Chapter 832 A Dream of Youth 364

"By the way, Lord Xie said he would recommend someone to me. Who is it?"

Xie Ning rolled up the bamboo slips and put them back into the cloth bag. Hearing this, he squatted down without looking up and took another bundle of bamboo slips. "Xiang Jiayouyi, she is very good at arithmetic. Isn't Bai Jianzheng in charge of the weighing instrument recently? We can let her give it a try."

I've been very busy lately, and I'm afraid I'll be leaving Beijing on a business trip soon, so I won't be able to help with this matter.

"The Xiang family?"

The Xiang family is Yan Xi's maternal clan. Now that Yan Xi is the emperor, the Xiang family has finally risen to prominence.

However, Bai Jianzheng had never heard of Xiang Youyi, but he had heard of the famous eldest son of the Xiang family, Xiang Jianjun, who was quite well-known in their circle.

Unfortunately, this man always stayed in the Prime Minister's residence, never stepping out for ten years.

"Ahem—, could it be that Lord Xie has invited the eldest son of the Prime Minister's family to take up an official post?"

Xie Ning shook her head. "That young master Xiang is not so easy to invite. However, the young lady of the Xiang family has been learning from him since she was a child. Even if she didn't learn all of his skills, she should at least have six or seven tenths of them, right?"

Bai Jianzheng didn't believe it, but he was still tempted. "But would the Xiang family agree to let their daughter become an official?"

He immediately contradicted himself after saying that. If the Prime Minister's family could support a princess to become emperor, what difficulty would it be for their own daughter to become an official? He just didn't know if the court officials would have any objections.

In a cheerful mood, Bai Jianzheng no longer wanted to read. He quietly piled his books on Xie Ning's table and started calculating with copper coins. Suddenly, a copper coin fell to the ground.

Bai Jianzheng felt a pang of anxiety; he feared something terrible was about to happen in the south.

Just then, a messenger on horseback arrived in the capital and urgently reported the military situation.

Yu Tong, in alliance with the rebel army, seized Luzhou and is now ruling there. He also wants to join forces with the Nanzhao Kingdom to invade the Great Zhou, claiming that Yan Xi's ascension to the throne is illegitimate and that there is no such thing as a woman as emperor in this world.

Moreover, he had the offspring of King Zhao, and claimed that this was the legitimate line.

The Nanzhao Kingdom had no desire to fight against the Great Zhou with Yu Tong. They had been living peacefully in the southwest for three hundred years without fighting the Great Zhou. Why would this person drag them into this mess?

The King of Nanzhao couldn't help but complain, but in the end he still wrote a letter to Yan Xi, saying that Nanzhao had no intention of rebelling and that the two countries were still friendly.

He didn't care whether the emperor of the Great Zhou was male or female; as long as they didn't invade Nanzhao, he wouldn't care.

With the Great Zhou protecting them, the northern barbarians won't invade the southwest. They can fight their own battles, while Nanzhao can just quietly develop.

Yan Xi was also very angry after reading the military report. This Yu Tong was really good at running away, and even managed to occupy Luzhou. You should know that the original purpose of Luzhou City was to show the barbarians that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

If it weren't for Yu Tong's scheme to suppress the rebel army, Luzhou wouldn't have been occupied so easily.

Seeing Yan Xi's gloomy expression, Yu Xiang knew that there had been a lot of official business to attend to recently. Not only them, but even the emperor hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep. Now, with this incident, it was indeed a cause for concern.

He couldn't help but offer words of comfort, "The Nanzhao Kingdom has never been fond of war, and it has no prestige in the region. Even if it enthrone the son of the Prince of Luzhou, it would be of no use. Your Majesty need not worry. Why not first send an envoy to the Nanzhao Kingdom to inquire, and then order the southern prefectures to be placed under martial law..."

Yan Xi nodded, which was taken as agreement.

King Zhao did not formally ascend the throne and had committed the crime of murdering the late emperor, so no one recognized his imperial position. Although King Zhao's son was the heir to the throne, he was also the son of a treacherous minister. In the hearts of Confucian officials who adhered to the rites and doctrines, such a person was even less worthy of the throne.

Yu Tong has gone mad.

The imperial court currently lacks the funds and provisions for fighting the war, but it can transport supplies to the south, entrusting some wealthy prefectures in the south with the responsibility of supplying provisions.

Yan Xi had people recommend themselves, and then selected a few. Li Yu was chosen to lead the troops, which was to save face for the Empress Dowager.

Suppressing rebellions is different from the western expedition. Li Yu is capable of this, so the Empress Dowager did not object and accepted Yan Xi's good intentions. Therefore, when Yan Xi selected Xu Hongying and Li Yu to be together, she reciprocated by expressing her agreement.

The Empress Dowager could easily see through Yan Xi's intentions; she was paving the way for Xu Hongying.

After the court session, the Empress Dowager sent someone to invite Yanxi to dine with her.

"Grandmother." Yan Xi remained affectionate in front of the Empress Dowager, showing none of the coldness she displayed when dealing with the court officials.

"You."

The Empress Dowager tapped Yanxi's forehead. "Yanxi, you are still young. Your grandmother understands your unease. You want your own army and your own people. Compared to those male officials, you trust those female officials more, don't you?"

Yan Xi knew that the Empress Dowager had misunderstood, but she didn't explain much. Instead, she went along with the Empress Dowager's wishes and showed a sad expression. "Grandmother, even with you and Prime Minister Yu helping me, there are still many court officials who do not respect the Emperor's will."

This is because I have no authority over them now, while Xu Hongying and Xie Ning are different; they are willing to listen to me...

Yan Xi did not use the imperial title "朕" (Zhen, meaning "I" or "the Emperor") to refer to herself, which was somewhat impolite, but it would earn her the Empress Dowager's sympathy. She currently lacked power and prestige and still needed to rely on the Empress Dowager.