"It turns out that what I've always wanted most is you. I want to protect you, to keep you from being wronged, and to make you the Empress, second only to the Emperor. Then no one will dare to bully you."
"But those were just wishful thinking on my part."
The Huayin gentry were not of one mind with her, and even considered establishing another queen.
Azi's eyes reddened: "You don't blame me? I actually guessed that my sister was going to send troops to Huayin Kingdom, but I still didn't tell you."
"It's better not to tell. If I had, given my mood after winning the battle, I might have fought my sister to the death." An Yi felt that he wasn't the only one whose mentality was deeply affected by the fate of the nation. He guessed that the Restoration Army thought the same way, so no one stopped the war. They all shouted that they wanted to fight, and as a result, the war was quelled in ten days.
She felt ashamed if word got out that the entire operation was completed in one day, and that she spent nine days maintaining order.
Azi and Anyi confided in each other, completely unaware of the spies lurking in the tree. Even after the army left, the spies wouldn't leave their side. After all, Anyi was still a threat to His Highness, and the spies would deal with her if necessary.
Now that the spies heard that this useless king wanted to stay out of it, it was a good thing, so the spies stopped following them.
The two people inside the county government office were also making out.
Xie Lanzhi's recent bad luck and depression were dispelled by a woman's coquettishness. Just as she was leaving the yamen, a flock of birds came over as if on cue and started swarming her.
Although she was covered in bird droppings, her mindset had changed.
Seeing that she had been soiled again at the door, Si Xitong wondered if she should sit under a rain shelter to prevent her wife from getting dirty. But then she thought that even without bird droppings, the rain shelter might be the problem, and what if it collapsed and crushed her wife? That seemed even more serious.
She had no choice but to give up the idea.
After Xie Lanzhi left, she took the initiative to find Anyi, intending to have a chat with her. She then had someone send Azi back to the county government office.
An Yi looked at Xie Lanzhi awkwardly, remembering the task her sister had given her that she hadn't completed yet. This made her even more awkward.
Xie Lanzhi couldn't stand her coy and hesitant behavior as a husband, so she immediately snapped, "Can't you just say what you want to say? Don't you consider me your brother-in-law?"
An Yi was quite surprised. She paused for a moment, then nodded: "Then, then brother-in-law, can I become your..."
"Hmm?" Xie Lanzhi had already heard about the task Little Phoenix had given her; she wanted An Yi to become her friend. However, An Yi had been lingering on the sidelines, too insecure to approach.
She felt it was necessary to lend her a hand.
Xie Lanzhi was about to say, "Let's be friends! Stop nagging."
Then she heard An Yi muster up his courage and say to her, "Sister...wife, can I...can I become your follower?!"
Xie Lanzhi: "......"
Is this all the good a child can achieve?
She said, "Okay."
An Yi's eyes lit up instantly. This was a step she had taken with great courage, and she hadn't expected the marshal to actually agree.
"Could the marshal teach me martial arts?"
Xie Lanzhi felt it necessary to dissuade her from the idea. She walked to a stone mill weighing about a hundred pounds, lifted it up, and then threw it to the ground, making her pick it up and put it back.
An Yi immediately rolled up his sleeves and walked to the stone mill. He bent down and tried his best to lift the stone, but he could only lift it an inch when the big tree behind him snapped with a loud crash. Then, the three-meter-tall pine tree collapsed in half, and its leaves buried the two of them.
"No, this is terrible!"
A newly recruited soldier cried out in alarm, "The Marshal and the King of Anguo have been hit by a falling tree!"
Good heavens! This Princess Anguo has really eaten the heart of a bear and the heart of a leopard, daring to get close to the marshal! Doesn't she know that the marshal is currently having a run of bad luck, and anyone who gets close to him is either killed or injured?
Then a dozen or so newly recruited soldiers arrived and hurriedly lifted the tree, cut it down, and pulled people out. They pulled out the King of Anyi, who had a large bump on the back of his head. Anyi was unconscious and was then taken to the county government office.
Although Xie Lanzhi lacked internal strength, she still possessed brute force and a healthy physique.
She dug herself out, and as soon as she turned around, she stepped on a beehive in the tree, squirting juice out, and then hundreds of aggressive bees buzzed out.
Hundreds of bees killed Xie Lanzhi and more than a dozen newly recruited soldiers.
The screams of the people terrified the birds and insects in the forest.
"Aaaaaaah!"
"Marshal, Marshal, please stay away from us!"
"Don't come any closer!"
"Please, please don't come any closer!!"
Chapter 150 Xie Lanzhi Gets Lost
Since Anyi was unwilling to continue ruling the Huayin Kingdom, Sixitong chose one of her brothers to be the ruler.
Since the Huayin Kingdom transitioned from being dominated by the Xiongnu to being controlled by the Si clan, it began a new life as a puppet state.
Xie Lanzhi even asked Si Xitong, "If the people of Huayin want to restore their country in the future, what should you do?"
Si Xitong said, "Then give it back to them."
As a buffer zone between the new Tianjing and the northward expansion of the Xiongnu, Huayin Kingdom could potentially become independent as long as the Xiongnu remained intact. Now, An Yi doesn't want to get involved in this mess, and she won't force the issue, so she already has plans for the future.
The Huayin Kingdom has been under governance for less than a month, and most of the situation is trending towards stability.
The temporary stability brought by sweet potatoes allowed the people of Huayin to recuperate and recover.
This caused the people of Huayin to adopt a wait-and-see attitude towards the new regime, rather than completely rejecting it.
Xie Lanzhi believed that governing Huayin Kingdom would be a real hassle. Although the coal mines were very attractive, apart from the coal mines and its geographical location, Huayin Kingdom was practically useless. It was a poor, remote place, and everything about it was waiting to be developed.
The aristocratic families of Huayin Kingdom occupy at least 90% of the land in Huayin. Many uncultivated lands belong to the next generation of the aristocratic families, who will neither develop them nor give them up.
The people of Huayin felt a strong sense of belonging to their homeland. Even if there was temporary peace and prosperity under foreign rule, foreigners were still foreigners. As long as they continued to call themselves Huayin people...
As long as the Huayin Kingdom exists, these identities and honors will not be erased. And the gentry can easily turn against the Little Phoenix by exploiting nationalist sentiments and inciting the people to wage war.
The fruits that Little Phoenix had carefully cultivated would be picked by the noble families who had made no contribution.
Xie Lanzhi will not allow these things to happen, so the elite and the lower classes of Huayin Kingdom must be divided! And the division must be amplified!
Si Xitong also considered this point. She couldn't stay in Jinghua Prefecture forever; she wanted to return to Tianjing next month. Therefore, the matter of Huayin Kingdom should be resolved immediately.
Soon the officialdom of Huayin Kingdom was put into use, and almost all the officials in Huayin were dissatisfied with Si Xitong.
Si Xitong did not intend to recruit them. Instead, he chose Anqing, Anyi's cousin, as the ruler. Afterward, he supported local gentry extensively to increase their power and weaken the power of the aristocratic families.
The first step was to allow Anqing to acquire the wasteland of the deceased noble families and leave it for the people of Huayin to develop.
The remaining aristocratic families, citing the principle of hierarchy, opposed the decree. Si Xitong was not one to be trifled with; she sent spies to deliberately spread aristocratic opinions among the people, widening the gap between herself and the common folk.
Even when the government sent people from Huayin to collect land, people claiming to be members of aristocratic families came up and beat the people, resisting the new policies.
The people of Huayin were unarmed and dared not take the land that had been granted to them, fueling their resentment. Finally, Ma Hong sent a thousand men to suppress the gentry and force the people of Huayin to take the land, personally supervising the local government's affixing of the official seal. The people received the land deeds, and everyone was incredulous.
Then the news spread like wildfire, from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, from a hundred to a thousand. As more and more people were allocated land, and the mountains were given opportunities to cultivate, they were also given various kinds of seeds imported from the State of Lu, all thanks to the new ruler's preferential policies. For the first time, the people of Huayin felt that they were under the protection of a holy ruler.
However, people in Huayin were all claiming that it was thanks to the King of Anqing, and privately, scholars were even smearing Anyi for lacking integrity.
These scholars had never fought in a war and were unaware of the sacrifices made by the Restoration Army. Some families who had served in the Restoration Army could not tolerate the scholars' slander and fought with them.
The identity of the Restoration Army was already sensitive; if anyone reported it to the authorities, the newly formed army would immediately arrest them. But this time, when someone reported it to the authorities, the newly formed army not only didn't arrest anyone, but also praised the person for beating them—they were beating people who were spouting nonsense.
Although the Restoration Army hated the newly formed army, they remained united on the issue of Anyi.
After all, Anyi was the first ruler in history to dare to wage war against the Huns and Xiongnu, and to win. The Battle of Guocheng became a battle of dignity for everyone in Huayin. Therefore, the people of Huayin would never allow the war to restore their nation to be smeared. Even though there was a new ruler now, and they were still unable to act independently, they would not allow Huayin's glorious battle to be tarnished by the words of a few scholars.
Afterwards, the Western Guard's secret agents deliberately stirred up divisions within Huayin regarding the war of national restoration, with remarkable results, greatly exacerbating the conflict between the lower classes and the scholars.
Most scholars in Huayin Kingdom belonged to the gentry class. Huayin Kingdom did not have an imperial examination system, but instead adopted a very backward collective hereditary system. As long as one was a member of the gentry class, any branch of the family could have the opportunity to enter officialdom. The officialdom of Huayin was essentially a kinship-based system.
Everyone was related by blood or kinship; if you weren't, you were considered an outcast and would face ostracism. This led to the current situation where the upper classes had no poor families and the lower classes had no noble families.
In the past, the people of Huayin dared not think about their future. They were lucky if they could avoid being bullied by the Huns and Xiongnu. They were fortunate enough to have a full meal once a day. They were often hungry and exhausted from making a living, so they had no mind to think about anything else.
The current situation has opened a door for Si Xitong, and the people of Huayin have seen a brand new future. They are surging forward like ants carrying food.
The conversion of some of the interests of the Huayin gentry into civilian use tarnished their reputation and caused them to suffer further attacks from their own people.
The people of Huayin, regardless of whether they used the land they received, would not give it up. The newly formed army then openly declared that they would stand with the people of Huayin and help them maintain order.
If any aristocratic family dares to disobey the new ruler's decrees, the newly established army will not stand idly by. This is because the newly established army supports the new ruler.
Afterwards, Ma Hong pretended to recruit patriots from the people, wanting to build a personal guard for the King of Anqing, totaling three thousand men.
The King of Anqing ordered the formation of a personal guard, and many people from Huayin joined it. However, they were unaware that key positions within the guard were held by the newly formed army, and even military rations and pay were controlled by them. Although it was called the King of Anqing's personal guard, it was practically subordinate to the newly formed army. The command of the three thousand men still belonged to the newly formed army.
Si Xitong instructed Ma Hong to select a reliable Jin general to remain and guard the main palace in Huayin. He also ordered another 5,000 troops to be stationed in Huayin for auxiliary defense.
Thirty thousand new recruits from Jinghua Prefecture joined the defense of Huayin Kingdom. County Magistrate Li Fuyi selected loyal men from the auxiliary troops by Ma Hong. Yang Wei was Ma Hong's sworn brother and had been one of the laborers in the beginning.
Although not from the Ma family army, his father had once been a bodyguard of the Western Emperor. Leveraging this connection, Si Xitong decided to give Yang Wei an important position.
Yang Wei was officially promoted to General of Jinghua Prefecture and stationed outside the capital to assist in the transportation of coal in Huayin.
The coal began to be transported to Tianjing via the State of Lu. During the journey, the ruler of Lu set his sights on the coal. Si Xitong gave him a 30% discount and limited the amount he could order each month.
The mined coal was then officially transported from the State of Lu to the new capital, Tianjing.
The new Tianjing officially accepted the coal. The Xie family originally wanted to take over this batch of coal, but Li Ling and other newly emerging forces blocked them. Normally, the Xie family would have simply blocked the road and seized it.
Regardless of any rules, the Xie family is currently experiencing a series of misfortunes, one major misfortune every three days and one minor one every day. They are in complete disarray and might even be killed by their own people before any fighting even begins. This is something that is utterly unbelievable to the people of Tianjing.
The Xie family and their soldiers became more disciplined, and Li Ling also allocated some coal to the Xie family proportionally, depending on the situation. As long as it wasn't excessive, the Xie family's life was still quite comfortable.
The Xie family is currently in a delicate and chaotic balance due to misfortune. Perhaps it's because Xie Lanzhi's military prowess in leading her troops into Tianjing was so formidable that many people felt a natural fear of the Xie family under her leadership. Furthermore, Xie Lanzhi's proactive integration into the new Tianjing and her efforts to build a new order have won over many hearts and minds, gaining her considerable support. While the Xie family's overall combat strength has significantly decreased, this hasn't affected their status or influence in the new Tianjing.
As one of the supervisors, Xie Guang saw the Ministry of Works pressing coal with molds and the newly invented coal stoves, which were then distributed to each household, and they were taught how to use them.
Coal quickly gained favor among the upper echelons of New Tianjing, almost replacing smokeless silver charcoal.
Coal was distributed among some people, but most of it ended up in the hands of Wei Zhao of the Ministry of Works, who began to produce steel in large quantities.
After receiving the coal, Li Ling thought that His Highness would be back soon.
The situation in Huayin Kingdom has been largely brought under control by the newly formed army, and Si Xitong's tactics have yielded great results.
This reassured Xie Lanzhi that she would be able to stand on her own in the future, and that she no longer needed to concern herself with the matter.
The next morning, Xie Lanzhi and Anyi wanted to ride horses and take a ride on the newly repaired road in Jinghua Prefecture.
An Yi quickly declined, "Marshal, I don't need to."
"Didn't you say you wanted to be my follower?" Xie Lanzhi raised an eyebrow and said, "Going back on your word so quickly?"
An Yi couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Whether they'll even come back alive is a question."