Chapter 1081: Do You Hate Great Qin
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“Big brother, are you really giving this to us? That’s a gold coin, and it can buy so many things,” a little girl with braids asked as she looked at Zhao Fu with wide eyes.
Zhao Fu smiled and nodded.
Just as the little girl was about to take the gold coin, an older boy stopped her and said seriously, “Don’t forget what father and mother said; don’t get too close to those who are dressed well because they’re all important people. We can’t take things from them or else we’ll make trouble for father and mother. Do you want father and mother to suffer because of this?”
Hearing this, the little girl thought about her father and mother getting into trouble because of this and withdrew her hand.
Zhao Fu looked quite awkward, but the foreman beside him smiled, took out a few copper coins, and gave it to them, telling them to go and play.
These children knew the foreman, so they happily took the money and hurriedly said, “Thank you uncle!”
As such, Zhao Fu gave the gold coin to the foreman, who smiled and profusely thanked Zhao Fu.
Following this, the foreman continued to lead Zhao Fu around the construction site. Zhao Fu soon saw some elderly people also working on the ca.n.a.l.
“Why are these elderly people here?” Zhao Fu asked curiously. Zhao Fu had given elderly people special treatment. Even though they were Criminals, Zhao Fu had ordered for them to be given easier work; they should not be here.
The foreman sighed and replied, “It’s mainly to earn some extra points to raise their family’s children’s statuses. Ordinary Criminal children can’t go to school, and even if they make it in, they’ll be discriminated against. Only by raising their status can they live a decent life. However, points can be bought with money, and because their families are in financial difficulty, they can only come to work here.”
Hearing that there were people trying to profit from points, Zhao Fu could not help but feel a bit angry and asked, “Points can be bought with money?”
When he had established the points system, Zhao Fu’s goal was for these people to serve Great Qin and truly become loyal to Great Qin. That way, they could become subjects of Great Qin, and Zhao Fu would acknowledge them.
That had been Zhao Fu’s goal, and using money to buy points completely went against Zhao Fu’s purpose. Zhao Fu remembered that he had clearly forbidden this, and points could only be exchanged among family members. As such, he asked the foreman about this.
The foreman smiled, “It’s quite simple. When exchanging points, they just say that they’re part of the same family.”
“Do the officials not check this?” Zhao Fu asked angrily.
The foreman had never thought that Zhao Fu would become angry and asked, “How can we check this? With how chaotic the world has become, barely anyone has ident.i.ty doc.u.ments anymore. Moreover, in this new environment, no one knows each other, and because it’s impossible to confirm, the officials just let them do what they want.”
Hearing this, Zhao Fu felt less angry. He walked over to those elderly people and said, “Go home, there’s no need to come here anymore. Your family’s children are now Citizens.”
The elderly people all looked at Zhao Fu in disbelief because the only person who could casually raise a person’s status like this was Great Qin’s Majesty. Even the important Ministers had to find a good reason to do this because Great Qin was ruled through laws.
Even though this young man was dressed quite well, he evidently was not an important Minister because he was far too young. Since he did not have that status, no one believed him.
“Young Sir, please continue looking around with the foreman. We appreciate your kindness, but please don’t disturb our work,” an elderly man said as he picked up a basket filled with rocks and walked forwards with great difficulty.
The foreman also said, “Yes, Young Sir, where do you want to go next? I’ll take you there. Please don’t disturb them anymore; they need to work here to earn money and points.”
Zhao Fu did not reply to the foreman, and after thinking about it, he said in a loud voice, “I’ll ask you all, do you hate Great Qin for treating you like this? Do you hate Great Qin’s Emperor? Do you want to rebel against Great Qin?”
Zhao Fu’s voice was quite loud, causing everyone nearby to fall deathly silent. Everyone looked at Zhao Fu in disbelief; this person dared to say such sacrilegious words.
“Does that person not want to live anymore? This is Great Qin! He just asked us if we wanted to rebel; isn’t this starting up a rebellion?” Everyone looked quite afraid and quickly distanced themselves from Zhao Fu. The consequences of what Zhao Fu had said were too severe, and anyone who was dragged in would die. They did not want to lose their lives because of this, so they did not want to have any connection to Zhao Fu.
The foreman’s face went deathly pale, and he had never expected Zhao Fu to be so suicidal and say such things. Was he not afraid of angering Great Qin’s Majesty and having his entire family wiped out?
“Young Sir, hurry and escape Great Qin or else the soldiers will come soon, or you can kneel down right now, apologize to Great Qin’s Majesty, and say that you were just joking around; perhaps you’ll still be able to live!” the foreman hurriedly said to Zhao Fu. He did not want to have any connection to Zhao Fu, but he was the one who had brought Zhao Fu here, so he was already tied in with him and could not escape. He could only hope that Zhao Fu would be fine so that he could be safe as well.
Zhao Fu looked at the terrified people around him, his expression unchanging as he said, “I’ll ask you again. Given how Great Qin has treated you, do you not hate Great Qin?”
Everyone continued to remain silent. No one dared to reply to Zhao Fu’s question, which might turn them into a corpse.
However, an elderly man nearby sighed and said, “Ai, do we have the right to hate? After all, it was our factions that intensely resisted, resulting in his Majesty’s anger. That’s why we’re in this situation. Even though we have to work hard, are deprived of some benefits, and are discriminated against, at least we can live safely here. We don’t go hungry or thirsty, and we can live in peace. Great Qin’s Majesty has already treated us well; we can only hope that one day he will lower the requirements for becoming a Citizen.”
Just as the elderly man finished speaking, the sounds of horses galloping could be heard. Everyone’s expressions fell, and someone cried out, “Oh no! Great Qin’s soldiers are here to capture people! If you don’t want to die, get away from that person!”
Everyone within one kilometer of Zhao Fu was terrified and started to run away; it was evident how big the matter Zhao Fu had caused was.
“Who was it who dared to try to cause a rebellion? This deserves capital punishment!” A powerful aura descended; it was an official in a court dress, and at the same time, hundreds of Cavalrymen arrived.
Sensing that terrifying aura, everyone else felt incredibly terrified. They looked at Zhao Fu and thought to themselves, “This person is way too brave. In just a while, he won’t even know how he died.”
The official looked furious; someone dared to say such things in the region he administered. If things went poorly, he would be punishment for poor management.
He followed the gazes of the crowd and looked at the person at the center.
Immediately, the official’s face went pale, and he broke into a cold sweat. He immediately descended from the sky and knelt with both knees, calling out, “This Minister greets Your Majesty!”
This immediately caused an uproar.