The prince is more stable

Chapter 466: The Style of the Han Envoy
After Zhao Xiaoqian's thundering governance, the situation in Zhending Prefecture has improved a lot.

In addition, Zhao Xiaoqian sacrificed his own face and asked Zhao Xu for an order to exempt taxes for three years. This decree really brought benefits to the people and merchants of Zhending Prefecture.

It can be said that as long as the officials of Zhending Prefecture do not commit suicide, the lives of the people and merchants of Zhending Prefecture will surely prosper.

What's more, Zhao Xiaoqian led his troops to defeat the Liao army twice and drove the Liao army to the north of Feihu Bingmasi, 400 miles away from Zhending Prefecture. Strictly speaking, Zhending Prefecture was no longer a border town of the Song Dynasty, but had become an inner city, and there was no longer any worry about border troubles from then on.

Zhao Xiaoqian created so many conditions in less than half a year after he took office. As for how Zhending Prefecture would be governed in the future, how officials would introduce policies to benefit the people and encourage businesses, etc., Zhao Xiaoqian had no interest in participating in these specific matters.

To put it nicely, this is called "grasping the general direction."

To put it bluntly, this is called "lazy and inefficient governance."

His Royal Highness the Prince is busy fighting the Liao people on the front line. How can he take care of the trivial matters in Zhending Prefecture?

"Go back and tell Li Qingchen not to send anyone to my place for no reason. We don't have enough gas money..." Zhao Xiaoqian looked at the clerk and said, "I've handed over all the matters of Zhending Prefecture to Li Qingchen. Let him handle them."

"Unless it's something truly catastrophic, like Zhending City being burned down, or a sudden windfall from the treasury, or Li Qingchen not being home for three years and his wife giving birth to a big, fat son, or something like that, don't report it to me. This prince is very busy. Yeah, too busy."

The clerk smiled dryly and secretly decided not to tell Judge Li all the details, especially the words about his wife giving birth to a fat son. Li Qingchen couldn't do anything to His Royal Highness the Prince, but he would definitely find a way to kill him.

"Yes, Your Highness, I will convey your words verbatim."

After a pause, the clerk hesitated and said, "There is one more thing..."

Zhao Xiaoqian was getting impatient: "You're so dawdling! Do you really have to eat here before you leave? What else is going on?"

"Judge Li also said that the court will soon send another group of officials to Zhending Prefecture. Well, or rather, not to Zhending Prefecture, but to the newly occupied territory north of Zhending Prefecture, where His Royal Highness the Prince of the County led our royal army..."

Zhao Xiaoqian was startled: "What are they doing here?"

"It is said that they are surveying the area, measuring and dividing the land. The court is considering establishing another county a hundred miles north of Zhending Prefecture, gathering displaced refugees from various places, redistributing land to them for cultivation, and laying the foundation for the county government, township markets, and other structures, so that the court can maintain long-term governance over the occupied territory."

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded. "Yes, this is the right thing to do. Go back and have Li Qingchen submit a memorial to the court, urging them to act quickly. The efficiency of the Bianjing Government Affairs Hall is amazing!"

Seeing Zhao Xiaoqian cursing and complaining about the court, the clerks did not have the courage to join him and could only continue to smile dryly.

"The victory memorial of the Battle of Juma River should be arriving in Bian Jing soon. The emperor must be very happy to hear the good news. As for those officials who have come down, they have more things to do than they expected. They have to measure more than 400 miles of land. Tsk! They must be exhausted like dogs." Zhao Xiaoqian laughed with glee.

The most inconvenient thing about living in ancient times was communication.

Many days had passed since the great victory at Juma River, and the court in Bian Jing probably still only knew about Zhao Xiaoqian's first victory, the one in which he annihilated 50,000 Liao troops.

As a result, just as the local surveying officials set out, the Song Dynasty inexplicably gained two or three hundred miles of land. When Zhao Xu found out about this, he celebrated by standing on his head and having diarrhea.

When Zhao Xiaoqian first came to Zhending Prefecture from Bian Jing, even Zhao Xu probably didn't expect that his pace would be so fast. In less than half a year, he had conquered more than 400 miles of land for the imperial court, and defeated the Liao army twice in a row, which frightened the Liao army so deeply that they dared not cross the Juma River to the south.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Liao army should not have the courage to provoke the Song army in the past few months. After being defeated badly in two consecutive battles, the emperor, ministers and dignitaries in the capital of Liao are now only concerned about strategic defense issues and have no intention of attacking for revenge.

As he was thinking about it, Zhao Xiaoqian's heart suddenly moved.

Since the Liao army doesn't dare to come, why should I stay in this barren Feihu Bingmasi?

Aren’t the three beautiful ladies in Zhending City attractive?
With such beautiful women in my arms, why should I bother my wife and concubines every day?
He lowered his head and looked at his hands silently, thinking that he was already a prince, but he still had to rely on his hands to solve the problem every night. He was simply a disgrace among the princes, a fighter among the losers...

The more I think about it, the more aggrieved I feel. How can a prince of a county live like this?

It was decided to leave tomorrow and leave the camp to Zhong Jianzhong. Like Li Qingchen, they were all oxen and horses, used to pull millstones. Even when their masters were away, oxen and horses could still spread their hooves and happily travel the world.

With the current strength of the Dragon Guard Camp, Zhong Jianzhong can perfectly deal with any disturbance of the Liao army, without Zhao Xiaoqian adding to the chaos.

Having made up his mind, Zhao Xiaoqian immediately smiled happily, and his brother Xiao Zhao was even more eager to act, as if they were cheering for his decision.

The clerk saw that Zhao Xiaoqian's face was suddenly filled with a vague smile, which was so frightening that he hurriedly bowed and said goodbye.

The next day, Zhao Xiaoqian simply packed his luggage and asked Chen Shou and other imperial guards to assemble. Hundreds of people planned to leave Feihu Bingmasi and return to the glamorous world of Zhending City.

As a result, as soon as he walked out of the house with his luggage, he was stopped by Zhong Jianzhong, who had rushed over after hearing the news in shock.

"Why can't I leave?" Zhao Xiaoqian stared at Zhong Jianzhong with a grim expression. "Now that there's no war, can't I just enjoy myself?"

Zhong Jianzhong wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled bitterly, "Your Highness, no fighting doesn't mean no trouble. Tens of thousands of troops are stationed here. Logistics allocation, training minutes, ammunition production, rebuilding of forts, etc., many matters require your approval. You really can't leave."

"Simple!" Zhao Xiaoqian casually flipped through his fingers and took out the seal he carried with him and handed it to Zhong Jianzhong: "Here's the seal, you help me stamp it. If anything goes wrong, it's mine. If nothing goes wrong, the credit is also mine."

Zhong Jianzhong retracted his hand, daring not to accept the seal. This was an imperial appointment, and Zhong Jianzhong was not qualified, not even daring to touch it. "Your Highness, military and national affairs are no joke. Without Your Highness at the helm of the army, those ferocious and ferocious thugs under your command will be left unchecked. If Your Highness leaves, they will surely cause chaos."

Zhao Xiaoqian angrily said, "Do you think I'm the same as you? I just can't stand seeing a bunch of rough guys hanging around in front of me every day. I just like to lie in bed with my beautiful wife. Get out of the way quickly, I'm in a hurry..."

Zhong Jianzhong was about to persuade them again when he saw Zhao Xin hurriedly coming to the door of the government office. Seeing the two people arguing, both of them looked very unhappy. Zhao Xin couldn't help but be stunned.

"...Then I'll leave?" Zhao Xin said hesitantly.

"Is there something?" Zhao Xiaoqian glanced at him.

Zhao Xin took out a secret letter sealed with wax from his arms and held it up with both hands.

"Imperial City Division Zhen Qing, an urgent secret letter from Shangjing."

Zhao Xiaoqian snorted angrily and opened the secret letter.

After glancing over it hastily, Zhao Xiaoqian's expression changed several times. He finally put the letter away and waved at Zhong Jianzhong: "I'm not leaving. I can't leave!"

Zhong Jianzhong was surprised and overjoyed, but then he heard Zhao Xiaoqian cursing, "He's just an envoy, and you have to do something earth-shattering. Even I, a brainless fan, am convinced. I've really spoiled you!"

He cursed and turned back to the office angrily.

Zhong Jianzhong poked Zhao Xin with a smile and whispered, "What did the secret letter from the capital say? Why did His Royal Highness the Prince have to stay after just one glance at the secret letter?"

Zhao Xin said with a forced smile, "General Zhong, do you know what a 'secret letter' is? Did you see the wax seal on it? If I knew what it said, where would I be now?"

Zhong Jianzhong stopped Zhao Xiaoqian and went back to Zhending City to enjoy himself. He felt a great sense of accomplishment and was in a very good mood. He smiled and said, "Shouldn't you be waiting in line at Naihe Bridge to drink Mengpo soup?"

"That's right, he will be executed by military law and wait for his reincarnation in the next life."

…………

Back in the study of the government office, Zhao Xiaoqian took out the secret letter sent by Zhen Qing from his arms again.

There were actually two secret letters, one written by Zhen Qing and the other written by Su Shi.

Zhao Xiaoqian was certainly not in a good mood at the moment.

He was planning to return to Zhending City to vent his lovesickness on the three women, but before he left, he had sex, which poured a bucket of cold water on his head and completely dampened his desire.

Single people probably don’t understand this feeling, but men with wives know it.

Just when he was about to have sex with his wife in high spirits, his wife suddenly told him in a sweet voice that her period had come...

Zhen Qing's secret letter said that it was impossible to bring Su Shi back because Su Shi had no intention of coming back and wanted to stay in Shangjing.

Zhao Xiaoqian seriously suspected that this old guy had really done something shameful. If it were written into a novel, the title would probably be "I'm already sixty years old: I was an envoy to the enemy country and got the princess of the enemy country pregnant" or something like that.

...Zhao Xiaoqian felt inexplicably excited just by the title of the book he had imagined.

Su Shi refused to leave, so Zhen Qing was of course helpless against Su Shi. He couldn't just kidnap him.

Zhao Xiaoqian held back his anger and opened Su Shi's handwritten letter.

After a quick glance, Zhao Xiaoqian suddenly sat up straight, his expression more serious than ever before.

a long time.

"This old guy..." Zhao Xiaoqian gritted his teeth in hatred, but there was no anger on his face, instead there was respect.

Su Shi's letter began with a chorus of praise for Zhao Xiaoqian, briefly mentioning his character, but making a point of describing the great victory in which Zhao Xiaoqian led his troops to annihilate 50,000 Liao troops.

Su Shi praised Zhao Xiaoqian for enhancing the prestige of the Song Dynasty and boosting the righteous spirit of the world. He said that Zhao Xiaoqian and his soldiers had wiped out the Song Dynasty's weak and shameful past with their blood and the heads of their enemies, and that the humiliating history had been washed away.

Then Su Shi explained the reason why he could not return.

The reason is very simple. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, there have been no soldiers who are willing to sacrifice their lives, so the country has been weak and compromised again and again. Now that the Song army is inspired and has defeated the Liao army, it is time for the civil and military officials and scholars of the Song Dynasty to rise up.

Su Shi and his family have all received the country's grace, so how could he not repay it?

So he was willing to stay in Shangjing, revive the spirit of the Han envoys, follow the example of An Guo Shaoji, Fu Jiezi and others, and repay the kindness of the Song government.

(End of this chapter)