Thinking about that, Kong Rui frowned. This Zong Shou treated his subjects so harshly. Wasn't he afraid that his subjects would leave him?
Officials dressed no different from normal people, so how could they show the dignity of the imperial court? How would they be able to establish prestige among the commoners?
What a preposterous idea.
However, Weiyuan smiled and said, "Country Father-in-Law doesn't know that Ruler always saves when he can for such useless expenses. However, what is weird is that the salaries he gives us are really generous. I am a primary Grade-4 official in Gantian Mountain. However, my salary can support three thousand people. I remember that two years ago, Prime Minister Ren was so furious that he stomped his feet and scolded the ruler for not knowing how to manage money. "
Kong Rui was stunned once more. A year of salary could support three thousand people?
Looking at Weiyuan, although his outer robe was normal. However, the collar of his inner robe was sewn with lines. What he wore on his hand seemed to be a High-Grade Crystal Thumb Ring. It should be made from High-Grade Beast Crystals and could even be considered a Spiritual Artifact.
It seems like this person was really rich. The other few looked really good too. It seemed like most of them were low-profile and luxurious.
Shaking his head slightly, Kong Rui felt more and more that the Gantian Mountain ruler was hard to predict.
When he heard those words, not only did he not feel relieved, but he felt even more worried.
A Grade-4 official's salary was so high. In Taishang, it was unimaginable! He could only say expressionlessly, "Your country's system is really special, different from the commoners."
Although he wasn't going to comment, his tone was filled with a mocking tone. Weiyuan broke into a laugh and didn't care much.
At the start, he himself also felt that it was preposterous. However, after adapting to it these two years, it wasn't much.
He only grumbled to himself. There was no difference in the position of an official. Sometimes when he went out on the streets, he couldn't show off his prestige. Everyone wore the same robe, so who knew what kind of official he was? He couldn't get a Rainbow City Prefect plaque and hang it on his head.
As for the rules, Gantian Mountain didn't have any specific rules, so he could do whatever he wanted. As long as he had money, it was okay to be more luxurious than the ruler.
He, Weiyuan, wasn't stupid enough to compete with those rich merchant families.
However, the salary was generous, and there was no need for him to go around sending gifts to officials. As such, he didn't need to waste time to scrape money out of them.
"Imperial father-in-law, you're wrong. You're the father of Imperial Concubine Yao, and from now on, you're a citizen of our country. You should be the one saying 'our nation'!"
He paused for a moment before asking, "Is country father in law going to rest in my Rainbow City or head directly to Gantian Mountain?"
When Kong Rui heard this, he shook his head without hesitation. "Prefect Wei, please give me a carriage!"
Thinking of his daughter, he didn't want to waste any time. The sooner he could see Kong Yao, the better.
He also wanted to take a closer look at what this Emperor of Absurdity, who was publicly recognized by the Confucians, looked like.
Kong Rui clenched his fists in his sleeves and touched his waist subconsciously.
It was an extremely small Qiankun Bag. However, at this moment, there was a supreme treasure hidden within it.
Wen King Divination Money —
It was something that the ancient person who was closest to the Saint Emperor left behind. It was also one of the ancestors of the divination path.
It had been passed down in the Kong Family, but as no one could use it, it was neglected by the family and abandoned in the warehouse.
When he was young, he obtained this item when he was playing in the warehouse. That was how his divination skills improved and he became the top divination person in the Kong Family.
This time he made up his mind to use these few treasures of the Wen King to predict the fate of this Ruler, to see what it was like!
Weiyuan seemed to have expected the anxiousness in his words, slightly nodding his head. "Since that is the case, then I won't keep you any longer. The carriage has been prepared and is not far away. I will send you out of the city! However, the journey today might be a little inconvenient, so please make some preparations. "
After saying this, he made a 'please' gesture. Kong Rui looked over along with his gaze and then frowned.
This was a caravan made up of fourteen carriages, all pulled by tall and sturdy horses.
The most luxurious carriage had sixteen Windrider Foals. Among them, the four leading ones were actually of the fourth rank. The body of the carriage was inlaid with gold and jade, extremely luxurious. The other carriages were slightly weaker, but there were at least 8 of them. They seemed to be prepared for the servants he brought.
Kong Rui was about to step out when he stopped, his eyes filled with doubt.
"This is the rule of the Duke!"
16 horses, grade 4 Windrider Foals. In the Taishang Dynasty, only Super Dukes could use them. It seemed like the carriages in front of him had already exceeded the rules.
Weiyuan was stunned, not understanding what he meant. Moments later, he came back to his senses. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Don't worry about it, our Gantian Mountain doesn't have the same rules as the Taishang!"
After he said that, he pointed into the distance. Kong Rui looked over when he heard that, his eyes were filled with both shock and understanding.
He saw that on the streets beside the port, there were many carriages. As expected, the number of mounts pulling the carriages were different.
There were twelve, eighteen, and more than twenty. Grade 4 Windrider Foals were even more common.
"Our dynasty encourages people to raise such mounts. The Dragon Horn Winged Horse used by the Blood Cloud Cavalry is the best. Unfortunately, there are less than 30 thousand of them. Next would be the Wind Winged Dragon Beast, Silver Scale Wind Stepping Beast, and Purple Winged Lizard. Next would be the Windrider Foals. Usually, they can be used to pull carriages to farm. If they are strong, the dynasty will take out money to purchase them. "
As Wei Yuan explained, he led Kong Rui onto the carriage. The latter didn't bring much luggage. In just a few minutes, the carriages had started to leave.
Looking at the scenery in front of him flash past the window, Kong Rui's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, unable to relax.
Everything in front of him was totally different from the Taishang. The customs were also totally different.
His eyes scanned the pier, like he saw something. Kong Rui's pupils constricted, and then he exhaled, "Prefect Wei, our Gantian Mountain, how can a dock worker be so rich?"
Just now, he personally saw it. A few helpers seemed to be prepared to cultivate. When they left, they took off their outer clothes that were covered in dust. Inside, they wore brocade clothes. The few of them joked and laughed, looking really carefree, not showing any of the worries of a laborer.
When Weiyuan heard that, for some reason, his expression was bitter, "It wasn't like this in the past, but now the people of Donglin aren't willing to work. Naturally, these people have good lives. They can only work for 10 hours a day. Not only do they have to be paid enough, but they also have to be provided with food and drinks. Life and death, old and sick, they have to take care of themselves. How can their lives not be good? "
Kong Rui didn't know what to say. Those words seemed to be filled with grumbling and complaining.
Luckily, Weiyuan didn't let him be confused, "Roughly a year and a half ago, the ruler allowed for private hunting. He even built a few strongholds under the cloud ocean. A few thousand people, a cloud ship that can float in the air, they can enter and exit the cloud ocean to hunt beasts. Most of the time, they return with a full load. As long as one has some talent in the martial path, in a year or two they can obtain huge amounts of wealth. With that, the people all went to cultivate, so who would be willing to do manual labor? "
He scoffed coldly, "Originally, when our Gantian Mountain unified Donglin, the cities in the east had numerous people. However, those people were forced by the people and insisted that people who weren't directly under us couldn't work in Rainbow City. Today, there are probably around 200 cities in Donglin that want the ruler to directly rule. However, they are all blocked by these fellows. If this goes on, what benefits do the merchants of Rainbow City have? You must know that the other ports along the ocean are eyeing us like tigers eyeing prey! "
Kong Rui shook his head. Originally, he understood a little. At this moment, he was even more confused.
However, when other people established countries, they all wanted to bring all the vassal states under their control. How could they allow others to sleep beside them? They also couldn't split the food on their plate.
Taishang's Taizu spent a full 30 years to wipe out the vassal towns in the territory.
However, this Gantian Mountain was weird. It seemed like those vassal cities were begging to be under Gantian Mountain. However, the ruler didn't care much. He allowed his subordinates to do whatever they wanted.
One could also hear Weiyuan's disdain and superiority towards the east of the Cloud Continent.
It was like how the Taishang people looked at Donglin.
However, this Rainbow City did seem to have enough ability. As for the Taishang …
He retracted his thoughts in time and wasn't willing to think too much about it. This Gantian Mountain could be compared to their Taishang …
That was unbelievable!
The carriage continued forwards and entered the path. It was all made from a quick and wide green wind stone, causing the carriage to be really quick. Not long later, they were out of the pier.
However, when they entered the city, it slowly slowed down. Sometimes, after a long time, it would move a little.
Kong Rui's brows furrowed. Although there were many carriages here, he had seen it before. The path was really wide and could allow 10 carriages to travel side by side, so why was it so congested?
He couldn't see clearly from the window, so Kong Rui walked out of the carriage and looked out.
Only then did he know the reason. Only to see that in front of him, there were many people sitting on the streets.
They took up a large portion of the path, leaving only a small area for them to pass through.
At this moment, he finally knew why the prefect said that the people in the yamen had been sent out. What did he mean by saying that it was inconvenient to leave the city today?
Only to see that beside the crowd, there were numerous bailiffs and some officials who were helplessly standing under the blazing sun, guarding these people. There were also some armored soldiers maintaining order nearby.
However, they didn't hold any weapons, only holding some sticks.
"What are they doing?"
Kong Rui was really curious.
"These are the people of the carriage industry in the city. They aren't willing to work, so they are sitting here!"
Weiyuan gritted his teeth as he replied, like he was furious, "Are they complaining that their wages are too little? That is okay, but these few days they haven't stopped. If they don't want to work, they can run to other places. Why do they have to occupy the path? "
Kong Rui was stunned, "These people are going against the government?"
Why didn't they kill and disperse such unruly people long ago? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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