activa-t Chapter 655 How Ridiculous
Chapter 655 How Ridiculous
"Different."
Li Mingyuan shook his head. What was the situation like when he governed Qingzhou?
Although the emperor at that time was not a wise ruler who understood the suffering of the people, he was not as incompetent as the current emperor. He would support capable, talented and willing officials. Therefore, although Li Mingyuan often clashed with powerful families, he was able to withstand the pressure thanks to the emperor's support in the capital.
In addition, the climate in Qingzhou at that time was much better than it is now. Crops could be harvested twice a year, and even if the people were poor, they would not starve to death.
In contrast, Qingzhou is suffering from a severe cold, resulting in widespread crop failures. Meanwhile, the emperor in the capital is preoccupied with indulging in pleasures within the palace, leaving all government affairs to the prime minister and officials of the six ministries.
The prime minister and officials of the six ministries clearly did not care about the lives of the people in Qingzhou, which was thousands of miles away. As a result, Qingzhou, which suffered from the disaster, not only did not receive disaster relief from the court, but was also subjected to heavy taxes by the court.
Given the lack of support from the court and the disasters plaguing his territory, Zheng Qing's achievement was quite remarkable. Li Mingyuan felt that even if he were in Zheng Qing's shoes, he couldn't possibly have done better.
"You've already done a lot better than your teacher."
Li Mingyuan looked at Zheng Qing with admiration in his eyes. He was clearly satisfied with this disciple who was not really his apprentice. Zheng Qing had not let him down and had not forgotten his original intention. He had never exploited the people under his rule in the slightest. On the contrary, he did his best to make the people under his rule live a good life. This was what Li Mingyuan was most satisfied with.
"You flatter me, teacher!"
Zheng Qing, upon receiving praise from Li Mingyuan, grinned like a child receiving praise from an adult. The radiant smile on his face felt strangely unfamiliar to Zheng Qiuyan.
In Zheng Qiuyan's memory, her father had always been a man who never showed his emotions, but today, in front of teacher Li Mingyuan, her father seemed to no longer hide his inner feelings.
Soon after, the group arrived at the prefectural governor's mansion. Upon returning home, Zheng Qing immediately instructed the steward, "Steward, prepare a banquet immediately. I want to properly entertain my teacher and Brother Li."
"Yes!"
The butler left after receiving the order, while Zheng Qing led Li Mingyuan, Li Qiao, and Zheng Qiuyan to the living room to sit down.
After everyone was seated, Zheng Qiuyan personally served tea to everyone present.
"Brother Zheng, your prefectural governor's mansion is quite impressive!"
Taking a sip of tea, Li Qiao chuckled and teased.
"Brother Li, are you targeting me?"
Zheng Qing knew that his teacher hated corrupt officials who embezzled public funds, so he explained, "Brother Li, rest assured, all the items in the mansion and the expenses of the servants are from the profits of Zheng's Trading Company. I have never taken a single needle or thread from the common people."
"That's good!"
Hearing this, Li Mingyuan felt relieved. To be honest, when he entered the prefect's mansion earlier, he was a little worried that his disciple's personality had changed. Fortunately, it seems that Zheng Qing has not changed.
"teacher."
At this moment, Zheng Qing asked, "Where have you and Brother Li been all these years? Ever since you were dismissed from your post, I have been constantly worried about your safety and wish I could fly to your side."
"We've been to so many places."
Li Qiao replied with a smile, "In the past few years, Uncle Li and I have traveled to almost every part of Kyushu. We have set foot in Yuezhou in the south, and Youzhou and Liangzhou in the north."
"Youzhou?"
Zheng Qiuyan suddenly interjected, "Have you ever seen Tian Yu, the commander of the Great Wall Army?"
"Of course I've seen it."
Speaking of Tian Yu, Li Mingyuan couldn't help but sigh: "Over the years, I have traveled all over the land of Kyushu. What I have seen most is the suffering of the people. The emperor is incompetent and only knows how to enjoy himself. The prime minister and the officials of the six ministries in the court only want to gain benefits for their own families. No one cares about the lives of the people. Natural disasters and man-made calamities have made life miserable for the people of Kyushu. Even the soldiers of the Great Wall Army look pale and sickly."
At this point, Li Mingyuan's mood grew even heavier: "If this continues, the consequences would be unimaginable if the barbarians from the north were to invade!"
The Great Wall Army was the mainstay of Xia Kingdom's defense against the barbarians. Even the soldiers of the Great Wall Army were starving. Li Mingyuan could not imagine who could resist the barbarian invasion when it happened.
Relying on the imperial army? That's clearly impossible.
After years of peace, the Xia Kingdom's military strength has declined sharply. The government army can't even defeat the peasant army, let alone fight against the ferocious barbarian troops. Given the current state of the government army's fighting spirit, it's likely that the government army will collapse on its own before even engaging the barbarians in direct combat.
Moreover, the imperial court no longer has many troops. The 25-strong army of the three major camps has not been able to be rebuilt since it was defeated by Yang Zheng of Liangzhou. Otherwise, the rebellions in various parts of the Nine Provinces would not have become so escalating.
As for the state armies of each state... most of them were exhausted in the battles against the peasant armies that rebelled in various places, and now the Xia Kingdom has no soldiers available.
Those powerful families did have their own private armies, but it was obvious that they would not use their private armies to help the court defend against foreign enemies.
Therefore, the only force capable of resisting the barbarians was the Great Wall Army.
But what's most terrifying now is... the imperial court has been consistently delaying the payment of the Great Wall Army's military pay, and hundreds of thousands of Great Wall soldiers are frequently going hungry...
How ridiculous it is to expect an army that is starving to defend against the most ferocious foreign enemies.
However, this is the true reality of the Xia Kingdom: the emperor is indulging in pleasure, and the officials in the capital only care about their own interests. No one cares about the lives of the people, nor does anyone care about the possibility of invasion from the barbarian tribes outside the pass at any time.
Thinking of his long conversation with Tian Yu, and of the Xia people who had suffered cruel torture and died due to the barbarian invasion that Tian Yu had described to him, Li Mingyuan felt particularly heavy-hearted.
He, like Tian Yu, once had the same dream: to one day, when the nation was strong enough, to break through the Great Wall and completely eliminate the threat of the barbarians.
Unfortunately... things didn't go as planned. Despite his efforts for most of his life, he was still unable to save this critically ill country.
On the contrary, after he was deposed, the Xia Kingdom's national strength declined rapidly and it began to disintegrate.
In fact, although the Xia Dynasty still nominally possesses the land of the Nine Provinces, apart from Jingzhou, Qingzhou, and Youzhou, the other six provinces are no longer under the control of the Xia Dynasty and have been occupied by various peasant armies that have risen up.
As for Qingzhou and Youzhou, Qingzhou is in a slightly better position, as the imperial court can still collect some taxes there.
As for Youzhou... the situation in Youzhou is even more complicated than in Qingzhou. The imperial court has been unable to collect taxes from there for many years.