Chapter 697 Heavenly Punishment

"Can't you believe it?" Sheng Zhan raised his eyebrows slightly, "How can Aiqing say this?"

The sweat on Li Junyi's forehead dropped, and he cupped his hands and said, "To your Majesty, our main branch and the side branches do not move closely, but they will still tell the truth to minor officials on such important matters."

"Really?" Sheng Zhan looked at him with a half-smile, then turned to the eunuch beside him, "It is my decree that farmers only need to pay 10% of their grain tax this year, but merchants' commercial taxes will be doubled. Officials Salaries are reduced by 20%, and the whole country can tide over this difficult time."

After saying that, Sheng Zhan turned around and waved, "Retreat!"

He left, but he left behind a crowd of stunned officials looking at each other.

"Your Majesty...how, how can this be done?"

"Because he is the emperor?"

Everyone: "..."

This is simply random!

Even if taxes are to be reduced, the Ministry of Household Affairs must make the decision based on records over the years and harvests during natural disasters!

There is also a doubling of business taxes for merchants, which... is simply forcing merchants to rebel!

Compared with the previous two, a 20% reduction in official salary is nothing.

Let’s not mention the chaos in the imperial court for the time being. Let’s talk about King Zhao’s Jinzhou and the six northwest states. After it was determined that there would be a severe drought this year, the entire Prince Zhao’s palace also became busy.

However, unlike the chaos of the imperial court, King Zhao ordered his officials and staff who were proficient in calculations to gather together, carefully calculate the income and expenditure of the entire six northwest states and Jinzhou in previous years, and then formulate countermeasures based on different classifications.

After being so busy for half a month, King Zhao asked about the situation in northern Hubei again.

"The Lanjiang River is about to dry up, and the drought in northern Hubei will only be worse than ours. You don't need to follow up on the salt matter."

When King Zhao heard Zhao Ling say that he was blocking the trade routes in northern Hubei and refusing the flow of salt, he failed to get the man in northern Hubei to come forward, so he gave up his previous plan.

There is a severe drought in the world, and Northern Hubei will definitely not be able to escape. So when there is no material circulation and not much food storage, there is no need for him to do anything. When the drought passes, Northern Hubei will naturally be able to defeat itself.

"But Father, do you really want to give up? There are no salt mines in northern Hubei. Now there is a drought and even more salt shortage. Maybe they will come to beg us soon. My son thinks..." Zhao Ling still wanted to do it again. Go for it.

After all, this was one of the most important tasks assigned to him by King Zhao.

King Zhao waved his hand, "No need, if there is trouble in Northern Hubei, that person will definitely come forward."

And when Shengze shows up again, don't even think about leaving.

There are many ways to control a person in this world, and King Zhao doesn't think he can find a way to control Shengze.

A puppet emperor is better than being the emperor himself. He enjoys all the benefits. If he fails to take care of the country well, it will be Shengze who will be infamous throughout the ages.

No one knew what King Zhao was planning, but as the drought became more and more serious, rumors of "natural punishment" spread among the people.

“Do you know why it’s been so dry this year?”

"Isn't it that God is in a bad mood?"

"Then why is it in a bad mood? It's not because someone took something that doesn't belong to him. This is a punishment from heaven!"

"This...what do you mean?"

"What can I mean? If the person on the throne returns the things, maybe this natural disaster will disappear..."

Such rumors quickly spread, not only reaching the ears of Sheng Zhan, but also reaching the ears of King Zhao.

It is a pity that the news of northern Hubei has been blocked. Shen Qingqian and the others have no idea that they are speeding up the pace to connect all the rivers in northern Hubei so that rivers that do not originate from Chengjin Mountain can also receive divine spring water to facilitate people's lives and irrigate the land.