After the beginning of spring, several carriages of various styles indeed arrived from the north. Now is the day of the Dragon Raising its Head, and the temple fair is bustling. The difference from a few years ago is that there are more stalls on the street and everyone has a more sincere smile on their face.
After all, life is indeed much better than in previous years.
Currently, Jiangnan's hub status in the entire continent is more obvious. It is not surprising to see anyone coming here, and many different kinds of carriages have been seen. Now, no matter how luxurious a carriage enters Luanzhou, it will not attract too much attention.
After all, no matter who it is, no one dares to act rashly in Jiangnan.
In the past few years, Chen State and Jing State were successively incorporated into Jilin. Although the royal families of the two countries were still retained, they were actually completely controlled by Jilin. The barbarians and the ancient countries in the Western Regions gradually became peaceful.
The area of Jiangnan is very special in the entire continent. After the Jilin royal family established the King of Jiangnan, they really never managed it again. Not only did they not manage it, they also showed a lot of respect to Fu Zhiyu.
Today, after Fu Zhiyu waited in the mansion for a while, he received the person in the carriage.
He hadn't seen Fu Yanxi for a long time. The stubborn nerd had grown up a lot and had a taller figure. He looked a bit more elegant, but some things hadn't changed.
After Fu Yanxi got off the carriage, he first saluted Fu Zhiyu politely, then said with a smile: "It's been a long time since I last saw King Zhao, and King Zhao is still as elegant as ever."
He is now a prince and holds an official position as a cabinet scholar. According to the rules, one must pay respects when seeing him in Jiangnan.
"Forget it," Fu Zhiyu waved his hand and said, "There's no need to be so polite on this occasion. I received a letter from the emperor saying that an envoy from the imperial city was coming. At first I was planning to hold a banquet outside, but then I heard it was you, and I thought that since we are at least brothers, there's no need to go through so much trouble, so I thought I'd just hold a banquet at home. Mother also said that since it's not easy for you to come here, she wants to cook a few dishes for you."
After hearing this, Fu Yanxi relaxed a lot, and a hint of innocent smile appeared on his stern face, just like when he was a child.
"Okay," he said, "I haven't seen Concubine Yun for a long time. I still miss her a lot."
As he spoke, he asked his servants to carry out a large box from the back of the carriage.
"I brought gifts for my brother and the Dowager Consort," he said, "including the Dowager Consort's zither. You left in a hurry last time and didn't take it with you. This zither is the best in the palace. No one else is worthy of it except Dowager Consort Yun."
"Come in," Fu Zhiyu said, "Mother will be happy to see you."
Fu Yanxi came here for a real purpose. Everyone could see the changes in Jiangnan. He came here to learn things under the emperor's order. Moreover, he had to record these changes and write them down to pass on to future generations.
Changes in farm tools and facilities such as water wheels can be widely used. These things can not only benefit Jiangnan, but also benefit all places. However, this step should not be left to Fu Zhiyu. Fu Yanran is the emperor, and this is his responsibility.
Fu Zhiyu was quite willing to share these things. Fu Yanxi did not come alone, he brought craftsmen with him. Those craftsmen went to connect with the craftsmen of the Lin family. Fu Yanxi, who was in charge of recording, followed Fu Zhiyu, looked around for a few days, and was amazed.
Fu Yanxi did not forget to remind him: "The Barbarian King Xidan will be here in a few days. It's nothing for the Jiangnan Lin family to farm there. The Barbarian land is so big, it's already very good to be able to grow something. But later he heard that the Lin family was actually brought over from your side, and that it has been getting better and better in recent years, so he became a little restless."
King Xidan knew about the barley seeds. After all, they were the food in his territory and were distributed through his hands. But this alone was not enough.
Regarding the canal, the section inside Jilin has actually been almost dug.
The reason why the efficiency was so high was not because of Fu Zhiyu, but because of the tools provided by Fu Yanran. Moreover, not only ordinary people but also the army joined in. With more people, there is more strength, and the efficiency increased exponentially.
"In fact, everyone knows who made that thing," Fu Yanxi finished his meal at the dinner table. He was used to staying still these days, so he was more relaxed. In Fu Zhiyu's house, he dared to say anything. "Xie Ke, the young general, retired after the emperor ascended the throne.
At that time, the whole capital knew about his injury. After he recovered, he rarely appeared in public. Many people said he was dead, and the Xie family did not clarify the matter. Even the emperor rarely saw him, maybe once every six months. I don’t know where he went all the time.”
Fu Zhiyu paused for a moment while holding the wine glass, and changed the subject imperceptibly: "So... how do you get along with the emperor? Is he doing well?"
"It's pretty good. We are king and subject in public, but we are still brothers in private," Fu Yanxi said. "He hasn't changed much. He just does what he should do seriously, but he is very busy. Sometimes he negotiates with Prime Minister Shen all night and can't sleep well for several days.
In recent years, General Xie has relaxed a lot. He is getting older and has slowly returned some power to the emperor. The two get along well. Now Ji Lin seems to be doing much better than before. Before I came, Prime Minister Shen wanted to come with him, but he had too many things to do and couldn't leave. More importantly, he seemed... not so brave to come. He told me that you probably didn't want to see him, and only asked me to tell him when I go back whether you are doing well. "
Fu Yanxi didn't see the relationship between Fu Zhiyu and these people very clearly, and he didn't want to see it clearly. Sometimes it was just a matter of confusion.
Fu Zhiyu drank the wine in his hand, and then responded calmly: "It's nothing, you can tell him that I have forgotten the past."
Fu Yanxi had almost finished writing over the past few days, so he invited Fu Zhiyu to go and see the canal.
The river channel to be dug in Jiangnan is not long, only a small section, and more is outside Jiangnan. Fu Zhiyu is very willing to go for this invitation.
The river channel that has been dug is not the end. There is a longer section planned to the north, which is the territory of the barbarians. This is not something Ji Lin can decide, and it is still under negotiation.
Therefore, this time when King Xidan came to Jiangnan, he also came with many missions.
Although this man has a strange temper and does not play by the rules, he is a king after all, and he also has to consider the development of the barbarian grasslands.
The barbarian land is in the north, the soil is barren, the climate is very bad, many supplies are scarce, and the roads are difficult to travel, making transportation extremely difficult. The improved barley seeds and wheat seeds given by Fu Zhiyu saved many lives and made King Xidan unable to sit still.
This person has more in his hands.
This was his first time in Jiangnan, and when facing Fu Zhiyu this time, he was not as nonchalant as he was before.
"It's true that the soil and water are good. This is something that my barbarian tribe cannot envy," he sighed. "When I saw you at that time, I knew that you must be hiding something. You are not as simple as you seem on the surface. All of you in the Fu royal family are not easy to deal with."
Fu Zhiyu smiled and said, "I'll just take that as a compliment from you."
"I was originally complimenting you," King Xidan glanced at him, "You are a man of hidden talents, yet you suddenly become a sensation. You are truly amazing."
Fu Zhiyu didn't show any extra expression to this compliment. He just smiled and said, "At that time, I have to thank King Xidan for helping me. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to control them."
"Are you talking about the Qian family?" King Xidan remembered, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Actually, it has nothing to do with me. You know it, it was only Xie Ke who did it."
Fu Zhiyu stopped talking.
"I'm really curious about what happened between you two," King Xidan looked at him, "After all this, there is still no progress?"
“…Are you still going to dig the canal?”
"Wow, wow, wow!" King Xidan agreed without thinking. He also heard that Fu Zhiyu didn't want to talk about this topic, so he kept silent about it, but the interest in his eyes became more intense.
Together they went to see the river channels dug in other places except Jiangnan. On the way, Fu Zhiyu also met Deng Jinghe.
He is in charge of the wharf on the river. The location of the wharf is also very important. After the wharf is built, where the goods go and even what kind of shop is suitable to open next to the wharf is also a business.
In fact, Fu Zhiyu was not familiar with him, not even an acquaintance. However, Deng Jinghe stared at him for a long time, then turned his eyes away and lowered his head to do his work.
Deng Jinghe's affairs were actually someone else's family affairs for Fu Zhiyu, so Fu Zhiyu told Deng Qian about it and asked him to make his own decision.
"Your family education is indeed not good, you have to admit this," Fu Zhiyu said, "You taught one son to be disloyal, with more ability than virtue, and in the end he even wanted to kill his father. The other son is also lacking in ability and virtue. Although he has no intention of harming you, if you hand over the family business to you, he will be indirectly killed by him in the future.
So, I told you these things because I want you to make your own choice. People say that if a son is not well educated, it is the fault of his father. You have this responsibility. I will not do anything for you to deal with them. I will leave it to you to do it."
Deng Jinghe is different from his previous life. Now he has no family property and no other background, so it is very easy for Deng Qian to control him now.
He felt that he had been wrong before. Once a child is born, the family should be responsible for him. His family has always neglected Deng Jinghe and always told him that they would not give him a penny of the family property. Such differential treatment would make anyone feel uncomfortable.
"Children are just debts," Deng Qian sighed, "It's time for me to pay back the debt."
He restrained his romantic nature, and while strictly disciplining his legitimate son, he also gave Deng Jinghe some opportunities. Of course, Deng Qian still kept an eye on his actions, fearing that he would do something that he could not control.
But he didn't expect Deng Jinghe to be very obedient afterwards. He did everything he was asked to do, and he did everything very well. His ability was indeed impeccable. If it hadn't been for the previous incident, maybe Deng Jinghe would have handed over more of the family business to him.
Every family has its own problems. So far, everything is fine, so Fu Zhiyu no longer cares about it.
In this free world, so many things have changed, and this is just a trivial one.