The snow has been falling.
The dense plum branches with blooming petals blocked most of the snowflakes. Only a few of them passed through the gaps and fell into the misty hot spring or on the eldest princess's rosy cheeks and white shoulders.
Huayang didn't feel cold.
There are hidden secrets in the pool. For example, right on the shore, there is a stone slab as flat as a couch, slightly slanted into the water.
Huayang was lying on the stone couch at this time, his body covered by the warm spring water. Even his shoulders and neck were flooded by the surging spring water again and again.
She could only lie on her back to avoid accidentally drinking the hot spring water.
If she opened her eyes, she could see snow and plum blossoms in the sky. She couldn't tell what time it was. The snow reflected the lights, soft and hazy, like a dream.
Huayang loves this snow scene. If Chen Jingzong were not there, she would definitely enjoy it quietly and comfortably for a long time without distraction.
But Chen Jingzong was there, and he made it impossible for her to see any of the plum blossoms on the branches. When he suddenly kissed her, the water droplets rolling down his face wet her eyelashes.
Huayang simply stopped watching and let him do whatever he wanted.
"I've wanted to do this since I was in the back hill of Hongfu Temple."
Chen Jingzong never had less to say. The more reserved and disdainful the princess was to discuss this, the more Chen Jingzong wanted to tell her.
Chen Jingzong could not see the white snow and red plum blossoms. In his eyes there was only the eldest princess and the fairy ancestor he married.
He liked to see her glaring at him, either coldly or angrily, her eyes clear but immediately tinged with something else because of him.
Just like the high and mighty fairy in the Moon Palace who could not be desecrated, after marrying him by accident, she could only be an ordinary and happy couple in the human world.
Chen Jingzong also didn't believe it. Even if he was a male immortal in heaven or a true gentleman on earth, he could be so elegant in such matters.
Impossible, impossible! .
On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, early in the morning, when Huayang left the villa, he had only one thought in his mind.
In this life, she never wants to take a hot spring bath with Chen Jingzong again!
It was also nightfall when he returned to the capital. It was not until the next morning that Huayang went to the palace to pay his respects to his mother.
Empress Dowager Qi looked at her daughter's increasingly beautiful face and said with a hint of sarcasm: "This hot spring is really effective. Does your leg still hurt?"
Huayang said with a stiff face: "Thanks to you, it doesn't hurt anymore."
As soon as Emperor Yuanyou arrived, the mother and daughter stopped making jokes that they knew each other well.
The fifteen-year-old Emperor Yuanyou was still naive. Seeing his sister looking so healthy, he thought that the hot spring water was good for health. He also took the opportunity to show concern for his mother: "This year, the court will survey the land. I'm afraid you won't be in the mood to stay in the palace. When the twelfth lunar month is free, why don't you stay in the palace for a while?"
Empress Dowager Qi smiled and nodded.
Huayang secretly suppressed his laughter.
After having lunch in the palace, Huayang said goodbye and went to sit for a while at Chen's house.
Sun also praised the good complexion of the princess' daughter-in-law. When talking about the therapeutic effect of hot springs, Sun also sighed: "There are hot springs in Lingzhou. Back then, the old lady was afraid of the cold, and the old man was an official in the capital. Every winter, he would send a salary home to let the old lady take a bath in the hot springs."
Huayang: …
"Is there a hot spring in Lingzhou?"
"Yes, it only takes half a day by car."
Huayang smiled and praised his mother-in-law and father-in-law for their filial piety to the old lady.
When Huayang got on the carriage back home, he almost twisted a silk handkerchief into pieces!
Since the old lady of the Chen family likes to take a hot spring bath, Chen Jingzong must have accompanied the old lady to the hot spring bath countless times from the age of ten to eighteen before he came to Beijing. But he pretended to be ignorant in front of her! He was so eager to go to his aunt's villa, just looking forward to trying new things with her!
Chen Jingzong had a banquet at a colleague's house to attend today. When he returned home, it was already late in the afternoon. He was drunk and slept obediently in Liuyun Palace for an hour. He came to Qifeng Palace after taking a bath.
Huayang was sitting on the couch in the second room. When he saw him, he pointed to the inner room and said, "Go in and take a look."
Chen Jingzong saw that she was about to have an outburst, so he went in for a look and found a mat on the floor next to the eldest princess's bed.
Chen Jingzong came out and asked in a nonchalant manner, "You were fine before, but you got angry after entering the palace and returning to your mother's home. What's wrong? Could it be that my mother was a wicked mother-in-law and made you angry?"
Huayang sneered: "Mother is very good, you are the only one in the entire Chen family who dares to offend me."
Chen Jingzong: "I haven't offended you recently."
Huayang: "You are telling lies to fool me."
Chen Jingzong: …
The princess must have obtained the evidence, and Chen Jingzong immediately apologized: "I was wrong. As long as the princess is willing to calm down, you can punish me in any way you want."
Chen Jingzong: "Sleeping on the floor, I can't stand being so far away from you."
Huayang continued reading and ignored him.
Neither of them spoke at the dinner table. At night, Huayang lay comfortably on the bed. Chen Jingzong took off his clothes, walked around the bed, and then quietly got under the bedding on the floor.
As soon as he lay down, he sneezed.
After sneezing, he started coughing again.
He was pretending insincerely, and Huayang knew it was fake. He felt annoyed but said nothing.
Chen Jingzong knew her very well. She was just mad at him and had to vent her anger, but she was not that angry. If she was really angry, she would never let him stay around her.
Therefore, after lying down for a while, Chen Jingzong jumped up, quickly got into the bed, and hugged the eldest princess's soft body in his arms.
Huayang didn't chase him away, nor did he say anything.
Chen Jingzong kissed her ear: "I have never lied to you about serious matters."
Huayang: "Not even if it's not serious."
Chen Jingzong: "Okay, next time I want to do this or that with you in the pool, I'll tell you directly."
Huayang: …
.
On the 16th day of the first lunar month in the second year of Yuanyou, at the first court meeting of the new year, Prime Minister Chen Tingjian requested a nationwide land survey, which sparked a heated debate among the ministers.
However, a consensus had already been reached within the cabinet, and Empress Dowager Qi and Emperor Yuanyou both supported the new policy. Therefore, early the next morning, the relevant documents and uniformly prepared measuring instruments were sent to all parts of the country at an expedited speed of 600 miles. The Jinyiwei also dispatched more than half a thousand men and horses to travel day and night to various places to supervise the measurement.
However, even though Emperor Yuanyou and Empress Dowager Qi both supported the land survey, and even though Chen Tingjian and He Qingxian had formulated a very complete "Land Survey Regulations", it was not so easy to actually implement the new policy.
Officials, gentry and clan members from all over the country wrote letters of opposition. They did not dare to blame Emperor Yuanyou, so they fabricated all kinds of charges on Chen Tingjian and He Qingxian. Chen Tingjian in particular was scolded the most and almost became a sinner for all eternity.
Emperor Yuanyou initially looked at these memorials, but later he stopped even looking at them and handed them all over to the cabinet for disposal.
In mid-March, the Jinyiwei serving in Jin secretly sent a secret report to the capital, which listed nine major crimes of the Prince of Jin who was enfeoffed in Taiyuan. Emperor Yuanyou sent two imperial envoys to investigate and found that all nine crimes were true. The Prince of Jin was immediately deprived of his throne, and the relatives of this branch of the Prince of Jin were also punished accordingly.
Now, the deposed King of Jin no longer had to worry about the court surveying the land he had concealed, because he had lost even his throne, and all his property and land had been confiscated. He could go to the frontier to do hard labor with nothing in his hands, and he didn't have to worry about anything anymore!
Emperor Yuanyou punished the Prince of Jin and wrote a letter to the other princes. He first listed the crimes of the Prince of Jin and then cried, saying that the old man Taizu conferred the princes so that they would support the emperor in the capital, guard the border for the emperor, and care for the local people. He also said that Taizu hated corrupt officials the most, and one of the duties of the princes was to deter local officials from being honest and loving the people. As a result, the Prince of Jin actually took advantage of the people, making the local people miserable. He was not only sorry for the court, but also sorry for the trust and expectations of the old man Taizu! Emperor Yuanyou felt particularly wronged and hoped that other princes, uncles, and brothers would never follow suit and abolish the Prince of Xiang, the Prince of Yu, and the Prince of Jin, and would not hurt his heart again!
The princes: …
The little emperor cried touchingly, but it was actually just a warning to others!
If the princes had soldiers, they might have rebelled, but they have no soldiers, nor the courage to depose Prince Yu. It's just a matter of handing over some land and leaving. How can they tolerate that!
In this way, the princes and relatives became obedient, and under the supervision of the Jinyiwei and the people, they honestly handed over all the concealed or under-reported land.
Although there were many officials and gentry, they were far inferior to the princes and relatives in terms of power. Even when the relatives of the princes cited the ancestral teachings of Taizu, they were defeated by Emperor Yuanyou. The officials and gentry who had previously clamored against the land survey and wrote protest memorials until their pens were almost rotten now lowered their heads and cooperated more than the other.
Land was measured in various places and then made into fish-scale maps, which were sent to the capital one after another.
Huayang remembered that in his previous life, the land survey was barely completed until the end of the year, and in some remote areas it was even delayed until the middle of the following year.
This time, the supervision may have been strengthened, with the Jinyiwei and the people mobilized. In addition, the regulations were improved, and local officials had little room for cheating and could only implement them in full compliance with the regulations. By the beginning of August, ten provinces had already submitted fish scale atlases.
The cabinet was filled with jubilation, and even those officials in the capital who opposed the land survey had to put on a smile.
In this joyful atmosphere, Jizhou suddenly sent an urgent message over 800 miles away, saying that Dong Hu, the leader of the Duoyan tribe on the grassland, led tens of thousands of cavalry to launch a surprise attack on Jielingkou.
Jizhou is too close to the capital, only two or three hundred miles away. Whenever there is a war here, the officials and people in the capital will be worried.
Even though Chen Tingjian made timely troop deployments, Emperor Yuanyou still did not sleep well that night and tossed and turned almost the entire night.
A day later, a victory report came from Jizhou, saying that General Qin had defeated Duoyan and captured one of Dong Hu's sons alive. At this time, Dong Hu was begging for peace under the Great Wall.
Emperor Yuanyou and a group of officials in Beijing:…
The imperial reinforcements haven't arrived yet, but the battle in Jizhou is already over
Chen Tingjian smiled and said, "Your Majesty, Qin Yuantang previously trained a chariot battalion specifically for the grassland cavalry. The so-called chariot battalion is a chariot pushed by four people, equipped with firearms and chevaux de frise. Once the battle begins, the chariot battalion will be in the front line, first using firearms to attack from a distance, and then using chevaux de frise to injure the enemy's horses at close range. The victory in this battle was so quick, it must be the credit of the chariot battalion formation."
Emperor Yuanyou knew about this, and Qin Yuantang handed over a memorial introducing this formation. What surprised him was that the chariot camp formation was so effective in actual combat!
The young Emperor Yuanyou wished he could go to Jizhou in person to witness the power of this formation with his own eyes!
Chen Tingjian also hoped that Emperor Yuanyou would go to Jizhou to take a look. Only when the emperor saw the bravery of the Jizhou army with his own eyes would he truly understand the significance of strengthening armaments.
Therefore, he requested Emperor Yuanyou to go to Jizhou in person to accept Duoyan's surrender in order to boost his imperial prestige.
(End of this chapter)