Fortunate Young Gentleman

Compared to Chu, Chen State was much richer, and the main reason was that Chen State occupied the land of Jiangnan. [This chapter was first published on Ai-you-sheng-novel.com, please remember the website address]

Jiangnan was rich in products and provided a large amount of tax revenue to Chen State every year. Even though Jiangnan was not close to the capital, the court's control over the local areas was weakened, and local officials could still play many tricks on taxation, but the benefits the court got from Jiangnan were still considerable.

In addition, because the people lived a rich life, they had been peaceful and stable since ancient times, and there had never been any chaos. There were many officials from Jiangnan who had a lot of say in the court. The court and even the emperor turned a blind eye to some chaos in Jiangnan.

A state in Jiangnan.

A tall mansion.

Although Jiangnan was far away from the political center of Chen State, it was home to many wealthy families and businessmen. In terms of wealth, even the capital could not compare with it.

Therefore, luxurious mansions can be seen everywhere in the states of Jiangnan, and the luxury of this mansion in Jiangnan, where the people were generally wealthy, was also rare.

The young man in fancy clothes strode out of the mansion. An old woman chased him out and stopped him. She said anxiously, "Prince, the prince has been dead for only a few months. Logically, you should observe mourning for three years. During these three years, you must wear mourning clothes and cannot gather or visit friends..."

"Three years?" The young man in fancy clothes looked at her and asked, "During this special period, we don't have to care about these things. Big things are coming. Can we wait for three years?"

"Prince should not be so anxious. Jiangnan is extremely important to the State of Chen. Once there is a mess, the imperial army will march straight in. By then, our arrangements for many years will be destroyed..." The old woman looked at him and said, "Let's take a step back. The prince's body is still warm. Prince should not wear such gorgeous clothes..."

The young man in fancy clothes looked at her, his face sank, and said, "Bai Jin, you'd better understand your own identity. You are just a servant. What qualifications do you have to tell me what to do?"

After that, he glanced at Bai Jin coldly and turned away.

An old man with a gloomy face walked out of the house, glanced at the old woman, and followed the young man.

Su Mei walked out of the house, covered her mouth and yawned, looked at the old woman, and said lazily: "The King of Qian has passed away. Is there any meaning in all you have done?"

The old woman looked at her and said solemnly: "Although the King of Qian unfortunately passed away, there is still the prince. He is also the royal orthodoxy. There is no difference between supporting the prince and supporting the King of Qian."

Su Mei glanced at her and asked: "Will the King of Qian talk to you like that?"

The old woman looked away and said: "The prince is still young, I will lead him to the right path."

"Then you lead him slowly..." Su Mei yawned again and asked: "When will we return to the capital? I haven't had a comfortable sleep for several months..."

"I will go back when I should go back." The old woman glanced at her and strode in the direction where the young man disappeared.

Su Mei glanced at her, turned around lazily, and walked deep into the house.

The two guards at the door slowly turned their heads, their eyes slanted, and they didn't know how many times they swallowed their saliva in a short time.

...

After traveling for half a month, the climate gradually became pleasant since they crossed a certain mountain a few days ago.

The court held a small test for local officials every year and a big test every three years. This time it was the turn of the big test, which was also the reason why the Ministry of Personnel was so busy.

In another two days' journey, they would enter the Jiangnan West Road. Although Tang Ning's purpose of this trip was the Jiangnan East Road, the superficial test had to be done. When they got there, they should slow down.

The court's assessment of officials was very complicated. Civil officials were different from military officials, Beijing officials were different from foreign officials, and chief officials were different from assistant officials. The direction of the assessment also ranged from personal morality, local governance and folk customs, to agricultural and forestry reclamation, tax collection, population increase, social security, etc. There were dozens of items, which were very detailed.

Tang Ning couldn't inspect all of these at every place he went. There were many low-level officials in the Ministry of Personnel who were specifically responsible for these things. At every place he went, he assigned one person to be responsible and two members of the Blade to ensure safety, and the rest could continue forward.

Tang Ning was sitting in the carriage. At a certain moment, someone knocked on the carriage. Chen Zhou lifted the curtain and said, "General, ten miles ahead is Anzhou City."

It was not late at this moment, but if we passed Anzhou City and went forward, we would not be able to reach the next resting place within today, so we could only camp on the spot.

Tang Ning thought for a moment and said, "Then let's rest in Anzhou City for one night. Rest here for a quarter of an hour, and then set off for Anzhou City after a quarter of an hour."

He jumped off the carriage, and the curtain of a carriage behind him was lifted. The Chief Censor looked at him and asked, "Sir Tang, why did you stop?"

Tang Ning said, "I plan to rest in the front Zhou City for one night. What do you think, Sir Qi?"

"It's up to Sir Tang." After saying this, the Chief Censor lowered the curtain.

Tang Ning stood by the road and took a few breaths of fresh air. The fatigue caused by the long journey suddenly dissipated a lot.

Since the first day he discussed with the Chief Censor about the sharpness of the Shangfang sword given to him by Emperor Chen, Sir Qi from the Censorate never argued with him again along the way, and he himself was able to have peace of mind.

After passing Anzhou, the journey might not be so peaceful. He doesn't know what the situation is in Jiangnan yet, and he is not sure whether the chaos in Jiangnan was caused by Su Mei and others.

Before leaving, Tang Ning learned Bai Jin's true identity from Gongsun Ying, and tried to guess their purpose.

Chen State occupied the Central Plains and Jiangnan, most of the northeast was occupied by Chu State, and the extinct Liang State was located in the Yunnan-Guizhou area. If they could occupy the east and west roads of Jiangnan, they would have a steady supply of food and money. Once they could form a team, they would go straight into Guizhou and sweep away the remaining forces there...

With food and money, they could also form a team in Guizhou at any time, and Jiangnan was the top priority in this regard.

Of course, whether they could achieve their wish depended on the premise that Chen State would sit idly by and watch what they did in Jiangnan, but this was obviously impossible. Jiangnan was the granary and money bag of Chen State. I am afraid that before they could make any waves in Jiangnan, the court had already sent a large army south to nip the signs of rebellion in the bud.

It was not easy for the court to fight the barbarians on the grassland, but it was very simple to go south, and it would not take much effort to quell the rebellion.

Unless Chen State encountered something more serious than the chaos in Jiangnan, such as the invasion of the Sushen people, or the invasion of the Western Regions, but the possibility of this happening is also very small. If there were chaos in the south, the west, and the north at the same time, Chen State would most likely not be able to survive, and naturally would not have time to take care of Jiangnan. At that time, it would be meaningless to take care of Jiangnan or not.

Tang Ning looked at Gongsun Ying standing next to the carriage and asked, "I remember you said that Bai Jin would not rebel?"

"Once there is a change in Jiangnan, it will be easy for the Chen State court to send troops to pacify it." Gongsun Ying looked over and said, "She is not that stupid. There should be some other hidden secrets in the Jiangnan incident."

Gongsun Ying seemed to be very sure about something. It seemed that there was a high probability that she would meet Bai Jin during this trip to Jiangnan, and it was very likely that it would be an unpleasant meeting.

But this was not what Tang Ning cared about. It didn't matter whether she was happy with Bai Jin's old woman or not, as long as she was happy with other people...

The ten-mile journey was not long, and it arrived in a flash. When the convoy arrived at the gate of Anzhou City, it lined up and slowly entered.

Anzhou is just a small city, but people have to queue up to enter the city. Tang Ning lifted the curtain and looked around, and found that they happened to meet two caravans. Three caravans entered the city at the same time, which made it a bit crowded.

The accompanying members of the sharp blade looked at a group of rough and sturdy giants with an interested expression, while the petty officials of the Ministry of Personnel, including the Chief Censor and his followers, stared at several foreign women in another group with their arms and navels exposed... [This chapter is first published on Ai. You. Voice. Novel Network, please remember the website address]