"Brother Emperor, my little sister never meant this, but this is the fact. I don't think it is necessary to say more about Li Wufeng's prestige in the northwest. The northwest has developed from a place where the Luobi people were raped and dehumanized to the present level. Li Wufeng does have his own tricks. Li Wufeng is unparalleled in the northwest. The situation in places newly under his jurisdiction such as Kansai and Tiannan is also the same. Although Kansai was originally under the rule of the empire, However, his influence has long been wiped out by the Taiping Cult and the Lin Lang family who came later. Li Wufeng took advantage of the opportunity and immediately established his leadership position in Kansai. Although Tiannan has been controlled by the Lang family for decades, , but the economy has not developed much, the people's living standards are low, and ethnic relations are tense. The Lang family relies entirely on its military power to maintain governance. However, the Lang family fell into a civil war with the Burmese and was defeated by Li Wufeng. After taking control of Tiannan, he took a series of measures to ease ethnic relations and develop the local economy, which immediately won the hearts and minds of the local people. Now in these three places, whether they are gentry, merchants or common people, they are all awed by Li Wufeng, and only Li Wufeng follows his lead. , the possibility of dividing them is extremely slim.”
The beauty in goose-yellow palace clothes was analyzing the situation in the three places while talking eloquently, while also observing the expressions of the other two.
"When I first went to the northwest, my little sister had the ideas that the thirteenth sister just mentioned, but after actual attempts, it simply didn't work. The fact that Li Wufeng drove away the Luobi people in the northwest has been deeply rooted in people's hearts, and then a large number of The immigrants who moved in were basically docile people under Li Wufeng's immigration policy. They only had Li Wufeng in their hearts, and nothing else could get in. Think about it, the Taiping Sect, which was rampant for a while, never caused any disturbance in the northwest. This is evident. As for Guanxi and Tiannan, after seeing Li Wufeng’s strong military strength and hard and soft tactics, almost no one can believe that anyone else can replace Li Wufeng, not even the central government. The emperor brother and The Thirteenth Sister wants the younger sister to instigate rebellion or divide in these places, do you think it is possible?"
"That's enough, Seventeenth Sister, stop cheering for Li Wufeng here. It's not your fault that Li Wufeng has become what he is today, but I also want to remind Seventeenth Sister that you must remember that you are from the Situ family. , don’t forget that the surname Situ is in your blood!” Situ Lang waved his hand to stop the beauty in yellow palace clothes from continuing, and said coldly: “Your Thirteenth Sister reminds you that you are right, you have indeed changed a bit, At least you have lost the fighting spirit you brought with you when you went to the northwest. Looking at your words and deeds now, I think you have been brainwashed by Li Wufeng!"
Looking at the two people in front of him with some sadness, Situ Yutang felt that he had indeed changed, but it was not because he was brainwashed by Li Wufeng, but because he was enlightened by Li Wufeng's words and saw the situation more clearly, especially what he saw and heard along the way back. It shocked her even more. She went east along the river from Hanzhong to Zhongzhou via Jincheng, Yueyang, Huanggang, and Jiujiang, and then entered the imperial capital city. Along the way, she went from Situ Jun and Situ Biao to the territory of Cheng Dayou, and finally arrived at the emperor in front of her. Brother's real control area.
As soon as he left the area controlled by his fiancé, Situ Yutang could clearly feel a change, that is, the chaos of public security and the sharp increase in refugees. From Yueyang to Huanggang, refugees can still be seen in venerable places like Wuhu. There was an endless stream of people along the road, the numb eyes of refugees with sallow faces, children crying for food, officers and soldiers who sometimes worked as thieves and sometimes as soldiers, refugee riots one after another, and the subordinate officials at the checkpoints along the way tried their best to squeeze out the passing merchants, except for the normal There are countless taxes and donations under various names. Situ Yutang doesn't know how vendors can survive under such circumstances. And once circulation is cut off, how can the people's lives be maintained
Even the situation in Jiujiang under the control of the Taiping remnant Cheng Dayou was far better than that of Yueyang and Huanggang under the control of his two brothers. This made Situ Yutang feel depressed out of thin air. Even the insignificant remnant of the Taiping Sect ruled The Jiujiang under the empire is far better than the territory under the rule of the imperial royal family, which makes Situ Yutang have to wonder whether the Situ family has really reached the end of its destiny. Looking at the imperial capital again, although the price of food has risen to the sky and the people are running around for food, the nobles seem not to feel any of these crises at all. There are singing and dancing, feasting, and everything seems to be the same as last time. Nothing had changed when I left the imperial capital, and there was no sign of food shortage at all. This was the life of the upper class in the imperial capital. Compared with the refugees living outside the imperial capital and the citizens at the bottom of the city, the disparity was shocking.
But even the two people in front of them didn't seem to be aware of all the crises, or they saw it but turned a blind eye for some purpose. Instead, they blindly put all the responsibilities on their fiancés. The huge Tanghe Empire was facing The crisis of survival was actually considered to be caused by the actions of a vassal in a few years, instead of looking for the problem from itself. Situ Yutang found it too ridiculous when he thought about it.
Situ Yutang asked himself that although he had some affection for his fiancé, he had absolutely no intention of defending him. However, the fact was that the various crises and hidden worries in the empire were not caused by Li Wufeng, but were caused by the problems left over by the empire for many years. and the shortcomings of those in power themselves. However, the two people in front of them did not want to find the cause and find a solution. Instead, they tried to rely on the authority of the central empire to suppress the local vassals that might pose a threat to the central empire. However, looking at the foreign enemies around the empire and the internal chaos, Situ Yutang He simply did not believe that the ambitious and talented imperial brother in front of him could solve all this. Even without Li Wufeng, Situ Yutang firmly believed that the empire's crisis would still break out, and perhaps it would be more violent and thorough.
Situating with a somewhat dejected sigh, Situ Yutang replied calmly: "Brother Emperor, Thirteenth Sister, it seems that you have a deep understanding of me, little sister. No matter how little sister tries to defend herself, it will be difficult for her to win your favor." Forgive me, I don’t want to explain any more. It’s just that whether it’s Li Wufeng’s ultimatum or a petition, I’ve handed it over to the emperor. As for the emperor, he can do whatever he thinks is more appropriate. The younger sister doesn’t want to ask. But the younger sister reiterates that I, Situ Yutang, am a member of the Situ family and have never forgotten this. Moreover, Situ Yutang has been doing his best for the Situ family since he went to the northwest! But if you think My little sister is a member of the Situ family and can change all this, so please forgive me for my inability to do anything. My little sister is a little tired and will leave first."
Seeing the slightly tired Seventeenth Sister slowly disappearing at the entrance of the palace, Situ Lang fiercely dropped the tea cup on the desk. The tea splashed and wet all over the floor. The fingers holding the tea cup had some joints due to excessive exertion. whitish.
"Brother Imperial, are we going too far? Are the requirements for Seventeenth Sister too high? Maybe Seventeenth Sister really can't control Li Wufeng's behavior, and we may have really wrongly blamed her." Watching the delicate figure disappear, The beauty in the lake green palace dress suddenly became depressed. She frowned slightly and murmured to herself. The domineering attitude she had just now completely disappeared, and she completely returned to the appearance of a charming beauty.
"Too much? I don't think it's too much at all. Shi Qi has completely fallen into Li Wufeng's arms and even shared a house with Li Wufeng. Can we still count on her? Girls are outgoing. This is true. Fortunately, I have never taken it too seriously. Hope is pinned on her." The gloomy look on Situ Lang's face was undoubtedly revealed, and then turned into frustration: "Thirteenth sister, how do you think we should respond to Li Wufeng's request?"
After cheering up, the beauty in the lake-green palace dress replied with a wry smile: "Do we still have a choice? Without Li Wufeng's three million stone of food for emergency relief, I don't think about the refugees outside the imperial capital. I'm afraid that the people in the city alone would have to It won’t be long before people cannibalize people.”
"Then you mean we agree to the other party's request?" Situ Lang looked a little hesitant but helpless. He was ridiculed and scolded by the other party for agreeing to sell the food reserves, and he regretted it. He respects and fears his thirteenth sister, Situ Lang. What he respects is that she can always give him some useful ideas at critical moments, but what he fears is that this compatriot from the same mother is always cold to him who is already the emperor of the empire. It was not hot, so he was a little unsure about what to eat.
"The northwest, Guanxi and Tiannan are actually under the control of Li Wufeng. It doesn't make much sense whether he agrees or not. But once the so-called Western Territory Protectorate is established, the empire will no longer have any restraint on Li Wufeng. Look, The power and responsibilities of his Western Xinjiang Protectorate no longer have any place for the empire to intervene, and even foreign affairs are handled by him. This is no different from independence." The beauty in the lake green palace attire bit her lips and gritted her teeth and said: "Three million dan Food can only last for this winter and next spring, and we have to live frugally. It is difficult to say whether next summer's harvest will be the same as this year. The climate in the past two years has been too abnormal. We must be careful. Since Li Wufeng wants to establish this Western Xinjiang so much, Dadu Protectorate, then we might as well ask for a higher price and ask him to sell five million dans of grain at a fair price, and in addition, we can grant him the title of King of Qin."
"It is naturally a good thing to have two million more loads of grain. First, it can alleviate the pressure on food. And if there is a surplus, it can be sold to make up for the loss of the imperial treasury." Situ Lang looked at his compatriot sister with some confusion, " But why was the title of King of Qin granted? Didn’t this further fuel Li Wufeng’s arrogance and make his actions more justifiable?”