Time is like running water between your fingers, you can't catch it, and three years have passed quickly.

In the past three years, the increasingly powerful Minister Earnest has become more and more unscrupulous, and the conscience faction in the imperial capital has either been killed or relegated to remote areas, and is no longer able to compete with the ministers in the central government.

Under the rule of Minister Earnest, the people's taxes were increasing day by day, and the oppression of the common people became more and more severe, and more and more civilians embarked on the road of revolution under the cruel oppression, and the flames of resistance spread almost to the entire empire in a very short time.

And the corruption in the officialdom is as rancid as the sewers in the imperial capital, and looking at the past, there are some people who are insatiable and insatiable, and there is no room for officials with conscience in the entire officialdom to gain a foothold.

Those who are capable will be suppressed without a trace. Those who are incorruptible will be degraded to blacker than ink.

The entire imperial officialdom was full of smoke and miasma, and the demons were dancing wildly. Those who are corrupt are still corrupt, those who enjoy are still happy, and those who do evil continue to do evil.

Beneath the façade of a long-established and vast empire that still seems to be majestic, hides a rotten sand that can collapse with a single push.

Thanks to the fact that the Imperial army is still strong, the Empire is still able to maintain a peaceful unity on the surface of the Imperial Capital, with the upright General Bud in charge of the Imperial Capital and the powerful war freak Adides extinguishing the flames of resistance everywhere.

Compared to the rest of the empire, where the environment is deteriorating rapidly, the southwest is a rising star.

The entire southwest is under the leadership of Jiang Chuanyue, although the officialdom is not without a trace of dirt, but it is still clear, and the tax rate has been kept at a relatively low level.

In addition, the government has spent a lot of money to start various large-scale infrastructure projects, provide enough jobs, encourage industry and commerce, establish schools, set up a reclamation law, and open up farmland for five years to be exempt, which has injected fresh water into the economy of the southwest region, and the living standards of the people in the region have skyrocketed.

As the saying goes, the eyes of the masses are clear, and the southwest is undoubtedly full of hope compared to the increasing oppression in the rest of the empire.

As a result, various advantages have attracted a large number of poor people to pour into the region, bringing a large number of laborers to the southwest, and indirectly promoting the economic prosperity of the southwest.

There was no obstacle in the imperial officialdom to the southwest, and some officials even secretly rejoiced, because these poor people who had nothing not only could not blow up oil and water, but also engaged in rebellion at every turn, which made many officials of the empire anxious.

Now it is best for the southwest to be willing to accept these people, so the imperial officials did not see the edicts presided over by Jiang Chuanyue to solicit displaced people, and even promised some convenience, so that this group of Diao people could quickly get out of their rule.

What these Imperial officials, led by Minister Ones, did not know was that when they drove out these large numbers of poor people, the foundations of the empire were also being emptied in large quantities.

Although the southwest region is only a part of the empire's huge territory, in fact, in terms of strength, the southwest, which only occupies one-eighth of the empire's land, can basically compete with the strength of the remaining regions combined.

If there is a war between the southwest and the empire, it may not be the southwest that wins, but it is a pity that none of the upper officials and nobles of the empire see this danger clearly.

......

Simon is a farmer, and three years ago he was an ordinary farmer in one of the many small villages next to the imperial capital, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

Like many of the world's civilians, they struggle to survive under the oppression of cruel lords and greedy tax collectors.

However, there were unforeseen circumstances, first his wife fell ill, spent all her savings and borrowed a huge amount of loan sharks to finally recover.

In order to pay off his debts, Simon had to pay off the family's only remaining land to his creditors at a low price.

However, the matter of paying off the debt is not over, and soon after the tax collector began to collect taxes for the year, how can Simon, who had already scattered his family wealth to save his wife, still have the money to pay taxes?

What's even worse is that the tax revenue rose by 50% that year, plus the usual deductions and filial piety, the tax to be paid is almost double that of previous years!

As a result, relatives and friends are all sad and breathless, and there is a great tendency for the family to be ruined, and it is impossible for Simon to borrow money from acquaintances to survive this tax situation.

As for loan sharks, Simon didn't want to fall into this trap that would never be paid off again after being cheated once, and besides, he didn't have anything to use as collateral.

According to the laws of the Empire, the tax evaders were reduced to slavery by their families, and Simon did not think that the greedy and brutal tax collectors would understand his suffering and let him go.

In fact, in the past, several families could not pay their taxes and were sold into slavery by the greedy tax collector's family.

Looking at his wife's gloomy gaze and his malnourished eight-year-old son, Simon sold his leaky house and left the village for the southwest with several families in the village who could not survive.

A month ago, when he entered the imperial capital to buy daily necessities, he learned from the merchants about the decrees issued by Jiang Chuanyue, the prince who ruled the southwest.

At that time, he was very envious of this, but it was impossible for him to abandon everything and go to the southwest, but now he would be a slave and his wife would be separated. And going to the southwest may still have a glimmer of life, whether to go or stay does not need to say much.

Along the way, there are not a few people like Simon's family who have traveled to the southwest with a glimmer of hope, but they are poor people who can't stand the increasing oppression, and these people come together to form a huge team.

Along the way, they trekked through mountains and rivers, ate and slept in the open, and people died in the team every moment, but fortunately, the god of fate favored Simon's family to starve on the road, but they did not reduce their number.

After moving into the southwestern capital city of Grilla, Simon settled down by participating in government recruitment and doing odd jobs for others. And after a year of hard work, he had some savings, and then he participated in the reclamation decree issued by the government and participated in the reclamation tide.

Because the reclamation was subsidized by the southwest government and exempted from taxes for five years, Simon not only got a lot of land but also a lot of savings after two years, and his life became richer, and he no longer had to live the same life of starvation.

Looking at the crowds rushing through the wide streets of Grilla, Simon was glad that he had chosen to go to the southwest, otherwise he wouldn't have everything he had today.

"Hey, I heard that there was a rebellion on the edge of the imperial capital."

"This time is different, many villages near the imperial capital have been burned to ashes, and many officials and nobles have been hung alive on crosses!"

"Good death! Those guys are simply murderous vampires! However, this kind of thing can happen next to the imperial capital, and General Bude should also be dispatched. ”

"Well, I heard that General Bude has already set off with the Guards, alas, now the entire empire is calm in the southwest!"

"Who's to say it's not......"

Hearing the discussion of others, Simon's brows furrowed, his aunt still lives in his original village! Let's hope the war hasn't burned there yet.

Simon hurried away thinking about it, remembering how his aunt had taken care of him before, and Simon thought that he might have to do something......

Ordinary people like Simon basically think about things that are closely related to them, and they don't think about it:

What does it mean that a rebellion broke out on the edge of the imperial capital and that General Bud went on an expedition......