Afterwards, the government came out to explain what a state of war preparedness meant. The people only had a vague understanding of it and didn't really grasp it.
People panicked when shops and rice stores across the country suddenly imposed purchase restrictions.
Then the government stepped forward and said that His Majesty was implementing a planned economy under a state of war preparedness. The terms "war preparedness" and "planned economy" left not only the common people bewildered, but many scholars also didn't understand them.
Every official in the government who was capable of performing their duties stepped forward to explain what economic planning meant: it meant that current prices and purchase quantities were regulated by the imperial court, and then a certain amount was allocated to each household.
The people were initially afraid that if the war didn't break out, they wouldn't have enough to eat. However, the imperial court opened up 10,000 pigs in Bingzhou and distributed them to various counties and towns, stipulating that they could be bought and sold according to the standards set by the government, with prices determined by the imperial court.
Pork prices also dropped from 15 coins per catty to 10 coins per catty, but each household could only buy a maximum of 10 catties.
Grain remained at five coins per pound, with a monthly limit of 100 pounds. Sweet potatoes were limited to 200 pounds. There were no regulations on fruits and vegetables.
Salt is also rationed, with a limit of ten catties per month. There is a curfew at night, and no one is allowed to go out after sunset.
The people gathered around the bulletin board, with the scholars leading the discussion: "The government's restrictions on the purchase of these things seem to have nothing to do with us ordinary people, but meat prices have gone down."
"Who can consume ten kilograms of salt a month? This is not a restriction on major businesses."
“Our family doesn’t even eat 100 jin of rice a month. Who has the means to eat that well?”
"Didn't they say we could buy ten catties of meat every day? Ten coins a catty, I want to try it too."
"The price of fruit hasn't changed."
"We don't know what this planned economy is for, or what this war preparedness is. We've never seen this kind of war preparedness before."
Some people also mentioned the late emperor, the retired emperor: "Decades ago, war preparedness was subject to curfews, and villages were not allowed to enter the city. It seems there is no such rule here that villages cannot enter the city."
"What exactly does this combat readiness preparation entail?"
Among the merchants standing under the notice board, half looked uneasy, while the other half appeared perfectly normal.
These military preparations are all aimed at the merchants. The imperial court has shifted half of the pressure onto the merchants. As for why these people think this way, it's because their families have considerable monthly expenses, and their daily export business alone generates more than that amount.
This is clearly a restriction on the merchants' mobility. Thank goodness... While the merchants were expressing their discontent, they subconsciously ignored the inconspicuous words "His Majesty's Decree" on the notice board. His Majesty?!
Many scholars also realized what was happening. They repeatedly checked the notice board to confirm that His Highness truly referred to himself as His Majesty.
The scholars immediately pointed excitedly at the notice board: "It's His Majesty! His Majesty!!"
"Your Highness, referring to yourself as Your Majesty, it seems you have already ascended the throne in a low-key manner."
"Is this for real? His Highness spent three years in Tianjing as a princess, and now that he's suddenly ascended the throne, why hasn't he announced it to the world?!"
The official explanation was: "The three-year mourning period for the late emperor has ended, so Your Majesty, as the only legitimate heir, will naturally ascend the throne immediately. However, Your Majesty has always been frugal and low-key."
"Now, this announcement will be made to the world along with the war preparations."
Upon hearing this, the people quickly forgot about the so-called state of war preparedness, and everyone was overjoyed. What did Princess Fengning's ascension to the throne mean? It meant that from now on they would no longer have to worry about losing their country, their citizenship, or being forced into exile.
From this point on, the country's name will be changed, and a new dynasty will begin. The current emperor is a sage ruler unparalleled in both China and the world; surely no one does not look forward to his ascension to the throne.
Even before that, many ministers had urged Si Xitong to ascend the throne, but Si Xitong had blocked them all by citing the need to observe mourning and to prioritize filial piety.
He has seized the opportunity to ascend the throne, diverting much of the people's attention.
The world did not receive the general amnesty of the past, but most people were still quite happy.
The merchants were deeply saddened, as their boats were also restricted at the docks. The daily volume of trade coming and going was regulated.
Some merchants, dissatisfied with the planned economy, directly laid off their laborers, causing many to lose their jobs. However, the government quickly arrived and imposed heavy fines on the merchants, informing them that they must cooperate with the imperial policy. Unless they went bankrupt, arbitrarily laying off laborers would require them to pay the laborers an extra month's wages in compensation.
The government gave these merchants a choice: either pay the laborers an extra month's wages based on the number of people employed, or have their business licenses revoked.
The merchants immediately cooperated, losing a lot of hard-working wages and having to continue hiring people to do the work.
Soon, the matter reached Si Xitong's ears through the ministers, and Si Xitong immediately dismissed the official from his post.
This deterred many officials who wanted to speak up for the merchants.
Si Xitong and his colleagues were well aware that their planned economy had somewhat stifled commerce, but in reality, Tianjing was largely self-sufficient, with village and town distribution only beginning in the last three years. There was no truth to the claim that the economy had suffered a devastating blow.
It's simply a return to the original state of circulation. But this is necessary. She has never forgotten that after the fall of Tianjing City, Huang Mang's wealth was built up by countless merchants.
Huang Mang's rapid expansion from a butcher's business was entirely due to the money and supplies he received from these people. Throughout history, many merchants have profited from national crises, and this was precisely the kind of people she was trying to prevent.
At the same time, it is also necessary to quickly mobilize the entire civilian population. Therefore, a state of combat readiness is absolutely essential.
Because of Si Xitong's firm stance, the officials dared not utter another word. After all, the funds for this war were all collected from merchants, unlike in the past when funds were raised by directly levying taxes on the people.
His Majesty had already sent Wu Qiu to travel through the Southern Central Plains and obtain the consent of many merchants, which was clearly a prior notice. As for those who were not notified, they were probably those who did not pass the Chamber of Commerce's inspection.
His Majesty wants to legalize all unscrupulous merchants, illegal channels, and shady dealings, and establish laws to restrain and suppress these people. Furthermore, in times of war, their assets can be seized to fund the war effort. It seems like a good way to alleviate the pressure on the national treasury and the people.
Those officials who colluded with merchants were the ones who suffered. They were effectively punished by His Majesty, yet dared not admit it. Because if they did, their property would be confiscated, their official positions would be lost, and they could be replaced at any moment.
When merchants' goods are seized and they are eager to sell, the government will buy them back at a 10% profit, at least giving them a chance to break even.
Many merchants had no choice but to compromise, because their patrons, whom they usually paid tribute to, had vanished overnight and could no longer be contacted. Without their protectors, they could only obediently be exploited.
Fortunately, the imperial court wasn't too ruthless and knew to guarantee their profits.
But now that we're in a state of war preparedness, money is definitely not as valuable as supplies. And the old trick of taking advantage of the chaos to raise prices and make money is gone forever.
Many intellectuals, however, saw the benefits of a planned economy and curbed merchants from taking advantage of the chaos to commit wrongdoing. Ordinary people didn't suffer much inconvenience; they ate and drank as usual. The only problem was that they couldn't go out freely at night.
The entire Central Plains was in a state of war preparedness, with local officials and soldiers patrolling day and night, and no one dared to question the imperial court's decision.
Just do your job well.
Meanwhile, far away in Shiguo Prefecture, after Shi Yang lost two city gates, Mu Ye, the commander of the Shenyas Legion, wrote to him for the second time, urging him to surrender.
It was less a surrender and more an intimidation. The other side had shamelessly demanded that they hand over the Shi Kingdom's capital.
Although Shi Yang did not want to run the Shi State Mansion, he was not a coward who would give up easily if intimidated.
Shi Yang sent a troop of light cavalry to launch a surprise attack, but as expected, the troop was wiped out by ten sea monsters halfway there.
"Damn it, when will the Marshal's men arrive? I can't hold on much longer!" Shi Yang couldn't eat or sleep all day in the capital, fearing that Mu Ye would attack as soon as he woke up.
His right general has died again. A valiant and skilled general has died needlessly from a stray bullet.
Just as Shi Yang was feeling restless, Xie Lanzhi didn't send anyone, but Xie Guang came instead.
Upon hearing that Xie Guang had been demoted, Shi Yang only brought 500 soldiers, 20 Type 94 cannons, and one Changhong cannon. Shi Yang immediately requested that the Changhong cannon be used.
Unexpectedly, Xie Guang told him, "The Marshal ordered me to take you to your Shi Kingdom's capital and the Yue Kingdom's enclave, but you cannot use them."
"Then what good are you here?" Shi Yang cursed directly: "Get the hell out of here."
Xie Guang was furious but dared not speak out. He had no choice but to lead five hundred men and ask the locals for directions.
No sooner had Xie Guang left than the Shenyas Legion attacked again, this time with a thousand men, fully prepared to go. They entered the city without looting anything, and directly broke through the third city, heading straight for the only port city of Shiguo Prefecture.
This time, the Shiguofu finally saw the cannons and guns of the Shenyas Legion.
There were eight cannons in total, with over a thousand shells. The cannons were somewhat similar to the Type 94, but these were faster and more accurate, firing ten rounds in rapid succession. It was a reloading weapon. The guns looked identical to those in Tianjing. However, ten of these thousand men carried two-person repeating pistols. There was also a very strange gun made entirely of mahogany, equipped with a scope. When fired, it made a loud bang without sparks.
The spies and Xie Bing, who were hiding in the city, investigated the equipment of one thousand men in the Shenyas Legion and reported it all to Tianjing.
He also gave a copy to Shi Yang, who knew that the weapons of the Shenyas Legion were no longer weapons that the Type 94 cannon could defeat. For the first time, he felt a chill run down his spine, and an indescribable sense of crisis and dread washed over him.
It was as if he had been targeted by a giant python, Muye, which lurked in the darkness, coldly flicking its tongue, waiting to devour him.
Thinking back to his admiration for Marshal Xie, Shi Yang wavered for the first time in his life. His resolve to compare himself to the powerful wavered.
Just as the iron gates of the port city remained unbroken, but the city wall was breached by the sea monsters of the Shenyas Legion, who stormed into the city, he had no choice but to start considering Makino's letter of persuasion to surrender.
"Someone, grind the ink," Shi Yang ordered the people around him.
Without further hesitation, he wrote a letter to Xie Lanzhi, expressing his admiration for her and explaining his reluctant surrender, saying that Marshal Xie would understand. He wrote two letters, one to Xie Lanzhi and one to Mu Ye.
Shi Yang felt that he was deceiving himself when he wrote the letter to Marshal Xie.
After he delivered the letter to the messenger, Tianjing also sent him a letter. This letter happened to be from Xie Lanzhi.
Shi Yang was hesitant to touch the letter, fearing it might be an order from Xie Lanzhi to fight to the death.
"At this critical juncture, don't shatter my last shred of hope for you, Marshal!"
In the end, he had his maid open the letter for him. Unlike him, the maid opened it immediately and relayed, "The Marshal says that you should temporarily withdraw from the Shi Kingdom's residence. If there is no way out, surrendering is also acceptable."
Upon hearing this, Shi Yang immediately snatched the letter and read it seven or eight times, finally confirming that the marshal agreed to his surrender.
He immediately perked up: "Retreat! Our main force must retreat! Retreat into the Southern Region!!"
But the letter of surrender he sent to Makino had already been delivered.
The Xie clan of the Southern Region, led by their matriarch, agreed to receive the ruler of the Stone Kingdom seeking refuge in the Southern Region. The number of refugees from the Stone Kingdom grew rapidly. After the Shenyas Legion of a thousand men breached the main city, some previously unseen small-time soldiers and generals began to take over the port city. Many of them were bandits from various small kingdoms.
Meanwhile, another army led by Scott has not yet appeared. However, he commands another six thousand men.
They were stationed in the Yue Kingdom. Large numbers of Yue people, displaced and fleeing south, were being driven south by the Shenyas Legion, causing chaos and paralysis in the southern region.
The matriarch had no choice but to send troops to demarcate a piece of wild land for the refugees and to send troops to guard the southern border.
The more people the Shenyas Legion drove away, the larger the area cleared on the border.
New Tianjing Military Affairs Department.
Xie Lanzhi heard that Shi Yang had written a letter of surrender and intended to give up resistance. She also agreed with Shi Yang's decision to give up resistance and let Shen Yasi enter the interior, using the advantages of the southern Central Plains to deal with them. However, she could not personally tell him this matter.
The Shenyas Legion only stayed at the border of Yue Kingdom and Shi Kingdom and did not rashly enter the Southern Region.
The intelligence Xie Lanzhi received allowed her to analyze that Shenyas's current equipment was already 300 times more advanced, featuring a reloading system. She heard about reloading cannons and firearms.
She smiled wryly, "Perhaps the previous sea monsters didn't have such advanced weapons, but they still caused great losses to Little Phoenix."
"Now Little Phoenix has developed firearms, but Seagull's weapons are more advanced."
This is clearly a manifestation of Heaven's restorative mechanism. As the saying goes, Heaven takes from those who have more than enough and gives to those who have less.
This is the greatest and most arduous test that the times have presented to Little Phoenix!
Xie Lanzhi felt that the sea monster had more weapons than just these.
Meanwhile, Si Xitong had already invited Marilyn into the Golden Palace.
This was Marilyn's first time entering the Golden Palace, and she saw Her Majesty, whose attire was now completely different. Golden dragons soared through the clouds in her black robes, and her hair was adorned with a phoenix crown; the young empress exuded an aura of imposing authority without even trying.
Marilyn knelt on one knee, clenched her fist, and struck her right chest, performing the most solemn ceremony in Anro.
"Greetings to His Majesty the King of Jin! Long live His Majesty!"
Si Xitong raised her eyes and glanced at her indifferently: "Rise."
Marilyn sensed that the Emperor of Jin's attitude had changed slightly, and she quickly reflected on whether she had done something wrong recently.