"Your Majesty, our Highness has already destroyed all of these items."
The prince's guards explained in detail: "All the fairy flowers were burned, and the fairy ointment that had been boiled into a paste was destroyed with lime!"
"Lime? Can't you just burn the 'miracle ointment'?"
The sage was somewhat curious.
Because in people's common understanding, fire can burn everything.
But this "miracle cream" requires lime.
"Yes. These 'miracle creams' cannot be completely burned off; they will leave behind residue."
The prince's guards were respectful. "And these residues can be inhaled. To prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation and letting these poisons 'rise from the ashes,' the prince tried many methods."
That's somewhat fabricated.
The method of using lime to destroy the "immortal ointment" was told to Princess Xu by Xie Yuan.
The story of the burning of opium at Humen is so classic that even a child who has completed nine years of compulsory education knows it, let alone Xie Yuan, a history blogger.
"Dig a large pool, fill it with lime water, and then put all the 'miracle cream' in."
Lime water can burn the "miracle cream" and also corrode it.
There is no possibility of them being consumed anymore.
"Excellent! Excellent!"
The sage nodded in satisfaction. He suddenly realized that his fourth son, this foolish son, was not entirely useless.
The Fourth Prince's actions against the Prefect of Yongzhou are probably not as aboveboard as he claims.
He most likely wanted to emulate Helian Jue, eliminate the governor, and establish himself as king in his fiefdom.
But whatever the reason, the result was that the fourth prince accidentally killed the governor of Yongzhou who harbored malicious intentions.
This prevented the terrible poisons, such as the "fairy flower" and "fairy ointment," from continuing to run rampant in Yongzhou.
This is a great achievement!
Having already rendered meritorious service, the Emperor still wanted to sow discord between the Fourth Prince and Helian Jue.
The sage then wanted to take the opportunity to elevate the Prince of Yong's mansion.
If the Prince of Yong's mansion had enough strength, the Fourth Prince would follow Helian Juezheng without anyone forcing him.
After all, two tigers cannot share one mountain.
There can only be one King of Lingnan.
"For his meritorious service in destroying poison and executing traitors, Prince Yong is hereby granted the title of Prince of the First Rank and awarded one hundred catties of gold, as well as two hundred sets of armor and horses."
The title of "Super Prince" is not important; it's just an empty title.
Today a sage may bestow favors, but tomorrow he may also strip them away.
Gold, though valuable, isn't the most important thing.
The real benefit to the Prince of Yong's mansion was the two hundred sets of military equipment.
The fact that a sage bestows weapons as a reward is not considered excessive.
But this sends a signal: the Emperor has permitted the Prince of Yong's palace to expand its army!
"The fourth brother currently has 1,500 men. With some expansion, he can reach 3,000 men."
The sage secretly calculated, "The Yongzhou camp has three thousand garrison troops. Together, that makes six thousand men."
Six thousand men, when outwardly speaking, could be called a force of tens of thousands.
With so many troops, they should be able to fight against Helian Jue.
Helian Jue was too good at disguising himself, and his troops were scattered across three prefectures.
Therefore, in Yuezhou, the number of troops openly displayed was only five or six thousand.
Yuezhou has 5,000, but Yongzhou has 6,000.
Furthermore, Princess Consort Xu of Yong was the daughter of a military family, and her dowry included two to three hundred men.
If she recruits some more private soldiers, she should be able to gather a thousand men.
And then there's Xu Liang; he'll probably secretly help the Prince of Yong's mansion as well.
...With the combined strength of these forces, the sage believed that the military strength of the Prince of Yong's mansion should be able to defeat Helian Jue.
Fourth Prince: ...Father, I am truly grateful that you think so highly of me.
Could he surpass Helian Jue?
Ha, he can't even compare to Helian Jue's wife.
Just as the emperor was lavishly rewarding the fourth prince, the year was drawing to a close.
The bet between Xie Yuan and the Fourth Prince had reached its appointed time.
The Fourth Prince and Princess Xu arrived in Hexian New Town again.
Then, the couple were stunned by what they saw before them—
A stone bridge spans the sea between Hexian New Town and Crescent Moon New Town.
The bridge is about two miles long, nearly a kilometer.
The bridge is about 1.5 zhang wide, or about 5 meters wide.
A standard oxcart could easily pass through.
Pedestrians can also walk on both sides.
"So long! So wide!"
Princess Xu opened her mouth wide and exclaimed sincerely, "What a magnificent cross-sea bridge!"
The fourth prince, however, wore a bitter expression. "She actually built it? Building a bridge at sea? How is that possible!"
He kept saying it was impossible, but the facts were right in front of him, and the Fourth Prince couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.
"No, something's definitely fishy! Is this bridge even sturdy? Or is it just for show?"
The fourth prince racked his brains, trying to find the problem with the bridge.
Princess Xu: ...You silly goose, didn't you see the pedestrians and carriages coming and going on the bridge?
"Even if it's sturdy now, how durable is it?"
The fourth prince did have some brains after all.
He quickly realized the problem: "This is seawater, and it's full of salt."
Salt water is corrosive.
The fourth prince may not understand chemistry or science, but he has seen the rocks by the sea.
Such a large rock, because it was soaked in seawater and washed day and night, was covered with pits and bumps.
Some of the reefs couldn't even withstand the impact of the waves and were completely destroyed.
In addition, after the Fourth Prince finalized the bet with Xie Yuan, he secretly asked the fishermen who had lived by the sea for generations.
"Old man, is it feasible to build a bridge at sea?"
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