How I Pampered the Tyrant Into Devotion With My Space-Chapter 682: Clearing Their Names

Pei Shu’er has now returned, but the commercial route she established continues to operate.

This was originally just a way to rescue the people of Dayan from suffering, but now it has become a path for merchants to get rich.

Many refugees, and even others, have joined this group.

They spend money to wholesale some goods, then set off with the merchant caravans, and after earning grain, they send the grain back home for their families to eat.

Some have even bought houses back home.

Life is getting better and better.

At the same time, Dayan’s official tax revenues have also increased.

These taxes are not paid to the localities but directly to the state.

Now all taxes, except for land tax, are paid to the state.

Every place has a national tax collection institution.

Now, in the County Government, there’s not as much profit as before, and they have to allocate money if any issues arise.

Unlike before, if the nation faced issues, since most of the wealth was with the government, it was very difficult to gather funds, requiring audits and verifications, taking a lot of time to be transferred to the Capital.

Moreover, this step-by-step process upwards wasted a lot of time and bred numerous corrupt officials.

Furthermore, if the localities could only collect land tax, there would be only one legitimate reason to collect taxes, and any attempt to create false pretexts would be overseen by supervisory bodies.

Due to these series of measures, Dayan’s national treasury quickly became enriched.

Whenever these people transported goods out or brought them in, they had to pay tariffs.

Now the tariffs have become transparent and no longer shrouded in darkness.

Hence, more and more merchants are venturing out.

If they sell domestically, they still have to pay some taxes.

Compared to later generations, indeed, it is considered heavy, but compared to the past Dayan, it is almost negligible.

Other miscellaneous taxes are gone, agriculture pays agricultural tax, commerce pays commercial tax, and no longer is it a matter of government officials casually imposing fees.

Everyone can see hope now, rather than toiling hard all year only to fill the pockets of officials.

Previously, some refugees were due to local officials imposing harsh and miscellaneous taxes, leading to an unbearably harsh life, hence forcing them to flee.

Pei Shu’er and Tang Zan, when they were disguised and walking around the lantern festival, noticed that people who used to be skinny now had gained some flesh.

Pei Shu’er called this "happiness weight."

The two now strolled around like an ordinary couple, buying what’s trendy along the way.

These ordinary folks experiencing happiness and fairness never realized that they were encountering the Emperor and Empress responsible for their improved lives.

However, after a while, an official recognized the two, immediately showing an expression of fear and respect, ready to kneel and salute.

It was Xuan Liu who timely spoke beside them.

"This is Mr. Tang."

The official understood immediately and gave a respectful greeting to Tang Zan and Pei Shu’er.

"Good day, Mr. Tang. Good day, Mrs. Tang."

Then the official cautiously followed behind Pei Shu’er and Tang Zan, being very respectful.

Pei Shu’er immediately laughed and said, "Lord Lu, go accompany your family, my husband and I are just out for a stroll."

Indeed, after staying in the Imperial Palace, they realized how nice it was outside.

The two even chose not to return for the night and stayed at an inn instead.

In the inn, they could best understand the thoughts and demands of the common people, and this was the largest inn in the Capital.

While in the inn, a storyteller first talked about the corrupt officials being removed from office, which was met with applause from the people.

The storyteller then went on to praise the Emperor and Empress, and everyone followed suit in applause.

In the entire inn, the talk was that with the Emperor and Empress, their lives would keep improving.

Now the two are greatly adored by the people.

Pei Shu’er also felt that it was time for Yan Jinyi to make an appearance.

Thus, on a scorching afternoon, Tang Zan released Yan Jinyi, and to prevent any trouble, planted the Puppet Gu on him.

That very day, on the palace wall, he was made to confess the reasons behind War King’s corruption allegations.

In fact, during the rescue of Tang Peizhong, the charges of War King’s corruption had been cleared once, but were forcibly suppressed by Yan Haoxuan.

So even in the Capital, only a few knew, and since then, massive defamation followed, tarnishing Tang Peizhong’s reputation severely.

The biggest stain on Tang Zan and Tang Peizhong was indeed the corruption and exile incident.

Now, with the nation prospering and their prestige at its peak, it was the best time to clear their grievances.

As Yan Jinyi stood on the palace wall, tearfully revealing the truth.

Many citizens hurled rotten vegetables at him.

"A person like you truly deserves ten thousand deaths; to slander a great hero like War King, you’ve completely lost your conscience."

Meanwhile, he also confessed to how Yan Haoxuan and Yan Hengyin framed the Tang Family.

At the same time, the people began to denounce these individuals fervently, realizing why Tang Zan became the emperor himself and not like it is now.

"War King was a good War King, it’s a pity he didn’t encounter a wise ruler."

After completing his mission, Yan Jinyi jumped off the city wall under Pei Shu’er’s control.

With Tang Peizhong’s name cleared of corruption, the news spread swiftly across Dayan.

Additionally, with Tang Zan’s push and reflecting on how previous Emperors treated the Tang Family, and through some artistic processing, it spread throughout Dayan.

In this, Shen Wanqing, with her pen, contributed significantly.

The people have their scales in their hearts, and Tang Zan’s prestige reached another level.

Tang Peizhong, who had been avoiding going out, also shaved his beard and hit the streets again.

Once again becoming a handsome uncle, vastly different from War King’s image, no one would suspect him to be War King.

He still clung to Liu Xu daily, and Liu Xu now found him very annoying.

But strictly speaking, their relationship was really just a matter of being substitutes; in other aspects, Tang Peizhong didn’t treat Liu Xu poorly.

Thanks to Tang Peizhong’s efforts over this period, this matter gradually faded.

Moreover, during this time, Tang Peizhong shamelessly climbed into Liu Xu’s bed, taking advantage of her drunkenness for a spring night together.

Then, an unplanned pregnancy occurred...

When Liu Xu found out, she furiously pounced on Tang Peizhong, scratching him severely.

Tang Peizhong endured with good temper, knowing too well that his wife had returned.

Now, with the truth revealed, both were walking under the sun.

No matter how angry Liu Xu was, she could only accept her fate.

However, she didn’t rely on Tang Peizhong as much as before, always maintaining an attitude of being ready to withdraw.

As for running away with the baby, such advanced notions have not yet become popular in Great Tang.

Tang Peizhong could only cautiously attend to Liu Xu, genuinely cherishing her from the heart.

Over the years of wearing down, Liu Xu’s attitude softened somewhat.

Pei Yu, seeing Tang Peizhong successfully pursue his wife, also felt somewhat moved.

He too wanted Shen Wanqing to bear his child, rekindling their relationship.

But, Shen Wanqing was now traveling with Baili Kong in Da Zheng, denying him the chance.

Moreover, he constantly worried, fearing that Shen Wanqing and Baili Kong might become pregnant.

The once handsome and dashing uncle grew white hair during Shen Wanqing’s absence.