Chapter 751

The victims of the Great King's hiking activity were not just Xie Tu; the large force returning to Ningwu Gate walked from the setting sun until night fell completely.

Good news; incidentally, they took a look at the garden's night scenery.

Bad news; the few old ones are getting slower and slower, each person silently greeting the Great King three times in their heart.

Zhao Bao couldn't bear doing two trips a day, so he arranged for Tong Chen to lead a group of little eunuchs to settle the officials. At this moment, Tong Chen led the people ahead to show the way, while behind them walked the officials, dragging their feet, the line growing longer. This time they could finally, under the night sky, leisurely survey the Great King's Yingtai Isle.

However you look at it, the Northern Border's resources are unfathomably deep!

Some people couldn't help but recall the Great King's disdain for Chang'an's Jianzhang Palace; this time it really became a destitute old residence. As for that Purple Micro Palace, they felt it would take the strength of the whole world, and many secretly believed that Bai Li Jing must have endured unknown famines underground, yet he went and built something this huge!

No matter how you think about it, it's the emperor and them hiding their intentions!

Chen Shao Fu glanced at Zhang Si Nong again and again; Old Zhang was lost in thought, unaware, and finally he couldn't help but speak first: 'Zhang Sir, what do you think of Yingtai Isle?'

Old Zhang glanced at him, bewildered—when did it become his turn to judge the imperial garden? These Chang'an folks have always looked down on these original Northern Border officials; is this person doing it on purpose, deliberately digging a pit for him?

Chen Shao Fu came to his senses, quickly adding in a low voice: 'Yingtai Isle is so vast and splendid; I wanted to ask Zhang Sir, as the Grand Minister of Agriculture, whether you could estimate the silver cost?' He was too curious. Seeing such a massive architectural complex for the first time, he truly had no idea.

Zhang Si Nong shook his head: 'Impossible to estimate. Yang River originally had no lake; this lake is newly dug.' It is certain that the emperor is richer than he imagined by more than a hundredfold. That's why he feels conflicted!

Old Zhang knows better than anyone how empty the treasury is, and also knows that the Great King wants to go south to destroy Great Chu and then fully unify Great Jin. The required silver is enormous; how could they suddenly build such a huge garden? Could it be… the emperor isn't short of money? But short of grain?!

No matter how you think about it, Old Zhang felt he had discovered the essence but didn't mention it.

Instead, Xie Yuan, Xue Lin'an, Xu Zhi and these old officials have already given up thinking.

They simply cannot figure out this person, the Great King!

Whenever you think you've figured out the truth, the Great King will immediately use facts to tell you—you overthought it.

Liuyun Xiu Mountain is steep; even with steps built, it's not easy to climb. Upon reaching the summit, the Six Arts masters, Xie Gongzi included, all began to pant—and it wasn't over yet.

Plucking Stars Pavilion only has seven floors, but its clearance is high enough! When they climbed to the sixth floor of Plucking Stars Pavilion, Zhao Bao was already huffing and puffing, drenched in sweat, while the carefree Xie Gongzi was also drenched in sweat, gasping heavily.

Before, only his feet felt numb; now his whole body feels off. His legs started to feel sore and numb again, and climbing stairs is far more tiring than walking on flat ground.

Xie Tu hadn't even caught his breath when, upon taking a clear look at the scene before him, he became even more bewildered.

The Great King and Wei Shen were fighting over a plate… of vegetables?

"My cousin has been training all day in the Brave Cavalry Battalion, starving to the point his chest sticks to his back—what's wrong with eating a couple more bites?!"

"I am growing my body; I should be eating more vegetables!"

"To grow your body, you should eat more rice! My cousin is old and his sense of taste is failing; without vegetables he can't get his rice down."

"I am the emperor!" the Great King brandished his Killer Whip with domineering aura and knocked him out.

Xie Tu: ……

Two people, one huge table, with only a single plate of vegetables placed in the middle. Looking closely, it was just a plate of blanched, oily green cold salad, which the two were tugging back and forth over……

"Your, Your Majesty!... Huff… Little Xie… huff… Sir, you've come!"

Zhao Bao, unable to catch his breath, interrupted the 'shabby' brothers' quarrel. The two turned their heads together and saw Xie Gongzi standing beside Zhao Bao, his face flushed, covered in sweat, looking quite disheveled.

As soon as he opened his mouth to offer greetings, his breathing was unsteady.

Wei Shen realized it at that moment.

It seemed they understood why the Great King insisted on living in Plucking Stars Pavilion no matter what! This mountain, this tower—ah—whether it's Old Xie, Old Zhang, or Old Xue, Old Cheng, just one trip up is extremely exhausting!

Look at how Xiao Xie is panting—this tower would only be easy for them to climb if they had that build!

When the Great King saw that only Xie Tu had arrived, he hurriedly pushed away the plate of oily greens he had just snatched. Enthusiastically he said: 'Xie Tu, how did you come?! Have you eaten? Come, come, sit down and eat something together!'

Xie Tu: ……… No thanks.

Your household seems unable to even open the pot.

"I have just finalized the manuscript for the next issue of the weekly report, which includes several articles about Your Majesty; I came specially to present it for Your Majesty's perusal." Xie Tu caught his breath and spoke as calmly as possible.

The Great King, exhausted after a day's hustle, was hungry; if it weren't for Old Zhang, he wouldn't even bother to pretend. 'Someone come, guests have arrived—add more dishes!'

Tong Chen replaced Zhao Bao in settling the officials; today's attendant is another little eunuch who doesn't often attend close by, promoted by Zhao Bao because he is honest. The little eunuch really couldn't gauge the Great King's mind, stammering: '……Add, add how many?'

Xie Tu: ……

Great King: ……

Those who don't know would think you're feeling sorry for the vegetables; looking at it makes things seem even more impoverished.

Zhao Bao didn't care what this nonsense was; using the excuse that the Great King is still growing and can't be picky, he took the dish that had been carried away and brought it back. The three finished dinner together, after which Xie Tu once again took out the finalized weekly report to present to the Great King for review.

"This time there are two submissions from students of the Northern Border Academy, both about Your Majesty's defeat of the Xiongnu and the Tufa Xianbei. I think these two pieces are well written—setting aside literary style, they are sincere and deeply moving, so I decided to include them. Please review them, Your Majesty."

The Great King took it and looked; he found that the main edition's two articles were all praising him, and the key was that they truly were sincere in their praise.

Compared to these two students, the previous two issues that Xie Tu himself wrote were really suppressive.

"Oh my—could it really be that impressive? I feel a bit embarrassed looking at it!"

Wei Shen was shocked upon hearing the obscure words: '……Embarrassed? Who? Who is it?!'

The Great King glared at him and continued, smug: 'To be frank, it's also not appropriate to directly say we destroyed the Xiongnu; the Xiongnu—I only destroyed half, merely reaching their capital. Such an exaggeration—wouldn't it be too over the top~?'

That fellow looked at Xie Tu with a face full of expectation and encouragement; Xie Gongzi could only shake his head as to what to say.

"The capital has fallen, the Xiongnu remnants have fled far away; we can completely say that."

Actually the Tufa Xianbei are not so bad; the Xiongnu are still different to us of Great Jin.

The Xiongnu rose, the mountains and rivers trembled; from then on, the Xiongnu iron cavalry of the steppes became the nightmare of the Jin people. We have been harassed by the Xiongnu for nearly a hundred years; this time, Your Majesty has reached the Xiongnu royal city, beheaded the Chanyu and the nobles of the entire city, expanded the territory, and achieved merit for the ages. In my opinion, besides our northern border, even if the southern commoners hear of it, they will be half‑believing, half‑doubting; we ought to properly publicize and exalt our military might.

Having never seen the bravery of the northern border cavalry, they may find it hard to imagine. Yet this Xiongnu blade has hung over their heads for over a hundred years! The Jin people's fear of the Xiongnu is as if carved into their bones. Therefore, in my view, these two articles are not exaggerated.

The king was pleased, and he fell into thought again.

So it turns out that southerners fear the Xiongnu just as much as the northern border folk do~.

Xie Tu nodded, saying, "Contending for the Central Plains is the dream of every Xiongnu Chanyu; how could the Central Plains not know? Has Your Majesty heard of the Zhou clan of Cangzhou? They were originally the Zhou clan of Bingzhou, the biggest clan there. Because the Xiongnu frequently harassed Bingzhou, they relocated en masse to Cangzhou." Who says the inland people are no longer afraid? The sparseness of the northern border folk has its reasons; those who know the truth are even more fearful.

I don't know~ The king suffered two losses on the steppes in his youth, then turned things around; it's been many years since he feared any enemy.

The king, lost in thought, quickly blinked.

Wei Shen exaggeratedly shook his shoulders, just now there definitely was a bit of filth… crossed out!

A good idea was born.