Font Size:
“This is what a prince should do for the king,” Su Yu said. He didn’t want to participate in court affairs, so he could only help Xuan Feiran in these ways.
“Prince Yu, your words make me feel that I haven’t done enough in these years,” King Chen said with a smile.
In fact, he had always known that the Emperor favored reducing the power of the vassal states. He was just worried that after relinquishing military authority, the Emperor might treat him and his household unfavorably. During his recent duty report, he learned that King Huainan had the same idea of relinquishing military authority, and had already done so. Seeing that King Huainan had handed over military authority without any repercussions, and that the Emperor seemed to be considering granting crop for the fertile land cultivation to King Huainan’s fief, without any intention of suppression, King Chen was completely reassured. He could also hand over military authority.
Now that imperial power had begun to centralize, it might not be a good thing for them to continue holding onto military authority. The current Emperor was diligent and benevolent, and he didn’t have any grand ambitions. As for the idea of rebelling and becoming emperor, he had never even considered it. His previous reluctance to relinquish military authority was simply due to concerns that Xuan Feiran might treat them unfavorably once he obtained military authority. Now that it was confirmed that Xuan Feiran wouldn’t do so, he was willing to hand over military authority.
Su Yu noticed King Chen’s expression and understood that Xuan Feiran was about to obtain military authority over a hundred thousand troops, which was a good thing. After that, only the military authority of King Zhenbei and King Yan remained, but this authority could also be returned. It was only a matter of time.
The banquet continued, and the conversation shifted away from the topics of crop cultivation and wine. The atmosphere calmed down, but this calmness also brought a sense of unease.
After the conclusion of the palace banquet, King Chen returned to his residence and summoned his son. “I intend to relinquish military authority,” he said.
“Father, have you thought this through?” his son asked.
“Yes, when I returned for my duty report, I had intended to gauge the Emperor’s attitude. Now that imperial power is centralized, even if we don’t relinquish military authority now, we will have to do so in the future. Taking the initiative is completely different from being forced. Our Emperor is tolerant and receptive to advice. Besides, he is a wise ruler with a broad vision. Relinquishing military authority is to enhance his power,” King Chen explained.
When all the power of a country is concentrated in one person’s hands, the country becomes stronger. Fragmented power only leads to disintegration.
His son nodded in agreement. “I agree with you, Father.”
“I will go to see the Emperor tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
Meanwhile, King Zhenbei and King Yan, who had been holding onto their military authority for a hundred years, also gathered together. “The other two will definitely relinquish their military authority to the Emperor in the future, and that is not favorable for us,” they discussed.
“The King of Huainan has already relinquished it,” King Zhenbei said with a grim expression.
He had considered trying to win over the King Huainan, but the King had simply ignored his efforts and turned a blind eye to his attempts.
“King Chen is probably next,” he added.
“What do you plan to do?” King Yan asked the King Zhenbei.
They had to start looking for a way out, or they would be the ones to suffer in the end. They certainly wouldn’t relinquish their military authority.
“I haven’t decided yet. My main purpose in coming this time was for the high-yield crops,” King Zhenbei said.
“Our thoughts are the same, including those of Ling Empire and Qi Empire,” King Yan said coldly, frowning.
Su Yu could see through their intentions, couldn’t he? He definitely could, but even before they had spoken, he had already made it clear that there would be no high-yield crops available.
When King Huainan had mentioned it, Xuan Feiran had shown some flexibility. When King Huainan left, he would definitely take the high-yield crops with him, and the same would be true for the King Chen.
They and the Empires of Ling and Qi were likely to return empty-handed.
What was even more bizarre was that when they returned, they had sent people to investigate the matter. However, the people of the capital city all claimed that there were only 300,000 catties of high-yield crops, with a yield of 1,000 catties per mu, not 1,800 catties.
One of his men said that people could have been bribed, but all the citizens of the capital city were saying the same thing. Could they have bought off all the citizens?
Even if that was a possibility, no one had left the banquet today, not even Su Yu, who had been chatting with his wife the whole time.
Who could have managed to get all the citizens to agree on the same story without anyone noticing? Wasn’t that absurd?
However, they had overlooked just how many people Su Yu had at his disposal.
Back at home, Su Yu looked at Wang Jinhe with some concern and asked, “Xiao He, are you okay? Are you tired?”
“I’m fine, no problem at all,” Wang Jinhe replied.
Wang Jinhe was indeed a bit tired, but it was also due to drowsiness. However, she still had something to ask Su Yu, so she naturally wouldn’t go to bed so early.
Seeing Wang Jinhe looking like she was about to have a serious conversation with him, Su Yu couldn’t help but smile wryly and said, “What’s going on? You suddenly look so serious that it’s making me feel a bit uncomfortable.”
“Don’t try to sweet-talk your way out of this. I have something to ask you,” Wang Jinhe replied.
“You want to ask me what my purpose was in deliberately provoking King Yan, right?” Su Yu nodded, understanding her curiosity about his reasons for doing so. After all, shouldn’t he be trying to placate people at this time? Wasn’t it unwise to directly offend someone like that?
Su Yu smiled at Wang Jinhe and explained, “Isn’t it simple? My purpose in doing so was actually for the sake of my royal brother.”
“The purpose of the four vassal kings and the Ling and Qi Empires coming this time was to obtain high-yield crops. King Yan and his party are particularly determined to acquire them,” Su Yu explained to Wang Jinhe as they sat together on a soft couch.
When they returned, he had investigated King Yan and the King Zhenbei. King Yan had some connections with Ling Empire, and his intention to obtain the high-yield crops was not for himself, but to sell them at a high price to Ling Empire. Ling Empire was vast and rich in resources, with a large population, but they struggled to grow enough food. Despite their strong national power, their people lived in difficult circumstances. Upon hearing about the high-yield crops of Xuan Empire, they would naturally be very interested. Since they did not benefit from their dealings with Xuan Empire last year, they would naturally be cautious in their actions this year.
Their ambitions are grand, but the Emperor’s reputation among the people has been improving this year, making it impossible for them to rebel and assassinate the Emperor. Such actions would only provoke a backlash from the people, and they would be the ones to suffer.
Therefore, they are seeking a powerful ally and preparing to seize an opportunity. However, the collaboration between King Yan and Ling Empire has not been finalized. Ling Empire’s condition for cooperation is likely to help them obtain the high-yield crops.
By directly confronting them this time, even risking provoking King Yan, my purpose is to be in a better position to reject their advances in the future.
“It seems that my royal brother intends to offer the high-yield crops to King Huainan and King Chen,” Su Yu concluded.