Chapter 1401: Let the King of Jiaqing Join In Too! (Please Subscribe)

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi exchanged glances; both felt something was off!

"Prime Minister," Zheng Xi said to Chief State Councilor Wei Zhongcheng, "we should go back to the White King's residence and ask His Highness."

"Yes, yes..."

Wei Zhongcheng also felt they had to go back and get some clarity. So he had someone send the Wang brothers away, then he and Zheng Xi took the same carriage back the way they had come, and then went along Royal Residence Avenue toward the White King's residence.

The "examination for marriage" notice had been posted early that morning and immediately caused a sensation in the little city of Huafu. By near noon, Royal Residence Avenue already had something of the look of a sea of people. So the carriage carrying Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi could no longer get near the main gate of the White King's residence. Unwilling to wait while they detoured to the back gate, they simply both got out of the carriage and, surrounded by their guards, pushed through the dense crowd toward the residence's main gate.

The iron-barred gate of the White King's residence was still tightly shut. Through the iron bars, Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi saw that inside the gate a high platform had been set up, made from several Eight Immortals tables joined together. Below the platform, a row of tall veterans of the Old Guard had already formed up. Several women soldiers from the "little sisters-in-law" squad, who were simply too eye-catching, stood inside the iron-barred gate, shouting at the top of their voices.

"His Highness the King will be here very soon! Everyone wait just a little longer..."

"His Highness is coming right away!"

"His Highness the King will announce it in person..."

What is His Highness going to announce in person? Is it a decree of the United States' King?

Wei Zhongcheng's and Zheng Xi's faces both darkened a little — the United States was a country led by the Council of Government, not a country where the King personally held all power! How could Zhu Hehao, as King, bypass the Council of Government and issue a decree?

Both men were loyal subjects of the United States, and of course they could not stand by and watch their King go further and further down the wrong path. So together they squeezed out of the crowd and reached the outside of the iron gate.

Du Mumian was standing inside the gate with several women soldiers, announcing to the sea of people outside that the "tycoon king" was going to issue a decree in person. When she saw Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi squeeze out of the crowd, she stopped shouting, cupped her hands toward them through the iron gate, and asked with a smile, "Prime Minister, Chief Grand Secretary, why have you come back?"

Wei Zhongcheng said, "Open the gate at once. This marquis and the Lord of Plum Blossom Island have important business and seek an audience with His Highness!"

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi were both founding marquises of the United States. This "founding marquis" was a marquis with an attached fief, though not as grand as the marquises of the neighboring Kingdom of Jiaqing, who could hold a thousand li of land. A marquis of the United States had only 100,000 mu of land, but it was all excellent land, usually an island somewhere in the Gulf of the Americas, so the marquises of the United States were also called "island lords." And those islands were mostly named after flowers, grasses, and trees that grew in the land of China, to express homesickness. The island Zheng Xi owned was called Plum Blossom Island, so others called him the Lord of Plum Blossom Island. Wei Zhongcheng was rather more impressive — because he loved eating peaches, he had people plant peach trees on his island, and so he became the Lord of Peach Blossom Island...

The Lord of Peach Blossom Island and the Lord of Plum Blossom Island wanted to see the King, and Du Mumian of course did not dare block them, so she had someone open the gate and invited the two island lords inside.

The moment Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi entered the main gate of the White King's residence, they saw the tycoon king coming over cheerfully with a group of young girls.

"Lord of Peach Blossom Island, Lord of Plum Blossom Island, what brings you two here as well?" Zhu Hehao greeted the two loyal subjects with a smile when he saw them.

Seeing the tycoon king's smiling face, Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi felt a little uneasy — this tycoon king looked too much like his father, the Hongxing Emperor... he loved hiding a knife behind a smile! They had to handle this carefully!

"We respectfully wish Your Highness the King golden peace!"

"This subject respectfully wishes Your Highness the King ten thousand blessings and golden peace..."

"Peace, peace, this solitary king is very much at peace." Zhu Hehao waved a hand. "No need for formalities... You've come at just the right time. This king has a good thing to announce, and you two can serve as witnesses."

Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi both could not help frowning. Wei Zhongcheng said, "Your Highness, our country is a united nation governed by the Council of Government!"

Zheng Xi also said, "Your Highness, if you have any decree to issue, you should speak with the Council of Government. Only after the Council of Government approves it is it a lawful and valid decree."

The two men's words were not pleasant to hear, but the tycoon king was not at all annoyed — the United States was founded on this principle, unlike Great Ming. Several hundred thousand citizens, every one of them armed — how could it be so easy to talk to them? Everything had to be properly discussed. So what Wei Zhongcheng and Zheng Xi said was the truth, and it was reality!

The tycoon king smiled: "This king knows. This king has studied the United States Council of Government Law... Without the approval of the Council of Government, this king may not issue decrees related to military and political affairs, and may not give orders to the Cabinet Office, to local government offices at all levels, or to the army and navy of the United States. But what this king is going to announce today has nothing to do with military or political affairs, and has nothing to do with the Cabinet Office, the various levels of government, or the army and navy.

This king merely wants to find husbands for this king's little sisters-in-law... This matter is not suitable to bring before the Council of Government for discussion!"

True!

Who the tycoon king's little sisters-in-law marry — does that need discussion by the United States assembly? There was no such rule, and they could not set such a precedent. Otherwise, in the future, would the Council of Government also have to discuss who the little sisters-in-law of all the island lords marry?

Wei Zhongcheng glanced at Zheng Xi. He was the tycoon king's maternal uncle, so he could speak on the tycoon king's family matters.

"Your Highness, are you really going to, to hold an examination for their marriage?"

"Yes!" Zhu Hehao laughed. "Shouldn't they find good families to marry into?"

They should!

Six hundred of them! Zhu Hehao alone could not handle them all... Besides, educated and well-mannered girls were more precious than gold in the New World! If six hundred girls married out, they could form six hundred families, and in the future they would produce countless descendants. If Zhu Hehao kept them all by his side and did not let them marry, that would actually be unreasonable.

But an examination for marriage was really somewhat inappropriate.

Because a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl from the homeland with a bit of education could casually demand a betrothal gift of two or three hundred taels of gold here in the New World... and that was a fair price, with demand but no supply!

If the girl was also quite good-looking, of noble birth, and had some martial skill... then it was no longer a question of money!

Now Zhu Hehao was releasing six hundred such beautiful girls at once, and not asking for money, letting everyone compete for them by examination... Whoever won one would surely regard Zhu Hehao, the King, as a benefactor!

If six hundred girls married out, he could at least win over six hundred outstanding young men. If Zhu Hehao could find even more "little sisters-in-law" and organize a second, third, and fourth examination for marriage, then before long he would gather a group of capable people around him.

And those who went to take the examination would certainly not be sons of United States councilors... those men would have no trouble finding wives.

So through several marriage examinations, Zhu Hehao could establish direct relations with the middle stratum of the United States — including low- and mid-ranking officials, teachers, small and medium merchants, farm owners, big gold prospectors, head hunters, and so on.

If he could get two thousand cheap "brothers-in-law," and each cheap "brother-in-law" influenced twenty more people, then forty thousand people would be under his influence...

Although these people made up only a few percent of the total population of the United States, that was already enough to give the tycoon king the power to pressure the Council of Government!

Moreover, there were still many "Sichuan military households" continuously arriving from Great Ming. If they all arrived, there would probably be over a hundred thousand of them!

With these two forces combined, the tycoon king would immediately become the true King of the United States! Then it would no longer be the King listening to the Council of Government, but the Council of Government having to listen to the King.

Seeing the uncertain expressions on Wei Zhongcheng's and Zheng Xi's faces, Zhu Hehao smiled and said to them, "Do not worry, you two island lords. This king trusts you, and trusts the Council of Government, and does not wish to change the rules by which the Council of Government governs the country... This king merely wants to help the citizens of the United States who suffer from having no wives to find wives. There is no other meaning."