Xishan Villa, Xishan College.
Chunxiu knocked on Qin Bingzhong's door and bowed gracefully, saying, "Mr. Qin, the warship that the young master is building is going to have its sea trials today. Would you like to go and see it?"
Qin Bingzhong put down the book in his hand, a smile on his face: "I heard that thing is far more than an ordinary building ship. I am really curious. Then I will go with you to take a look."
"Please, Lord Qin!"
Amid the sound of reading aloud at Xishan College, Chunxiu helped Qin Bingzhong board the carriage and headed towards Yao County.
The carriage moved slowly, and Chunxiu looked out the window.
In this vast rice field in Xishan, the rice seeds of Fu Wudai are cultivated. All the rice seeds harvested last year were sent to Wu Dynasty. No one knows how they are growing in the fields of Wu Dynasty.
Last year, sweet potatoes were also sent to Wuchao. Now it is the time for cuttings, and they will take root and sprout in Wuchao.
The ship has been built, and it seems that the young master should return to Wu Dynasty. Madam Dong wrote to say that when the time comes, all the people in Xishan who are willing to go to Wu Dynasty will be taken away. If these people leave, Xishan... will decline.
"Lord Qin, you are a learned man. I would like to ask you a question: Is my young master really going to become the emperor of the Wu Dynasty?"
Qin Bingzhong stroked his beard and smiled, "Your young master is a very capable man. He won a great victory in the Desolate Kingdom and incorporated its vast territory into the Wu Dynasty. Do you think he should become the emperor of the Wu Dynasty?"
Chunxiu pursed her lips and nodded slightly. Yes, a man as capable as the young master should be the emperor, but... Chunxiu suddenly felt a little lost.
The young master whom he had served for more than ten years was about to become the high and mighty emperor. The image that was once so clear in his mind suddenly became blurry.
It has only been more than two years since I last saw the young master. I dreamed of him clearly just yesterday, so why is his appearance no longer clear to me now?
He once said that he just wanted to be a small landlord by the river.
How nice it is to be a small landlord!
Such good fields, such good crops, and such a large industry, with food, drink, money and grain... By the way, he also wrote an article "Praise of the Humble House", in which he said that he had no ears to disturb the sound of stringed and wind instruments, and no body to tire of paperwork. He was not a hardworking person!
"Lord Qin, do you think people really need to pursue that kind of status, fame, and fortune in their lifetime?"
"Girl, in this world, some people work hard in the sun and rain to have enough food to eat, some study hard to become famous, and some rise and fall in the officialdom, hoping to become a high-ranking official. Everything is different for each person."
"When people are in different stages or positions, their thoughts will change. For example, your young master was once the most famous playboy in Linjiang."
"At that time, he was just showing off his wealth as a landlord and attracting attention. But in the eighth year of the Xuanli reign, he underwent a huge change.
The reason for this change may be because of your young lady Dong Shulan.
After all, Dong Shulan is the daughter of the Shangshu Mansion, and your young master just happened to fall in love with her. So in order to pursue Dong Shulan, he changed his personality and became like a different person.
The change is so huge that even I find it hard to believe."
Qin Bingzhong seemed to be recalling the incident with Fu Xiaoguan in the eighth year of the Xuanli reign. He was silent for a moment, then continued, "I still don't understand how he suddenly became enlightened overnight. Those wonderful poems and essays really came out effortlessly..."
He shook his head. "What an incomprehensible talent!"
"Then he became an official, rising higher and higher. His position changed, and his horizons naturally broadened much more than when he was in Linjiang. Add to that his special identity and the unique circumstances of the Wu Dynasty, and... he was destined to become emperor after all."
"It was the times that shaped him, and of course, he also shaped the current times. It can't be said that he pursued such fame, fortune and status, but rather that such fame, fortune and status naturally fell upon him."
Chunxiu listened carefully and felt that what Qin Gong said made a lot of sense.
The former Linjiang playboy, in just these short three years, seemed to have inadvertently transformed his identity.
"He... Young Master is actually quite lazy. When he first arrived in Jinling, he was extremely dissatisfied with having to attend court so early in the morning. Lord Qin, as an emperor, you have to consider the people of the world. With a temper like his, can he be a good emperor?"
Qin Bingzhong smiled kindly, "He should do his job according to his position. When he really sits in that position and has a heavy burden on his shoulders, he will naturally get used to it."
"As for whether he could be a good emperor... it goes back to what I said earlier. People's minds change. Looking closely at thousands of years of history, almost every emperor, upon ascending the throne, once dreamed of working hard to establish a peaceful and prosperous era. But how many of them were truly able to do so?"
Chunxiu supported her chin with both hands, blinked her eyes, and asked, "Why is this?"
"The emperor may appear to be supreme, the supreme ruler, but in reality he is still subject to numerous constraints. Ultimately, the emperor's proposals must be implemented by his ministers. If the ministers pretend to obey but secretly disobey, or even collude with each other, causing the emperor's orders to be blocked, then the emperor's proposals will be impossible to implement."
"Even if all the civil and military officials in the court are united with the emperor, there will still be great resistance in the process of implementing the government's orders. Especially when such orders harm the interests of the aristocratic families, the resistance will become extremely huge."
"Every country has its own aristocratic families. They have a long history, large families, and many of them already hold official positions in the court. These aristocratic families are often related by marriage. They are like a giant web, and any pull can affect the entire network. It's not so easy to break."
"Just like the six great clans in Jinling during the Yu Dynasty, five of them were eliminated because they committed treason. Otherwise, how could Emperor Xuan have taken them down using the disaster relief scandal as an excuse for corruption?"
Chunxiu's face showed some nervousness. She thought that the young master didn't have much foundation to be the emperor in the Wu Dynasty. Would he be colluded with the ministers in the court and sidelined?
"In Wu Dynasty, are there any such powerful families?"
Qin Bingzhong nodded. "The aristocratic families of the Wu Dynasty were even more prosperous than those of the Yu Dynasty..." He sighed and continued, "The Wu Dynasty's Seven Thousand-Year-Old Clans are prestigious families that have been passed down for a thousand years. For example... the two prime ministers of the Wu Dynasty, the Zhuo and Nangong families, are two of them. And the Wu family is the leader of the Seven Thousand-Year-Old Clans."
At this point, Qin Bingzhong smiled broadly, "These things are far, far away from us. They are truly unrelated. There is no need to worry about them."
But Chunxiu's face was clearly filled with worry.
I thought that this was related to my young master, and if something went wrong, it would hit my young master on the head!
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