Chapter 49: Continuous Mines (Part 3) Update
The letter from the young marquis to the Crown Prince of Yanjing was written by him, Du Hui, so he naturally knew the content.
They asked the prince for a piece of land for the marquisate to make a living, and seemed to be very fearful and cautious in avoiding all the residential areas of the two cities and thirteen counties in Xiguan County, and chose the fiefdom in the vast uninhabited area of Xiguan County and its surrounding areas.
While the map indicated a significant area, excluding the uninhabited area in the center, the remainder consisted of only a limited number of mountain range branches and the frozen plateau to the northwest. Xiguan County's most famous locations, such as Xisai Lake and Qiansongling, which produced goods destined for the imperial court, were completely avoided.
The attitude of begging for a little chance of survival is extremely humble.
The prince and the emperor granted him such a fiefdom, which was similar to the "largest" fiefdom given to the King of Xiguan.
In fact, the emperor was extremely merciful. Before the punishment period was over, he specially approved the granting of a fiefdom with a radius of three or four hundred miles. He also allowed him to develop and utilize the land on his own without going through the Xiguan Governor's Office, so that he could make a living.
Look, he was an emperor of the Zhou Dynasty, and he treated the orphan of the third prince, who was so beloved by the late emperor, with both kindness and severity, even though the orphan had a bad reputation and was extremely stupid, in the hope that he would become stronger and reform himself.
Even the right to exploit the fiefs of kings and marquises was directly granted to Marquis Xiguan!
Those court officials who still occasionally try to say a word or two for the descendants of the King of Xiguan in the court can now shut up.
But only Liu Ziye and Du Hui knew that for this fiefdom, the two of them almost tore apart the atlas and local chronicles left by the King of Xiguan. Only after they had precisely planned every stroke and every mile did they hand over such a letter of request to the prince for this fiefdom!
From now on, within the area circled on their map, the young Marquis of Xiguan once again legitimately obtained the fiefdom. More importantly, they obtained the direct development and management rights of all the mineral resources within this fiefdom!
The young marquis is currently developing an iron ore mine and no longer needs to bear any risk of violating the court's laws.
Of course, this does not mean that they can make a big fuss in the future. It is still necessary to keep a low profile and conceal their tracks as much as possible!
Whose business of rebellious supplies is going to be more ostentatious?
It was just that this fiefdom gave them a good excuse to conceal their true actions. Without this, the sudden transfer of so many people and materials from their Xiguan Marquisate to the iron mine would have aroused their vigilance.
Du Hui stood up, holding the letter in his hand, and walked back and forth excitedly in his small office.
"Okay, that's great!"
"This good news must be told to the young marquis immediately!"
Thinking of this, he strode out and shouted, "Wen Chang, Wen Chang!"
Hao Wenchang and Wang Zhi were working in another room, checking the first batch of people and supplies to be transported to the young marquis's camp. Hearing this, they came out and said, "Yijun, what did you call me for?"
"Come here." Du Hui called him directly, and when Hao Wenchang came up in confusion, he told him that the young marquis had regained his fiefdom.
"real!?"
Hao Wenchang was also very surprised for a moment.
"That's right. When did you originally plan to set off to meet up with the young marquis?" Du Hui asked.
"The plan is five days later. What the young marquis wants this time are mainly carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths and other craftsmen or interested apprentices. The recruitment of these people and their preparations to go into the mountains will take a few days to be safe." Hao Wenchang said.
The iron mine where the young marquis is currently working will gradually be developed into a complete ecological zone for mineral development and smelting, as well as for the living of miners, craftsmen and soldiers, in the future plan.
The management and specific planning and operation of this area must be presided over by someone.
Hao Wenchang took on this position without hesitation. This time he followed the team into the mining area to meet up with the young marquis, and was also prepared to stay in the mining area for a long time.
Du Hui paused for a moment and said, "Let's work out a plan together today and hand it over to Wang Zhi to continue. Tomorrow, you will take this letter and go to the young marquis first!"
"become."
The plan was decided, and the two of them immediately reorganized the matters at hand.
Since Hao Wenchang is leaving tomorrow, it is impossible for him to go with just a letter. The craftsmen and supplies that have been prepared and can accompany Hao Wenchang can set off in advance.
There was a lively and festive atmosphere in the Marquis' Mansion.
On Qinyang Street, there is an ordinary wonton stall. While the stall owner is busy making wontons for several customers, his eyes are looking straight towards the direction of the Marquis' Mansion.
This person was none other than one of the few secret guards of the Imperial Guard left behind after Chi Mu arrived in Xiguan County. His purpose was to monitor and spy on the actions of the young Marquis of Xiguan, and report directly to Yanjing through the secret guard line.
Seeing the actions of Xiguan Marquis Mansion in recent days, the secret guards could not contain their excitement!
The young Marquis of Xiguan finally became dishonest...
No, after a whole winter and a whole spring of hard work, he finally found an important clue -
The young Marquis of Xiguan is so unruly!
The Imperial Guard, disguised as a secret agent tasked with investigating the Xiguan Marquisate, finally discovered something major was happening. After reporting the various actions of the Marquisate to his superiors, the secret agent waited anxiously for a reply, even refusing to leave his wonton stall.
What he finally got was just an instruction that everything was normal and that he should continue to wait.
Secret Guard: ...
Although he is a secret guard, isn't this mission a little too shady?
What kind of movement is considered abnormal? Does he have to wait until the young marquis of Xiguan raises the banner of rebellion before it is considered abnormal?
If that's the case, leader, you might as well just send us back!
Everyone knows that the young marquis of Xiguan takes turns praying for the emperor and the prince every morning and evening. Inside and outside the palace, when he mentions the emperor and the prince, the reverence and longing in his bones would spread to seven or eight miles away.
In this magnificent Zhou Dynasty, even if all the kings in the country rebelled, there would never be a coward like the young Marquis of Xiguan, okay?
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Yanjing, the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In late spring and early summer, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty once again led his ministers, leaving the towering imperial palace in Yanjing that stretched for more than ten miles, and headed south to the summer palace in the secondary capital of Yanjing.
When the emperor left the city, he was accompanied by a large group of princes, dukes, and high-ranking officials, bringing along the elderly and children. In this period, except for the northern part of the capital, where the emperor, the princes, and the ministers resided, the palaces, residences, and main roads were all paved with smooth blue bricks or jade stones. Other areas where ordinary people lived, despite the bustling traffic and pedestrian flow of the capital, were all simple, primitive dirt roads.
The main power source during this period was animal power. All important roads showed traces of animal power. Smoke, animal feces, and the complex mixed smell produced by their fermentation were the most common sights in areas where ordinary people lived.
The common people were accustomed to this, but the emperor and his ministers were not.
Because the summer palace is located in the south of Yanjing, the emperor's ceremonial guard and a large number of carriages and horses of princes and high-ranking officials must pass through the south city.
Half a month in advance, the roads that the emperor would travel through were completely closed, and no civilians were allowed to pass.
The Great Zhou Dynasty had been established for nearly thirty years, and after thirty years of development, the capital of Yanjing was already crowded with people on every main street. Upon receiving the notice of another main street closure, the residents who owned shops on these streets could not help but complain.
"How many times has Guangwu Street been closed since last year? My little shop has only been open for less than three years, and I can't even make back my initial investment. Now, throughout the year, I'm open less than half the time! How can this continue?"
Upon hearing the news, a handicraft vendor who was packing up his stall said, "Keep your voice down so the officials don't hear!"
The shop owner was genuinely angry: "Of course you could stop complaining. Guangwu Street is closed. At worst, you can just move your stall to the Xicheng Market. But I'm stuck here, I can't go anywhere!"
Unexpectedly, the vendor said in a bitter voice, "Who said I was going to set up a stall in the West City? Oh, I do want to!"
The vendor was always in front of the shop, and the two of them often saw each other and were quite familiar with each other. So the shop owner asked in surprise, "What's the matter? Are you closing your shop again? Your family and children are waiting for you to buy rice and meat, aren't they?"
"The head of the village assigned me the task of sweeping and cleaning this time!" the peddler said bitterly.
When the shop owner heard this, he immediately understood: "Why don't you spend some money instead of letting this burden fall on you!"
"That won't work this time! Our Majesty's procession, along with the successive arrivals of princes, nobles, and their families, is said to take a month to move to the area surrounding the Liang Palace. Starting tomorrow, until the day His Majesty sets out in his carriage, the entire street must be spotlessly clean and fragrant, and it must be swept promptly every night thereafter. Just imagine how much money it would take to avoid the burden on me during such a long period of time?!"
The vendor said, "I can only hurry up for now. If I can find some free time, I will go to the West City stall you mentioned a few times. I will be very grateful!"
The shop owner glared at him. "What? It's the end of March now, so the closure will last until the beginning of May?"
He felt like he was about to faint from anger at the news.
When he decided to buy this shop a few years ago, Guangwu Street was so prosperous and bustling. How could he have expected that after spending such a huge amount of money to buy this shop, Guangwu Street would be in trouble. Now everyone who can move away has moved away, and the people of Yanjing City have gradually stopped coming here because it is often closed.
Now, even if he wanted to sell the shop, he might not be able to sell it even if he gave it a 20% or 30% discount compared to the price he paid for it!
Seeing the shop owner's dejected expression, the vendor quietly packed up his stall and said goodbye to each other in a dejected and silent manner. Whether they would see each other again in a month, no one could predict.
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