C137 (1/2)
Chapter 137 - Rumors of Aversion
After enduring the unbearable midsummer, the Beijing finally had a hint of shade in the morning and night. Seeing the leaves gradually turning slightly yellow during the daytime, people realized that autumn was coming and the clothes that were thicker was finally going to be pulled out.
This year, the Beijing was in harmony with each other. The long hair chaos in the south had completely subsided last year. Although the chaos caused by the Twisted Army in Henan Province was very big, but the imperial government and the Xiang Army already had the experience of calming the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom down, so it shouldn't be a problem to take care of these bandits.
Not only did the dying fires give the people a sense of security, but now the gradually falling prices in the market also proved that the economy had warmed up. After a year of recovery in the south, food and various goods and materials could already be transported along the canal in bulk to the north. This year's first ship, New Rice in the south, was close to the docks of Beijing, causing the price of grain in the entire city to instantly drop by ten percent.
This was something that the people truly cared about. At that time, the streets were filled with the yells of the emperor. All the temples prayed for the Emperor to live for a long time, and even the incense was burning.
This year's festivities were not only over there. Not long ago, there were several merchant ships from the Tanggu bringing in ten thousand stones of Siamese cat and rice from the Fingers Country. Furthermore, they sent the news to the two countries in South Asia to harvest rice this year for an extremely low price. When the overseas rice entered the Beijing along with Hai He, the price of the food had unexpectedly been pushed down by another ten percent.
Since ancient times, China's food prices had always been stable, and the world was always filled with food. Faced with such good news from the old masters of the Hanlin House, it was as if they were playing with unnourished memorials, blowing both the empress dowagers and the Emperor into the sky. However, the empress dowager, emperor and the palace ministers all knew about the details of the incident. This information had a history, and the merchants of Tanggu were trying to curry favor with Fu Qing, they were trying to create momentum for Xiao Letian's sworn brother, Fu Qing.
It had to be said that the Letian Firm had played this hand very beautifully. Fu Qing was a high ranking noble, after all, a man with three flags. With this group of merchants acting up, the number of people who opposed Fu Qing's sudden rise to the top would lessen.
However, the happiness only lasted for a few days. After a shocking rumor spread through the Beijing, the heart of this large empire could not help but become restless. It seemed like there was a sign of coronary heart disease.
”Aiyo, that grandpa!” How's your morning walk? Look at your face, it must be because you don't know what was going on last night... ”Come, let me tell you something …”
”Aiyo, your grandmother. You brat, are you trying to tease me?” Who fought who? That Xiao Letian who wrote the books brought people to fight with Little Japan? Damn, where is Ryukyu … ”
Ryukyu is an island nation on the sea, and since ancient times, she has been our Subordinate States. I heard that in the past years, Sui and Tang Dynasties had come to pay tribute to you, but you were secretly taken over by the Japanese midgets … ”Aiya, just wait for me to explain myself. The things here are complicated …”
The idlers on the street gathered together, not caring about the small autumn wind, each excited to spread all kinds of bizarre rumors.
”You don't understand? The so-called famous Japan doesn't even occupy as much land as we do. Usually, even famous people do not eat much food. That's right! It's because they are poor that they secretly sent troops to take over the Ryukyu King. Damn it, using the seal of the Ryukyu King to secretly trade with Da Ming and Da Qing … ”
”Aiyo, this bunch of bastards really know how to play tricks!” ”You took advantage of us for hundreds of years without any care?”
”Isn't that so? This group of little imps have already lost their money, the one who plundered Ryukyu is so pitiful. The great king drinks congee everyday and eats sweet potatoes, the money was taken away by Japanese …”
”Aiyo, this isn't the king of the nation of doom? ”Tsk tsk tsk tsk …” The crowd surged forward, and the talker purposely stopped and happily sipped on his tea, enjoying the feeling of being urged on by others. Only after pinching it for a long time did he continue speaking.
”To tell you the truth, when the Ryukyu King heard that there was a scholar in the Upper Nation, she did not care whether he was an official or not. The eighteen eunuchs and experts in the palace consecutively broke the seal of four Japanese ninjas, killing almost all of them before sending the blood letter to Xiao Letian's side … ”
”Did you know that the battle at the palace of Ryukyu that night had turned the whole city blood-red? Even the flying swords of overseas mutants were drawn out, and the multicolored light had dyed the entire city red …”
Alright, this bunch of rumors sure are boastful. In a short while, they have already turned into a freakish novel. This wasn't the end. When the rumors reached the tavern, it would be even more outrageous.
”Come, come, brothers, come …” ”AHH!” When he received Ryukyu Wang Yi's written edict, he could not help but be enraged. He stood at the peak of the mountain with over a hundred Green Forest experts of our Qing Province behind him, and even the tyrant Dragon Lord s of the northern lands are present inside … ”
He dares to humiliate the royal family. You must know that Ryukyu is the Great Qing Sect's vassal lords, with that, we, the top elites of the Great Qing Province, borrowed the momentum of the mountain to attack. At the foot of the mountain are thousands of Japanese soldiers. ”
The customers in the mutton restaurant were all dumbfounded. They had forgotten to press the charcoal into the copper hotpot. The flames were half a foot high and had almost boiled the soup dry. But like this, no one thought of adding more water and meat.
”Tell me quickly, what happened behind …”