Chapter 106: Plan to Take a Break
The first year of Qi'an was a busy year, but also a very fruitful year.
Last December, one of the three was fighting in a war, while the other two were hiding from their captors. This December, the family of three lived a carefree life in the imperial farm outside Beijing.
Zhou Qi had just gone to the northern grasslands where water froze into ice as soon as it touched the ground. During Zhou Qi's absence for a month, Gu Youan had to take care of the affairs of the State-owned Enterprises Department while also taking his son to review memorials in the Qi'an Hall.
The couple was really tired, so they promised their son to take him to the imperial farm to play. After they finished their political affairs, they took their son out of the city. As soon as they arrived at the imperial farm, the couple fell asleep and slept for five or six hours a day. It took them three or four days of rest before they felt refreshed.
After recovering, the couple stopped discussing state affairs, and their subordinates did not report anything to them, which meant that nothing serious had happened.
"Where is Yuan? I haven't seen Yuan for two days. Which yard is he in?" After resting enough, Gu Youan, with rosy cheeks and bright eyes, thought of his son.
Ah Yue came to report, "Your Majesty and I are busy, and the Crown Prince has nothing to do alone. The other morning, he sent for Master Ah Xing and several of his companions. They had gone on horseback to visit Mount Laojun, two hundred miles away."
Since arriving in Kyoto, apart from the children of the Gu, Tian and Zhang families, several other members of the royal family have been selected as companions for A Yuan to study with in the Royal Academy. Now A Yuan has more than ten companions, so he has no shortage of friends to play with him.
Gu Youan turned around and said to Zhou Qi with a smile, "It's our fault. We agreed to play with him, but we ended up leaving him here all alone. No wonder he wanted to call Ah Xing and the others to go play together."
"Yuan has grown up this year. He is no longer like before, a little kid who can't live without his parents." Gu Youan couldn't help but sigh.
Zhou Qi added, "Last year, he was still pestering you, insisting on living with us. He missed you every day he couldn't see you. He's a young master, and you really treat him like a young lady, doting on him and letting him do whatever he wants. You're spoiling him too much, it's outrageous."
Seeing him lazily leaning against the west window and talking, Gu Youan couldn't help but feel moved. He walked towards the west window and said as he walked, "Children are the same. They are born to be loved and spoiled. Otherwise, what's the point of having them?"
Zhou Qi had lost a lot of weight after his trip. He was wearing a moon-white robe and standing in front of the window, talking to her slowly and leisurely, looking quite handsome.
Zhou Qi's lips curled up slightly, and a smile spread across his eyebrows and eyes: "Why, do you feel like I've moved you again today?"
When he woke up at noon yesterday, the couple lay in bed. She complained that he was dirty and said he needed to wash his hair. He was so angry that he stayed in the bathroom for almost two hours before coming out.
Gu Youan looked at him and smiled, praising him generously: "It's really touching. I've never met anyone who makes my heart beat faster than you."
"Your beloved son can't compare to me?"
Gu Youan burst out laughing and turned away without saying anything. However, he refused to agree and pulled her arm, asking her to turn around: "Are you not as good as me? Tell me now."
"Okay, okay, you are the most handsome man in the world." My Yuan is the cutest little boy.
Zhou Qi was satisfied and invited: "Madam, would you like me to accompany you to rest for a while?"
"Forget it, my muscles and bones have become weak from sleeping these past few days." Gu Youan sighed to the sky: "Since our son is not here, why don't we go out for a walk?"
"That's fine. You decide where to go."
It was a rare opportunity to rest, and they didn't want to talk about state affairs or handle official business, so the couple went horseback riding and hunting, not for any other reason, but just to relax their muscles.
Gu Youan gave the order that there was no need for many people to accompany him. Guo Su selected a few guards with good skills to change into casual clothes and ride horses to accompany him.
Zhou Qi was very skilled, but Gu Youan hadn't touched a bow and arrow for almost a year, so his accuracy wasn't very good. He shot seven or eight arrows before he hit a rabbit. But it didn't matter. After riding for a while, he loosened up his body.
The couple rode their horses for dozens of miles, made a circle and ran back to the imperial farm. Half a day had passed.
Throwing the whip to the servant beside him, the couple went back to the yard to wash and change into clean clothes. Then they lay in the rocking chair under the window and talked.
Gu Youan said, "I've seen the population and tax rolls sent by the Ministry of Revenue. Eighty percent of the population of the Great Zhou Dynasty is in the south, so it's not easy for the north to develop."
Zhou Qi also knew: "The tribes hostile to us in the northern grasslands have been almost completely eliminated. With such a large area of grassland vacated, if the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty cannot migrate there, the grasslands will be controlled by other powerful grassland tribes in about 40 to 50 years. When A Yuan comes to power, the north will become a threat again."
This is not only the case in the northern grasslands. If things continue like this, Songjiang City, which was prosperously managed by the couple, will gradually decline.
The political center of the Zhou Dynasty was in the central region, and the agricultural and economic focus was in the south. If it wanted to develop the north and control the northern border and even the large areas west of the northern border, it still had to find a way.
"Zhou Qi, have you ever thought about moving the capital?"
"Move the capital? Where?"
"Moving the capital to Yanzhou requires first dredging and expanding the canal connecting the north and the south, and then building the capital in Yanzhou. This will require a large amount of manpower and material resources, and will naturally allow the population to slowly migrate from the south to the north."
"Dredging the canal will involve conscripting labor, and building the capital will cost the court money to recruit laborers. Once the people earn money, they can buy houses and land in the north, settle down and multiply."
This policy is aimed at the poor families in the south who have no land. If they move to the north and work hard for a few years, they will have everything. This will definitely attract many people.
Take Yanzhou itself as an example. From a geographical point of view, Yanzhou is also a good place to establish the capital. It can not only consolidate the northern border defense, but also connect the north and the south. It has many more advantages than Luoyang as the capital.
"It's a good plan. We're going to dredge the river, expand the canal, build the capital, and even build an official road around Yanzhou. Where will the money for these major projects come from?"
Gu Youan smiled and said, "Of course it came from the sea."
Next year, after the northern border is completely pacified, the southern coast will be able to move forward. In a few years, maritime trade will flourish, and the Ministry of Revenue's treasury will surely be filled with silver. What good is silver piling up in the treasury? It only becomes useful when it is spent.
Zhou Qi didn't dare to make a decision lightly. He said, "We need to discuss it carefully before we can make a decision."
"Let's discuss it slowly. Construction won't start in the next three to five years."
Gu Youan said, "If the political situation in our Great Zhou Dynasty remains stable, and the state-owned enterprises drive the development of related private industries, it will inevitably make a large number of people rich. These people will come to Luoyang to buy houses and properties, and Luoyang, which is already densely populated, will soon become crowded. At that time, supplying food to Luoyang's large population will become a major problem."
"Even after you moved the capital, you still have this problem. This is not Luoyang's fault."
Kyoto will naturally attract more powerful people to settle in, and it is impossible to stop them.
"How could they have thought so far ahead? If the capital were moved to Yanzhou, the clan power and the complex network of relationships that the royal family has built up over the past one or two hundred years in Luoyang would be lost by at least half. This would save him a lot of trouble when your son comes to power."
This is when the disadvantages of being an only child become apparent.
They have only one son, A Yuan. No one knows what kind of wife A Yuan will marry in the future. To be arrogant, no matter who A Yuan marries, it is impossible for her to have such ability as her. Zhou Qi still has her to help share the burden, and A Yuan will probably have to rely on himself in the future.
Zhou Qi also thought of it. He said, "Let Yuan get married soon and have more children. We will help raise them. When we are old and our grandchildren are grown up, we can help Yuan."
Gu Youan smiled and said, "No matter how early it is, it can't be earlier than before you reach adulthood."
Zhou Qi frowned: "It's common for royal family members to get married at the age of fifteen or sixteen."
"That's your Zhou royal family's business. My son definitely can't do it. He has to wait until he reaches adulthood."
Zhou Qi thought about it carefully. If he waited until he came of age to get married, it would take at least thirty years for Yuan's children to grow up to be teenagers and be able to help.
"Do I have to be emperor for thirty years?"
"Isn't this what you wanted?"
Zhou Qi snorted: "That's too long."
Gu Youan stretched himself and said, "You are luckier than A Yuan. You have me to help you. Although A Yuan is young now, he can also help you with some small things. It must be easier for you to be the emperor than for him."
In fact, it was not easy. When they took over the Great Zhou Dynasty, they were almost saving the empire from collapse. Zhou Qi could not relax when he thought about the many major issues that needed to be dealt with later.
According to the path they planned, they would have to spend at least 20 to 30 years to manage the Zhou Dynasty well and hand over a strong country to A Yuan.
"An An, if we have time next year, let's go back to Songjiang City and stay for a few days."
"Okay, I'm also thinking about Songjiang City."
What the couple missed was not Songjiang City, but the relaxing and happy days in Songjiang City.
In Songjiang City, Zhou Qi would often go hunting in the mountains or run to the grasslands. As for her, whenever she remembered, she would ask her mother to come to the palace to talk with her, or she would go back to her parents' home to stay overnight.
It is no longer possible now. Since the couple entered the palace, Gu Youan has never summoned his wife's family members alone in the past year.
The couple felt sleepy when they thought about having to live such a tiring life for another twenty or thirty years.
When she was about to fall asleep, Gu Youan suddenly thought of the past. If her life came to an end and God had mercy on her and let her return to the modern era, she probably would not want to do her job as a small civil servant anymore.
Two days later, Ah Yuan and his study companions returned. Ah Xing dismounted and came over to him, smiling, "Ah Xing pays his respects to my uncle and aunt."
Gu Youan saw him carrying a basket and asked with a smile, "What goodies did you bring back?"
"We came across a shop selling Du Kang wine in the town at the foot of Laojun Mountain. Zhou Kai said the wine was pure and tasted better than the one sold in Luoyang City, so we each bought two jars. I'm giving one jar to you and your uncle as a filial gift."
Zhou Kai is the eldest son of Princess Yu, a young man in his early twenties. He looks humble and low-key, and looks like a son that Princess Yu could raise.
Princess Yu was of good character and spoke up for her the first time a banquet was held in the palace. Gu Youan returned the favor by choosing her grown-up son to be a study partner for A Yuan. It didn't matter that he was much older than A Yuan, he just wanted to use this matter to give Zhou Kai face.
Zhou Kai dismounted and greeted Gu Youan. Gu Youan asked him to stand up and asked with a smile, "How is your mother?"
"Thank you for your concern. My mother is doing very well."
Gu Youan smiled and nodded: "The palace will hold a banquet on the second day of the first lunar month this year. You can come to the palace with your mother to play."
"yes."
A Yuan came over, sweating profusely. Gu Youan quickly wiped his sweat with a handkerchief: "In the middle of winter, you're sweating so much that you don't even bother to wipe it off. What if you catch a cold?"
A Yuan just wanted his mother to care about him, so he didn't argue. He just stood there quietly and enjoyed his mother's love.
Zhou Qi was displeased with his son and gave him a light kick: "Go, take the wine you bought to the living room. I want to have a drink at noon."
"Don't drink now, save it for the New Year." Yuan didn't wait for his father to say anything, and said, "We should go back. The emperor has to attend the imperial court tomorrow."
There are two grand court sessions on the first and fifteenth day of every month. Today is the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and we must rush back to Luoyang in the evening.
The couple looked at each other. They had been living so comfortably these past few days that they had actually forgotten about it.
"Go back. We'll be busy for a few more days, then we'll be closed for the New Year holiday on the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month."
"That's fine."
Have a good rest during the New Year, because there will be a lot of things to do after the new year.
Zhou Kai followed the emperor, empress, prince and a group of young classmates into the courtyard, thinking that this year's New Year's Day would surely be extra lively.
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