Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 209 The Crown Prince's Assistance

Upon hearing Lu Shuyun's words, the people in the hall did not speak immediately. Most of them had initially agreed to send the refugees to the Northern Kingdom. They had not expected that what they thought would be an easy solution would become so troublesome.

After a long pause, the Vice Minister of Revenue said, "His Majesty's attitude is very clear: the court will absolutely not provide grain to the Northern Kingdom. The only solution now is for us to collect grain ourselves and send it to the Northern Kingdom so that those refugees will have food even if they go there."

"However, this will probably require the cooperation of the major families in Jiangnan."

Originally, dealing with the refugees should have been the responsibility of the imperial court, but now Emperor Xia has completely delegated it to Crown Prince Lu Shuyun. If Lu Shuyun doesn't handle the refugee issue well, he probably won't be able to remain Crown Prince for long.

If he fails to handle the first political matter well, the officials from the other princes' factions will not let this opportunity pass. His position as crown prince was not obtained legitimately to begin with. If Emperor Xia had not compromised with the powerful families of Jiangnan, he might not have been able to become crown prince.

Now that the Great Wu is in turmoil and the Great Qian is also in turmoil, the external pressure on the Great Xia is gone, and the Xia Emperor can easily depose him as the crown prince.

As long as officials from other princes' factions exert pressure, Emperor Xia will go with the flow and directly depose him as crown prince. At that time, officials from the Jiangnan aristocratic families will not be able to say anything, since Lu Shuyun did not handle the peasant uprising well.

Upon hearing the words of the Vice Minister of Revenue, Wang Yong, representing the Wang family, spoke up: "Your Highness, please rest assured, the powerful families of Jiangnan absolutely support Your Highness. We are willing to donate grain to those refugees and help the court resolve the refugee rebellion."

Seeing that Wang Yong, the representative of the Wang family, had spoken up, the Vice Minister of Revenue immediately said, "If the aristocratic families of Jiangnan are willing to donate grain to the refugees, then tell those refugees that as long as they are willing to go to the North, they will be given a year's worth of rations."

Lu Shuyun thought for a moment and said, "That is indeed a solution."

If the prominent families of Jiangnan were willing to donate grain to the refugees, they would gain a good reputation, and Lu Shuyun would resolve the refugee crisis—a win-win situation for everyone.

However, Lu Shuyun thought of something and continued, "The grain donated by the Jiangnan aristocratic families may not be enough. It would be best to find a way to lure those refugees to other vassal states and let those vassal kings help resolve the refugee rebellion."

Upon hearing this, the Vice Minister of Revenue said, "Your Highness's method is excellent. I have heard that in order to resolve the rebellion of displaced people within his fiefdom, Prince Qi has tried every means to send the displaced people to the northern kingdom. He has not only lowered grain prices in the north but also sent the displaced people a year's worth of rations."

"Since these refugees are unwilling to go to the Northern Kingdom, then send them to other fiefdoms. Once they arrive in those fiefdoms, the vassal kings will naturally find a way to send them back to the Northern Kingdom."

"In this way, His Highness the Crown Prince will be under much less pressure."

Upon hearing the words of the Vice Minister of Revenue, the worry on Lu Shuyun's face gradually disappeared.

Now that we have a solution, we just need to do it.

For the next two weeks, Lu Shuyun followed their plan, on the one hand publicizing the donation of grain by the Jiangnan aristocratic families to the refugees, and on the other hand sending some refugees to other fiefdoms under the pretext that the vassal kings had to fulfill their obligations.

The first thing those vassal states did after accepting refugees was to send envoys to the northern states to negotiate the acceptance of refugees.

Lu Chen initially only wanted some food for the refugees, but later he found that many vassal kings came to him, so he made more demands, especially regarding the conditions for the circulation of goods from the northern kingdom.

Lu Shuyun's move was a huge help to the Northern Kingdom. For a long time afterward, Lu Chen couldn't stop smiling whenever he thought of Lu Shuyun's clever tricks.

If the Northern Kingdom can develop, Lu Shuyun will definitely deserve credit, and a great one at that.

Spring was gradually passing and summer was approaching. The population of the northern country was increasing, and Lu Chen spent almost the entire spring dealing with the affairs of the displaced people.

North Palace.

study.

Lu Chen was processing documents related to the resettlement of refugees when a member of the Imperial Guard said at the door, "Your Highness, we have intelligence from Su Fengcheng."

Lu Chen said calmly, "Bring it in."

The Imperial Guards then entered the study and placed the newly arrived intelligence in front of Lu Chen. Lu Chen opened the intelligence and glanced at it.

The next moment, a smile appeared on Lu Chen's face. He did not expect that the Chu family would let Chu Xiong and his group of Chu family members leave so easily. He originally thought that the Chu family was afraid of weakening their strength, so they would try every means to prevent them from leaving.

As a result, the Chu family not only did not stop him, but also allowed Chu Xiong to take the grain donated by the Chu family to the refugees northward.

However, there are advantages to the Chu family's actions. On the one hand, the opposing forces within the Chu family have disappeared, and from now on, the Chu family will only have one voice, which is incredibly appealing to the new head of the Chu family.

On the other hand, having Chu Xiong take the grain donated by the Chu family to the refugees northward would allow the Chu family to take the opportunity to promote themselves, since Chu Xiong was, after all, the former head of the Chu family.

The Chu family, a large and prestigious clan, had its former patriarch personally leading such a large amount of grain north to donate to refugees in need. This act instantly boosted the Chu family's goodwill among the people.

Just then, another voice rang out from outside the study.

"Your Highness, are you in your study? I have some intelligence here that you might find very interesting."

Upon hearing that it was that vixen, Lu Chen immediately said to the Imperial Guard beside him, "You may leave now."

"Yes, Your Highness."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Imperial Guard soldiers turned and left the study. Seeing the Imperial Guards open the door and come out of the study, Wang Qingci immediately entered the study and closed the door.

Lu Chen sat at his desk, stamping official documents as he asked, "Tell me, what kind of intelligence would interest me?"

Wang Qingci said with a smile, "I wonder if Your Highness is interested in information about the eldest princess of the Great Wu Dynasty?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen was stunned for a moment, and the hand holding the seal stopped in mid-air. He looked up at Wang Qingci.

Today, Wang Qingci wore a red dress that hugged her curvaceous figure. The silk fabric of the dress was subtly revealing, sparking endless imagination.

Lu Chen asked curiously, "The eldest princess of the Great Wu Dynasty? What has she been up to lately?"

"I remember you said not long ago that she went to the Dayue Dynasty, right?"

Wang Qingci replied, "She was indeed in the Dayue Dynasty a month ago, but..."

At this point, Wang Qingci hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

Seeing that Wang Qingci was only halfway through her sentence, Lu Chen said calmly, "But what? Finish your sentence. I think you haven't been disciplined by me in a long time, and your skin is itching again."

Since Lu Chen became a Grandmaster, Wang Qingci has hardly returned to the Northern Prince's Mansion except to report intelligence.

In addition, Lu Chen had been focusing on Chu Qingli and Yelü Nanyan during this period, which meant that Wang Qingci had never experienced how fierce Lu Chen was after becoming a Grandmaster.

(End of this chapter)