A Cai's work: The Emperor's Phoenix: The Godly Doctor and the Abandoned Concubine ... Volume 1 039 Stars, Catch Them All

After the polite conversation, not only Feng Qingchen was tired, but also the King of Jiangnan and the King of Qing were exhausted...

They seldom return to Beijing for several years. They are used to being local tyrants in Jiangnan. They rarely have the opportunity to speak so carefully, being careful in everything, and always wondering if what they say is right...

The Ninth Prince just watched the fun, and after Feng Qingchen and King Jiangnan finished talking, the Ninth Prince said, "Sit down."

"Thank you, Uncle Jiu." Even if he doesn't call him the emperor, he still has to follow the proper etiquette. The amount of etiquette performed by the Prince of Jiangnan and the Prince of Qing today is more than the amount performed in all previous years combined.

My old waist hurts.

The conversation between the Ninth Prince and the King of Jiangnan involved a lot of serious matters. In the past few years, natural disasters have occurred frequently in Jiangnan. The fertile fields have been flooded for several years in a row, and the harvest has been greatly reduced.

"There has been a lot of rain in recent years, which is actually a natural disaster rather than a man-made one." The King of Jiangnan also knew that the tax revenue in Jiangnan had been decreasing in recent years, and many ministers in the court had impeached him, but...

He was helpless. God did not give him food to eat and the harvest was getting worse every year. Even if he wanted to add silver, he had no money to add.

"Where did you spend all the money you allocate for flood control every year?" The Ninth Prince looked along the way and found that the tree planted beside the river bank was still a small sapling, and it looked like it was newly planted in the past two years.

"My nephew and the officials under him did not touch a single cent of that money. They spent it all on the waterways." The King of Jiangnan could guarantee this.

He didn't dare to say that everyone in the officialdom of Jiangnan was an honest official, but none of them had ever embezzled a penny of the silver from the river. They all knew how miserable the consequences would be if they were discovered to have embezzled the silver.

"I see that you have indeed spent a lot of money on the river. The trees on both sides of the river are planted every year. Do you know the reason?" This is not a secret, and the Ninth Prince found it out with a casual check.

"All the saplings were washed away by the water." This is absolutely not a lie, it is the truth.

"Every year, after the trees are planted, they are washed away not long after. Haven't you ever checked the reason?" The Ninth Prince looked at the King of Jiangnan with disappointment.

The King of Jiangnan was indeed selfless and governed Jiangnan very well, but there were many small things that the King of Jiangnan overlooked...

The Ninth Prince asked someone to bring out an account book. The account book was for a merchant in Jiangnan who sold saplings. The figures on it were simply shocking...

In the past two years, most of the silver distributed by the imperial court for water conservancy projects fell into the hands of these merchants.

These merchants colluded with officials to get them to buy their saplings. Then they secretly gave money to the people who planted the trees, asking them to dig shallower holes when planting the saplings and not to compress the soil too tightly when burying the saplings.

The tree was planted, but it was not firmly planted. A little water could carry it away, so...

This sapling is planted every year, but it never survives!

This matter is really unknown. Once it is investigated, one will be shocked. When the Ninth Prince saw this account book, his first reaction was to confiscate the property and hold the relevant personnel accountable.

For their own selfish interests, they don't care about the lives of the people. No...it should be said that for their own selfish interests, those people don't care about their own lives.

The waterways in the south of the Yangtze River are rotten from the root.

After reading the account book, the smile on King Jiangnan's face disappeared. Even though the Ninth Uncle and Feng Qingchen didn't say anything, King Jiangnan knew that this time the matter was serious...

With a thud, the King of Jiangnan knelt straight down in front of the Ninth Uncle and said, "I have failed in my duty. Your Majesty, please punish me."

When Prince Qing saw Prince Jiangnan’s solemn expression, he knew the matter was serious, so he also knelt down and apologized.

The Ninth Emperor looked at the two nephews in front of him, who were not much younger than him, and sighed slightly: "Get up."

Is this letting them go?

The King of Jiangnan and the King of Qing looked at each other and then turned away quickly...

The Ninth Prince pretended not to see it and said, "Please find out the truth about this as soon as possible. I don't want the same thing to happen again."

By handing the matter over to the Prince of Jiangnan and the Prince of Qing for investigation, it means that the Ninth Prince will no longer pursue responsibility, nor will he expose the matter and embarrass the two of them.

King Jiangnan and King Qing breathed a sigh of relief and thanked him again and again...

After talking about the Jiangnan waterway, the King of Jiangnan and the King of Qing also talked about the fact that some forces in Jiangnan have been active recently...

Although the King of Jiangnan did not say it directly, the meaning of his words was very clear. The forces behind these activities were probably targeting the Ninth Prince and Feng Qingchen.

"Just right, we can catch them all in one fell swoop." The Ninth Prince had been traveling peacefully all the way. Not to mention the remnants of the Three Kingdoms and the previous dynasty, he had not encountered even a single ordinary assassin. This group of remnants from the previous dynasty was just right for the guards to practice their skills...

The King of Jiangnan suspected that there were people from the imperial court in the palace. In order to test the situation, the Ninth Prince and Feng Qingchen deliberately announced in the palace that they were going to go boating tomorrow night. As a result, a few little girls were restless and passed the news on...

"Ziqing, go and make arrangements." The Ninth Prince still had great trust in Prince Qing and Prince Jiangnan. Otherwise, he would not have put his own safety in the hands of Prince Qing.

King Qing's face darkened and he agreed immediately.

This is an opportunity to show off. If this matter is handled well, the bad impression brought by the river will be eliminated. But if there is no solution, he may be punished for two crimes.

Prince Qing attached great importance to the safety of the Ninth Uncle and Feng Qingchen. He knew very well that if something happened to the Emperor and the Queen in Jiangnan, both the Prince of Jiangnan and he would be doomed to die.

The King of Qing did everything himself, no matter how tedious it was. He made sure that every detail was taken care of and never allowed any accidents to occur.

The Ninth Prince saw this and naturally understood Prince Qing's intentions, and his appreciation for Ziqing increased even more.

Among his nephews, the Ninth Prince was most optimistic about Ziqing. However, Ziqing was devoted to the King of Jiangnan, and his loyalty never changed regardless of whether the King of Jiangnan was in power or not. This made the Ninth Prince feel sorry for him, but at the same time, he looked up to him even more.

The Ninth Prince and Feng Qingchen took a short rest and appeared on the cruise ship that had been booked in advance that evening.

The sky is dotted with stars, and the shore is brightly lit. Although it is not as bright as day, it is still a city that never sleeps...

Jiangnan no longer has the reputation of being prosperous and wealthy.

Apart from the Ninth Prince's ship, there were only a few scattered escort ships on the river. The merchant ships and flower boats that usually did business on the river had long been cleared away by the King of Qing, and the entire river was clear and refreshing...

"The night view of Jiangnan is indeed beautiful." In this age when lights are turned off early at night, in this age without electricity, there are still candlelight on both sides of the river. This is really not easy.

The King of Jiangnan, who was accompanying him, explained, "Jiangnan is a wealthy place, with many men of letters and poets. There are many brothels and inns in this area, and the two banks are very bright at night." In other words, there are many rich people in this area.

"Indeed..." Feng Qingchen nodded in agreement. Just now, as she walked along, she had seen many people in luxurious clothes. These people looked wealthy and it was obvious at a glance that their families were quite wealthy.

Even the ordinary people on the street were all dressed neatly, with very few patches on their clothes, which was completely different from what they saw in the north...

The gap between the north and the south is indeed quite large. Feng Qingchen was wondering how to make the wealth more balanced between the north and the south?

But Feng Qingchen couldn't think of a good solution after thinking about it. After all, she didn't study economics. She devoted herself to medicine in her previous life, and later went to the battlefield. She really didn't know much about the domestic economic development...

The only thing she knew was that there was a lot of heavy industry in the north and a lot of coal mines in the northwest, which was well known to the public.

But current technology is simply incapable of supporting the development of heavy industry, let alone coal mines?

In this era, just like diamonds, Feng Qingchen couldn't think of what else coal could be used for besides burning...

Generating electricity or something?

Feng Qingchen said, she can’t even understand the electrical diagram, are you sure she can build a power plant?

As for going to the West to seek advanced technology?

This is even more bullshit...

She once sent people out to sea to look for European countries. European countries were still in a slave society where people could be bought and sold at will. The nobles were born to step on the heads of slaves, riding, shooting and hunting all day long, living a life of drunkenness and dreams. As for technology?

There was no shadow...

While Feng Qingchen was thinking hard, he suddenly heard a "splash" sound. The next second, ripples appeared on the calm water surface, and black shadows emerged from the water.

"Assassin, there is an assassin. Quickly capture the assassin and protect the master."

The small boat where the guards were standing immediately started moving. The guards on the boat jumped down and fought with the assassins who had broken through the water, preventing them from approaching the Ninth Prince's boat.

Because the country had been prepared, the guards did not wear heavy armor that would easily sink in water. Instead, they wore ordinary clothes and could move back and forth naturally in the water without any restraint.

The number of assassins was not large, so the guards had no difficulty dealing with them. But at this moment, the boatman shouted, "The boat is broken. Quick, jump off the boat. The boat is broken."

The boat that the Ninth Prince and Feng Qingchen were on had water entering one end of it, and it quickly tilted to one side. The position where the Ninth Prince and Feng Qingchen were standing was just opposite to the direction of the water, and the bow of the boat tilted up...

"You're here really early." The Ninth Prince held Feng Qingchen in his arms, and stood there without any intention of moving, as the bow of the ship rose higher and higher. The guards on the ship were well-trained, and even if the ship sank, they would not move a single step without orders...

The boat continued to sink, and soon it was below the waist of the guards. They still did not move, but stayed where they were, lest any assassins break through the encirclement and come to kill them...

The night is the best cover-up. No matter how bright the stars and the moon are in the sky, or how sparks are flashing on both banks, no one can see what is happening in the middle of the river, and no one can notice it...

The shouts and sounds of fighting became more and more intense, and soon the assassins suffered heavy losses. At this time, the assassins also realized that they had fallen into a trap...

"Retreat, the dog emperor is well prepared." The assassin leader said, and was the first to dive into the water, but it was too late...

Suddenly, several warships appeared on the water. This time, they were real warships. They were full of Jiangnan navy. The Qing prince was on the warships, commanding the navy to capture the assassin alive...

"Don't let any of them escape. I will capture them alive!"

Yes, only by catching them alive can they follow the clues to find out the truth. Even if they cannot catch them all, they must injure the enemy so badly that they will no longer be able to fight...