Chapter 85 Arrival at Huangsha City
For Yan Xuanyu, this trip allowed him to see many customs and practices of the Great Zhou Dynasty that he had never seen before.
This is a simple land. He has been here for so long, but has only been wandering around the Central Plains.
The official roads were crowded with people.
What Yan Xuanyu saw was not all beautiful scenery. The further west he went, the more barren land he could see. The dry loess was cracked with cracks, and there was also a scene of yellow sand filling the sky.
In the past, barefoot poor people could be seen everywhere. Now, because of the policies implemented by the Great Zhou, the government must be responsible for the local people, provide assistance to the particularly poor, and help them find jobs to survive.
Right now, the situation is very positive, the Jinyiwei are lurking everywhere, and local officials are trembling with fear as they do the tasks assigned by their superiors.
At least Yan Xuanyu didn't see any unacceptable scenes along the way.
Even poorer people can have something to wear when they go out.
Yan Xuanyu's trip was a grand affair, so he certainly expected that some people would pretend to obey his orders but actually disobey him. So he sent people to investigate secretly, and the results were quite satisfactory.
...
Because the travel preparations were sufficient and they were able to get timely supplies and rest along the way, the people who were traveling with them did not suffer too much along the way.
"Your Majesty, a secret letter has arrived regarding the movements of the Turks." Su An presented a letter.
Yan Xuanyu opened the letter and narrowed his eyes slightly: "The Turkic King is really not a simple person."
What was written in the letter was exactly the Turkic people's preparations for peace talks during this period.
Could it be that the Turks have changed their nature?
Of course that's impossible.
Yan Xuanyu became even more expectant.
"Your Majesty... please don't..." Su An turned the words around in his mouth for a few times, but he didn't say them in the end.
He originally wanted to advise the emperor not to be impulsive again, but in fact, the emperor seemed to have anticipated everything every time... Su An was really worried about the safety of His Majesty, and he felt very upset and uncomfortable for a while.
Well, Your Majesty can be said to be a man of good fortune.
...
Military officers such as Yuan Kang had been waiting for a long time. More than ten days later, the imperial carriage finally arrived at the border of the Great Zhou.
"Go and deliver this oil to Mr. Han and the others." Yan Xuanyu said to Li Zhongxian.
The border town was very windy and sandy. Yan Xuanyu was probably used to a life of luxury in the capital, so he felt a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, he brought some facial oil with him when he traveled.
The product developed by Yan Xuanyu is still a semi-finished product. It feels a bit greasy when applied on the face. Because it was originally sold to wealthy ladies in Beijing, the moisturizing oil has a light floral scent.
At first, the ministers who accompanied the delegation all turned their backs on it, claiming that it was for women. How could they, a group of grown men, use this facial oil with a floral scent?
Yan Xuanyu didn't try to persuade him and applied some on his own. Although it was greasy, the skin on his face was finally no longer so dry and itchy.
A few days later, Li Zhongxian reported back that the ministers accompanying him had secretly asked him if the oil on his face from a few days ago was still there.
Yan Xuanyu was delighted after hearing this. It turned out that no matter where one went, ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign, one could not avoid the true fragrance...
This incident seems to be a funny thing to talk about, but the border environment revealed through this incident is not funny.
The sky is filled with flying sand and the air is dry.
Yan Xuanyu once asked Yuan Kang to lead the rest of the generals and soldiers to plant trees outside the city to alleviate the wind and sand, but it would take time for these trees to grow.
Upon hearing that the emperor had arrived at the border of the Great Zhou, the people of Huangsha City and the surrounding cities went from initial disbelief to ecstasy.
After all, even if we count several generations back, who could be so close to the emperor!
So all the people were unprecedentedly excited - not only the people, but also the officials of several cities were excited!
In this excitement, their natural respect for the status of imperial power was relegated to a secondary position. Now their hearts and eyes were filled with gratitude towards the current emperor.
The people don’t ask for much, just to survive. If they ask for more, they just want to live a good life.
But for the common people, even the most prosperous places in the Great Zhou could not ensure that everyone had enough food and clothing, let alone the border cities of the Great Zhou that were far away from the capital.
Poverty, harsh environment, and lack of food seem to be able to summarize everything here.
Not only that, in the past few years, people living on the border have often been harassed and looted by tribes such as the Turks.
Although the people are ignorant, they know who brought them the relatively good life now and when someone started to care about their life and death.
Now, not only do various policies support them in reclaiming wasteland, but the military camps where they are stationed have also established contact with them. Now, many people have horses from the military camps at home!
Not only are there horses, but there are also sheep. These sheep are all distributed by government officials. These lambs are very precious. In their eyes, they are more valuable than their lives combined. However, the government officials raise them for free. They can even keep some wool for themselves. Although it is not much, it can be used or sold, which is all income.
Officials taught women how to make clothes out of the remaining wool - first twist it into yarn, then use two sticks to weave the yarn together like a magic trick.
Every seven days, the government would paste up some paper with large characters written on it, and sometimes someone who could read would read it several times.
People passing by would stop and listen with great interest. The same big-character poster was read every day for seven days, but people were willing to stop and listen.
So almost everyone knows who made these changes to them.
From then on, the emperor's arrival made everyone excited and happy from the bottom of their hearts.
...
Nowadays, ordinary people mostly use dark colors because they are cheap and easy to obtain. They cannot afford to buy or use cloth with other colors.
But when the imperial carriage entered the city, what Yan Xuanyu saw was that every household had red cloth pasted on the door, some thick, some thin, some big, some small, and some even very rough.
Even if it was as thin as a ribbon, it was tied carefully.
A gust of wind blew, and the red cloth fluttered in the wind, as if to express how happy the locals were.
...
"Your Majesty, we pay our respects to you!" In the general's mansion, a group of military officers knelt on one knee to salute Yan Xuanyu.
The next second, Yan Xuanyu called out to everyone.
The last time he saw Yuan Kang was in the capital. Yan Xuanyu looked at him carefully and found that Yuan Kang had become a lot darker and stronger.
It was a bit magical to say, but the military officers below were all seeing Yan Xuanyu for the first time.
Firstly, the Great Zhou Dynasty once valued civil officials over military officials, and local military officials had few opportunities to meet the emperor. Secondly, there have been many things going on in recent years, and when he pretended to be incompetent, he only summoned Yuan Kang, the "first bird", to come to Beijing to meet the emperor.
During the short time that Yan Xuanyu looked at Yuan Kang, others were also secretly looking at His Majesty.
The scene didn't remain quiet for long. Yan Xuanyu, sitting upstairs, said, "When I entered the city today, I noticed that every household had red cloth hanging. Was that arranged by you?"
Yuan Kang was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood me. There is a custom here that only during major festivals will every household hang red cloth."
"The people want to express their gratitude and respect to Your Majesty, but they don't know how."
He paused and asked, "Your Majesty, shall I inform the authorities and send someone to evacuate them all?"
"No need." Yan Xuanyu answered without even thinking.
At first he thought that the local officials had specifically asked the people to do this in order to welcome the imperial emperor. But when he realized that it was the people's spontaneous action, it was impossible for him not to be moved.
They lived on the edge of the Great Zhou, understood nothing, and tried clumsily to express their gratitude.
...
For now, their journey from the capital to Huangsha City can be said to be a huge "journey".
Even thinking about it now, the officials who accompanied him were a little bit unbelievable, as if they were dreaming.
Yan Xuanyu thought that he understood this feeling. By analogy, it was like a friend with great mobility taking you on a trip to a faraway place at any time.
People have arrived but haven't reacted yet.
Mainly because of this general background, the emperor generally would not leave the capital, and even if he did leave the capital, he would not go too far, let alone run to the surrounding cities in one breath.
The reason why Yan Xuanyu left with confidence was because he had already subtly distributed power to officials, with each official performing their duties and supervising each other, thus forming a highly efficient relationship.
In this way, as long as a few important ministers are left behind to supervise the country, all affairs can continue to proceed.
The arrival of a group of accompanying officials made several military officers under Yuan Kang very cautious at first. After all, the Zhou Dynasty had long valued civil officials over military officials, and they were used to the civil officials looking down on them.
In particular, among the officials who accompanied the imperial carriage was Han Yuan, a veteran of three dynasties.
Who would have known that these new-faced officials would be so enthusiastic about everything.
I'm curious about how sweaters are knitted, how the people are encouraged to raise horses and sheep, and how they manage to do so. I'm also curious about what methods His Majesty uses on the border, and how they implement them...
In short, make it seem like there is nothing they are not curious about!
So a young military officer named Yan Shi from Huangsha City, when General Yuan sent him to accompany a Beijing official, couldn't help but scratch his head and ask, "Aren't you nervous about the peace talks with the Turks?"
The official replied without even thinking, "Everything is under your Majesty's control."
It seems as if I naturally have a certain trust in Your Majesty.
...
"What? The Emperor of Central Plains has already arrived in Huangsha City?!"
There was a dead silence in the king's tent, with only Ziluo's voice, as if it was quenched by ice, ringing out.
"yes……"
Before Pabu could say anything, Ziluo interrupted him and continued to mutter -
"Didn't you say you saw Yan Xuanyu fall off the cliff with your own eyes?"
Pabu said in a deep voice, "King, that cliff is bottomless. If you fall down, you will be smashed to pieces."
"But he is already in Huangsha City! Do you mean that this is fake news released by the Central Plains people?" Ziluo sneered.
"Pab, I regard you as the most important person." Ziro leaned on the throne and tilted his head to look at Pab.
He sighed, "This is the first time you've disappointed me."
Pabu said nothing, for he knew that whatever he said at this moment would only make the king angrier.
"But nothing happened." Ziro suddenly smiled. He personally stepped down from the throne and helped Pabu up. "And Altaïr and the others."
"This king wants to see how many lives Yan Xuanyu has."
"Assign some death warriors to Altai." After a while, Ziluo lowered his eyes and said.
"yes."
He hated the feeling that something was out of his control.
Ziro took out a dagger inlaid with gems and turned it around in his hand.
Suddenly, the knife in Ziluo's hand spun a few times and then slashed towards Pabu. Pabu did not dodge or evade, allowing the jewel-studded knife to cut his right arm, leaving it bleeding.
"Thank you for the reward, King." said Pabu.
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