Chapter 570: Unyielding

Editor: Atlas Studios

After the Second Prince died, he left behind a confession edict and a letter. Qi Haoran took a look and asked someone to search the campsite. Only then did he confirm that all of the Second Prince’s trusted aides had left.

“General, give me 500 cavalry. I will definitely be able to chase them back.”

Qi Haoran waved his hand and said, “There’s no need to chase after them. Just let them go. Keep the news under wraps and don’t let outsiders know that Minister Qin and the Second Prince have committed suicide for the time being.” With that, he put away the letter and edict.

Once the Second Prince died, the remaining areas of Chengdu Prefecture would be easy to recover. Qi Haoran only brought the army to the city gate, and the county officials inside would open the door to welcome them in.

After he walked through the remaining counties and left behind the soldiers guarding them, he brought the remaining army back to the court.

The news of the Second Prince and Prime Minister Qin’s deaths had already spread to Lin’an City and all over the country. After thinking for a long time, the bandits of Jiangling Prefecture finally took the initiative to surrender. The Yuan family’s army had also submitted an official document to Qi Xiuyuan beforehand.

At this point, the Great Zhou territory had finally stabilized. Qi Xiuyuan threw out a few edicts in a row to let the displaced people return to their hometowns or settle down locally. Everyone had to register in the government office and obtain their identification documents. The registrants would be given farmland and be exempted from taxes for three years.

It was prohibited to keep hidden households in one’s residence. Once discovered, all the assets of those guilty would be confiscated.

The latter was targeted at aristocratic families and tycoons because they were the only ones who would keep hidden households.

Zhang Cheng and the other officials felt that this move was too radical, and the three-year tax exemption period was too long. It had to be known that the three-year tax exemption that Qi Xiuyuan had planned was launched on a national scale, and that was only the minimum. In some poverty-stricken places, the tax exemption period was as high as five years. The treasury did not have much money to begin with, and the country’s income mainly came from farmers paying taxes. Three years of tax exemption was equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the treasury’s income in three years.

Incomes declined, but expenditures increased.

Post-war reconstruction was not something easily achieved. It required a lot of manpower and material resources.

And both required money.

Frustrated by the complicated state affairs, Qi Xiuyuan said impatiently upon hearing this, “The Imperial Court has always forbidden hidden households. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this.” After saying that, he sneered and said, “I know that some rich families are used to keeping hidden households. Once the edict is issued, it’s fine if they obediently stop. If they dare to ignore it or double down on their actions, I can let bygones be bygones if all the officials involved surrender before being exposed. If they still dare to hide things or collude with the rich to help conceal the hidden households, they will be beheaded in public.”

After saying this while exuding a sharp aura, Qi Xiuyuan flicked his sleeves and left.

Zhang Cheng and the others were shocked by Qi Xiuyuan’s vicious aura and only came back to their senses after he left.

They didn’t expect Qi Xiuyuan to be so unyielding. They looked at each other and were a little worried that Qi Xiuyuan would cause the finally-peaceful country to erupt in chaos again.

However, who knew that there was someone in this world with a worse temper than Qi Xiuyuan?

Before Qi Xiuyuan’s words could spread after being suppressed by Zhang Cheng and the others, Qi Haoran caused a huge commotion in the Jiangling Prefecture.

Because the bandits in Jiangling Prefecture had surrendered, Qi Xiuyuan asked Qi Haoran, who was returning to the Imperial Court, to go there and recruit those bandits into the army before returning to the capital. Anyway, since he would only ascend the throne in June, it was still early.

Things went very smoothly. After leaving a portion of the garrison troops behind, Qi Haoran continued to lead the newly-recruited bandit army and his own army towards Lin’an City.

From Jiangling Prefecture to Lin’an City, they had to pass through Dongting Lake, a beautiful and affluent place. Coincidentally, when Qi Haoran and the others stopped again, they had to station themselves there.

Everything was green and the fertile land was filled with farmland for thousands of miles. However, Qi Haoran was not in the mood to admire this scene that foreshadowed a bumper harvest because he was in a hurry to enter the city to find gifts for Mu Yangling and his child.

Ever since he returned to the court, he had been vexed about what gifts to give Mu Yangling and his child. However, because he didn’t have money or creativity, he had delayed it until now.

However, he was rich now because the bandit chief had bribed him when he recruited the bandits into the army two days ago.

Although it was not much money, it was still 5,000 taels of silver. Qi Haoran accepted it happily and brought the money into the city to buy things. However, he did not find anything suitable in the Jiangling Prefecture. This time, he was stationed outside Dongting County. He heard that the things there were not bad. Therefore, dressed in casual clothes, Qi Haoran carried the money into the city with Fei Bai and two guards.

The key point was he was dressed in civilian clothes.

After Qi Haoran bought the gifts, it was already late and the city gate was closed. He thought that since he had to use the token to get them to open the city gate anyway, he might as well stay for a meal to relieve his hunger.

One had to know that he had been eating poorly for the past year.

Qi Haoran brought Fei Bai and two guards into a private room and ordered a table of meat. As he was eating, he heard sounds from the private room next door.

Qi Haoran also knew that he was probably being schemed against. Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence? He casually entered a private room and the people next door just so happened to be discussing secret matters? In addition, a wooden board in that private room was also coincidentally damaged so that he could hear what was being said next door?

Proficient in Internal Strength, Qi Haoran’s hearing had always been better than ordinary people. However, not many people knew about this.

Qi Haoran put down his chopsticks and pondered for a while with a dark expression. Seeing that Fei Bai and the two guards were looking at him with fear and trepidation, he waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “Continue eating. After you’re done, go do something important with me.”

Since Qi Haoran said that, it must be something truly important. After the four of them ate and drank their fill, Qi Haoran brought them into the private room next door and tied up the three people inside. He pushed away the shopkeeper who went forward to stop him and jumped onto his horse. Then, he instructed in a low voice, “Leave the city immediately!”

Since Qi Haoran had a token that allowed him to enter and exit any city at will, their speed was unexpectedly fast. Before the other party could react, Qi Haoran had already gotten someone to open the small city gate and brought his men out. Once they returned to the Qi family’s army, no one could do anything to him.

Qi Haoran threw them to the ground and looked at them deeply. Then, he turned to Fei Bai and said, “Get someone trustworthy to watch over them. If they die, you guys don’t have to live anymore either.”

Fei Bai shuddered and hurriedly called Qi Haoran’s trusted aides over. After separating the three of them, he had them guarded separately. No one was allowed to approach.

Qi Haoran returned to the tent with an ugly expression and called his adjutant over. “Gather the troops. We’ll go to the Cui family tomorrow. I want to see how wealthy this aristocratic family is.”

Qi Haoran didn’t knowhow to play tricks and wasn’t smart, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. Why would he use his shortcomings to do what others were good at?

He wasn’t a puppet. Since others dared to scheme against him, they had to have the ability to withstand accidents.

One of the captured people kept waiting to be interrogated. However, as time passed, he realized that no one came to interrogate him. He did not even get to see Qi Haoran again. His expression became uglier and uglier as he struggled to look at the person guarding him.

However, his hands and feet were tied, and his mouth was stuffed with cloth. Not only could he not move or speak, but he could not even commit suicide.

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