Connecting the information she had gathered from her previous life, Su Xuerong couldn't help but ask Xiao Yuan, "What kind of husband do you think Yun'er would like?"
Xiao Yuan had just lay down next to her and was about to do something when he heard this and said rather uninterestingly, "You care about her much more than I do!"
Seeing his displeased expression, Su Xuerong couldn't help but laugh: "You...are you jealous?"
Xiao Yuan immediately straightened his face: "What are you jealous of? I, the emperor of a country, would I need to get angry with a mere woman?"
Su Xuerong feigned surprise: "Oh, I almost forgot, she's your cousin!"
Xiao Yuan hugged her tightly: "Then you're still my dear wife!"
He kissed her lips as he spoke.
He abstained from sex for a long time after Su Xuerong gave birth two months later. Later, there were many things to do in the court, and she was always asleep when he returned home at night.
Seeing her sleeping soundly, he couldn't bear to wake her.
In the summer, when the weather was hot, she would complain about the heat and be unhappy whenever he wanted to be intimate with her for a while longer.
The weather had finally cooled down these past few days, and he made a point of returning from the Imperial Study early today, only to hear her talking about Cui Yun'er all the time, which made him very unhappy.
Seeing his somewhat hurried movements, Su Xuerong couldn't help but laugh: "You..."
Just like a child looking for milk...
Soon, preparations for the southern tour were complete. Xiao Yuan, accompanied by Su Xuerong, their two children, and a group of ministers, traveled south by water from Tongzhou to Quanzhou, and then stopped in Hangzhou for a few days on the return journey.
Some people have raised objections to this southern tour.
With the new emperor having just ascended the throne and everything in the country in disarray, the money should be spent on national development rather than on tours.
The cost of the Southern Tour was simply a bottomless pit.
Emperor Taizu made three southern tours, nearly emptying the national treasury.
Therefore, many ministers in the court were very unhappy to see Xiao Yuan spend all the remaining silver in the national treasury as soon as he ascended the throne.
Su Xuerong also had such doubts, but Xiao Yuan handed her a list the day before his departure.
Su Xuerong stared at the list in confusion, and after a long while, she looked at him in astonishment: "This, this, this is all your property?"
To her surprise, the list he gave her contained the number of money shops and stores all over the country, which was beyond her imagination.
"So, you didn't use any money from the national treasury for this southern tour?"
Xiao Yuan sneered: "With the national treasury's meager reserves, it's not even enough to build a single ship!"
The civil war that Xiao Cheng had waged in the previous years had already depleted the national treasury.
After Xiao Cheng conquered the capital, most of the wealth he had seized from the emperor was taken by the Xu family. When Xiao Shiyan ascended the throne, the national treasury was completely empty.
"The Xu family also contributed a lot, so this time the national treasury was not touched during the southern tour."
"Then why don't you just tell those ministers in the court? They all have grievances against you," Su Xuerong said irritably.
The money spent on the southern tour came from Xiao Yuan's own money over the years, so why are those ministers still arguing?
“They think mine is also from the national treasury, so there’s no point in saying anything.”
Su Xuerong was furious: "Why should I? That's your own money!"
Xiao Yuan reached out and pinched her angry cheek, which felt wonderful to the touch: "Don't be angry. In any case, this southern tour won't make you and the children suffer any injustice."
Su Xuerong immediately looked distressed: "If we had known it was our own money, why did we have to do this?"
Then I won't go.
Millions of taels of silver have vanished...
“Fool, money can be earned back!” Xiao Yuan laughed. “This time I’m going to Quanzhou to plan my overseas business after the ban is lifted.”
Su Xuerong's eyes lit up immediately: "That's right, we can make money through overseas trade."
You can make a fortune just from pepper.
Xiao Yuan shook his head: "It's not just that. I also want to bring back some easy-to-grow and filling food seeds from overseas to Da Zhou to solve the food problem that has plagued us for years."
Su Xuerong immediately thought of the sweet potato that Cui Yun'er had mentioned in her previous life.
It was Xiao Yuan's envoys who brought it back from Luzon and other places, which greatly alleviated the famine among the people.
She was very excited.
Unexpectedly, she was able to participate in this matter personally in this life, which would save the people of the Great Zhou who had been starving for many years.
Thinking of this, Su Xuerong couldn't help but ask a question: "Your Majesty, I have a question for you!"
Seeing that she suddenly used a respectful form of address towards him, Xiao Yuan couldn't help but laugh and said, "So serious, what do you want to ask?"
Su Xuerong hesitated for a moment before saying, "I just want to ask, if... we hadn't met in Suzhou that day, what kind of wife would you have married in the future?"
Xiao Yuan was stunned: "Why do you ask that?"
Su Xuerong felt a little guilty: "I just wanted to ask..."
Looking at her lowered, concealed eyes, Xiao Yuan couldn't help but smile: "Perhaps if I hadn't met you again, I might have married a docile woman who would only need to manage my harem well."
As for love, that's not necessarily the case.
Hearing his answer, Su Xuerong was very disappointed.
But then again, it makes sense, since he's now the ruler of a country and it's impossible for him not to marry.
But I still feel a little regretful.
Seeing that her emotions were written all over her face, Xiao Yuan couldn't help but laugh and say, "Your assumptions are all nonsense. Aren't you my wife now? You wouldn't be jealous of yourself, would you?"
Su Xuerong looked somewhat embarrassed and patted him guiltily, saying, "You really are..."
Soon, the Great Zhou Dynasty welcomed its new emperor's first southern tour.
Su Xuerong was still shocked when she boarded the huge ship at Tongzhou Wharf.
It was a full three stories high and incredibly spacious; you could even play polo on the top deck.
"When did you have this built?" Su Xuerong asked belatedly.
Xiao Yuan smiled smugly: "After arriving in Beijing last year."
Su Xuerong was speechless.
This guy was really confident; he hadn't even ascended the throne yet, but he had already started building this huge ship to sail south.
"That's not right. Even if it started then, how could it have been built in less than a year?" Su Xuerong still didn't believe it.
Xiao Yuan had no choice but to lean close to her ear and whisper a few words.
Su Xuerong's cheek twitched violently.
It turns out that construction started three years ago. Could it be that he already had plans to go to Beijing back then?
But he didn't do that in his previous life.
"Won't such a large ship be discovered if it's built?"
"I had the ship disassembled and rebuilt in different parts, and no one would suspect anything."
Especially the Xu family and their group of barbarians, who originally came from the wild southwest, even if spies discovered them, they might not have imagined the consequences.
Su Xuerong also felt that it was extremely fortunate that the world had not fallen into the hands of the Xu family.
The Xu family has come this far entirely by relying on the Gu magic and brute force of the southwest, but they do not know how to govern the world.
In his previous life, Xiao Cheng was not harmed and at least had his ways to restrain the Xu family, which allowed Northern Zhou to remain at peace for a time. However, in this life, Xiao Shiyan was misled by his own foolishness and had no ability to control the Xu family, so he was completely defeated.
This can be considered as indirectly helping Xiao Yuan.
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