Chapter 1654: News from the Lingnan Circuit!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Whoos.h.!.+
A carrier pigeon was soon flying into w.a.n.g Chong’s residence.
“Your Highness, a letter from the First Prince.”
As Zhang Que received the pigeon and removed the message on its leg, he spotted the seal and rushed into the hall to hand the letter over. By this time, the rest of w.a.n.g Chong’s subordinates had already gathered in the main hall.
The matter of the Lingnan Circuit was of utmost importance. If the Imperial Court insisted that w.a.n.g Chong had to leave, the entire structure of the capital would s.h.i.+ft. Thus, after w.a.n.g Chong sent his reply, all the members of the King of Foreign Lands Residence began to wait for the Imperial Court’s answer.
w.a.n.g Chong opened the letter, glanced through it, and then raised an eyebrow.
“Take a look.”
Without saying anything more, he pa.s.sed it to Xu Keyi.
The letter pa.s.sed through the hands of everyone, and after they finished reading it, they could only look at each other in speechlessness.
Given the First Prince’s personality, they had been certain that the First Prince would either directly refuse or urge w.a.n.g Chong to get moving.
But not only was the First Prince not urging w.a.n.g Chong to leave, he had actually agreed to the request, and he had even included concerned words about w.a.n.g Chong’s health. It didn’t seem like he was in much of a rush.
Of course, at the end of the letter, the First Prince had mentioned that the Lingnan matter involved the lives of several hundred thousand Yue and the stability of the Imperial Court, so he hoped that w.a.n.g Chong would not delay for too long.
In addition, the letter had also mentioned that w.a.n.g Chong was one of the pillars of the court, and as the Great Tang was currently lacking in such talents, it was hoped that the King of Foreign Lands would act quickly to resolve this worry.
Su s.h.i.+xuan was the last to read the letter, and after a long moment of thought, he finally voiced his worries.
“This… Your Highness, the First Prince’s words are too gentle, completely unlike his previous conduct. I’m afraid there’s a trick here!”
Everyone understood what sort of man the First Prince was, especially after the Public Order Squad incident and the border incident. If the First Prince truly were that gentle man who ruled diligently and loved the people, he would have never exploded in such rage over those two incidents and questioned w.a.n.g Chong again and again.
Moreover, to deal with the Fifth Prince, he had even killed one of the consorts of the palace, revealing the ruthless side of his personality.
For him to send a letter with such warm and caring words was truly abnormal.
At this moment, Xu Keyi stirred from his pensive mood and said, “Your Highness, I’m only worried about one thing. In the current circ.u.mstances, the First Prince will probably try to stir up conflicts amongst the Yue. Once something goes wrong, the First Prince will probably use it as an excuse to blame Your Highness. Whether or not Your Highness goes, you will be forced into a pa.s.sive position.”
His words caused everyone else to grimace.
After serving with w.a.n.g Chong for so long and witnessing the dark undercurrents of the Imperial Court, as well as the conduct of the First Prince, Xu Keyi was no longer the ignorant person of the past. He was growing more and more capable of a.n.a.lyzing the situation.
w.a.n.g Chong slightly raised an eyebrow in surprise. Xu Keyi’s conclusion had been almost the same as his.
“It’s not just possible. It’s exactly what the First Prince will do!” w.a.n.g Chong indifferently said, confirming Xu Keyi’s conclusion and causing the hall to resound with cries of alarm.
Zhang Que raised his head and worriedly asked, “Your Highness, what do we do? If this is allowed to continue, won’t we fall into the First Prince’s trap no matter what we do?”
As time had gone on, they had slowly begun to obtain more and more information.
The advisor at the First Prince’s side was known as the ‘Ghost King’, but they knew nothing about him besides this t.i.tle. And ever since this man had joined the First Prince, his style had changed.
In the past, the First Prince would have never been able to think of this sort of vicious scheme where w.a.n.g Chong would be forced into pa.s.sivity regardless of whether he advanced or retreated.
But right now, the first priority was how to deal with the problem.
No one dared to think about what would happen if w.a.n.g Chong were forced to leave the capital for a year and a half, nor did they dare to imagine what the empire would look like once the First Prince took complete control.
And in this period of time, Zhang Que had thoroughly examined the information from Lingnan. This was a longstanding and complex problem. Many excellent and experienced officials had been sent to Lingnan but failed to address the problem, so how could w.a.n.g Chong be capable of this in such a short amount of time?
Besides, w.a.n.g Chong was a general, not an actual civil official.
The First Prince had truly put up a th.o.r.n.y problem.
The hall was quiet as everyone looked at w.a.n.g Chong, waiting for his answer.
w.a.n.g Chong’s brows were locked together and his eyes were closed. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Nor did anyone dare to disturb him. They simply waited.
“I understand how to proceed!” w.a.n.g Chong finally said. “s.h.i.+xuan, take my token and leave tonight for Lingnan.”
w.a.n.g Chong took the token from his waist that symbolized his status as King and pa.s.sed it over.
Everyone was struck dumb by this scene, Su s.h.i.+xuan most of all.
“But this is… Your Highness, the Lingnan matter, I… I might not be capable enough!”
Su s.h.i.+xuan had never imagined that w.a.n.g Chong would send him to resolve the Lingnan matter. All those extremely skilled court officials had failed to solve the problem, so how could he?
“I have a plan for Lingnan,” w.a.n.g Chong indifferently said. “When you get there, you just need to do what I tell you.”
“Yes!”
Su s.h.i.+xuan had been lacking in confidence, but when he heard these words, he immediately calmed down. Even though he had never been involved with Lingnan before, as long as w.a.n.g Chong had a plan, Su s.h.i.+xuan would feel no fear.
“The problem of Lingnan is longstanding, and on the surface, it appears to be because of the complicated relations.h.i.+ps amongst the Yue. But in reality, it’s because the farmland isn’t divided equally. But this is also only a symptom, and addressing it would not solve the root cause. Thus, none of the brilliant officials sent by the court were ever able to solve the problem.”
w.a.n.g Chong slowly began to explain.
“It’s actually very easy to solve the problem of the Yue…”
w.a.n.g Chong suddenly reached out and dabbed a finger in ink before writing on a piece of paper.
‘Foodstuffs’!
When his subordinate saw what he had written, some of them furrowed their brows while others turned pensive.
“Farmland is used for planting crops, and in the final a.n.a.lysis, this is a conflict that arises from a lack of food. If you don’t solve this, it doesn’t matter how you divide the farmland, as the Yue will never be satisfied. This is why all those talented officials failed to solve the Yue problem.
“I give you full authority to act in Lingnan. In addition, I will have Zhang Munian send foodstuffs to the lands of the Yue. You will be responsible for connecting with the Yue and teaching them how to plant the hybrid rice. Once the foodstuffs problem is solved, Lingnan will naturally be peaceful.”
w.a.n.g Chong stood up, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with a wise light.
His subordinates stared speechlessly at him. This had been a problem that had weighed Lingnan down for decades, and they had all believed that it would be very challenging to solve. But w.a.n.g Chong had rapidly dissected the problem and clearly explained its root and solution.
At that moment, their hearts were filled with sincere admiration.
w.a.n.g Chong had a power to look past the surface and find the essence of the problem, and no matter how difficult it seemed, he was always able to find a solution. And while it seemed as if the First Prince was intentionally causing trouble for w.a.n.g Chong with the Lingnan matter, it now seemed as if no one could solve it except for w.a.n.g Chong.
Without another word, Su s.h.i.+xuan took w.a.n.g Chong’s token and set off for Lingnan. Meanwhile, in Jiaozhi, Zhang Munian also began to move, arranging for the transport of hybrid rice to Lingnan.
w.a.n.g Chong had actually noticed the Lingnan problem a long time ago, but at that time, the hybrid rice program had only just started and had not been on a large enough scale. But with the gradual acc.u.mulation of time, it was now ready, and this was now the perfect time to resolve Lingnan’s worries.
Time slowly pa.s.sed. Several factions intentionally played up the Lingnan matter and w.a.n.g Chong’s a.s.signment, raising such a clamor that the entire capital knew about it. But neither w.a.n.g Chong nor the First Prince seemed to be in much of a rush.
w.a.n.g Chong wasn’t going, and the First Prince wasn’t pus.h.i.+ng.
But an undercurrent was flowing around the Lingnan Circuit and the Yue people. Every day, the Eastern Palace would send numerous carrier pigeons to Lingnan.
“How is it? Any news from Zhang Xun? Tell him that as long as he can incite conflicts amongst the Yue, this prince will agree to promote him to Governor, perhaps even the Governor of Lingnan,” the First Prince said to Zhu Tong’en from his throne.
“Reporting!”
At this moment, a Golden Guard rushed inside, his armor clattering.
“Your Highness, Lingnan’s Lord Zhang Xun has sent a letter!”
“What? Bring it up!”
The First Prince’s eyes brightened as he waved a hand.
“Hahaha, truly, speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives! Zhang Xun! This prince had the right idea about you! As long as w.a.n.g Chong can be toppled, this prince will treat you well!”
The First Prince heartily laughed, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with expectation.
He was extremely hopeful about the Lingnan matter. Everything was ready, and all that was missing was the final touch. With Zhang Xun’s letter, he could work with the court officials to seize w.a.n.g Chong.
At worst, they could damage w.a.n.g Chong’s reputation amongst the people. Perhaps they could even force w.a.n.g Chong to move to Lingnan and decree that he couldn’t return until he resolved the Yue problem.
In this way, not even w.a.n.g Chong and all his prodigious abilities would be able to escape his palm.
Whoos.h.!.+
The First Prince impatiently opened the letter and scanned it for the information he sought.
But a few moments later, his excitement cooled and his face slowly s.h.i.+fted into a scowl.