Wind rises time and space gate

Chapter 541: Reclamation and Farming

Upon hearing that the prince's fiefdom had been stolen, the King of Chu laughed out loud, and the depression he had been feeling for many days was swept away.

"I'm afraid Zhao Guanghuan never thought of this in his dreams. He was so busy sending people to monitor the northwest that he didn't expect his fiefdom to be stolen."

Hahaha, it feels so good.

The King of Qin also felt happy. He had been frustrated by the gap between himself and the Crown Prince these days, as if there was a huge gap between them. But now he found that the Crown Prince was not as strong as a copper wall, and his fiefdom could be stolen by the King of Yue.

It’s so satisfying!

"It only took 50,000 soldiers to capture Changzhou. Not only did Changzhou not notice anything, but the surrounding cities also did not give any warning about the movement of such a large number of troops. It seems that Changzhou is colluding with the outside world, and there are people from the King of Yue inside, and Changzhou is secretly colluding with the surrounding cities."

There is definitely a traitor.

"There must be a traitor. Changzhou is the fief of the former crown prince."

I don’t know what my father was thinking, but he didn’t give Zhao Guanghuan a new fiefdom.

Zhao Guanghuan also thought that he would surely ascend the throne in the future. In order to please his father, he still asked his father to send people to manage Changzhou, and he had ignored Changzhou for so many years.

He was probably worried about following in the footsteps of the previous crown prince. He wanted to show his father that he did not have a powerful maternal family like the previous crown prince, nor did he have the money and manpower in his fiefdom. He wanted to show his father that he only had a heart of complete dependence.

Zhao Guanghuan's display of weakness over the years did please his father, who always said that he was filial, fraternal, and kind.

I thought everything would go smoothly with my father's support, but I didn't expect that now Changzhou has become Zhao Guangyuan's due to internal and external collusion.

He sent people to kill the seventh brother's son, but failed and was instead severely retaliated by the seventh brother.

Haha, it feels so good!
The news that the King of Yue had sent troops to take over Changzhou spread back to the capital, and the whole city was in uproar again. But this time the ministers were all silent, unlike in the past, when they went to the emperor to denounce the King of Yue's evil intentions.

He quietly pretended to be deaf and dumb, as if he had not received the message.

The King of Yue demonstrated his strength step by step, shocking all the civil and military officials in the court. They couldn't help but weigh in their minds whether it would be beneficial for them to go up against such a King of Yue.

It was not just that the King of Yue was so powerful that he frightened the ministers, but also because the Crown Prince had Jiang and Xiang killed, which made the ministers feel chilled.

Regardless of whether they share the same political views as Jiang and Xiang, they are officials of the same dynasty and officials of the Great Qi Dynasty, and their hearts are the same for serving the country and the people. However, the prince privately dealt with the second-rank official in order to eliminate dissidents, which is chilling.

The next day, at the imperial court, only officials from the crown prince's faction stood up to denounce the King of Yue for violating the law and disrespecting the emperor. Not many ministers seconded the proposal.

The prince was very disappointed. After the court was dismissed, he went to the imperial study to cry.

But Emperor Zhizheng was also having a headache, and had no intention of comforting the prince. He only gave him a few words of advice and asked him to leave. The prince was extremely dissatisfied. Without mentioning his next actions, Emperor Zhizheng had a splitting headache in the imperial study.

That afternoon, Duke Dingguo, Prince Qi, the six ministers and other cabinet officials were summoned to discuss the matter.

The ministers spoke more cautiously this time. Even though they knew that the King of Yue's actions were inappropriate, they could not say that he was rebelling.

The King of Yue had so many soldiers and horses in his hands, but he kept them in the northwest without making any moves. He recruited soldiers from various cities in the northwest, but only told the public that they were for his own industry.

It also doesn't say that the prince cannot have his own property or servants.

The King of Yue used his own money to support his own people, and no one could say that he was doing something wrong. Moreover, the King of Yue had a reason for sending troops to capture Changzhou this time.

Who asked the prince to take action against his only son? Anyone would be furious and take revenge. It is admirable that the King of Yue has such courage.

"Speak up!" Emperor Zhizheng shouted angrily. He asked the officials how to deal with the King of Yue, but no one spoke.

Emperor Zhizheng became more and more irritated and wanted to kill someone.

The current King of Yue was not something he could deal with as he wished. Emperor Zhizheng was already cautious. If he didn't handle it well, civil strife would break out in Da Qi. If the surrounding countries found an opportunity and sent troops to attack, Da Qi would be attacked from all sides and fall apart.

Moreover, Emperor Zhizheng was not 100% sure of victory when sending troops to deal with the King of Yue.

Since when did Guangyuan, this rebellious son, become so powerful?

Apart from Emperor Zhizheng, the most honorable person in the imperial study was Prince Qi, but he did not want to speak.

Ever since he spoke a few words for Jiang Xiang at the court meeting, the Crown Prince and the Emperor suspected that he had sided with the King of Yue. Why should he care about their mess? Isn't it good to just watch the fish and play with them every day?
Although the other ministers present were all confidants of Emperor Zhizheng, Emperor Zhizheng would not be immortal, and they could not see clearly who would succeed him. The King of Yue was showing more and more strength, while the Crown Prince was acting more and more disappointingly.

People always have to leave a way out for themselves.

"Your Majesty," seeing that the emperor was about to get angry again, Duke Dingguo spoke under pressure, "When the King of Yue captured Changzhou, no innocent people were harmed, and there was no fierce battle with the local prefecture government. No officers were killed, and he did not interfere with the prefecture government's handling of political affairs..."

"But he took over the provincial government's treasury and sent people to take over Changzhou's six major granaries! He treated Changzhou as his own!"

Emperor Zhizheng was furious when he thought of this. How audacious! He had no regard for his father or the emperor!
Duke Dingguo did not want to talk anymore. If he said more, the emperor would think he was speaking for the King of Yue. After all, his eldest son was in the hands of the King of Yue.

When he met the prince outside, the prince treated him as a transparent person. He was still able to stay in the court, manage the nine camps in the capital, and be responsible for the security of the capital. Thanks to his loyalty over the years, the emperor still trusted him a little.

He could imagine that if something happened to the emperor, he and his family would be severely punished by the prince.

The Minister of Rites Lan Honghui glanced at the Minister of War next to him, and seeing that he kept his eyes down and remained silent, he secretly hated him for being cunning.

Previously, the Ministry of War was reprimanded by the Prince because a secret letter from the King of Yue was inserted into the official documents of the Ministry of War. Chu Da was only fined one year's salary, and now he is pretending to be deaf and dumb.

Lan Honghui didn't want to speak, but seeing that the emperor's eyes were on him, he had to bite the bullet and said, "Your Majesty, the King of Yue did this for a reason. If you send someone to appease him, and send the imperial physician to see the prince of Yue, and then comfort him, the King of Yue will definitely withdraw his troops..."

"Where did the Prince of Yue come from!" Emperor Zhizheng shouted.

Didn’t you say your surname is Lin? Then let it be Lin for life!
Although Emperor Zhizheng was angry, he could also somewhat understand why the King of Yue did this.

The King of Yue has always valued friendship and loyalty since he was young. When the former Queen and the former Crown Prince died, he didn't want to live anymore. Now he finally has a pearl from the vast ocean, and he treats it like a treasure. The Crown Prince sent someone to assassinate him, so it is impossible for him not to be angry and retaliate.

But I didn't expect that the seventh brother was so bold that he dared to send troops to take over Changzhou.

Is it because he is still thinking that Changzhou was his brother's fiefdom, and he is dissatisfied with himself for giving it to Guanghuan?

The crown prince and the queen came to him and cried several times, asking him to severely punish the King of Yue, which made him upset. He angrily rebuked the crown prince. The crown prince argued that he was not the one who assassinated the King of Yue's son. But when he wanted to send someone to count the secret guards under the crown prince's command, the crown prince disagreed and cried that he did not trust him and wanted to resign from the position of crown prince. He had never thought of abolishing the crown prince.

It was neither this nor that, and Emperor Zhizheng had a splitting headache.

He knew why the Seventh Brother occupied the troops, why he targeted the Crown Prince, and why he did not besiege the capital. He wanted to reverse the verdict for his brother and the Lu family while he was in office.

But I would never agree to him.

If we don't agree to his request, we can't send troops to fight him, for fear that if we push him too far, civil unrest will break out in the country.

Emperor Zhizheng was in a lot of trouble, and when he swept through his officials...

Among the six ministers, Lan Honghui of Rites was the father of Concubine De and the grandfather of King Qin and King Chu. Chu Da of War was the father of Concubine Yi and the grandfather of King Wu. The Minister of Revenue was very old, and Assistant Minister Liu Qi had the highest voice to succeed him.

Liu Qi was the father of Concubine Liu and the grandfather of the Prince of Jin.

Emperor Zhizheng's head hurt again. He could imagine the turmoil that would come when the crown prince ascended the throne, and he didn't know if the crown prince could control them.

After a quick scan, he found that there were really no people from the King of Yue here. Emperor Zhizheng was no longer so angry.

The seventh child was demoted to the imperial mausoleum by him, and fell to the bottom of the valley. He had no one to rely on, and no one from his mother's family. As a result, he relied on his own strength to reach this point. Emperor Zhizheng suddenly understood why the late emperor valued this child so much.

The news of how the capital would deal with the King of Yue had not yet been reported back, but the generals in Hangu City were excited when they learned that the King of Yue had sent people to capture Changzhou.

Meng Yan and others even ran to the King of Yue to complain, saying that they were not sent to lead the troops and were not allowed to participate.

"Hangu City is now full of obstacles. As long as the army at Hangu Pass moves, the capital will receive the news immediately." Who would dare to use the soldiers at Hangu Pass?

The generals thought that this was true, but they felt a little regretful that they did not participate in it.

Zhao Guangyuan comforted them, "The memorials we sent to you to commend you for your victory at Hangu Pass are still being kept in the capital. But I'll remind you of this and I won't treat you unfairly in the future. In addition, the recruitment of soldiers for the city guard camps will be at your disposal, which is also a sign of my trust in you."

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will never refuse even if it means death!"

The prince assigned them the task of recruiting troops in each city, and left all matters such as recruiting soldiers, military supplies, and leading troops to them, which showed his trust in them.

Originally, they were only responsible for leading troops during wartime, and in non-wartime, they were actually idle and had no real work. Now the King of Yue handed over the management of the guard camps to them, and all affairs in the guard camps were decided by the generals. They were in charge of the military affairs of a city, and had the same power as those civil officials in charge of local government affairs.

This made them feel valued and trusted, and they all tried their best to recruit soldiers as soon as possible and train a strong army so that in the future, the soldiers they led would stand out in the big competitions and be valued by the King of Yue.

Everyone is very excited. If anyone dares to say anything bad about the King of Yue, they will lead their troops to attack the capital.

"Some cities have finished recruiting soldiers. Now in a non-wartime period, in addition to training soldiers, we also have the important task of storing farmland." Zhao Guangyuan instructed the commanders of each guard camp about the matter of storing farmland.

Now the court has stopped distributing rations to the army at Hangu Pass, and the garrisons in each city will not be issued rations either. He cannot keep using his private warehouse for supplies, as this is not a long-term solution, and each garrison must be self-sufficient.

"The cattle and horses that the Western Rong paid as compensation have been distributed to various places according to their needs. Moreover, most of the soldiers you have recruited were farmers before, so they must be familiar with farming. In the future, in addition to handing over the land of each guard camp in proportion, the silver from the sale of the rest can be used by you at your discretion."

When the generals heard this, their eyes lit up. Wouldn't it mean that whoever has more land will produce more and become richer?
Everyone knows what having a lot of silver means.

Everyone was eager to fight, planning to do something big when they got back. However, those generals who didn't get to command the various guard camps, or didn't choose to go to the various guard camps, began to regret it.

They all expressed their desire to run for the next commander of the guard camp.

The various military camps in the northwest began to develop vigorously.

The county governments in various places had been watching the King of Yue recruiting soldiers and horses in their territory, setting up guard camps and appointing commanders to divide their power. Although they were dissatisfied in their hearts, they still smiled and gave them various conveniences.

Is it possible to resist?
How many soldiers does the King of Yue have, and how many people are there in their county government?
They thought that the people were afraid of fighting, so they couldn't recruit anyone and waited to see the fun. But in a few days, they recruited enough people. The county magistrate and the county magistrate were all confused. They had been in the county government for a long time, and they thought the changes outside were so big?
They also thought that the living, eating, and training in the guard camp were so hard that many people would desert, so the guard camp built brick barracks for them.

The barracks were said to be better than the village chief's house, and even better than the houses of the rich. They often had meat to eat, and the clothes they were given were all new. Many people had never worn such good clothes in their lives. The training was not hard at all, and many people said it was much easier than farming.

As a result, countless people blocked the gate of the guard camp, wanting to join them.

They thought that this was the end of it, and that because of the constant training every day, countless people could not bear it and wanted to quit. As a result, the soldiers in the guard camp came out with hoes on their shoulders to open up the wasteland. Not only did they have cows and horses to help plow the land, but countless family members also came spontaneously to help them open up the wasteland.

The people from all the counties were mobilized and went out to open up wasteland.

No grain tax was levied on the wasteland for the first three years after it was opened, but after it was opened, you had to register it with the government and pay the land purchase fee before the land was considered yours. What the county government didn't expect was that the county government's coffers were full just by collecting the small amount of land purchase money.

When the news reached the capital, Emperor Zhizheng slowed down his plan to send troops to seize Changzhou.

The northwest has always been poor. Why is it so? Because the people don’t have many acres of land. Those who have land are also very poor. They can’t even harvest one dan of grain in a year.

As a result, as soon as the King of Yue left, all the wastelands were reclaimed by people?

But even if the wasteland is reclaimed, the land in the northwest is no better than anywhere else. Can the land produce food?

"The King of Yue said that the reason the land doesn't produce food is that we haven't found seeds suitable for the northwest. Once we clear the wasteland, the King of Yue will give us seeds! Seeds suitable for the high yields in our northwest land!"

The people were blind. No one had done this before, and they would not believe it even if someone said so. But now the people of the King of Yue are reclaiming wasteland, as if they want to reclaim all the wasteland. If there is no suitable seed in the land, will they do this?
If you have that much free time, why not take a good nap?

People nowadays have not seen much of the world and are mostly blind and follow others blindly. They only know that others will not do something if there is no benefit, so they follow suit.

As a result, the Northwest began to vigorously develop.

The Emperor Zhizheng and the officials in the capital were all shocked. If the King of Yue really had seeds suitable for the northwest land, it would be a move that would benefit the country and the people. How much more tax grain and silver could the national treasury collect in the future?

Isn’t it what every monarch wants to do to ensure that the people have enough to eat?
Emperor Zhizheng took back the military order that had already been issued, wanting to see how far the King of Yue could go.

As a result, the prince became more and more dissatisfied.

Zhao Guangyuan didn't know whether the crown prince was satisfied or not, so he ordered people to transport the silver in the Changzhou treasury to Hangu City, and the grain in the six granaries to the northwest. He said that since there was a previous battle with the Western Rong, many soldiers had made military achievements but had not been rewarded, and many pensions for the fallen soldiers had not been paid, so these were for them.

What could Emperor Zhizheng say? After receiving the report, he turned a blind eye and told the officials of Changzhou Prefecture not to pay any attention or resist.

As a result, the ambiguous attitude of Emperor Zhizheng made countless people think that Emperor Zhizheng favored King Yue more. They discussed behind the scenes whether the emperor wanted to change the crown prince, which made the prince feel more uneasy.