Chapter 464

"Hmph, I have long found these people unpleasant; if it weren't for the lack of His Majesty's decree, I would have slaughtered them long ago!"

At this moment, Zhang Fei, who was sitting below, also said fiercely.

"Enough, Third Brother, His Majesty has already issued the decree; these matters are trivial, no need to worry about them."

Guan Yu, hearing Zhang Fei's words, comforted him.

Subsequently, Guo Jia read Liu Bian's decree to the group.

Then, Guan Yu, Guo Jia, and the others stood up and left; they needed to reorganize the army and return to the capital as soon as possible.

After Guan Yu and the others left, Shen Pei and Yan Rou also began to get busy.

Those surrendered soldiers of Gongsun Zan all needed to be dealt with.

Moreover, Shen Pei still had to select personnel to serve as the Commandery Governors for the five commanderies including Liaoxi; these matters all required his personal attention.

Time came to the afternoon of the next day, and Zhou Cang finally rendezvoused with Guan Yu and the others with ten thousand Azure Dragon Army soldiers.

In the evening, Shen Pei and Yan Rou held a simple victory banquet for the Azure Dragon Army.

Since there was nothing to do, everyone except those on duty got dead drunk that night.

Early the next morning, Guan Yu led the hundred thousand Azure Dragon Army troops and left Right Beiping in a grand procession.

"To tell the truth, I really envy the people of their six major legions!"

Watching the departing Azure Dragon Army, Yan Rou muttered to himself with envy.

"Hehe!"

However, although Yan Rou's voice was very soft, it was still heard clearly by Shen Pei, who was to the side.

Shen Pei did not respond, only shaking his head with a chuckle.

Time passed, and soon the three-month deadline set by Liu Bian was approaching.

Early in the morning, before dawn, the civil and military officials in Luoyang City had already headed toward the Imperial Palace.

When everyone arrived outside the Court Hall, they found that quite a few people had already gathered.

Moreover, even Gan Ning, who was far away in Xuzhou training the Han Navy, had rushed back this time.

Before long, all the civil and military officials had arrived outside the Court Hall.

Everyone did not wait long before the tightly closed doors of the Court Hall slowly opened.

The Eunuch Chief Steward Li Liangcheng arrived outside the Court Hall.

"His Majesty has a decree, officials may enter!"

As his sharp voice rang out, the officials lined up in two rows according to their rank and entered the Court Hall in turn.

After the assembled officials entered the hall and stood in place, they shouted in unison to Liu Bian, who sat high on the Dragon Throne:

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty, may Your Majesty live for ten thousand years!"

Liu Bian scanned the officials with authority and said in a commanding voice:

"My beloved subjects, please rise!"

"We thank Your Majesty!"

After the officials rose and stood in place, the Eunuch Chief Steward Li Liangcheng shouted loudly:

"Submit memorials if you have them, otherwise the court is dismissed!"

As the voice of the Eunuch Chief Steward Li Liangcheng fell, the Minister of Personnel and Cabinet Minister Xun Yu immediately stepped forward, bowed, and clasped his hands toward Liu Bian:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I, Xun Yu, have a memorial to submit!"

Liu Bian looked at Xun Yu with authority and said in a commanding voice:

"Proceed!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the four provinces of Youzhou, Yuzhou, Xuzhou, and Jizhou, after three months of governance by their respective Inspectors, have all implemented the new policies of our Han Empire."

"The excess land in the hands of the aristocratic families of the four provinces has all been reclaimed and distributed to the commoners of the four provinces."

"A total of forty-seven rebellious aristocratic families have been completely suppressed, and a total of 1.5 million gold, 1 million shi of grain, and other jewelry and jade worth approximately 500,000 gold have been confiscated!"

Regarding these figures, when Xun Yu and the other Cabinet Ministers and the Six Ministers first received the news, they were all shocked by the wealth of these aristocratic families.

"Hmph, these parasites of the Han, with so much money and grain, who knows how many commoners they have harmed!"

"Take these people and have them build the Yinghun Shrine and the Royal Academy; let them atone for their own mistakes!"

Even though Liu Bian had already known this news in advance, upon hearing it now, he could not help but feel a surge of anger.

"This humble subject obeys the decree!"

At this time, those who did not know of this matter were also shocked by these huge figures.

This money and grain were almost equal to one year's tax revenue of the Han Empire.

How could such a shocking number not be surprising!

However, with this money and grain, Liu Bian suddenly became wealthy.

If it weren't for the fact that the other aristocratic families had obediently handed over the land in their hands,

he had almost wanted to confiscate everything from them as well.

However, as the commoners of these four provinces returned to his side, during this period, Liu Bian's National Fortune Value also began to increase.

Currently, his National Fortune Value had broken through one million again.

System: Wanjie Emperor System

Host: Liu Bian

Realm: Innate Seventh Heaven

Talent: Primordial Grade

Constitution: Supreme Emperor Body

Supernatural Power: Probe Eye

Technique: Supreme Emperor Art

Equipment: Emperor Sword, Emperor Armor

System Space: National Seal, Spirit Rice Seeds * 50 tons.

National Fortune Value:

Quest Two: Host fully controls the Han Empire.

Reward: Emperor's Heaven-Sealing List

Primordial Heaven-Sealing List: Primordial Grade treasure, possesses the effect of conferring titles upon the heavens; after conferment, the individual is completely loyal to the host, and the host controls the life and death of the conferred with a thought."

System Quest: Three

Please have the host establish a Dynasty within one year.

Quest Reward: Activate the constitution of the host's subordinates

Quest Failure: No penalty

Quest Progress: Pending

During these days, Liu Bian also handed over the one hundred tons of hybrid rice that had been stored in the system space for a long time to the Minister of Revenue, Xi Zhong, telling him to slowly promote it to the entire world.

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to submit!"

After Xun Yu finished reporting, the Minister of Revenue, Xi Zhicai, who was standing behind him, stepped out and said loudly to Liu Bian.

"Proceed!"

After Liu Bian agreed, Xi Zhicai immediately said loudly:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, after this period, the Ministry of Revenue has accurately distributed the land of Xuzhou and the other three provinces to every commoner."

"The three types of food—sweet potatoes, corn, and hybrid rice—have also begun to be planted in each province; it is expected that by next year, they can be popularized throughout the thirteen provinces of the Han!"

During this time, the busiest people in the Han Empire were those in the Ministry of Revenue.

Now, they had finally finished all these matters.

Hearing Xi Zhicai's words, Liu Bian nodded with satisfaction.

Subsequently, Xi Zhicai continued to report:

"Currently, the national treasury has over 2.4 million shi of grain and nearly 3 million gold, reaching the most abundant level in history!"

After speaking, Xi Zhicai was full of excitement.

So much grain and fodder was enough for the entire Han Empire to use for two years.

One must know that most of this grain and gold was obtained from confiscating the aristocratic families.

From this, it can be seen just how insane those aristocratic families were.

"Hiss..."

Upon hearing this number for the first time, the assembled officials could not help but gasp.

Such a huge number was something they had never dared to dream of.