manynovel Chapter 164 Emperor Xin's Reforms Are Evaluated by Jiang Ziya
Chapter 164 Emperor Xin's Reforms Are Evaluated by Jiang Ziya
Chaoge, Song Palace.
Inside the hall, Jiang Ziya and Song Yiren both had sad looks on their faces, thinking back to when they were still young. After the death of his parents, Jiang Ziya realized the impermanence of life and death and wanted to go in search of immortals to ask for advice.
It has been nearly a hundred years since he left.
When they met again, they were both old men with white hair and beards.
Of course, Song Yiren didn't have much cultivation and was a real old man, while Jiang Ziya was just a man with restrained spirit and energy, and didn't deliberately use his cultivation to maintain changes in his physical appearance.
In real comparison, his body is dozens of times healthier than that of a normal young man, so he can easily put on armor and go into battle as a general.
"After so many years of separation, I had no news from you. I thought we would never meet again in this life... Oh, it's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"
Song Yiren sighed again and again.
Jiang Ziya also followed his brother's words and expressed his feelings again. Then he began to shift the topic to other places.
"I have been away from home for decades. Chaoge seems to have changed a lot from before. The city is more prosperous, and there are many more people in the village. The rise and fall of the country depends on the people's peace and security. This is good!"
Jiang Ziya exclaimed in admiration.
Song Yiren was a little noncommittal when he heard this. He shook his head slightly and said, "It's a big change, but I don't know if this change, falling to the ground, is a good thing or a bad thing!"
"What do you mean, brother?"
Jiang Ziya asked quickly.
Song Yiren sighed, "When the previous emperor was in power, Chaoge didn't change much, but since the current king ascended the throne, changes have begun, especially in the past few years!"
"The king abolished many temples outside the city, and exiled more than a dozen nobles in Chaoge City... The most important thing is that the king used the slaves outside the city to provide food and grass for Master Wen, and made hundreds of thousands of slaves civilians!"
"Hundreds of thousands of civilians, most of whom were dispersed to farms outside the city, and a small number of slaves were promoted to minor officials. Your Majesty is deliberately suppressing the nobles of Chaoge!"
Jiang Ziya nodded slightly, agreeing with Song Yiren's point of view.
Suppress the nobles and promote the slaves!
Emperor Xin did not deliberately hide this action, and many people could see it. However, Song Yiren and most of the nobles only saw that Emperor Xin was suppressing the nobles, and did not understand the other party's divine intention.
“This is a warning!”
Jiang Ziya sighed in his heart repeatedly. He was well versed in strategy and his mind worked very quickly. He understood Di Xin's thoughts in a moment.
Emperor Xin used these methods to warn the nobles of Chaoge, making them realize that the Human Emperor was the ruler of the Shang Dynasty.
If they do not obey the orders of the Human Emperor, they can be knocked down to dust at any time and replaced by others.
As for deliberately suppressing the nobles and promoting slaves, they are means, not ends.
After all, hundreds of thousands of slaves are just a drop in the ocean compared to the entire population of the Shang Dynasty.
Even if Emperor Xin wanted to promote talents, he would not be so foolish as to think that he could rely on these slaves to replace the nobles who had existed for countless years.
"This king has good methods. If he can make the nobles submit and promote some talents from the civilian slaves, he can make Da Shang more dynamic. But he is too rigid. I am afraid that the nobles who are suppressed will not obey in their hearts! There will definitely be hidden dangers in the future!"
Jiang Ziya's eyes sparkled.
Although the method was still a bit immature, when Jiang Ziya thought about the time when the king would ascend the throne, he suddenly understood.
The main reason is that he is too young. If he could be tempered for more time, perhaps Emperor Xin would become mature.
"If the king's skills mature, he will be a wise ruler!"
Jiang Ziya nodded secretly.
As a minister, the most worrying thing is that the monarch is incompetent and has no place to use his talents. Jiang Ziya can infer from his brother's words and the scene he saw in Chaoge that Emperor Xin is not a incompetent monarch.
After coming to this conclusion, Jiang Ziya naturally had some inclination in his mind.
"When we were in the mountains, several brothers had a good impression of Qingzhou. If my hometown was not in Chaoge, I might have gone directly to Qingzhou!"
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What is the general trend? For this world, the general trend is to enthronize the gods and sort out the heaven and earth. The heaven and man kill each other in the catastrophe, and countless immortals and gods are involved in it. In order to escape the catastrophe, they fight each other. This is the general trend!
In ancient times, the fate of the world depended on the earth. Whoever could control the earth would be the master of all races and be known as the Emperor of Earth.
If one can obtain most of the world's luck, even someone with great supernatural powers can use this luck to prove his truth.
However, since the great catastrophe in ancient times, when the innate gods and the Demon Emperor fell, the Heavenly Court established by the Demon Emperor became the center for controlling the three realms.
From then on, the fate of the Earth Emperor was taken away by the Heavenly Emperor. The changes in power on earth could no longer affect the entire Three Realms.
Therefore, the change of dynasties in the world has become a minor trend!
......
The capital of the Shang Dynasty was Chaoge.
Emperor Xin, who was angry because of a memorial from the chief priest of the ancestral temple, finally went to court again!
At this time, Emperor Xin had barely recovered his composure, and he also knew that the high priest had not intended to embarrass him, but the high priest's memorial had already spread throughout Chaoge.
Everyone knew that less than half a day after Emperor Xin dared to announce the abolition of human sacrifice in the court, news came from the ancestral temple that warned that the high priest demanded that 100,000 slaves be used to sacrifice to the gods.
Although the high priest did not intend to do so, he had already caused the dignity of the Human Emperor to be damaged.
So Emperor Xin was extremely angry, but he could not vent his anger on the high priest who had already exhausted his life force and was dying, so he could only hold it in his chest.
In other words, Emperor Xin had a better mentality and did not vent his anger on others, otherwise, if the ruler was angry, there would surely be bloodshed for thousands of miles.
"If you have something to do, report it early; if nothing happens, leave the court!"
Emperor Xin sat at the top of the court with an expressionless face. A palace servant beside him, following Emperor Xin's instructions, shouted loudly from the upper side, and the sound spread from top to bottom throughout the court hall.
Many officials in the court noticed Emperor Xin's expression, looked at each other, and dared not step forward even if they had something to say, fearing that they would attract Emperor Xin's wrath.
"Your Majesty, the high priest reported to the ancestral temple the other day to warn us. In order to stabilize the fate of the Shang Dynasty, Your Majesty is requested to lead the ministers to hold a grand sacrifice and let the gods protect our Shang Dynasty!"
No one else dared to come out, even Ya Bi Gan did not want to bring trouble to himself, but Prime Minister Shang Rong was fearless. He stepped forward, bowed and made a loud report.
"The ancestral temple has given us a warning, so we should offer sacrifices! However, offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods by human means is against the harmony of nature. May I ask the Prime Minister if there are other ways to offer sacrifices?"
Emperor Xin had a calm expression, deep eyes, and spoke lightly.
"This...the method of worshiping gods has been passed down from ancient times. There is only one kind, and there is no other!" Shang Rong hesitated.
"Oh? Could it be that these so-called gods will devour the lives of our people in order to protect the Shang Dynasty? Then what is the difference between these gods who demand blood sacrifices and demons?"
Emperor Xin leaned down slightly, staring at Shang Rong, but his words were somewhat impolite.
As soon as he arrived at the court, Shang Rong was reported about the matter of the high priest, which made his emotions, which had already been under control, ignite again.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
Seeing this, Bigan, who originally did not want to come out, stepped forward and said respectfully: "Those used for offering sacrifices to the gods are slaves and prisoners of war who are enemies of our Shang Dynasty. They are not Shang people. There is nothing wrong with using them to offer sacrifices to the gods."
Doctor Mei Bo, General Huang Feihu, other doctors, generals, and all the civil and military officials in the court all nodded secretly when they heard this and agreed with it deeply.
Prisoners of war and slaves were nothing more than consumables. Except for Qingzhou, which had a shortage of population and organized slaves into slave armies, no one in the world attached too much importance to slaves.
"How pedantic! I am not only the Lord of the Great Shang, but also the Emperor of the Human Race! Slaves and prisoners of war are also human beings, and they are also my people! If I abandon them at will, will I still be the Emperor of the Human Race?"
A flash of anger appeared on Emperor Xin's face.
Shang Rong and Bigan were suddenly speechless.
To be honest, although they nominally called Emperor Xin the Human Emperor, they actually just regarded him as the ruler of the Shang Dynasty.
For example, the Dongyi people, Guifang people, and Rong people are all branches of ancient human races. Can Emperor Xin, the Human Emperor, control them?
With the exception of the founding emperor Shang Tang, the successive rulers of the Shang Dynasty were nominally called Human Emperors. However, apart from occupying most of the human race’s destiny, they no longer possessed the supreme power and majesty of the ancient Human Emperors who bestowed titles upon the gods and ghosts of the earth and protected all spirits.
It's just a name without substance.
However, Shang Rong and Bigan did not dare to point this out openly.
After all, the title of the Human Emperor is very important to Da Shang. If it is damaged, Da Shang’s luck will also be reduced.
"Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. We, the ministers, accept your advice. However, offering sacrifices to the gods is a major policy and cannot be changed!" Shang Rong said.
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