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Furthermore, Qi Yun felt that he was aging and might not be able to hold on for many more years. He wanted to take advantage of his mobility to take his disciple to the meeting to exchange insights with fellow practitioners.

It was to announce his successor to the major Dao Veins of Qingyun lineage.

Thus, Qi Yun attached great importance to this conference, as it was a matter of the inheritance of the Qingyun View.

So, at this moment, upon hearing his disciple’s words, his previous sorrow and lamentation were instantly cast aside. He immediately perked up and talked to his disciple about the details: “This Inescapable Meeting…”

In this small mountain temple, the once solitary old Taoist priest had regained the warmth of the past days after the little Taoist priest returned, and he seriously resumed his role as a master.

The joyful times were, like the past, simple and clear, bringing tranquility to the heart.

Perhaps the pursuit of immortality is not always about seeking longevity, but merely seeking a peaceful and tranquil heart, which is more than enough.

…

Just as the chaos of Chu State was gradually taking shape, a great army, thousands of miles away was returning from suppressing a rebellion.

The long army marched northward along the road, with broken and desolate villages on both sides. The unattended weeds on the flat official road were eventually trampled into dust by the cold iron boots.

Su Xuange rode on a fine horse with a straight and imposing posture, even while the horse was moving. His majestic armor shone brightly under the sunlight, making him especially dazzling.

His eyes swept around, occasionally catching sight of one or two dark shadows among the bushes.

A cold wind blew from the north, mixed with the smell of mud, fish, and a slightly different stench of decay.

Those familiar with death would instantly understand when they saw the dark shadows and smelled the odor. It was the smell generated by decomposing corpses lying on the ground.

The war had lasted almost a year.

Su Xuange fought in the Southern Expedition, experiencing more than a hundred battles, finally ending the Seven Islands Assembly, Guangchang Road, and Dufchang rebellion.

But the damage caused by this war was significant.

In the major rebel areas like Ningyue, Shian, Cangwu, Xiping, and Gaoliang, the population was halved after the great war, with hundreds of thousands of dead.

The remaining five prefectures also suffered varying degrees of damage and heavy losses.

After quelling the rebellion, the entire Su Country was almost in ruins.

Although the losses had not yet been calculated and reconstruction had not yet begun in the affected areas, according to the estimates of Su Xuange’s court officials,

this rebellion cost Su Country a population of five to eight hundred thousand. Agriculture production in Guangwu had been wasted for the past four years, and there had not been much tax collected. The reserves from previous years were used to fill the military budget.

What was more frightening was that, although the rebellion had been put down, the country’s finances would be dire for the next two years, providing little tax revenue.

The five prefectures involved in the rebellion were now in ruins, and they needed to be reconstructed. The refugees needed to be appeased, and production needed to be restored – all requiring money.

Don’t expect any output from here if they don’t ask you for money.

Although the other five prefectures were slightly better off, their combined population was only seven to eight hundred thousand. Even if heavy taxes were maintained, the annual income would barely reach four million silver taels.

However, this heavy taxation was imposed to quell the rebellion, squeezing the livelihood of the common people dangerously.

After a year or two, the common people could support themselves by drawing on their savings, selling their children and their lands. However, if heavy taxes were to continue indefinitely, it would inevitably lead to another uprising.

It wouldn’t be because people were afraid of Su Xuange’s military might, and therefore they wouldn’t dare to rebel.

When people struggle to survive, they don’t fear your laws, do they?

Death awaited them whether they paid taxes or not.

Since death was inevitable, why not rebel before dying, indulge themselves, and not live this life in vain?

Therefore, by next year, reducing the tax rate from five to two, or even four to one, would be inevitable.

But this would reduce the income in the royal court, and it would be good if it could reach three million taels a year.

However, after a year of fighting, Su Xuange’s troops didn’t diminish, but instead, swelled.

By now, in addition to the original forty thousand Forbidden Army, he not only restored the local fifty thousand county soldiers, but also established an additional fifty thousand New Army.

All these were regular soldiers who needed a monthly salary.

This vast army, even if each soldier in Su Country was paid lower than other countries’ soldiers, with only three silver taels for the soldiers and two silver tails for the county soldiers,

the annual cost of salaries for 150,000 people would be 4 million silver taels.

If other expenses were taken into account, an annual military budget of 5 million silver taels would be the minimum.

Besides military expenses, other expenditures would require at least a million silver taels as well.

Together, these amounted to 6 million silver taels.

So starting next year, Su Country would face a deficit of 3 million silver taels.

When they couldn’t come up with the money, they would only be able to delay the soldiers’ salaries and officials’ stipends, leading to low morale in the army, further unrest in the local areas, and the further decline of administrative efficiency in the royal court and local governments.

And if you don’t pay them, they’ll naturally find a way to get the money – people need to live, after all.