In March, the not-so-long winter has passed.
With grass growing and birds singing, spring is coming quietly.
“Ahem…”
As soon as Yun Zheng arrived outside Emperor Wen's bedroom, he heard a suppressed cough.
Since the beginning of winter, Emperor Wen's health has taken a sharp turn for the worse.
Coughing seemed to have become a normal habit for Emperor Wen.
After a winter, most of Emperor Wen's hair had turned white.
His appetite was also decreasing.
Years ago, he could still eat a bowl of rice for a meal, but now he can only eat half a bowl.
The only consolation is that Emperor Wen is in good spirits and is not bedridden yet.
...
...
When the sun comes out, Emperor Wen can still play with Yun Cang and other little ones in the bedroom, or let the little ones practice health-preserving boxing with him.
During this period, Miaoyin and the imperial physician also treated Emperor Wen many times.
However, the results were minimal.
As Emperor Wen's health condition deteriorated rapidly, Yun Zheng spent more time in the palace to accompany Emperor Wen.
Sometimes, the second and fifth brothers would come over to play mahjong with Emperor Wen, or massage his body.
"Sixth Prince."
Seeing Yun Zheng, Mu Shun at the door bowed and saluted.
"How is Father today?"
Yun Zheng asked Mu Shun in a low voice.
"Today is fine."
Mu Shun replied: "Your Majesty drank half a bowl of meat soup and ate half a roasted potato in the morning."
"That's good."
Yun Zheng felt relieved and asked again, "Does the emperor have any plans for today?"
“There are no specific arrangements.”
Mu Shun shook his head slightly. "The emperor just said that when the sun comes out, we should go for a walk outside! Oh, and the emperor also summoned Duke Rong to come over. He should be here soon."
"good."
Yun Zheng nodded slightly and followed Mu Shun into the bedroom.
Although the weather is getting warmer now, it is still a bit chilly outside.
However, it was warm inside Emperor Wen's bedroom.
When Yun Zheng came in, Emperor Wen was leaning on the couch, looking very old. In front of him was a huge map.
This is the current complete territory map of Dagan.
It is also the most complete territorial map.
However, due to limited survey conditions, this map is certainly not very detailed, especially for areas such as the Western Regions and Dingzhou.
Hearing the footsteps, Emperor Wen slowly turned around.
“Come, come…”
Emperor Wen raised his slightly withered hand and waved to Yun Zheng, "It should be warm in Xingzhou and Anzhou now, right?"
Xingzhou and Anzhou were once Nanzhao and Yunan.
Yun Zheng's eyelids jumped: "Father, you don't want to go to Xingzhou and Anzhou to take a look?"
"Am I so careless?"
Emperor Wen glared at Yun Zheng in dissatisfaction like an old child, "I want to ask you, how many years will it take to repair the official road over there? Although the three feudatories have all been taken over by Dagan, the poor transportation over there is still a hidden danger, ahem..."
As he was speaking, Emperor Wen started coughing again.
Yun Zheng stepped forward and gently patted Emperor Wen on the back.
"Your Highness, let me do it!"
Seeing this, Mu Shun hurried forward.
"good."
Yun Zheng knew that his skills were not as good as Mu Shun's, so he didn't bother to do it. Instead, he went to the map, picked up the small wooden stick next to him and pointed at the map. "I just revised the original road construction plan with the Ministry of Works yesterday. We decided to add another road to connect Jiaozhou, Xingzhou, and Anzhou."
"In addition, the governor of Xingzhou reported that there is a natural port in the southern area of Xingzhou and Anzhou, which is larger than all the ports in Dagan now!"
"The court will certainly vigorously develop maritime transport in the future. I have ordered the Ministry of Works to send people to investigate. If it is suitable, this will become the most important port for our country..."
Yun Zheng patiently told Emperor Wen about the plans for the Three Feudatories.
After the New Year, in addition to preparing food and fodder for the military campaign against the State of Yu, the imperial court was also busy with the affairs of the various territories that had surrendered.
The Three Feudatories is the most important area.
Yun Zheng has high hopes for these three states.
If things go well, he estimates that these three states could support tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people.
Of course, developing these three states is a long-term project.
It's not something he can accomplish in one or two years just by shouting slogans.
Listening to Yun Zheng's story, Emperor Wen nodded repeatedly and reminded Yun Zheng: "After defeating Yu Kingdom, stop for a while! Lu Jin is right. The court is fighting for hundreds or thousands of years, while the people are fighting for only one lifetime."
"It's not easy to govern such a large territory, ahem..."
"After you have swallowed the meat in your mouth, you can think about the rich land overseas."
"I have never worried about your ability to fight a war! But governing a country is a long-term matter..."
Emperor Wen coughed gently while giving Yun Zheng serious instructions.
Sometimes, a territory that is too large may not necessarily be a good thing.
It would be fine if future generations would all be rulers who could govern the world well.
But if there is a tyrant ruler, there will be chaos everywhere.
Moreover, no matter how large a territory is, it will eventually fall apart.
If you don't let down the people of the world, you will be a wise ruler throughout the ages.
"My son will remember this!"
Yun Zheng nodded gently: "After defeating Yu Kingdom, as long as there is no rebellion or active attack from other countries, I will not start a large-scale war within ten years!"
In fact, including the fight against Yu Country, it can be postponed for a few years.
But everyone knew that Emperor Wen would not survive until that time.
Now, they just want to help Emperor Wen fulfill his wish.
“Yes, yes!”
Emperor Wen smiled and said, "Before Cang'er takes power, you should govern the country for him first! When he takes power, you, as the Grand Marshal, can conquer wherever you want..."
"That's exactly what I think!"
Yun Zheng laughed, "By that time, the navy of Dagan will surely be extremely powerful!"
"Um."
Emperor Wen nodded slightly.
As the father and son were chatting, a young eunuch hurried over to report: "Your Majesty, Duke Rong wants to see you!"
"Let him in!"
Soon, Qin Liu dared to stride into the bedroom.
Emperor Wen was only a few months older than Qin Liugan.
But their physical conditions are completely different.
Qin Liugan was still as vigorous as ever, but Emperor Wen was already very old.
Just as Qin Liugan was about to salute, he was stopped by Emperor Wen.
"There's no outsider here, don't make it so awkward."
Emperor Wen said this and gave Qin Liugan a seat.
Qin Liugan glanced at the map and asked Emperor Wen, "Your Majesty, why did you summon me here?"
Emperor Wen looked at the map and sighed, "I've thought about it and decided to let Han Jin go to fetch water! You're old now, don't bother with it!"
"What's the fuss about this?"
Qin Liu dared to pat his chest and said: "Within half a month, I will definitely bring the water back with my own hands!"
"Get water?"
Yun Zheng looked at the two old men in confusion, "Where can we get water?"
Faced with Yun Zheng's question, Qin Liugan remained silent and just laughed dryly.
"In Xingzhou."
Emperor Wen spoke slowly: "I told this old man before that I wanted to go to the Three Feudatories to have a look, but it was not possible. I just wanted to drink a sip of the water there, and this old man said he would go get me some water..."
Yun Zheng was speechless, and sighed helplessly in his heart, then said: "Let the second brother and the fifth brother go with the imperial guards!"
Emperor Wen thought about it and nodded, "Okay!"
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