Chapter 87: Prince An: What will I do without the Prime Minister?
The border war was at a stalemate. After Shen Zhiwei had been watching the military newspaper for a few days, he found that nothing serious had happened, so he put it aside for the time being.
The implementation of the military's farming system previously reduced the army's consumption on the battlefield a lot, but there will be a war this spring, so the farming system may have to be suspended for a year. Fortunately, the Great Zhou is now very large and there are more than one army. Even if the army in the north cannot farm, other places can still farm.
The common people were also working hard to reclaim the land, because Shen Zhiwei had previously promulgated a new law stipulating that the reclaimed land would belong exclusively to the common people. Every common person could have 50 acres of land registered under their name. When registering the land they reclaimed, they only had to pay a small amount of registration fee to the court. In the first three years, the court would not only not collect agricultural taxes, but would also provide subsidies at the rate of 100 coins per acre!
Although the fields of the Great Zhou nominally belonged to the king and the common people only rented them, the king would not be like a landlord who would inexplicably take back the fields from the common people. The land registered in the names of the common people actually belonged to them.
Now the people are very busy. In order to own more land, all the able-bodied people in the family go out to cultivate the fields. They also try to have as many children as possible and raise them well. No matter whether they are girls or boys, they have to be raised well because they can have land registered in their names.
Women in the common people began to marry into other families instead of marrying out of their own country. The men they married into were mostly men from vassal states who were not allowed to register their land, as well as men who were slaves. In this way, the woman could keep the land under her name at home and pass it on to her children.
There are also some men whose families are very poor and cannot own much land, and they are also candidates for marrying into the wife's family.
When Shen Zhiwei learned that such a custom was sweeping the people, he did not react much. It is human instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm. When the policy favors women, the people will naturally make choices that are more beneficial to themselves.
Time passed little by little, and the date of Shen Zhiwei's "delivery" arrived. On this day, she directly suspended the court, and then called Qingzhu, who had been recalled long ago, into the palace to stay for a day and a night.
The outside world thought Qingzhu was delivering the baby for the king, but in fact Shen Zhiwei and Qingzhu drank tea and played chess face to face for the whole day.
Qingzhu would occasionally tell Shen Zhiwei about the progress of her current medical experiments. She was now a qualified surgeon, and what limited her medical skills was not herself but the current medical equipment.
There was no way around it. Shen Zhiwei wanted to make some medical equipment, but she was just an ordinary liberal arts student. Even if she was a science student, she couldn't rub medical equipment with her hands.
Even medical students can't do it.
However, simple biomedical equipment can still be made, such as microscopes and culture dishes.
All of these things require transparent glass, and as the Zheliu caravan moves westward, Shen Zhiwei has found sand that can be used to make transparent glass, and has opened up a trade route to transport the sand. It is believed that transparent glass will soon be embedded in the windows of every household.
With transparent glass, the biomedical field can be better explored.
When the sun rose the next day, the cry of a baby was heard above the Jingchang Palace. The king gave birth to a daughter and named her Chaoyang, meaning that she could be like the morning sun and always bring light to the people of the Great Zhou.
Shen Zhiwei had high expectations for this child. She hoped that this child could become a qualified monarch, pass on the world, and benefit the people.
Because Princess Chaoyang was born not long ago, she was raised in the harem first and would only appear when she was older and stronger. The ministers understood this. Even though they really wanted to see the next emperor first, they could not force the newborn baby to be taken out.
The weather is still quite cold. If anything happens to Wang Ji, they will be held responsible.
Perhaps the heavens were congratulating the emperor, as the border, which had previously had no good news, suddenly reported victory. The army won a great victory, not only defeating the coalition forces, but also taking back the northern territories that had been distributed to other vassal states.
At this point, the entire Northland has fallen into Shen Zhiwei's hands.
Two of Hu Youan's students died. It was said that they were scratched by stray arrows on the battlefield and had a high fever that wouldn't go away. Finally, they became seriously ill and died. Shen Zhiwei was very sad when she heard about it. At the same time, she also felt that these two people were really unlucky. Qingzhu happened to return to the palace to "deliver" her. If Qingzhu was there, these two students might not have been in danger.
The two students involved in the accident were both men. Shen Zhiwei found out after some inquiries that these two men relied on their own abilities and insisted on going to the battlefield to kill the enemy in person. They had good intentions, but they were too young and arrogant. In the end, they paid the price for their own shortcomings with their own lives.
Shen Zhiwei asked Hu Youan to stay at the border with the students. The professional school had started to be renovated and the medical equipment had been moved in. The school would reopen next year and would train medical students.
These military academy students are doing internships at the border. Once the internship is over, they will graduate. Hu Youan will no longer have to run back and forth and can continue to guard the border. It is like killing two birds with one stone.
Shen Zhiwei would look after the children, play chess with others, and take a stroll in the Hundred Craftsmen's Workshop when she had nothing to do. Anyway, the government affairs were now assisted by Wen Tao and Gui Yang, and with Yan Xia assisting her, her workload was greatly reduced.
If I had known this earlier, I would have formed a cabinet earlier. The cabinet is simply the best choice for the monarch to be lazy in a legitimate way.
Poor Gui Yang, she has been so tired lately that her dark eyes look like wrinkles under her eyes, and she has a kind of kidney-deficient beauty every day. Shen Zhiwei feels guilty when he sees her in court, after all, Gui Yang looks much worse than Wen Tao before.
Shen Zhiwei was certain that Gui Yang was not a high-energy person.
Then he is actually not suitable to be the prime minister. Even Wen Tao is not this tired.
Shen Zhiwei complained in his heart without any conscience, and then began to search for members who could join the cabinet.
Before, Gui Yang had selected a few people to join the cabinet. If it weren't for those people, Gui Yang would probably be more tired. Now with the help of those three people, Gui Yang was able to barely get started.
Those three people were all from Gui Yang's party. If Shen Zhiwei wanted to insert more people, he had to choose officials who were not from his party.
The Wen Tao Party and the completely neutral faction are the best choices.
If all members of Wen Tao's party were elected, it would be like giving people a stage to perform a big show. The country has not yet been unified, and if we want to fight, we can't start it now. Shen Zhiwei finally chose three neutral officials. Among these three neutral officials, two were newly promoted Jinshi from aristocratic families. These two people had read the works of Wen Tao's teacher Changzi, and it was said that they had some friendship with Wen Tao in private.
The remaining official was a woman from a poor family. After she passed the imperial examination, she had no contact with anyone. If you insist on saying that she had some connection with anyone, it was probably Yanxia. Yanxia said that her sister joined the Baigong Workshop and was a weaver.
With the addition of these three people, Gui Yang's dark circles were visibly lighter.
It’s good to be young, as you can recover quickly.
While Shen Zhiwei was still lamenting the youth of her ministers, someone else was already crying over the old age of their ministers.
An Qu had a chronic illness and was unable to walk. His health would get worse every winter. This year's winter in Anguo was particularly cold, but An Wanghai did not listen to his advice and did not withdraw his troops before the spring plowing. He insisted on competing with Jingchang's troops. As a result, not only was the spring plowing delayed, but he was also beaten by Jingchang and suffered heavy losses.
It was too late to realize his mistake now. Prince An came to ask him for advice, but An Qu couldn't think of any. He stayed up for a while at night and fell ill the next day.
While lying drowsy on the sickbed, An Qu was wondering if he was really old.
Yes, he and An Gongshou are of the same age. An Gongshou has passed away, and he was already an old man when he was alive in this world.
But he was unwilling to accept it. In his life, he met a wise leader and thought he could assist him in accomplishing great things. However, the wise leader died early, leaving behind a child. Unfortunately, the child was disobedient, self-willed and irritable.
In fact, the child has just come of age this year, and there is nothing wrong with being a little frivolous, but the world cannot tolerate the instability of young people.
In a war between countries, one wrong step will lead to all the wrong steps. If you don't know how to restrain yourself, it will sooner or later lead to a disaster.
An Qu didn't know how many times he had said similar things to King An, but helplessly, King An just nodded obediently every time, but turned around and ignored him. When something happened, he still did his own thing. When he came back to seek redress after suffering a loss, it was too late.
An Qu closed his eyes tiredly. He was a little sleepy. Perhaps he should have fallen into a deep sleep long ago. The crying beside his ears tugged at his soul, making him unwilling to leave. Prince An cried and begged An Qu not to die. He had not found another candidate for prime minister yet. No one could do a better job than An Qu.
On his deathbed, An Qu closed his eyes with reluctance and regret. Even if he was a king who owned a whole land, he could not change the cycle of birth, old age, sickness and death, and he could not keep those who were destined to leave.
After the news of An Qu's death spread throughout the world, all the princes found that An Guo had become much quieter. Before, An Guo was particularly troublesome. It was King An who suggested to unite and attack the north. King An wanted to get involved in everything, but he always failed to do it well.
The reason why Anguo was not fundamentally damaged before was because of the presence of the old prime minister An Qu. Now, can the young monarch who has been on the throne for many years but has accomplished nothing suppress the evil spirits under the throne?
The princes were all watching the show, and several major countries were looking forward to An Guo's future performance. Shen Zhiwei summoned Wen Tao and asked about her father's current situation.
In a blink of an eye, it has been more than five years since she came to this world. Shen Zhiwei is already twenty years old. Time flies too fast. An Qu's death reminds her of the old man Wen Shao. The old man is pedantic but loyal, and he can withstand the test and has never caused her any trouble. Shen Zhiwei is grateful for the friendship between the monarch and the minister, and does not want the old man to leave so early.
Wen Tao said that her father was very good, able to eat, drink and sleep. When he was angry, his voice was very loud, and you could hear him scolding the tribesmen for being stupid from miles away. The day before yesterday, because he loved eating fish, he ate three bowls of rice in one meal. He was so full that he went to see a doctor in the middle of the night to get some medicine to help digestion.
Listening to Wen Tao's narration, Shen Zhiwei smiled faintly and said, "An old man in the family is like a treasure. You are a filial son, and your father will surely enjoy his old age in peace."
"With the King's auspicious words, I only hope that the elders in my family can be healthy and free from illness and disaster, and that the elderly in the world can have someone to support them and enjoy their old age."
Wen Tao's ideological realm is really high. She not only learned the sage's words of respecting the elderly as one's own, but also took them to heart.
"Students all over the world should take the Grand Tutor as their role model, for he is knowledgeable and virtuous." Shen Zhiwei praised Wen Tao again, then said, "I intend to establish a university and a national academy to educate students all over the world. Would the Grand Tutor be willing to serve as the Imperial Academy's chief academic officer?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
