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Volume Three: The Wind Rises in the South Chapter 111 Conspiracy

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    In a tall mansion in Mandalay, the dining table was full of food and drinks. The people sitting around the dining table all had red cheeks and smelled of alcohol. It was obvious that they had just had a heavy drinking session.  "How about it? Do you agree with my idea?" A short and stocky man looked at the others at the dinner table with a fierce look in his eyes.  The other people at the dinner table had wandering eyes. Whenever the other person's eyes turned to him, they turned their heads away, not daring to look at him.  Seeing everyone else behaving like this, the fierce look in the eyes of the short and sturdy man became more intense. Suddenly, he pulled out the dagger from his waist, thrust it into the dining table, and shouted sternly: "Okay or not, please do it quickly."  The truth!" Everyone at the dinner table was frightened by the sudden action of this short and sturdy man. Several people jumped up from their seats, but they sat down again when they saw the fierce look in the short and sturdy man's eyes.  In the middle period, he said: "Wu Tu San, it's up to you, it's up to you!" Tu San sneered and pulled out the dagger from the dining table, but his eyes glanced at the few people who had not yet expressed their opinions, and he was playing with it in his hands.  The sharp dagger looked like it would be used against him if he didn't obey.  "I don't agree! Not only am I not going, but I can't let you go either!" His eyes suddenly focused on the opposite side of the table. Sitting opposite him was a slender nobleman in luxurious clothes. He was the first person in the Privy Council in the morning.  The nobleman who spoke in support of Luo Lin's allocation of land to soldiers was lazily reclining on an armchair, as if he had not heard what Tu San had just said, and he looked particularly annoying among the crowd!  When Tu San heard this, he was furious. He took two steps forward with his dagger and shouted: "Maung Ji, I remember that today in the Privy Council, you were the first to express support for the Princess Bird's land allocation to the soldiers, and now you are opposed to our plan. Are you right?"  Noble!" "Of course I am a noble!" Maang Ji sneered, not afraid of the bright dagger in front of him: "It's just that the head on my neck is not just for eating, and I don't agree with your crazy plan.  Enter the palace and kill the eldest princess, are you crazy? " "It's not me who is crazy, it's the eldest princess who is crazy! Infringe on the rights of the nobles and give the land to those mud-legged people. If we do this, the nobles of the country and  The monks will all support us. There is a good friend of mine among the palace attendants. He owes me a lot of money and has agreed to open the door for us that night when he is on duty. At that time, if we support the little king to rule, we will all  They are great heroes!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the use of their support for us?¡± Maang Ji sneered: ¡°How old is the regent princess? How do you know that what she said today was not caused by the Shun people behind her?  If you can kill her, can those Shun people break up with you? Have you forgotten what happened to Meng Ji? They had the support of the British and gave him thousands of rifles and cannons. What do you have?  ? Just with dozens of broken guns?" The room suddenly became quiet, and Tu San sat back in his chair, dumbfounded.  Maung Ji's words hit home just now. Indeed, as the other party said, if Shunjun supports the eldest princess, his adventure, whether successful or not, will have only one outcome.  "Then, what should we do? Should we just stay here and do nothing, watching the eldest princess give away the land that we have inherited from generation to generation to those mud-legged people?" A nobleman finally couldn't bear the suppressed silence and timidly  asked.  "Haha!" Maang Ji laughed twice and said: "The eldest princess in the Privy Council today was right in what she said: 'Fools always regret past mistakes, while smart people look for new opportunities!'  It is a fact that the farmers have fled the manor. It is stupid to be angry and regretful about this reality! " "What do you mean? Do you agree with the eldest princess's suggestion to give the land to the farmers?"  Tu San jumped up again, the dagger in his hand shining coldly.  "Sit down, sit down, can't you just listen to what I have to say?" Maung Ji waved his arms in annoyance. Tu San, who was originally furious, couldn't help being stunned when he saw him like this, and sat down hesitantly.  Maung Kyi sighed and said: "You were sitting next to me in the morning. Didn't you see whether I was against or supporting me? But thousands of mobs are rampaging in the countryside in middle and lower Myanmar. There are only two roads in front of us:  Once we admit that they are free, they divide the estates into small plots for farmers to farm and collect rent like those around Mandalay and Yangon - "No! There is a large area of ??wasteland around my estate. If we admit that the farmers are free,  They will run away without a single one left - there is enough wasteland for them to cultivate anyway!" Tu San categorically rejected Maung Ji's first proposal, and other nobles on the side also agreed in unison.  Most of our industries are located in remote areas of Myanmar, which are sparsely populated. Unlike the densely populated areas near Bagan and Mandalay, there are good returns from renting out manors to individual farmers, so these people are the best ones to give freedom to farmers.Definite opponents.  Maung Ji smiled and said: "Then there is only one other way left: declare that all farmers who leave their lord's land are not protected by the law, and anyone who encounters them has the right to arrest them. If the farmers resist,  He has the right to kill him. Anyone who harbors the fugitive peasants is guilty, and anyone who escorts the fugitive peasants to the original owner can be rewarded! " "Yes, Wu Maoji, your method is much more convenient!" "Yes, that's right!  It is a just law!" The nobles made a burst of agreement, and many people had smiles on their faces.  The most impatient Tu San simply shouted loudly: "Why don't we contact other nobles and jointly petition the two majesties to implement this decree! This will definitely win the support of most nobles and monks!" "Idiot!"  A cold voice interrupted the heated discussion among the nobles. Everyone turned their heads and were surprised to find that it was Maang Ji who had just spoken.  "Who do you think is a fool?" Tu San rushed to Maung Ji's side and shouted loudly: "The great King Anawrahta recorded in the code: Peasants are the property of his master. Taking away a noble peasant and seizing him without any reason  There is no difference between taking a nobleman's ox and an elephant, they will both be punished!" "You are not the only one who has learned Anuruddha's code! But there is no way to get Song Shen with just one code!  Go back to the noble manor with hundreds of thousands of peasants, without an army to back you up, the code is no more powerful than another stack of paper!" Maung Kyi finally couldn't stand the other party's stupidity anymore, he  Standing up: "To be honest, the reason why I oppose the eldest princess's plan is not because I will lose the manor. According to the eldest princess's plan, I can get money from farmers to compensate for the manor and population I have lost. Even if the money  It's not enough to compensate for my loss, but it's better than nothing." "Then why are you with us? You could have knelt down in front of that little girl's skirt in the Privy Council this morning. Maybe she would have grown bigger.  Reward you!" a noble retorted in a sarcastic tone.  "Because if we do this, the whole of Myanmar will become Chinese!" Maung Kyi replied seriously: "If we follow the princess's plan and let the farmers pay for themselves and their land, a lot of money will be needed, but these farmers  They have no money, and the nobles do not have enough cash on hand. Only the Chinese have money. The peasants can only afford to borrow money from the Chinese. Think about it, the peasants may be able to pay back this.  Will they be like bees trapped in a spider's web? The more they struggle, the tighter they will be entangled in the web of debt. In the end, even the farmers themselves and the land will become food for the Chinese. At that time, the whole of Myanmar will be  It's over!" Maung Kyi's eloquence silenced everyone in the room, and the horrific prospects he described made the nobles shudder.  A noble asked in a low voice: "U Maung Kyi, then, what do you think we should do?" "The nobles and farmers must each make concessions! Only in this way can Burma be preserved!" Maung Kyi replied without hesitation: "God  The nobility was created with the breasts, and the peasants were created with the knees. It is true that the nobility should be above the peasants, but without the knees, the breasts would fall into the quagmire. If, as Wu Tusan said, force the peasants to return to the nobles' manors,  Not to mention whether it can be done now, even if it is done, how many people will be able to return to the manor alive in the end? What does this mean to the nobles? And it is not entirely their responsibility for the peasants to escape from the village.  The foxes on the mountain are not willing to abandon their nests, let alone people? If the puppet king Meng Ji hadn't levied food and soldiers, forcing the farmers to live in the village, how could the nobles be like this?  It is feasible to review your own behavior and improve the treatment of farmers in your own village!¡± ¡°Wu Maung Ji is right, the Master once said that after harvesting crops on the public land, the widows in the village must be allowed to take the first place!  A man goes to pick up grains from the fields; families without men ask other families in the village to help them repair their houses. " "Yes, being kind to others is one of the virtues of a nobleman!"  The nobles nodded in agreement. Seeing that no one expressed objections, Maung Ji continued: "I think we should adopt a two-pronged approach. First, we should unite all the nobles and request an edict in the Privy Council to reduce the three-year tax exemption for farmers who return to the village.  annual tax, abolished some of the rights of the nobles in the territory, such as first night rights, mill taxes, hunting rights, etc., and limited the maximum amount of taxes that the nobles could levy on farmers. Secondly, -" At this point, Maung Keeton.  After a moment, he lowered his voice and said: "Song Shen should be killed or arrested so that the mob has no leader. Otherwise, with him around, the mob who already have weapons will definitely not give up their demand for land." "Yes!  " "Yes, the leader of the mob must be punished!"   The nobles in the room agreed one after another. If there were still some people who were reluctant to make concessions, then on the issue of killing Song Shen, all the nobles had an unprecedented consensus.  "But how to kill that Song Shen? I heard that he has many guards around him!" "You know Diok, the confidant of the false king Meng Ji!" Mao Ji smiled slightly: "He is a good friend of mine.  He is also resourceful and has connections among the Bagan nobles and the Shun army. He must have a way to deal with Song Shen. It is easy to deal with a machete in front of him, but it is difficult to defend against a dagger behind his back! " "Yes, this is a good way to bribe Song Shen!  If the people around Shen deal with him, we can promise a reward as heavy as Song Shen's body in gold!" "That's not necessary!" Maang Ji smiled: "But we have to sign the letter to Diok.  His future safety is deeply involved with the false king Meng. He must be worried about the trouble his two majesties will cause him in the future, otherwise he may not be willing to help!" The room fell silent, and the nobles showed hesitation on their faces.  It is not a safe thing to leave your name on this kind of letterhead.  Maung Ji still kept a smile on his face and waited quietly.  "Sign, just sign!" Tu San snatched the pen from Maang Ji's hand and was the first to sign his name on the paper.
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