Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 149 Gratitude
"I heard that King Wu killed the monks in the city?"

Shh! Don't say that! Are you out of your mind?!

No one criticizes Arctic Wu; neither the mountain farmers, nor the Wen Dynasty people, nor the people of the Western Regions.

From the day King Wu brought back the Buddhist statues from the Western Regions, intelligent people should have been able to sense King Wu's attitude towards Buddhism and Taoism.

The massacre of monks in the city was not an isolated incident; similar actions were tacitly carried out in Luoyang and other places as well.

In chaotic times, there are too many people who do not believe in Buddhism. Now that King Wu has done it, the rest of the people will naturally follow suit.

Arctic Wu has never cared about the opinions of his subordinates.

Both the Shinto Palace and the Ming Palace are well preserved. In addition to these two towering buildings, there are many other magnificent large buildings in the palace.

Zang Zizhao, a senior official who had served in the library for four generations, arrived outside the palace of Beijiwu.

Beijiwu spends most of his time resting in the Mingtang Hall, but when he needs to go out frequently, he will choose to rest in the Guanyin Hall.

The Guanyin Hall isn't that tall; you don't need to climb a hundred-meter staircase.

Inside the Guanyin Hall stands a five-meter-tall statue of Guanyin, also made of gold and bronze.

Beijiwu prefers the Bamboo Forest Hot Spring Garden behind the Guanyin Hall. There is a resting room there where you can soak in the hot spring, handle business in the study, or feed the fish and stroll around the garden.

The Mingtang (bright hall) is too high, making it inconvenient to draw water and requiring too much manpower and resources.

The temple is even more troublesome; buildings exceeding 100 meters in height are not suitable for habitation.

Bei Jiwu was reading in his study when a eunuch came in and whispered, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Library's Director of the Imperial Library, Shi Zang, requests an audience."

The Imperial Library Clerk is an official in charge of managing the library. He is usually responsible for compiling history and organizing books, and recently he has also been assigned the task of collecting newspapers.

"Let him in."

"Yes."

More than ten minutes later, Zang Zizhao, who had been waiting outside the palace, carefully walked over.

Zang Zizhao thought he would be refused an audience, as seeing the emperor has never been an easy thing since ancient times.

However, to his surprise, after asking the eunuchs outside the palace, the eunuchs guarding the main hall agreed to convey the message on his behalf.

"Your servant greets your master! Long live the master!"

After Zang Zizhao entered, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed according to the rules of the association.

Beiji Wu looked at the old man in his fifties or sixties and laughed, "Stand up and speak. From now on, refer to yourself as your subject and call me Your Majesty. What do you want from me?"

Zang Zizhao carefully stood up and honestly replied, "I am getting old, and the affairs of the library are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. I wish to retire and return to my hometown."

Looking at the old man, Beijiwu called out to the eunuch, "Bring a chair over for Lord Zang."

"Yes!" The eunuch quickly went to fetch a chair.

Zang Zizhao hurriedly knelt down and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Beijiwu said, "Stop kneeling. Although I respect the customs of you Han people, the mountain farmers do not have the custom of kneeling. Sit down and talk. There is no need to care about those formalities."

"Yes, thank you, Your Majesty." Zang Zizhao saw the eunuch bring over a chair and carefully sat down on it.

Beijiwu said to the old man, "You are indeed getting old, but I don't know much about the current situation of the library. I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of books there. If no one is in charge, it is inevitable that newcomers will make mistakes."

"I don't know much about the Wen Dynasty and the events before it, so I can't judge whether it has any value." "The imperial examination is in a couple of days, and some talented people will be selected. I'll send some people over to help take over your affairs. You can continue with your work for now and just tell the people behind you what needs to be handed over."

"If there are suitable people who can take on this task, you can recommend them. You can make the decision yourself within three people. It is essential to preserve the historical culture that our ancestors have painstakingly preserved."

Zang Zizhao clasped his hands in a gesture of respect and said excitedly, "Yes! Your Majesty King Wu is wise! This old minister will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

Arctic Martial Arts: "If you have nothing else to do, go and get busy."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I take my leave." Zang Zizhao stood up and left the study.

From beginning to end, Zang Zizhao never dared to look King Wu in the eye.

King Wu's majesty made the old man, who was already quite old, stoop and dare not look up at the emperor.

In the eyes of Zang Zizhao and many ministers with traditional thinking, he was a wise ruler who killed more than 100,000 people, yet loved his people like his own children, and whose government was efficient and the people lived in harmony.

In chaotic times, anyone can become emperor; in times when foreigners were emperors, everyone has knelt before them.

However, emperors like Beiji Wu, who could conquer a country in a day on horseback and govern millions of people in an orderly and harmonious manner, were extremely rare.

In less than two years, the Wu Dynasty won the hearts of the people and the army, and its development was booming from top to bottom.

The national treasury seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of money, and every household was able to enjoy three meals a day. Even meat, which used to be a rare treat during the Lunar New Year, was no longer such a rarity.

They couldn't afford a cow that cost 10,000 coins, but a cow could yield 300 to 400 catties of meat, so one-three or four-hundredths of a catty would only cost 30 coins.

Now that the newly minted coins of the imperial court have been distributed, everyone in the Wu Dynasty has received a considerable amount of copper and silver coins.

Zang Zizhao returned to the library, where several scholars were drinking tea. Upon seeing the old man enter, they began to chat.

"Why are you back so soon? Did you not see King Wu?"

"They definitely didn't see him. Maybe he got scolded by the eunuchs and guards."

"King Wu is not someone you can just see whenever you want."

“Those eunuchs at the gate are very difficult to deal with; they won’t even glance at you unless you give them money.”

"It's good enough that they came back alive. Several people who went to give the emperor their opinions have been killed as assassins."

Zang Zizhao immediately looked at the last person who spoke, his eyes filled with anger.

Feeling stared at, the speaker said awkwardly, "Why are you looking at me? I haven't offended you."

A middle-aged man next to him advised, "Lord Zang, don't be angry. Many of the people here have served five or six emperors, and even the least have served three. Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger. When you say you're going to find King Wu, everyone will be afraid of what you might do."

The person who had just made sarcastic remarks continued, "Exactly, it doesn't matter if they die themselves, but what if they implicate us?"

Zang Zizhao roared in anger, "Nonsense! His Majesty King Wu is wise and mighty, resourceful and wise, loves his people like his own children, and is kind-hearted! How could he be a petty, cruel and inhumane tyrant like Emperor Wen?"

Everyone stared blankly at the old man, wondering if he had lost his mind.

"I have just met His Majesty King Wu. His Majesty, considering my advanced age, granted me a seat to speak while I sat down, and also comforted me to work hard and preserve the historical culture that our predecessors have painstakingly passed down!"

"You beasts are no match for me!"

Zang Zizhao cursed and went straight inside to work.

The group of lazy people in the room looked at each other in bewilderment. This old man used to sigh all day long, receiving King Wu's salary but talking about barbarians, strange people, and butchers all day long. Now that he's gone out for a trip and come back, he knows how to be grateful.
(End of this chapter)