A few days later, Zhou Shuren and his party finally arrived in Zhangzhou, where the disaster was the worst. Zhangzhou's location was not good, and even if roads were built, Zhangzhou's development was very slow. In addition, due to the soil quality problems here, the grain production here was not high.
This snowstorm had the greatest impact on Zhangzhou. The disaster in the other two states passing through the capital has been brought under control, and the people only need to clear the snow according to the requirements of the local officials.
Only in Zhangzhou, there was grain in the granaries, but it was not as abundant as in the other two states. The people here did not live a rich life either, as the continuous heavy snow had collapsed many houses.
Upon entering Zhangzhou City, the prince's brow was furrowed. There were many sheds set up outside the gate of Zhangzhou City, and many disaster victims gathered outside the city.
Lord Yan had been silent since entering Zhangzhou, but now he spoke up, "There is a huge gap in development between the states."
Zhou Shuren continued, "This is normal. Jinzhou is closest to the capital and has a port, so it is inevitable that Jinzhou will prosper. Zhangzhou, on the other hand, does not have convenient transportation and does not have attractive resources, so its development is much slower."
Zhangzhou is poor because it cannot develop and has little local tax revenue.
Lord Yan fell silent. He had never been a local official, so he did not continue to speak. He looked out through the glass window at the cold streets outside and let out a long sigh.
The crown prince was also exceptionally silent. He would help his father read memorials. Now that he was young, he only read trivial matters. His understanding of the various states was also gained from the memorials, the most intuitive of which was the tax situation.
As for other aspects, the prince did not know much. He saw more of the prosperity of the capital, the endless stream of merchant caravans, and the people living and working near the capital in peace and contentment. He often went out of the palace and liked to go to the market and other places, and all he saw were the smiles of the people.
When he left the capital, he saw that disaster relief was swift and the people were properly resettled. He was proud that this was the country under the rule of his father.
But when he arrived in Zhangzhou, what he saw were collapsed houses, blocked roads, and fleeing disaster victims. The sheds for shelter outside the city were all simple, and there were no resettlement houses specially built for disaster relief like in the capital.
Zhou Shuren looked at the sky and said, "It's getting late. Let's go to the inn first."
They disguised themselves as a caravan along the way, with the guards dressed as escorts, and there was another team behind them. The carriages behind were loaded with grain, cotton and other supplies transferred from Jinzhou.
This was not arranged by the prince, but was the emperor's order after he knew the situation in Zhangzhou.
In fact, their arrival was quite abrupt. The caravan still entered the city despite the heavy snow, which made them particularly conspicuous. However, it was more low-key than the arrival of the prince.
When we arrived at the inn and the food was not ready yet, merchants from Zhangzhou came to the door. The caravan was unfamiliar and had come from the sealed-off city. The local merchants wanted to find out some information and seize the caravan's goods.
Zhou Shuren drank his tea without moving, and continued to wait for the food to be served.
The prince stood up and said, "I'll go and take a look."
Lord Yan wanted to follow, but Zhou Shuren stopped him and said to the prince, "Young Master, go ahead."
The prince's eyes lit up, "Well, you don't have to wait for me when the food comes."
Lord Yan waited for the prince to leave, frowning, "What do you mean, sir?"
Zhou Shuren put down his teacup and looked at Master Yan sharply, "We have been together for a few days on this journey. I have never met you before, but I have made some great discoveries in the past few days."
Lord Yan frowned even more tightly. He didn't think he had done anything wrong, and his face became unhappy. "Then please tell me something, Lord."
Zhou Shuren took the hand warmer from Jinyan and motioned everyone in the room to go down. "Master Yan, don't you think you are meddling too much?"
He noticed something on the first day and was more careful in the following days. He endured it all the way to Zhangzhou. The emperor probably found out, so he asked Lord Yan to go along this time. He said that it was agreed that he would bring the prince with him, so why did Lord Yan show up suddenly? It was obvious that the emperor wanted to use him to pressure Lord Yan.
Lord Yan's brows deepened, "I don't think so."
He was strict with the prince and he didn't think he had done anything wrong.
Zhou Shuren pointed at himself and Lord Yan, "You and I are subjects, the Crown Prince is the heir apparent and the future emperor, you are just one of the Crown Prince's masters, you should manage what you should manage and it's better not to cross the line."
The emperor was obviously unhappy that Lord Yan was controlling the prince in everything. The prince could respect his teacher, but he could not listen to anyone. Lord Yan himself did not think much of it, but the emperor did not think so.
Zhou Shuren continued, "No matter how young the prince is, he is still a king. He has his own ideas. I think it's good for him to be like this. Curiosity leads to exploration, and exploration leads to solutions. In the future, Lord Yan only needs to watch and guide the prince appropriately when he makes mistakes."
Lord Yan pursed his lips, some cold sweat appeared on his back. Becoming the prince's master was not only an honor, it also represented benefits. The Yan family had gained a lot of benefits because of him. He was praised by his family because he was the prince's master. He was respected by the prince, and the emperor had indicated that he had indeed crossed the line.
Lord Yan raised his head and looked at Zhou Shuren, who had already closed his eyes to rest.
Beijing, Wang's house, Yu Shuang brought pickled sour plums to see Yu Lu, "I heard from my mother that you wanted to eat fruit, I am taking care of the child and my mind is full of the child, I would not know if my mother hadn't come to see me, this is the pickled sour plums my mother-in-law made, do you like it if you try it?"
This was pickled by her mother-in-law when she was pregnant. She likes sweets and didn't eat much at the time, but her mother-in-law liked the taste and pickled more.
Yu Lu was taking care of her child due to morning sickness and she didn't even think about it. Her mind was full of her mother's pickles. She was confused because her mother's pickles were not working well. In her impression, her aunt and sister-in-law all ate her mother's pickles.
When her mother came to see her and mentioned the fruit, she remembered that she had pickled plums at home.
Yu Lu had already opened the can, smelled the flavor, and couldn't help urging the girl to get the chopsticks. She ate several mouthfuls in a row, "I'm hungry after eating so much. Big sister, you don't know that I haven't been able to eat much these days. I've only been relying on fruits to get by."
Yu Shuang smiled and said, "Eat when you are hungry. If you like my mother-in-law, I will ask the maid to bring it to you later."
Yu Lu: "Well, thank you, big sister."
"We are sisters, what are you thanking me for?"
Yu Lu smiled and asked, "Have you decided on a name for my nephew?"
Yu Shuang, "I still call you Qiuqiu by your nickname. My father said we should go to the temple to calculate your real name after the New Year. He said it's more accurate when the New Year starts."
Yu Lu couldn't help laughing, "Second Uncle really loves Qiuqiu."
"Yes, this is the relationship between generations."
I'm not very old and my dad loves me very much. Unfortunately, I'm a little precocious and don't like to talk, so my dad puts all his love and enthusiasm on the baby.
Seeing that there were no maids in the room, Yu Shuang asked in a low voice, "You didn't get bullied in the mansion, did you?"
This was the first time Yu Lu came to the Wang Mansion after her marriage.
Yu Lu, "I picked up the good ones and ignored the bad ones. Don't worry, big sister. I didn't get angry at all."
Then she patted her belly and said, "I'm pregnant with a baby now, no one dares to really make me angry."
Yu Shuang was relieved, and sighed, "The Wang family is really short of heirs."
"That's right. Our eldest wife, Wang Wei, has only one child. Our second wife, Wang Jing, has only one child. Our third wife, who was born out of wedlock, has two sons, but when it comes to the grandchildren, there is still only one grandson."
There are few children, but there are many women in the backyards of each house.
Yu Shuang felt more at ease, and said to her, "Believe me, this baby must be a son."
This is her blessing to her sister. If she has a son first, her sister will not have so much pressure in the future.