"The Yuwen letter has arrived."
"Where?"
"Red Sleeve Move."
Emperor Xuan was startled, and Empress Shang stopped undressing him.
"Official Fu has visited him. Your Majesty, would you like to go and see him?"
Emperor Xuan was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Go to sleep. See you tomorrow."
"good."
"Send more people. I want to take a closer look at him. Don't let him commit suicide."
Emperor Xuan did not sleep. Instead, he put on his clothes and went to the yard.
The stars in the sky gradually dimmed, and it seemed that dark clouds were floating over.
Empress Shang stood quietly behind him, holding a lamp. Suddenly, she said, "Your Majesty, except for the Dieyi Palace and Noble Concubine Ning's Ningxiang Palace, all other palaces in the harem are now deserted. It's really a bit lonely... Please forgive Noble Concubine An. I really feel reluctant to leave."
Emperor Xuan looked up at the sky, and after a long while he slowly said, "Wu Dalang's harem is empty."
"He has a son, Fu Xiaoguan, and I also have a son, Yu Wendao. Thirteen years ago, Empress Dowager Xi launched the Shili Pinghu Incident, wiping out the entire Wu royal bloodline, leaving only Emperor Wen. Wu Dalang took that opportunity to escape."
"Since then, Emperor Wen has been firmly seated on the throne of the Wu Dynasty, and no further civil unrest has occurred. It just so happened that Wu Dalang was a leisurely man, and the two brothers, upon meeting in Jinling, became incredibly close. So, I sometimes wonder, people say the imperial family is the most ruthless, but why were the two Wu brothers able to live in peace?
There is only one dragon throne, but there is more than one dragon son."
He retracted his gaze, looking straight into the distance, and continued, "Perhaps I was wrong. My original intention was to let the three brothers fight on their own merits, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
"Yu Wentian started the Emperor's Mausoleum Rebellion. I couldn't bear to kill him, but I learned a lesson. So I bestowed upon Yu Wenshu the title of Prince Jin and exiled him to Western Rong. I wanted him to be away from the power center of Jinling, to temper his temper and calm his impetuous heart..."
Emperor Xuan sighed deeply, "I didn't expect him to be more anxious than before."
"I'm wondering why they don't understand what I mean. Not only are they unable to assist me in governing the world, but they are actually causing chaos. How can I... tolerate them?"
"What's the point of having more sons like this?"
"It just adds more trouble to me."
"Emperor Wen died, but he gave birth to a good son! Emperor Wu was lazy, but he raised a good son!"
Emperor Xuan was deeply moved by this sigh. In his mind, he compared his three sons with Fu Xiaoguan. After comparing them, he found that none of them could compare to the other's one, which made him extremely frustrated.
Empress Shang was silent for a moment before she smiled. "I don't think so. I am your son-in-law, half your son. Besides...if Heaven had not given birth to Xiaoguan Fu, the world would have been dark forever. There is only one Xiaoguan Fu in this world, so why bother comparing yourself to him?"
After a pause, Empress Shang continued, "Your Majesty, you should think about it this way. This son, born to Emperor Wen and raised by Emperor Wu, is now in the Yu Dynasty, serving Your Majesty. Isn't this a blessing for Your Majesty? It's a blessing for the people of the Yu Dynasty, too?"
After some comfort, Emperor Xuan's mood finally improved. He laughed heartily, "My beloved concubine, you are right. Wu Dalang lost this round to me. I think he is more distressed!"
…
…
The distressed Wu Dalang was still sitting cross-legged in the imperial study.
He held a letter in his hand.
One letter was written to him by Fu Xiaoguan, sent by carrier pigeon, and seemed a bit urgent.
He was watching with a frown at the moment. After a moment, he said to Nangong Yiyu, "Tomorrow, select some smart people with real talents and knowledge from the Ministry of Industry, preferably teenagers, to go to Xishan Research Institute."
Nangong Yiyu was startled, "Your Majesty, what are you going to do?"
Fu Daguan glared at them. "What else can you do? Go learn technology. Xishan Research Institute represents the most cutting-edge technology in the world. If they can't learn it, I'll chop off their heads!"
Nangong Yiyu curled his lips, but was very happy in his heart.
Red Cannon!
Flintlock!
That was something that Fu Xiaoguan had tinkered with!
Those things should have belonged to the Wu Dynasty, but now they remain in the Yu Dynasty, which directly increased the combat effectiveness of the Yu Dynasty several times!
It seems that His Highness has come to terms with it. This is a good sign. I guess this is His Highness's preparation for his return.
Official Fu put the letter down, scratched his toes, and suddenly looked at Zhou Tongtong and asked, "The eight states of Nancang are the land of fish and rice of the Wu Dynasty. Have you completed the task I entrusted to you last time?"
Zhou Tongtong glanced awkwardly at the two ministers on his left and right. Official Fu waved his hand and said, "No problem, go ahead."
Zhuo Yixing and Nangong Yiyu looked at each other in surprise. What bad thing had this gentleman done again?
Zhou Tongtong had no choice but to say, "Of the eight states of Nancang, we have already purchased the best farmland in Mozhou, Baizhou, Tianzhou, and Yanzhou, totaling over 60,000 hectares."
Zhuo Yixing was startled and his eyes widened suddenly. "Your Majesty, what did you buy those fields for?"
Official Fu chuckled and said, "I am a landlord, and landlords naturally have farmland."
"The people of those lands..."
"I gave them enough silver and sent them to Beixiao... Didn't you say the six states of Beixiao were vast and sparsely populated? I moved them there."
"..." Nangong Yiyu and Zhuo's group looked at each other in bewilderment. "Your Majesty! This Wu Dynasty is all yours! If you do this, the common people will probably complain!"
Nangong Yiyu glared at Zhou Tongyi and said, "Master Zhou, you are ridiculous! What kind of thing is this? Are you just going to do what His Majesty wants?"
Zhou Tongtong was not alone. He smiled bitterly and said, "My two ministers, the money given by His Majesty is very generous. They all volunteered!"
"You really didn't use those assassins from the Tianji Pavilion to rob people by trickery?"
"I guarantee with my life that those who sold their land in those four states are all happy... Also, the people in the remaining four of the eight states in Nancang are still looking for my people to sell their land. Don't believe me? Feel free to ask the officials in those eight states. Of course, never tell them that it was Your Majesty who did it."
Zhuo Yixing frowned, and a question occurred to him, "Did His Majesty use the silver in the national treasury?"
Official Fu was not happy about this. "You are looking down on me, a big landlord in Linjiang!"
"That's easy to calculate..." Zhuo Yihang retorted, "The farmland in the eight states of Nancang is the most valuable in the Wu Dynasty. Roughly one mu is worth twenty taels of silver. Sixty thousand hectares is six million mu, which is one hundred and twenty million taels of silver!"
"My Lord, the Wu Dynasty's annual revenue is only thirty million taels. Even without spending a penny, it would take four years to save up! Can your Linjiang landlord really earn that much silver?"
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