Chapter 96 Another marriage?
A few days later, the imperial court's decree was delivered to Yuzhou.
Zhao Mingyue, Xue Qi, as well as generals Zhao Yuzhang, Zhu Dafeng and others, went to the hall to receive the order.
"...I appoint Princess Fuguang as Governor of Yuzhou. I hope the princess will be diligent in her work and care for the people, governing the state with virtue and suppressing chaos with law. I decree this."
Zhao Mingyue was stunned, unable to believe it. Her dark pupils were shaking, and she felt like she was in a dream.
Mother, she really agreed!
Although she tried every possible means to obtain Yuzhou, even using money to win over Danying, the person A Niang trusted the most - a behavior she once hated the most, she still had no hope in her heart and was even prepared for failure.
But now, she succeeded.
Does this mean that in A Niang's heart, she is not so useless?
This inference made her happier than if she had obtained Yuzhou!
"Princess, please accept my order," the angel urged. [Note 1]
Zhao Mingyue suddenly came to his senses, took his eyes off the angel's boots, and bowed his head, "Son, I accept your command and thank you."
He stood up again, took the imperial edict, and asked someone to take the angel away to rest.
Everyone was overjoyed when they saw the imperial edict. Lu Qibai grabbed Zhu Dafeng's hand, his face full of smiles. "Sister, our Zhu Feng Village will be the Zhu Feng Army from now on. Those bastards of his father's can no longer call us bandits!"
"When Seventh Sister encounters someone insulting her, doesn't she always hit him with her fists first?" Liu Lanhua joked with a smile.
"That's because my fists are powerful. This time when we were fighting Yuzhou, I punched them and they fell! Unlike you guys, you still need to use muskets--"
Boasting, she rolled her eyes, grabbed Liu Lanhua's arm, and whispered in her ear, "Hey, Third Sister, aren't you very familiar with that girl surnamed Mei? Ask her to get me a gun too!"
Liu Lanhua looked at her and laughed, "Well... I'll help you apply for it."
"Great." Lu Qibai cheered softly.
She followed Zhao Mingyue and Xue Qi, watching them use muskets with such skill that she was jealous. She had always wanted to try it, but she regretted that she had not done anything meritorious and was too embarrassed to ask for it.
Later, when I met up with Zhu Dafeng, I saw her gun and wanted to borrow it. However, she was very stingy and wouldn't let me touch it. "What if I break it?"
Third sister is still the best!
Seeing her so happy, Liu Lanhua quickly said, "But I heard that the entire Jinwu Guard doesn't have many muskets. This time, our village alone was given fifty, so I'm afraid there won't be more."
Lu Qibai suddenly became dispirited.
Zhu Dafeng had no idea that Lu Qibai was secretly criticizing her. Seeing Zhao Mingyue distributing the rewarded gold and silver to the generals, and the people from Zhu Fengzhai also receiving some silver, money and silk, she naturally stepped forward to thank him for the reward.
"If it weren't for Zhu Fengjun, I wouldn't be able to take Yuzhou City. These rewards are what you deserve." Zhao Mingyue said with a smile.
After distributing the rewards, Zhao Mingyue continued, "My appointment as Governor of Yuzhou must be announced to Yuzhou City and all counties as soon as possible. The county magistrates must also be summoned to the Governor's Mansion for a meeting. Sister, Zhu Fengjun is from Yuzhou and is familiar with the situation there. I'll leave this matter to you."
Zhu Dafeng is not a person who is good at speaking. She is calm, cautious and methodical in her work. She is very grateful to Zhao Mingyue for pardoning the sisters in her village.
Even if Zhao Mingyue wanted her to die right now, she would not say a word, not to mention such a trivial matter. She immediately responded in a deep voice, "Yes."
That night, Zhao Mingyue held a celebratory banquet at the governor's residence to reward everyone.
The next day, Xue Qi finished writing the notice, and Zhu Dafeng ordered his men to post it everywhere in the city, and then go to each county to inform them, and order the county magistrates to come to the capital to pay homage to the new governor.
These county magistrates were all appointed by Zhao Zhuo, and they had been living in fear since hearing the news of his failure. Now, hearing that the court had appointed Zhao Mingyue as an official and had asked them to go to Yuzhou City to pay homage, they were even more frightened.
Could it be that Zhao Mingyue wants to close the door and beat the dog, and catch all these officials of Zhao Zhuo's faction in one fell swoop?
Given their concern for their own lives, Queen Mother Chi's decision to appoint a princess as a governor no longer caused them to be surprised or opposed.
After all, a more important choice now lies before them.
To go or not to go.
After a few days, Zhu Dafeng came back and reported to Zhao Mingyue.
"What? You said that out of the thirteen counties, the county magistrates of seven have resigned?" Zhao Mingyue couldn't believe it, her eyes widened.
She looked at Zhu Dafeng and nodded affirmatively, then couldn't help but sigh and held her forehead with a headache.
Although she really wanted to kick out these old guys and replace them with her own people, the problem was that she didn't have the manpower to use right now. She had to at least wait until she had squeezed out all their value before they could leave.
She was already extremely busy with the affairs of Yuzhou City alone.
The Ministry of Household Affairs is re-investigating and re-calculating the population and implementing household registration reforms. Currently, Xu Linglian, the wife of the Chief Secretary, is temporarily in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, with Liu Ruqian assisting.
The Military Affairs Commissioner wanted to reform the military system, reselect military officers, and recruit soldiers and horses. Zhao Yuzhang was concurrently in charge of this.
There is also the judicial review. The laws must be revised, and all criminal cases must be reviewed. Those who should be executed must be executed, and those who should be released must be released. Nowadays, the prisons are full of criminals. Those officials who are guilty of treason will have to wait for their heads to be beheaded.
The most important one is Si Gongshen. All the previous officials were imprisoned by her, and new officials must be selected as soon as possible to replace them.
Fortunately, she still has Xue Qi.
When Xue Qi worked as a registrar in the palace, she was responsible for preparing examination papers for female officials. The assessment and selection of officials was a piece of cake for her.
Originally, Zhao Mingyue planned to restrict registration to women only for this civil servant selection exam, but was rejected by Xue Qi.
"If we do this, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the scholars. Then they will inevitably attack women who study, forcing those who want to apply to not dare to apply. It would be better to relax the restrictions. No matter whether they are men or women, whether they are scholars, farmers, merchants or artisans, everyone can apply. After all, the final decision on who will be selected is ours."
Zhao Mingyue thought it made sense, so she followed Xue Qi's advice. Everyone could apply to take the official examination, and they would not be tested on the Four Classics and Five Books, but on one reference and one examination. The judiciary would refer to the law, the household department would refer to current policies... and so on.
As for the counties, she had originally planned to implement the household registration reform first, but now most of the people have left, and she has to select new people to take their places.
Zhao Mingyue sighed again. It was too hard. Managing a state was truly too difficult. There were so many things to do, she didn't even know where to begin. If Xue Qi hadn't been there to help her, she would have definitely fallen asleep.
Zhao Mingyue suddenly thought of Chi Li.
A Niang is managing a country, and her job must be harder than hers. She shouldn't be discouraged by a little setback.
Zhao Mingyue cheered up, "Aren't there still six county magistrates? Let them come in."
As for those who resigned from their posts and ran away, don't think that she will let them go by doing this!
————
Just when Zhao Mingyue was worried about the affairs of Yuzhou, Liu Shen'ai, Zhao Yuzhang and others were taking a leisurely walk in Swallow Valley.
The corpses of Zhao Zhuo's 10,000 private soldiers have been cremated and buried, and Swallow Valley has returned to its former tranquility.
Liu Shen'ai looked at the vast and flat land, where green grass was growing in the wind, and nodded with satisfaction.
"Let's choose this as the location for the weapons factory!"
Zhao Yuzhang observed the terrain and also felt that this place was very good. The terrain was dangerous, the mountains were high and thick, and it had high protection and concealment.
She nodded slightly. "If we urge the construction now, it should be finished before the end of the year. Then we can make more muskets and equip each of the Golden Crow Guards with one."
In this way, her Golden Crow Guards will be invincible and unstoppable.
Liu Shen Ai glanced at her and said, "It's not just muskets, we need cannons. No matter how high the city walls are, they can't stop a single cannonball."
"Cannon?" Zhao Yuzhang frowned in confusion.
Liushenai was too lazy to explain in detail and just said casually, "You can imagine it as an enlarged version of a musket."
Of course, she didn't stay here to build a weapons factory for Zhao Mingyue just because she was interested.
All of this is due to the request of that despicable host!
After getting the main god system, Liu Shen'ai asked Chi Lan for her core data, but Chi Lan said that she did not have the authority.
Because Song Yu is at level 5, and Chi Li is only at level 1, she currently has no way to obtain the subsystem permissions created by Song Yu.
Without the permission of the subsystem, the punishment of [Evil Stepmother] cannot be removed.
In other words, her unjust system must still be tied to that cold-blooded host.
Liu Shen Ai, who thought she could gain freedom and have fun around the world, was heartbroken when she heard this.
"Then you should find a way to upgrade quickly!"
"If you want to level up, you must complete the main quest [Overthrow the Darong Dynasty]. Xiaoliu, will you help me?"
Liu Shen Ai took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "Of course, my dear host, you know that my feelings for you are like the water of the Yangtze River, flowing endlessly. I will never abandon you."
"Then I feel relieved."
So, Liu Shen'ai got the ten cannons that Chi Lan gave her. Now Chi Lan has nearly 10 million points, and she is very generous in exchanging them for things.
According to Liu Shen'ai's idea, he would just give these ten cannons to Zhao Mingyue and let her lead her men to attack the capital and blow up the palace.
Then, the Darong Dynasty was gone, the new emperor ascended the throne, the mission was accomplished, perfect!
But, this is impossible.
Taking out the cannon directly will definitely arouse the protagonist's suspicion, causing the characters in the novel world to awaken, and then the mission will be over!
In order to rationalize these ten cannons, she must first build an arms factory and go through all the processes.
Liu Shen'ai now suspected that the host was simply deceiving her, but unfortunately she had already boarded the pirate ship and could not get off.
Looking at Zhao Yuzhang's expectant face, her gray eyes were covered with a layer of deep worry. She sighed and said, "But, in order to make cannons, we need not only iron but also coal."
Zhao Yuzhang looked at Liu Lanhua, a native of Yuzhou, and asked, "Is there any coal in Yuzhou?"
Liu Lanhua: "Yes, there is a coal mine in Sanyang County, but that mine belongs to the landlord Xu. That landlord Xu is very rich, he has a huge farm and hundreds of guards."
Zhao Yuzhang chuckled, "Great, I'll ask him to hand over the coal mine."
When Liu Shen'ai heard this, he knew that she was going to rob the coal mine. The so-called officers and soldiers were just a group of bandits.
She was about to speak when she suddenly saw a group of people walking up the hillside in front of her. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was Qiushi who was beside Zhao Mingyue.
Zhao Mingyue only has these two close maids around her. Chunying and Qiushi are responsible for her daily food and daily life, and they are also the ones who pass on any important matters.
Could it be that Zhao Mingyue wants to talk to them about something?
Liu Shenai shouted, "Qiu Shi, what does the princess want that she sent you here?"
Qiushi stopped and bowed to her from the valley. "Sixth Master, General Zhao, the princess sent me to invite Zhao Zhuo's son."
It turned out to be none of their business. Liu Shenai waved her hand and said, "Then go ahead."
However, what does Zhao Mingyue want to do with Zhao Zhuo’s son?
————
At the same time, Gu Yunmei, who had been digging iron ore for a whole day, took advantage of the break to quickly wrap up the two steamed buns left for lunch, and under the pretext of going to the toilet, she hurried to the mine next door where the man was working.
In order to make it easier to work, the miners who entered the mine had their hair cut. Now Gu Yunmei has only short hair less than a finger's length on her head.
The hair on your body is given by your parents and should not be damaged. However, only women who have committed adultery will have their hair pulled out.
Gu Yunmei touched her bald head and really wanted to die, but she gritted her teeth and persevered because she thought of her son.
She quietly ran to the mine next door, fearing that her son Zhao Hong was hungry, and brought him food.
"Hong'er, Hong'er..." She whispered to the crowd.
Soon, a thin, short man ran out of the crowd, dragged Gu Yunmei to a corner, and said angrily, "What are you doing here again?"
Gu Yunmei handed him the steamed bun and said, "I saved it specially for you. You'll get hungry easily when you're working, and you're still growing. Eat it quickly."
"I don't want to eat it!" Zhao Hong slapped the steamed bun away.
"Ah--" Gu Yunmei felt so distressed when she saw the steamed bun fell to the ground and covered with dust. Just as she was about to pick it up, Zhao Hong pushed her hard.
She was pushed and staggered, and fell to the ground with a bang. Her head hit the stone with a bang, and she couldn't help but scream in pain.
Zhao Hong looked at her coldly, as if she were an enemy. "I'm in this state now, it's all your fault. If you hadn't gone against the princess, I wouldn't have been sent to the mines to suffer!"
Gu Yunmei was stunned, not even caring about the pain. She trembled and said, "Who do you think I'm doing all this for? Do you want me and Zhao Mingyue to bow our heads and beg for mercy? She's the murderer of your father!"
Zhao Hong sneered, "Mom, you are really ambitious. If you are so ambitious, why are you still eating steamed buns? You should just die!"
Gu Yunmei felt as if a basin of cold water had been poured over her head, chilling her whole body. How could her Hong'er let her die? She had worked so hard for him, how could he let her die!
She covered her aching chest and spat out a mouthful of blood, "You...you..."
"Look at yourself, you're so ugly." Zhao Hong turned and left.
If it were in the past, when Gu Yunmei was still the princess, he would have played the role of a filial son to her. Unfortunately, now, as a mother, he has become worthless, so there is no need for him to act anymore.
As for two steamed buns, who cares?
What he wants most is to leave the mine. Whoever can get him out of the mine will be accepted as his grandson, not to mention his son!
Gu Yunmei looked at Zhao Hong's resolute back as she left, trembling as she stretched out her hand, tears streaming down her face. "No, don't go—"
Just then, a group of people walked up to Zhao Hong and she stopped.
A subtle glint of hope flashed across Gu Yun's eyes. The next moment, he heard the leader say, "Zhao Hong, the imperial decree has been issued. You are ordered to leave immediately and marry Xiqi!"
What? A marriage alliance!
Gu Yunmei's eyes widened. How could her son marry a foreign princess?
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