The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 618 Prince
In the Taiji Hall, Cao Mao sat solemnly on the upper seat with many memorials placed in front of him, but his eyes were a little distracted.

His attention was not on the music charts in front of him.

He was extremely panicked.

Ever since he had outlasted Sima Shi, Cao Mao had not been so afraid for a long time.

The hall was empty, and occasionally footsteps could be heard outside. It was the guard Huangmen changing shifts.

Cao Mao felt his thoughts were a little confused. He picked up the memorial in front of him and looked at it again.

This is the battle report sent by Guanqiu Jian.

Since General Guanqiu Jian defeated the Wu navy head-on on the river last time, he began to devote all his efforts to developing the navy and preparing for the capture of Jianye.

He established a very large shipyard in Huainan and spent a lot of money to recruit many excellent shipbuilders, some of whom were even brought from the State of Wu.

The Wu State's maritime industry developed very well.

This is all thanks to Emperor Sun.

At that time, Gongsun Yuan sent people to the State of Wu to offer horses. Emperor Sun, despite the opposition of his ministers, happily appointed Gongsun Yuan as King of Yan. At the same time, he sent 10,000 people carrying gold, silver, jewelry, etc. to escort Gongsun Yuan's envoys back to Liaodong by boat.

As a result, after these people arrived in Liaodong, the leader was beheaded and sent to Cao Wei, and the rest were used to enrich the local population and their money was confiscated.

When some people escaped, they happened to come to Goguryeo and thus established diplomatic contact with them.

In the second year of Huanglong, Emperor Sun sent Wei Wen and Zhuge Zhi to lead 10,000 soldiers to the sea to search for the fairy mountain and seek the elixir of immortality.

These people finally landed in Izu and thousands of them returned.

Later, Emperor Sun had a sudden inspiration and sent Zhu Ying and Kang Tai to lead a fleet to "Nan Xuan Guo Hua". Their destination was today's Southeast Asia. According to records, these two people had visited nearly a hundred countries and recorded their customs and habits. When they arrived in Funan, Zhu Ying and others met the "India" envoys in the sea and asked them about the situation in "India".

In terms of navigation and shipbuilding, Wu was still far ahead of the other two countries, but Wu's advanced technology did not mean that Wei was weak.

The State of Wei also had many records of going to sea, especially in the later period, when the technological gap between the two sides was not so large, and both sides had different requirements for ships. The people of Wu were obsessed with tower ships and five-story ships. The bigger the ship, the better, and the more soldiers it could carry, the better, so they created one behemoth after another.

These behemoths have their own names just like those in later generations, such as Feiyun and Gaihai. These are five-story ships that can carry three thousand soldiers!

It is much more powerful than ordinary tower ships.

It is no exaggeration to call it a sea fortress and a behemoth.

Cao Wei did not attach much importance to the carrying capacity and height of the ship. They cared more about sailing speed, agility, and sturdiness.

The main problem is that putting too many people on one boat is not good, as it could easily lead to serious consequences if a fire breaks out.
In short, the navies of the two countries went in different directions, and Guanqiu Jian had been concerned about naval affairs in recent years in order to defeat the State of Wu. Now, the State of Wei finally had a large fleet of tower ships, and the tallest five-story ship, the Great Wei also had one.

Guanqiu Jian nominated it himself, and its name was simple, called "Po Zei Hao" and "Fa Kou Hao".

Compared with the beautiful names of the Eastern Wu's tower ships, this one is really simple and direct. Cao Mao even suspected that if Guanqiu Jian had a few more five-story ships under his command, they might start to be named "Zhu Sun" or "Fu Wu".

At this moment, Cheng Ji's heavy footsteps were heard.

Cheng Ji stood at the door, saluted Cao Mao, and then said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother comes to see you."

Cao Mao put down the memorial in his hand, his lips trembling, "How dare you say that!"
Where in the world is there an empress dowager who comes to pay homage to the emperor?
Cheng Ji's words sounded absurd, just like asking why the emperor wanted to rebel.

Cao Mao had no choice but to get up and walk out quickly. As soon as he arrived at the door of Taiji Hall, he saw the furious Queen Mother Guo.

Cao Mao hurriedly walked to her side with a smile, "Greetings, mother!"

Empress Dowager Guo glared angrily at Cheng Ji who was standing behind him, "Who are these people you're using? How dare you stop me?!"

Cao Mao glared at Cheng Ji and cursed, "How dare you be so disrespectful to the Queen Mother? Wait and see how I punish you later!"

He hurried forward to support the Queen Mother and said softly, "Mother, this man is a warrior and does not know etiquette. Please do not blame me. I will not forgive him."

Cao Mao passed by with the empress dowager, but Cheng Ji just stood there.

After following the Queen Mother into the West Hall, she carefully sat on the upper seat.

The Queen Mother has not been in a good mood these days.

Because Cao Mao's child was about to be born.

If the Queen Mother really treated Cao Mao as her own child, it would be a great thing, but the Queen Mother could not do that.

She felt an inexplicable aversion to the newborn.

Perhaps it was because the Queen Mother herself had never given birth to a child, or perhaps she was worried that Zheng Xian's status would surpass hers, or perhaps it was for some other reason.

At this moment, sitting in the upper seat, the Queen Mother began to talk about Zheng Xian in a casual tone.

"How's Zheng Xian doing? Hasn't the baby been born yet?"

"Not yet, there's no news." Empress Dowager Guo repeated the same old thing. "Don't take this too seriously. You're the Son of Heaven, and you should be more concerned about the empire, not such trivial matters."

She added seriously, "Whether in the imperial palace or among the common people, a mother is honored by her son."

"Zheng Xian is a good person now. She has never been rude to you or me, but her grandmother is really not a person who knows etiquette!"

"Zheng Xian had previously hosted a family dinner, and this person came and actually greeted Zheng Xian first instead of greeting me."

"If Zheng Xian has a child this time, don't rush to meet her. If you show too much affection for the child, Zheng Xian will become rebellious and become arrogant because of her son. Sooner or later, it will ruin everything!"

"Just wait for a while, and then you can come visit again."

Although Empress Dowager Guo had never given birth to a child, she seemed like an experienced Taoist lady at this moment, chattering incessantly about her own experiences. Cao Mao sat calmly beside her, nodding from time to time.

He could see that Empress Dowager Guo had begun to feel wary and jealous of Zheng Xian.

After all, she had never had a child in her life.

No wonder you had to come to see me today.

Queen Mother Guo said a lot, but the main issue was only one, which was to persuade Cao Mao not to pay too much attention to Zheng Xian because of the child, and even to suppress her a little so as not to let the queen become arrogant because of the child.

Just as Cao Mao was listening to the Queen Mother chattering on about her experiences, suddenly a eunuch hurried into the West Hall.

When Cao Mao saw the eunuch's expression, his panicked heart immediately calmed down.

The eunuch had a big smile on his face, and he couldn't hide his joy at all.

"Your Majesty!! The Queen has given birth to a son!"

"Mother and son are safe!"

Hearing this, a hint of unnaturalness flashed across the empress dowager's face, but she didn't say much.

Cao Mao wanted to keep calm, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise up, and he really couldn't suppress it.

He immediately stood up.

Empress Dowager Guo looked at Cao Mao, who had suddenly stood up, and quickly said, "Mao! Don't forget what I just told you!"

Cao Mao looked at her and said, "Mother, please go back and rest first. I'll take note of this."

Empress Dowager Guo was a little angry, "Is this how you treat me now?!"

Cao Mao looked at the eunuch standing beside him and said, "Go and escort the Queen Mother back to Zhaoyang Palace."

After saying this, he looked at the Queen Mother again, his eyes becoming a little sharp, "Mother must be tired."

The empress dowager, who had been so arrogant just now, looked at the emperor who had suddenly become so powerful that she couldn't even speak clearly. She leaned back slightly and said, "Hmm."

Cao Mao just stared at her. The eunuch walked to the Queen Mother and helped her up. The Queen Mother left in a hurry. At this moment, she was like a frightened old rabbit. She didn't even have the courage to look back and glare at Cao Mao. She quickly disappeared in the distance.

Originally, this was the time when she was most proud, but Cao Mao's dominance disrupted her biological clock, causing her to start to worry early.

Cao Mao ignored her and turned to walk towards Zheng Xian.

Cao Mao was stopped again in Changqiu Palace by several palace maids.

With the progress of the times, medicine has also greatly improved. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, women who had just given birth were not allowed to see outsiders. There were usually two explanations: metaphysical and medical.

The metaphysical explanation is that it is an ominous sign, while the medical explanation is that a weak body is prone to illness.

The palace maids looked at the emperor helplessly and took great pains to explain the rules to him, that they had to wait seven days before they could meet.

Cao Mao did not break this rule. He was not proficient in medicine, but the imperial doctors all said so. Maybe there really was some infectious problem. It was just a matter of waiting for a while. It was not a big deal.

As for the child, Cao Mao could still go to see him.

When Cao Mao saw the little thing that had just been washed and wrapped in the side hall, his heart trembled. He took the child carefully, even afraid that he would use too much force and hurt the boy.

The little fellow was wrinkled, and Cao Mao couldn't tell from his appearance whether he looked like himself or Zheng Xuan. However, the palace maid beside him said with a smile, "Several types, Your Majesty!"

Cao Mao held the little guy in his arms and was a little at a loss for a moment.

He looked at this guy seriously. In this lonely life, he seemed to have an extra ray of light. The gray and white world around him was suddenly full of colors. He could feel his heartbeat getting faster and faster.

Cao Mao grinned.

The many eunuchs and close ministers around were all panicked. This was the first time they saw the emperor smile like that.

It’s not that the emperor doesn’t know how to smile, but his smile is usually very restrained, always between smiling and not smiling. It’s almost never seen him so happy.

(End of this chapter)