Chapter 39
Coming out of Ji Ze's mansion in the darkness, Wang Lang's face darkened.
He didn't expect that Ji Ze would interfere with his remarriage.
In his previous life, Ji Ze would not even mention the last request, but would comfort him instead.
Now, just because he hid his incompetence in front of Ji Ze, did Ji Ze say that to him because the talent he showed was not enough for him to consider his feelings like in his previous life?
He would hide his incompetence mainly because of his previous life. In his previous life, after he arrived in Yichun and became a disciple of Ji Ze, he really worked hard and devised countless strategies to climb up the ladder. Ji Ze trusted him very much, and the others in his sect also admired him very much.
After the prince woke up, he secretly tried to win him over, promising him the royal family's great promise and asking him to cooperate in curbing the Xing family's army.
Later, he left his position as an aide-de-camp and, with the Crown Prince's tacit approval, returned to the top of the civil service. Finally, due to the new Emperor's wishes and differing positions, he and Ji Ze clashed several times. Because Ji Ze and his subordinates were familiar with his tactics, he found them quite difficult to deal with, with both sides experiencing success and failure.
He is hiding his abilities now in order to keep some cards in reserve for the future.
In this life, he had considered not joining Ji Ze's school and joining someone else. When he first arrived in Yichun, he considered staying in the military settlement for a while, and then joining Xing Changfeng's army when he arrived in Yichun.
But considering his miserable end in his previous life, he gave up the idea.
After a lifetime of experience, if there was one thing he had learned profoundly, it was that as the leader of a major force, one must have sufficient luck. This was crucial. Without luck, even the most talented leader would be useless. Tormented by misfortunes and hardships all day long, the force would eventually be destroyed.
Xing Changfeng was a man of talent, a natural born commander, a fact undeniable. His personal soldiers were fierce fighters, capable of defeating ten with one, and were fiercely loyal to him. However, he lacked a bit of luck, ultimately serving as a tool for others.
Ji Ze was a man of good fortune. As for himself, he did have some luck, but it came late. In his previous life, his early luck was truly bad, and he even lost his life at one point.
Before his exile, he had tried desperately to change the gears of fate, but he found that his luck had only improved slightly, freeing him from all the suffering, leaving him just like an ordinary person. In his opinion, his luck was not as good as Yao Chunnuan's.
So after arriving in Yichun, he thought about it for a while and decided to become Ji Ze's disciple first.
Also, Xing Changfeng is a person who would be quite frightening if he were to be plotted directly against. So, he should be more cautious. He is not alone anymore; he has so many family members behind him.
Having said that, becoming Ji Ze's disciple again is one thing, but obeying his words and remarrying is another.
If he had made this proposal when he first arrived in Yichun, he probably would not have refused.
In his previous life, all his relatives died, and he came to Yichun and became a disciple of Ji Ze. But because he came from a noble family, even if he fell from grace and turned to dust, his elegance and temperament remained there, and many women still flocked to him.
If this was the case in his previous life, his luck with love in this life should not be too bad.
So when Yao Chunnuan insisted on getting a divorce, he didn't care at all.
He wasn't like his previous life, where he was riddled with illnesses due to the hardships he endured. Not only did he suffer from migraines whenever the wind blew, but his kidneys had also been damaged by the life-or-death experience, making him unable to conceive and thus unable to have his own children. Now, he could have as many children as he wanted.
But after going through so much, his thoughts changed, especially after observing several children in the family. He found that their qualifications were better than those of ordinary people, but they were not extremely smart.
Not to mention, after he saw that Yao Chunnuan's intelligence was no less than his, he no longer thought so. Not just any woman could give him a child of exceptional intelligence. But he was inexplicably confident that the child he and Yao Chunnuan had would definitely be exceptionally intelligent.
Thinking back to his previous life, although he had never seen the child Yao Chunnuan gave birth to after remarrying, he heard people mention the child and praised the child highly after returning to Beijing.
Therefore, he still found a way to refuse the idea of marrying again. He was just hiding his incompetence, not because he was incapable and needed to marry a local Yichun girl to gain support.
Zheng Pei's residence
"Mrs. Zheng, I have fixed it. Can you see if there is anything that is not fixed properly?" Wei Qiuyu stood up from the stool and put away the blade.
Madam Zheng couldn't help but touch her smooth and tender three-inch golden lotus feet and nodded with satisfaction, "You have cultivated it very well."
"Then Madam, I'll go down and tidy up first, and then come back to do your foot care."
"Go ahead."
Wei Qiuyu went to the Zheng family's toilet, locked the door, and frantically washed her hands. As she washed, she couldn't help but burst into tears. She didn't understand how she had fallen to this point? Giving people a pedicure? She used to be the one being served!
But she had no choice. Seeing Yao Chunnuan rising step by step while she struggled in the quagmire, how could she accept this? So, in order to climb up to the Zheng family and then through the Zheng family to establish that relationship, she would endure any work, no matter how dirty or tiring.
After Wei Qiuyu left, Madam Zheng said to her friend Liang Yin, who was having tea nearby, "This man has some knowledge of maintaining his health, and it's quite pleasant to serve him. Do you want to try it too?"
"How did this person get in touch with you?" Liang Yin recognized Wei Qiuyu. She and her husband's family were all taboo people, and her husband had pointed it out to her.
"You know, I've always had trouble with my feet. I don't know how Wei found out, but one time when I was out, she quietly ran up to me and offered herself. I thought, why not give it a try?"
"But General Shao said that the Han family is not favored by the Third Prince. Not only that, but I heard that she and Yao Zhubo of the General's Office are also at odds."
"Master Yao? Others are afraid of her, but I'm not!" Madam Zheng raised her chin slightly, her face showing disdain. Her husband had connections in the Yichun camp. Was she really going to give in to a mere Master Yao?
Liang Yin shook her head in her heart. No wonder her friend felt emotional when she mentioned Yao Zhubo. It turned out that her husband Zheng Pei was highly praised by the upper echelons for his excellent handling of documents. Yao Chunnuan's emergence took away a lot of Zheng Pei's limelight.
Even so, she didn't think it was wise for her friend to raise the Wei family. Indeed, if the Wei family were to rise up, it would certainly cause trouble for Chief Secretary Yao and even disgust him. But doing so would have no other benefits besides venting anger.
As wives of officials, they are just average. They should be cautious in dealing with their superiors and subordinates, otherwise it will be very common for them to end up in trouble.
"As for the Third Prince—" Madam Zheng was still a little hesitant when she mentioned this, but she couldn't bear to part with Wei Qiuyu's skills. She was really troubled by the thick dandruff that kept growing on the soles of her feet. "It doesn't matter. I just used her. I didn't plan to promote her or the Han family. It was just a matter of payment. It's all the fault of these damn girls. They are so clumsy and have never been able to learn her pedicure skills."
The maids remained silent even after being scolded. The knife was quite sharp, and Wei Qiuyu used it to cut the lady's feet, causing layers of dandruff to fall off. They didn't dare to do that. What if they accidentally scratched the lady's feet? It would also be disgusting to watch.
Liang Yin shook her head. It would be fine if the payment was made, but the problem was, her friend was clearly flattering Wei by bringing her along. Well, she'd done all the persuasion she needed, so she let her be. Regardless, she hoped she'd consider Zheng Pei before doing anything.
Just then, Wei Qiuyu came back, looking so calm as if she had never cried.
Shogunate
At lunch time, everyone gathered together at the table and started talking while eating.
"The general has been in a bad mood these past two days."
"Nonsense, how can it possibly get better? I've been checking the accounts and warehouses these past two days and I realized that the Yichun camp is completely out of commission. They took away 70% of the grain harvested this autumn. Of the remaining 30%, half is bad. For example, a handful of millet, half is shriveled. What kind of grain is there in shriveled millet? When you grind it, it's all chaff! They're truly lacking in virtue."
"The Yichun camp is really going too far!"
Yao Chunnuan ate while listening, talking less and listening more, combining the information he heard with what he had collected, and pondering it in his heart.
Logically, Yichun was located on the border, and the border army's garrison ratio should be 40:60, meaning 40% defending the city and 60% cultivating crops. However, the Yichun main camp, under the pretext of preventing foreign invaders from migrating south during the winter, directly stationed 70% of its soldiers there. These soldiers were carefully selected, and the remaining 30% were sent to the military settlement by the Yichun main camp.
In other words, with only 30% to 40% of the population in the military settlements and convict labor, they only received 30% of the grain. If you calculate carefully, this grain should only account for less than 20% of the total harvest.
Even if the prisoners could eat worse while doing forced labor, it was still not enough.
In addition, the six thousand Xing family troops under the general also arrived at the Yichun military camp one after another. The expenses of these several thousand soldiers and horses were also a large number.
Now the military settlements have basically achieved self-sufficiency, and the imperial court will no longer distribute food and fodder, except when fighting in a war and soldiers are required to risk their lives, they may then send food and fodder.
Furthermore, it was only because the Third Prince was assisting the Emperor in regulating the country that he had expelled Xing Changfeng from the Northern Territory, forced to appoint him the title of Grand General, and then forced to allow him to take his six thousand personal soldiers with him. The Third Prince knew that if he wanted to successfully control the Northern Territory's army, he had to let these six thousand men go; otherwise, his men would be unable to conquer the Northern Territory. Under these circumstances, relying on the imperial court for supplies was impossible.
Then, Zhu Yongnian, who was always well-informed, broke another piece of news. "There's something even more unethical. I heard that starting next year, the Yichun camp will implement a system of elite troops and will no longer rotate farming with the military settlements."
The usually calm elder brother Guo Huai's eyes widened upon hearing this and he said angrily, "What do they mean by this? Are they asking us to cultivate the land to support their Yichun camp?"
The others sneered, "That's a nice thought!"
Guo Huai finally said, "The general must be worried sick. Now that everyone knows this news, please use your brains to help think of a solution. Don't forget that our duty as staff is to help our master solve his problems."
It was indeed worrying. Without food, the situation for next year wasn't optimistic. The Yichun camp's plans for next year required the court's approval, but Yao Chunnuan felt that, given the Third Prince's personality, he would be happy to see it happen.
Wait, food is related to her rations, right? Lack of food equals lack of her rations? Just now, because of eating, the blood backflow in her stomach made her a little sleepy and distracted, but at least the equation was finally established.
Yao Chunnuan instantly became stiff. No, this was a matter of food rations, and she couldn't just sit there and do nothing.
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