. Thank you for telling me today. Otherwise, I would not know that corrupt officials are rampant under the feet of this emperor."

He said in a gentle voice, and the old farmer was stunned.

He heard nothing else, just one word.

solitary!
Who can call themselves that?
That is a great man whose value is beyond words.

A group of people rushed out and surrounded the head of the village.

The village head was also stunned at this time.

He heard it too.

In the whole world, there is no one else who can call himself "Gu" except the prince.

Pfft!
The head of the village knelt down.

He had no choice but to kneel. Not to mention whether he was the prince or not, the group of vicious and evil people around him could take his life.

"Block the news, Sanlang, return to Chang'an immediately."

"Tell Sun Fujia and Ma Zhou to come immediately."

Li Chengqian didn't even look at the village head, and walked out, "Please tell your majesty about the local affairs. I will not be returning for the time being."

No more reply!
Wei Zheng and Yu Zhining's hearts trembled.

Is the prince going to supervise this matter personally?

"Your Highness, just hand it over to the Dali Temple Minister and the Imperial Censor. Why bother Your Highness to do it yourself?"

Yu Zhining persuaded.

Li Chengqian kept walking and said, "If the emperor's feet are so corrupt, how shocking must the situation outside Chang'an be?"

"My people are being oppressed and exploited."

"I am very unhappy!"

(End of this chapter)