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Chunlai talked to Jingwan about her past. The more she talked, the calmer she became. When the last tear dried, she felt that she was being too sentimental.
Despite both being born into servitude, she lived the best life. Although the man she loved was high above her, she still had his embrace and love. As long as he didn't mind, she could stay by his side for the rest of her life.
"The young master said that after he gets married, he will redeem me from my slave status, take me as his concubine, and when the opportunity comes, he will have a child with me, and we will live like this from now on."
She was a slave, so even if Cui Dongchi liked her, she could only be a concubine, not even a maidservant. But he still wanted to give himself the status of a concubine.
It was already the best arrangement, so why is she still upset?
She murmured to herself, "I was too greedy, I was just too greedy." So greedy that she wanted all of a man's love and attention.
Jingwan felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this. If Lu Chang were to be like Cui Dongchi, loving one person on the surface while sleeping with another in his bed, how could she accept it? She was determined to pack her things and leave immediately.
But Chunlai is different. She grew up with Cui Dongchi, the Cui family is her home, and Cui Dongchi is the best person to her in the world. Where else can she go if she leaves him?
Chunlai sat up, wiped away her tears, and smiled gently, "Actually, I'm doing quite well. Although Miss can be a bit temperamental sometimes, it's only occasional; otherwise, she's very kind to us."
She held Jingwan's hand and said with a smile, "A few years ago, Young Master Lu came to Jianchuan for a visit and had a lot of interaction with my young master. My young lady also greatly admires him. However, he has always been a very sensible person and has only ever treated my young lady as a close friend's older sister. Please don't misunderstand Young Master Lu."
Jingwan nodded, and said without blushing, "I trust my cousin completely!"
The investigation of Shiyu Water Town prompted Cui Dongchi to increase his investment, but what Cui Dongchi wanted was not enough. When he proposed to rebuild the entire Shiyu Town, Lu Chang told him that merchants had already bought many houses in the town, and he would not have the opportunity to rebuild them.
Cui Dongchi was extremely disappointed. When he asked again who had bought it, Lu Chang told him that it was Pei Gong, who had donated funds to support education in Chaozhou.
Master Pei? Cui Dongchi did not know this wealthy merchant. He wanted to ask Lu Chang to act as a go-between to introduce him to Master Pei, but the plan failed because Master Pei was away on business and not in Chaozhou at the moment.
But that evening, this Master Pei appeared at the Lu family residence.
The newcomer was not as imposing and magnanimous as Fang Huaishi had been before. He was dressed in black, with a cloak covering his entire body, and entered the Lu family mansion through the small gate in the darkness.
Lu Chang glanced at the small building; the candlelight had gone out, and he knew Jingwan was asleep. Only then did he go to the study, where Master Pei had been waiting for a long time.
The man, who was over forty years old, took off his cloak and respectfully bowed to Lu Chang.
"During my inspection tour of various places in Chaozhou, I have indeed discovered several exceptionally talented young men, all of whom have been selected to study at the school. They all come from poor families, but are of good character. If they are properly nurtured, they will surely become capable of shouldering important responsibilities in the future."
Looking at the books and articles written by the young men that Pei Gong had mentioned, Lu Chang was indeed satisfied. It was already rare to find such talents in a place where literature was scarce. If they could be selected for official positions through their literary skills in the future, he would have another advantage.
Fang Huai wanted to set up a school, so he lent him a hand. But since it was all about sending Chaozhou children to school, who would study? Why not let him decide? Why not select some more promising students and train them into his own people?
Pei Gong's real name was Pei Pei. He passed the imperial examination at the age of nineteen and thought that he would rise to prominence in the future. However, due to infighting in the officialdom, he was exiled to the northwest. A man who was not strong enough to even kill a chicken had to carry stones to build walls and construct the Great Wall every day. When he was on the verge of death, he was saved by someone sent by Madam Lu. His life was saved, he was spared from the hardship of corvée labor, and he was allowed to enter the general's mansion as a staff member.
Before the Lu family was destroyed, Madam Lu planned ahead and handed over many of her businesses to Pei Pei. After Madam Lu passed away, he went around doing business under the name of Pei Gong and made his business bigger and bigger. Until three years ago, when he met Lu Chang in Jianchuan, he recognized Lu Chang and wanted to give all the money he had earned to Lu Chang.
My father wasn't good at praising people, but I often heard him praise Pei Peicai, saying that loyalty was the most important thing.
He was indeed loyal; even after the Lu family was destroyed, he waited for Lu Chang's return.
Lu Chang continued to let Pei Gong manage that huge fortune. Later, when Lu Chang came to Chaozhou, Pei Gong was required to provide funds for any place where money was needed.
Because the imperial court didn't provide funding, Lu Chang had to eat elm leaves for a period of time when his mother's business was still small-scale. He knew the power of money, especially since all the arrangements for the future would require silver.
He didn't adhere to the aloofness and pride of a wealthy and powerful family. If he could profit without violating morality, he would certainly like it. Therefore, he had Pei Pei buy many houses in Shiyu Town, especially along the street.
Once Shiyu Port becomes the largest port in Lingnan, Shiyu Town will surely become a world-renowned commercial town. At that time, all the houses will no longer be the simple homes of fishermen; they will possess new value and status.
Seeing the familiar faces standing before him, he realized that his parents had long since passed away. But they left behind many people and many things, and these traces seemed to be telling him that his parents had not actually died; they had simply changed their way of accompanying him.
Thinking about it this way gives me a lot of strength to move forward.
Lu Chang and Pei Gong plotted and made various arrangements before leaving late at night.
After Pei Gong left, Lu Chang took out the invitation that had been under the inkstone. His uncle, Feng Ji, had written again, wanting to see him.
Lu Chang knew what he wanted to say to him, and now the time had come.
The four major ports in Lingnan were all in the hands of the Feng family.
The Feng family served as officials and merchants in Lingnan. Like a banyan tree that has grown for hundreds of years in the mountains, they were lush and deeply rooted. However, even a family that has been able to command the wind and rain for hundreds of years can be eaten away by termites and struck by lightning. Beneath their prosperity, they were actually on the verge of collapse.
Feng Ji is right. The Feng family is powerful, and no one can resist them alone. If Shiyu Port shows signs of great prosperity in the future, it will be targeted by the Feng family.
This was his life's work, and he couldn't just hand it over. Rather than waiting for the Feng family to come knocking on his door, he decided to take the initiative and join forces with Feng Ji.
In this world, no great undertaking can be accomplished by human effort alone. Looking back at history, we can see that many remarkable achievements are the result of the combined effects of favorable timing, location, and human factors.
That year, Lu Chang was young, and it seems fate was on his side. Li Fujin, based in the capital, didn't take Lingnan seriously, his attention always drawn to Li Muyun in the Northwest. This unexpected opportunity gave Lu Chang a chance to catch his breath in the cracks, and he eventually made a name for himself in Lingnan.
Yang Fujin and Li Muyun had long regarded each other as thorns in their side, and they both knew this and wanted to get rid of each other to prevent future troubles. As the young emperor grew up, Yang Fujin felt that his chances of winning were getting greater and greater.
In the northwest, thanks to the achievements of General Lu Zhi, the Rong people were no longer able to launch the same level of border unrest as when Lu Zhi was alive. Later, when Li Muyun was stationed on the border, in order to prevent the Rong people from making a comeback, he also launched several military campaigns, which forced them to retreat to Fengyin Mountain and dared not come again.
In the nearly one million square kilometers of land in the Northwest, if Lu Zhi had the merit of establishing a dynasty, then Li Muyun had the merit of governing a dynasty.
Since taking over the Northwest, with the assistance of Yuan Cheng, she reduced taxes and corvée labor, followed the precedent set by Lu Zhi who led soldiers and civilians to cultivate land, reclaimed fertile fields, built water conservancy projects, and restored the land to its former glory, making the Northwest a prosperous and fertile land.
How could Li Fujin not be envious? How could he not be afraid? Under his planning, an imperial edict for "disbanding troops and relocating people" was issued to Pengcheng.
Looking at the imperial edict that described a peaceful world and numerous soldiers costing a fortune, Li Muyun couldn't help but wonder if there were such people spouting nonsense in the world.
The Rong people dare not attack, but the Qiang people are still eyeing us covetously. If our troops are reduced, the Rong people will surely counterattack. If they join forces with the Qiang people, the entire Northwest will be swallowed up by tigers.
Throughout the century since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, no emperor has ever dared to demand the withdrawal of troops on the grounds of peace in the northwest. Instead, they all built the Great Wall and stationed troops extensively to safeguard the peace of the border.
Pingdu is located to its south. If the northwest falls, Pingdu will be the next city to fall.
Even her emperor brother, after killing hundreds of thousands of Lu family soldiers, still sent hundreds of thousands of new recruits to garrison the northwest, not daring to leave the northwest forces empty.
But her little nephew did it; the first imperial edict for troop reduction in the Northwest still came to her.
And that phrase "too many soldiers cost too much money," Li Muyun found it even more laughable. If her little nephew were in front of her, she would definitely grab his collar, press his head against the Northwest account books from the past few years, and make him see clearly how much money the Northwest soldiers had spent on the imperial court, and how they could be so shameless as to write this imperial edict.
After reading the imperial edict, Li Muyun only understood one thing: she was still too thin-skinned and needed to learn from Yang Changshi's thick-skinned skills to extort money openly and honestly.
That's not all. The demobilized soldiers were to be relocated to various places in the south, one of which was Runan.
Mu Yun squinted; this was how she looked when she was deep in thought.
Alright, Li Ling, you've really got your hands on me!
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, inside the imperial palace in Pingdu, Yang Fujin knew that Li Muyun was not obediently following the imperial edict.
She was not the obedient Lu Zhi; she was bolder, more ambitious, and more decisive. Like a mad tiger, no one could control her except the imperial power.
It doesn't matter if they don't obey; since they're so disobedient, the imperial court's dispatch of troops is perfectly justified.
Even the young emperor, who never interfered in politics, was somewhat uneasy today. His father told him that if he did not reduce his aunt's military power, she would eventually seize power and point her sword at Pingdu.
The young emperor was somewhat skeptical: "My aunt is a woman, how could she possibly want to be emperor? Besides, there is no precedent for a woman to be emperor in our Great Wei!"
Yang Fujin said, "If she marries, she can make her husband the emperor. At that time, the Great Wei dynasty will change its name and surname, and the foundation laid by the ancestors of the Great Wei for hundreds of years will fall into the hands of others."
These words completely dispelled the emperor's doubts. He listened to Yang Fujin's instructions and wrote an imperial edict to send troops to the northwest.
Just then, a palace maid entered: "The Imperial Concubine requests an audience with His Majesty!"
The young emperor lowered his head to write and said, "Quickly invite the Imperial Concubine in!" He looked up at Yang Fujin and said, "I have an appointment with my sister to go out today. Father, after I finish writing this imperial edict, you can arrange the rest yourself. You don't need to ask me!"
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