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

Chapter 303 Murong Xue'er's Invitation

Agriculture is developing steadily, and industry is gradually emerging. Now, Dayu City has almost become an industrial city.

With the arrival of the train, the connection between Dayu City and Yan City became much closer, and some residents of Dayu City were finally willing to come to Yan City. As a result, the development speed of Yan City was once again boosted.

At this moment, Lu Chen spoke up, "Alright, that's enough about agriculture. Does anyone else have anything else to say?"

At this moment, Mu Changtian stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, now that the Prince of Zhao has declared war on the Prince of Ren, we should probably make preparations as soon as possible."

The civil war in the Great Xia Dynasty had already begun a month ago. King Zhao took the lead in sending troops to attack King Ren. Before King Ren could react, King Zhao had already occupied most of his fiefdom.

This war was somewhat strange; the imperial court did not offer any obstruction, letting them fight it out themselves. King Ren was furious and went to win over King Huai, wanting to destroy the Zhao state.

Once a war begins, it is not so easy to stop.

The fact that King Zhao suddenly led his troops to attack King Ren is most likely because the princes could no longer contain themselves and wanted to settle the score and compete for the throne.

Most princes had established connections with the vassal kings, and the vassal kings' outbursts of anger meant that the struggle between the princes had reached a point of life and death.

Mu Changtian felt that if the Northern King wanted to compete for that position, he should hurry up and head south as soon as possible to take the throne and then quell the internal strife.

Currently, only the Northern Kingdom has the strength to suppress the other vassal kings within the Great Xia territory.

If the vassal kings are allowed to continue fighting, the Great Xia Dynasty could very well be destroyed, which would not be a good thing for the Northern King.

If they had gone south later, and the Northern King had become emperor, they would probably have faced a complete mess and chaos.

The Great Xia Dynasty has been destroyed, and rebuilding it will take even more time and effort. The Northern King's ambition is to destroy other dynasties and establish a unified dynasty. If he wastes all his time and energy on rebuilding the Great Xia Dynasty, it will be a long time before he can realize his ambition.

Of course, this was just Mu Changtian's idea.

Lu Chen then said, "Let them fight if they want. As long as the imperial army is still in Qi Kingdom and hasn't been mobilized, we'll just continue watching the show."

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Li Rui said, "Your Highness, the situation in the capital is becoming increasingly dire. If the princes continue to fight, the Great Xia Dynasty may be in danger of splitting apart."

"Once the Great Xia Dynasty splits up, it will be quite difficult to unify it again in the future."

At this moment, Lu Chen turned his head to look at Zhuge Chongguang, who was sitting in the front row of the main hall.

"What does the Grand Secretary think?"

Zhuge Chongguang spoke up, saying, "This old minister believes that it is not advisable for the Northern Kingdom to launch a military campaign for the time being. However, Your Highness is, after all, His Majesty's son and a vassal king of Great Xia. He has an obligation to step forward when Great Xia faces a crisis."

"Therefore, this old minister believes that Your Highness must speak out to the court and to the vassal kings throughout the Great Xia. Only after Your Highness speaks out publicly and makes a public statement will the vassal kings in various places be able to quiet down."

As things stand, no matter how much the vassal kings within the Great Xia territory expand their armies, their military strength can never match that of the Northern Kingdom. Once the Northern King steps forward and says a few threatening words, some of the vassal kings will naturally become more obedient.

Lu Chen thought about it for a moment and felt that it made some sense. Then he said, "I will write a memorial and send it to the court later."

"Does anyone else have anything else to say?"

At this moment, Liang Zong stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the activities of spies from various dynasties in the Northern Kingdom are becoming more and more frequent. I believe that the current number of Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) is no longer sufficient to monitor the spies from various countries. Therefore, I suggest that the number of Jinyiwei be increased."

Hearing this, Lu Chen was taken aback. If it was just a small number of Embroidered Uniform Guards, Liang Zong and Qin Yushan would have the right to increase the number themselves without reporting it.

If Liang Zong took the initiative to propose the increase, it proves that Liang Zong wanted to recruit a particularly large number of people this time. Only when the number of recruits exceeds a certain level would it be necessary to report it proactively.

After regaining his composure, Lu Chen asked, "How many more people does the Embroidered Uniform Guard plan to recruit?"

Liang Zong replied, "In my estimation, the Embroidered Uniform Guard will need to recruit at least 10,000 more personnel."

Upon hearing Liang Zong's words, the faces of some ministers in the hall immediately darkened.

Although the Embroidered Uniform Guards haven't had any conflicts with the ministers of the Northern Kingdom, everyone knows that they are the Northern King's dogs, and their every move is under his surveillance.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards were already numerous enough, and now they want to recruit another 10,000. In the future, even the Northern King might know when they go to the toilet.

The loyalty of the court officials to the Northern King was not in question, but loyalty did not mean they were without other ulterior motives. Moreover, they felt uncomfortable because they were constantly being watched.

After hearing Liang Zong's words, Lu Chen pondered for a moment. Now that the major dynasties have discovered that Tingyu Tower is part of the Northern King's Mansion, it is indeed not as easy for Tingyu Tower to gather intelligence as it used to be.

Instead of leaving professional tasks to professionals, it would be better to transfer all of Tingyulou's intelligence channels to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and let them collect intelligence from various dynasties.

If the Embroidered Uniform Guard is released, then recruiting an additional 10,000 people is indeed not a lot.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen said, "Granted."

Seeing that Lu Chen agreed, some ministers in the hall were quite annoyed, but they dared not say anything.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards are the Northern King's dogs. Even when beating a dog, one must consider its master. If they attack the Northern King's dogs, it means they have ulterior motives.

At this moment, Lu Chen said to Liang Zong, "When recruiting Jinyiwei soldiers, try to use people from Dayu City as much as possible."

Liang Zong said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I understand."

The people of Dayu City are extremely loyal to the Northern King, making them the perfect candidates for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, as loyalty is exactly what the Embroidered Uniform Guard needs most.

Lu Chen glanced around the hall again, and seeing that no one stepped forward, he said, "If there's nothing else, let's call it a day."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Chen stood up, flicked his sleeve, and left the Hall of State Affairs.

As soon as Lu Chen reached the courtyard gate of the study, a female guard from the Prince's mansion hurriedly approached him, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

Lu Chen asked, "What is it?"

The female guard replied, "An envoy from Dayue has sent an invitation, inviting you to a poetry gathering to be held at Baihua Tower in three days."

At this point, the female guard handed the invitation to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen took the invitation from the female guard, glanced at it, and then a slight smile appeared on his lips.

The person who invited him to the poetry gathering was Murong Xue'er. It seems that the Dayue Dynasty is impatient and wants Murong Xue'er to get close to him as soon as possible to find out the secrets of the Northern Prince's Mansion.

The female guard continued, "The messenger sent by the envoy from Dayue is still waiting for your reply at the gate of the palace, Your Highness. Do you intend to attend this poetry gathering?"

Lu Chen said directly, "Go tell the messenger that I will definitely attend the poetry gathering hosted by Miss Murong in three days."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Your subordinate takes his leave."

Watching the female guard leave, Lu Chen thought to himself that since Murong Xue'er was offering herself up, there was no need for him to keep her hanging on.

Tomorrow, the daily rate will resume.

(End of this chapter)