Shuhan

The Wu Palace stands in the west of Jianye City, majestic and magnificent. The eaves of the palace are high up, like an eagle spreading its wings, ready to fly into the sky.

In front of the palace gate, a stone lion stands majestically with its eyes wide open, looking extremely majestic.

Sun Deng walked in the long corridor of the King of Wu's Palace, looking at the details of the Palace, feeling deeply moved.

The King Wu's Palace was no different from what he remembered.

Although he had been away from Han for a year, there had been no significant changes in the Wu Palace in that year.

Of course, this might not be the case for people in King Wu’s palace.

There have been too many changes, and they have been too dramatic.

even.
Sun Deng now didn't know what to say after meeting his father.

He felt a little uneasy and even hoped that the corridor was longer.

But
No matter how long the corridor is, there will be a time when you will have to finish it.

Led by the palace eunuchs, Sun Deng walked slowly towards the study in the side hall.

This is where Sun Quan often stays.

"Your Highness, I will send you here."

At this moment, Sun Deng was already standing outside the study in the side hall.

Call ~
Sun Deng took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. After calming himself down, he walked in.

In the study room in the side hall, Sun Quan was kneeling on the main seat. He was not wearing the robe of the King of Wu, but an ordinary dress.

But even though Sun Quan was only wearing casual clothes, the majesty of a superior still emerged unconsciously.

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to my father!"

When they entered the hall, Sun Deng bowed to Sun Quan.

"Prince, please stand up. Why do we have to be so distant between father and son?"

Sun Deng immediately stood up, his eyes red, and he choked up as he said, "I have been away from Chang'an for many years and have not been able to fulfill my filial duties to you, father. I hope you will not blame me."

Blame?
Sun Quan looked at Sun Deng, whose eyes were red, and his heart softened.

"You went to Han as a hostage for the great cause of Wu. You have made great contributions. What crime have you committed?"

Sun Quan slowly stood up, walked down the steps, and came to Sun Deng. He looked at Sun Deng's red eyes, which were already filled with tears. He held Sun Deng's shoulders and said, "Father is very grateful to you. If it weren't for you last year, I don't know how the Han Kingdom would have forced my Great Wu."

Sun Deng wiped his tears and said, "Without me, the Han Kingdom would just let me go. Even if I go to Chang'an as a hostage, it won't change the Han Kingdom's evil ambitions."

Sun Deng's words made Sun Quan's eyes light up.

"It's great that you can see this. It means that your time as a hostage in the Han Kingdom was not wasted."

Sun Quan held Sun Deng's hand and walked up the stairs step by step.

"sit down."

Sun Quan wanted to give him the main seat in the study room of the side hall, but Sun Deng immediately waved his head and said, "How dare I, your son, overstep my bounds?"

"You are the crown prince, the heir apparent of the Wu Kingdom. A hundred years after I die, this will be your position."

Sun Quan knelt down first, and Sun Deng knelt on the side, neither daring to overstep the line.

If you believe what your leader says, you will probably end up with no trace left of your body.

Even if this leader is your father.

At this position, in the face of power, how genuine is the relationship between father and son?
As the crown prince, Sun Deng was always aware of his situation, which was like walking on thin ice. It was unknown whether he could reach the other side in this lifetime.

Sun Deng's performance also made Sun Quan nod secretly.

He is able to advance and retreat, and is a qualified, even excellent, successor.

Unfortunately.
Deng'er was in poor health, and the Han Kingdom must have had ulterior motives in sending him back to Wu. Sun Quan was still somewhat wary of Sun Deng, even though Sun Deng was his son.

In the imperial family, family ties have always been a secondary consideration.

The imperial family is the most ruthless. Sun Quan understood this truth and acted accordingly.

"You have been in Han for more than a year. Do you have any thoughts or have you seen anything new?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Deng said, "I spend most of my time in Chengdu and a little time in Chang'an. Chengdu and Jianye are not much different except for the different customs. If I have to say something different, it is that there are many barbarians in and around Chengdu. These are all migrated from Nanzhong and Ba County. The customs of the people are outstanding, and there are often murders, which is a headache for the Chengdu government."

Sun Quan heard this and continued to ask: "Liu Gongsi pacified Nanzhong and Bajun and relocated local people to fill the Chengdu population, just like our Great Wu relocated the Shanyue barbarians. Do those barbarians know how to farm?"

It would take at least one or two years to capture the Shanyue barbarians and make them assimilate so that they could farm for the Great Wu.

Even after spending so much time, the income generated from farming is far less than that of the Han people.

Sun Quan wanted to see how his good son-in-law Liu Gongsi would solve this problem.

“My Lord, those barbarians will not know how to farm at first, but the government will send people to teach them how to farm. I heard that they are students from the Military Academy and the Academy of Sciences.

Moreover, in Chengdu, there is a set of assessment standards for those barbarians. If the per-acre yield meets the requirements, they can be exempted from taxes that year, and the government will also give them rewards, which is the so-called reward for farming.

If they do not engage in production and refuse to change their ways despite repeated admonitions, and their yield per mu fails to meet the requirements within three years, their land will be taken away from them and they will be reduced to slaves.

After taking a breath, Sun Deng continued, "But normally, unless one is deliberately going against the government, it is impossible for one to fail to meet the requirements every year for three years. After all, there are students from the Military Academy and people from the Academy of Sciences helping one another."

"I see."

When Sun Quan heard this, his eyes became very complicated.

Is this the method of his good son-in-law?
He is quite good at dealing with barbarians, and it seems that this trick can be learned.

but
If everyone meets the government's requirements, won't it mean that not only will we not be able to collect food from these people, but we will also have to give them rewards?
If this is the case, how does the government function?
Sun Quan immediately asked his doubts.

Sun Deng laughed and said, "Father, you don't know that in the Han Kingdom, the people's excess grain can be bought and sold. The Merchant Alliance transfers goods in Chengdu almost every day. If the people want to buy clothes, farm tools, chickens, pigs and lambs, they need to exchange grain. Although the government does not collect grain directly from the people, it uses the Merchant Alliance to ensure that the grain reaches the government."

The Han Merchant Alliance and the Han government were of the same mind, and Sun Quan naturally knew this.

"Besides, this policy of rewarding farming is only for the first three years. After three years, the barbarians will basically have learned how to farm, and then we can collect taxes based on the number of people, just like the Han people."

"That's it."

Sun Quan had a look of sudden enlightenment on his face.

He was also thinking whether he should summon Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong and others. Are these excellent experiences of the Han Dynasty worth learning?
The State of Wu suffered repeated defeats, its national affairs were in decline, and it needed a good national policy to enrich the country and strengthen the military.

Now Sun Quan naturally doesn’t dare to say loudly that he wants to compete for the world, but he still has to have the strength to protect himself.

Otherwise, could Sun Quan really control the Jiangdong area?

The Han State had wicked ambitions, and so did the Wei State.

These days, many spies from the school affairs office have appeared in Hefei city.

There were even cases of killing generals in an attempt to seize the defense map of Hefei.

The Han Kingdom sent the crown prince as a hostage back to the Wu Kingdom.

The Han and Wei dynasties have never given up their determination to destroy the Great Wu!
Hey ~
After calming down, Sun Quan asked again, "I heard that the Han Academy of Sciences has developed 'gunpowder' with amazing power. Have you seen it with your own eyes?" Sun Deng said, "The gunpowder is a secret of the Han State, not something that ordinary people can know. I am a hostage in the Han State, so they are naturally wary of me. How could they let me know such a secret?"

"That's true."

"Then let's talk about other things. What is the difference between Han and Wu? Or what impressed you the most?"

Completely different, yet the most touching?
Sun Deng nodded and said, "Speaking of this, I have a deep feeling. In the Han Kingdom, the aristocratic families are not very powerful, but in Wu, those aristocratic families are powerful enough to influence the political situation. The same is true for Wei."

Hearing this, Sun Quan's eyes suddenly lit up.

This is indeed his pain point.

Emperors are all selfish and stingy.

They will never allow their power to be shared with others.

Even his own son is not allowed, let alone those outside the family?
"Why is the Han Kingdom so capable?"

Sun Deng thought for a while and said, "The reason why the aristocratic families can become powerful is that they have land, population, troops, and official positions in the court. They have money, power, and soldiers. How can they not become powerful? Besides the aristocratic families, the common people are illiterate and it is difficult for them to become officials. If the country wants to be governed, it must rely on the aristocratic families. This is also the reason why the aristocratic families of Wei and our great Wu have become powerful."

Sun Quan listened, thought about it, and agreed with it deeply.

But Sun Deng did not stop talking.

“But in the Han Dynasty, because the emperor of the Han Dynasty had a high prestige, he never showed mercy to the noble families, so he was able to suppress the noble families, and relocate the barbarians, the common people, and the powerful to Guanzhong. To a certain extent, he was able to suppress the noble families. In addition, the Han Dynasty had a military academy, which could use the forces of all parties for his own benefit. Therefore, the emperor of the Han Dynasty was able to suppress the noble families.

Moreover, according to what I have seen and heard in Chang'an, the court will fund the construction of county and township schools to provide education for the children of poor and even common people. This may be a big chess game played by the Han emperor to deal with the aristocratic families. "

After listening to what Sun Deng said, Sun Quan sighed and said, "The Emperor of Han is indeed an extraordinary person. I am not as good as him!"

Even if he knew how Liu Gongsi suppressed and exploited the aristocratic families in the Han State, he could not learn it.

He did not have the prestige of Liu Gongsi. In other words, he was unable to create continuous benefits for the aristocratic families of Wu.

While Liu Gongsi suppressed the aristocratic families, he also brought many benefits to them.

In the past, those small noble families and local tyrants could basically only bully others in their local area, but because Liu Gongsi established the Military Academy, they were able to reach the whole country.

In comparison, the things that the Han emperor suppressed them with were within an acceptable range in their view.

Moreover, the Han State won many battles, in Nanzhong, in Ba County, and in Guanzhong.
Aristocratic families can obtain land and wealth. Compared with these, what's so difficult about being a dog for the Han emperor?

Not to mention the business alliance provides them with a steady stream of wealth.

The income is much greater than that from guarding that one-third acre of land.

Since Liu Gongsi could bring them to eat meat, he was naturally qualified to enslave them, whip them, and control them.

But if Liu Gongsi was defeated over and over again, not only did he not bring any benefits to the aristocratic families, but he also squeezed the aristocratic families dry, do you think the aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty would be so obedient?

And
In Sun Quan's view, the Han Dynasty's aristocratic families are now obedient entirely because of Liu Chan.

If Liu Chan dies, will his successor still be able to suppress the aristocratic families like he does now?

In Sun Quan's mind, he already had the answer.

I'm afraid it's probably not possible.

Sun Quan was defeated repeatedly in the Wu Kingdom and had to cede territory and pay compensation. He was unable to bring any benefits to the Jiangdong aristocratic families, so naturally he could only retreat again and again and allow the aristocratic families to run rampant.

The same situation also existed in the State of Wei.

Didn't Cao Pi make concessions repeatedly in order to gain the support of the aristocratic families?
He also promulgated the "Nine-Rank Official System", allowing aristocratic families to share power openly, which is simply ridiculous.

Sun Deng heard Sun Quan's words and immediately comforted him, "Father, there is no need to be so modest. Although Wu is weak now, as long as we work together and work hard, we may be able to catch up."

Catch up?

Last year, the Han State conquered the Wu State, which dealt a heavy blow to the State of Wu. Add to that the famine, and many people starved to death or fled. The state has not recovered yet.

If you want to recover, it will take at least a few years.

And how will the situation in the world change in the next few years?

"Stop talking about this."

Sun Quan sighed, then frowned slightly, as if he had thought of something, and asked, "The prince is back, why hasn't the queen come back?"

queen?

Sun Deng lowered his head feeling somewhat guilty.

The queen was in the Han Kingdom and was deeply loved by the Han Emperor.

After he entered the palace, he didn't see Queen Wu for several days.

I guess she was watered with essence day and night in the Weiyang Palace.

This is equivalent to cuckolding his father every day. How can he, as a son, explain this?

Therefore, Sun Deng had no choice but to change the subject and said, "I don't know much about my mother's affairs, but the Emperor of Han wanted me to come back to disrupt the court of Wu because the spy military department got news that my father intended to make Marquis Jianchang the new crown prince. If Marquis Jianchang is the crown prince of Wu, then there is no point in me being a hostage."

Sun Deng's words contained a lot of information. Sun Quan was silent for a moment and could only say: "Your father has no intention of appointing a new crown prince. As for your return, it is a good thing for our Great Wu. You need to put your mind at ease about this."

Really not?
Sun Deng had chosen to have an open-hearted talk with his father, but it was obvious that his father had no intention of doing so at all.

"Father, I."

"That's all."

Sun Quan waved his hands, seeming a little tired.

"Your Highness has been exhausted from the journey. You should go to the Prince's Mansion and have a good rest. I will give you important tasks in a few days."

Sun Deng opened his mouth, with thousands of words stuck in his chest, but in the end, he couldn't say a word.

After a moment, Sun Deng had no choice but to stand up slowly and salute Sun Quan.

"In that case, I will take my leave."

Looking at Sun Deng's departing back, Sun Quan sighed in his heart.

Sun Deng went to study in the Han Kingdom for a year and was greatly influenced by it.

If he inherits the throne, he will probably be a puppet of Liu Gongsi, right?
But then again, even if Sun Lu succeeded to the throne, could he really compete with Liu Gongsi?

I'm afraid it's impossible, right?
But choose an heir.

Sun Deng was no longer within his consideration.

It wasn't just his frail body.

As for Sun Lu, he was not very satisfied either.

In terms of ability, he is inferior to the prince.

Perhaps, we should also look at his other offspring, perhaps some of them are better than the previous ones?

of course
Sun Quan may not realize at this moment that the dispute between the two palaces of Wu State has been brewing secretly because of his ambiguous attitude. (End of this chapter)