Chapter 303: Chapter 303

The Ministry of Rites quickly selected the nearest auspicious day, two months away.

Since the day Emperor Taikang passed away, dozens of skilled embroideresses have been busy crafting dragon robes for eight or nine hours each day. Besides the dragon robes, there are many other items needed for the new emperor’s coronation ceremony that must be prepared. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Rites are both busy with their feet barely touching the ground.

After the Crown Prince’s coronation, there’s the ceremony for the Grand Empress Dowager, the ceremony for Empress Dowager Li, and other ceremonies for the concubines.

Jiang Shaohua silently calculated the time; she needs to stay in the Capital City for another four months. That means she can only set off back to Nanyang County in July...

"Commandery Princess, I want to return to our Prince Mansion." Chen Jinyu whispered beside Jiang Shaohua: "In the past, I was very curious about the Capital City and even more awed by the court. Now that I’ve seen it, I just feel tired. It’s better to go back earlier!"

Jiang Shaohua chuckled silently: "Why do you feel tired?"

Chen Jinyu pouted and said: "Every day there’s endless fighting and squabbles over trivial matters. Officials are busy fighting, and there are few who bow their heads and do their jobs. It’s far worse than our Nanyang County."

Jiang Shaohua withheld her smile and sighed softly: "The troubles of party strife are clear in everyone’s hearts. But everyone has selfish desires, wants to vie for power and profit, everyone wants to outcompete others and doesn’t want to give in." The source of this content ɪs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝔫𝔢𝔱

"It took me over two years to truly control the Nanyang Prince Mansion. Every year I spend half my time inspecting the counties, making sure the subjects focus solely on their duties."

"The Capital City is the political center of Da Liang, its complexity of hearts and minds is ten times or even a hundred times that of Nanyang County. To unite such a group of people with one mind, how can it be easy."

"However, these are the challenges facing the Crown Prince, it’s not my place nor my concern. My purpose for coming to the Capital City has been achieved, there’s no need to complicate matters further."

Indeed, the Commandery Princess has already shown her potential, entered the court, pacified Empress Dowager Zheng, and became a capable and loyal minister as well as a cousin in the Crown Prince’s heart. When the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future, the Commandery Princess can rely on strong backing to comfortably secure her position in Nanyang County.

It’s better not to get involved in other messy affairs.

Chen Jinyu suddenly squinted at Jiang Shaohua as if up to something.

Jiang Shaohua pretended not to notice.

Sure enough, Chen Jinyu couldn’t resist, and laughed quietly: "I notice both the Young Master and Fourth Young Master Wang pay extra attention to the Commandery Princess."

Zheng Chen and Wang Jin are both the Crown Prince’s reading companions, accompanying him every day. Jiang Shaohua visits the palace almost daily, so she naturally frequently encounters the Crown Prince and thus Zheng Chen and Wang Jin.

Zheng Chen’s frequent glances and Wang Jin’s constant gazes did not escape Chen Jinyu’s notice.

Jiang Shaohua’s expression remained unchanged: "In a few months, I’ll return to Nanyang County. Whatever they have in mind has nothing to do with me."

That’s true. Neither the Zheng Family’s Young Master nor the Wang Family’s Fourth Young Master could possibly be taken into the Nanyang Prince Mansion.

Chen Jinyu felt a bit regretful, but then thought, isn’t there an incredibly important yet discreet Mr. Cui in Nanyang County!

"What wild thoughts are you having now?" Jiang Shaohua laughed and glanced over: "I just want to govern Nanyang County well, so that the people of Nanyang County live good days without worries. Matters like marriage, I won’t consider in the coming years. Don’t overthink."

Chen Jinyu chuckled a few times: "I didn’t say anything, how does the Commandery Princess know what I’m thinking."

Jiang Shaohua smiled and rolled her eyes at her.

The tall and strong Qin Hu hurried in and presented a letter: "Report to Commandery Princess, Commander Qin of the Personal Guard Camp has sent a letter."

Jiang Shaohua nodded slightly, took the letter and quickly read through it.

After reading, a smile flashed in Jiang Shaohua’s eyes, and she said to Chen Jinyu: "Prepare the paper and ink, I wish to write a reply."

The Tang Family divided into three routes to sell grain, Qin Zhan Meng Dashan and Liu Hengchang each led five hundred trusted aides to guard the grain convoy. The promotion of new grain seeds is progressing fairly smoothly.

Qin Zhan mentioned in the letter that there are many starving people in the north, a handful of rice could save a family. "...Nanyang County is vast and sparsely populated, the Personal Guard Camp also lacks personnel. I wish to take this opportunity to buy some people. It would be providing a lifeline for the starving people. I hope the Commandery Princess agrees..."

Jiang Shaohua set the pen to write a reply, affirming Qin Zhan’s thoughts in the letter. However, this matter must not be widely publicized, and definitely should be handled with low profile.

Moreover, it must be discussed with Chief Historian Chen and Chief Historian Feng. Once the recruited starving people are sent to Nanyang County, how to settle them must be carefully arranged.

Jiang Shaohua also wrote letters to Chief Historian Chen and Chief Historian Feng, as well as Meng Dashan and Liu Hengchang. The Personal Guard Camp has already taken action, so the Second Camp and Third Camp should not hesitate.

Several days later, Chief Historian Chen and Chief Historian Feng received the letters from the Commandery Princess.

Since Jiang Shaohua went to the Capital City, Chen Zhuo and Feng Wenming each took charge of personnel matters and financial internal affairs, keeping so busy that it was rare for them to even see each other for days despite being in the Prince Mansion.

After receiving the Commandery Princess’s letter, Feng Wenming twitched his mouth, the wrinkles on his forehead were about to squeeze a fly to death.

Chief Historian Feng stormed in with the letter from the Commandery Princess, looking for Chief Historian Chen: "Take a look at the Commandery Princess’s letter."

Chen Zhuo calmly took the letter: "The Commandery Princess wrote to me too, regarding the matter of recruiting starving people. In my opinion, this is a great opportunity."

"Among the Fourteen Counties of Nanyang County, only three are Upper County. The rest are either Middle County or Lower County, lacking sufficient population. In normal times, who would be willing to abandon their homes and livelihoods to come to Nanyang. Now with the abundance of starving people in the north, it’s exactly the right time to absorb population..."

Feng Wenming glared over: "Who doesn’t know this logic? The key is once we buy the starving people back, we have to support them first. Until they cultivate wasteland, plant crops, and harvest grain to sustain themselves, it will take at least one or two years. Have you calculated how much silver and grain will be consumed in these one or two years?"

"The Commandery Princess wants to promote new grain, to maintain the Personal Guard Camp, to sustain the Nanyang Army, and to look after several counties where grain shortage is a problem. All these require silver and grain."

"Suddenly there’s going to be another batch of starving people, where am I going to conjure extra silver and grain from!"

Feng Wenming grew more agitated as he talked, spitting saliva onto Chen Zhuo’s face as he became increasingly infuriated: "I’m the Prince Mansion Chief Historian, not a divine being from above. I can’t just blink and produce silver and grain!"

Chen Zhuo calmly wiped his face with his sleeve, patiently comforting his old friend: "Calm down first, don’t rush to get angry. Recruiting starving people is a long-term beneficial move for Nanyang County. Just take it slow, it’s not like one or two thousand more people will appear overnight."

"Besides, we’ve planted corn and sweet potatoes across all of Nanyang County this year, once the new grain yields bountiful harvest, we can support a population three to four times larger. The recruited starving people aren’t just fed for free, they can reclaim wasteland, grow crops, and also be directed to mine iron and rear horses."

"Overall, there are always more solutions than problems."