Chapter 1,205: Stole the Emperor's Money Pouch!
hink we should ask Mr. Yan to find some laborers from the nearby villages. 。The more you move around, the more familiar it will become. 。"The village head nodded, “I was going to look for you anyway....The little fox was a bit scared, covering its eyes with both tiny paws.
The Crown Prince quickly withdrew his smile, gently stroked the little fox, and comforted, “Don’t be afraid, I just remembered the hardships of my childhood. Unfortunately, if I say it now, everyone would probably think I'm being overly sentimental.”
After all, I'm about to be emperor!
"Your Majesty, I now control all of Tianwu. Everyone will kneel before me."
But, San'er, sometimes I think, what if I were an ordinary person, working as a trusted steward in the Li family Or even… marrying a woman I admired, having a few children, becoming a good husband and father. Wouldn’t that be a happier life
The little fox tilted its head, a strange emotion in its small eyes. Finally, it gently rubbed against his hand as if offering silent comfort.
The crown prince smiled wryly and held it close.
"Fine, things have come to this. I might as well be Emperor. At least I'd be stronger than the one in the coffin."
The little fox chirped excitedly, raising its chin with a rare air of pride...
The sun rises and the moon sets, two days pass in a flash, and half of the worshiping period is over. Everyone feels much more relaxed.
In fact, according to etiquette, the death of the emperor is far more complex and troublesome than this.
But the prince's words, "State affairs are paramount," carried weight. With a multitude of trivial matters swirling within the court, civil and military officials silently obeyed.
After all, let's not forget that thousands of displaced people outside the city haven't been settled yet.
That evening, a dozen knights, reeking of gunpowder, galloped into the new capital after an 800-mile urgent journey, bringing news that was explosive enough to shake the city.
Xin Ting Hou recaptured the border pass, but when he led the vanguard troops out to encircle the barbarians, he was betrayed. The barbarians set an ambush and besieged Gu Shan for four days, putting him in a perilous situation.
At a critical juncture, aided by divine thunder, the vanguard army rose up to counterattack and completely annihilated over three thousand steppe barbarians.
The Khan of the grasslands and the fifth prince were killed, and there would be no more power to invade for twenty years!
But Marquis Xinting and General Li Si have disappeared, their whereabouts unknown!
All the civil and military officials kneeling in the palace were excited!
Always shouting about unifying the world, I never thought there would be a day when it would actually come true!
Twenty years of peace, as long as the new emperor is not a fool, and Tianwu has enough time to recuperate and grow, we can create a prosperous era!
Besides, the new emperor is clearly much more wise and intelligent than his predecessor!
The Northern Expedition Army and the Marquis of Xinting are absolutely Heaven Martial's greatest heroes!
Some old ministers wept with joy, prostrating themselves on the ground. Some shrewd men immediately began calculating how many officials would be needed to manage the recovered Jiangbei region and what benefits their families could reap.
But more people still remember the missing Prince Xiting and General Li Si!
Why did they disappear
Was he killed by treachery, died heroically in battle, or did he escape with his life and flee
Thinking of the Lee family fleeing in the dead of night, everyone felt even more headaches!
The Li family knew that the Marquis was in a hurry to retreat, so they withdrew.
Or, did the Li family, upon hearing that Lord Hou was going to fight to the death, fear losing their patron and find it difficult to survive in Xindu So they retreated to Quanzhou
For a moment, everyone pretended to be overjoyed at the apparent complete victory of the Northern Campaign, but inwardly, their minds were in utter disarray!
Instead, the crown prince was surprisingly calm and issued a series of edicts.
...Determine the generals who will temporarily guard the border, gather supplies and transport them, reward the soldiers who participated in the northern expedition, console the families of those who died in battle, and arrange for the wounded to recuperate...
Every decree is perfectly measured, without a single error, like the result of long deliberation.
This also caused the officials to completely dispel any slight disdain they had for him because of his youth.
But the imperial decree is good, but because of the drought, the new capital is short of grain!
To raise food for tens of thousands of people is no easy task, and both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War are deeply troubled.
At this time, Old Master Liu brought Liu Zhiheng into the palace.
They brought out enough food for the Northern Expeditionary Army to last two months, which solved their immediate problem.
But this grain was deliberately left behind by the Li family when they withdrew, stating it was to repay the grain that had been borrowed from various noble families previously.
Now, the elderly head of the Liu family, judging the situation carefully, informed the Crown Prince.
The prince immediately summoned these families and proposed lending them grain to the northern expeditionary army. Then, he vaguely promised that some families could send their daughters into the palace, or that members of their families could go to Jiangbei to take office.
Several families were overjoyed and immediately agreed.
Food is in short supply, but next year crops can still be grown in the fields.
But the opportunities to enter the palace and become an official are not always available!
As everyone knelt and thanked him, Lord Liu and the Crown Prince exchanged glances, both smiling with contentment.
The food left by the Li family was initially intended for the northern expeditionary army.
However, the Crown Prince would have to offer some benefits in exchange. For the aristocratic families, these were enormous advantages; for the Crown Prince, they were merely a few more women in his harem or someone to govern Jiangbei.
A woman's worth is determined by him.
The performance of officials can also be assessed based on their achievements!
The court was bustling with activity, and many people in the new capital were also busy.
For many years prior, the Li family's several businesses were incredibly successful, making a fortune every day. Their prosperity made everyone envious.
Now that the Li family is out of the picture, this business has become a juicy piece of fat everyone wants to swallow whole.
There's also the gold-rich beach of Suijintan, a veritable treasure trove that everyone wants to hold close. People dream of making money there!
Therefore, some people started to stir, stretching out their little paws.
On this day, the door of Baiyun's home was suddenly knocked open by officers from the government office. They claimed that she colluded with unscrupulous merchants to buy low-quality flour and intended to make snacks to sell to customers.
Chen Xi and others naturally refused to accept this, resulting in the kitchen being trashed.
The news spread quickly, and many people expressed regret, speculating about who had made the move so early and lamented missing out on the first strike.
But the next day they rejoiced with one thousand thousand!
Because the Third Princess uncovered the mastermind behind the guards' actions with lightning speed, she led a hundred guards straight into the family's manor, smashing everything from top to bottom. She even chopped off the head of the family!
And the new emperor was so tyrannical and cruel to the princess that he not only did not stop it, but also issued an edict to directly exile this small family to the border to perform hard labor.
Some old ministers dared to speak up, pleading for the small families. In the end, they learned that everything from Baiyun's inn and its business, even the broken gold beach, now belonged to the third princess and the new emperor!
That small family was bullying not the Li family, but the royal servants!
To be sent to the border fortress is already a great mercy from the new emperor; otherwise, the entire clan would be beheaded. No one could say anything about it!
After all, no one has ever dared to "snatch" the emperor's money box!
When the small family was escorted out of Beijing, cries shook the heavens, but inside and outside Xin Du, an eerie silence prevailed.
The little family is a chicken, everyone is a scared monkey!
The old and young of Suijin Beach stood by the roadside, watching silently. They didn't laugh or curse; every person's spine was straight!
The best decision they ever made was to follow the Li family. No matter what, the Li family has never abandoned them!
Even though not a single member of the Li family is here, they are still protected under powerful wings.
Once the last prisoner disappeared from sight, everyone returned to Suijin Beach. Those who needed to work did so, and those who needed to eat ate.
In the orchard, because it rained, weeds have already grown. It's important to pull them out as soon as possible to avoid wasting effort and delaying next year's harvest.
The cabbages and radishes in the field should also be thinned out now. Don't be greedy, leaving too many seedlings will only result in stunted growth.
And there are some fat pigs in the pigsty, with seven or eight weighing over two hundred pounds. Slaughter five of them and have someone carefully process them into cured pork, send it south, and let everyone else remember the taste of home...
Today's update is here ~~ patch of land." 。"The uncles and elders in our village are as thin as paper, they could be blown away by the wind." 。The third princess was surprised and listened with her mouth agape. 。“That...ah, I...