"What? Ten prefectures!" The chess piece in Prince Yong's hand fell onto the white jade chessboard. Zhao Shu trembled with heartache. What if it was smashed?
"Yes, what's wrong? Father, you're reluctant to part with it?" Zhao Shu was genuinely surprised. He, the Prince of Yong, had never investigated the money on his fiefdom before!
Not only did I not check, I didn't even ask! Now, if I tell her I can't bear to part with her, only a fool would believe me.
Prince Yong was genuinely reluctant to part with his land. Even if he was foolish, he knew the difference between having a fiefdom and not having one. With a fiefdom, one was a true prince, but without one, even if he was given an imperial title, it would only be a hollow title.
He tolerated being asked to return five counties, and from then on, he would be treated like any other prince. But to return them all... to put it bluntly, was this really his daughter? Or was she adopted?
Even if she was adopted, she shouldn't be so wasteful! Although she can't inherit as a girl, he can ask his mother for several counties as dowry in the future. At that time, even the princes won't be as noble as his daughter.
What's going on in this spendthrift daughter's head? Prince Yong really wanted to crack open Zhao Shu's head to see what she was thinking.
Zhao Shu was helpless. She knew that the feudal system would be weakened in the future. Those who had fiefdoms or even too much land would not have a good ending. Although Emperor Mingde decreed that Prince Yong's title would never be stripped, seven of his fiefdoms were taken back, leaving only three prefectures.
Other princes surnamed Zhao will be stripped of their titles and imprisoned. As for princes of other surnames, sorry, we don't share the same ancestor, their entire families will be exterminated!
Moreover, during the period of stripping Prince Yong of his title, many people attacked him. During that time, the Empress Dowager fell ill and eventually died.
Therefore, these ten counties must be returned.
After Zhao Shu asked him this question, Prince Yong lost his interest in playing chess. Fortunately, there were only the father and daughter in the room and no one else. So Prince Yong told the truth, "Does A-Jun know the difference between having a fief and not having a fief?"
“Father, I know, but do you know the difficulties my uncle is facing? Aristocratic families control the government, and almost all civil officials are their descendants, relying on nepotism. Do any of them care about the court?”
She knew that Prince Yong actually understood, but he was just too lazy to care, and deep down he wasn't really being absurd.
As expected, Prince Yong nodded.
Seeing that things were looking promising, Zhao Shu quickly pressed her advantage, saying, "The nobles control the military and could rebel at any time if they are dissatisfied. In that case, we won't even get a share of ten counties, let alone a single village. Don't you think so?"
"It's not as serious as you think. Your imperial uncle will handle it. He is the emperor." This meant that Zhao Shu should not interfere in court affairs.
Zhao Shuquan pretended not to understand, "Since the founding emperor, the number of kings has accumulated to no less than twenty, including some kings of other surnames. Civil officials, military power, and land have all been distributed to others. What does my imperial uncle have left? If these are not taken back, wouldn't it be just an empty title? Father, what do you say about returning these ten prefectures or not?"
Prince Yong was shocked by Zhao Shu's words. He had always been nothing more than a dissolute prince who lived a life of debauchery. Now, it seemed that he was facing a great calamity.
He nodded firmly, "Give it back!"
Zhao Shu breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, her father had no ambition and was loyal to Emperor Mingde. If it were any other prince, the answer would definitely be, "Since things have come to this, let's pile up more wealth and grain, and make more weapons. When that day comes, we'll rebel and overthrow the emperor!"
Having convinced her father, Zhao Shu then locked herself in her study and began to memorize chess scores.
Last time, when I promised to give him two books, Emperor Mingde didn't ask any questions. I suppose he must have assumed that there were other chess manuals in his mother's dowry.
Of the two chess scores I copied from memory, one was a Chinese chess score and the other was a Go score.
In modern times, Zhao Shu spent a lot of time studying these things, and she still remembers them vividly.
The chess notation is accompanied by a solution diagram, and the endgame and annotations are drawn at the back of the notation.
These two musical scores are the culmination of five thousand years of wisdom, a synthesis of the greatest achievements. Zhao Shu believes that no family would dare to underestimate them.
After memorizing the text, she would sign it with the four characters "Chinese Wisdom." If anyone asked, she could explain it as a chess score that integrates wisdom as beautiful as a flower.
Hua Tonghua.
When the two chess manuals were presented, Emperor Mingde was listening to Lan Yue's report. "Are you sure that the nineteenth brother has agreed to return the ten prefectures to the court?" Although Lan Yue dared not lie about this matter, he still found it unbelievable. Throughout history, unless the court took back the fiefdoms, how could anyone voluntarily return them?
Lan Yue forced herself to say, "Yes."
Emperor Mingde rose from his dragon throne and paced back and forth in front of the dragon bank. This was a matter of great importance, and he needed to think carefully about how to go with the flow.
After lingering for a while, he waved to Lan Yue, "Go down."
Lan Yue respectfully withdrew, "Yes."
In the vast hall, only Emperor Mingde remained. He opened a scroll of paper presented by Lan Yue, saw Zhao Shu's words, "There is nothing wrong in the world, it is only fools who trouble themselves," smiled, and muttered to himself, "I didn't know that the name of the Great Yong Kingdom could be interpreted in this way."
As if he had figured it out, he tore the paper into small pieces, threw them into his teacup, and then picked up the chess manual on the dragon table and opened it to look at it.
After reading a few pages, he was astonished and full of admiration. He had never seen so many exquisite, profound, and artistic chess games before, and he was immediately captivated.
He was very pleased with himself. He was sure that no family had a chess manual that was more exquisite than the one Zhao Shu presented. In the years since the Zhao family became emperor, they had plundered a lot of books and paintings from the major families.
"Comparison is the thief of joy," Emperor Mingde thought, feeling he had been deceived. "What kind of books did those gift-givers send? They clearly didn't respect me, the emperor!"
Zhao Shu was unaware of all this; she was currently engrossed in drafting the military system in her study.
For several days in a row, she ignored everything outside her window and locked herself in her study.
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