Chapter 1389 - 1308: New Year, New Atmosphere

Guo Pu, who was lying in the attic drinking, could see the stars covering the sky when he looked up. He also saw the bright star in the night sky, and after drinking a cup, he mumbled, "A prosperous era is coming..."

In the face of hardship, the people showed the strongest resilience. In just half a year, they had forgotten the pain brought by the flood in the first half of the year.

In their words, as long as they could survive, they had to live with a smile, laughing is a day, crying is also a day, why not laugh?

Your Majesty is kind-hearted, always helping them, and they can see hope.

So after the autumn harvest, they paid their taxes and found that there was still grain left at home, which made them happy, and they were willing to use some of the grain to reward their families.

This year, the court reduced the labor force. In some places, labor service was organized, mainly focusing on disaster relief and volunteering. The former involved signing up for labor service and receiving disaster relief grain or money, which was essentially wages, just under the guise of disaster relief;

The latter was mostly organized by the village chief or village leader, mainly repairing roads, canals, and such within the village.

Additionally, some prefectures and counties established engineering teams, where an individual recruited fellow villagers or young laborers to take orders from wealthy households to help build houses, dig canals, ponds, and more.

Even the county government would pay to hire them.

Taking advantage of the agricultural off-season, many people made money.

But this could only last until the end of the year, as the weather became colder and the areas north of the Central Plains were no longer suitable for travel, much less labor.

The snow this year was heavy, and Guo Pu had forecasted it in advance. Various regions had done a good job in preparing against the cold and disaster relief, reinforcing houses before the heavy snow arrived, and stocking up on a large amount of firewood and charcoal at home. Although the snow was heavy, it did not cause major disasters.

Zhao Hanzhang let out a sigh of relief, and finally had the mood to say, "Thick snow foretells a good year, next year will surely be a bountiful year."

Guo Pu looked at her in surprise and praised, "Your Majesty is impressive. I also just calculated that next year’s rainfall will be generally good. Although there will be minor floods and droughts in some places, it’s not a big problem. For the country as a whole, the weather will be favorable."

Zhao Hanzhang was overjoyed upon hearing this, and the next day she shared this good news with her ministers, reminding them, "After the spring begins, be sure to focus on promoting agriculture and mulberry farming."

The officials were invigorated and all agreed. Could a stable situation finally be coming?

Years of toil and struggle had left them not only physically tired but also mentally exhausted. Tears welled up in the eyes of the officials, all hoping for the arrival of a prosperous era.

After the New Year, Zhao Hanzhang officially declared a change of era, naming this year the first year of Yuanzhen. At the same time, the new laws and governance changes were announced nationwide.

The first item was that Zhao Hanzhang abolished the practice of live human burial, strictly prohibiting it. If anyone was found to be using live persons for burial, regardless of the status of the buried or the master, it would be treated as a crime of murder of innocent people, and their three generations would be prohibited from holding official positions...

The first law alone made people feel Zhao Hanzhang’s strong will and determination.

In the Capital City, Zhao Hu’s heart raced, suspecting that Zhao Hanzhang’s law was specifically targeted at him.

"Could it be that she still remembers the old grudge?" Zhao Hu was a bit displeased, "Uncle Cheng and I have reconciled, so what’s she still holding onto?"

Wu Yin thought to himself, you are the master, Uncle Cheng wouldn’t dare not to reconcile with you.

He quickly said, "It certainly isn’t targeting the lord. I heard that in many places live human burial is practiced. Not to mention far places, just look at the Ru Nan Chen Family; the old master passed away the year before last, didn’t the people serving him all follow him?"

Only then did Zhao Hu feel a bit relieved, looking regretfully at Wu Yin and saying, "Alas, I was thinking of letting you continue to receive the incense of our Zhao Family descendants in the future, but now it seems impossible."

Wu Yin was moved to tears, "It’s my lack of fortune; I can only serve the lord more while alive."

He decided to secretly go to a Taoist temple outside the city tomorrow to set up a longevity tablet for Your Majesty.

The second law was to abolish the system of death contracts for slaves, leaving only life contracts, and detailed the rights and responsibilities of both masters and servants.

Zhao Hu was stunned, the first thing he said was, "I don’t believe it, does it mean Uncle Cheng and Qing Gu also have to change from death contracts to life contracts?"

Zhao Hanzhang indeed turned Uncle Cheng and Qing Gu into life contracts, and Mrs. Wang even wanted to cancel the life contracts and set them free directly.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "Mother, they need to sign a contract if they stay by your side, this is the life contract. They are already of good status, now, the relationship between us is like an employment contract."

Mrs. Wang was puzzled, "What is that?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "It’s okay if you don’t understand, just know they already have good status."

Zhao Hanzhang did not specifically state that slave status was abolished, but legally, indeed, workers with life contracts were given good status.