Chapter 123 Chapter 123 Shen Xuan was full of doubts, waiting...
Shen Xuan was full of doubts. After Xue Fenglin returned to the room, he closed the door and asked, "Fenglin, tell me honestly, what do you think of what the Second Prince said to you just now?"
Xue Fenglin looked at Shen Xuan, his eyes like torches, flickering slightly. After a long while, he said, "Xuan'er, this matter is of great importance. If you take a wrong step, you will be doomed!"
"If it were just me, I wouldn't hesitate for a second just because of the friendship between the Ye family and the Second Prince, and the care the Second Prince had given me. But when I think of you, and the child in your belly..."
Xue Fenglin paused, his eyes falling to Shen Xuan's lower abdomen...
"Now I have taken you far away from the capital. Although this state of Sarawak is not as prosperous as the capital, it has its own characteristics and is comfortable and happy." Xue Fenglin said: "The First Prince and the Second Prince are fighting each other. It is naturally good for the Second Prince to win. However, if the First Prince wins, as long as I do not return to the capital and give up the title of the prince, for the sake of my father, the First Prince's lineage will not kill me anymore."
"And if I insist on standing with the Second Prince now! Then I..."
Xue Fenglin stopped talking here, but Shen Xuan understood his inner concerns.
Because of worrying too much, she and the baby in her belly became a burden to Xue Fenglin.
Shen Xuan sighed, thought for a moment, and then said, "Actually, I hate Emperor Wu of Jin."
After he said this, Xue Fenglin's expression froze for a moment, and he glanced nervously outside the door.
Then Shen Xuan said, "In order to consolidate the imperial power and suppress my father, he transferred him to a remote place like Yanyun."
"My father had been there for only a few months when the Northern Qiang declared war. He, my mother, and my brother died defending the city, and they didn't even get to wait for the reinforcements sent by Emperor Wu of Jin!"
This was a sad story in the past for Shen Xuan. Although Xue Fenglin knew about it, he had never heard him mention it in person.
He looked at Shen Xuan in a daze, and listened to him continue: "Although I hate him, I cannot deny that he is a good emperor with skills and ability. Under his management over the years, Dajin has prospered, border trade has been frequent, and the military and national strength have become much stronger."
Having said this, Shen Xuan looked at Xue Fenglin, held his arms, and said solemnly word by word: "If the skin is gone, what will the hair rely on?"
"You and I are now able to live in Sarawak and build a great foundation here because the current emperor is Emperor Wu of Jin. With him in charge, the surrounding countries are peaceful and no one has dared to invade for a long time!"
"If Emperor Wu of Jin dies, and the second prince succeeds him, with his talents, he may be able to maintain the achievements of Emperor Wu of Jin and make the Great Jin even more powerful."
"But if the throne is seized by the eldest prince, even if you and I can survive here, the decline of the Jin Dynasty is inevitable, and you, me and our children will lose our peaceful life sooner or later!"
Shen Xuan's words were so shocking that Xue Fenglin was shocked.
Then he smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying: "Xuan'er, I am really not as insightful as you. You are right, I think too narrowly!"
After Xue Fenglin came to his senses, his complexion improved a lot, and the cloud of worry between his brows had long since disappeared without a trace.
"I'll be back soon." He stood up and said to Shen Xuan.
Chen Xuan knew that he was going to look for the Second Prince and Lord Feng, so he nodded in tacit understanding and said, "Go ahead. I'm feeling weak right now, so I won't wait for you. I'll rest in a while."
After Xue Fenglin left, Chen Xuan asked Jin Zhi Jingui to help him wash and go to bed.
I was sleeping in the middle of the night when I was startled by someone pushing the door open.
He opened his eyes slightly and saw that it was Xue Fenglin who came back. Under the moonlight, Xue Fenglin was afraid of waking up Shen Xuan, so he tiptoed onto the bed.
"Are you back?" Shen Xuan asked dazedly, reaching out to hold Xue Fenglin's hand.
Xue Fenglin hugged his waist and said, "Did I bother you? It's past three o'clock, go to sleep quickly."
Shen Xuan nodded and fell into a deep sleep again. He slept until dawn.
The next morning, when Shen Xuan woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.
Thinking that the Second Prince and Lord Feng were still at home, Shen Xuan quickly stood up and asked loudly: "Where are Jinzhi and Jingui? Didn't I ask you to wake me up at the hour of Mao?"
Jin Zhi Jingui, who was waiting outside the house, heard the noise and hurriedly pushed the door open to help Shen Xuan get dressed and comb his hair.
At the same time, she said to him, "Don't worry, Brother Chen. Breakfast has been delivered as you arranged yesterday. It was the Marquis who told us not to call you. He said that you are pregnant and very sleepy, so you need to rest for a while."
Shen Xuan had already guessed that Xue Fenglin must have given new instructions on this matter, but he was still a little speechless.
If it was just Lord Feng as an imperial envoy, it would be fine, but at least there is the Second Prince, a prince. As a husband, I can't be too lazy even if I'm pregnant!
After he finished washing up, Wuwang brought breakfast to him outside the house and said to Shen Xuan, "The prince and the distinguished guests have finished breakfast and have gone to the government office. Before they left, they asked me to come and tell you, my husband, that they will go to the dock for a visit at noon, so you don't need to arrange lunch today."
"Okay, got it." Shen Xuan nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.
Because he was afraid of getting too tired, Xue Fenglin did everything himself, which saved him a lot of trouble.
In this way, I only need to prepare dinner today, and the rest of the time is quite free.
After Shen Xuan had breakfast, Doctor Li came over on time to take his pulse. Although it was her first pregnancy, her pulse was stable. Apart from being more tired than before, her previous symptoms of loss of appetite had disappeared.
At night, Xue Fenglin, the second prince, and Lord Feng came back. Compared to yesterday, the Second Prince and Lord Feng had a noticeable smile on their faces, and it was obvious that they were having a very pleasant chat with Xue Fenglin.
When Lord Feng saw Shen Xuan, his eyes lit up and he actually started to praise him wildly, repeatedly praising him for his intelligence and ability, and for managing the property at the dock very well.
When Shen Xuan saw the expressions of Lord Feng and the Second Prince, he knew that Xue Fenglin must have mentioned his contribution a lot when he took them to the dock this time.
The Second Prince was reserved, but Lord Feng kept praising him, not stopping even during the meal, causing Shen Xuan to feel a little embarrassed by the praise.
A few days passed like this, and the Second Prince and Lord Feng had completed a complete inspection of Sarawak. They then wrote a memorial and prepared to return.
Before leaving, the Second Prince called Xue Fenglin over for a secret talk overnight.
The next morning, the convoy officially set off. The second prince still pretended to be Lord Feng's guard and left with him in the carriage.
After they left, Xue Fenglin said to Shen Xuan: "The Second Prince told me that within half a year, I will be transferred back to the capital by His Majesty."
Shen Xuan smiled when he heard this and said, "Isn't that a good thing? Go back to Beijing and get promoted. You have been in Sarawak for less than three years, and you have been promoted to a higher level in such a short time. How many people would envy you!"
"Compared to the capital, I prefer Sarawak. It's free here and I can go wherever I want. I don't have to attend those boring banquets or look at other people's faces." Xue Fenglin sighed.
Shen Xuan knew that Xue Fenglin was reluctant to leave Sarawak, so was he?
But as the prince, Xue Fenglin couldn't stay out of everything. Returning to Beijing is only a matter of time, it’s just earlier than expected!
Since we are leaving Sarawak, we must arrange for someone to take over the position of Governor of Sarawak.
There are generally several forms of governors in Sarawak. One is that they are parachuted in by Emperor Wu of Jin, like Xue Fenglin. Another way is to select them from lower-level officials through recommendation.
Sarawak has finally got on the right track. If someone who is not familiar with local affairs comes here, it will inevitably destroy the current prosperous situation.
The business of Sarawak docks and many factories is controlled by Shen Xuan. If the new governor is not easy to talk to, their business here will be difficult to sustain in the future.
"I plan to recommend someone to be the new governor of Sarawak." Xue Fenglin said to Shen Xuan after thinking for a while.
"Do you have a good candidate?" Shen Xuan asked.
"Indeed, there is one." Xue Fenglin nodded.
He leaned close to Shen Xuan's ear and said a few words, and Shen Xuan smiled and said to him: "This person is suitable, you have good taste."
"But if I recommend talents, I have to teach them some things in advance. Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong from the lower peaks will definitely take some actions, so we have to avoid them!" Xue Fenglin said.
"How difficult is that?" Shen Xuan said with a smile, "You can ask all the officials from the suburban counties to come and study, and say that it was ordered by the imperial envoy."
A few days later, Xue Fenglin indeed released a message, summoning officials from several suburban counties under Sarawak to come for intensive study.
These local officials were all ninth-rank county lieutenants, insignificant officials, who were recruited to Sarawak for the first time. They were all very nervous and followed Xue Fenglin obediently, listening to him explain Sarawak’s methods of governance.
In the evening, at Chen Wenxun's house, Shi Jinrong took a sip of wine and asked, "Master Chen, is your news true? Is Xue Fenglin really going to be transferred back to the capital?"
Chen Wenxun also picked up his wine glass, took a sip and said, "Of course I take it seriously! But I finally got the news! Last time, His Majesty sent an imperial envoy here to promote him! How could he continue to stay in Sarawak?"
"Ah!" Chen Wenxun let out a long sigh and said, "He's finally leaving! After he leaves, we must win over the new governor!"
Since Xue Fenglin took office, Sarawak has been getting better and better, but the lives of him and Shi Jinrong are not as good as before!
The noble families who had given them money before stopped giving them gifts when they saw that they had no real power. Mr. Chen and Mr. Shi only live on their annual salaries, so their income is naturally a lot less than before!
"That's great!" Shi Jinrong said as he put down his wine glass with a thud.
Chen Wenxun would have been fine, and later on he tried to please Xue Fenglin, but Xue Fenglin just ignored him. He made a lot of money, but he didn't get any benefit at all!
At the end of October, the imperial court indeed sent an imperial edict, stating that during Xue Fenglin's tenure as the governor of Sarawak, he had achieved outstanding results in governing the economic development of Sarawak and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment.
Therefore, he was promoted to the rank of Shuntian Prefecture's prefectural governor, fourth grade, and was ordered to officially take up the post the following year.
Long before this imperial edict was issued, Xue Fenglin wrote a letter to the second prince, mentioning the matter of recommending and trusting the prefect.
Therefore, along with this imperial edict came an order to promote a ninth-rank county lieutenant in a suburban county under Sarawak.
This ninth-rank county lieutenant was named Huang. He was born into an ordinary rural family and was assigned to this place as a county lieutenant after taking the imperial examination. He was an honest and hardworking person. However, due to his poor background and his inability to curry favor with others, he had only been able to hold the position of a ninth-rank county lieutenant for many years and had not been promoted at all.
After Xue Fenglin received the imperial edict, he sent someone to bring County Magistrate Huang to Shazhou.
County Magistrate Huang was already over 40 years old, and he never expected that he would be promoted to prefect one day. He was overjoyed, and his face flushed with excitement.
When Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong heard that the new prefect was actually Huang County Magistrate, their jaws dropped!
You have to know that County Magistrate Huang was their subordinate before. Because he didn't know how to flatter them, he was often troubled by them every year. The situation only improved after Xue Fenglin took office.
Now that he has taken office as the prefect, they don’t know where to start to win him over!
In the evening, Xue Fenglin invited County Magistrate Huang to his home for dinner and told him that he had recommended him for promotion to prefect.
County Magistrate Huang recalled that Magistrate Xue had specially called many county lieutenants to the government office to study and had taken special care of him. Only after this incident did I realize that Xue Fenglin had the idea of promoting me to the position of prefect at that time!
"Mr. Huang thanks Lord Xue for his kindness! Mr. Xue's kindness will be something I will never forget in my life!" Even though County Magistrate Huang was not a flatterer, at this moment he was grateful from the bottom of his heart for Xue Fenglin's recommendation!
"No need to be polite." Xue Fenglin said to him, "Sarak is the result of my hard work. I can't let it be ruined in the hands of others."
"I see that you are quite good at managing the affairs of the state, and you are very suitable to take over the post of the governor of Sarawak. This is your own ability. But now that you have been recommended and promoted to the governor of Sarawak, you must cherish this opportunity and manage Sarawak well. You must not be like the two gentlemen Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong, who only care about their own interests and ignore the people and the country!"
In order to prevent Chen Wenxun and Shi Jinrong from bribing County Magistrate Huang, Xue Fenglin specifically mentioned their names.
After hearing this, County Magistrate Huang clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, Master Xue. I have always despised being associated with such people! When I succeed as the Governor of Sarawak, I will always put the people and the country first!"
…
At the end of November, outside the Sarawak Governor’s Mansion, rows of boxes and crates were being transported to the Sarawak port in large and small packages.
Today Xue Fenglin and Shen Xuan are preparing to return to Beijing. This time they plan to take a boat directly from the pier, reach Dazhou by water, and then take a car back to Beijing.
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