Chinese New Year

Chapter 1484 Time waits for no one
In mid-September, farmers in Zhangwu County dug up the field ridges and diverted water from the irrigation canals into their fields.

Looking around, the landscape is a water town, quite charming.

"What a waste!" Yu Liang sighed as he walked through the fields.

Having lived in Guanzhong for a long time, he knew the importance of water, especially during the season when crops needed it most. The extravagance of Zhangwu County was astounding; if the people of Guanzhong, especially those from Qin and He prefectures, saw it, they would likely condemn it as wasteful.

A messenger on horseback sped past on the dirt road in the distance, heading towards the post station.

Yu Liang glanced at it and saw that it seemed to be a relay race, which was quite fast.

The so-called postal relay system actually depended on the rank of the messenger.

For urgent military matters, the 500-li or even 700-li express courier service was generally used. The messenger disregarded the horses and ran at full speed, relaying the message from station to station. The cost was not small, mainly the damage to the horses.

If it's a regular official letter, it depends on the situation. If it's not urgent, they'll send a fast-moving delivery person to deliver it to you, and you'll just have to wait.

The message before us is clearly urgent, not quite a military emergency, but still quite important. Considering that nothing major has happened in Youzhou and Pingzhou recently, the answer is obvious: it's a private letter from the King of Qi to the Emperor—sometimes sent via the postal system, sometimes by private messengers. It seems the King of Qi is quite frugal and prefers to use the imperial postal stations for free.

Yu Liang withdrew his gaze and stopped looking.

He had said some things more than once, but the Crown Prince disagreed with him for many reasons. Besides the bond of blood ties, there was the public opinion, and the fact that Liaodong, Gaochang, and even Lelang and Daifang were too far away.

Given his condition, what else can Yu Liang say?

After walking along a stretch of paddy field ridges, Yu Liang saw that the water in a field in front of him had completely receded, and the wheat seeds had sprouted from the soil, growing tender green leaves.

"Lord Yu." Xie An, the Attendant Gentleman, walked over and bowed, followed by several carriages, one of which carried a large number of books.

"Have you finished copying it?" Yu Liang asked.

"It's copied."

"how many?"

"The four counties of Zhangwu have a total of more than 15,600 households and nearly 68,000 people, with 7,500 hectares of paddy and dry land."

“That’s quite a lot.” Yu Liang clicked his tongue twice and said, “It’s fine if we don’t investigate, but once we do, it’s shocking. Zhangwu is far from being overpopulated and underpopulated; doubling the population wouldn’t be a problem.”

"Lord Yu is wise," Xie An said. "By simply modifying the swamps and mudflats near the sea, we can create tens of thousands of acres of fertile land."

"That's for later." Yu Liang waved his hand and said, "We'll set off for Hejian tomorrow to meet up with Wang Zhi."

"Yes," Xie An replied.

Yu Liang glanced at him and laughed, "Anshi, your aspirations have always been lofty, yet now you're doing mundane work. What do you think?"

Xie An replied calmly and respectfully, “In the past, Yu the Great toiled tirelessly to dredge the nine rivers and control the floods. The Duke of Zhou, with his hair tied in his hand and his mouth spitting out food, established rites and music and stabilized the state; these were not mundane tasks. Now, the land survey is truly to clarify the land registers, equalize taxes and corvée labor, so that the people have no grievances of bias and the country has no empty granaries. The noble aspiration is not to avoid the world and distance oneself from vulgarity, but to enlighten the people and bring peace to the nation.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Liang praised, "This is truly insightful. With the people at peace, how can there still be any trouble from the imperial clans?"

"His Majesty's enfeoffment of princes to distant frontiers is like planting fine trees in the fields. If their roots are deep, the soil will be firm; if their branches spread, the shade will be wide." Xie An replied, "The Crown Prince resides in the Eastern Palace, like the North Star, which is in its place and all the other stars revolve around it. The problem is not that the trees in the distant frontiers are growing too tall, but that the virtue of the central government is declining. It is not that the armies in the fields are strong, but that the authority of the emperor is not established. If the court is as warm as the spring sun and the laws as severe as the autumn frost, then those far away will be benevolent and those nearby will be subdued. Even if the princes have towering power, they will be nothing more than pine and cypress trees in the courtyard, adding scenery and enhancing the gate."

At this point, Xie An said emphatically, "If you fertilize the roots, the branches will not compete for growth; if you dredge the channels, the flow will not be blocked. This is the way to avoid trouble."

Upon hearing this, Yu Liang clapped his hands and laughed.

Xie Anshi secretly advised him to assist the crown prince well. If the court's prestige was high and the country was peaceful and prosperous, the vassal kings would not be able to cause trouble and would eventually become helpers in protecting the court.

This is not empty flattery. The Great Liang Dynasty is such a vast country, with tens of thousands of imperial guards and more than 100,000 military garrisons. If the court is well-governed, who can defeat it? Unless you yourself are extremely corrupt, there is no possibility for a vassal king to succeed in rebellion.

“Excellent! Anshi has captured my heart.” Yu Liang laughed and said, “If the world is indeed like this, then Your Majesty’s magnificent feat of rebuilding the country will not have been in vain.”

"This year's harvest has been generally stable in the four prefectures of Xu, Qing, Ji, and Si, and countless people are grateful for the Crown Prince's virtue. Your Majesty's ambition will surely be carried on by successors," Xie An said.

Yu Liang smiled and nodded. Indeed, everything was under control, and a few worries were nothing to worry about.

******
The King of Qi's letter traveled through the dense network of post stations in Ji and Si provinces all the way to Luoyang, arriving at the end of September.

Shao Xun returned to Xiyuan Abode from the fishing spot.

He first went to see Wang Huifeng, who managed a weak smile at him. Although the autumn sun was shining brightly, life was slowly slipping away.

Le Lanji and Pei Lingyan also came to see her and talked with Wang Huifeng for a long time.

Although they were younger, they looked much better. They spent their days reading, taking walks, or pruning flowers by the window, living a leisurely and contented life, even more regular than Shao Xun, who spent all his time fishing.

After the female official brought the letters and documents to the grape trellis, Shao Xun lay down and read them one by one.

With Jin Dao stationed in Jicheng, his main focus recently has not been on Lelang and Daifang counties, but rather on keeping a close eye on Murong Ren and discussing with Li Chong how to defuse this potential threat.

Of course, he also devoted some of his energy to the future fiefdom, mainly by recruiting people. In addition, some of the Lelang people who remained in Changli were selected and sent back to their hometown.

Jin Dao was truly unabashed in his pursuit of personal gain.

After reading it, Shao Xun wrote "Approved" on Li Zhong's memorial and instructed him to handle it himself.

To be honest, Li Chong was one of the few veteran generals who had made great contributions.

Xu Lang passed away at the beginning of last year, and before that, there were Huang Biao, He Lun, and others. Last month, Chang Can also passed away. I heard that Yang Bao's "thirst syndrome" is getting worse and he can't even see anymore. There are really not many people left in the older generation.

But Li Zhong remains active, which is truly admirable.

After dealing with this mess, Shao Xun repeatedly looked at Jin Dao's letter and thought to himself that Le Lang and Dai Fang's conditions were indeed too poor, and he should give them some compensation.

He's entering the twilight of his life. Although he's still physically strong and even capable of handling women, a serious illness could strike at any time; there's no telling what might happen. Therefore, there are some things he needs to act on quickly.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Wang Huifeng and saw Le Lanji sitting on the recliner, looking at him.

Shao Xun twitched the corner of his mouth, turned his head away, and continued reading.

Crown Prince Shao Jin's land survey in Jizhou caused quite a stir, but it was largely completed.

With the full cooperation of the Right Flying Dragon Guard and the Left Dragon Tiger Guard, they suppressed many audacious and reckless individuals.

Apart from the ringleaders, most of the prisoners were exiled. More than 3,000 of them had already arrived in Weixu, a vassal state of Yanqi, where they settled their fields and houses and began cultivating the land. More than 2,000 of them arrived in the Later Cheshi Kingdom, where they cultivated wasteland in its capital and supported themselves. Finally, more than 5,000 of them arrived in Youzhou, ready to be exiled to Lelang at any time.

In this grand game of the world, population is undoubtedly the most important and the core factor.

However, it takes time for the population to go from being exiled to being resettled and to being self-sufficient, sometimes as long as three years. During this period, there are all sorts of complicated and chaotic matters that can be quite troublesome.

This led Shao Xun to think of the matter of Gaochang.

This month, Fan Ben, a Gentleman Attendant at the Palace Gate (formerly the Director of Waterways), submitted a memorial requesting that the Later Kingdom of Cheshi be abolished and replaced with a prefecture.

Shao Xun did not agree immediately, but instead held a meeting with the Chancellor of the State Affairs Hall, the Three Supervisors of the Imperial Guards, and the Generals of the various guards to discuss the matter.

After much discussion, everyone agreed on one point: with troops still stationed within the territory of the Later Cheshi Kingdom, from a purely military perspective, abolishing the feudal system and establishing prefectures was not a major problem.

They even considered what prefecture to establish after the abolition of the feudal lords, and how many counties it would govern—Shao ​​Xun named the Cheshi Kingdom "Beiting Prefecture," which governed Cheshi, Jinman, and Pulei counties. Of course, this was a preliminary plan and was not formally implemented.

Shao Xun not only consulted with the court officials, but also sent a letter to Nian Liu, asking for his opinion on the matter. In fact, he wanted to see if Nian Liu had the confidence and ability to handle the aftermath.

This is not just a political matter; we also need to consider economic integration capabilities. It's not that simple.

As of now, Shao Xun is still waiting for a reply and has not made a decision in a hurry.

After finishing everything, Shao Xun stood up, stretched lazily without regard for his image, but secretly glanced at the girls out of the corner of his eye.

Le Lanji sighed softly, got up and walked over, took Shao Xun's arm, and strolled outside.

"Is it difficult?" she asked softly after walking for a while.

"It's not that bad, it's just that I was a bit too hasty," Shao Xun said. "Gaochang isn't fully settled yet, Lelang has only just begun, and what about Nanzhong..."

Le Lanji paused, looked at Shao Xun with some concern, and asked softly, "Are you feeling unwell?"

Shao Xun shook his head and chuckled.

He was still displaying his power against Kezhuhun last night, how could he possibly have a health problem? But he did have a sense of urgency, a feeling that was inexplicable yet came from the bottom of his heart and was becoming clearer and clearer: you must accomplish many things as soon as possible, or you will be too late.

Shao Xun didn't discuss these matters with anyone; he simply reviewed the various major events currently underway.

The most crucial thing was undoubtedly the land survey. Although there were some setbacks, they were all resolved one by one, and it greatly enhanced the Crown Prince's prestige.

Secondly, there is the ongoing restructuring of the Western Regions. By the end of this year, the town of Kucha will break even—actually, there is still a slight deficit, but this has been covered by the Kingdom of Kucha.

In the latter half of this year, the imperial court has already dispatched envoys to survey the oases within the territory of Khotan and to plan the construction of the second military town in the Western Regions: Khotan Town.

Yu Mie was also recalled by him, and should have already set off.

There are still some border troubles...

“I have many things to do, so I need to focus my energy on the border regions,” Shao Xun said. “Domestic affairs will be handled by the prime ministers and the crown prince of the State Council.”

Le Lanji was puzzled.

Shao Xun looked south. The first hidden danger he needed to deal with was you, because he was unsure what the Crown Prince would do.

(End of this chapter)