Chapter 227: The First Step of Construction

The winter in Yanzhou is cold and snowy.

After a cloudy morning, the sky began to flurry with fine, continuous snow again.

At the wine banquet, the crowd grew even more spirited because of this snow.

"After receiving the Prince's letter from Imperial Concubine Mi Fei, the Father-in-law of the Emperor spent quite some time contacting us, which delayed our journey; otherwise, being able to come to Yanzhou in person to participate in the clearing of the Yuan Family and the defense against the Northern Di would have been a fortunate event in one's life."

"Hahaha, if one can follow the Prince, why fear there won't be such opportunities in the future? The Xiliang are becoming more rampant year by year, and the Northern Di only suffered minor damage this time; the threat has not been eliminated."

"I only regret not being born in Yanzhou, otherwise I wouldn't have missed such a good opportunity until now."

"..."

The strength of the wine made the scholars lively, and their words became more frequent.

Zhao Xu and Liu Fu exchanged a glance, observing these scholars closely.

Mi Zhuang had gone to great lengths to send these people here, and he was naturally grateful.

But his attitude toward the selection of officials was the same as Liu Fu's: better to have a vacancy than to fill it with someone substandard.

After this wine banquet, they would have to participate in the Official Examination just like the other scholars in Yanzhou.

The capable stay, the useless leave.

The wine banquet lasted for two hours; after the banquet dispersed, Zhao Xu had Liu Fu arrange accommodations for the scholars to await the Official Examination.

He kept only Mi Zhuang and Mi Wen in the residence.

At this time, Feng'er and Luan'er came over to pay their respects to Mi Zhuang.

After all, the two had been taken in by Mi Zhuang since they were young.

"Good, good, the Prince is all alone in Yanzhou, you must take good care of him." In front of the middle courtyard's side room, Mi Zhuang smiled slightly.

Mi Wen seized the opportunity and said with a smile: "With me here, the Prince won't be lonely in the future, and I can also take care of the Prince."

"Hmph, after I leave, it will be enough if you can take care of yourself. If you dare to disobey the Prince's orders while in Yanzhou, your father and I will have you escorted back to Jingshi." Mi Zhuang glared at Mi Wen.

Upon hearing this, Mi Wen shrank his neck and dared not speak.

At home, his grandfather had always been strict with them, father and son.

"Is the Father-in-law of the Emperor going back?" Zhao Xu caught the meaning in Mi Zhuang's words.

Mi Zhuang nodded, his face wearing a smile, "Sending these scholars to the Prince this time is to help the Prince, but if I stay, I would only be harming the Prince."

"Oh? How so?" Zhao Xu had roughly guessed some of it.

Mi Zhuang said: "Those under the Prince's command have all experienced blood and fire with the Prince to hold great power today. If I come, I will only be a guest usurping the host's role. Secondly, although I carefully considered the scholars who came this time and selected those who have gaps between them, if I am here, they will be more willing to be close to me, which would inevitably cause the Yanzhou officialdom to fall into factional strife."

After a pause, he continued: "Only when I leave can they truly be used by the Prince."

Zhao Xu sighed softly; the memories of Mi Zhuang in Zhao Xu's mind were not wrong at all.

It was precisely because of these memories that he sought help from Mi Zhuang, and now it seemed he was right.

Just as Mi Zhuang said, as a Father-in-law of the Emperor with a lofty status, staying in Yanzhou would naturally make it difficult to be under Liu Fu.

But if Mi Zhuang were to command the officials of Yanzhou, the Yanzhou officials would certainly be dissatisfied.

The second point was the factionalism Mi Zhuang mentioned.

In ancient times, it was easiest for fellow students to form small interest groups.

With Mi Zhuang present, the scholars he brought would inevitably attach themselves to his faction upon entering the officialdom.

Mi Zhuang had clearly considered this point.

Therefore, one solution was for himself to leave and not stay in Yanzhou.

The second was to select those from his sect who did not get along with each other.

This would solve the problem to the greatest extent.

"The Father-in-law of the Emperor is truly wise and righteous; this Prince respects you," Zhao Xu said.

Mi Zhuang waved his hand, "The one truly worthy of respect is the Prince. Although I am the Father-in-law of the Emperor and the Prince's maternal grandfather, I ask myself if I have the ability to take Yanzhou."

"That's right, Cousin's reputation in Jingshi is very loud now; I don't know how many young ladies from noble families want to become Cousin's Princess." Since arriving in Yanzhou, Mi Wen had been very high-spirited.

Now that it was private, Mi Zhuang had spoken the title of maternal grandfather, so he immediately called him cousin.

However, after finishing, he carefully looked at his grandfather, fearing he would be angry.

But to his surprise, his grandfather was not angry this time.

Hearing these two terms of blood relation, Zhao Xu laughed.

Since it was in private, sometimes there was no need to be serious all the time.

Mi Zhuang said to Mi Wen: "The ruler is the ruler and the subject is the subject; this cannot be crossed. It is so in the imperial court, and it is the same under the Prince's command. I won't lecture you this time, but from now on in Yanzhou, you must be careful at all times."

Mi Wen nodded honestly, causing Feng'er and Luan'er to giggle.

They chatted a bit more about family matters.

The strength of the wine hit Mi Zhuang, and he needed to rest.

Zhao Xu left Mi Wen with Mi Zhuang, and he returned to the sleeping quarters with Feng'er and Luan'er.

Not long after.

Liu Fu returned after arranging the scholars' food, clothing, and housing.

It happened that he met Chang Wei on the way, and they came over together.

"Prince, the scholars have been arranged properly," Liu Fu said, bowing, though there was a trace of worry on his face.

Chang Wei had learned about the Imperial Father-in-law from Liu Fu on the way, and he teased Liu Fu, saying: "Prince, the Imperial Father-in-law has a lofty status; since he has come this time, is he going to replace incompetent officials like Liu Fu?"

"If I am an incompetent official, then you are an incompetent general." Upon hearing this, Liu Fu immediately became anxious.

Seeing that he had successfully provoked Liu Fu, Chang Wei chuckled.

Zhao Xu naturally understood Liu Fu and said to him: "You are overthinking it. The Imperial Father-in-law does not intend to stay in Yanzhou; you must continue to hold your position as the Prince's Tutor."

Then he added: "Furthermore, you have been tested in blood and fire with this Prince, and you understand Yanzhou best; it would not be appropriate for anyone to replace you."

Liu Fu was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes, "For His Highness to trust this subordinate so much, this subordinate would have no regrets even if he died a thousand or ten thousand times. To have followed Your Highness in this life, this subordinate has truly cultivated a hundred lifetimes of good fortune..."

"He's chanting scriptures again." Chang Wei rolled his eyes when he saw this.

Remembering there was serious business to attend to, he nudged Liu Fu with his arm to stop him from continuing, and said in a clear voice, "Your Highness, this time the Prince's Personal Army is expanding to 150,000 men, which requires promoting quite a few officers. This subordinate has drafted a list and hopes Your Highness will look it over."

After speaking, he handed a piece of paper to Zhao Xu.

Taking the list, Zhao Xu glanced over it roughly.

The recruitment of new soldiers had not yet begun, but once the new recruits arrived, there had to be officers to lead them.

Therefore, it was necessary to promote some officers from within the army to be assigned to the new recruits.

There had been a promotion round last time when expanding from 30,000 to 60,000.

This time, expanding from 60,000 to 150,000, even more officers were needed.

And this would create a problem: officers who had previously only led one hundred soldiers would now suddenly have to command one thousand.

But commanding one hundred men is different from commanding one thousand, which results in a situation where the officers' command abilities cannot keep up.

"The list is acceptable, but go back and tell the officers that this is only temporary. Now Yanzhou has the Official Examination for the civil service, and there is also a military examination for the army; only qualified officers will receive their true positions," Zhao Xu said.

In the past, Yanzhou was full of infighting, and many measures were never implemented.

Now, Yanzhou is entirely under his command.

It is necessary for him to take the first step in building Yanzhou.

The Three Great Academies—the Military Academy, the Government Academy, and the Technology Academy—must be established first.

Officers, officials, and craftsmen will go to these three academies to study.

Only by passing the examinations will their positions be secure.