Ji Xiaolan: Kill Qianlong at the beginning

The two men came before the kneeling people.

Immediately someone kowtowed to the Emperor, "Your Majesty the Emperor, bless us, Your Majesty the Emperor, bless us, bless us."

Emperor Gai Zhang said: "This...what is this called?"

Mo Li tried to smooth things over, "Um... Your Majesty, the villagers are ignorant, please calm down. Well, they address all kinds of gods as "Lao Ye." For example, Lord Guan and Lord Cheng Huang, they call the heaven "Tian Lao Ye," and they call you "Emperor," which is their supreme honorific title."

Emperor Gai Zhang shook his folding fan and said, "Then I will be the emperor today. Everyone is carrying Lord Guan to pray for rain, and I want to show my sincerity today. So I will also pay my respects to Lord Guan today." Then he walked to the statue of Guan Gong.

Seeing a strange object, he asked, "What is this?"

One of the common people said, "Your Majesty, the people of all the villages and towns have made a vow to rebuild Guan Yu's body and rebuild the temple. This is the main beam in the main hall. It's covered with yellow paper, and it's called the Yellow Beam."

Emperor Gai Zhang thought he had misheard and asked, "What's your name?"

Mo Li smiled and said, "His name is Huang Liang."

Emperor Gai Zhang put away his folding fan and said, "Huang Liang? That's an interesting name."

Mo Li said, "But this Huang Liang is in front of us, blocking the emperor's way. I am helpless."

Emperor Gai Zhang said, "Mo Li, how come you are so smart all your life and so confused at the moment? Is this so difficult to handle? Listen."

After that, he said to the people, "Everyone, listen carefully. The Emperor wants to pay homage to Master Guan. You must remove this yellow beam."

Mo Li said loudly: "The emperor has ordered to remove Huang Liang."

The people all said in unison: "The Emperor has shown mercy and exempted us from collecting grain. Long live the Emperor."

Emperor Gai Zhang stammered, "What...what's going on? Exempt...exempt from the imperial grain?"

Mo Li said, "Your Majesty, the villagers are ignorant. They must have misheard and misinterpreted the "huang" in yellow paper as "huanghuang" and the "liang" in beams as "liang". As a result, you have withdrawn the grain they were supposed to hand over."

Emperor Gai Zhang said, "Oh, then... just... just with that one sentence, you're going to... just withdraw... just withdraw?"

Mo Li said, "Isn't that what you said? Your Majesty, I think it's just right. I think Your Majesty has had this intention for a long time. Instead of asking Jiaxing Prefecture to issue an order, it would be better for Your Majesty to announce it publicly. This will prevent your imperial edict from being changed and rewritten by the local officials."

Du Xiaoyue said: "Yes, Your Majesty."

The Emperor seemed a little undecided and said, "So that's it?"

Mo Li said, "That's it."

Emperor Gai Zhang said, "Oh, then you can announce it."

Mo Li said, "As you wish."

He cleared his throat and said loudly, "The Emperor has decreed that the three prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou will be exempted from all imperial grain taxes this year due to the severe drought."

All the people said in unison: "Long live our emperor!"

Emperor Gai Zhang came back to his senses and said, "Um... then... I won't worship you anymore?"

Mo Li said, "Master Guan?"

Emperor Stamp hummed.

Mo Li continued, "I don't think it matters much whether you worship or not."

The Emperor Gai Zhang spread his hands and said, "No prayers, no rain."

Mo Li said, "Whether it goes down or not, it's up to him. If you don't believe me, I'll ask the common people for you."

Emperor Gai Zhang said: "Ask, ask, ask."

Mo Li cleared his throat again and said loudly, "Fellow villagers, do you think it is the spirit of Master Guan or the spirit of Master the Emperor?"

The people all said in unison: "The Emperor is in spirit."