Chapter 1128: Famous

Even if the vassal system were to be completely abolished, Qi Xiuyuan felt that he should be the one to bear the responsibility.

Other than Wenchen, he had five sons. What if these children blamed Qi Haoran, their uncle, when they grew up?

Qi Xiuyuan was angry at his recklessness, but Qi Haoran didn’t care. “I’m their uncle. What can they do? Besides, this is a national matter. Not to mention that they’re just my nephews, even if you object, Big Brother, we still have to do what needs to be done.”

Qi Haoran’s righteous words made Qi Xiuyuan think more highly of him.

Seeing that his big brother was deep in thought, Qi Haoran hurriedly said, “Big Brother, you don’t have to worry about your sons’ future. Ah Ling said that they were born rich. No matter what they do, they have the advantage. Let them strive for whatever they want. I think Ah Ling is right. Since ancient times, there have been many descendants of the royal family who ended up as wastrels. Isn’t it because they didn’t have to work hard and possessed wealth and glory at birth? In that case, why don’t we let them be like ordinary descendants of aristocratic families? Whether they want to become officials, join the army, become a scholar, they are free to work hard towards their goal. Our Qi family won’t stop the descendants of the royal family from becoming officials.”

Qi Xiuyuan narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t you afraid that they’ll all aim for the throne?”

Qi Haoran smiled and said, “Big Brother, how many of your sons are eyeing the throne now?”

Qi Xiuyuan was silent. This was something that he was proud of. He didn’t dare to say that he knew all six sons like the back of his hand, but he did have some understanding of their way of thinking. Now, other than Wenchen who remained steadfast in his ambition to be a good Emperor, his other five children had all kinds of ideals, mostly changing their aspirations every four to five months based on their interests at the moment. No prince had ever set their sights on their big brother’s Crown Prince position.

Seeing his brother looking at him eagerly, Qi Xiuyuan waved his hand impatiently and said, “Alright, I’ll consider this matter. Go back home and don’t be an eyesore here.”

“Wait.” Seeing that Qi Haoran was about to turn around and leave, Qi Xiuyuan stopped him and said thoughtfully, “I was so angry just now that I overlooked this. I vaguely heard you say that Ah Ling was the one who suggested abolishing the vassal system?”

Qi Haoran jumped up and ran out, shouting, “I promised the kids that I would bring them out for horse riding. I should get going.”

Fan Zijin wanted to talk to Qi Haoran about the martial academy, so he also cupped his hands and bade farewell to Qi Xiuyuan. “I still have many things to do at the Ministry of Revenue, so I’ll leave first.” He chased after Qi Haoran and disappeared in a flash.

Qi Xiuyuan glared angrily. Seeing this, Rong Xuan, who had been hiding in the corner, went forward and bowed with a smile. “Congratulations, Your Majesty. It’s really a blessing for His Highness to have Her Highness by his side.”

Only then did Qi Xiuyuan’s expression ease up a little. With a hint of jealousy and relief, he said, “He only listens to Ah Ling. Fortunately, Ah Ling is magnanimous and very smart. Otherwise…”

To be able to see the shortcomings of the vassal system, it went to show that she was intelligent. And to be able to resist the temptation of the vassal king’s fief, she was naturally magnanimous, and extraordinarily so.

Smiling, Rong Xuan said, “Didn’t Your Majesty choose her back then because of her character?”

Even though Qi Xiuyuan was now in a better mood, he still said stubbornly, “Someone insisted on marrying her. Otherwise, how would I have dared to harm a good girl?”

Now that the tension had eased, Eunuch Wan carefully came in to report, “Your Majesty, the Right Prime Minister requests an audience. He’s waiting in the side hall.”

Qi Xiuyuan sat back on the dragon throne and said, “Invite him in.” Then, he said to Rong Xuan, “Since Haoran has already made things clear, let’s discuss it thoroughly.”

If he wanted to completely abolish the vassal system, he had to make an arrangement for the descendants of the royal family. Should he keep the princes in the capital like the previous dynasty and let them remain idle kings, or should it be as Haoran had said, allow the royal descendants to become officials, join the army as generals, and roam the world?

Qi Haoran simply left after throwing a cannonball. However, Qi Xiuyuan was the one who had to deal with the aftermath.

Qi Xiuyuan couldn’t help but have a headache when he thought of the follow-up matters. He had originally wanted to rest for half a year and only consider these things when the children were older. Yet now, Haoran had brought this matter up so many years in advance with a single sentence. It seemed that he could forget about getting any rest this year.

Yan Du had been waiting in the side hall for almost an hour. After Prince Rong and the Duke of Peaceful State left, he was invited in. He looked up at Rong Xuan, who was sitting on the left, and bowed to the Emperor.

After Qi Xiuyuan allowed them to sit down, he said, “I’ve already asked someone to inform the ministers of the six ministries to come for a meeting…”

The discussions in the Imperial Study were lively, and the discussions outside were also so lively that everyone’s faces turned red. Today, the entire government office in the capital was extremely lively. Not only were the officials excited, but even the low-ranking officials were also excited. The words “remove the vassal system” actually came out of the mouth of a vassal king who was about to be conferred the title. This Prince Rong was either a fool or a great saint who really had the interests of the country and people at heart.

On the other hand, Qi Haoran’s appearance and usual practices really made it difficult for people to associate him with a saint. Hence, more people were inclined to the former guess. Perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue in a moment of impulsiveness.

However, there were also a small number of people who insisted that Qi Haoran had a pure heart.

Of course, there was another theory that was recognized by the general public. It was that Prince Rong and the Emperor had a deep brotherly relationship and shared each other’s worries. That was why Prince Rong made this suggestion.

It was said that the Emperor’s expression was very ugly at that time. From this, it could be inferred that the Emperor, who doted on his younger brother, still wanted to give Prince Rong a prosperous fief. After all, many pairs of eyes saw that the Emperor had spread open the map and allowed Prince Rong to choose his fief as he wished.

Hence, some people began to guess who would win in the end. There were even people gambling on this in the gambling dens.

Most people reckoned that the Emperor would accept Prince Rong’s suggestion in the end. A scholar analyzed in the teahouse, “This plan will benefit the country and the people. Even if His Majesty favors Prince Rong, the officials will agree. With Prince Rong’s persuasion, the Emperor will definitely agree. At most, he will just reward Prince Rong with more gold, silver, and jewelry as a show of favor.”

“What gold, silver, or jewelry can compare to a large fief…” Some people felt pity, but they had to agree with the scholar’s analysis.

Mu Yangling’s newspaper office specially printed an additional edition for this matter. They specially reported on this matter and analyzed the cause and effect, as well as the opinions of people from various occupations. The newspaper also said that they would continue to follow up on this matter.

This time, even the country bumpkins who worked all day knew about this huge matter. There was no choice. The county offices would buy a few copies of the newspapers from Mu Yangling’s newspaper office, and junior officers would read the contents to the villagers. This was done in order to let the commoners have an awareness of the latest national developments and policies so that they would not be deceived by corrupt officials.

Many people appreciated Qi Haoran’s benevolence and kowtowed in the direction of the capital.

Although they were ignorant commoners, they knew that the taxes levied and labor imposed by the vassal territories were more severe because the money would go towards supporting the vassal kings and servants in the fiefs.

Although the world was huge, the Emperor had many descendants. Who knew when they would become a citizen of a vassal state? Therefore, they were extremely grateful to Qi Haoran for suggesting this.

Unknowingly, Qi Haoran had obtained tons of supporters and longevity memorial tablets.

When Qi Haoran saw that no one had noticed his other suggestion that day, he could not help but feel depressed. “I clearly wanted to promote both civil and military advancement equally. This is an important measure to deal with the foreign invasion after the abolition of the vassal system. Why didn’t anyone notice?”

Mu Yangling was happy that Qi Haoran had heeded her suggestion to abolish the vassal system, so she said without thinking, “It’s fine. Leave this to me. I’ll make sure to get people to pay attention to this matter. Consider it my reward for you.”

Qi Haoran looked at her in disdain. “What a cheap reward.”

“So what do you want?”

Qi Haoran looked around and saw that the children were playing on the grass in the distance, so he stuck his head in front of her.

After glancing at the children, Mu Yangling quickly kissed him on the cheek before pushing his head to the side.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.