Southern Xinjiang has many mountains and little land, and most people make a living in the mountains.
Although the actual land is small, it is all rare fertile land. The local weather is humid and hot, which is more suitable for grain cultivation. If there are efficient farming tools, it may become a granary in the south.
The problem is that they don't trust the Central Plains and are afraid that the Central Plains people will harm them.
This surrender was because they were forced into a desperate situation and had to go with the flow.
Now most of the southern part of the Central Plains has fallen into the hands of An Jingzhi, and the surrender of southern Xinjiang has completely fallen into his control.
"I declare that anyone who can improve farming tools or improve grain varieties, and increase the yield of the fields, will be granted a title!"
"Your Majesty, soldiers have to fight bravely in the front and make great contributions to obtain titles, but the common people can obtain titles just by producing grain. Isn't that inappropriate?" A minister came out and asked.
An Jingzhi smiled and said, "Don't tell me you think increasing grain production is easier than achieving great success?"
The other party fell into thought and remained silent.
"If any soldier can find a way to increase grain production, I will reward him."
All the ministers said in unison: "Your Majesty is wise!"
…
Now that the war has begun, An Jingzhi is the most powerful force, and the other remaining forces need to unite to resist him.
The Wujiang rain-praying incident has become increasingly serious and has become distorted from the truth.
What happened is that the emperor of today raised his sword and shouted at the sky to make it rain? The sky was so scared that it trembled and immediately ordered the Dragon King to send down heavy rain.
The common people at the bottom not only did not doubt it, but were even more convinced that only An Jingzhi could conquer the world. Countless people went south hoping to come under An Jingzhi's rule.
An Jingzhi did not take the initiative to attack, and those people did not dare to unite.
…
"Your Highness, my third brother and his wife should be here soon." Yang said to An Shaolin with a smile.
"It's been a year and a half since we last met," said An Shaolin.
"Will Father still let my third brother guard the border city this time when he comes back?"
"Who can guess what my father is thinking?" He could still guess some of his father's thoughts before, but now he met his father's eyes.
He just felt that he was seen clearly by the other party, as if he was exposing his true thoughts nakedly in front of his father.
…
"Why does Wujiang City seem to have changed? There weren't so many people here before." The third prince rode on his horse and looked at the bustling streets with people coming and going.
"I heard from my second sister-in-law that His Majesty has issued many policies this year, all of which encourage the people to rest and recuperate, and also provide a certain degree of convenience to merchants. Our Wujiang City has gathered goods from all over the world."
"Over the past year, many businesses have settled in Wujiang."
"Merchants are profit-oriented. How can your father treat these merchants so well?" The third prince frowned.
"Your Highness, please be careful with your words." The Third Princess was startled and reminded him hurriedly.
"I know. Why are you so scared?" The Third Prince said nonchalantly, "My eldest brother was beheaded because he did something wrong. I just said a few words. Can Father really chop off my head?"
The Third Princess was so angry that she laughed at her husband's self-righteous attitude.
"In short, Your Highness, we have arrived in Wujiang. It is not like being in a border town. We must be careful with our words and actions. Your Majesty is not a tyrant." She whispered the last two words to the Third Prince, fearing that someone might hear.
"I understand, I understand." The Third Prince glanced at the carriage following behind him and said, "When we get to Second Brother's house later, I'll leave the children there to be raised. I'm too lazy to take care of them."
"Your Highness, how could you leave your own child in your brother's house?"
"Then I can't do anything about it," the Third Prince said helplessly, "Father has sent me to guard the border town. If it weren't for New Year's Eve, we wouldn't be able to return. There's nothing in that town. The children can't even find a good teacher. If this continues, we'll all become illiterate and uncultured people in the future."
The Third Princess had her own considerations. She guessed that since His Majesty had asked them to come back for the New Year this time, he probably would not let them leave again.
The reason for garrisoning the border town was to prevent the grassland people from moving south. Now, those grassland people have been frightened by my second brother and will not dare to come again within one or two years.
As for two years later, according to the current development trend, I am afraid that my father would have unified the Central Plains long ago.
Will we still be short of soldiers and generals by then?
And the most important reason, she didn't dare to say it.
I'm afraid it has something to do with the location.
Almost all the princes stationed outside were called back to Wujiang.
After returning home to rest, wash up, and set their eyes on gifts, the Third Prince and his family went to visit An Shaolin's home.
Upon hearing that his third brother was coming, An Shaolin brought Yang to the door to greet him. He could hear his third brother's hearty laughter from afar.
"Hahaha, second brother, I'm here to see you."
The Third Prince gave An Shaolin a bear hug. An Shaolin carefully looked at his third brother, who was closest to him, and said, "He has become darker and stronger."
"How can I not get tanned if I train in the sun every day?" he said indifferently.
Several people came to the front hall and drove away all the extra people, leaving only a few trusted servants to serve on the side.
"Second brother," the Third Prince An Shaoguang's expression changed. "I feel like something is amiss. I just heard about Father calling all the princes back to Wujiang when I first arrived in the city."
"What does Father want to do?"
An Shaolin slowly picked up the tea on the table and took a sip.
"What does Father want to do? How can we, his sons, guess it?"
"Anyway, don't do anything rash. Just do whatever Father tells you to do. Now even I can't tell what Father is thinking."
"The fourth and fifth brothers are back too," An Shaoguang said, "Do you think the Emperor will choose a new Crown Prince? In my opinion, you, my second brother, are the most suitable person for that position."
An Shaolin narrowed his eyes slightly and looked straight at An Shaoguang. Seeing that the other party was sincere, he put down the teacup in his hand and patted the other party's shoulder:
"Don't say that kind of thing anymore in the future."
An Shaoguang scratched his head: "Don't worry, second brother, I'm not really stupid."
…
This time, An Jingzhi really took advantage of the New Year to deliberately call everyone back.
In the original owner's memory, he did not have much impression of these sons. In his eyes, there was only power, and the only ones he was close to were his eldest son and second son.
Because they were born early and he was not yet developed at that time, they spent more time together.
After seeing off several princes who had come to the palace to pay their respects, Eunuch Ding reported, "Your Majesty, all the princes have returned."
After looking around, I found that the third prince was indeed a rough man as I remembered, but he was not really stupid. Instead, he was smart and thoughtful.
The fourth and fifth princes were indeed mediocre, but in fact they were almost the same as the eldest prince. However, they were smarter than the eldest prince in that they understood their own mediocrity and were not ambitious or ostentatious.
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