Awaken Chapter 120

The courtroom.

As the six ministries finished asking for silver, at this moment, the military generals spoke out.

A word about the Northern Expedition instantly froze the atmosphere in the courtroom.

The person who opened his mouth to speak was a marquis, the Marquis of Qu Zhou.

He started a tone first.

He asked the empress if the Northern Expedition could be discussed.

Previously, when the Northern Expedition was not discussed, it was said that there was no more silver in the treasury, but now there is silver, right?

Could there be another Northern Expedition?

“Marquis! Even though there is silver in the treasury, if we were to launch another northern expedition, it would be an astronomical sum of money, and the 70,000,000 taels would not last long.”

“The Northern Expedition must not be launched, the livelihood of the people of Great Wei must be the main focus.”

Gu Yan got serious, he spoke directly and vetoed the Northern Expedition.

Yes, Great Wei now had the silver, but the problem was that it could not be a northern expedition.

Absolutely not.

Unless you can guarantee that you can conquer the north within six months and kill all the barbarians, the northern expedition will bring down Great Wei.

Furthermore, it was so easy for Great Wei to have silver and many things to do, so it was still the turn of the Northern Expedition?

“Humph!”

“When you don’t have silver, you say you don’t have money, but when you have silver, you still say you can’t go on a northern expedition? You civil servants and Confucian officials are all wimps, and now the barbarians in the north are regrouping and clamouring at the border.”

“If we don’t attack again, when they have rested and recuperated, then it will be the shame of Jingcheng again, who will go up then? Let you civil servants go up? Or should we let the great scholars go over and scold them at the gates of the city? Scold them to death?”

The Marquis of Qu Zhou scolded extremely nonchalantly.

His attitude was firm.

“Marquis Qu Zhou, if you are talking, why are you involving us Confucians?”

Sun Jing’an frowned and said this.

“Then do you support our Northern Expedition?”

The Marquis of Qu Zhou asked.

“No.”

Sun Jing’an gave his answer.

“Then isn’t that enough, is it wrong to scold you all?”

“A bunch of goons, this Marquis has recently received information that the Sudden Evil Dynasty and the Primordial Yuan Dynasty are secretly sending a large amount of resources to the barbarians in the north, it won’t take long for these barbarians to kill back.”

“Instead of waiting for the barbarians to come, we should take the initiative to attack. Although we will pay a painful price, we can at least crush the barbarians and make them not dare to invade our Wei for thirty years.”

“If we don’t get rid of the barbarians, there will be no day of stability and development for Great Wei.”

The Marquis of Qu Zhou’s voice was loud and clear, and his words were not half wrong.

The barbarians in the north were now eyeing them, and although their seven northern expeditions had broken their bones, they could not resist the resources secretly given by the Tusi Dynasty and the Chu Yuan Dynasty.

These two dynasties are eager to send half of their treasury to the barbarians in the north, hoping that they will recover quickly and then return to Wei.

By that time, Wei would either have to turn to them or be attacked by the northern barbarians in Kyoto, and then they could swing their armies down and take advantage of the opportunity to grab all kinds of benefits in the name of helping Wei.

If they were lucky, they would be able to take over Wei.

So the military officials agreed that Great Wei does need to develop, but the problem is that people won’t let them.

“The Marquis of Qu Zhou is right, but if we fight again, whether we can win is a question! After winning, Great Wei will be completely empty. The barbarians are excepted, but what about the other foreigners? Wouldn’t they be eyeing our Wei?”

“The Sudden Evil Dynasty and the First Yuan Dynasty, won’t they make a move?”

“And to say another big no-no, once the northern expedition is underway, what if there is civil unrest?”

Minister of Household Affairs Gu Yan’s voice was not loud, but it was resolute.

It was fine to want to fight.

But the question is, have you considered the current situation of Wei? What resources do the barbarians in the north have to take?

The most frightening thing is that the Northern Expedition has just begun and is halfway through the war.

If civil unrest breaks out, other foreign nations will join together to mess with you.

The Wei kingdom would be lost.

Once the war is over, the people are bound to lose their minds. Even if you try to explain and talk about it, to the people, war means death and trouble, and they can’t even eat or sleep well.

When the clan kings raise their arms, everyone will immediately come to overthrow the empress, and Great Wei will fall into an extremely terrible civil unrest.

It might be true that the kingdom had changed hands.

“Humph, so according to you guys, that means don’t fight? Keep hiding and wait for the next Jingcheng shame to come? All of you civil servants and great scholars are just too scared to have a backbone, if the late emperor had been born a few years earlier, there would have been no need for the Northern Expedition.”

The Marquis of Qu Zhou could not help but scold.

Just as soon as this was said, the Duke of An Guo’s voice instantly rang out.

“Do not be unbridled.”

He roared, and the Marquis of Qu Zhou instantly realised that he had said the wrong thing, and at that moment, he could not help but lower his head and half-kneel on the ground, saying.

“Your Majesty, I was in a moment of haste and spoke nonsense, so I hope Your Majesty will forgive me.”

Marquis Qu Zhou’s face was a little ugly, he was indeed furious.

“All right.”

On the dragon chair, the empress spoke, followed by her beautiful eyes falling on the hundred officials, before she slowly said after a while.

“It is indeed time to discuss the matter of the Northern Expedition, what the Marquis of Qu Zhou said is good, without pacifying the foreign turmoil, it will be difficult for Great Wei to develop.”

“Pa*s on my decree, instruct the Ministry of War to immediately formulate a new northern expedition plan, within three months, the northern expedition strategy must be handed in.”

The Empress’s voice was calm.

But these words were like thunder that exploded the courtroom into a boiling frenzy.

“Your Majesty! It must not be done!”

“Your Majesty, the Northern Expedition must not be allowed, I hope Your Majesty will think twice.”

“I hope Your Majesty will think twice, if we continue our northern expedition, there will be no peace in Wei.”

The first to react were the civil servants and Confucian officials, who almost immediately knelt down in unison, even Prime Minister Chen Zhengru knelt on the ground and shouted for Your Majesty to think twice.

No one had expected that the empress would really agree to this, and she had even asked the Ministry of War to study the proposal and write a new strategy for the Northern Expedition within three months.

The military officials were a bit confused, they didn’t expect the empress to be so quick to agree to it.

They didn’t expect the empress to agree to this at all, they just mentioned it to let her think about it, but they didn’t expect her to agree to it.

The next moment, the martial officials’ lineage was completely smiling.

“Your Majesty is mighty!”

“Your Majesty is wise!”

“I thank Your Majesty!”

Led by Duke An, all the military officials all knelt down and bowed towards the empress, they were excited, really excited.

After all, the emperor’s words could not be changed, and they all told the Ministry of War to work on a new strategy for the Northern Expedition, this was obviously going to be a real game.

“Your Majesty!”

Chen Zhengru shouted, yet what he got in return was two words.

“Retire from the court.”

As the words fell, the empress rose and left, directly retiring from the court, giving the appearance of certainty.

In a short time, the military officials left with unbridled excitement.

The civil servants and Confucian officials, on the other hand, could not return to their senses for a long time, for if the Northern Expedition really took place, the blow to them would be too great.

About half an hour later.

The news of what had happened in the courtroom spread instantly throughout Wei.

Naturally, they did not want to go back to war, and when they heard that another northern expedition might be launched, they were inexplicably depressed.

But the people of Kyoto were fine, many of them supported the Northern Expedition and were particularly excited about it, after all, the shame of Jingcheng was still fresh in their minds.

So when they heard that the empress was going to invade the north, the number of supporters gradually increased.

The good thing is that the matter is not completely confirmed, but only for the Ministry of War to draw up, and it is up to the empress to decide whether it will be implemented or not.

The only thing is, this day, Wei does not know how many letters fly out, countless pairs of eyes watching every move of Wei, such a big matter, in less than half a day, will be known all over the world.

Inside an ancient tower in Kyoto.

It was still a secret room.

The three Huai Ning Kings are gathered here, but today there is one more person, the King of Zhen Xi.

“What a heavenly opportunity, this faint ruler really dares to raise another northern expedition, as long as the army goes north, at the critical moment, we will be able to rise up and rebel.”

The voice of the King of Zhenxi rang out, his tone full of excitement and anticipation.

“I thought that this time the Fan merchants were killed and we had suffered heavy losses, but what I didn’t expect was that this dim ruler, seeing such a large amount of tax revenue and silver, had the intention of a northern expedition, stupid, stupid, really stupid.”

Another man’s voice rang out, full of emotion.

“En, these Fan merchants collect a lot of money for us every year, occupying at least about 30% of our combined total, now that they have been uprooted by Xu Qingnian, I don’t know how many clan kings have already become furious and are even planning to enter the capital directly to kill, but with this faint ruler’s words today, I’m afraid it won’t be long before we can enter the capital openly.”

“When that time comes, this Xu Qingnian, will definitely die.”

A third voice rang out as he revealed a secret.

There were already clan kings ready to move to come to the capital, intending to kill Xu Qingnian outright, after all, Xu Qingnian had uprooted the Fan merchants, and the loss was too great for them, even to say that this loss was worse than the revenge of killing their father.

But the good news is that the empress has taken the initiative to mention the Northern Expedition today, and has even asked the Ministry of War to draw up a strategy for the Northern Expedition, which is a godsend.

The three of them were all a little excited and happy, expressing their satisfaction with the Empress’s decision.

But King Huai Ning’s voice rang out.

“Not so.”

He shook his head, and as the three watched, he continued to speak.

“My king feels that this matter is by no means so simple, this faint ruler cannot be so foolish, and if he raises an army to attack the north at this juncture, then Great Wei will truly be finished.”

King Huai Ning held a different opinion.

“Your Majesty, then why does this faint ruler want to launch a northern expedition? He has asked the Ministry of War to draw up a strategy for the northern expedition, what is the point of doing so? To appease the military officials? These military officials are not a good bunch, if we really cheat them, I guess they will never give up.”

“Yes, these military officials have been looking forward to this day for too long, if it’s just casual talk, how could these military officials be willing to give up?”

“King Huai Ning, what do you mean?”

All three of them were curious, no matter how this matter looked, it was the Empress who wanted the Northern Expedition.

Why else would she have asked the Ministry of War to draw up a strategy for the Northern Expedition? This is not a matter of having nothing better to do?

The next step is to start the work, as long as there are no major problems with the concrete, if you do not fight, then the Ministry of War does not agree ah.

 

“Xu Qingnian uprooted the Fan merchants and killed more than four hundred people, and the zhengzhi of va*sal kings from all over the world are piling up like a mountain, last time my son was killed, although they also raised zhengzhi, but in the end it has nothing to do with their interests, at most they only verbally abused a few words.”

“The last time my son was killed, although they also filed a petition, it had nothing to do with their interests.

“Not only us, but also those foreign states, so that they don’t take advantage of the opportunity to attack, and use the Northern Expedition to block their mouths, otherwise these states will have enough headaches for Great Wei if they really get into trouble.”

“This is a wonderful move, one thing, holding three parties in check, even the Tusi and Chu Yuan dynasties will be held in check, protecting Xu Qingnian and holding many parties in check at the same time.”

“She is the biggest winner no matter what, and as for the military officials being furious, so what? After all, she is her majesty, and the military officials of Great Wei are not yet so far gone as to rebel against the state because of this matter, and even my king thinks that the empress has already negotiated with a certain state duke, and everything is just a play for the world to see.”

King Huai Ning was extremely clever, he instantly saw through this ploy and thought that the empress was not trying to make a northern expedition, but rather wanted to use the strategy of a northern expedition to hold back many parties and make everyone wait patiently, like fools.

The reason for giving Great Wei time to develop is of course to protect Xu Qingnian, otherwise after killing so many Fan merchants, do you really think it will be okay?

“This …… It’s not likely, is it? The reason is to protect a mere Xu Qingnian?”

“Impossible, Xu Qingnian even if he is more scheming, what can protect him?”

“I don’t believe it either, moreover the new strategy for the Northern Expedition will be sent up in three months, even if the empress wants to delay it, why not say half a year?”

The main reason was that the Ministry of Military Affairs was asked to draw up a strategy for the Northern Expedition, but it was only to protect Xu Qingnian? This is a bit outrageous.

You know, there is no such thing as a gentleman, if you say it out loud, the people of Wei will know about it, and then it will cause panic, which is also a loss.

And to pay so much just to protect one Xu Qingnian, they don’t believe it!

Besides why not delay it to half a year? Three months would soon be over.

“Three months to draw up a new policy for the Northern Expedition, this is what makes her smart, if you really say six months and a year, you will not yet be held back, it is because when you say three months, you all think it may be true, but after three months, find some random reason, let the Ministry of War to revise, and then after three months revise again, repeat several times.”

“Come to a sentence that none of these will work and leave the matter alone, do you say this is a good plan?”

King Huai Ning saw everything and made the ploy clear.

As soon as this was said, it dawned on the three, yes, use three months to attract everyone’s attention, but after that, a random reason could be found to veto it.

After all, the matter of the Northern Expedition involves the national capital, the first article will definitely be vetoed, and then the second and third article, almost to the point of not mentioning the matter, will simply muddle through.

What a plan.

What a good plan.

“Then, Your Majesty, what should we do? Do we need to inform the other clan kings?”

Someone asked.

“No need, those who can guess will naturally understand, those who can’t guess even if you tell them, they won’t believe you, instead they will think we have other purposes.”

“Forget it, let’s pretend that Xu Qingnian has escaped this fate, this is a Yang plot, we can only sit back and wait for death, but this is good, if this dim ruler is really like this, he will also inevitably lose some people’s hearts, and recently the Sudden Evil Dynasty and the First Yuan Dynasty have been in close contact with the northern barbarians.”

“This kind of thing, she can’t be unaware of it, maybe she will really attack the north, it’s not impossible to make a mistake, now we just wait and see what happens.”

King Huai Ning did not tell the crowd to act rashly, such things are guessed when they are guessed, it is useless to say more if they are not guessed.

They were now qualified to rebel, but they were just waiting for an opportunity to unite the three elements of timing, location and people.

“Okay.”

The three of them nodded and said nothing more.

But at the end, the voice of the King of Zhenxi rang out.

“King Huai Ning, the orphan of the Martial Emperor, have you found it yet?”

The King of Zhenxi opened his mouth, and a single word caused the scene to fall silent instantly.

“No, but there is already a corresponding clue, and we will soon find it. If we find the orphan of the Martial Emperor, then we do not need to wait for any opportunity, and we can directly overthrow this faint ruler.”

King Huai Ning said with certainty.

“En.”

The three nodded, though what was going through their minds was not certain.

And at that moment.

In the capital of Great Wei, the Shouren Academy.

Xu Qingnian sat in the pavilion, while Chen Xinghe fiddled with his tea set on the side, and Gu Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs, said with a stern expression.

“Shouren, you are deeply favoured by His Majesty, you must dissuade His Majesty from the Northern Expedition, no matter what, the Northern Expedition cannot be carried out, our Ministry of Household has managed to save some silver, if this Northern Expedition is carried out, I would rather not be the Minister of Household.”

“Besides, Shouren, I’ll tell you the truth, I’ve seen your talent, you are a great talent.

“Today in the courtroom, Lord Wang of the Ministry of Rites, Lord Zhang of the Ministry of Penalties, Lord Chen of the Ministry of Officials, and Lord Li of the Ministry of Works, all asked me for money, and all of them were extremely thick-skinned.

“I have done so much in the hope that when you take over my position, there will still be some silver in the treasury, so that it will not be a mess when you take over, like oh me.”

“Shouren, you must remember, the treasury’s silver, only in and out, unless it is a major event, must spend money, otherwise face other aspects of dead or alive can not give money, they are all wolves, is a tiger, and thick skin, you are less close to them on a regular basis.”

“You treat them as seniors, they treat you like a fat pig, all kinds of demands for silver, you know?”

Gu Yan came to Shouren Academy to find Xu Qingnian for the matter of the Northern Expedition, asking Xu Qingnian to go to the palace to talk to His Majesty if she had nothing to do, although she knew that Xu Qingnian wouldn’t necessarily be able to talk about anything.

The rest of the matter is about the silver of the Ministry of Finance.

The matter of the Northern Expedition, whether it will start a war or not, has not yet been determined, and Chen Zhengru has also said to wait for three months, if His Majesty really wants the Northern Expedition, they have to stop it even if they die advising.

Therefore, the matter of the Northern Expedition could not be rushed for now.

After understanding this point, Gu Yan’s first reaction was to come to Xu Qingnian to spit on the other few Shang Shu, intending to teach Xu Qingnian well, so that Xu Qingnian would do the same in the future and keep the money.

“Lord Gu don’t worry, I will absolutely hold on to the silver to death, I understand what you are saying, what with all the countries coming as amba*sadors, the money used to be given year after year, that was because Great Wei had a family fortune, now there is no family fortune, to put it in a bad way, Lord Gu, don’t spread the word.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t give a single tael. The officials’ clothes, they’re not that bad, so why change them? Why do you need to change them? If you want to reward the messengers, why not just give them some local specialties? Do they need gold, silver and jewellery? And what have they contributed to my Wei?”

“These people, they don’t know the price of food, oil and salt when they’re not in charge.”

Xu Qingnian’s words were true, and what had happened in the courtroom today had been made clear by Minister Gu.

This Ministry of Rites allocated two million, really should not be, to whom is not good, to the emissary of the nations? If he is to be in charge, he will not give it! Get lost, it is useless even if His Majesty says so, no listen to no listen, the king’s son recites the scriptures.

When this was said, Gu Yan burst out laughing.

“Right, right, Shouren ah, you are really right, usually really do not see, you actually know how to save so much, good, good, I do not pit you, to say sincerely, as long as his majesty determined in twenty years no northern expedition, I this position, you to be.”

Gu Yan was very happy, Xu Qingnian had the ability to make money, but also the awareness to save money, how could this not make him happy?

“Lord Gu, you have said too much, you have said too much, you can still hold this position for another twenty years, it is enough for me to be a retainer, I am still young, follow your lead and learn well, if I really want to take the position, I really dare not guarantee that these people will look for me to get money in the future.”

“I can’t let go of that.”

Xu Qingnian said this half-truth, the real place is that he really can’t give up, but the fake is that if he really needs to spend money, he will still give it, and give it quite generously.

“En, anyway, you learn well with the old man is, remember, nothing to do with other departments too close, the Ministry of punishment is also, we have to be iron-faced, too good relationship, he opened his mouth to find you want money, do not give offend people, give us heartache.”

“All right, the hour is late, the old man first go.”

Seeing that Xu Qingnian was so uptight, Gu Yan had nothing more to say and rose with a smile on his face.

“Lord Gu, won’t you stay for dinner?”

Xu Qingnian enthusiastically stayed.

“I’m not going to eat, you should rest recently, you’ll be busy again in a few days.”

Gu Yan waved his hand, and then directly left.

After Gu Yan left, Xu Qingnian sighed with relief and was about to say a few words to his senior brother.

Soon, the Minister of Penalty, Zhang Jing, came.

“Shang Shu Zhang.”

Xu Qingnian greeted and sent a smile.

“Shouren, what is Gu Yan doing here? What did he say to you?”

Zhang Jing saw Gu Yan when he arrived and couldn’t help but ask out loud.

“Nothing much, just said something about the Northern Expedition and asked me to go and persuade His Majesty.”

Xu Qingnian said casually.

“En, old man came for this matter as well.”

“Since he told you, I won’t talk about it, I’ll tell you about another matter.”

“Shouren, do you want to come back? Go back to the Ministry of Punishment, I’ll help you to ask for an official position as a squire, with the same rank, the Ministry of Punishment has quite a few difficult cases now, you’ll have to come over and help out.”

Zhang Jing spoke out, stating his intention.

“Ah? I’ll just stay in the Household Department.”

Xu Qingnian said with a gentle smile on his face.

“What’s wrong? Do you look down on our Criminal Affairs Department?”

When he said this, Zhang Jing immediately became a little unhappy.

“No, Minister Zhang, Qingnian is from the Ministry of Punishment, how can he not look down on the Ministry of Punishment?” “What you said.”

“Shang Shu Zhang, at the court today, did you ask Shang Shu Gu for silver? To ease the pressure on the Ministry of Punishment?”

Xu Qingnian asked.

When this was said, Zhang Jing immediately came to his senses.

“Yes, this old man, Shouren, let’s speak from our conscience, the Ministry of Punishment is exhausted every day, I want three million taels to increase the manpower and add some differential fees, it’s also a way to make some benefits for the Ministry of Punishment, otherwise who would want to come to our Ministry of Punishment?”

“But this old thing, causing His Majesty to give only 700,000 taels, this is better than not giving, the treasury has an extra 70,000,000 taels of cash silver, 50,000,000 taels of a*sets, nine cows and one hair is more than 700,000 taels, right?”

“I’m really angry with the old man, if I didn’t see him so old, twenty years earlier, I would have absolutely smashed my fist into his face when I got off the court.”

Zhang Jing was also a bit hot-tempered and said indignantly.

“Zhang Shang Shu take offense, in fact, I stay in the Ministry of households is good for the Ministry of punishment ah, you think about it, I am now the Minister of households, as long as you support me, listen to me when I become the Minister of households after.”

“The Ministry of Punishment wants silver, can I still not allocate it? Shang Shu Zhang is old, he must want to do better before he returns to his hometown in his clothes, you must also understand understanding.”

Xu Qingnian laughed, easing the relationship between the two.

Just as soon as this was said, Zhang Jing’s eyes instantly lit up.

“Yes!”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of this point, yes, yes, yes, Qingnian, you are so right.”

“As long as you become the Minister of Household, in the future, we will join hands with the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of Punishment, and go around killing female dry merchants, you will be responsible for investigating, I, the Ministry of Punishment, will be responsible for arresting people, and after the raid, you will allocate funds to our Ministry of Punishment, then the Ministry of Punishment will be much easier in the future ah.”

The company is still thinking about how to kill female dry merchants to make money, hearing Xu Qingnian say this, the whole person came to the spirit.

“Uh …… It’s about right.”

Xu Qingnian did not expect the other party to a*sociate so much.

“Okay, Shouren, this matter I strongly support you, you do a good job, as long as you do two more such things, the Shang Shu of the Ministry of Industry and I have a good relationship, I pull him together to support you, so that you can rise to the top and become the Shang Shu of the Ministry of Household.”

“Alright, I won’t say anything more, you have the Ministry of Penalty in your heart, I am very pleased, let’s go.”

Zhang Jing was very happy, really happy ah, after all, hearing that Xu Qingnian did not want to come to the Ministry of Punishment, I thought Xu Qingnian had changed his heart, I did not expect that Xu Qingnian was in the Ministry of Household and his heart was in punishment ah.

 

 

“Shang Shu Zhang, do you want to stay and have something to eat?”

Xu Qingnian called out, and the latter waved his hand and left straight away.

Another Shang Shu was sent away.

Xu Qingnian was a bit teary-eyed.

The good thing was that there were no other Shang Shu coming.

Xu Qingnian could drink his tea in peace.

“Senior brother Qingnian, what are your thoughts on this Northern Expedition of His Majesty?”

Seeing that there were no more outsiders, Chen Xinghe could not help but speak up and ask about this matter.

“I don’t have any opinion, if you really want to fight, just do it, senior brother can’t make the decision, just now the two officials were just being polite, senior brother, you don’t really think that His Majesty will listen to me, right?”

Xu Qingnian opened his mouth, he actually knew better than anyone what the empress was doing in his heart.

It was definitely not a northern expedition.

This was clearly to protect herself, otherwise a real Northern Expedition?

What would the Northern Expedition be? 70,000,000 taels of silver? This amount of silver will last for almost a year, can we kill all the barbarians in a year? And then you have to consider the rebellion of the va*sals and the plundering of the foreign states?

If you don’t know the nature of the empress, Xu Qingnian wouldn’t dare to guarantee it. After a few contacts, Xu Qingnian can guarantee that he won’t go north! This is a deceptive tactic.

After all, how many people have they influenced by killing so many Fan merchants? One still has a bit of a count in one’s heart.

As the old saying goes, cutting off people’s money is like killing their parents, how many people’s money must one have harmed?

It is not possible to pretend to be confused and not solve the problem, so this is the only way to divert attention.

This way, even if someone were to come after him again, it would only be a few people and His Majesty could completely ignore it.

Of course, this is not a bad idea, at least it will keep a lot of impure people in check.

The only thing you have to do is to be honest during this period of time, don’t provoke any wrongdoing, if you provoke ten more, unless you really go north, you can’t even suppress it.

“Hey, the rise and fall of all the people, ah, it is best not to northern expedition, Great Wei is just now pacified, let the people live a better life.”

Chen Xinghe sighed and said so, but soon shook his head again, unwilling to mention this, but mentioned another thing.

“By the way, in the middle of next month, it will be the Peace Poetry Competition, senior brother …… Have you prepared any poems?”

“The Taiping Poetry Fair?”

Xu Qingnian frowned slightly, but quickly remembered, it seemed that Mu Nanping had invited himself, and he didn’t expect that it would be time next month.

“No preparation.”

Xu Qingnian shook his head straight away, how could he possibly have time to prepare for this during this time.

“Oh.”

Chen Xinghe slowly sighed with relief in his heart.

Just when Chen Xinghe wanted to continue to ask something.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

“Brother Xu!”

“Brother Chen!”

“I’ve finally found you.”

A slightly excited voice rang out, causing Xu Qingnian and Chen Xinghe to cast their eyes over.

It was Wang Ru.

“Brother Wang Ru?”

Xu Qingnian and Chen Xinghe were both a little curious, not expecting him to be here.

“Brother Xu, Brother Chen, long time no see, long time no see.”

Wang Ru walked quickly and bowed towards Xu Qingnian and Chen Xinghe, his face full of joy and excitement.

“Brother Wang Ru, it’s been a long time.”

Xu Qingnian spoke.

“Brother Wang Ru, what brings you here?”

Chen Xinghe, on the other hand, was a little curious.

“Brother Xu, Brother Chen, I should have come a long time ago, but my family arranged a blind date some days ago and I was delayed.”

Wang Ru said with a somewhat sarcastic smile.

“A blind date? That’s good, did it work out?”

Xu Qingnian laughed.

“Originally it was a no-go, then it was a yes-go, and it almost worked out in the end.”

Wang Ru lamented.

“What do you mean?”

Chen Xinghe also became interested.

“Originally she couldn’t see me, but when I said I knew Brother Xu, she agreed to get to know each other a bit, only later she asked me how my literary skills were, and I said stiffly that they were okay, one tenth of Brother Xu’s, and she asked me to write a poem, and how could I write a poem on the spot?

Wang Ru said somewhat helplessly.

“You used senior brother Qingnian’s poem?”

“That definitely won’t work, who doesn’t know Qingnian’s poetry? You are really stupid, you should use mine, didn’t I write some for you to appreciate? It’s not like I’m going to blame you.”

Chen Xinghe lamented.

However Wang Ru immediately explained.

“I thought the same thing at that time, I didn’t dare to take Brother Xu’s, it was your Brother Chen’s that I took, but that girl took one look at it and said something, telling me not to compare it to Brother Xu in the future, not to insult Brother Xu.”

“Brother Chen, you don’t blame me, do you?”

Wang Ru said so.

Chen Xinghe: “……”

Xu Qingnian: “……”

D*mn you!

Chen Xinghe was somewhat shaking with anger and cold.

Also at that moment, Li Guangxiao’s voice rang out.

“Lords, dinner is served.”

With Li Guangxiao’s voice ringing out, Xu Qingnian immediately rounded up.

“Stop it, come, come, come, you haven’t eaten yet, let’s eat together, this cook of mine is very good at cooking.”

Xu Qingnian dragged the two of them inside.

What they saw was a table full of delicious food.

Wang Ru swallowed his saliva, he was indeed a bit hungry, but did not forget the business, but took out a letter and said.

“Brother Xu, this is a letter that Li Xin asked me to give you, saying that it is very important and you must read it.”

Wang Ru said this.

“Good, you eat first, don’t rush.”

Xu Qingnian took the epistle and directly sat down on his seat to read it.

It was only a moment.

Xu Qingnian’s face showed a joyful look.

The crowd looked at the joyful look on Xu Qingnian’s face and couldn’t help but be curious.

“What did Li Xin say?”

Chen Xinghe was a little curious.

“Hoo! This season’s harvest in Nan Yu Fudu is forty percent more.”

Xu Qingnian smiled and said the meaning of this letter from Li Xin.

When this was said, the crowd was a little surprised.

Especially Li Guangxiao, who took his bowls and chopsticks, and then after hearing this, he could not help but reveal his surprise.

“Forty percent more? How is it more?”

Although Chen Xinghe did not know anything about farming, he also knew what forty percent more represented.

“Senior brother, do you still remember when we returned to the county, senior brother gave Li Xin a share of something?”

Xu Qingnian said so.

“Remember, some drawings, something to do with this?”

Chen Xinghe continued to ask.

“En, that was something that senior brother thought of in his spare time, didn’t his majesty punish the people of Nan Yu Fudu, for paying 10% more in taxes? Senior brother felt a bit guilty, but couldn’t get the silver to compensate.”

“So I came up with something out for the people that would solve the problem of water supply for good fields and make vacant or sparsely flooded fields work.”

“Now the effect is good, the harvest of all the southern Yufu province has been raised by 40%, although the effect is not as good as I expected, but it is almost good enough, at least this favour has been returned.”

Xu Qingnian explained.

When this was said, Wang Ru, Chen Xinghe, and Yang Hu and the others all smacked their lips.

“What is it? It has such a divine effect?”

“Also, senior brother, is this forty percent not enough? You must know that for the people, an extra 10% of the crop is a happy event.”

Chen Xinghe was a little unable to understand.

“The waterwheel!”

“How did you say it, Yang Hu, fetch the pen and ink.”

The effect came out, Xu Qingnian did not intend to cover it up, after all, this matter would certainly be reported to the palace, nothing more than to say that the empress could not find out at once, she did not say it was estimated that it would be found out half a year later.

At that moment, Yang Hu quickly fetched a pen, ink, paper and ink stone.

Xu Qingnian held a brush in his hand and drew the image of a waterwheel on white paper, and for the sake of being more figurative, he also deliberately drew water sources and good fields.

“Senior brother, this is the waterwheel!”

Xu Qingnian said.

“Let me see.”

Chen Xinghe looked at it carefully, and after a while, he couldn’t help but frown again.

“I feel like I understand it, and I feel like I don’t, what is the meaning of this?”

Not to mention Chen Xinghe, Wang Ru and Yang Hu and the others couldn’t understand it.

Li Guangxiao was the only one who understood the purpose of this object after only a few glances.

Li Guangxiao’s heart was beating fast, and he soon realised what the purpose of this object was.

Pumping water to irrigate good fields.

A simple thing, but it could solve the biggest trouble in farming!

This …… This! …… This is a divine weapon!

Li Guangxiao’s body trembled a little, only the crowd didn’t notice.

“Senior brother, what is the biggest fear of crops? Isn’t it the water source?”

“This waterwheel is to constantly extract water from the river and then extend it through the water bearer, so that if the good fields are not too far away from the water source, they can be irrigated directly, or if the distance is too far, it can save a lot of time and allow the people to walk a few steps.”

“This thing, once ma*s produced and extended, all the good fields of Great Wei will from now on have no shortage of water, greatly reducing the problem of fetching and running out of water.”

“And there are many places where a lot of good fields are deserted, if we have this, we can completely replough them.”

Xu Qingnian stated the usefulness of this item.

For a moment, the crowd understood, but they didn’t understand exactly what the benefits of this thing were, so they weren’t too shocked.

“If it is fully promoted, then how much can Great Wei increase its production?”

The voice suddenly rang out, and it was Li Guangxiao’s.

For a moment, Xu Qingnian could not help but look at Li Guangxiao, while the latter could not help but smile sarcastically when he felt Xu Qingnian’s gaze.

“Your Excellency, my father’s generation are farmers, when I was a child, there were several famines, it was because of the water source, often several villages fought over a little water source, so I was curious to ask a mouthful, I hope your Excellency will not be blamed.”

Li Guangxiao smiled sarcastically, he knew he had lost his tongue.

“It’s alright, I understand.”

Xu Qingnian still had a good feeling about Li Guangxiao, a proper honest person and good cook.

“Normally, it should be boosted by about fifty percent, if you make use of the abandoned fields, it should at least double, or even double and then add another thirty percent, my ideal is twice, but it’s hard, after all, some places don’t have water sources at all.”

“Besides, some water sources are a hundred miles apart, and it’s a question of whether the Ministry of Finance is willing to allocate money to build such a waterwheel, and it’s unlikely that His Majesty will agree to it until there are substantial results.”

Xu Qingnian said so.

However, Chen Xinghe spoke up.

“Twice as much? If it can double the food production of Great Wei, why wouldn’t His Majesty agree to it?”

Chen Xinghe felt that it was a bit outrageous, thirty to forty percent sounded like nothing, but twice as much sounded exaggerated.

“To make such a waterwheel, the cost of construction is too expensive, and to ensure that it is implemented in all villages, counties, provinces and counties, the silver spent on this is astronomical, at least 100,000,000 taels, and even that is not enough.”

“Do you think His Majesty will agree to it? The Ministry of Accounts won’t agree to it either.”

“So we can only pilot it first and let the Southern Yufu get it going first, and try to double it next season so that at least His Majesty will pay attention to it.”

“Ugh! But by that time, just building such tools, and all the implementation, will take at least a year or two to delay, and now that Wei is in internal and external trouble, who knows what will happen in a year or two.”

“If we were to go into this wholeheartedly now, it would only take a year before the people of Great Wei would see the results, and by then …… is a heavenly surprise, doubling the annual production, the merit will be in the present time, the benefit will be in a thousand years.”

Xu Qingnian said so.

And his tone was extremely certain.

The crowd nodded, but when they thought that 100,000,000 taels could not be done, they did not say anything.

Li Guangxiao, on the other hand, was completely shocked.

One hundred thousand ten thousand taels was indeed exaggerated.

But the question was, what was the concept of doubling the annual production? Some of the people of Wei were still at the stage of not having enough to eat.

If the annual production is doubled, at least the people of Wei will have enough to eat, and this alone is not something that can be solved by 100,000,000 taels.

And indeed, the benefits would be immense.

Even if 200,000,000 taels of silver were poured out, it would not take five years for Wei to earn back the capital with interest.

“Then this waterwheel, how long will it last?”

Li Guangxiao once again could not help but ask.

“If it is built with top quality materials, such as some good wood and ironstone, it will last at least fifty years without other factors, and if it is usually maintained carefully and repaired, it will not be too much to use for a hundred years.”

Xu Qingnian gave his answer.

And this answer made Li Guangxiao a little dizzy.

Fifty years?

A hundred years?

Five years would bring back the capital with interest, and with the people well fed, the people’s hearts could also coalesce, and true prosperity would be ushered in, ah.

He swallowed his saliva.

Li Guangxiao fell silent.

“Alright, let’s eat, don’t think so much.”

Xu Qingnian placed this white paper aside and greeted everyone to eat.

Chen Xinghe and the others didn’t say much and started eating straight away.

Li Guangxiao also ate, but in a distracted manner.

When everyone had eaten and drunk enough, Li Guangxiao cleaned up the dishes, he was so uncomfortable now, he wanted to hurry to the palace to report this matter, but he was afraid that if he left directly, it would cause suspicion.

So he sat in the Shouren Academy, waiting torturously for the time to buy food.

An hour, a full hour, and Li Guangxiao thought about it for an hour, looking at the waterwheel diagram, the more he thought about it, the more he thought it would work, the more he thought about it, the more he thought that this thing was simply a godsend for the country!

The more he thought about it, the more he thought that it was a divine tool for the country.

He ran towards the palace.

Two quarters of an hour later.

The Great Wei Palace, outside the Hall of the Nurtured Heart, Li Guangxiao’s voice rang out even though his person had not arrived.

“Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Xu!”

“Xu!”

“Xu Qingnian, a great talent for all time!”

“The Great Wei Dynasty is coming.”

“Your Majesty, you’ve picked up a treasure this time !!!!!!”

“Great Wei’s treasure ah !!!!”

Li Guangxiao’s excited and trembling voice rang out, he was really excited ah, his speech was trembling.

And within the Hall of Nurtured Heart, the empress was a little surprised when she heard the voice again.

Because she had never seen her master before.

Such.

Losing his temper!

Not even when the Northern Expedition had failed!