Chapter 197: Even Unrelated People Can Become Relatives

After all, it records the relationships between members of the Jiang Dynasty royal family. If it were to circulate widely among the common people and become a topic of conversation, it would undoubtedly diminish the prestige of the royal family.

There are three copies of this book. The original copy is kept in the palace and is used to keep records. The other two copies are in case the original copy is damaged or lost, so that there are other copies to refer to.

After the capital was besieged, one copy was held by those powerful families, while the other copy was taken out of the city by the Hu brothers, commanders of the Imperial Guard.

Later, the Hu brothers were so focused on escaping that they accidentally lost the booklet they had brought with them. The booklet circulated among the people until it was finally found and kept by Hu Wen.

After Chunzhi's explanation, Su Zhenzhen understood. She thought to herself, how could a royal genealogy be circulated in the market like an ordinary book?

“Sister Chunzhi, I didn’t even know this booklet existed until you mentioned it,” Su Zhenzhen explained. “I had only heard of the name of Prince Lu before, so I guessed it was him.”

Chunzhi nodded. "That's true. The two booklets from the palace and the noble families probably won't be easily shown to outsiders."

When there was no conversation, Su Zhenzhen steered the conversation back to how to relocate the people.

"Your Excellency, the imperial court is already in decline and is nothing more than a puppet in disguise. You are not going to act as a loyal subject and blindly adhere to the court's rules, are you?"

Hu Wen felt a lump in his throat. If he were a loyal minister, he wouldn't have considered Yangcheng as his own property. But then he thought, if we really had to compare, we were all traitors and rebels.

Although the one on the dragon throne is a puppet, he still bears the surname Jiang, holds the imperial seal, and inherits the throne.

So what if he's the last emperor's legitimate son? Is there any record of him in historical texts? Only being recognized by historical records constitutes legitimacy; calling him "Crown Prince" now is merely a title of respect. What kind of Crown Prince? Was he appointed by the last emperor or the current emperor?

Having substance but no reputation means not possessing a righteous cause.

Hu Wen answered directly, "I only follow established rules. I am not very talented and cannot come up with a perfect solution. If Miss Su has any good ideas, I will definitely cooperate fully."

Hu Wen changed his self-reference three times in one sentence. He is indeed a seasoned veteran in the officialdom. The first two sentences show that he is just an ordinary person with no great abilities. He reiterated that he, as an "ordinary person", acted in order to protect himself and followed the trend. He said that closing the gates of Yangcheng was a last resort.

The second sentence indicates that he is now just a lowly soldier, and he does whatever his superiors tell him to do.

Su Zhenzhen felt that her skills had improved, and she was able to understand these official jargon without relying on others to translate. It was true that environment changes people.

"I do have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible in practice..."

Su Zhenzhen then shared her idea, which was simply to recruit more people.

The ancestors of the people of Yangcheng may not all be from Yangcheng. Their wives' families, aunts, uncles, and other relatives may also be from other places, and their children's marriages may also involve people from other places.

They don't care if the relationship is shallow; as long as there's even the slightest connection, they consider anyone "one of their own."

Now let the people of Yangcheng take enough food and set off to Huzhou and Jingcheng to wait for "their own people" so that "their own people" can come and visit relatives.

For every person recruited, each person receives one tael of silver; for every two people recruited, each person receives two taels of silver, and so on. This money can be received by both ordinary people and "insiders."

A generous reward will surely attract brave men, and when these "insiders" will end their visits to relatives in Yangcheng is certainly not up to them to decide.

Stealing from others is illegal, but visiting relatives shouldn't be, right?

Hu Wen was shocked upon hearing this, "But where did all these relatives come from?"

Su Zhenzhen rubbed her fingers together. "Your Excellency, you are being too shallow. When you visit relatives, you eventually become close. Even if we take a step back, we are all human beings, so how can we not be considered relatives?"

Hu Wen: "..."

Where would this retreat of ten thousand steps lead? To a time before humanity was even civilized?

"I have another question: where will this money come from?"

Su Zhenzhen was momentarily embarrassed. If the system shop were still around, she could confidently assure everyone that money wouldn't be a problem.

But now...

Su Zhenzhen smiled politely and said, “Lord Hu, you are surnamed Hu, and you are related to the Hu family. Chunzhi’s mother-in-law is from the Hu family, so you and Chunzhi are cousins. Chunzhi and I are like sisters, so we are also cousins. My sister is short of money, so as her brother, I should help her out.”

Hu Wen: "..."

I never imagined that people who are completely unrelated could become relatives. It's truly an eye-opener.

However, Su Zhenzhen had no intention of letting him off the hook. "Look, all the officials in Yangcheng, big and small, have worked together for so many years. They're practically like brothers, right? When one of them has a problem, they should lend a hand, right?"

Hu Wen finally understood that Su Zhenzhen not only wanted him to spend money, but according to her theory of kinship, everyone in Yangcheng with assets would have to pay up.

"Um... I have a question, what would happen if this 'relative' didn't lend a hand?"

Su Zhenzhen's smile was harmless, but her words could make someone want to vomit blood.

“How can you be so cold-blooded and heartless if you’re really relatives? If you really don’t want to acknowledge this relationship, then we’ll pretend you never existed.”

Hu Wen understood. This meant that if someone was unwilling to pay, they would be slit in the throat and disappear from the world, thus ending the relationship.

Did Hu Wen have the right to say no? Of course not. Just like when he served as Chunzhi's deputy, this seemingly ordinary but actually extraordinary woman had quite a temper, and when she disciplined soldiers who made mistakes, she could make them regret being born.

When she first took over the defense of Yangcheng, the original soldiers of Yangcheng were incorporated into the Northwest Army. These soldiers, following the old tradition, drank and gambled during their duty hours and were caught red-handed.

The result was that nothing could be said, and no one's face mattered; they were dealt with directly according to military regulations. After a hundred major battles, the men were practically crippled.

However, afterwards, Chunzhi personally provided sufficient subsidies to the families of the offending soldiers, saying that while their families had lost adult laborers, others still had to live their lives. One thing is one thing, rules are rules, and personal feelings are personal feelings.

After this series of actions, the soldiers both respected and feared her, and in just a few days, her prestige far surpassed that of the governor of Yangcheng.

What tricks could Hu Wen possibly play now? He'd be killed by her one day, and the soldiers below would be cheering.