Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Upon hearing this, He Yong immediately stood up: "Envoy Ban, are you threatening me? I admit that my Wu Zhao Kingdom is indeed no match for you right now."

You, with your powerful ships and cannons, roam freely in my Wuzhao sea area as if it were your own territory.

But don't forget, my Wu Zhao Kingdom still has 600 million people!

They are all loyal to the Emperor and to the Wu Zhao Kingdom. If you really dare to attack the capital...

Then we must be prepared for mutual destruction! Can you afford that price?

Ban Dingyuan laughed: "Lord He, do you think that if Wu Zhao Kingdom could really mobilize so many people, even just one-tenth of them, would my Chu Kingdom still dare to be so unscrupulous?"

The truth is, the people of your Wu Zhao Kingdom are loyal to the Great Chu, not to your ruler. When you treat them like slaves and exploit them...

When they are left to live like zombies in an environment filled with hunger, disease, and plague, suffering unbearable pain, how can they have the face to say that they can be loyal to the court?

"My lord, is there any point in deceiving yourself? Let's be realistic. A dynasty that has regressed to a serf society cannot mobilize a large influx of people."

After saying that, Ban Dingyuan threw a document, a translation of a telegram sent by Shen Lang of Southern Zhili, in front of He Yong.

"Take a look for yourself. Southern Zhili is probably the most prosperous place in your Wuzhao region, and Jiankang is an important southern capital. Logically speaking, the people there, if not wealthy, should at least have enough to eat."

However, after investigating, the Emperor discovered that the people there lived in extreme poverty, with each person's annual food ration consistently remaining at around 400 catties.

Four hundred catties of grain! This means they would be starving for at least three to four months of the year.

This is still the information the Emperor conveyed in the most favorable way, without taking into account the potential natural disasters.

Tell me, in your so-called prosperous era, have you carefully considered the lives and deaths of ordinary people? Even a wealthy region like Southern Zhili is in such a state.

Other places couldn't even imagine it, and the Emperor compared the lists of names and official registers collected from local gentry.

Four hundred catties of grain, and that includes bran, wheat ears, and other miscellaneous grains.

He Yong's hands trembled uncontrollably as he flipped through the documents in his hands, and he couldn't utter a single word when he heard Ban Dingyuan's question.

He knew about the hardships of the people and had gone to disaster areas to provide relief, but he never imagined that even in times of peace, people still couldn't get enough to eat.

After a long silence, he tried to argue, "Envoy Ban, you can't say that. My Wu Zhao Kingdom is not like other countries; it has a population of six hundred million!"

We cannot ensure that every citizen has enough to eat, but we have done our utmost to keep them from starving. I ask you, what other empire in the world can compare?

"To be able to keep so many people from starving to death, this is already a rare and prosperous era!"

Ban Dingyuan scoffed: "Lord He, don't you feel ashamed to say such a thing?"

The Emperor investigated in Southern Zhili, where the rice yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.067 hectares) was around 600 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 300 kg) per year, with some fertile fields yielding over 700 jin per mu per year.

Official records indicate that the total amount of farmland in Southern Zhili was 54 million mu, but according to land survey records held by local gentry, the actual amount of farmland in Southern Zhili was definitely no less than 80 million mu.

This amount of grain was enough to feed the entire population of Southern Zhili, so why did they look so dejected and starving?

"Dare you answer me, sir? Answer me!"

"Envoy Ban, please stop talking!"

He Yong was trembling, and he naturally understood why, but he absolutely could not say it.

"Your Emperor must be mistaken. Since His Majesty ascended the throne, he has drastically reduced taxes across the land, with agricultural taxes now only levied at 3% of every 100 taxes."

This is practically equivalent to no taxes at all; how could the people be as miserable as you describe?

"Then take a look at this."

Ban Dingyuan showed no mercy and took out another document.

"This is a tax report from the Southern Zhili region. Indeed, it records the tax reduction policy issued by your imperial court."

However, the taxes that were reduced were all allocated to the land tax, and even the regular taxes were allocated to the land tax.

Your country's tax system is based on silver. People must exchange their annual harvest for silver before paying taxes, and the responsibility for exchanging grain for taxes falls to the local gentry.

They exploited information asymmetry, colluded with local officials, prevented local residents from accessing any outside information, and arbitrarily set grain prices to reap huge profits.

The grain tax that the people had to pay was not reduced due to the tax cut; on the contrary, the emperor estimated that the tax would actually increase.

In Southern Zhili, each farming household had to pay at least 300 jin of grain per mu per year.

Each farming household owns only about four mu of land. How are they supposed to survive? How are they supposed to have enough to eat?

This only covers the local tax; it doesn't include other miscellaneous and exorbitant taxes and levies.

Do you want me to discuss with you in detail the birth tax, excrement tax, funeral tax, wedding tax, and even the gender tax?

He Yong was unable to utter a single word when questioned, feeling as if the documents in his hands were a hot potato.

He didn't understand why the Wu Zhao Kingdom had become like this. Wasn't it supposed to be a prosperous era? How could it be so deplorable?

"So, Lord He, do you still have the nerve to spout this nonsense about your people being willing to die for Wu Zhao?"

He Yong was completely exasperated: "Envoy Ban, why do you know more about our country's situation than the imperial court does?"

“It’s not that you don’t want to understand. I believe your king is not a fool. He is very clear about the state of the people under his rule, but he just is unwilling to make changes, which is why things are like this.”

After a pause, Ban Dingyuan continued, "Tell me, if the Emperor were to distribute weapons to the people of your Wu Zhao Kingdom,..."

"Who do you think they'll target first after they get their hands on it? My Chu Kingdom or your Wu Zhao Kingdom?"

"Stop saying that, Envoy Ban! Such words are treasonous, utterly treasonous!"

Upon hearing this, He Yong broke out in a cold sweat.

Such a scene was extremely frightening to these Di people.

Since the founding of the Wu Zhao Kingdom, it has taken nearly two hundred years to finally disarm the civilians, dismantle the martial sects to prohibit them from cultivating, prohibit them from acquiring any war resources, and exempt them from military service. They only need to pay taxes on time and endure being bullied.

This process was bloody and violent, lasting for more than a hundred years before Wu Zhaoguo finally secured his rule and began to frantically exploit the people within the pass.

I thought that the people had long since become accustomed to the current environment, and had become numb and easy to control.

But who would have thought that the arrival of the Chu army would make He Yong realize that the common people, besides being numb to Wu Zhao's rule, also harbored a deep-seated hatred for him!

"But don't worry, the Emperor won't do that now, but I can't guarantee he won't in the future."

Ban Dingyuan put the letter of appointment away: "I will pass this letter of appointment on to His Majesty as it is. As for what will happen next, you should think about it carefully, Lord He."

He Yong hurriedly said, "Envoy Ban, we have known each other for a while. Please return that letter of engagement to me. This letter must not be handed over to Her Majesty the Empress, or it will cause a great disaster."

Ban Dingyuan shook his head: "Since this is the attitude of your country's monarch, I will naturally let His Majesty know. As for the outcome, no one can guarantee it."

"Then please take me to see His Majesty!" He Yong suddenly became anxious. "Just once, just once, I'll explain to him myself, please!"

He Yong was truly afraid, not only of the Chu army, but also of the awakening consciousness of the hundreds of millions of oppressed people.

That rage was enough to completely sweep Wu Zhao, this outwardly strong but inwardly weak caste dynasty, into the dustbin of history.