After being reborn, I stole the female lead's cheat ability and raised the empress.

Chapter 142 Persuading the Lord of the Manor

The attendant couldn't help but flatter him, saying, "The Sixth Prince is indeed a cut above the rest."

The Sixth Prince waved his hand: "Alright. Chen Yi, tell me, how is Ninth Brother doing?"

"They have decided to split up and act separately."

"Alright." Thinking of something, the Sixth Prince said with a pained expression, "I originally planned to lead them through the tunnel to the secret room to get the evidence, but I didn't expect that Xia Li would actually have a treasure-hunting beast! What a pity for most of my treasures."

Chen Yi advised, "I think this is for the best; it further confirms the Third Prince's guilt."

"Haha, you're right. Third Brother would never have imagined that I would betray him, and Ninth Brother and the others would never guess that I was the one behind it all. It's just a pity that I can't show myself, and the good reputation has been given to Ninth Brother for nothing."

“You were seriously injured while searching for evidence, and the people of Lingnan will remember your kindness.”

"Hmm, you take some men and keep an eye on them, and provide assistance if necessary. This prince will just remain unconscious!"

……

Zhao Jihua brought gifts to seek an audience with the prefect of Lingnan Prefecture.

The manor lord, in the prime of his life and full of energy, came out to invite her: "Miss Zhao, it is an honor to have you here. Please come in quickly."

Although representing the imperial family this time, Zhao Jihua still fulfilled the proper etiquette for a junior.

This action directly made the manor lord look at her in a different light.

He became even more attentive to her.

After taking her seat, Zhao Jihua continued, "Your Highness is too kind. I came here today to help Your Highness out of your urgent need."

"Oh?"

"Not only will it solve the prefect's urgent problem, but it will also make the entire Lingnan Prefecture a prosperous and wealthy place."

The lord's eyes immediately lit up: "I would like to hear the details."

"My method is very simple: exempt all taxes in Lingnan for three years. As a result, many people from outside the region will come to Lingnan to farm, live, and do business, which will bring a large amount of economic benefits and a strong labor force to Lingnan."

Of course, the locals couldn't be ignored either. The prefect could provide free lodging, food, and seeds to the disaster victims, provided they cleared land and cultivated it. The elderly, women, and children would also be given appropriate jobs. Since food and lodging could only be obtained through labor, the disaster victims could be directly turned into hired laborers. Furthermore, if their harvest met the standards the following year, and the yield was satisfactory, the houses and land would be given to them directly.

"There are too many refugees and disaster victims; I'm afraid my small prefecture in Lingnan is powerless to help..."

"You don't need to worry about that. As long as you agree, just post a notice, and Miss Xia will take full responsibility for the rest, including funding and everything else."

"In this way, these three years are prosperous, but what about after three years?"

"As for what will happen three years from now, we'll have to see what the Lord of the Manor does during and after that period."

“I know Miss Zhao came with an imperial decree, but the matter of taxes is really not something that a mere lord like me can decide! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked the Third Prince to increase taxes several times before.”

“That’s alright, I have the ability to persuade His Majesty. You just need to do as he says. If you don’t pay taxes for three years, your prefecture will be in a much better position, won’t it?” Zhao Jihua said with a smile.

Unexpectedly, the prefect knelt down immediately: "My loyalty to His Majesty is as clear as day! Otherwise, I would not have allowed my brother-in-law to risk his life to deliver the secret memorial to His Majesty."

Zhao Jihua quickly helped him up: "Please rise, Lord. The reason I came here to discuss this with you is because His Majesty and I both trust your character. What happened before was not your intention. His Majesty did not blame you; on the contrary, he thought you did very well. However, if we reward you now, it will surely bring you trouble. I can only ask you to accept this. But as long as you do your job well in the future, His Majesty will definitely reward you handsomely."

The prefect bowed deeply to Zhao Jihua, knowing full well that...

Saying "you" means Your Majesty.

The use of "you" was Zhao Jihua's own idea.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your great favor!" The prefect then performed a deep kneeling bow towards the direction of the capital.

"Your Majesty, I will immediately order the notice to be posted!"

……

The next day, just as dawn broke, the gates of the Lingnan prefectural government were already packed with disaster victims, all whispering among themselves:

"You came because of the notice too?"

"Yeah, I heard they give us food and lodging here for free, but I don't know if it's true or not?"

"I heard that it was the great philanthropist Zhao Jihua who persuaded the prefect to stop collecting taxes from us."

"That Xia Li is the real philanthropist! He gave us porridge today, and he'll feed us as long as we farm. If we do well, he'll even give us a house for free!"

"..."

The government troops built a fence and displayed their gleaming sword hilts to intimidate the disaster victims.

Xia Li was carrying a gong and drum. She struck it hard, making a dull "thud!" sound.

After attracting everyone's attention, she then said:

"Everyone! Quiet! Listen to me."

I know that natural disasters in Lingnan have caused you great suffering, and man-made disasters have made everyone even more miserable.

My sister, Zhao Jihua, and I, Xia Li, have also come to save everyone. "Since the old emperor has made me bleed, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Zhao Jihua continued, "I am Zhao Jihua. As you all probably know, yesterday I persuaded the Prefect to exempt everyone from taxes. From now on, you can live comfortably without worrying about taxes for a while. Of course, you might ask, where will the land and food come from? In fact, we have already bought more than a dozen barren mountains over there at extremely low prices, and we have also prepared a lot of high-yield seeds. As long as you go to cultivate the land every day, we will provide you with food and shelter. You must be wondering why we are having you cultivate the land instead of directly distributing food to you, right?"

Immediately, the crowd asked, "Really? Why?"

"Because!" Xia Li gestured for everyone to be quiet before continuing:

"Do you want a piece of land and a house of your own, or do you want to live a handout, barely scraping by?"

Is that even a question?

Everyone shouted in unison, "We want houses! We want land!"

“That’s right!” Zhao Jihua said with a smile, “Because we can’t give you land to cultivate directly, we give it to you to cultivate in this way. If you can cultivate it and pass the inspection after a year, we will give you the land to cultivate for free! If you grow it particularly well, we will also give you the house for free, or you can exchange it for grain.”

Xia Li added, "Moreover, our seeds are the best, and we've hired the most famous and skilled planting experts in the capital to teach you. We'll also buy the grains you grow in the future, so you don't need to worry about anything. Just farm! We'll lead everyone to a better life! How about that?"