Your Majesty, please beg for mercy. The prince's rebellion was successful.

The old man quickly withdrew his gaze and calmed his mind.

Then, the old man smiled thoughtfully.

As one of the leaders of the five ancient families, he knew very well that the matter at hand was not that simple.

Twenty percent of the court's fiscal revenue, what does that mean? !

It not only means that people will suffer, but also means that the country will be extremely weak!

This kind of weakness will never come back easily.

Because in order to make up for the 20% deficit, the national strength needs to be increased by at least half to have a chance to reach a normal level.

And it will take a hundred years, a full hundred years!

On the surface, it seemed that Emperor Tianjing was sincere, but at the same time, the old man had already noticed that something was wrong.

I thought this was also a trap.

And it is the reason why the five ancient families had to enter it even though they knew it was a trap!

Because this means that within a hundred years, the imperial court will not pose any threat to the aristocratic families, let alone the ancient aristocratic families.

This would allow the ancient aristocratic families to gain wealth while further consolidating and improving their status in the hearts of the aristocratic families.

From now on, the status of the five ancient aristocratic families will be as stable as Mount Tai, and will even further widen the gap between them and ordinary aristocratic families.

A hundred years is enough time for them to become powerful beyond imagination.

It might even be possible to completely crush the dynasty and dominate the world!

Who can resist such temptation?

Of course, Emperor Tianjing also has his own little plan here.

The imperial court was weak and could not even support the expenses of supporting the army.

Under such circumstances, the imperial court was in danger and could not even fight against the Great Xia Kingdom and the Yuan Dynasty.

There is always the possibility of regime overthrow.

In this case, what to do! ?

The five great ancient families need to take action, at least to protect the safety of the court and the royal family.

Because, as long as the royal family falls, it means that the offerings of this hundred years will disappear.

Who in any dynasty would dare to pay such a price? !

He is gambling!

I bet the five ancient families would never give up such a piece of fat meat.

Therefore, his method was simple and crude, making the imperial court a piece of fat in the mouths of the five ancient families, a piece of fat that they were reluctant to throw away.

This move is really beautiful.

Looking up at Emperor Tianjing, whose body was already somewhat hunched, a trace of fluctuation appeared again in the depths of the old man's eyes.

He is worthy of being called the Lord of the Restoration of the Great Zhou.

This kind of means, this kind of scheming, this kind of cruelty, is definitely not something an ordinary emperor can do.

But, he still did it.

The most important thing to become an excellent emperor is to be ruthless!

Not only are you cruel to yourself, but you are also cruel to the world and to the future!

Obviously, Emperor Tianjing did it!

It’s a pity that he is just an emperor of the royal family after all. If he were one of the five ancient families, perhaps he could change this situation.

When this thought came to mind, the old man's heart suddenly beat a little.

Then his eyes became gloomy.

The emperor's methods and his mentality are truly incredible.

Just a hundred words almost shook his original intention.

Unfortunately, all means are useless in the face of absolute strength.

At present, the five great ancient families are absolutely powerful and unsurpassable to Emperor Tianjing.

Therefore, in the old man's opinion, Emperor Tianjing's imperial skills are just some tricks.

That's it.