Two in one! The battle between princes is always like this (love comes from...
After winter came, Meng Nu felt a little bored and anxious every day.
When winter came, the leaves fell and the crops in the fields stopped growing. As an agricultural official, she had nothing to do.
Ms. Meng now has a new hobby. She likes to chat with new people.
The farm, which originally had only a few households, is now very lively, with more than a hundred people living in it, about ten families.
Like the previous group of people, they were all born as slaves, but now they are all commoners.
Meng Nv exchanged wheat seeds from the previous batch of slaves. The wheat seeds allowed her to change her destiny and embark on a new path in life. Therefore, she has an absolute passion for change and hopes that her life will have more changes that are different from the past.
When chatting with the slaves, I could hear a lot of new things. The slaves' hometowns were far away, and the customs and habits there were completely different from those in Jingchang.
Even the words they spoke were different.
Ms. Meng now knows most of the characters and can speak fluent classical Chinese. The more she learns, the more she understands that the world is vast and she will never be able to understand all the books.
She can only learn the world's knowledge bit by bit like she is now, until the day she can no longer learn.
From the newcomers, Meng Nu learned that there was a war outside and the vassal states were in chaos. They could not get a single bite of food to eat outside, and even drinking a sip of clean water became a luxury. Their houses and fields had long been burned down or robbed. They had nowhere to stay, and later their country was destroyed, and they became slaves.
"If I had known that Jingchang was such a good place, I would have been sold here as a slave earlier."
"The king has just bought slaves here. If you had become a slave earlier, you would have had to find a living elsewhere. Except for Jingchang, there is no other place in the world that would turn slaves back into commoners and give you good farmland and houses for you to live on."
When Meng Nu heard those people's sighs, she began to persuade them not to be unsatisfied, and even more so not to have any unsatisfied thoughts.
In troubled times, the common people, whose fate is like that of ants, must learn to accept everything imposed on them by those in high positions, whether it is kindness or force.
"You're right. The king is truly very kind. Ms. Meng, I heard that you've met the king and even spoken to him. What kind of person is he?"
None of the newcomers have seen Shen Zhiwei. Shen Zhiwei doesn’t like to go out of the palace recently and likes to stay at home.
Shen Zhiwei always stayed at home unless necessary, whether in modern times or ancient times.
"My king, she is a kind and wise monarch. She loves her people like her own children. She is like the sun in the sky, bringing immense warmth to people."
Ms. Meng couldn't give a long speech of praise, she could only use a simple tone to describe all the feelings she had when she saw the king.
It seemed like a kind of warmth that she had never experienced before. She felt that only in front of the king was she a human being, a complete person.
We are not inferior to anyone, nor are we born only to die.
The common people could not imagine what kind of monarch he was.
Their former monarchs gave them only increasingly heavy taxes, relatives who were dragged to the front lines as exiles, and every day they suffered from hunger and cold.
What is kindness? What is the warmth of the sun?
They didn't understand. They only knew that the king was different from the princes. If the whole world belonged to the king, all the people in the world would be able to live a stable life like them.
Shen Zhiwei didn't know how many people were hoping that she could unify the world right under her nose.
She sneezed and wrapped herself tightly in fox fur. The temperature had dropped sharply in the past few days, almost jumping from late summer to winter in one step.
A few days ago, I was still complaining about how severe the autumn heat was. It was as hot as summer in autumn. I woke up this morning and needed a fox fur coat.
People in this era didn't have any special measures to keep out the cold, and wearing a leather jacket was the highest privilege they could get.
The nobles wore fox fur, rabbit fur, etc., while the common people wore leather clothes made of broken skins. The clothes were not necessarily made of the same animal, but they were all very warm.
The premise is that the common people have money, but most of them do not have money, and they may only wear one leather jacket in their life, which will be worn by their ancestors and passed down to themselves until it is so worn out that it cannot be worn out anymore.
Looking down at the gorgeous new fox fur on his body and feeling the warmth of the fur, Shen Zhiwei felt a little uncomfortable.
She called a palace maid and asked her, "Have all the common people been settled?"
The maids who follow her now not only have to manage the affairs of the palace, but also have to take care of Shen Zhiwei's official business. Shen Zhiwei is training them to be independent assistants, and plans to set up an institution in the future.
It is similar to training a secretary. Although there are "secretaries" in the court, the officials in the court also have their own jobs and cannot serve her alone.
The palace maids did a pretty good job. The most outstanding one was the one sitting next to Shen Zhiwei. Her name was Yanxia. She was in her early twenties, but she herself didn't know her exact age.
Anyway, she had been in the palace for twenty years. She was average-looking and couldn't speak nicely, so she didn't stand out when the previous king was alive.
As a result, he avoided being buried alive with the previous king.
Yanxia was not very good at serving others, but she was very good at handling government affairs, running errands for Shen Zhiwei, and conveying orders.
He is a special talent.
Yanxia bowed and answered the king's question, saying, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. All the common people have been settled. Agricultural officials have been sent to each place to divide up the fertile land and take charge of the rental of agricultural tools."
"Well, we can't leave all matters to the agricultural officials. The minor officials should also have some contact with the village elders. If the agricultural officials cause trouble, ask the village elders to inform the officials in advance."
Shen Zhiwei didn't want another spy to appear and cause any kind of heavenly punishment or something like that.
These common people had come here with great difficulty from thousands of miles away, but in the end they died inexplicably in the so-called "miracle". Wouldn't all her previous efforts have been in vain?
That wouldn't do. She absolutely couldn't let anything happen to the common people! She even wanted them to help her with her livestock farming business!
Raising pigs, chickens, and sheep, she just wants to eat the cleanest meat.
"In two months, the pigs raised by Dazai will be ready for market. I'm really looking forward to it."
Yanxia has become accustomed to the king's changing topics. Anyway, being with the king, her ability to respond is much stronger than before.
Now she can respond to the king's words skillfully, and then say, "I am also looking forward to it."
In fact, Yanxia didn't look forward to eating pork at all. Pork is cheap meat, dirty and unpalatable. She really didn't know why the king wanted to eat pork?
Even if the pig was raised by Dazai himself, it would still be dirty!
Shen Zhiwei could see Yanxia's aversion to pork, which was normal. People of this era could not imagine how delicious the pork of castrated pigs that were raised on pig grass and grains tasted.
Braised pork, stewed spare ribs, sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour pork tenderloin...
A long list of dish names flashed through Shen Zhiwei's mind instantly, making her drool.
It was an exaggeration, an exaggeration. Actually, she just swallowed her saliva and told the palace servants that she wanted to eat.
Just imagining it makes one's stomach turn sour with hunger. It's conceivable how much Shen Zhiwei craves this piece of meat.
People live to eat and sleep.
Chen Zhiwei said angrily that if he couldn't eat delicious food and couldn't sleep until he woke up naturally, his life would be over.
She lived a good life.
The happy Shen Zhiwei selectively ignored the hard days when she had to eat boiled vegetables every day because she didn't have an iron pot.
Jingchang was a peaceful place, but outside it was snowing, raining, windy and frosty, and people's calculations never stopped for a moment.
The king of the Northern Kingdom, Beiyue, was so angry that he smashed the table.
"Prime Minister! Rong has actually been in Jiuqu City the entire time, right beside Zhuo, without even trying to hide anything. What does Anguo mean by this? Is he sure that I won't attack Anguo?"
Before, he asked the prime minister to persuade the emperor to send troops. However, not long after the prime minister left, he heard the whereabouts of Prince Rong. He was half-believing and half-doubting, but those ministers who were loyal to Prince Rong were very happy. Without waiting to verify the news, they began to meet frequently in private to discuss in detail the matter of welcoming Prince Rong back.
Bei Yue was so angry that he called Su Wang back and asked him to check whether Gongzi Rong was really in Anguo.
Now the results are out, it is indeed there, not only is it there, it is not concealed at all.
If North Vietnam had not been busy fighting some time ago, it would have exploded long ago. Now that the fighting on the front line has subsided, North Vietnam immediately called Su Wang to discuss how to deal with Gongzi Rong.
Su Wang watched Bei Yue smashing things quietly. This was the temper of the monarch. He was like this when he was a prince, and he is still like this now.
After smashing things, the North Vietnamese became much less aggressive and were able to sit down and have a good talk.
"Prime Minister, we must not allow him to continue living. If he convinces the people of Anguo, Anguo will lend him troops, and the Northern Kingdom will be in danger."
"Your Majesty, please calm down. In my opinion, Anguo will not lend troops to Prince Rong. Your Majesty can rest assured."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
It was the right choice to wait until Bei Yue calmed down before speaking. If Su Wang had said this before, the ornament in Bei Yue's hand would have hit him in the face the next second.
At this moment, Bei Yue would sit quietly and wait for Su Wang to explain.
"Your Majesty, Young Master Rong has been in An for over a month. This time, the Bei'an Alliance is attacking the Yun Kingdom. If An had any other intentions, they would have taken action long ago. Why wait until today when the truce is over?"
Taking action on the battlefield is more covert and can hit the Northern Kingdom more. It can even be said that as long as An Kingdom wants to deal with the Northern Kingdom, the Northern Kingdom would have been unable to withstand it long ago. The Northern Kingdom cannot go to war on two sides at the same time.
Anguo did not take action, which meant that there was no unified opinion within Anguo, and that the people in the Northern Alliance had the upper hand.
The reason why Gongzi Rong followed Prince Zhuo was simply to show off to the world, because Beiyue had previously claimed that he was dead, and that it was such an ignominious death that he was struck by lightning, which he definitely could not admit.
Other methods of clarification are simply impossible to implement. Now Prince Rong is no longer a prince of the Northern Kingdom, but a loser who was expelled by Prince Yue of the Northern Kingdom. No one in the world will listen to him.
Only by following Prince Zhuo's side and walking around him every day can he use Prince Zhuo to spread the news that he is still alive throughout the world.
It would take quite some time for this move to succeed, but it was extremely effective, and the ministers in the Northern Kingdom who wanted to welcome him back were a ready-made result.
"But Anguo doesn't want to help him, so why keep him in Anguo?"
Bei Yue still felt uneasy. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. He took two deep breaths and said, "We must kill him. We can't let him live any longer!"
As long as a person is dead, no matter who wants to cause trouble, they will not be able to threaten him.
Su Wang agreed with this. It was indeed a problem that Gongzi Rong was alive. He also felt that An Zhuo was planning to put Gongzi Rong out in the open first so that he could use him when he fell out with the Northern Kingdom in the future.
Gongzi Rong is indeed a threat.
Bei Yue and Su Wang are planning to assassinate Gongzi Rong. Gongzi Rong in Jiuqu also knows that his situation is worrying. Taking advantage of the recent ceasefire, he begins to discuss with his cousin to go elsewhere.
The relationship between An Zhuo and Beirong is actually very good, much better than the outside world speculates.
They really had a deep friendship. During the years they were held hostage in Bian State, they ate and lived together and were closer than brothers.
An Zhuo never thought of using Bei Rong. The reason why he kept Bei Rong by his side was to prevent North Vietnam from sending people to assassinate him. As long as he was by his side, North Vietnam would restrain itself.
"Brother, I understand Zhuo's intentions. However, the Beiyue people are ambitious, cruel, and out of control. If they continue to stay with Zhuo, they may bring disaster to him."
Gongzi Rong could feel that there were a lot more people surrounding him and Zhuo recently.
Not only does he have spies from the Northern Kingdom, but he also has spies from other countries. His current identity is really too embarrassing, and Zhuo has not yet ascended the throne of the King of Anguo, and there are still many people in Anguo who do not submit to him.
If he stayed any longer, Gongzi Rong was afraid that he would bring trouble to Zhuo.
"Brother, why should you worry? Beiyue is treacherous and cunning, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Now that Anguo is strong and Beiguo is weak, he wouldn't dare act recklessly in Jiuqu City even if he had the guts! Brother, you are safest in Jiuqu City. If you leave Jiuqu City... there will be more people who want your life than just Beiyue."
Zhuo kept persuading Prince Rong to stay and wait. By next year, he might be able to succeed the throne of Lord An. By then, no one would be able to stop him from protecting his brother.
Gongzi Rong used to be the crown prince of the Northern Kingdom. He was very capable. An Zhuo was young and had few reliable people around him. Gongzi Rong was one of them. Keeping Gongzi Rong was not only to protect An Zhuo, but also to make him work for him.
An Zhuo needs a team he can trust.
Prince Rong wanted to leave because he was unwilling to submit and serve others.
In the end, Gongzi Rong failed to escape. He was in a foreign country and his life was saved by others. How could he have the ability to resist?
But he was really unwilling to bow to others for the rest of his life, so one winter morning, a letter was delivered to Empress Dowager An.
On the palm-sized brocade cloth were written the date of An Gongshou's death and the injustice in the country of An.
The law of primogeniture has indeed been passed down for many years and is an iron rule in the minds of countless people. But if the king of the Northern Kingdom can pass the throne to Prince Yue, then other princes cannot do the same?
After all, whoever holds the throne of the monarch has always been determined by his or her ability, not by one's birth.
After Empress Dowager An looked at the brocade, she called over two of her retainers, Juyan and Boyou, who had not been seen for a while.
Juyan Boyou entered the palace happily and left with a sad face.
It was expected to snow today and the sky was very gloomy, so the empress dowager did not keep them for long. She just told them about the matter on the brocade and asked them to leave and come back to the palace to discuss it when the weather was better.
The weather was a great help to them, because they really had no idea what to do.
"Would you like to come to my house for a gathering? If it snows, I'd like you to stay here tonight, how about that?"
"good."
Boyou nodded. He really should have a good discussion with his good friend about the matter on the brocade.
The affairs of Anguo not only involve Anguo's situation, but also involve the king.
The fight between the princes was so lively that many people forgot how they started fighting in the first place.
It is because the King of Yun wanted to be king, but the King refused, that the world is in chaos.
The king is the key person in this war, but after the war started, no one noticed the king.
Ju Yan and Bo You now live near Jingchang. Although they don't know everything that happens around Jingchang, they know at least a little bit about it.
The king got a group of commoners from somewhere, distributed land and houses to them, and even rented iron farm tools to them.
Some tenants on the nobles' farms also wanted iron farm tools, but when they asked, they found out that the government only leased farm tools to common people who had the right to use the land.
Tenants did have the right to use the land, but that right was a written contract signed between the tenants and the nobles, not with the court, so the petty officials did not recognize the tenants' right to use the land.
If the landowner and tenant want to be recognized by the government, they must go to the government office together to register, and the clerk will record it personally. The land use rights must be the same as the current land use rights, with a term of seventy years.
As for the cost of leasing land, the government is not responsible for it.
The mere fact that the land use rights would be extended to seventy years and could not be reclaimed at will during this period was enough to shut up those nobles. How could they possibly rent their land to tenants for seventy years?
They are all dead, but the tenants can still use their fields. Isn't this a joke!
Moreover, if every inch of land is recorded by the government, what is the difference between that and letting the emperor know how much land and servants their family has?
In theory, the nobles should pay taxes to the emperor, but the emperor collected taxes based on the nobles' apparent land properties. Each noble owned limited land properties, and the excess had to pay more taxes.
Therefore, every noble has a lot of hidden fields and households under his name. This problem exists not only now but will continue to exist in the future. To put it bluntly, it is tax evasion.
"Your Majesty's move has many implications. The royal lands have long been abandoned, but now, thousands of acres have been replanted. Next year's harvest is sure to be bountiful. The remaining wasteland has also been acquired by Your Majesty and distributed among the common people. It's ridiculous that those nobles are still hiding their true wealth. Your Majesty must have already figured out their true worth."
When they arrived at Juyan's house, Boyou started talking to Juyan for a long time.
The original intention was to highlight the extraordinary qualities of the current emperor and mock the nobles, but it sounds like the king's supporters praising his wisdom.
Ju Yan felt a little uncomfortable when he heard this. He still remembered the death of Hui'an Jun.
He said, "It is indeed a good thing that the emperor has his heart set on the world and wants to revive the royal family. However, the methods used by this great king are a bit too cruel. Even the North Vietnamese did not personally kill his brother, Hui'an Jun..."
"Huian Jun is only the Queen Mother's son. How can his relationship with the King compare to that between Bei Gongyue and Prince Rong? Besides, does Bei Yue not want to kill him, or is he unable to do so?"
Boyou had long forgotten about Hui'an Jun, and he didn't have a good impression of Anguo. He and Juyan had wanted to go to the Northern Kingdom to make a living before, but now it seems that it's a good thing they didn't go, otherwise they would have been involved in the dispute over the crown prince, and they might even die without anyone to collect their bodies.
Ju Yan sighed. He and his friends once thought that following the Queen Mother and Hui'an Jun would give them a bright future. They didn't expect that the world would change so drastically overnight.
I thought the Zhou royal family was on the verge of collapse, but unexpectedly a young emperor emerged, and now it seems that the family is thriving.
"Young Master Rong sent this brocade letter in order to get the Queen Mother's help. Ju Yan, please observe the Queen Mother's thoughts. Does the Queen Mother want to help or not?"
Boyou was also a little undecided. Taihou asked for their opinions, but she didn't really want to listen to them.
The reason why they were always valued by the Queen Mother was that they always spoke to her heart, but the Queen Mother was the one who made the real decision.
Ju Yan lowered his head in thought, and after a moment he spoke: "Judging from the Queen Mother's expression, I'm afraid she intends to help."
"Although An Gongshou is disabled, his prime minister is still alive. With An Xiangqu in charge, and Gongzi Zhuo already the crown prince, it will be difficult to seize the position from him. The Queen Mother had no contact with An Gongshou when she was in Anguo, and their relationship is shallow. Even if she wanted to persuade An Gongshou, it would be difficult to succeed."
Boyou analyzed the matter carefully and his implication was that one should not get involved in this matter as the chances of winning were too slim.
"The Queen Mother knows how difficult this is, but she has never let go of Hui'an Jun's death. Although the Emperor vented her anger before, it is ultimately not as good as revenge in person."
After Ju Yan said this, both of them fell silent. In the end, they just stared at each other, not knowing what to say.
If the Queen Mother already has her mind made up, then nothing they say will be of any use.
Ju Yan finally suggested, "How about telling Dazai about this?"
"This person Taizai Yang..." Boyou was very hesitant. He and Gui Yang had little interaction on weekdays. He had only heard of this person Gui Yang. Most people said that this person was flattering and knew a group of knights.
It is hard to believe that someone who has an affair with a ranger has good character.
In their eyes, rangers are a group of vulgar and barbaric people who are always brave and aggressive, and among them there are some villains who kill people and then wander around.
"After all, it's Dazai. If we leave it to him, perhaps the king will know in advance."
If they give the decision-making power on this matter to the king, they won't have to worry about what the queen mother is thinking and how to stop her.
Ju Yan's words made a lot of sense, and Bo You didn't want to take responsibility, so the two of them simply went to Dazaifu under the cover of night.
They didn't send a visiting card so as not to let the Queen Mother discover their whereabouts. It happened that heavy snow was falling from the sky, and few people traveled on snowy nights, so their whereabouts were more covert.
Gui Yang was sitting at home when a friend came from heaven. When she heard the servant say that a good friend was knocking on the door, she was stunned.
Does he have any friends in Jingchang who are so close that they would knock on his door in the middle of the night?
Gui Yang was puzzled and bewildered, so she let someone in first.
He wanted to see which friend was so rude.
As a result, when he brought them into the house, Gui Yang was dumbfounded. If he was not mistaken, these two seemed to be the empress dowager's retainers.
Why would the Queen Mother's people come to see him?
Thinking of the Queen Mother's fondness for handsome men, Gui Yang was a little scared. Could she have fallen for him? He considered himself quite handsome, and he had no one around him yet. But if he became the Queen Mother's male favorite, he would no longer be able to serve the King, and the King would no longer trust him.
Moreover, the Queen Mother knew his identity but still sent people here. Is she trying to target the King?
As soon as the visitor opened his mouth, the bad thoughts in Gui Yang's mind instantly disappeared.
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