"Your Majesty, I am worried about handing this money over to someone else. My relative is the magistrate of Jiangqing County and is very familiar with the disaster area. Can you let him be the imperial envoy for disaster relief? And let my brother help him.
Besides, my sister-in-law Xiangling is pregnant and is in the disaster area. I want to go with her to see her. If anything happens to her, I will feel bad here, but I can do my best to keep her safe. "
Everyone knew what Yu Yuanzheng meant as soon as they heard her words.
It has always been inevitable that officials would engage in corruption during disaster relief.
If her mother and brother went instead, knowing that the money was paid by her, they would try their best to put the money where it is most needed, and they would also be able to restrain the officials below and prevent them from abusing their power.
At the same time, it is also a way to give credit to her parents and younger brother.
When you return from disaster relief, you will definitely be rewarded by the emperor.
The emperor immediately understood Yu Yuanzheng's meaning.
What a smart woman.
"Okay, I agree. Since you want to go, then Prince Rong will also go with 3,000 elite soldiers to escort supplies to the disaster area. Remember, you have to be quick. The people can't wait. One more day of delay means one more day of suffering for the people."
"I obey your order." Shangguan Ziqi bowed.
The matter was resolved and everyone went their separate ways.
Prince Qi didn't leave.
"Hongyi, your daughter-in-law is really good. It's really a bargain for your Shangguan family."
The emperor felt a little jealous. How come such a good woman didn't end up in his Cao family?
It would be great if she was the Crown Princess. As the queen mother of a country, she would be able to devote herself more to the Wei Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, she is just a little woman who loves money. If she didn't love money, she wouldn't have taken out so much money today." The prince deliberately belittled Yu Yuanzheng so that the emperor wouldn't always think about her.
"It's good to love money. If she didn't love money, she wouldn't have traveled all the way to Southern Shu to serve the Emperor of Southern Shu. How much did she earn in one go?" The emperor only heard this and couldn't remember it clearly after a long time.
"I got 500,000 for dealing with the Emperor of Southern Shu, 100,000 for dealing with the envoy of Canglan, and later I helped Southern Shu capture Prince Liu Yu and got another 100,000." The prince listed them all.
He also admired his daughter-in-law's ability to make money. He had never saved so much money in his entire life.
The Shangguan family has many properties, and it would be impossible for several generations of princes to accumulate so much wealth in just a few years.
"She is not greedy for money and is very smart. She is seizing this opportunity to pave the way for her father and brother. If only she were a boy, I would definitely let her share my worries in the court." The emperor sighed.
"Hasn't she already helped the emperor share his worries?" The prince glanced at the emperor. What else did he want to do to him?
My son and daughter-in-law are preparing to go to the disaster area.
"When they come back, I will discuss it with her to see what she wants to do. Just teaching a few students medical skills seems a bit overkill.
It is the duty of women to stay at home, but I will entrust capable women with important responsibilities."
The emperor is really thinking about it.
The prince wanted to roll his eyes when he heard this.
"Okay, I heard that there have been pirates appearing along the eastern coast recently. Send someone to investigate the matter." The emperor remembered something.
Not long ago, I received a memorial from the governor of a coastal state mentioning this matter.
Although there are local garrisons to take care of this matter, if the scale of the pirates is relatively large, the Rong Palace will also intervene.
"Your Majesty is right. Speaking of this, I have a plan."
The prince thought of what Yu Yuanzheng had said. In later history, because foreign powers possessed advanced sea vessels and weapons, they opened the country's closed doors and the people suffered terribly from being burned, killed, and looted by the powers.
The southeast of Wei is right next to the sea.
"What plan?" The emperor was stunned.
“I want to build a navy on the coast to fight pirates.
Pirates have always been present along the coast. The people living along the coast are already relatively poor, and they have to suffer harassment from pirates, which makes their suffering even worse.
And over the years, because Canglan has always coveted our Great Wei, we have been seriously negligent in the governance of the coast."
"Where can I get the money to build a navy for you now?" The emperor was really impressed by him and he could do whatever he wanted.
"Your Majesty, I have thought about this matter for a long time.
Now that Canglan has surrendered, and Southern Shu has signed a friendly treaty with our Great Wei, our Great Wei’s army can consider making appropriate cuts.
Let soldiers return to their families and increase agricultural labor.
A large amount of military expenditure can be saved by itself.
I will select some of the remaining soldiers to serve as the navy, which will not increase military expenditures, but will actually reduce them compared to before."
The prince's consideration was very thoughtful and his reasons were very reasonable.
This proposal made the emperor think deeply.
"Is it necessary to mobilize such a large force just for a few pirates?" The emperor felt that the prince was making a fuss out of nothing.
There were only a few dozen pirates who came ashore, at most a hundred or so, while several coastal states had two to three thousand soldiers. Were those people raised by the government?
"Your Majesty, I am not just trying to prevent a few pirates. I am trying to prevent other countries that are farther away." The prince knew that the emperor did not take a few pirates seriously, so he had to point the finger at overseas.
"What do you mean?" The emperor didn't understand.
“Your Majesty, our Great Wei only borders Canglan and Southern Shu, and the sea is to the southeast.
Did you know that there are many islands in the sea, some big and some small?
The bigger ones can become their own country, and further away, there are many countries like ours.
We have no idea what their current situation is.
When they have greater ambitions, advanced seagoing ships, and more advanced weapons, they may very likely sail to Wei to plunder our gold and silver, occupy our land, or even turn Wei into their vassal state and demand tribute from them every year.
This is why I did not lock the bomb secret recipe back into the iron box. I not only want to build a navy, research more powerful bombs, and then figure out its principles to make more advanced weapons, but also want to build ships that can travel long distances.
We should not wait for others to explore our Great Wei, but we should go out to sea to explore other countries."
The prince spoke with great passion.
This was the idea he discussed with his son after listening to his daughter-in-law talk about the advanced practices of later generations.
If the treasury had not been tight, he might have talked to the emperor long ago.
Later I thought of disarmament, and today I took this opportunity to bring it up.
The more I think about it, the more feasible it seems.
After hearing this, the emperor was so shocked that he couldn't recover for a long time.
"Hongyi, how do you know all this?" The emperor had never heard of this, and there was no record of it even in the calendar.
Besides the Three Kingdoms, there were other countries to the west and north. He knew this. On the other side of the sea, this was the first time he heard that there were many countries that might one day send ships to invade.
The two grew up together, and before they reached adulthood, the prince was his study partner. They both knew what books they had read.
He knew that there were islands in the sea, but he didn't know what was farther away.
Are there any islands that are independent countries?
How big is the island?
As a result, the seaside of Dawei is not safe at all.
The seaside has never been the focus of defense. There are only some troops stationed in each state. If a large number of troops really come from the sea, and if they also have bombs, or even a more powerful Wu Xi, the Wei Dynasty will be in danger.
After listening to the prince's words today, he felt as if his eyes had been opened, but at the same time he was also a little scared.
He couldn't imagine being attacked from the sea, but the Wei Dynasty had no army that could fight at sea.
"How do I know this? Your Majesty, please don't pursue this matter. Just tell me whether you agree or not, right?"
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