The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 920 The bird is gone and the bow is hidden
"You two are on the early shift! Did you bring coffee powder? Tianxing, go get some water for the customers!"

Xiangyue Cafe, Chaotian Street, Tianxin City.

Waiter Ma Tianxing responded and turned to take a kettle from the counter. Just as he was about to make coffee for the two customers, he heard the store manager Zhou Lufa say, "Excuse me, gentlemen, please pay the tea fee first."

The male and female customers exchanged glances. The man rolled his eyes and said, "Never heard of it."

Zhou Fengfa laughed awkwardly, "I've run a coffee shop for over ten years and I've never heard of this! But you're wise. The price of coffee beans, tap water, and electricity changes every day. Maybe you're having coffee right now, and the price of coffee beans has gone up again. You see, isn't it more convenient to pay upfront before you buy coffee?"

The woman's lips curled up as she pulled the man up, saying impatiently, "I think it's easier not to drink this coffee!"

Store manager Zhou tried to persuade them to stay, but the two of them turned and left without looking back, slamming the door behind them, as if they had made up their minds.

Ma Tianxing, carrying the water bottle, said sullenly, "What? Leaving already? Manager, aren't you going to keep him here? He's a regular customer."

Zhou Feng snapped angrily, "Enough with the nonsense! Get to work! If there's no business soon, you're leaving!"

Ma Tianxing grumbled as he walked into the control panel. Zhou Fengfa sighed, glanced at the signboard swaying in the wind at the shop entrance, and was about to turn around when suddenly several soldiers walked in. The officer in the lead was dressed in military uniform, wearing long boots, and holding a spur, looking very imposing.

Zhou Fengfa glanced at the black armbands they wore on their shoulders and knew that the tax officials had arrived again. He quickly forced a smile and went to greet them.

"Captain Zhang, what brings you here? Please come in, Tianxing, bring the Captain a genuine London beer..."

Captain Zhang tapped his boots lightly with his spur, looking impatient. "I'm not here for coffee today, Lao Zhou. How long have you been behind on your anti-rebellion pay this month? It's pointless to keep dragging it out like this."

Store Manager Zhou rubbed his dirty hands with his apron, looking somewhat uneasy.

"Captain Zhang, you are wise. Our little shop only made a little over 30,000 this month. After deducting utilities and labor costs, there's hardly anything left. Right now, with the country at war with the foreign devils, coffee bean prices are changing every day, and many of our regular customers have stopped coming for coffee..."

Captain Zhang swung his spur and slammed it against the front desk, shattering the glass on the table into pieces.

The captain said angrily, "Boss Zhou, stop rambling on and on! Just because you're broke doesn't mean everyone else is! Everyone's struggling these days!"

"Can being broke be an excuse to shirk civic duty? Didn't the Imperial Propaganda Department say that for the great cause of suppressing the rebellion in the East, all citizens, regardless of north or south, young or old, should contribute money if they have it and labor if they don't? Have you forgotten that?"

Zhou Lufa was about to argue when the captain waved his hand, and several soldiers behind him rushed forward, making a move to affix the seal.

Zhou Lufa quickly pulled the officer aside, his back to the soldiers outside, and said with a smile, "Officer Zhang, this is just a token gesture. Could you please postpone it? This small token is also a contribution to suppressing the rebellion."

As he spoke, he pulled an envelope from his pocket and casually handed it to the captain.

The captain weighed the envelope in his hand, lightly patted the shop manager on the shoulder, waved to the soldiers behind him, and leisurely walked out of the coffee shop, heading towards the next shop along the street. Before leaving, he didn't forget to give them a final word:

"Manager Zhou, this month's amount is already paid, and next month's will be no different. I can't keep carrying this burden for you forever. The suppression of the rebellion is still ongoing, so everyone should contribute what they can, whether it's money or effort."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's not just coffee beans that are getting more expensive; soybeans, pork, beef, steel, coal... all goods imported from Europe are seeing price increases.

The Kingdom of Britain and its allies continued to increase tariffs on the Great Qi. As a result, the prices of various goods within the Great Qi surged.

Flour prices have doubled, rice prices have tripled, and pork and beef prices have skyrocketed.

The prices of farm tools and horse-drawn carriages skyrocketed, which in turn led to a further increase in grain prices in major cities. From Tianxin City to Shenyang, from Annam to Seoul in North Korea, crowds lined up everywhere in the city streets to buy bread.

In June, a loaf of bread rose to five dollars, and due to widespread corruption and embezzlement in food distribution, the number of people protesting in the streets grew, with Rossden becoming one of the most influential protest leaders.

The slogan put forward by this leader was:

"We want butter, not cannons; we want commerce, not military power."

Slogans like these resonated strongly among the starving citizens. Yes, people didn't care about honor or morality, about empire or dreams. With the war at this point, all they wanted was food and survival. After all, this nation's memory of suffering was deeply ingrained.

Now, another time of hardship has arrived. The genes etched deep in people's memories are awakened, and they begin to frantically hoard food. At the same time, the black market, which had disappeared for many years, has reappeared in major cities of Qi.

As the war worsened and resources became increasingly scarce, food and oil rationing, restrictions on the movement of citizens, and long-suppressed compulsory labor...

In short, all the terrible memories of the era of Emperor Taizu of Qi came back.

~~~~~~~~~
Tragedy always follows.

In August 1739, after a series of defeats against the Qi army and a series of military victories against the suzerain state, the Eastern Province finally entered a new stage of independent nation-building.

On September 15th, Dong Shaowei, the former Governor-General of the Eastern Province of the Empire, Chairman of the Alliance Committee, and Grand Commander, announced that the Eastern Province would secede from the rule of Qi and become an independent state, named Ezo. That same month, the new government reached a ceasefire agreement with Qi.

On November 3, the State of Qi and the State of Ezo signed the Treaty of Seoul in Korea.

The State of Qi was forced to recognize the independence of the Ainu.

The treaty consists of 10 articles, with the first article stating: "The King of Qi recognizes the United States as a free, autonomous, and independent nation."

The content also includes: confirming that the borders of the Ezo Kingdom extend from the Tsushima Strait in Korea in the west to the island of Hawaii in the west, from Sakhalin Island in the north to the Ryukyu Islands in the south;

The people of both countries hereby agree to a permanent peace, cease all hostilities at sea and on land, and release each other prisoners of war.

The State of Qi withdrew all its troops and ships from all ports, regions, and harbors within the territory of the State of Ezo.

The signing of this treaty marked the Qi state's formal recognition of the independence of the Ezo Kingdom, granting it complete independence.

On November 11th, the first president of Ezo declared Edo as the capital of the country.

All debt disputes between Ezo Kingdom and Great Qi before November 11th will be wiped clean.

A new era has begun.

~~~~~~~
When news of the disastrous defeat in the suppression of the rebellion reached the country, public sentiment was outraged.

In the second year of the new emperor's reign, it was already a fact that the eastern provinces had separated from the imperial colonial system.

Someone must be held accountable for the Empire's failure in the eastern provinces. This was a rare major setback in foreign affairs since the founding emperor's reign, and since it was a failure, someone needed to take responsibility.
Who should be held responsible?

The answer is ready to come out.

As a representative of the pro-war faction, Zhang Xiang cannot escape blame.

Many people, both in and out of the court, wanted Zhang Xiang dead.

Not only the emperor, but also the councilors who had been suppressed by Zhang Xiang.

There were also powerful regional warlords.

This certainly includes King George the Elder of Britain, thousands of miles away, and his European relatives.

The reckoning with Zhang Ruoting is about to begin.

As the saying goes, "When the birds are all gone, the good bow is put away." Whether the emperor likes it or not, the war is over, and it's time to hide this "good bow."