Several princes, including the people behind them, have finally confirmed An Jingzhi's intention.
A group of princes stayed in Wujiang, and they were observed every day and asked to learn government affairs and military strategies. Isn't this to test the ability of the successor?
Compared to their private rivalries, this method made everyone feel relieved.
It’s not that they don’t want to be in that position, but they dare not show it too much.
Now using this assessment method will not hurt the friendship between brothers. No matter who ascends the throne in the future, there will not be too much hatred towards other brothers.
When the eldest prince was the crown prince, except for the second prince who was targeted by him, the others were relatively peaceful and there was not much dirty work.
Therefore, although everyone is not as good as the second prince, they are not too dissatisfied, and they will not think of taking risks and doing those despicable means.
Otherwise, they might have been captured by the emperor's spies as soon as they gathered their forces to decide how to take action.
The second prince exchanged pleasantries with everyone and then returned home.
After searching for a while, I couldn't find any trace of Yang. After asking, I found out that Yang had gone to He's house.
Since He Shuhua left the Prince's Mansion, she has returned to live in the He family. When she got married, the He family did not have such a big yard, and everything here was unfamiliar to her. Fortunately, He Shengda and He's mother were considerate of their daughter and specially set aside a yard for her.
At the moment, she is entertaining Yang in her own villa.
"Shuhua is amazing. You've built such a big business in just one year since you came home."
Yang chatted with her about her daily life over the past year. When she learned that He Shuhua was cooperating with the grassland and transporting their scarce food to the grassland in exchange for horses and cattle on the grassland, she felt nothing but admiration.
The horses obtained in exchange were sold to the imperial court, and the grassland cattle, after being tamed with the nose rings invented by He Shuhua, also brought convenience to farmland farming.
He Shuhua didn't think any of this was a big deal. She smiled gently and said, "It was all His Majesty's idea. His Majesty agreed to let us trade with the grassland people in the border town. Otherwise, how could our He family have such courage?"
"Those grassland people fear power but not virtue. The He family must have some means to be able to trade with them on the grassland in exchange for so many horses, cattle and sheep." Yang said.
"What's more, you also invented the cattle nose ring, which greatly alleviated the demand for oxen in the Central Plains."
He Shuhua never expected that she sold the horse to the court at almost the cost price, but did not receive any reward. Instead, a bull nose ring allowed her to obtain a title as a woman.
Although she was a baron of the lowest rank, it was just a small bull nose ring. Even her brother was a commoner.
Her father spent all his money to support His Majesty, but he only got the title of Marquis.
She finally understood that as long as it concerns people's livelihood, His Majesty will definitely do what he says.
The nose ring helps to tame oxen, allowing the land to be plowed deeper and increasing grain production to a certain extent. To a certain extent, she did increase grain production.
In order to set an example, An Jingzhi generously bestowed her with a title.
Now everyone is laughing at the deceased deposed prince. He actually treated such a good and virtuous wife coldly.
"Don't laugh at me anymore. I've heard what's going on outside. It won't be long before we have to congratulate the Second Prince, right?"
Years ago, people were discussing the reason why An Jingzhi arranged for all the princes to study and take exams in the capital.
An Jingzhi not only did not stop it, but added fuel to the fire. It was precisely because of this action that everyone understood that he was not averse to discussion, but needed everyone's help to keep an eye on and see whether these princes were worthy of the title.
"Your Majesty is truly a benevolent and wise monarch." She guessed that His Majesty was probably hurt by the eldest prince and was afraid that his remaining sons would be dissatisfied with each other, so he adopted such an open and fair method to select the crown prince.
…
A year later, Zheng Hongtao led an army of 200,000 to destroy the last country.
At this point, the Dayu Dynasty established by An Jingzhi finally achieved the unification of the Central Plains.
In the same year, all officials gathered in Wujiang and bestowed rewards lavishly.
Zheng Hongtao was the highest-ranking military general and was awarded the title of Duke of Zhenguo, becoming the most famous general at the time.
Countless civil servants and military officers from other countries surrendered during the unification.
Now that the emperor has completed the unification of the Central Plains, the grasslands have been economically restrained by the Central Plains, and there will be no more wars in the short term.
These surrendered officials and generals were afraid of being liquidated later, so they were all running away, trying to find some connections so that they could at least keep their lives and become rich.
As the He family is the most favored by the emperor, naturally there are many people visiting.
The girl of the He family was originally the crown prince's consort. After the crown prince was deposed, the girl of the He family was allowed to divorce and return home by the emperor. She was also granted a title as a woman because of her merits. This is enough to show the prestige of the He family.
Xu Fengchang and his group were the last officials of the Chu State to be exterminated. Now they no longer care about power, they just want to keep their lives.
Several people came to his door with generous gifts. He Shengda let them in. After learning their purpose, he did not make any promises. He only said that His Majesty had his own considerations. Since he had accepted their surrender, he would naturally not settle accounts with them later, as long as they behaved themselves.
Although he only expressed the meaning conveyed by An Jingzhi, when he said it, Xu Fengchang and others were a little nervous.
But when they went out and found that the other party had returned all the gifts they had given them, they began to waver again.
He Shuhua heard that her father had just sent a group of people away, and hurried to the front hall. "Father, please don't be confused."
He Shengda laughed and said, "Do you really think your father is just here to eat? These people are fine. Your Majesty is open-minded and has accepted their safe passage to Wujiang. Naturally, you don't take them seriously. It's just that they are afraid and want to come to me for peace of mind."
"I have conveyed your Majesty's intention, but I have also sent their gifts away. We will not touch these things."
He Shengda's mind was as clear as a mirror. As soon as the news of the ministers who surrendered before reached Wujiang, His Majesty would investigate clearly what they had done. His Majesty knew exactly who could surrender and who could not.
Those who cannot surrender will never survive to Wujiang. Xu Fengchang and others are just small fish and shrimps, they can't make big waves, and they haven't done anything unscrupulous. If they behave themselves in the future, they will be the rich man's fate. He didn't say this nonsense.
Ever since He Shuhua was conferred the title, the He family has been bustling with visitors, and He Shuhua is also worried that her father has lost his mind.
"Father, the reason why our He family can gain His Majesty's trust is that we can bring help to His Majesty and never cause trouble for Him." After thinking about it, she decided to give a reminder.
He Shengda laughed and scolded: "You, as a daughter, are you trying to teach your father? Okay, I know what's going on. I'll also keep an eye on your brothers."
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