Facing Liu Rong's extremely excited attitude, the faces of Feng Xi and the others could not help but darken.
Because the more excited Liu Rong is after seeing Tianyan, the more it explains the chaos of the situation in Mingzhou.
And they could clearly see that Liu Rong was not only excited, she was trembling, and even the expression on her face was twitching, making her originally delicate face look weird and ferocious.
Feng Xi and the other three were not in a hurry to speak, but were quietly waiting for the other party to relax their emotions so that they could communicate with her better.
While Liu Rong was calming down, Zhao Xi also brought in the fourth person who came to attend the meeting tonight.
"The humble minister Li Minsheng has met the emperor, the princess, and the consort..."
Li Cifu Li Minsheng was carried into the palace overnight by the Dark Dragon Guard. Because he was secretly summoned by the emperor, he did not wear the court clothes he usually wears when meeting the emperor, but wore plain clothes all his life.
Even though he was busy with government affairs today, he actually noticed something unusual in the capital when the fate of their princess, Lord Yi, came out.
And the news that his grandchildren brought back tonight also sent chills down the spine of this old man.
Fortunately, the princess is fine, otherwise the future of Dazhao would be...
"My dear Pingsheng, I have secretly summoned you here tonight to discuss important matters. Please take a seat and wait for the people in the hall to tell you about the affairs of Mingzhou."
"yes."
Li Cifu quickly took a seat on the other side of Emperor Sheng De, and together with Feng Xi, they looked at Liu Rong who had calmed down.
"Miss Liu Rong, please don't be restrained. If you have any grievances, you can come to this heart-raising palace one by one. Don't worry about the princess, the emperor and Li Cifu will make the decision for you."
Don't worry about the princess...
Liu Rong looked at Qi Xiao who was speaking in surprise. Wasn't this his first wife so protective of him when he was in the eldest princess's residence? Why did I get in front of the emperor...
Seeing Liu Rong looking at her with twinkling eyes again, Feng Xi immediately answered:
"If you have anything to say, just say it. Aren't you just a thief? My ears just made you scream."
Liu Rong: "?"
Emperor Sheng De glared at his unfortunate daughter and said to Liu Rong in a rare gentle voice:
"According to what the prince-in-law said, if the matter in Mingzhou is really the work of this unfortunate thing, I will make the decision for you and will not favor this guy in the slightest."
But that being said, before hearing what happened in Mingzhou, Emperor Shengde, a wise king, still felt a little guilty.
Others may not believe it, but he is currently praying to his late wife in his heart, hoping that she will protect their unfortunate daughter from doing anything treacherous or evil.
After receiving the guarantees from Emperor Sheng De, Feng Xi, and Qi Xiao, the worried Liu Rong finally felt relieved and said:
"A folk girl has lived in Qingshan Village, Qingquan County, Mingzhou since she was a child. Her father Liu Shan and her mother Liu Zhang made a living by farming and hunting..."
As the saying goes, a person is nourished by the soil and water. Liu Rong's father and parents died young when his younger brother was young. Although he has never read a book, he is a person with a quick mind.
Although he also farmed in the early years, he relied on his diligent exploration and desperate attitude after entering the mountains to learn hunting and became a famous hunter in the village.
Although hunters are dangerous, if they can hunt foxes, deer, fat sheep, etc. in the mountains, it will be a huge income.
Even if you can't hunt big prey, catching some pheasants and hares is enough to support your family.
Her father relied on this skill to raise his younger brother, and at the same time married the only daughter of the Zhang family, a wealthy family in the village.
Although the Zhang family has some wealth, it is a philanthropic family with a good reputation in the village. Even the only daughter Zhang who has lost her mother has been raised to be literate and polite.
"After the daughter's mother came into the house, my brother-in-law said he didn't want to burden his brother anymore, so he took some money and left for another county. Later, I heard that he was working as a son-in-law for someone else's family. As a result, the only people left in the family were his parents, Grandfather and many family assets.”
Xu was facing the emperor for the first time. Liu Rong talked about herself in detail and did not dare to hide anything.
Feng Xi and others did not rush her, because some things required listening to every detail to ensure that what the other party said was true, in order to prevent others from confusing their judgment.
With the efforts of the three Liu family members, the Liu family soon became a wealthy family in the village. The eldest son Liu Yin, the second daughter Liu Rong and the youngest daughter Liu Yunu were also born one after another.
Among them, the eldest son Liu Yin was the best at studying, so he was sent to a private school for urinating. Later, by chance, he became an apprentice to a very good teacher.
From a primary school student to a tongsheng, and then from a tongsheng to a scholar, Liu Yin is just a weakling, but he is already considered an outstanding being in such a family.
"As our three brothers and sisters grew up, our parents no longer wanted to stay in the village, so they moved the family to the county town and opened a martial arts gym in the county town to make a living."
As for this so-called martial arts school, some villagers gathered together to train and make a living by looking after the homes and courtyards of wealthy families, acting as escorts, and helping the government catch thieves.
Since Liu's father was born as a hunter, not only was he a good man, but he was also willing to support the villagers, so everyone followed him.
Over time, this small martial arts school became a well-known presence in the county.
In addition, the Liu family and his wife are usually very charitable, and the martial arts masters in the martial arts school also like to fight against injustice, so they gradually gained some reputation in Qingquan County.
Around this time, Liu Rong, the second child in the family, and Liu Yunu, the third child in the family, also grew up, and Liu Rong even made a good marriage arrangement.
However, the changes in the Liu family began at this time.
"Mingzhou is a princess fiefdom with five counties: Qingquan, Linshui, Tonghe, Jinshan, and Maolin. There is a prefect above the five county magistrates, and there is also a prefectural city above the five counties..."
According to Liu Rong's description, life in Mingzhou was easy before her and Ji.
I can’t say it’s easy, I can only say that the people can still live it.
But starting five years ago, the prefect's government began to increase the taxes on the five counties of Mingzhou on the grounds that they had to pay tribute to Princess Zhaoming, the owner of the fiefdom.
"Field taxes, taxes, tributes, business taxes..."
As Liu Rong enumerated Mingzhou's taxes one by one, the faces of Emperor Sheng De, Qi Xiao, and Li Cifu became increasingly ugly.
And when Liu Rong mentioned that even ordinary people who went to the streets to sell vegetables, pig grass, and firewood had to pay taxes, Feng Xi, who was not familiar with exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, immediately said:
"Why don't they rob it? I think this is no different from directly robbing money, okay?"
But Liu Rong said:
"If you go back to the princess, yes, if the common people do not pay taxes according to the wishes of the clerks and government servants, the clerks and others will flog them fifty times and confiscate half of the goods they bring..."
Feng Xi: "?"
Yes, you really want to grab it, right?
Emperor Shengde and the other three obviously know taxation better than Feng Xi. There is indeed a commercial tax in Dazhao, not only to replenish the national treasury, but also to stabilize the country and prevent too many people from abandoning farming and engaging in business.
But vegetables, pigweed, charcoal, etc. are not taxable goods under the Dazhao regulations at all.
