She could do this whenever she wanted, and she wouldn't desperately try to do it to make up for her regrets just because she went to Niliupi. She just promised her as usual, "I will definitely come back."
"My fate is up to me."
"That is to live a long and healthy life with you, for a lifetime."
Si Xitong smiled, finally able to leave with peace of mind.
The two men resolved their differences. Xie Lanzhi picked up the halberd again; its golden handle shone even brighter in the sunlight, seemingly echoing its master's mood.
Xie Lanzhi led a hundred people down the mountain and traveled by water to the State of Lu and Nilupo.
Neither of them saw the other off without a word, not wanting to add to their longing or cause each other worry. They could only trust each other and let each other sail on their journeys, knowing that as long as their destination was beside each other, they would never be apart.
Lu Qing, who was just an audience member the whole time, was reminded of her longing for her ex-husband, the perfect understanding, mutual trust and love between the two young lovers.
Lu Qing hugged her daughter and nuzzled against her: "What should I do? I miss your dad."
Qianqian pouted and said unhappily, "Daddy hasn't contacted us for a long time."
The mother and daughter both longed for the ruler of the Xiongnu kingdom, but the family of three had parted ways due to differing ideologies. Even in love, a person's unwavering choice can lead to a different ending.
"And Mother." Qianqian considerately changed the subject, no longer mentioning her father, the Grand Prince, but instead said, "That older sister."
Lu Qing thought it was the dark aura on the marshal, and she said, "She was going to her own life-or-death tribulation, so it's normal for her to have some aura on her."
“That’s not how it is,” Qianqian said. “It’s Princess Sister.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Qing immediately put her daughter down on the ground, patted her head, and reminded her, "You can't tell His Highness everything, understand?"
"But the murderous aura emanating from Princess Sister is getting stronger and stronger."
"This is the aura of an emperor, a good thing." This means that Your Highness will quickly seize power, and once you do, that's all that matters.
Lu Qing's eyes darkened: "It would be best if His Highness personally led the attack into the Xiongnu, only then can your father's dead end be broken."
Qianqian nodded and said nothing more.
Because Princess Sister no longer has the Star Palace suppression of Marshal Sister, Princess Sister can immediately return to her original position of rising winds and surging tides.
Just like the whispered conversation between the mother and daughter.
The officials in charge of the war in Jinghua Prefecture contacted the seven counties in Huayin North and Central China. With Si Xitong as their representative, they declared that they would continue to rule Anyi as the ruler, with Jinghua Prefecture temporarily in charge. They would return to Jinghua Prefecture later and hand over the power of Jinghua Prefecture to Anyi.
The pro-war faction immediately mustered all their strength and stopped fighting with the pro-peace faction. They pledged allegiance to the Jinghua Prefecture overnight and informed Si Xitong about the situation of the political figures in various parts of Huayin North.
To demonstrate her sincerity, Si Xitong announced that Jinghua Prefecture would remain the southern capital of Huayin, and Anyi would be granted the title of lord. Her clansmen could travel to Jinghua Prefecture to receive their titles.
Upon hearing of this, Anshan in the Northern Prefecture immediately sent people to keep an eye on the clansmen in Anyi, and none of them managed to escape. However, people cannot keep an eye on them every day, especially since there are a thousand clansmen in Anyi, and they live in very different places. Sending people to monitor them creates enormous security pressure.
If they were not careful, the lone Xiongnu soldier would have been beheaded by the righteous men of Huayin.
Soon, these righteous men began a planned assassination campaign, carrying out a sweeping purge of the lower and middle classes of the Huns. For every day they monitored the Hunnic rulers in Anshan, they killed several Huns, creating widespread fear and unease among the Huns.
The number of Hu and Xiongnu within the territory was less than that of the people of Huayin. Twenty thousand people against a million people was like ants encountering a giant tree.
Now, fueled by the anti-Xiongnu fervor, the people of Huayin unleashed a torrent of retaliation, lasting for seven days.
The Huns and Xiongnu lacked mutual support, so they chose the peace faction and used Huayin to fight against Huayin. As a result, the peace faction and the Huns and Xiongnu were in the same situation, and they would mysteriously lose their heads at night.
Once the pro-peace officers and soldiers colluded with the Huns and Xiongnu, they formed a large search force. This wave of assassinations quickly subsided.
At this time, someone in Huayin North spread the word that whoever could take the head of Anshan would be appointed a king and prime minister in the capital.
The rumors were initially disbelieved because Princess Fengning was unlikely to issue such a foolish order.
Anshan didn't care, but that doesn't mean everyone would believe it. That night, he was almost strangled to death by one of his men, a half-barbarian who was emptying a chamber pot.
After being rescued in Anshan, he couldn't help but feel a wave of fear. He began to drive away the people who served him and insisted that the Hu people serve him. Anyone who was half-Hu or half-Hu people was not allowed to come near him.
The half-barbarians were people of mixed race.
But the people of Huayin and the various forces were not about to give up easily, which made it all the more important to have a ruler who could speak for them.
These are some trivial matters that occurred when the Huayin Kingdom split into North and South.
When Artur learned of the situation in the Northern Prefecture, he laughed out loud: "Lord Anshan has been living a life of ease for too long. Even when I asked him to go find the King of Anyi, he pretended to comply but secretly disobeyed, saying he didn't care whether he went or not."
"Now, he finally understands the importance of Anyi."
At this moment, one of his scouts rode up on horseback and said, "General, just over the hill ahead is Nilupo."
“And Niliubei, which was originally a valley, has now become a gathering place for a large number of Lu people and soldiers.”
Artur frowned immediately and asked, "What is the King of Lu up to?"
The scout said, "According to intelligence, the State of Lu has always regarded Xin Tianjing as its superior state, and Princess Fengning is its ruler. Recently, it seems that the King of Lu has issued some order, deciding to send troops to garrison the capital. They have also fenced off a hunting ground on a flat area as the battleground for you and Xie Ying."
Artur scoffed, "He's dreaming. He wants to be a peacemaker."
"We'll see if he's up to the task!"
Just then, another scout came to report: "Reporting to General Wang!"
"The Xie clan leader has arrived at Niliubei and entered the hunting grounds ahead of schedule!"
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 18:25:53 on January 10, 2022 and 18:45:04 on January 11, 2022!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Da Sima Huo Qubing and Hongyan (10 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 137 The Decline of the Xie Clan
Upon receiving the national road contract, the ruler of Lu immediately stamped it with his seal. He then exhausted the nation's resources to send out their only swift horse to deliver the message.
Jinghua Prefecture began to exercise power as the new ruling power, becoming a superior state of Lu. Such is the fate of small states: they submit to whoever is strong. Although many small states wish the larger states were smaller, so they could live more comfortably and pay less protection money, without a balance of power between the larger states, wars among the small states would not cease.
It has both advantages and disadvantages.
Li Ling, the Vice Minister of Rites in the Nine Jin region, quickly made contact with the ruler of Lu, making the ruler of Lu feel incredibly lucky that the sovereign was paying so much attention to him in both places.
Li Ling contacted him because there were too many sweet potato varieties in Jiujin, resulting in excessive yields, and he needed to find someone to sell them.
The State of Lu has little land and can't grow much grain, barely enough to make ends meet. Now, it's said that Li Ling wants to sell sweet potatoes to the State of Lu at a low price, with a buy-three-get-one-free offer.
Before the ruler of Lu could even agree, the people had already taken action. The reason was that merchants from the new Tianjing and the Xie family were funding the transport of sweet potatoes to Lu, and the people of Lu had heard of sweet potatoes but had never tasted them.
The Xie family merchants, true to their reputation as seasoned veterans who had traveled the world, set up a roasted sweet potato stall, offering free samples to the people for three days before officially charging a price of one coin for three catties, which was met with a buying frenzy from the people of Lu. Suddenly, sweet potatoes, which were worthless between Xintianjing and the Southern Regions, became a hot commodity in Lu.
Sweet potato production, peanut production, and even rice production are all thriving in the south.
By the end of November, thanks to the combined effects of new fertilizers and the discovery of super rice varieties, the southern region, including Xin Tianjing, had produced at least 40 million shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain, breaking the record for the highest yield in the past twenty years.
The Minister of Agriculture directly reported to Xie Lanzhi and Si Xitong through Wu Qiu of the Military Council.
Unfortunately, Xie Lanzhi was not there, so the letter reached Si Xitong. Si Xitong looked at the increased grain harvest with a blank expression, as if she were a monk or nun in deep meditation.
She sent letters of commendation to the Minister of Agriculture and Wu Qiu. She asked Zhang Changle to issue a plaque on her behalf first, and she would add a reward later.
She knew perfectly well that the people of Lu were only chasing after sweet potatoes because of food shortages, and that sweet potato cultivation would soon flourish in Lu, saturating the market within a year. Therefore, her people would only be able to earn a living in Lu for a short time. Other smaller, more affluent countries that had trade relations with the new capital had already started growing sweet potatoes.
However, when she saw that millions of kilograms of sweet potatoes had been produced, she couldn't help but recall the memories of sitting and eating sweet potatoes with Lanzhi at the gate of Lanzhang Palace.
In addition, peanut production has increased by millions of kilograms, and the first batch of seeds was also peeled by her and Lanzhi by hand.
The new fertilizer increased production, and they personally went to the edge of the field to witness the record-breaking income.
The current prosperity is hard-won and not only a testament to their achievements, but also to the memories of their shared life.
Seven days after Xie Lanzhi left, Si Xitong was already on the verge of collapse.
She could only endure the torment and stay behind to support Xie Lanzhi.
The two thrones in the Golden Palace of the new Tianjing are now empty. Even so, the officials and the Xie family have long engraved the two masters in their hearts. Even though they are not here, the rules and order they set still exist.
Everyone worked diligently and methodically to maintain order.
It just so happened that Wu Qiu was on duty today, and he and the other officials discussed holding a Dragon King Festival ceremony in a few days. Last month, a massive rainstorm hit Xintianjing, causing the abandoned irrigation canals to collapse and damage houses and farmland. But no one expected that Marshal Xie would order death row inmates and refugees to repair the canals, which ironically saved half of Xintianjing.
The villagers near the abandoned canal were grateful to Marshal Xie for repairing it in advance. The local magistrate was relieved that no natural disasters or man-made calamities had occurred, so he submitted a petition to the government requesting that a shrine be built for Xie Lanzhi. The Xie family agreed to all of this.
Wu Qiu wasn't as muddle-headed as Xie Shi; he simply put it aside and decided to wait for the marshal to return.
The local magistrates received a signal from the future Right Chancellor, and they began to reward the displaced people who built the canals, issuing them household registrations in the new Tianjing or Jiujin, and settling them down to establish villages.
The ten thousand refugees never imagined they would one day become law-abiding citizens. Overjoyed, they wished they could build another canal. However, since they were not law-abiding citizens, they could no longer repair the abandoned canal, which was already nearly complete. So, they could only celebrate by roasting sweet potatoes—a celebration of finally finding refuge in this chaotic world.
The border guards were under immense pressure. No matter how many vagrants they killed, the vagrants crawled across the border like ants, fearless of death. In the end, many of the guards suffered mental breakdowns and wanted to abandon the border and flee.
Upon learning of this situation, Xie Guang followed Xie Lanzhi's example, ordering his men to register the vagrants and then allow them to work on canals in various regions. As long as they behaved themselves, they could be issued household registrations, acknowledging them as citizens of Jiujin. Later, any wasteland developed in Jiujin could be distributed to them. After all, it was His Highness's generosity.
Xie Guang had some selfish motives and felt guilty. In any case, he couldn't cause any more trouble for the Xie family, so he decided to pass the pressure to Jiu Jin.
Unexpectedly, things went beyond his expectations. The more refugees registered, the faster the canal could be repaired. Sometimes, ten miles of canal could be repaired in half a month. Those people were working their lives away just to get a household registration.
Xie Guang thought he could delay for another two or three years, since building the canal was a huge project, but he never expected the refugees to have such a strong will to survive.
He couldn't break his word, so he reluctantly asked Li Ling to stamp and issue 100,000 household registration certificates. However, when they actually arrived in the Nine Provinces to receive these refugees, at least 300,000 people came. That is to say, only one-third of them had household registration, and each household registration was used by at least ten people.
Xie Guang was furious, berating these people for not only breaking the rules but also taking advantage of him. Now that they were here, he couldn't drive them away. Xie Guang could only vent his anger on the local officials who had opened the city gates to allow people to move.
The young generals were also deeply wronged. Facing over 300,000 people, the city walls were a sea of heads, an endless queue. Everyone seemed determined to break down the city walls if they weren't allowed in. This frightened many generals, who hastily opened the gates to let them in, hoping they would quickly retreat to the Nine Jin region and not remain within their assigned areas. They knew they would be held responsible if anything went wrong.
Unexpectedly, the young soldiers discovered that they were not the only ones with this idea; everyone thought the same way, so all 300,000 people entered the land of Jiujin.
Upon receiving this news, Li Ling immediately launched into a tirade against Xie Guang, berating him for being unreliable and causing him so much trouble. He said, "If you don't have the ability, don't try to emulate the marshal and insist on following the crowd. Now look what's going to happen to all those people!"
Unfortunately, this group of people entered the land of Jiujin just in time for the busy farming season. Li Ling was afraid that these people would cause trouble and make things difficult for him, so he sent them to harvest the crops.
With more people around, it's definitely much easier to collect the goods.
Li Ling originally thought that the 300,000 people in Jiujin were too many to support, but after the sweet potatoes, peanuts and rice all yielded good harvests, feeding 300,000 people was not a difficult task at all.
Li Ling wasn't too upset. He continued to stamp his official seal to reissue 200,000 household registrations. He stamped for three days and three nights until he couldn't even lift his hand.
Later, in Jiujin, the generals who originally belonged to the Ma family army and surrendered to Si Xitong found that a thousand soldiers were not enough when they were guarding Jiujin, so they reported to Si Xitong whether they could recruit more.
Si Xitong agreed.
The generals of Jiu Jin went to recruit soldiers, but they didn't expect many to join, since Jiu Jin was practically a beggar's den compared to Xin Tianjing and the Xie family. The treatment was poor; they didn't even have rice. At most, they'd eat some soybeans and coarse grains to fill their stomachs. The best meal was still the egg custard ordered by His Highness, and they could only eat it three times a week. Unlike the Xie family, who ate meat five times a week, and a whole roasted lamb once every three weeks, plus a bag of rice for one qian at the end of the month.
The treatment they received was already the best among all armies in history.