Chapter 1355 He is not so cruel anymore!
July 5, 1:15 am,
Hundreds of Daqian civil and military officials and tens of thousands of civilians came to a farmland in the southern suburbs of Yijing. Under the gaze of these people, the emperor Ye Mingsheng took off his gorgeous clothes and dressed in coarse linen clothes to weed and fertilize the crops in front of him.

Next to Ye Mingsheng, Prince Ye Jingren, who was also wearing coarse linen clothes, was assisting his father in his work, pulling out weeds in the farmland with his little hands.

Looking at this scene, all these civil and military officials had different expressions, as if they all had their own ideas, while the common people were vying with each other to watch the emperor doing farm work.

After removing the weeds in the farmland and applying fertilizer to the crops on this acre of land, Ye Mingsheng handed the hoe in his hand to Ye Cheng beside him, then patted the dirt on his hands and climbed onto the platform that had been prepared long ago.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands of people, Ye Mingsheng, holding a large loudspeaker, began his passionate speech.

"Everyone, as the saying goes, food is the first necessity of the people. Agriculture is the foundation of Daqian. I, Ye, also came from the countryside. I know the importance of agriculture to the country. So since I took office, I have been continuously working on agriculture and regard it as my responsibility to ensure that every citizen of Daqian has enough food to eat!"

As soon as Ye Mingsheng finished speaking, the crowd immediately burst into enthusiastic cheers and applause.

Feeling the enthusiasm of the people, Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded slightly, then continued to speak according to the script prepared for him by the Attendant Department...
The manuscript was prepared for Ye Mingsheng by the Attendant's Office according to Ye Mingsheng's request, but because the style of the whole manuscript was rather flowery and the number of words was relatively large, Ye Mingsheng was too lazy to memorize it.

Therefore, at this moment, Ye Mingsheng was recalling the contents of the manuscript while improvising in front of everyone.

Although a lot was said, the main content of Ye Mingsheng's speech is just two points!

The first point is that agriculture is very important. It is the foundation of the country. Every grain of food on the table is hard-earned. Everyone needs to cherish and value food and not waste it. We must know that there are still some people in some places in Daqian who cannot get enough food.

The second point Ye Mingsheng made was also extended from the point of food waste. Ye Mingsheng said that the Daqian Dynasty had just been established and the court still had a lot of work to do. It was necessary to carry forward the style of hard work and simplicity and maintain the purity of the Daqian members.

A month ago, Ye Mingsheng discovered that a trend of extravagance was gradually becoming popular in Yijing. One of the important manifestations of this trend was that a large amount of grain was used to make wine. In order to brew a good wine that could be sold at a high price, many restaurants would waste dozens or even hundreds of tons of grain.
Secondly, there are many young masters and gentry who are jealous of each other in some entertainment venues and spend a lot of money for the sake of women's face.

In addition, in order to maintain stability among the people of Daqian, Ye Mingsheng tried his best to keep the price of grain at a relatively low price so that everyone could have food to eat...

If grain prices are low, the income of farmers who grow grain will not be very high!
Therefore, compared to earning money from farming in their hometowns, many young and strong laborers would rather go to the city to work and earn wages. They believe that although both farming and working are hard, the uncertainty of the weather makes the risk of farming at home higher, and the income from working is also higher than farming!
As a large number of young people flock to cities to work, some land has been abandoned in the countryside. However, due to the popularization of agricultural tools, livestock and fertilizers, the impact on grain production is not serious at present.

However, even so, Ye Mingsheng attached great importance to it. In order to solve these two problems, Ye Mingsheng prepared this event and speech.

Ye Mingsheng hoped that as an emperor, he could use his own actions to encourage people to engage in agriculture, put an end to extravagant lifestyles and return to a simple nature.

At the end of his speech, Ye Mingsheng also announced several important decisions.

"The First Court will raise the guiding price of autumn harvest grains, allowing farmers to earn more silver!"

"The second imperial court will impose heavy taxes on winemaking to curb the disorderly development of the wine industry!"

"Third, all court officials must strictly control their families to avoid competition for wealth!"

Ye Mingsheng's three decisions immediately ignited the scene. Many people present were farmers who were very sensitive and concerned about grain prices. When they heard that Ye Mingsheng decided to raise the guidance price, they immediately smiled with joy and said loudly:

"Your Majesty is wise! You should have done this a long time ago! The current grain prices are really too low!"

"We farmers have worked so hard to grow crops all year round, and now we can finally sell them for some extra money!"

"Long live His Majesty! Long live Daqian!"

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Amid deafening cheers, Ye Mingsheng ended his speech after waving to the people, and took Ye Jingren on the carriage back to Yijing. In the carriage, Ye Mingsheng took the handkerchief handed to him by Ye Cheng and began to wipe the dirt off his hands.

In order to highlight his emphasis on agriculture, Ye Mingsheng said in his speech that he came from the countryside and often worked on the farm at home when he was a child, so he has a deep affection for agriculture.

What Ye Mingsheng said could be said to be half true and half false. It was true that he had feelings for agriculture, but the fact that he came from the countryside and often worked on the farm at home when he was a child was purely a white lie. Ye Mingsheng vaguely remembered that when he was young, Ye Cui wanted to train him to be a civil servant, so as long as Ye Mingsheng studied hard, he never had to say anything.

However, for Ye Mingsheng, this event is just a ZZ show, and the most important thing is the attitude expressed by Ye Mingsheng!

In order to perform better and avoid revealing any flaws, Ye Mingsheng had practiced weeding and fertilizing with Jingren several times in the palace before.

After wiping his hands, Ye Mingsheng asked Ye Cheng:

"How's the Queen doing?"

Ye Cheng answered without hesitation:

"Your Majesty, the Queen has completed the event. She personally demonstrated how to weave cloth using a loom, and gave each of the ladies who participated in the event a piece of cloth. Finally, the Queen organized charitable donations for the disabled soldiers of the Fengwu Army and orphans, and raised a total of 21,000 taels of silver..."

"The response to the event has been very good. Those ladies have said that they will no longer compete with each other on clothing and jewelry. They will devote themselves to the field of charity and strive to make a contribution to the court!" Listening to Ye Cheng's introduction, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but nod slightly. Although An Miaoyi is sometimes selfish and likes to do some small tricks, but when it comes to being a lady, An Miaoyi is really capable!
Ye Mingsheng is well aware of the extravagant lifestyle that is spreading in Yijing nowadays, a considerable part of which is caused by the competition among these noble ladies. These noble ladies usually have nothing to do at home, so whenever they get together they will compare themselves with each other, either by comparing whose husband has more power and status, or by comparing whose clothes and jewelry are better looking.

So in order to curb this extravagant trend, Ye Mingsheng also mobilized An Miaoyi and let An Miaoyi carry out activities in the palace as well.

An Miaoyi was not very enthusiastic about this kind of activity at first, but after seeing Ye Mingsheng and Jingren complete this ZZ show together, she was willing to join the event.

Just like Ye Mingsheng and Ye Jingren practicing weeding and fertilizing, in order to complete this activity and show her simple side as a queen in front of those noble ladies, An Miaoyi also specially invited female workers from the manufacturing bureau to come and teach An Miaoyi how to use the loom.
Although An Miaoyi learned needlework when she was waiting to be married, as a daughter of a wealthy family, she was surrounded by a group of maids and nannies, so she didn't have to do any needlework herself. Therefore, An Miaoyi didn't learn it very seriously. In addition, so many years have passed, and An Miaoyi has long forgotten what she learned.

In order to complete this ZZ show, Ye Mingsheng put in a lot of effort. Now thinking back to the warm atmosphere in the manor just now, Ye Mingsheng believed that this event would definitely play a positive role in curbing the spread of extravagance in the court!

Of course, it would be naive to think that the extravagant trend can be completely solved with just one ZZ show. Ye Mingsheng still needs to strengthen control and even impose a luxury tax to generate fiscal revenue...
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Just as Ye Mingsheng returned to Yijing from his manor outside the city, the Murong sisters returned to Murong Qingwu's courtyard in the palace.

Looking at the rough cloth in the maid's hand, Murong Xinyun showed some doubts. After hesitating for a moment, she asked her sister Murong Qingwu:
"Sister, is this cloth really woven by the queen herself?"

Murong Qingwu, who had originally looked calm, couldn't help but smile when she heard her sister's question.

"My silly sister, you didn't really believe that woman's lies, did you?"

Murong Xinyun shook his head and said:

"Sister, I don't believe it either!"

"There are at least fifty or sixty women participating in the event. If the Queen gave each of them a piece of cloth, that would be sixty pieces of cloth. If these pieces of cloth were really woven by the Queen herself, it would have taken a lot of time!"

"Although I don't quite believe it, the Queen just said in front of so many people that she wove these cloths herself."

Murong Qingwu smiled and shook her head when she heard this, while Ying Er at the side couldn't help but interrupt:

"Although An Miaoyi is the queen, she is full of lies all day long and doesn't even blush when she lies. Miss Xinyun, you must not believe her words. I bet she has never woven a piece of cloth!"

Listening to Ying Er's words, Murong Xinyun was also a little embarrassed. Just now at the event, although she rationally did not believe that An Miaoyi, as the queen, could weave so much cloth by herself, but seeing An Miaoyi's confident look, she really believed it...
At this moment, Murong Qingwu asked:
"Xinyun, I heard that you ran into His Majesty a few days ago?"

Although she didn't know why her sister suddenly asked this, under her sister's gaze, Murong Qingwu nodded and said:

"I ran into His Majesty the other day when I went to the pond in the Imperial Garden!"

Seeing that Murong Xinyun admitted that it was true, Murong Qingwu asked tentatively:
"Xinyun, did you know in advance that His Majesty would go to the back garden?"

As soon as these words came out, Murong Xinyun shook his head and said:
"Sister, how could I know that His Majesty would go to the Imperial Garden?"

After saying this, under her sister's puzzled gaze, Murong Xinyun lowered her head and said a little embarrassedly:

"Sister, you know I have loved feeding fish and birds since I was a child. I was a little homesick that day, so I wanted to do something happy, so I went to the Imperial Garden. I never thought I would run into His Majesty there!"

Seeing her sister's sincere expression, Murong Qingwu was also sure that this was really an encounter. Because Ye Mingsheng had the habit of running in the Imperial Garden in the morning, some palace maids and even some women who were not very favored would deliberately dress up and go to the Imperial Garden to "encounter Ye Mingsheng by chance!"

So with this "beautiful example" in mind, after learning that her sister and Ye Mingsheng had a chance encounter in the Imperial Garden, Murong Qingwu couldn't help but suspect that Xinyun might not be as innocent as she looked.

At this moment, feeling Xinyun's clear eyes without a trace of distracting thoughts, Murong Qingwu felt a little ashamed of herself, knowing that she was judging others by her own standards.

Just when Murong Qingwu felt a little ashamed, Murong Xinyun continued:

"Sister, when I met His Majesty in the Imperial Garden, he looked a little..."

At the end, Murong Xinyun's rationality and awe in her heart made her hesitate and she was hesitant about whether she should continue.

However, with the encouragement of her sister, Murong Xinyun whispered her thoughts.

"Your Majesty looks a little depressed, like a person who is frustrated and unhappy!"

After saying this, Murong Xinyun also had some complicated feelings. Since ancient times, there have been only frustrated talented people, but very few frustrated emperors. So Murong Xinyun knew very well in her heart that it was a bit strange for her to use frustration to comfort Ye Mingsheng, but this was really her truest thought!
After listening to her sister's words, Murong Qingwu was silent for a long time before she said slowly:

"Your Majesty is an idealist at heart. He wants to make some changes to the world, but time changes a person. Your Majesty's heart is not as cruel as it used to be, and his knife is not as sharp as it used to be!"

"But this is a good thing for us, otherwise the entire court would not be as peaceful and stable as it is now!"