I have already established my power and prestige, so how did Li Shimin come back to life?

Suddenly, a rough voice shouted from the crowd, "Ergou! Just say whatever you want to say! But if you want us to follow you in rebellion, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately aroused a chorus of agreement.

"Yes! I've heard that there are rebellions in many parts of the Tang Dynasty. Your Majesty is busy and exhausted every day trying to put down the rebellions!"

"Isn't it? I really don't know what those people's intentions are behind the rebellion."

"Your Majesty has always been kind and compassionate to us common people."

"Take this year for example. When the government came to collect taxes, I didn't even think about hiding it. I just handed it over honestly."

"We didn't pay much in taxes. Your Majesty has been very considerate of us."

"Yes! Those rebels are truly heartless. Your Majesty has treated us so well, yet they still want to stir up trouble."

"Even without government supervision, we must not cause trouble for His Majesty! If we do something that offends His Majesty, would we still be considered human beings?"

"Anthracite has brought so many conveniences to our lives. Is it all fake? Your Majesty has done so much good for us, the people. We should be grateful."

Everyone was talking at once, the voices rising and falling, and the scene was noisy.

Ergou quickly waved his hands in the air, signaling everyone to be quiet. He had a sincere smile on his face and kept saying soothing words.

It took a lot of effort and a while before the noisy discussions gradually died down.

Ergou cleared his throat, his expression serious and solemn, and said loudly: "Brothers! Which of us hasn't been able to live a peaceful life thanks to the grace of Your Majesty?"

"Your Majesty's grace is higher than the sky and deeper than the sea."

"If you ask my brothers to do something so outrageous as to rebel, I, Ergou, will be the first one to disagree!"

After saying that, he changed the subject, staring intently at the audience, and asked, "Does everyone know about the situation in Japan?"

When they heard the word "Japan", most of the people in the audience looked confused and frowned, as if they knew very little about it.

In their impression, the Japanese were short, strange-looking, and rude in manners, and were extremely lowly.

On weekdays, these Japanese often landed here, but the people of the Tang Dynasty always looked down on them. When they saw them, they were like seeing the plague god, and they would stay away from them, for fear of being contaminated by bad luck.

At this moment, a few people in the crowd who knew something about this could no longer contain themselves and shouted loudly in the crowd: "I know, I know!"

"I heard that the Japanese were so ignorant that they dared to openly provoke Your Majesty and even insulted You to your face. Their crimes are truly heinous!"

"Your Majesty was furious! But at the time, our Tang Dynasty was at war with another country and could not spare troops to attack Japan."

"So His Majesty made a solemn promise to those vassal states, saying that whoever could first conquer Japan would be granted a fifth-rank official position!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present couldn't help but gasp, their faces full of surprise.

"Are you giving away fifth-rank official positions so easily to those vassal states?"

There were a few murmurs of doubt from the crowd.

Some people were whispering to each other, with doubtful expressions on their faces. After all, such matters concerning high-level decisions of the imperial court and involving major rewards were too far away and difficult to understand for ordinary people like them.

Before the voice of doubt could spread, someone interrupted them loudly!

"Let's not talk about the rest for now! I heard that the situation at that time was far more than just insulting His Majesty!"

The person who spoke was a burly man with eyes as big as copper bells, the veins on his neck were slightly bulging, and his face was flushed with excitement.

"Those Japanese actually dared to threaten Your Majesty! They shamelessly claimed that our Tang Dynasty was weak! They said that we were no match for them!"