Chapter 593: Xu Ke's Harvest

Latest URL: Yanzhou.

After the great victory in the Ningjin Battle, the order of life, which had been affected by the plague, gradually recovered.

The victory in the war also made the common people increasingly trust and revere the Prince's Mansion.

For a long time, the nightmare of the Northern Di that had loomed over the heads of the people of Yanzhou finally dissipated in joy.

No longer worried about the incursions of the Northern Di, the people poured all their efforts into production, competing to improve their own lives.

The Prince's Mansion.

Since returning from Jincheng, Zhao Xu had been living a relaxed and leisurely life.

He no longer went to the academy to lecture, because after two years of education, the students at the Technology Academy had basically mastered primary and intermediate knowledge of mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

Having laid this foundation, he only needed to hand them high school level textbooks for self-study.

If there was anything they did not understand, they could come and ask him.

As for the newly recruited students, the older students would be responsible for teaching them.

The same logic naturally applied to the Government Academy and the Military Academy.

In this way, he could save time to build the things on the blueprints in the Laboratory with top students like Wang Chong.

After all, the Steam Engine was only a source of power; various types of machinery were still needed to increase production capacity in all industries, especially steel smelting.

Besides this, in his spare time, he could finally hunt, fish, and inspect Yanzhou to take in the scenery of his own fiefdom.

However, he had not lived such a leisurely life for many days before his peaceful existence was broken by the news sent by Xu Ke.

"Dou Wei has rebelled!"

In the corridor of the pond at the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xu was startled.

"Yes, Your Highness. As soon as the sinister plot laid by Dou Wei was exposed, he had Xiao Cheng lead troops to the Imperial Palace, seemingly intending to kill the Emperor."

"However, the Xie Family took action in advance, and coupled with the fact that the Emperor himself seemed to have secret arrangements, he successfully escaped from Jinling," Xu Ke reported in full detail.

Upon hearing this,

Zhao Xu's brows immediately furrowed, "Has my mother, the Imperial Concubine, been rescued?"

"She has been rescued, along with Imperial Uncle Mi and the Father-in-law of the Emperor," Xu Ke said with a hint of pride. "They are currently rushing toward Yanzhou."

After escaping from Jinling, Dong An had dispatched fast horses to take the first step and send the news to Yanzhou.

"With that, I can rest easy." Zhao Xu breathed a soft sigh of relief; he did not want to see Imperial Concubine Mi fall into the hands of Dou Wei.

"Your Highness, this time your subordinate also discovered important intelligence regarding Tianxiang Lou." At this moment, Xu Ke suddenly said, as if asking for credit.

Zhao Xu glared at him: "Speak, stop keeping me in suspense."

Xu Ke smiled slightly, "Your Highness must also be aware that this chaos was deliberately instigated by someone."

Zhao Xu nodded, waiting for Xu Ke to continue.

When Nian Yuyan first told him this news, she actually had the intention of provoking a conflict between him and the Dou Family, but he had not fallen for it.

Later, there was no follow-up to the matter.

Now that his Ningjin Battle had just ended, this news was released; clearly, someone believed the time was ripe.

"But this person was in such a hurry to stir up chaos that they accidentally revealed a flaw. After Miss Nian came to Yanzhou, my men kept watching the Chun Wang Mansion and discovered that a woman who used to have close dealings with Miss Nian was frequently in contact with the Princess of Chun Wang."

After a pause, Xu Ke continued: "My men immediately followed her and discovered that she went to many places. These places she visited were either residences hiding dead soldiers or brothels. Below, there were people spreading secrets about the Dou Family into the mansions of powerful clans and among the common people."

"The Princess of Chun Wang." Zhao Xu frowned, somewhat surprised.

The secret that neither Nian Yuyan nor Xu E had been willing to reveal to him was likely this.

He himself had never thought in this direction.

"Your subordinate has basically confirmed that the owner of Tianxiang Lou is the Princess of Chun Wang," Xu Ke added.

"You Four Courts have done well this time; you are looking more and more like the real deal." Zhao Xu gave Xu Ke an appreciative look.

He had always been somewhat wary of the existence of Tianxiang Lou.

After all, an uncontrolled intelligence agency was extremely dangerous.

Now that Xu Ke had identified the Princess of Chun Wang, it was equivalent to tearing away the mysterious veil of Tianxiang Lou.

Next, the Four Courts could conduct targeted investigations into Tianxiang Lou and place them under their own surveillance.

In this way, he could take them down at any time.

Thinking of this, he continued: "Where is the Princess of Chun Wang now?"

"They fled along the Jiujiang with the Emperor. As for where they went, your subordinate has not yet found out."

Mentioning Zhao Heng's escape from Jinling, Zhao Xu's thoughts returned to this upheaval.

Regardless, the Princess of Chun Wang had successfully destroyed the fragile balance between the various forces of the Great Song this time.

Originally, the powerful clans were already restless.

It was just that there was no one to take the lead, so everyone was holding back.

Furthermore, there was a threat like him, which made them band together temporarily.

But once Dou Wei rebelled, all the tacit understandings of the powerful clans were destroyed.

Next, the Great Song would likely see heroes rising everywhere, with the flames of war never ceasing.

"When you go back, call Liu Fu and Chang Wei over," Zhao Xu said.

The war with the Northern Di had just ended here, and the accumulated contradictions within the Great Song had erupted.

In such a foul atmosphere, Yanzhou's overall trade with the Great Song was basically finished.

As for what actions the powerful clans would take next, that was also a question mark.

Therefore, they had to make preparations in advance.

Xu Ke left, and before long, Liu Fu and Chang Wei arrived in a great hurry.

To them, the upheaval in Jinling was a world-shaking event.

"Your Highness, the current situation is too chaotic; this official believes we need to wait and observe for a period of time," Liu Fu pondered for a moment.

The Northern Di were defeated at Ningjin Dusi, but they are still not dead yet, remaining the greatest threat to the North Territory.

Now that the interior of the Great Song is in turmoil as well, it is truly a case of both internal trouble and external aggression.

Furthermore, there is no news of the Emperor Zhao Heng; whether he is dead or alive, we should at least wait for some word.

If Zhao Heng is alive, then there are strategies for when he is alive.

If Zhao Heng is dead, whether he left behind a final decree to determine the choice of the Crown Prince remains to be seen.

Even if there is a choice, it depends on who it is.

If it is someone like the Third Prince, they would simply rebel.

If it is the First Prince, then they could decide based on the situation.

But if Zhao Heng is dead and no Crown Prince has been named.

With the world leaderless, he would certainly advise Yan Wang to contend for the world.

In his view, only Yan Wang is qualified to take charge of the Great Song once again.

Furthermore, Yan Wang is an Imperial Prince of the Great Song, with legitimate roots; how could those powerful clans and rebellious thieves compare?

Chang Wei and Liu Fu exchanged a glance, and he said, "Your Highness, we should now move the Prince's Personal Army to be stationed in the Southern Three Commanderies; that way, we can retreat to defend Yanzhou, and advance to seize the world."

Zhao Xu looked toward the two, and seeing their flickering gazes, he immediately understood.

In such a situation, the minds of Liu Fu and Chang Wei had certainly become much more active.

They are one with him; they share in the same glory and the same ruin.

In such chaotic times, they naturally hope that he will sweep across the world and establish the dynasty of their ideals.

At the same time, the two of them could also reach the pinnacle of officialdom and rise rapidly in their careers.

Having decided on the strategy of temporarily remaining still, he let Liu Fu and Chang Wei return.

For the next few days, he simply had Xu Ke report the situation in Jinling every day.

On this day, Xu Ke was speaking of the Xie Family proclaiming that the Emperor had issued an Imperial Edict naming the First Prince as Crown Prince, of Xiao Cheng burning, killing, and looting in Jinling for three days, and of Dou Wei fleeing to Jingzhou.

A piece of intelligence sent by Zhou Yi made his expression change slightly.