Zhou Wencheng personally escorted Duofu out, and only after the mysterious chief eunuch's figure disappeared did he turn around and return to his study.
Looking at the box on the desk, Zhou Wencheng did not open it immediately.
After much hesitation, he resigned himself to his fate and gently unlocked the small lock.
Thud!
With a soft click, the box was opened.
"Huh? What's this—"
Inside were not gold or silver, nor anything taboo that Zhou Wencheng was worried about, but rather scrolls of books.
He quickly picked up a scroll, gently opened it, and found that it contained rows of household registration information.
"Li Awang, a Li ethnic minority from He County, Yuezhou, male, 21 years old, wife surnamed Huang..."
These are the mountain people of the Li ethnic group, the villagers of Li Baozhu Mountain Village.
They actually registered detailed information?
This, this—
Zhou Wencheng's heart pounded wildly; he seemed to have guessed something.
He didn't have time to think further and continued browsing the booklet.
After quickly reading through it, I found the statistics for this booklet at the back, totaling 387 households.
Zhou Wencheng put down this scroll and then took out another one.
"Wu Yuankang, a native of Wuyuan County, Yuezhou, male, twenty-six years old..."
These are mountain people from the Wuyuan tribe. After the Wuyuan Queen was killed, they were incorporated into the Li tribe.
However, if we consider their "place of origin," they are indeed people from Wuyuan.
At the end of this volume, a population statistic is also provided, totaling 421 households.
This is not the entire population of a single tribe; there are several similar booklets.
After flipping through all the scrolls in the box, Zhou Wencheng silently calculated and discovered that there were actually several thousand households.
There's also Yulin Ce, tens of thousands of acres of fertile land that have been reclaimed!
hiss!
Zhou Wencheng took a deep breath.
What a wonderful gift!
What a wonderful gift!
It was a gift he simply couldn't refuse!
Zhou Wencheng admitted that he was indeed upright and loyal, but he also had his own selfish motives—
He wanted to be a good official who would be remembered in history.
He wanted to achieve something significant in his political career.
His situation was actually not good.
The emperor chose him out of necessity; if a better candidate were to come along, he would be replaced immediately.
Zhou Wencheng did not want to become a pawn to be discarded at will!
He finally became the governor, and was finally able to realize his ambitions.
He had to stay in Yuezhou; he had to be someone no one could get rid of.
This achievement is extremely important to him.
He simply couldn't refuse.
"...Your Highness, Your Highness, Your Highness, you two are truly cunning!"
Zhou Wencheng couldn't help but smile bitterly.
If threatened with power or force, Zhou Wencheng would certainly not yield.
But the other party just happened to give him such a big gift, which tightly gripped his vital point.
"Fine! I'll just have to accept this this time. At most, I'll find a way to repay this favor in the future!"
Zhou Wencheng would not side with the Prince of Yue's Mansion because of this, but he would remember their kindness in his heart, and it would play an unexpected role when it came to a crucial moment!
Zhou Wencheng summoned a clerk to reorganize and transcribe these books according to the official format.
A few days later, a memorial was sent to the capital.
"After taking office, the newly appointed governor Zhou Wencheng re-registered the population, adding thousands of good households to Yuezhou and opening up tens of thousands of acres of fertile land."
With a larger population and more land, more taxes are collected.
The number of laborers conscripted for various corvée labors can also be increased.
His political achievements are undeniable, even by saints.
The Ministry of Personnel made a record of it and reported it to the Emperor.
The Sage: ...Although Zhou Wencheng is somewhat unreliable, he is still capable of being an official.
Forget it, let him stay in Yuezhou.
With the generous gift from Helian Jue and his wife, Zhou Wencheng secured his position as the governor of Yuezhou.
Instead of going to the Yue King's Palace to express his gratitude, he followed his own ideas—to serve the people wholeheartedly!
They built irrigation canals, promoted the curved plow, and curbed the exploitation of the common people by powerful clans.
Zhou Wencheng was doing very well in Yuezhou.
Soon, it was July, and hurricane season arrived.
The rivalry between the emperor and the powerful families in the capital has entered a fierce stage.
Li, the prefect of Guangcheng, used the hurricane season as an excuse to flee inland to avoid the storm.
He submitted a memorial stating that he not only needed to avoid the hurricane but also needed to recuperate.
Governor Li maintained a consensus with the powerful families in the capital—non-violent non-cooperation.
Many prime ministers and high-ranking officials from prominent families in the capital resigned due to illness in order to resist the imperial examination system.
This is a blatant threat.
The sage wanted to suppress the aristocratic families and promote the commoners, so our aristocratic families simply gave up.
In the three provinces and six ministries, most of the chief officials were "sick," and the entire operation of the court seemed to have come to a standstill.
The emperor was both anxious and furious. He knew that the powerful families were doing this on purpose; they were trying to coerce him into abolishing the imperial examination system.
The sage was indeed a hegemon who unified the world. When the officials from aristocratic families resigned, he quickly filled the vacancies with scholars from humble backgrounds.
While it cannot restore the operation of the imperial court to its original state, at least it will not come to a standstill.
The powerful families: ...Hmph, that's it? We have a second wave of attacks!
Half of the governors and magistrates of various prefectures and counties also came from prominent families.
So they followed their family's orders, either feigning illness or resigning from their official posts, and they all started making a fuss.
Prefect Li of Guangcheng was just one of them.
Moreover, his reasons were even more compelling—
Guangcheng is prone to hurricanes, and governors throughout history have had the habit of going inland to avoid the storms.
He just has the added affliction of being "seriously ill," and even after the hurricane passes, it will probably be difficult for him to return!
Emperor: ...This was a trusted confidant whom I promoted, and yet he and his family turned against me.
He actually wanted to dismiss Governor Li from his post and replace him with someone from a poor family.
But that's Lingnan, a place everyone fears like a tiger.
There are also 10,000 soldiers in the Guangcheng camp. If the successor makes a mistake, it will cause a lot of trouble.
Even a sage had to admit that while powerful families were arrogant, their scions were indeed outstanding.
Scholars from humble backgrounds are, in some ways, inferior to those from aristocratic families.
Just like this "turmoil" in the capital, even though the emperor replaced the sage, it was only barely enough to maintain order.
This is still in the capital, where an emperor is in charge.
If they go to remote places, especially places like Lingnan, those poor students might cause trouble.
Ugh, what a headache!
The sage suddenly felt a sense of desolation, as if he were besieged on all sides and surrounded by enemies.
When the emperor was unhappy, Helian Jue and his wife were happy.
"A perfect opportunity! Your Highness, our engineering battalion can sneak into Yuling!"
Holding her pregnant belly, Xie Yuan smiled as brightly as a summer flower.
Helian Jue was horrified; A Yuan's belly was enormous, and the children were extremely active.
Every time he saw the tiny feet on his thin belly, he worried that the children would rush out at any moment.
But his own Ah Yuan was still thinking about tunneling through Yuling.
Now, in Helian Jue's heart, neither Guangcheng nor Yuling is as important as his Ayuan.
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