northernbook Chapter 529 Self-Destruction
Chapter 529 Self-Destruction
The Northern Qi emperor immediately summoned Liu Zhengrong, the Right Pillar of State. As soon as Liu entered the palace, the emperor suddenly threw the memorial in his hand at him.
With a loud "smack," the folding paper slammed heavily onto Liu Zhengrong's face, instantly turning his cheeks bright red.
Liu Zhengrong dared not cover his face with his hands and knelt down on the ground with a thud. Before he could even ask the Northern Qi Emperor to calm down, he heard the Emperor's furious voice above him.
"Look at the mess you've made! You've created such a huge disaster for me. Even if you die ten thousand times, you still can't escape the blame."
Liu Zhengrong trembled with fear and hurriedly explained, "Your Majesty, I was just doing what you ordered. In the past month or so, only the people in and around the capital have paid their taxes, and all the tax revenue has been deposited into the national treasury."
"As for the common people far from the capital, they are all unruly. They refuse to pay even the original taxes, let alone pay an extra 10%. They are even making trouble under the pretext of the court's decree to increase taxes."
"Even now, you still dare to deceive me." The Emperor of Northern Qi was furious, pointing his finger at Liu Zhengrong: "Tell me, apart from the prefectures and counties around the capital, how much more tax has been levied in other places? If you utter another falsehood, I will charge you with deceiving the emperor and cut off your head."
Liu Zhengrong dared not argue any further, his forehead pressed tightly against the ground.
"You all treat me like a mere decoration, covering your ears and blinding your eyes, unable to hear the commotion outside the palace or see what is happening outside?" The Emperor of Northern Qi said with great distress, "I trusted you so much, entrusting you with matters of life and death concerning the nation, yet you deceived me and caused chaos throughout the land."
"Your Majesty, I deserve to die." Liu Zhengrong knew that the anger suppressed by the Northern Qi Emperor had not yet fully erupted, so he kowtowed again and again: "This old minister is only thinking of the Northern Qi and has no choice but to take this drastic measure."
He dared not cry foul, but every word he uttered expressed his grievances and his helplessness: "This year's harvest is really bad. Even though the tax is levied 10% more than in previous years, it is still not as good as the amount when there was no tax increase in previous years."
“If taxes are only increased by 10% in all regions, how can that be enough to pay for military salaries and rations? This old minister knows that Your Majesty is a rare wise ruler in this world, who cares about the people and will certainly not agree to further increase taxes.”
"However, the Northern Qi is weak and in a difficult situation. If the Great Zhou takes advantage of this weakness, how should we deal with it? Therefore, this old minister thought that as long as I can create a great cause for Your Majesty and establish a lasting legacy, even if I become a sinner of the Northern Qi, it will be worthwhile."
At this point, Liu Zhengrong removed his official hat to show his determination: "This old minister has taken the liberty of making a decision on his own, and after discussing it with the Minister of Revenue, we have increased the tax by 20% on the original basis."
In reality, they used the policy of increasing taxes by 10% to add another 20% to enrich themselves.
Otherwise, if war breaks out between the two countries and there is a shortage of military pay and food, the Northern Qi emperor will turn his attention to these court officials.
Then, they will donate some of the money they embezzled.
Now that his deeds have been exposed, he has no choice but to find an excuse to exonerate himself.
"You are truly eloquent and persuasive, able to make the dead seem alive." The Northern Qi Emperor looked at Liu Zhengrong's righteous and awe-inspiring appearance and sneered: "And what about the matter of conscription?"
Upon hearing this, Liu Zhengrong was immediately alarmed, not expecting that the Emperor of Northern Qi would receive the news so quickly.
Before entering the palace, he learned that people in several places had gathered to resist the conscription order, resulting in deaths.
The conscription order was handled by him. He was thought to be the first person to know the news, and he was planning to devise a countermeasure before it reached the ears of the Northern Qi emperor.
To everyone's surprise, it couldn't be kept secret.
Liu Zhengrong's mind was in complete turmoil, but he dared not argue any further. He could only say, half truth and half falsehood, "Your Majesty, the court has no generals who can match the Prince of Zhenbei. If we want to win the battle, we can only win by outnumbering him."
"This old minister, along with the Minister of War and other colleagues, discussed a plan with you during the morning court session. It was a good plan, but we never expected it to backfire and ruin a good thing."
The Northern Qi emperor remained silent, waiting for Liu Zhengrong to continue.
Liu Zhengrong was also helpless and told the whole story of the cause, process and changes: "This old minister was once a military officer of Northern Qi and knows the military strength of Northern Qi very well. In the current situation, Northern Qi is no match for Great Zhou."
"If we want to strengthen our military forces in a short period of time, we have no choice but to openly recruit soldiers and offer them generous treatment. Anyone who enlists will be granted a title according to their military merits. If someone dies for the country, the court will bestow titles upon the female members of their family and grant them money and land."
"You agree to this decree."
The Emperor of Northern Qi nodded, confirming the matter: "You later reported to me that no people volunteered, so you planned to draw on the national policy of combining farming and warfare recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, so that the soldiers could farm the land on weekdays and conduct combat training during the off-season, so that they could be conscripted into the army once war broke out between Northern Qi and Great Zhou."
"In this way, not only can the strength of the army be increased, but the farmland is not abandoned. It can ensure the production of grain, provide food and fodder for the soldiers, and enable the soldiers to make a living, support their parents, and continue their family line."
At this point, the Northern Qi emperor asked in bewilderment, "This decree is only beneficial to the people and has no drawbacks, so why has it turned into a situation where the people are fighting against the government troops?"
The Northern Qi emperor highly agreed with Liu Zhengrong's statement that only a strong agricultural sector could sustain a protracted war, and thus approved the strategy of combining agriculture and warfare.
“That’s the problem,” Liu Zhengrong said with a bitter expression, “Nowadays, people can not only become officials through military merit, but also through the imperial examinations. In addition, land consolidation is becoming increasingly serious, and most people have lost their land and cannot even guarantee their basic livelihood. Some people have started trading and no longer farm. All these factors make it difficult to achieve a system that combines farming and warfare.”
"Before this decree was implemented, we did not expect that this policy of combining farming and warfare would be so difficult to implement. But the decree has been issued, and it must be carried out to the end."
"After all, the military camp cannot be without soldiers. I thought to myself, since I have already been guilty of a crime in the matter of taxes, I don't care about having another crime. So I discussed with the Minister of War without authorization and committed another act of deceiving the emperor."
“Since the people are unwilling to enlist, then this old minister will forcibly conscript soldiers. However, I am concerned that if the war between the two countries begins and the Great Zhou cannot be annexed in a short time, the Northern Qi will surely suffer a defeat due to food shortages.”
"After all, the Great Zhou is best at waging a protracted war. They know that our Northern Qi is not as strong as the Great Zhou, so they will definitely try to prolong the war, exhaust our supplies, and make us lose without a fight. Therefore, I have instructed each household to send male members aged 15 to 56 to the military camp to increase our troop strength."
"At that time, our Northern Qi army will press on the border, which will not only intimidate the soldiers of the Great Zhou, but also greatly boost the morale of Northern Qi, so that the soldiers of Northern Qi will no longer fear the prestige of the Prince of Zhenbei, and dare to fight to the death. We will surely be able to win a quick victory."
"Originally, this old minister thought that after Your Majesty unified the Great Zhou, I would apologize to you and punish you according to the proper punishment. This old minister would have no objection."
At this point, Liu Zhengrong became hesitant: "But who knew... the Ministry of War had just issued this decree and the officials below were implementing it when the people started to rebel."
He had his own unspeakable suffering. If the Northern Qi emperor hadn't gone mad and overestimated his abilities by wanting to start a rebellion against the Great Zhou, he wouldn't have caused so many troubles.
The colleagues knew in their hearts that they couldn't persuade the Emperor of Northern Qi at all.
In order to avoid becoming subjects of a fallen state, they had no choice but to treat the people as less than human beings, exploiting them in various ways to strengthen the power of Northern Qi and try to intimidate the Great Zhou with sheer numbers and demoralize them, thus making it easier for Northern Qi to win.
Sure enough, even their former political enemies, who used to fight each other to the death, have now remained silent and have not attacked them in court for their actions.
Clearly, they share common interests and are on the same side.
The Northern Qi emperor was so angry that his chest ached. Liu Zhengrong kept saying that he was willing to die for the great cause of Northern Qi. In reality, however, he dragged the entire Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue into the mess.
They were simply using the idea that "the law doesn't punish everyone" to their advantage, knowing he wouldn't dare to execute all the officials involved.
The more Liu Zhengrong schemed, the more the Northern Qi emperor wished he could just order his head chopped off.
However, the Northern Qi was already in chaos.
The most urgent task is to get Liu Zhengrong to resolve the trouble he caused.
"Proceed with my decree: halt all tax increases and conscription, and appease the people." The Northern Qi Emperor's expression was stern, his tone carrying a warning: "I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. If you mess this up again, you'll have to answer to me with your head."
Liu Zhengrong hurriedly replied, "This old minister obeys the decree."
The Northern Qi emperor looked at Liu Zhengrong and found him an eyesore: "You good-for-nothing, more trouble than you're worth, get out of here!"
Liu Zhengrong scrambled out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The Northern Qi emperor, feeling pent-up frustration with nowhere to vent it, abruptly threw all the memorials on his desk to the ground.
If Liu Zhengrong hadn't been so immoral, committed so many unjust acts, and so audacious in deceiving his superiors and subordinates, causing chaos in the Northern Qi and bringing it to the brink of self-destruction, he would have been able to unify the Great Zhou and achieve his great ambition.
Now, let alone attacking the Great Zhou.
He only hoped to quell the internal strife in Northern Qi as soon as possible.
To prevent the Great Zhou from taking advantage of the situation and attacking the Northern Qi.
Thinking of this, the Northern Qi Emperor's expression suddenly changed, and he summoned several guards: "Go to Yun City as soon as possible and bring the Prince of Guangling and his wife back to the capital." As he spoke, his eyes hardened: "If they show any signs of rebellion, kill them on the spot."