Chapter 37: Violation of Ancestral Rules

"Is it against the ancestral system? Haha!"

"The current emperor is a wise and capable person, similar to Emperor Guangming, who has repeatedly revised the ancestral system."

Li Xun admired Emperor Jingtai very much, and often compared him with the founding emperor Taizu and the revived Emperor Guangming.

The founding emperors were basically gods, who were ordinary people and unified many countries, which was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

The revived emperors were also extraordinary, and their starting point seemed to be much higher than that of the Taizu. However, pulling a ship that was about to fall into the abyss back on track was not much easier than rebuilding a new one.

"The treasury was empty at that time, and the military pay of the northern and southern border troops could not be paid. Your Majesty wanted to revise the tax law, not only requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes together, but also creating an unprecedented tax on gods."

Li Xun had a look of admiration on his face: "All officials dissuaded, Buddhism and Taoism were shaken, and eighteen rebels rose in a year. In the end, Your Majesty killed all the way and raised the tax revenue, reversing the decadent trend in one fell swoop."

Zhou Yi's only impression of the reigning Emperor Jingtai was that he was very skillful and had been in office for a long time.

More than ten years ago, it was rumored that he was in poor health and asked the crown prince to supervise the country. Now the crown prince's health has begun to deteriorate, and Emperor Jingtai still has the spirit to promote the younger generation.

Later, under the indoctrination of his die-hard fan Li Xun, he got to know more about Emperor Jingtai.

Dagan was able to establish the capital in Yunzhou, and Buddhism and Taoism had made many contributions. Taizu specially indicated in the Dagan Law that people outside Buddhism and Taoism could be exempted from taxes and levies forever.

In fact, there has never been a history of Buddhism and Taoism paying taxes. Could it be that ordinary officials were asked to collect money and goods from the sects of monks?

Emperor Jingtai did it!

Not only did Buddhism and Taoism have to pay land tax and transaction tax, they also had to serve in the Immortal Salary Department and the Demon Slaying Department. Even the spiritual objects planted on the mountain were also required to pay the land tax at a rate of 11% because they were in the territory of Dagan.

It sounds like there is no difference between immortals planting spiritual medicine and ordinary people planting food and paying taxes together.

In fact, the resistance was so great that it almost overturned the court. No one had to guess who the supporters behind the 18 rebels were.

When Zhou Yi first heard Li Xun talk about it, he admired Emperor Jingtai very much, which was equivalent to treating immortals and mortals equally.

"Immortal tax" was the most proud political achievement of Emperor Jingtai. There were improvements in other aspects. It was a bit too much to say that he was a saint, and he deserved the evaluation of a wise monarch.

"I heard you say that the last time your majesty praised the talent for governing the world was Xu Fengxian, the dragon cavalry general who destroyed the 18 rebels and was awarded the title of Duke?"

Zhou Yi looked at the signature of the manifesto and always felt uncomfortable.

Speculative fence-sitters are more disgusting than firm opponents!

"Yes! Since your majesty ascended the throne, Wang Shidu is the second one. Some people have said that his future achievements will not be inferior to Xu Guogong."

Li Xun envied: "With this evaluation, it can be said that he will rise to the top and it is only a matter of time before he enters the cabinet and becomes a prime minister."

Zhou Yi shook his head and said: "You are wrong, Wang Shidu, you will be a great talent in the future!"

"Not so? Xu Guogong is a top-level rank, known as a promising martial saint, and Wang Shidu is barely an eighth-rank Confucianist..."

Li Xun always felt that Zhou Yi's tone was weird. It was obviously a compliment, but it seemed to be ironic.

Zhou Yi said meaningfully: "Can scholars and warriors be the same?"

"Not the same?"

Li Xun was a little confused. Dagan was founded on martial arts and had two generations of martial saints. The status of warriors has never been lower than that of scholars.

After chatting for a while, Zhou Yi began to copy the bibliography.

Estimating the time for the criminal room to roll, he saw a demon-slaying lieutenant coming out from underground and escaping into the prison with ease.

After returning from beheading demons, I found that Zhang Cheng had come.

"Brother Zhang, why are you here so early today?"

Zhang Cheng rubbed his waist and sighed: "Alas, I'm old, and my waist can't hold up."

"Hiss! Which girl in Chunfeng Tower is so powerful that even Brother Zhang can be subdued?"

Zhou Yi really took a breath of cold air. Even the top three-grade masters couldn't hold up. It was either a demon or a practice of replenishing qigong.

Zhang Cheng had been in the Demon Slaying Division for an unknown period of time, and it was impossible for him not to recognize the demons and evil ways.

"It's not the girls' fault. It's a few old guys from Baiyun Temple. They took turns to curse me when I wasn't paying attention."

Zhang Cheng snorted coldly: "I picked the tea with my own ability, why should I pay for it!"

Zhou Yi couldn't help but give a thumbs up. The master of Baiyun Temple, Changchun Zhenren, is a famous first-grade cultivator. Zhang Cheng stole the spiritual tea but only had a backache, which is enough to prove his strength.

Zhang Cheng once inadvertently revealed his cultivation level, the second-grade martial arts, Yin Shen daily travel, which is quite different from Changchun Zhenren who has cultivated Yang Shen.

Of course, Zhang Cheng is from the Demon Slaying Division, so the master of Baiyun Temple will not do too much, just give a warning to prevent him from causing trouble in the future.

After a casual chat, he soon got off duty.

On his way home, Zhou Yi passed by the Kyoto government office and found a large group of people watching the imperial edict.

Among them, a scholar read it loudly, and through Confucian and Taoist magic, he could hear it from a long distance.

"... The honor and disgrace of the sage monarch depends on this day, and the eternal fame and honor are at this moment..."

The content of the imperial edict was the "Exhortation to Fight Demons and Demons".

After reading it over and over again, the number of people watching did not decrease, but gathered more and more.

"I will be busy in the future."

Zhou Yi shook his head and left.

He looked down on Wang Bo'an, but he had no opinion on Emperor Jingtai's plan to eliminate demons.

Demons and demons are inconsistent with the three views of the human race. Many of their behaviors that are accustomed to are evil from the perspective of the human race.

For ordinary people, killing and arson are rare serious crimes, but for demons, they are just casual.

If we eradicate all the demons, it may not be possible to restore order, but the number of unnecessary deaths each year will be reduced by 70% to 80%.

The "Exhortation to Fight Demons" was endorsed by Emperor Jingtai and quickly spread throughout the country, and the people's will to slay demons was unprecedentedly strong.

Then the court announced a thorough investigation of demons in the world. Regardless of whether the demons harmed people or not, they had to go through the heart-searching spell. If they dared to resist, they would be tied up and sent to the Demon Slaying Department. As for the demon monks, even if they were not thoroughly investigated, they would not dare to show up.

As Zhou Yi expected, the Ministry of Things became busy.

The number of demon materials entered daily has more than doubled.

Zhou Yi is never tired of this. The number and quality of demons directly affect his Taoism. He kills several Yi-character prison demons every day and experiences a long-lost growth rate.

Ten thousand years is too little, so we must seize the day!

There was also an unexpected surprise.

When Zhou Yi sent the copied Taoist scriptures to the Zhuangyuan Hall, Manager He told him a good news.

"The Punisher's Talk" sold like crazy.

The sales volume was good to begin with. Influenced by the "Exhortation to Fight Demons and Monsters", in just half a year, Zhuangyuan Hall has continuously printed 50,000 copies.

"This is only the number of copies printed in Luozhou. Zhuangyuan Hall also has branches in other states, but the profits are far less than that."

"Some small bookstores have already started to print secretly. We can't eliminate the conflicts of interest here."

Shopkeeper He settled the share of the 30,000 copies sold, which was 2,500 taels.

"Shopkeeper He, don't be embarrassed. I also hope that this book will be spread more widely."

Zhou Yi took the copyright fee and became rich again. There was no way, even gods were short of money.

The way to make quick money was written into the Great Law. With Zhou Yi's means, he could easily do it without the gods and ghosts knowing.

However, Zhou Yi could deceive anyone, but he couldn't hide it from himself.

How could gold and silver repair the damaged heart of Taoism.

Zhou Yi didn't want to be listed in the Demon and Monster Atlas one day. When he met the demon he killed with his own hands, the scene would be too embarrassing.

"Why are you here too?"

"I made a mistake."

"What mistake? Corruption, or a problem with your lifestyle?"

"..."

Zhou Yi would rather choose to copy books.