The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 941 Sword
The great Qi-Ying War has finally come to an end, but the threat of war has not gone away.

The British, along with their European partners, left, leaving behind a devastated battlefield and chaotic southeastern vassal states.

Emperor Liu Xuan had lost the ambition he had when he first ascended the throne, and he never again mentioned things like "rescuing the suffering people of this land from the mire" or "unification is the root of all evil."

He became even more conservative than his father.

The emperor is currently most concerned about tax revenue, the attitudes of the various vassal lords towards Tianxin City, and of course, how much power the council is willing to cede to the emperor.

This is the emperor's current catchphrase.

"Although this is not in accordance with the law, there are precedents in our country. Is it possible to break the law?"

"Don't use the law."

Yes, a hundred years ago, the emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty could kill people at will because of a single sentence.

Liu Xuan came to understand and admire more and more the actions of his ancestor, the tyrant Liu Zhaosun, the founding emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty.

Unfortunately, this was an era in which imperial power was waning.

Fortunately, after this war, the power of the Central Guard and the Straw Raincoat Guard has been significantly enhanced. The number of troops directly controlled by His Majesty the Emperor has increased dramatically from a mere 800 people three years ago (mainly ceremonial troops) to the current 30,000.

The 30,000 elite troops equipped with modern firearms and artillery (including hundreds of airships) were a military force that no feudal lord dared to underestimate.

In short, the authority of Tianxin City was strengthened to an unprecedented degree after the war. Those few vassal lords who dared to openly oppose the emperor or the council either disappeared or were beheaded. The various vassal states no longer posed a threat to Tianxin City.

However, the final victory did not belong to the emperor, nor to the Great Qi.

The empire was in ruins and everything needed to be rebuilt.

Despite the easing of sanctions by Europeans and the end of the blockade on key technologies, the Daqi economy remains sluggish.

The people's lives were even more difficult than before the war.

scarcity.

Material deprivation, spiritual deprivation.

There was no bread, no butter, and even the beef offal noodles, a favorite among the locals, were said to be rationed, with ordinary people only allowed to eat a maximum of two bowls per week.

Despite their reluctance, Parliament unanimously decided to continue implementing wartime economic policies.

Everything needs to be rationed, everything needs to be planned...

The war is over, the British are gone, but the happy life that Parliament promised to the people before the war is now getting further and further away from them.

~~~~~~~~~
On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the anniversary of Emperor Taizu Liu Zhaosun's birthday, Tianxin City was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and was bustling with people. Tens of thousands of people flocked to the streets to pray for the Emperor Taizu.

A giant portrait of Liu Zhaosun slowly walks towards the crossroads.

People paid their respects in reverence.

Many people could not contain their excitement and knelt down before the portrait of the founding emperor, muttering incantations.

People were moved to tears.

It seems that upon seeing this legendary Emperor Taizu, who loved his people like his own children, all the misfortunes and hardships in their lives would vanish in an instant.

Cavalrymen, armed with muskets and gripping the reins tightly, drove their horses, maintaining order in the parade while shouting loudly to the bustling crowd:
"Every generation has its own bloody battle on the Hun River!"

"loyalty!"

"loyalty!"

"loyalty!"

After three shouts of loyalty, the crowd went into a frenzy.

~~~~~~~~
According to the new economic policy, farmers scattered throughout the countryside of the empire were required to unconditionally hand over the majority of their annual harvest to the empire, euphemistically called "tribute".

Workers toil tirelessly in the dark mines, factories, and tunnels until occupational diseases destroy their bodies and drain them of their last drop of blood.

In contrast, the soldiers of the Empire were in a much worse situation.

They trained hard for a non-existent enemy. Because the Qi army had extremely strict requirements for military appearance, the new recruits had to focus their main efforts on cleanliness and hygiene.

A widely circulated anecdote takes place in the Imperial Navy. New recruits, after boarding ships, are required to constantly scrub the decks, hulls, masts, and so on. One day, after the recruits finished cleaning the entire warship, the captain stood on the command platform and looked around. He noticed that the warship, cleaned by the greenhorn, was shinier than a mirror. He then pointed to the water and said:
"Hmm, overall it's done well. Now, let's dive underwater and clean the anchor."

Currently, people have not yet seen the extent of Tianxin City's skill in deceiving the public.

The empire's previous propaganda, such as the romantic spirit of war, the sense of mission of the Qi people, and the idea that every generation had its own bloody battle at Hunhe, and the sacrifice of three hundred million jade fragments, etc.
Although promotional rhetoric varies greatly, it always stays true to its core principles.

In general, it mostly demands that the people dedicate themselves and make sacrifices, and that everyone should be selfless and dedicated to the benefit of others, and be ready to sacrifice for the empire at any time—although fewer and fewer people believe in these fallacies and heresies now.

Furthermore, the young people in Tianxin City have experience traveling abroad, or at least have friends and family who have. The aforementioned lies have lost their power to deceive some of these young people, and instead have been met with their merciless ridicule.

If asked what the world outside of the Great Qi was like a hundred years ago, people were truly ignorant.

But now, things are different.

Not only in Tianxin City, but also among the educated young people in various vassal states, some of whom even resorted to self-harm to avoid military service.

The council passed a resolution to severely crack down on those who were passively resisting – a general term for all those who opposed the decisions of Tianxin City.

Therefore, the Straw Raincoat Guards were dispatched to various vassal states to arrest those who opposed them.

The feudal lords were also quite disgusted with these rebels; if they could oppose the parliament and the emperor, they could certainly oppose them as well.

As a result, with the cooperation of the feudal lords, tens of thousands of "passive slackers" were arrested.

For a moment, people were panicked.

~~~~~~~~~
"Are you aware that your sister-in-law is colluding with slackers and distributing leaflets against the Empire?"

"Is that so? ...They must have been wronged."

Tianxin City Straw Raincoat Guard Headquarters.

In the austere living room, Shi Zhen, dressed in a black military uniform, stared wide-eyed at the note handed to him by the examiner.

"Look, this is a leaflet from the rebels. Your sister-in-law has her signature at the bottom, which means she's joined the rebels too..."

Shi Zhen glanced at the medals on his shoulder, grabbed the note, and shouted, "I know her, it's impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The inspector didn't say anything, but simply took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and began puffing away in front of Shi Zhen.

Shi Zhen muttered to himself, "That's impossible."

"You must have made a mistake!"

"Captain Shi, I need to remind you that if you don't distance yourself from your sister-in-law in time, you will also be implicated, even if you have received the Black Cross Medal, even if you are an Imperial officer!"

Shi Zhen seemed to have been struck by a hammer, suddenly waking up and abruptly pulling out the musket from his waist and slamming it on the table.

Two guards in straw raincoats rushed forward, but were stopped by the inspector.

The examiner stared into Shi Zhen's eyes and said, word by word, "Look at the medals on your shoulders. More than a decade of bloody battles, and in one wrong move, your future is ruined!"

Shi Zhen roared in fury, "You can't touch her!"

Six months ago, Shi Zhen was promoted to captain for his bravery and meritorious service in battle, and was put in charge of a company of troops.

He wanted to exempt his family from corvée labor, also known as voluntary labor, so he came to Tianxin City.

Upon arriving in Tianxin City, he learned that his sister-in-law had become involved in the resistance against the organization.

"Company Commander Shi!" the investigator suddenly raised his voice. "Your superior, Fang Xiao, the First Regiment Commander of the Black Flag Army, specifically pleaded with the Straw Raincoat Guard yesterday not to arrest you. Did you know that?"

Shi Zhen shook his head, his face filled with anger.

"Commander Fang, you're already in prison!"

Shi Zhen hesitated for a moment, then said loudly:

"According to Catch-32, a soldier who earns twelve medals can apply for exemption from corvée labor for his parents and family members, and of course, also be exempt from those fabricated crimes!"

The inspector gave a cold laugh: "Catch-32? Immunity from punishment? Sorry, I've worked in the Imperial Guard for twenty years and I've never heard of it!"

As he spoke, he looked Shi Zhen up and down as if he were examining a monster.

"Company Commander Shi, is your brother also in the Black Flag Corps?"

Shi Zhen didn't know what the regimental commander meant by that: "Yes."

"According to Imperial military law, he will also be implicated. To be precise, we will arrest him, imprison him, and conduct the necessary interrogations."

Shi Tai was still in the conscription stage, and as far as he knew, conscripts could not easily stop serving.

“My sister-in-law didn’t participate in any resistance organization at all, and my brother did nothing wrong. He’s just an ordinary artilleryman! An artilleryman! You can’t arrest him!”

The prosecutor shrugged: "Well, there's nothing we can do about that. According to the law, we have to keep him under control, at least during the interrogation, to prevent any unexpected incidents from happening."

Shi Tai slowly raised his head, his eyes slightly red:

Are you sure you want to do this?