Chapter 1356: You are always the Lord

A few days later, Zhou Shuren and his party finally arrived in Zhangzhou, where the disaster was the most severe. Zhangzhou's location was not good, and even if roads were built, Zhangzhou's development was very slow. In addition, due to the soil quality problems here, the food production here was not high.

This snowstorm had the greatest impact on Zhangzhou. The disaster in the other two states passing through the capital has been brought under control, and the people only need to clear the accumulated snow according to the requirements of the local officials.

Only in Zhangzhou was there grain in the granaries, but not as abundant as in the other two states. The people here did not live a rich life either, as continuous heavy snow had collapsed many houses.

Upon entering Zhangzhou City, the prince's brow furrowed. There were many sheds set up outside the Zhangzhou city gate, and many disaster victims gathered outside the city.

Mr. Yan had been silent since entering Zhangzhou, but now he spoke up, "The development gap between the states is huge."

Zhou Shuren answered, "This is normal. Jinzhou is the closest to Beijing and has a port, so it is inevitable that Jinzhou will prosper. However, Zhangzhou's transportation is not very convenient, and there are no resources to attract people, so the development here is much slower."

If it fails to develop and local tax revenues are low, Zhangzhou will be poor.

Lord Yan fell silent. He had never been a local official, so he stopped speaking. He looked out through the glass window at the cold streets outside and let out a long sigh.

The Crown Prince was also exceptionally silent. He would help his father look at the documents. At his age, he only cared about trivial matters. His understanding of each state was also gained from the documents, the most intuitive of which was the tax situation.

As for other aspects, the prince did not know much. He saw more of the prosperity of the capital, the endless flow of merchant caravans, and the people living and working in peace and contentment near the capital. He often went out of the palace and liked to go to the market and other places, and all he saw were the smiles of the people.

When he left the capital, he saw that disaster relief was swift and the people were properly resettled. He was proud because this was the country under the rule of his father.

But when he arrived in Zhangzhou, what he saw were collapsed houses, blocked roads, and fleeing disaster victims. The sheds outside the city for shelter were all simple, and there was no resettlement housing like the one built specifically for disaster relief in the capital.

Zhou Shuren looked at the sky and said, "It's getting late. Let's go to the inn first."

They disguised themselves as a caravan along the way, with the guards dressed as escorts, and there was a team behind them. The carriages behind were loaded with grain, cotton and other supplies transferred from Jinzhou.

This was not arranged by the prince, but was the emperor's order after he knew the situation in Zhangzhou.

In fact, their arrival was quite abrupt. The caravan entered the city even though the city was blocked by snow, which made them particularly conspicuous. However, it was more low-key than the arrival of the prince.

When we arrived at the inn and the food was not ready yet, merchants from Zhangzhou came to the door. The caravan was unfamiliar and had come from a sealed-off city. The local merchants wanted to get information and seize the caravan's goods.

Zhou Shuren drank his tea without moving, and continued to wait for the food to be served.

The prince stood up and said, "I'll go take a look."

Lord Yan wanted to follow, but Zhou Shuren stopped him and said to the prince, "Young Master, go ahead."

The prince's eyes lit up, "Well, you don't have to wait for me when the food comes."

Lord Yan waited for the prince to leave, frowning, "What do you mean, sir?"

Zhou Shuren put down his teacup and looked at Master Yan sharply, "We have been together for a few days along the way. I have never met you before, but I have made some great discoveries in the past few days."

Master Yan frowned even more tightly. He didn't think he had done anything wrong, and his face turned unhappy. "Then please tell me something, Master."

Zhou Shuren took the hand warmer from Jianyan and motioned everyone in the room to leave. "Master Yan, don't you think you are meddling too much?"

He had noticed something on the first day, and had been more careful in the following days. He had endured it all the way to Zhangzhou. He guessed that the emperor had also found out, so this time he asked Lord Yan to go along as well. He said that he had originally agreed to take the prince with him, so why was Lord Yan temporarily added? It was obvious that the emperor wanted to use him to pressure Lord Yan.

Lord Yan's brows deepened. "I don't think so."

He was strict with the prince and he did not think he had done anything wrong.

Zhou Shuren pointed at himself and Lord Yan, "You and I are subjects. The Crown Prince is the crown prince and the future emperor. You are just one of his teachers. You should not cross the line and should not interfere in matters that you should or should not interfere in."

The emperor was obviously unhappy that Lord Yan was controlling the prince in everything. The prince could respect his teacher, but he could not listen to anyone else. Lord Yan himself did not think much of it, but the emperor did not think so.

Zhou Shuren continued, "No matter how young the prince is, he is still a king. He has his own ideas. I think it's good to have a prince like this. Curiosity leads to exploration, and exploration leads to solutions. In the future, Lord Yan only needs to watch and guide the prince appropriately when he makes mistakes."

Lord Yan pursed his lips, some cold sweat broke out on his back. Becoming the prince's master was not only an honor, it also represented benefits. The Yan family gained a lot of benefits because of him. Because he was the prince's master, he was praised by his family, respected by the prince, and indicated by the emperor. He had indeed crossed the line.

Lord Yan raised his eyes and looked at Zhou Shuren, who had already closed his eyes to rest.

In the capital, at Wang's house, Yu Shuang brought pickled sour plums to see Yu Lu. "I heard from my mother that you wanted to eat fruit. I am taking care of the children and my mind is full of them. I didn't even know my mother didn't come to see me. These are the pickled sour plums my mother-in-law made. Do you like them?"

This was pickled by her mother-in-law when she was pregnant. She likes sweets and didn't eat much at the time, but her mother-in-law liked the taste and pickled more.

Yu Lu was taking care of her child due to morning sickness and she didn't even think about it. Her mind was full of her mother's pickles. Her mother's pickles didn't work and she was confused. In her impression, her aunt and sister-in-law all ate her mother's pickles.

When her mother came to see her and mentioned the fruit, she remembered that there were pickled plums at home.

Yu Lu had already opened the can, smelled the food, and couldn't help but urge the girl to get the chopsticks. She ate several mouthfuls in a row, "I'm hungry after eating all this. Big sister, you don't know that I haven't been able to eat well these days. I've been relying on fruits to survive."

Yu Shuang smiled, "Eat if you're hungry. If you like my mother-in-law, I'll ask the maid to bring it to you later."

Yu Lu, "Yes, thank you, big sister."

"We are sisters, thank you."

Yu Lu smiled and asked, "Have you decided on a name for my nephew?"

Yu Shuang, "She still calls me by my nickname Qiu Qiu. My father said we should go to the temple to have our fortune told after the New Year. He said it's more accurate at the beginning of the year."

Yu Lu couldn't stop laughing, "Second Uncle is such a treasure, Qiuqiu."

"Yes, this is the relationship between the next generation and the next generation."

My younger brother is not very old and my father loves him very much. Unfortunately, he is a little precocious and doesn't like to talk, so my father puts all his love on the baby.

Seeing that there was no maid in the room, Yu Shuang asked in a low voice, "You didn't get bullied at home, did you?"

This was the first time Yu Lu came to the Wang Mansion after her marriage.

Yu Lu, "I picked out the good things and ignored the bad things. Don't worry, big sister, I'm not angry at all."

Then she patted her belly and said, "I'm pregnant now, no one dares to really make me angry."

Yu Shuang was relieved, and sighed, "The Wang family is really short of heirs."

"That's right. Our first wife, Wang Wei, has an only child. Our second wife, Wang Jing, has an only child. Our third wife, who was born out of wedlock, has two sons, but when it comes to grandchildren, there is still only one grandson."

There are few children, but there are many women in the backyards of each house.

Yu Shuang felt more assured and said to her, "Believe me, this baby must be a son."

This is her blessing to her sister. If she has a son first, her sister won't have so much pressure in the future.