My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 226 Wei Zheng
Gongshan.

This place used to be occupied by bandits, and there was a dilapidated mountain stronghold. However, with the arrival of Shan Xiongxin, the bandits here all submitted to the Lord's Mansion. Later, other bandits and dead people from various places joined in, and the number of people increased, making the stronghold extremely chaotic.

The newly appointed minor officials were scattered throughout the mountain stronghold, and many of them had a number of people sitting next to them, listening to their stories.

The current propaganda is no longer what it was when Li Xuanba first implemented it.

When Li Xuanba first gave the order, many of his fellow disciples directly explained the contents of the classics to the people, but the people couldn't understand any of it.

After such a long period of improvement, these minor officials have learned the correct way to conduct their sermons.

Then he saw the minor official looking at the crowd around him, his voice loud and clear.

"Yang Guang has only been on the throne for five years. In those five years, how many times did he impose corvée labor? Each instance involved at least hundreds of thousands, and at most over a million, of laborers, continuously throughout spring, summer, autumn, and winter, even during the spring planting season!"

"Even the most tyrannical rulers in ancient times, such as Qin Shi Huang and Hu Hai, were never known to impose corvée labor during the spring planting season!"

"All the farmland is abandoned, and grain prices are soaring everywhere. Even if someone is lucky enough to survive the forced labor and return home, how many of their family members will survive? The farmland is abandoned, so how will they make a living?!"

The minor official recounted one inhuman act after another, starting with the general outline and then moving on to different groups of people.

"As soon as Yang Guang ascended the throne, he ordered the seizure of land granted to women. The actual land they received was already less than what was on the roster, and now even that was being taken away. He claimed that the previous favors were too excessive! What favors were there?!"

"And then there are the artisans. Artisans are registered with the government, and they are obligated to perform corvée labor. There have even been cases where they have to perform corvée labor twice a year! It's unheard of!!"

"A merchant's city registration used to be a highly coveted item, something everyone clamored for. But now? Having a city registration is tantamount to a death sentence! Sooner or later, we'll all die under this oppressive government, and the local militia along the way are worse than thieves!!"

The minor official had just gathered the crowd and was giving a speech when the people, who were now a group of dead thieves, were not paying much attention. They still didn't understand what this powerful band of thieves wanted to do, and they had no choice but to obey out of fear and in order to survive.

But as he spoke, these people's emotions began to fluctuate.

Because they were among the victims mentioned by the petty official: some were bankrupt farmers, some were escaped artisans, and some were merchants whose property had been stolen.
"Therefore, the current solution is to change dynasties! Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny? In the past, Xia Jie was tyrannical, and Shang Tang overthrew him; Shang Zhou was tyrannical, and Zhou Wu overthrew him; the Second Emperor was tyrannical, and Han Huangdi overthrew him. If an emperor is cruel and incompetent, then the Mandate of Heaven has run out, and he should be replaced!"

"After overthrowing this tyrant, we can implement benevolent governance, and everyone will no longer have to live in misery or suffer from hunger."

The officials' rhetoric was rather hollow, but it had a powerful appeal to the people who had suffered for many years.

As the official was speaking with great enthusiasm, someone in the crowd suddenly stood up.

The man stared at the clerk and asked, "What you say is very good, but there is something I don't understand and would like to ask."

The official looked at the man.

This person was relatively young, probably not even thirty years old, and was dressed in a Taoist robe, befitting a Taoist priest.

His face was solemn, yet there was an air of arrogance in his brows.

It's not surprising that there are Taoist priests in the mountain village; in fact, there are even Buddhist monks in Qingzao Village.

Temples have the right to be exempt from taxes, but the extremely heavy corvée labor and taxes imposed by the temples destroyed the local economy, which greatly affected the temples. The eminent monks and famous Taoists who maintained good relations with the nobles were not affected much. They had powerful connections and a large number of tenants under their names, so they were self-sufficient. But the monks and Taoists at the bottom of the social ladder had a hard time. Under the impact, they could hardly make a living.

The official sized up the man. When he was lecturing in Qingzao Village in the past, some people had asked him questions. He was not surprised by this and said, "Speak frankly."

The Taoist priest raised his head and asked loudly, "Just now you spoke of the current oppressive government and then about the peaceful world after the change of dynasties."

"But the peaceful world you speak of is too vague. How can it be achieved?"

The clerk looked at him for a moment. This clerk had studied under Liu Xuan, so he wouldn't be stumped by a Taoist priest. He immediately said, "Light taxes and levies, just let the people recuperate."

"So easy?" "The barbarians beyond the Great Wall are ferocious and have not given up their plans to move south. The powerful and tyrannical families within the country are annexing farmland, wanting to turn everyone into their tenants. Within the three schools, only the sons of officials are allowed. In the imperial examinations, you can see no scholars from humble backgrounds. The nobles indulge their sons, plundering everywhere, acting lawlessly. Local militias are spontaneous and unrestrained, unable to defeat the bandits, but only able to attack the common people."

"Can so many problems really be solved simply by reducing taxes and corvée labor and allowing the people to recuperate?"

The clerk was taken aback.

Is this guy here to cause trouble?
He was somewhat angry and said, "I am not unaware of what you have said. Different problems naturally have different solutions. Could it be that you are biased towards Yang Guang and felt sorry for me when I insulted Yang Guang, so you stood up to refute me?"

The Taoist priest scoffed and said unhappily, "So you can't come up with a solution to the problem, so you're going to condemn me as a criminal and punish me? How is that any different from Yang Guang?"

The clerk's face turned red with anger, and he was about to reprimand the official when a voice came from behind him.

"Then what do you think should be done?"

Everyone turned around and found Zhai Rang standing not far away, smiling as he looked at the Taoist priest.

The Taoist priest, with a stern face, said, "Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened; believe only one side and you will be misled."

"It is certainly right to reduce taxes and levies, but to govern the country well, we must listen to everyone's ideas and then select the best ones. Just now I heard this gentleman talk about Yang Guang and mention many things about him, but I feel that he failed to get to the point."

"Yang Guang was cruel, but not incompetent. His biggest problem was that he couldn't see the real situation. He only listened to the words of those sycophants he was willing to believe, and had no idea how bad the situation in the local areas had become."

Zhai Rang nodded slightly after hearing this, "There's some truth to it."

The Taoist then bowed to Zhai Rang and said, “What Your Majesty is about to do is truly admirable. I have been traveling around and debating with people. I originally intended to go to Heluo, but on the way I learned that Your Majesty is taking in the dead here. Your actions are not like those of ordinary thieves, so I came here specifically to see.”

"Only today do I realize that Your Majesty's ambitions are extraordinary, and you are no ordinary thief. If Your Majesty wishes to overthrow the tyrant and establish a peaceful and prosperous era, you will need to recruit more wise and capable individuals and heed their advice."

"I am the head of this village, not some kind of king."

Zhai Rang interrupted the Taoist priest helplessly and said softly.

The Taoist priest was taken aback, his confidence turning into confusion. "The village head??"

"I am not the leader of the stronghold; I am merely taking office here."

The Taoist priest was increasingly astonished. He had only recently followed the deceased up the mountain and assumed that someone had taken over Gongshan and wanted to make a name for themselves. But after hearing the minor official's words today, he was even more amazed by the official's actions. That's why he had spoken up to question him, wanting to show off and also test the chieftain. But judging from the official's words, there wasn't just one chieftain?

Does he have a lord above him?
Zhai Rang smiled and instructed the clerk to continue the story, while he pulled the Taoist priest inside.

"As you just said, we are not ordinary thieves. Since you know we are not thieves, why are you so surprised now?"

"I assumed that the village head was a chivalrous hero with great ambitions, intending to seize this mountain and achieve great things."

"That's true. I'm here to make a name for myself, and I don't know your name yet."

"I am Wei Zheng, a member of the Wei clan of Julu, and my courtesy name is Xuancheng."

"So it was Master Wei."

"The village head should simply be called Xuancheng."

Zhai Rang politely led the other party into the house, then had someone bring some food, and sat down facing the other party to begin a formal conversation.

(End of this chapter)