Chapter 281 Third Brother is Here

Gao Yuan's plan ultimately failed to materialize.

It was unclear whether the illness struck too fiercely or if The Emperor's body was simply too weak.

After lying on his sickbed for only a few months, Zhao Xi Yao's third brother, The Emperor Zhao Ji, passed away before the new year.

With this, Zhao Changluo, the backup emperor, rightfully ascended to the throne that countless people longed for, supported by a crowd of ministers.

As the seventh year of the Shaoxing era of the Great Qian Imperial Court ended, Zhao Changluo issued an edict to change the era name to era name, marking the first year of era name.

Knowing that he had obtained this position by a stroke of luck, and with a mind toward compensation, Zhao Changluo insisted on granting Zhao Ji the posthumous title of Emperor Gaozong.

As nominal subjects, Zhao Xi Yao and Gao Yuan dispatched Wu Guiyi to the Capital City to offer condolences and congratulate the new emperor on his ascension.

The very first thing Zhao Changluo did after ascending the throne was, surprisingly, to select palace maids.

Previously, because he had no great ambitions, he hadn't cared much about the fact that his son was a fool.

After all, for the imperial clan, having a son who was too brilliant and powerful was often a path to death.

But now it was different; he had become The Emperor, and not having an heir capable of inheriting the throne became a monumental problem.

No matter how vigorous Zhao Changluo acted, he was still a man in his fifties; indulging in women all day, he visibly withered away.

This was simply the best possible news for people like Xiao Yu and Cui You.

In the past, although Zhao Ji was very passive, his prestige remained, so the Powerful Families didn't dare to go too far.

Now that The Emperor above them had completely given up, they truly acted without any restraint.

In the first month of the first year of era name, the Great Qian Imperial Court issued a blue-inked imperial edict to collect the Green Sprout Tax.

The tax rate was set at thirty wen per mu of land, which was added to a high tax burden that already amounted to fifty percent.

Now, the introduction of this Green Sprout Tax was like adding frost to snow; many commoners were bankrupted and still couldn't pay this new additional tax.

However, it didn't end there. Because the territory had shrunk, tax revenue had decreased significantly, and combined with the fact that the taxes Gao Yuan handed over were becoming less each year, the court's expenses exceeded its income.

To maintain massive military expenditures, in the third month of the first year of era name, the Great Qian Imperial Court added another new tax called the Expedition Tax.

The Expedition Tax was initially set at fifteen wen per person per year, but as it was apportioned down through the levels to the commoners, it actually reached as high as thirty wen.

As a result, after working themselves to death farming all year, the commoners were left with less than twenty percent of their harvest.

Now, even more people were forced to sell their land and themselves into servitude just so they could at least stay alive.

However, for the Great Qian Imperial Court, this was also making matters worse.

Despite adding so many taxes, the total revenue still didn't increase, so they had to find another way.

At this time, Song Yehong proposed a new plan—actually, it wasn't his idea, but a concept Gao Yuan had once suggested: the 'zhibai coin'.

This involved minting a coin larger than the original copper coins, with one coin valued at one hundred wen.

Truthfully, Gao Yuan had only been testing the waters, pretending to discuss the feasibility with his brother-in-law in a letter.

He hadn't expected Song Yehong to actually bring this plan forward, and even less that it would receive unanimous approval.

Subsequently, the Great Qian Imperial Court halted the original coinage molds and fully implemented the new zhibai coins.

By using only fifty percent more copper, they could create a value a hundred times greater than before; the court's purchasing power suddenly shot up.

The mints of the major Powerful Families followed suit immediately, beginning to frantically mint zhibai coins.

The massive influx of zhibai coins into the market caused prices to skyrocket, and severe inflation began.

Within Da Qian's borders, the price of rice rose rapidly from ten wen per dou in the tenth month of the seventh year of Shaoxing to three hundred wen per dou by the fifth month of the first year of era name.

When the commoners horrifiedly discovered that the money they got from selling their land, houses, and even their children or themselves could only buy a few measly dou of rice, their fragile nerves completely snapped.

Masses of commoners began to flee, desperately leaving everything behind to escape.

From the fifth to the ninth month of the first year of era name, in just five short months, Gao Yuan received nearly eighty thousand commoners.

To welcome these people, Gao Yuan dispatched large numbers of troops to set up porridge stalls and medical stations along the routes.

In the back hall of the Military Governor's office in Nanchang County, the capital of Jiangnan West Circuit, an aide approached Mao Biao.

"Reporting to the Commander, according to reports from the patrol Cavalry, hundreds more people crossed the border today to flee to the Southern Yue..."

"Mm, I know. You may leave."

Mao Biao didn't even look up, continuing to read the book in his hand.

The aide paused for a moment and continued,

"Commander, if we continue to let this happen, I fear it will affect future taxes and military recruitment. In the long run, the state will cease to be a state..."

Mao Biao put down his book, looked at the aide, and let out a long sigh.

"According to you, what should I do?"

"In my humble opinion, the Commander should send troops to blockade the border and severely punish anyone attempting to flee south."

Mao Biao gave the man before him a meaningful look; he knew this man was from the Li Clan of Zhao Commandery and was not on his side.

Without saying much, Mao Biao simply waved his hand.

"Then do as Mr. Li says."

The man was stunned, clearly not having expected Mao Biao to react this way.

After a good while, seeing that Mao Biao had already begun to frown, he bowed and took his leave.

Soon, the soldiers of Jiangnan West Circuit received orders to blockade all major routes leading south.

Anyone attempting to flee south was to be captured, flogged, and reduced to slave status.

This measure curbed the trend of commoners fleeing south to some extent, but Mao Biao knew very well that this was like drinking poison to quench thirst.

The commoners couldn't escape, yet they couldn't survive if they stayed; the resentment in their hearts continued to grow.

Meanwhile, Gao Yuan wasn't idle either; he sent a large number of hidden guards into Chenzhou, Yuzhou, and other places to incite the populace.

The commoners were already full of grievances, and now, being provoked, their indignation was even more stirred.

Even many local soldiers began to waver; a catastrophic flood was brewing.

The reason Gao Yuan didn't send more troops to stir up trouble this time,

besides not wanting to leave any grounds for criticism, was the more important reason that the Mughals had deployed their troops.

Gao Yuan's denunciation and expulsion of Modi was equivalent to a declaration of war to the powerful Mughal Empire.

Thus, in the third month of the first year of era name, the Mughals, together with their various vassal states, mobilized an army of one hundred and fifty thousand for an eastern expedition.

Gao Yao and Xue Linfeng responded quickly, deploying three main divisions along the line from Manipur to Chittagong and constructing an extremely solid defensive line.

At the same time, Xue Linfeng personally led a division to station in Dangdu, ready to provide support at any time.

Upon receiving Gao Yao's letter requesting reinforcements, Gao Yuan also responded swiftly.

In addition to the Xiaoguo Army and Baier Soldiers setting out immediately, Gao Yuan also mobilized three divisions of the Beiwei Army and fifteen thousand Xuanjia Army soldiers drawn from various circuits to reinforce the Pugan Circuit.

In recent years, whenever there was a conflict, Gao Yuan would rotate the Xuanjia Army from various regions into battle.

The benefit of this was that the Xuanjia Army from all over could gain a vast amount of actual combat experience.

Then, as these veterans who had experienced real combat led the new recruits, the overall combat effectiveness of the Xuanjia Army would increase significantly.

Gao Yuan dared not be careless in this first contact with the 'third brother' nation, so he almost emptied his entire force.

In Panyu, he only left behind the Fourth Division of the Beiwei Army to guard against any reckless military actions from the Da Qian side.

History has proven that when a country is riddled with internal conflicts, the best solution is to launch an external war.

As long as a major war is won and a large amount of land, population, and wealth are acquired,

then issues like land annexation and fiscal deficits can be instantly alleviated.

Just like in the original timeline, if it weren't for World War II, how could the United States have escaped the profound impact of the economic crisis so quickly?

Therefore, no matter what, Gao Yuan had to keep an elite mobile force in his hands to respond to changes.