Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 284, Movements in All Directions

"Congratulations, Your Highness! The Empress is pregnant, and it has been over a month!"

The imperial physician offered his congratulations.

This news, when confirmed, brought Fang Yong great joy.

He had long wanted to have an heir, so he took good care of Cui Si, Yuan Chun and others. But in the end, it was Jin Chuan who beat him to it.

Fang Yong pinched Jin Chuan'er's little face and said:

"Good girl, did you deliberately not refine it completely and secretly keep some for yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Chuan'er said with some concern:
"Your Highness, I'm sorry, it was my own idea..."

Fang Yong pulled her back.

"Alright, I'm not blaming you, I was just worried you'd suffer!"

Jin Chuan'er is close in age to Baochai, so childbirth would likely present some difficulties.

Of course, thanks to the effects of the cultivation technique, Jin Chuan'er's physique has improved significantly, and she is certainly not in any danger to her life; she will only suffer some pain.

Afterwards, Fang Yong arranged for Jin Chuan'er to live in a palace alone, and assigned special people to serve and take care of her.

He spread the news, and Fang Yong's men cheered and celebrated.

With Fang Yong having offspring, his foundation would be secure, so how could they not be happy?

After learning about this, Daiyu reminded Fang Yong that Jin Chuan'er's parents should also be properly taken care of.

Realizing his oversight, Fang Yong quickly ordered people to bring Jin Chuan'er's parents and Qing Wen's relatives over as well, and arranged for them to live outside the palace, with the same treatment as Xiang Ling's mother.

Xiangling's mother had already brought her over from Huaizhou, and the mother and daughter were reunited, a very touching scene. The only pity was that Xiangling's father had been kidnapped by that evil monk and Taoist priest and had not been found to this day.

Jin Chuan'er's pregnancy did not stop Fang Yong's efforts. Although he had an heir, he did not yet know the gender, and he still needed to work hard.

Fang Yong wasn't discriminating against girls; in fact, he preferred daughters to sons. However, in the current social view, sons were indeed considered more important for the continuation of the nation's rule than daughters.

To give a simple example, if Fang Yong were to suddenly die in an accident, and he had a son, his legacy could be passed on to his son, with Wu Yuan, Zhai Xun, and others assisting him to keep it afloat.

Without a son, his empire would undoubtedly crumble and vanish instantly.
One day, in Daiyu's room.

After their lovemaking, Daiyu trembled slightly and nestled in Fang Yong's arms.

Fang Yong gently embraced Daiyu, his hand stroking her smooth belly.

Daiyu's lower abdomen was smooth and felt very comfortable to the touch, but it was slightly swollen.

Fang Yong realized something and whispered in Daiyu's ear with a smile:
"Is my sister anxious to have my baby too?"

Upon hearing this, Daiyu blushed deeply and quickly denied it:
"No, no, that's not true..."

Seeing this, Fang Yong kissed Daiyu and said:
"Alright, if you want, I'll help you! I'm just worried that you'll suffer."

As he spoke, he hugged Daiyu closer and said affectionately:

"Doesn't my sister know me? Whether I have children or not, my favorite person will always be my sister!"

Upon hearing this, Daiyu's eyes immediately filled with tenderness.

"Hmm~"

Fang Yong kissed Daiyu.

Holding her slender legs and adorable little feet, his kisses moved slowly down from her lips to her fair neck, delicate collarbone, and...

Daiyu eventually activated her cultivation technique.

Actually, she didn't want to have children so early, but Jin Chuan'er's situation inexplicably gave her a sense of crisis, so that's why...

In Shanxi, Zhai Xun had already led his troops to completely control the land and began to organize land reclamation.

On the grasslands, Zhou Shuan's troops reached the homeland of the Abuka tribe, Kahe Temple.

Tuolei and two other tribal alliances mustered less than 40,000 troops to attempt a rebellion, but they were no match for Zhou Shuan. A great battle ensued, with both sides suffering losses.

Zhou Shuan's victory was not easy.

This time, Chen Zhengdu was prepared for heavy cavalry and implemented many measures to counter them.

Unfortunately, the fundamental gap in strength cannot be bridged.

In the fierce battle, Tuolei's army was the first to succumb to the heavy casualties and began to flee.

Tuolei fled to other tribes under Chen Zhengdu's protection.

Zhou Shuan won again.

He conquered all the land of the Abukha tribe and in the Kah Temple, he enthroned Dore as the ruler of the steppe, naming him Dore Khan!
Those major tribes would naturally not acknowledge Dorei as a lackey of the Han people!
However, some smaller tribes in the surrounding area, fearing Zhou Shuan's power, had no choice but to acknowledge Dorei as Khan.

The first thing Dore did after becoming Khan was to fulfill the conditions he had promised Fang Yong.

He ordered the imposition of exorbitant taxes and levies on the territory, ruthlessly plundering the property, cattle, and sheep of the grassland people and giving them to Fang Yong, while also arranging for his sister Yimin to marry into the local government.

Countless grassland herders lost all their property and were forced to work as laborers in Hezhou.

If Kah Khan's liberation of the herdsmen opened the door to reform of the steppe system, then Dore's current actions have undoubtedly slammed that door shut again.

Zhou Shuan felt no pity for the plight of these grassland people.

Fang Yong has a modern mindset and can view these grassland people relatively equally.

But Zhou Shuan was a thoroughly ancient person. In his eyes, these grassland people were nothing but naked barbarians, with no human rights.

An ancient saying goes: "The Rong and Di tribes are like jackals and wolves, and cannot be disliked; the Chinese are like close relatives, and cannot be abandoned." This is a true reflection of Zhou Shuan's feelings.

(P.S.: Translation: These nomadic peoples are like wolves; their greed is insatiable. Meanwhile, the various regions of Central China have close and interdependent relations and cannot be abandoned.)
In Zhejiang, Wei Xing has already reached Quzhou.

The main areas of Zhejiang have basically all fallen into Fang Yong's hands.

Along his route, Wei Xing instigated a series of massacres targeting powerful and influential families.

Memorials impeaching Wei Xing were everywhere in the court and among the people.

Fang Yong stated publicly that he would not tolerate such behavior and would definitely launch an investigation.

In fact, he not only allowed Wei Xing to act as he pleased, but also secretly rewarded Wei Xing handsomely.

On this day, Wei Xing delivered a secret report, inquiring of Fang Yong whether to annihilate Xu Shaobao or let him enter Jiangxi.

Both approaches have their advantages.

Completely eliminating Xu Shaobao would greatly enhance Fang Yong's prestige and deter restless elements in the court and among the people.

If Xu Shaobao is allowed to enter Jiangxi, Fang Yong can use this as an excuse to attack Jiangxi in the name of the imperial court.

Both options have their advantages and disadvantages; it all depends on Fang Yong's choice.

After much deliberation, Fang Yong put an X on Xu Shaobao's name.

With the Longqing Emperor in his grasp, he had many excuses to take over Jiangxi, and he didn't need Xu Shaobao.

Moreover, for him now, taking Jiangxi is not his primary goal.

Jiangxi is located at the southern end of Central China. Although its economy and population are not bad, they are not outstanding. From its geographical location, it is not the land that Fang Yong urgently needs to fight for.

In fact, even Fang Yong from Zhejiang did not plan to launch an attack now. He originally intended to kill Xu Shaobao and then move into Henan, and then into Hubei and other places, so that he could connect with Shandong and Huizhou.

However, Wei Xing was greedy for credit and followed Xu Shaobao step by step to take over Zhejiang. Fang Yong saw that his battle was going well and that there was no harm in taking over Zhejiang, so he did not stop him.

Now that Zhejiang has been largely secured, it's time to turn our attention back to Henan.

Not to mention the importance of Henan in the Central Plains.

Take Tian Tianrui from Henan for example, he's a thorn in Fang Yong's side!

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(End of this chapter)