Chapter 327 Memorial Tablet
Princess Qin knew that Emperor Xiao Wu wouldn't come without a reason; his sudden appearance here must mean he had something to discuss with Prince Qin.
After she brought the tea up, she took the child and left.
Emperor Xiao Wu didn't mind. He wasn't really familiar with this third sister-in-law. He drank a cup of tea and then got up.
"Third Brother, I have never visited this palace of yours before!"
"Show me around today! We can talk as we walk."
The King of Qin nodded and led Emperor Xiao Wu on a leisurely stroll through the King of Qin's residence.
The Qin Prince's Mansion was very large and once very prosperous. Some people have said that the grandeur of the Qin Prince's Mansion was no less than that of the Crown Prince's Mansion.
But such a large palace requires people to manage it. Even if the few people in the palace worked non-stop every day, they couldn't possibly clean it all.
In the backyard garden, most of the trees and flowers have withered, and the ground is covered with dead branches and fallen leaves. It looks even more desolate because it hasn't been cleaned up for a long time.
Occasionally, a large rat would dart out from among the dead wood.
Why were all the palace servants and eunuchs assigned to you returned?
"You are, after all, a prince; you should still be entitled to the treatment you are entitled to," Emperor Xiao Wu suddenly said.
"Your Majesty! There is no longer a King of Qin; now there is only Xiao Congze, a commoner," the King of Qin said earnestly.
Emperor Xiao Wu remained silent and continued walking forward with the Prince of Qin.
When they reached the last row of houses, Emperor Xiao Wu suddenly stopped.
There was a house that was kept very clean outside. Not only was there not a single fallen leaf in sight, but the window frames and door frames were also spotless.
"Does that room often have people going in?" Emperor Xiaowu asked.
The King of Qin remained silent for a while before nodding.
This was clearly not a dormitory or anything like that, and Emperor Xiao Wu was a little curious.
The last row of houses in the Prince's Mansion...
"May I go in and take a look?" Emperor Xiaowu asked.
The King of Qin thought for a moment and nodded.
He was the first to push open the door to that room, opening both doors so that Emperor Xiao Wu and Hu Zhouquan could see everything inside.
Emperor Xiao Wu and Hu Zhouquan were stunned after just one glance.
The room is not big.
A long table is placed in the due south direction, with two memorial tablets on it and two incense burners below them.
The incense burner was full of incense ash, indicating that people often come to worship.
Emperor Xiao Wu slowly walked in.
He looked at the topmost memorial tablet, which was the tablet of the late emperor.
The memorial tablet below belongs to Consort Zheng...
Emperor Xiao Wu glanced at the two memorial tablets, then at the silent Prince Qin beside him, who had lost all his energy.
When the late emperor was buried, neither the Prince of Qin nor the deposed crown prince were allowed to attend the funeral.
"The Imperial Concubine is buried in the Imperial Concubine Mausoleum. If you have time, you can go and take a look," Emperor Xiaowu suddenly said.
The King of Qin nodded and then bowed deeply to Emperor Xiao Wu.
It's already very good that his mother was able to be buried in the imperial concubine mausoleum.
My father died at the hands of Consort Die, who was a member of the Zheng family...
Executing the entire family wouldn't be an exaggeration...
"Is there a fire?" Emperor Xiaowu suddenly asked.
"Your Majesty, this servant has a tinderbox." Hu Zhouquan immediately came over.
Emperor Xiao Wu took three incense sticks from the table, lit them with a tinderbox, and respectfully bowed several times to Emperor Xiao Jing's memorial tablet before placing the incense sticks in the incense burner.
As he watched the wisps of smoke rising from the burning incense, Emperor Xiao Wu sighed softly.
The King of Qin remained silent and followed Emperor Xiao Wu out of the room.
The two continued to stroll around the Prince's mansion.
"Things in the south have been rather unsettled lately," Emperor Xiaowu suddenly said.
Upon hearing this, the King of Qin instinctively asked, "Are there more sea pirates attacking?"
"This shouldn't be happening at this time of year! It's already late autumn; pirates usually don't come out at this time of year."
Emperor Xiao Wu shook his head.
"They weren't exactly pirates."
When my father was alive, he also put a lot of effort into dealing with the Pingnan Army in the south.
They built quite a few warships and the like.
The problem of pirates is not too serious now, as there are watchtowers at each port, and the Pingnan Army can deal with any unusual activity.
The current situation is... a sect called the Sea Dragon Sect has suddenly appeared in that small coastal town.
There are quite a few believers!
I have heard that many believers donate silver and other valuables, and even bring their children into that religion.
"Third Brother, when you were in the south, did you know about the Sea Dragon Sect?" Emperor Xiao Wu asked.
The King of Qin thought about it carefully, then shook his head.
"No! I never heard of this Sea Dragon Cult when I was here."
Perhaps it wasn't a significant force back then, and its scale was still small.
"Then tell me, who created this Sea Dragon Church?" Emperor Xiao Wu continued to ask.
The King of Qin had so much to say about this issue.
"Who else could they be? Those people from those foreign islands!"
The people on those islands survive by fishing.
If they can't catch fish, they'll think of cheating or swindling.
When I was there, I went to the island to conduct a cleanup operation. There was an old man or woman there.
Their faces were painted with face paint, and they were speaking in a language that was incomprehensible.
They distributed fish bones, shells, and corals dredged from the sea to believers as auspicious objects in order to obtain wealth.
The Ping An Army does not believe in these things.
But the fishermen who went out to sea believed it.
In addition, those old men and women could read the weather and accurately predict when there would be strong winds and heavy rains.
The local fishermen greatly admired these people.
They even said they trusted them more than the government.
Furthermore, those people must have the support of those small foreign countries behind them.
"We'll use those believers to gather information and, at a crucial moment, take a bite out of Dayu," the King of Qin said earnestly.
Emperor Xiao Wu understood the situation.
This is essentially equivalent to a local shaman or something similar...
"Can those people be wiped out completely?" Emperor Xiaowu asked.
The King of Qin nodded without hesitation.
"Although the outer islands are all small islands, they are like chess pieces embedded in the sea."
Those people also lived at sea for a long time, and they were not easy to find as they hid on the islands.
But a large-scale cleanup of those islands is also an option.
At that time, stationing Pingnan troops on some key islands will also solve the problem.
I actually thought about this a few years ago.
At that time, the Emperor equipped the Pingnan Army with warships in the hopes of bringing more stability to the seas.
Emperor Xiao Wu nodded, said nothing more, and continued to stroll around the palace.
The King of Qin had no idea what Emperor Xiao Wu was thinking, so he could only follow closely behind.
The two of them, along with Hu Zhouquan, strolled around for quite a while.
"Third Brother! Would you like to venture overseas?" Emperor Xiao Wu suddenly asked.
King of Qin...
"Your Majesty! What...what did you say?" The King of Qin was completely dumbfounded.
"Do you want to venture overseas?" Emperor Xiaowu asked again.
King of Qin...
Hu Zhouquan pretended not to hear anything...
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