Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

If these stubborn old nobles could foresee the future, they would be horrified to find that they acquiesced in the elimination of several moderate reformists, only to usher in a radical reformer who was determined to turn the world upside down.

Although, when the latter first came to power, he stated at the Council of State with a meek expression: "To show respect for the King who is resting and the Queen who has ascended, I will not change any decree or decision issued by the King within three years."

Then, she selected the unappreciated sons from various noble families and sent them to the grassroots to serve as civil officials. In addition to doing basic practical work, she asked them to measure the land of Manzagang and count the population.

The royalists were very satisfied because she did not do anything perverse.

The old noble was very satisfied because his bloodline would soon become royal without making any noise.

The young men who had no hope of making a name for themselves finally got the opportunity to become officials. Even if it was a small official, they were very satisfied.

All are happy.

Wen Jiao, apart from holding regular political meetings and taking the crazy king out for a walk from time to time, was focused on "giving birth to children". In three years, she gave birth to four boys and two girls for the king, all of whom were very healthy.

How could she not be strong? The old nobles did not dare to choose sick babies for her. They even screened out babies who looked too similar to themselves, and only those who were sent to the palace looked a bit like the king and queen.

The appearance of these new lives diluted the shadow of the missing children born to the princess. They followed Wen Jiao to learn calligraphy, perform sacrifices, ride on horseback, make appearances and give alms. As the jewels and food were spread out like water, the children's popularity had long surpassed that of their "eldest sister" and "eldest brother".

It was the fifteenth year since Wen Jiao became the queen. The whole country only knew of the queen but not the king, and had even forgotten that he once had a pair of children who were highly expected of him.

Oh, the memory of Princess Wencheng is still vivid, although after Wen Jiao's deliberate promotion, the people's memory of her has become "the Vajrayogini who made a great wish to pray for the country and ascended to heaven on the spot."

It is because of her sacrifice that we have the wise Queen Ha Xiang in power!

When Princess Wencheng heard this version of the legend for the first time, she could not help but curse "shameless". But after her ears were callused from hearing it so many times, she just remained silent.

At this time, her identity had become "a Vajrayogini named Wencheng who was sent from heaven to assist the queen."

Starting from the fourth year of Wen Jiao's reign, she ordered local civil officials to lead the people under their jurisdiction to reclaim unowned wasteland. Half of the reclaimed land belonged to the royal family, and the remaining half belonged to the private owners. At that time, the nobles actively drove the slaves, and the people relied on themselves. Everyone was enthusiastic about reclaiming wasteland. Within a few years, the arable land in Manzagang doubled.

In the seventh year, Wen Jiao turned against the map presented by the tribunes at the Council of State, and killed three ministers on the spot, two of whom were old aristocrats and one of whom was a royalist, on the charge of hiding the private possession of land. She divided the confiscated land equally among other ministers, and confiscated treasures and people.

The other ministers, who had received such great benefits, naturally praised the queen's wisdom in unison, and at the same time stared at the mistakes of other colleagues, wishing to take the opportunity to report them and take their wealth for themselves. Naturally, they also behaved in a disciplined manner, fearing that they would be reported by others and become the one to be swallowed up.

While they were fighting each other, Wen Jiao distributed the newly added land of the royal family to the slaves affiliated with the royal family, allowing them to cultivate the land by themselves. The seeds, farm tools and livestock were provided by the queen, and half of the harvest was given to the royal family. It sounded like a lot, but compared to the slaves of other nobles who lived worse than pigs and dogs, as long as they were diligent enough, they would have enough food and clothing. What's more, the queen would not punish them severely at will, nor would she skin and bone them as sacrifices to worship some god-knows-which god.

Although the royal decree prohibiting the use of human sacrifices has been implemented for more than ten years since the previous king, there are always some particularly stubborn nobles who secretly kill people to sacrifice to the gods, but they dare not make it public.

In the eighth year, a slave whose sister was cut open to take out his intestines as a sacrifice was determined to die. He hit his master with a stone hammer and then fled to his distant relative's house. This distant relative was previously a slave of the noble who was killed by Wen Jiao. After being confiscated, he had food to fill his stomach for the first time in his life after paying for the harvest of the fields.

The assassin's master was so angry that he led his men to chase after him, and whipped several slaves who tried to stop them from arresting him. These slaves happened to belong to the royal family. The local tribunal officer quickly took people to gag him and drag him to the council hall. Wen Jiao executed him in court on the charge of "private obscene sacrifice". This time, the property was no longer divided equally, but was confiscated. The ministers were so scared that they went home and cleaned up the clan from top to bottom, clearing away all the prohibited items, and repeatedly ordered that the clan members must never use human sacrifices again. If anyone used human sacrifices, they would beat him to death with sticks and feed him to the dogs without waiting for the queen to deal with him.

It was at this critical moment that Wen Jiao released Princess Wencheng.

She threw Princess Wencheng onto the horse's back, rode behind her, and, with the reins twitched, carried her across the fields. Under the towering and undulating hills, neat ditches led the clear river water into the farmland. Farmers held the plows, shouted loudly, and drove the cattle forward to cultivate the land.

Princess Wencheng had not breathed the air outside the palace for many years. At this moment, the sun shone on her eyes and she could hardly open them. After she got used to the light outside, she slowly focused her eyes and looked into the distance. She saw that the farmers in the distance were using very strange farm tools. As the plows moved forward, the seeds naturally leaked into the soil.

This method is much easier than sowing the seeds one handful at a time. I wonder which master craftsman came up with this idea? If I were still the princess, I would ask the king to reward him handsomely.

Wencheng thought gloomily.

Wen Jiao's white horse galloped like the wind, and the silver bell tied to its neck jingled with the sound of the horse's hooves. Farmers heard the bells and knelt down in their direction from afar. People farther away did not hear the bells, but when they were reminded by people who were closer, they stopped their farm work and knelt down a little later.

I don't know how this domineering queen tortured these poor people. She could scare them into kneeling down from such a distance. They were so pitiful, just like straws with their waists broken by the strong wind.

Wen Cheng thought angrily, pinching her arm without saying a word. During the eight years of confinement, she was bound to say something she shouldn't have said, and Rang Guo caught her and reported her. She had always reminded herself not to speak. Over time, she even lost the ability to speak.

The horses finally stopped at a lush green meadow, where large wild peonies were in full bloom. Wen Jiao picked two, pinned one on herself, and put one in Wen Cheng's hair. She stretched out her body without any manners towards the clear sky and white clouds.

"Eight years ago, I had to report to you even when I picked a flower." Because his back was facing her, Wen Cheng couldn't see Wen Jiao's expression, he only heard her smile, "But now, you are mine."

"Dakini, would you like to share your thoughts?"

Wen Cheng felt that her words were very harsh. He lowered his head and after a long while, he finally found the feeling to speak: "You are the queen that everyone wants. I am just a small mortal woman. There is nothing much to say. Even a real dakini would be full of praise for the queen."