Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1860 The Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty 20

Upon hearing that the Evil Emperor's tomb was actually located in Luoyang, Song Yuzhi couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Luoyang?! That's Luoyang! It's the place where the dragon rose to power, the location of the capital!"

After her initial surprise, Li Xiuning was filled with admiration. "Indeed, I never imagined that Senior Lu Miaozi could build such a massive project right under the nose of the imperial court. Even if he borrowed from the existing foundations of his predecessors, it was still quite remarkable."

Jiang Xinxin seemed to be deep in thought. After a moment's thought, she said to Li Xiuning, "Speaking of the foundations laid by our predecessors, I am reminded of the case of Yang Xuangan's treason..."

Li Xiuning immediately understood Jiang Xinxin's meaning, "Miss Jiang, you mean to say that Senior Lu Miaozi borrowed the fortifications left by Yang Xuangan, and it's even highly likely that he—"

Jiang Xinxin nodded: "You're probably right. I've also investigated the details of Yang Xuangan's rebellion and found that Yang Guang didn't find all of Yang Xuangan's hidden weapons and treasures. Now it seems that those things should have been included in Shi Zhixuan's Evil Emperor Tomb."

The Li clan lacks everything. Even if they didn't lack things, would anyone complain about having too many weapons and treasures?

However, the key to entering the Evil Emperor's Tomb lies with Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, and Song Yuzhi and Shi Feixuan are also involved. Li Xiuning needs to carefully plan to get half of the share, let alone the larger share she wants.

Jiang Xinxin stepped forward and said to the excited Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, "As the saying goes, those who see it should get a share. You two contributed the most, so I suggest you two take half, and the remaining half can be divided equally among the four of us."

"However, if you two brothers do not intend to become mountain kings, then weapons and treasures will be more of a curse than a blessing for you, because there is a saying that virtue does not match position. If a person cannot earn money beyond his understanding, he will naturally not be able to control everything beyond his understanding."

"So what I mean is, if we don't have the power of the Li clan or the Song clan, the rest of us should take a few treasures that we really like as souvenirs, and sell the rest to Miss Li or Yuzhi as a contribution. In the future, no matter whether the Li clan or the Song clan succeeds in conquering the world, we may not dare to dream of being ennobled or appointed as prime ministers, but being granted some land and houses should not be a problem, right?"

Shi Feixuan spoke first: "I don't want anything. I'm just worried about Shi Zhixuan and the Evil Emperor's Relic in the Evil Emperor's Tomb. If the Li Clan can help restrain Shi Zhixuan and help our Cihang Jingzhai obtain the Evil Emperor's Relic, then I will give you the part that Miss Jiang promised me."

At this time, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling were only thinking about killing Yuwen Huaji to avenge their mother, Fu Junzhuo. Even though Kou Zhong had a slight idea in mind, it all had to be based on the premise of avenging Fu Junzhuo. So the two of them simply used their share of weapons and treasures to ask Li Xiuning for a promise of support.

When it came to Song Yuzhi, she couldn't make decisions for the Song family, but she secretly wanted to support Li Xiuning, so she simply agreed to Jiang Xinxin's suggestion.

As for Jiang Xinxin, she said, "I can do without anything, but I want your Li clan to promise that once you conquer the world, you will take over all the land and territory of the world and return it to the imperial court. No private individual may own any land, forests, or waterways. Even private residences will only have ownership of the foundations built underground, as well as the houses, buildings, landscapes, plants, decorations, etc. on the ground."

Even Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, who didn't know much, couldn't help but gasp in shock, let alone Li Xiuning, who knew everything. So she was very embarrassed: "...Miss Jiang, you should know that this is not something the emperor can do..."

Jiang Xinxin explained: "Since the Qin and Han dynasties, one of the reasons for the change of dynasties is that the vast majority of people lost the land on which they depended for survival. In other words, with the establishment of dynasties, the land in the hands of the powerful and wealthy families increased, but they often did not pay taxes to the court. The court was short of money and would only increase taxes. Under the double pressure, the people could not survive, so they simply rose up in rebellion."

"At the beginning of the new dynasty, there is always a great loss of population. Many lands are released after losing their original owners and redistributed. As time goes by, the situation I just mentioned will repeat itself again, in a cycle. Perhaps this situation will stop when the powerful and wealthy families no longer have any privileges and can no longer exploit the common people."

Li Xiuning understood. "So, Miss Jiang, do you think that if all the mountains, rivers, and land in the world were nationalized and private individuals could not engage in any form of buying and selling, then those who truly need land could live in peace?"

Jiang Xinxin nodded with a smile, "How many people would be willing to do something that doesn't generate profit? If all the land, including mountains and rivers, belonged to the state and no private individual or group could own it, and if this were combined with the national policy of 'integrating land tax into poll tax and requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes together,' the imperial court would be able to collect an enormous amount more taxes."

And so, the group agreed on the ownership of Yang Xuangan's treasure in the Evil Emperor's Tomb, and before any of the other forces could react, they made their way to the banks of the Luo River.

Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling disguised themselves and came to survey the surrounding situation. Various forces in Luoyang City were gathering here. Originally, everyone wanted to take advantage of the time difference, but reality told them that they had overthought it.

When Kou Zhong thought about the hardships of hiding these past few days, he couldn't help but grumble, "Senior Lu Miaozi is really something! It's one thing to put the entrance to the Evil Emperor's Tomb in the water, but he also insisted on waiting until the fifteenth to activate the mechanism before it could be revealed. Isn't this just messing with us?!"

Xu Ziling, who was usually good-tempered, was also a bit tired lately and couldn't help but chime in: "Yes, if we really wait until the fifteenth, I'm afraid even Yuwen Huaji won't need us to go to Jiangdu to cause him trouble."

Kou Zhong continued to complain, "And another thing, there are quite a few bridges over the Luo River. Who knows which bridge the trap is on!"

Xu Ziling had vented his anger enough and his rationality had completely returned. He could only try his best to comfort his good brother Kou Zhong: "Alright, Young Master Zhong, we should have a result after the investigation ends tonight. Fortunately, this time we still have a helper like Miss Jiang who can fight against the Empress Yin, and we also have the Li Clan's Black Riders secretly helping us. Things will definitely go smoothly, so don't worry."

Upon hearing Xu Ziling's words, Kou Zhong changed the subject, "Hey, Young Master Ling, Miss Jiang said before that if we don't establish our own power, we might as well cooperate with the Li Clan. At the time, I didn't think much about it, but now that I think about it, I feel that maybe we can really do something."

Xu Ziling understood Kou Zhong's meaning, but he was not optimistic about the matter. "Young Master Zhong, even if we don't give the Li clan our share of weapons and treasures, do you really think we can build our fortune on those things?"

"You've heard what Miss Jiang said: those who are willing to join the uprising are all pitiful people who have been oppressed to the point of desperation by powerful and wealthy families. The more factions there are, the more strife there will be when we compete for the world. We two were originally beggars on the streets. Do you think that just because we've had a miraculous encounter, we can stop seeing our former compatriots as whole people and start adopting the disgusting ways of those powerful and wealthy families?"

“Young Master Zhong, I understand your desire to make a name for yourself and your unwillingness to settle for mediocrity. But I cannot disregard ordinary people. Cihang Jingzhai’s approach is correct. Ending the chaos as soon as possible and restoring peace to the people is the best course of action.”