The emperor faked his death? Never mind, I will ascend the throne directly!

Liu Xu made a gesture of wiping his neck, with a fierce look in his eyes.

Liu Zhenshan waved his hand to stop his impulsive behavior.

"Don't act rashly. This person's origins are unknown, so we need to proceed with caution."

"Besides, the imperial court just issued an imperial edict, indicating that His Majesty is keeping an eye on me. It's not appropriate to cause any trouble now."

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

Li Chengfeng and Song Yuwei returned to the inn. Song Yuwei brewed a pot of hot tea, and the lingering tea fragrance filled the room.

Li Chengfeng took a sip, but his brows were still furrowed.

The glory of the poetry gathering seemed to be just a passing cloud. At this moment, his heart was filled with the hidden evil intentions of King Pingxi and the suffering of the people.

Li Chengfeng put down the teacup and thought about his next move.

"Tomorrow we will go outside the city to see. It is the autumn harvest season now, and I want to know how the people's harvest is actually going."

Song Yuwei nodded gently. "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. You are usually far away in the capital, so it is unlikely that these details will reach your ears. You must investigate it yourself and see it with your own eyes to know the truth."

"Today I asked Tiezhu and Zhao Sheng to inquire in the city. They said that the troops of the King of Pingxi are often harassing the people. It's still a few months before taxes are collected. I'm afraid..."

She suddenly stopped talking and seemed to think carefully before speaking.

Li Chengfeng sneered, his expression becoming increasingly gloomy.

"My dear Prince Pingxi...how many things have you done that can't be seen in the memorials..."

The next morning, the two men disguised themselves, left Xijing, and headed towards a village outside the city.

The autumn wind is bleak, the weeds on the roadside have turned yellow, and there is a solemn and depressing atmosphere.

The two men rode their horses forward, keeping everything simple and trying to keep a low profile. It was the busy season of autumn, and most of the fields had already been partially harvested, so there were not many people in the fields.

Continue walking forward, passing through the fields in the suburbs until you reach a village.

Before entering the village, I heard bursts of crying and shouting.

Li Chengfeng's heart sank, he dismounted and walked quickly towards the village.

At the entrance of the village, a group of soldiers were collecting taxes from house to house.

The people dared not speak out and could only watch helplessly as the grain they had worked so hard to grow was carted away by the officers and soldiers.

"These bastard officials are even more ruthless than bandits!"

An old farmer was crying bitterly, holding an empty bag of grain.

In today's world, food is more expensive than gold. It is hard to imagine how ordinary people can survive if all the food is confiscated.

Li Chengfeng walked over to the sobbing old man, sighed softly, and slowly squatted down. "Old man, may I ask if there is any money left after paying the heavy taxes?"

The old man raised his head, his cloudy eyes full of despair. He lowered his voice, as if he was afraid that the officers and soldiers would hear him.

"Young man, you are an outsider, right? Xijing, and even outside of Xijing, is ruled by the King of Pingxi!"

"They don't follow the imperial court's policy at all. They come several times during the autumn harvest!"

"The new emperor has no control over this place! All this food has been used to feed the army!"

"Alas, we ordinary people have such a hard life!"

As he spoke, he cursed fiercely: "King Pingxi, you shall not die a good death!"

Then, as if remembering something, he added, "And that little emperor isn't someone who can accomplish anything great either!"

Li Chengfeng was burning with rage, but he suppressed it and didn't lose his temper.

He knew that the people's evaluation of the court was based on their daily lives, and since the people were living in poverty, his evaluation would naturally not be very good.

He continued, "Old man, may I ask if this tax is levied on the basis of acreage or on the basis of head?"

The old man sighed: "According to the acreage? Then how can we survive?"

"It's levied per head! One dan per person! Every family, young and old, has to pay several dan of grain! This year's harvest is bad, and after paying the taxes, we won't even have bran to eat!"

"One stone per person?!" Li Chengfeng was shocked. This was simply an exorbitant tax!

He clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his flesh.

Not to mention how many times the King of Pingxi collects taxes a year, the amount collected alone is enough to feed Daqian's army!

At this time, a soldier came over and yelled at the old man, "Why are you crying, old man? If you cry again, I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!"

When the old man heard this, he trembled all over, looked at the soldiers who were leaving in fear, hunched his back, and walked away silently.

Li Chengfeng looked at his receding back, feeling bitter in his heart.

After the team of officers and soldiers walked away in a show of force, Song Yuwei walked up to Li Chengfeng and whispered, "Young Master..."

Li Chengfeng waved his hand, signaling her not to say anything more. He just looked at the empty grain bags in the hands of the people, his eyes deep.

Apart from these grains, the money extorted from officials and people at all levels every year cannot be a small amount.

What's funny is that the silver that King Pingxi submitted to the court every year was only 3,000 taels of silver, not even a fraction of what he collected.

No matter how you calculate it, this account is not right.

The two visited several more families and found that their situations were similar, and they were all suffering.

"It seems that this trip to Xijing is even more 'exciting' than I imagined."

Li Chengfeng looked in the distance in the direction of the Prince of Pingxi's Mansion, as if he had made some important decision.

The King of Pingxi must not be allowed to stay.

Independent policies, private taxation, maintaining a strong army, collusion with the government, and harboring evil intentions.

Any one of them would be enough for Li Chengfeng to tear him into pieces.

……

Dusk is falling and the city gates are about to close.

On the official road, two horses galloped past, raising a cloud of dust.

Li Chengfeng and Song Yuwei rushed all the way, wishing they could grow wings.

The last ray of light in the sky was swallowed by the night, and the two finally arrived outside the capital.

The two waited outside the city until late at night before entering the city.

Although Song Yuwei didn't say much, she understood Li Chengfeng's intention.

When the emperor went on tour, he was always on a private tour in disguise, but there were still many powerful officials and spies in the palace. If he returned with great fanfare, he would be hard to guarantee that he would not be targeted.

The two men took advantage of the night, avoided the patrolling soldiers, and quietly sneaked into the capital.

On the second day, at the morning court session, all civil and military officials gathered in the Golden Palace.

Li Chengfeng sat upright on the dragon throne, his eyes sweeping over the princes and the others, finally landing on the left prime minister Song Zelin.

"Lord Song, what's the price of rice in the capital?"

Li Chengfeng asked seemingly nonchalantly.

The ministers were confused by this sudden statement and didn't know what the new emperor meant.