Chapter 168: Most are obedient people, there must be a root!

Su Beihai's expression was even more furious, yet he was helpless.

Someone in the crowd shouted:

"Look at this Prefect, he's stingy, very stingy."

"Don't lose the dignity of an official!"

The old man on the ground screamed even louder.

"This carriage has no eyes, it's going to take an old man's life, this leg is probably ruined."

"Murder, where is the justice!"

Upon hearing this, Su Beihai frowned, took out another heavy thirty taels of silver from his sleeve, and stuffed it into the hand of an official beside him without hesitation, his gestures carrying a bit of urgency:

"Hurry, hurry!"

This time, the official received the silver and didn't throw it on the ground, but carefully handed it to the old man on the ground.

"Master Li, just stop your act today!"

The old man shook his hand, weighed the silver in his hand, smacked his lips, and feigned surprise:

"Yo!"

"Master Su is generous, this is true silver and gold sentiment!"

The old man was dressed in tattered hemp clothes, and the official helped him up.

"Don't help, Grandpa can walk by himself!"

The old man climbed up by himself, patted the dust off his pants, his movements smooth and practiced.

Where was there any appearance of injury!

Yuwen Liqian's maid finally understood; wasn't this just extortion?

In broad daylight, someone actually dared to intercept the Prefect's carriage and stage such a scene in front of everyone; it was truly a decline in morals, such an absurd thing happening in the Yan territory!

It was truly rebelling against the heavens!

The maid said angrily: "Princess..."

Yuwen Liqian didn't pay attention; her gaze discovered subtle details.

Although the old man was wearing hemp clothes on the surface to cover his roughness, the inner collar of his inner garment was silk and brocade; such details added a few more suspicious points.

Yuwen Liqian looked at the porters and men around her; the old clothes they wore were tattered, but the exposed cuffs seemed to be of high-quality material.

Most of the women were dressed simply, but the hairpins on their hands and heads seemed to be gold and silver, with jade rings.

There were also some women dressed much more boldly, exposing their shoulders, with chest-high collars and exposed thighs.

This was absolutely not allowed in the Han Kingdom!

And!

The forty taels of silver that Su Beihai threw out casually; one must know that in the past Han Kingdom, the income of a butcher for a whole year was only forty taels of silver, and a teacher only earned fifty taels a year.

One tael of gold equals ten taels of silver, ten strings of coins.

One tael of silver can be exchanged for 1000 wen.

Now, under the rule of the Emperor, the income of the commoners has increased a lot.

One shi of rice is 3000 to 4000 wen.

Now, with the emphasis on farming, the price of rice has been falling year by year; at the beginning of the year, it even fell below 2500 wen, leading countless great scholars in the court to praise the Emperor's wisdom and his saintly demeanor.

Hemp cloth, the lowest grade of fabric, is about 30 wen.

Linen cloth, 600 wen.

The silk on these dock workers is almost worth one tael of silver.

Yuwen Liqian is not a rich bird in the palace, but truly travels to learn about the suffering of the people.

Commoners earning one hundred wen a day, and merchants earning two hundred and fifty wen, are all considered wealthy.

Pork is 30 wen a catty, fine flour is 35 wen a catty.

Commoners mostly barter!

Court officials, ninth-rank minor officials have a salary of 60 silver, and junior ninth-rank is slightly reduced to 50 taels.

Up to the regular eighth rank, one has 80 taels of silver, and junior eighth rank is 70 taels.

A first-rank official has a salary of 2000 silver, which is only the salary granted by the court.

In recent years, the Han Kingdom has promoted frugality, starting from the harem, eliminating extravagance, and it has become a trend.

Looking at the Yan Prince, he actually has the absurd behavior of using twelve horses to pull a carriage.

It is truly extravagant!

Yuwen Liqian shook her head gently, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, seeing that they were healthy and full of spirit.

Along the way, she didn't seem to see any beggars.

One must know!

There are inevitably beggars in the capital of the Han Kingdom.

The old man who was "putting on an act" just now stood up, sat down in front of the crowd unhurriedly, took out dry tobacco from his pocket, started smoking leisurely, and looked at the carriage in front through the clouds and mist!

A mass of people blocked the front, with no intention of moving at all.

Su Beihai looked at the crowd gathered around, with no sign of moving.

"Princess, please don't be anxious!"

Yuwen Liqian just smiled slightly:

"Prefect Su, rest assured, we have traveled a thousand miles along the way, and we will be there soon, so naturally I won't be anxious."

"Prefect Su, why did the Green Gang come this time?"

Su Beihai didn't hide it and explained:

"This matter is a long story, and it has to do with two government decrees from last year!"

"A few years ago, houses in Jiakang were half-rented and half-owned, but in recent years, local property prices have risen again and again, more than ten times in the past ten years, not to mention this year; the price of the best houses at the beginning of the year was simply astronomical."

Su Beihai smiled bitterly: "In previous years, if you worked hard for four or five years, you could buy a two-entry courtyard, but now I'm afraid you can only buy the stone lions at the door."

"Fortunately, last year the Yan Prince's Mansion issued a decree that houses bought and sold in the city must be local residents of Jiakang City, and they can only buy one set; for the second set, they need a government guarantee and pay 30% more!"

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Liqian nodded slightly; she knew well that the housing prices in the capital of the Han Kingdom were high.

Her confusion deepened; why limit local residents from buying houses?

Su Beihai's brow showed a trace of helplessness: "This involves another more stringent decree. In order to control the impact of the immigrant population on Jiakang City, the Yan Prince's Mansion stipulates that anyone who wants to move to Jiakang City must first live here for a full year and pay a full year's labor fee to the Prince's Mansion before they are eligible to buy property; these two decrees are implemented in parallel."

"But it still can't stop the fact that there are too many people coming from outside to settle in Jiakang City, with nearly a million commoners flocking here every year!"

Yuwen Liqian understood every word, but didn't understand the meaning.

"What does this have to do with the Green Gang?"

Su Beihai understood that this Han Kingdom Princess didn't understand some of the policies in the Yan territory.

"Princess can also understand it as: some commoners in surrounding counties want to buy houses in Jiakang, so they need to live here, so they need to compete with locals for some jobs."

"Most of the Green Gang are dock porters and carriage workers. With more immigrants, most of the things they can do are these, and in order to grab business, the price will be relatively cheaper, which also leads to their wages getting lower and lower."

Yuwen Liqian roughly understood; immigrants are naturally cheap and good.

The Green Gang wants to protect its own interests!

"Then why did they stop us?"

Su Beihai's face looked a bit bad:

"These days, the imperial envoy from the Yan Prince's Mansion is arriving, so these people from the Green Gang want to make some trouble and create some so-called public grievances; the Yan Prince's Mansion also has corresponding remonstrance officials, which is their favorite thing!"

"So today, the manpower in the government office is really insufficient, so we were rushed; Princess, I am really sorry."

Yuwen Liqian didn't care about these; she roughly understood!

It seems that what Su Beihai said is true, but the current situation is really shocking.

Commoners openly confronting the government in the street!

Truly a strange story through the ages!

Yuwen Liqian looked at the old man smoking dry tobacco in front, so what is this person for!

The maid on the side was also angry:

"Such unreasonable people would be beaten to death on the spot in the Han Kingdom."

In the Han Kingdom, let alone the government officials, even the minor officials below are incredibly spirited!

Difficult little ghosts, feared like jackals and leopards!

If it were in our Han Kingdom, such unreasonable people would be severely punished immediately; etiquette and hierarchy are the cornerstone of national order; not bowing to officials, regardless of status, is considered great disrespect.

Heaven, Earth, Monarch, Kin, Teacher; the monarch is supreme, the monarch is above, the people are below.

Official prestige is awe-inspiring, and the public should be in awe.

Great Confucianism once said that only when the people perform their duties can the country be peaceful and prosperous for generations.

That is to say, if you want the people to live and work in peace, let the people do one thing for generations, and the country will be peaceful and prosperous!

Su Beihai noticed this and explained:

"It's still because the Yan Prince is too good to the commoners under his rule; the Yan Law has already exempted most criminal laws and established multiple laws to protect the commoners."

"If there is no serious crime, they cannot be arrested or punished, especially if local officials touch them, the crime is increased by one degree."

"Plus the Yan Prince leads by example, and those above influence those below, leading to these unreasonable people becoming more and more presumptuous from top to bottom."

Su Beihai sighed:

"I still envy the officials of the four kingdoms; those commoners are mostly honest, mostly obedient, unlike the commoners in the Yan territory who are familiar with the law and play many tricks."

"Now there are many private schools, every household has children who can read, and the Yan Prince's Mansion also sends officials below every month to explain the Yan Law to the commoners."

Yuwen Liqian listened to Su Beihai's complaints, looking at the soldiers in heavy armor and long spears around, holding steel knives in their hands, standing like pine trees.

In the middle of the road are bustling commoners.

Around them are officials with sticks.

The commoners are unarmed, but they don't have a trace of fear, chatting and laughing.

There are also naughty children running over to imitate the soldiers, jumping and being chased away.

As lively as a festival!

Yuwen Liqian was momentarily confused.

In her cognition, the commoners, as the cornerstone of the country, are often at the bottom of society, and they always appear small and helpless when facing the government.

However, the scene before her completely overturned her concept.

What they are facing is the government office.

Entering the hall is the terrifying stick, who is not afraid.

Half of the government office opens to the south!

Why!

These commoners who are chatting and laughing have no sharp weapons in their hands, and no weapons in their hands, yet they dare to stop the Prefect's carriage and openly confront the government; where does their confidence come from?

A tree that reaches the sky must have its roots, and water that surrounds the mountain must have its source.

A tree that reaches the sky will also have its roots, and the flood that surrounds the mountain also has its source.

She thought and thought, it seems there is only one direction.

That Yan Prince's Mansion without a master, that Tomb of the Living Dead on Mount Zhongnan, that Yan Prince who has practiced Dao for ten years!

When Lu Chen, who was a Junior Guardian, returned to the North, the commoners in the North cooked sheep and slaughtered cattle for fun.

When the Yan Prince went to Mount Zhongnan!

Ten thousand people offered incense, as if worshiping a god!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 169 =====