CH 56

It seems that they will have to be careful in the future. Originally they thought that they would be fine by keeping their tails between their legs as much as possible in the future, but they did not expect that Duan Wang would release a bold statement that in less than two years, he would eliminate all the bandit forces. How will they live now?

Duan Wang came up with a set of secret passages, these people suffered a lot of losses, and now the people in the village had their hearts greatly raised, their people did not dare to enter the village easily.

All forces began to silently calculate in their hearts. Leader Song had already fallen. Can these small fish and shrimp really escape the disaster? So some shrunk their heads and retreated, and some found another way out, and for a while, the atmosphere in Liangzhou was unexpectedly serious.

This was the result that what Ming Yu wanted, killing chickens to scare away the monkeys. Nevertheless, it scared away some people, as for those that were really not long-sighted, he didn’t mind letting Mo Jiang’s guard battalion go to practice their skills.

Ming Yu gave full marks for this operation, the only regret was that Song Qingfu’s military master Song Lian escaped. Song Lian did not follow Song Qingfu to act together but stayed behind so by the time Ming Yu sent people to arrest him, the person had long since disappeared.

Ming Yu was entangled for a while, but he also gave up. He’s but a scholar, so it’s fine if he ran away. As the saying goes, when Xiucai (referring to the scholar who passed the imperial exam) rebelled, they wouldn’t succeed even in ten years, now only he remained, what can he do? There were still many follow-up things, and he didn’t have much time and energy to care about such an insignificant person, he just asked someone to draw a portrait and issued a chase order, leaving the matter with Song Lian at the back of his head. 

The most important thing in the follow-up was to first report it to his imperial father. At that time, the emperor heard Ming Yu say that he would deal with the bandits, he also sent an order, afraid that his stupid son would get hurt. 

There was no news these days, he thought that Old Fourteen had changed his temperament and forgotten about it. Before he could relax, the news came that Old Fourteen had wiped out more than 2,000 bandits of Liangzhou’s largest force overnight without using a single soldier.

At this time, the emperor did not know whether to scold him for being bold or praise him for being brave and fearless. Ming Yu’s letter was a random boast of himself, almost boasting that there was nothing comparable to him under the sky and on the land. This careless tone of the Old Fourteen even made the emperor angry half to death. What skills did Old Fourteen have, yet he didn’t care about making unreasonable and confusing scenes, how can the emperor not understand him? Anyway, the emperor never believed that the annihilation of the bandits only relied on this stupid son alone.

It was not difficult to see from the battle report that there were shadows of Xie Yixiu and Wei Wuji carving and polishing the plan, the biggest possibility was probably the result of the help of the border garrison and the Red Robe Army. It was estimated that they were not willing to steal merit from a Wang Ye, so they gave the credit for everything on the head of Old Fourteen, right?

This stinky kid owes such a big favor. If he doesn’t repay it, he as his father will suffer the consequences. We can’t let the hard-working border heroes feel neglected just because of Old Fourteen. We can only compensate them a little in terms of military rewards and bonuses, but we can’t make it too obvious. After all, Old Fourteen is still the prince of Liangzhou, and we have to consider his son’s face. Otherwise, it will be difficult for Old Fourteen to govern his fief, and as a father, it breaks his heart.

It had to be said that his imperial father thought too much about his youngest son’s brain, moreover, both Xie Yixiu and Wei Wuji inexplicably won the emperor’s reward, which was really a little confusing.

Only Ming Yu smiled like a fox, this was why he wanted Xie Yixiu and General Wei to pull him up. When this matter spreads to the capital, it will definitely cause a wave of topics. How can he, a stupid prince, annihilate more than 2,000 bandits with his own strength? If this was said, who in the capital would believe it? However, with the help of General Xie and General Wei, his destruction of the bandits was not remarkable.

The emperor was still relieved in his heart, in whatever way, it could be said that this stupid son shared his worries for him. After eliminating this wave of bandits, the people of Liangzhou may be able to live a peaceful life for a few days.

Along with the war report, there were several green round things, which looked like jade jasper, round and cute. Looking at what Old Fourteen said in his letter, this was a fruit called watermelon that he had just experimented with, he only needed to cut it with a knife and eat the red inside.

His youngest son always thought about himself whenever there were good things. He really didn’t waste his affection for him. The emperor was very happy and personally tasted the watermelon sent by Ming Yu, sure enough, it was as crisp and refreshing as he said, and sweet.

The so-called love me, love my dog, the emperor also liked this watermelon, and specially gave one to the crown prince, one to the favoured concubine of the harem, and one to the important ministers of the dynasty.

There were not many watermelons, there were also several respected noble concubines in the harem. When Concubine Hui heard that this was brought back by the fourteenth prince, she was still worried about the past in her heart. She gambled a breath, and politely refused. Unexpectedly, as soon as she said that she was unwell, it was snatched by her nemesis Concubine Zhen, saying that since she was unwell, she might not good have a good appetite, since she just tasted this watermelon and it’s cool, she’s afraid that Concubine Hui will have a cold stomach, it’s better for herself to enjoy it instead. Concubine Hui was really angry at this time that her stomach really hurt so she couldn’t eat it.

This watermelon is an unheard-of thing, it turns out to be the 14th prince’s. Hmm! It’s likely that Duan Wang unintentionally grew it from seeds from the Western Regions. However, speaking of it, this watermelon called ‘xi gua’ is really sweet and delicious, with a lingering aftertaste. I wonder if Duan Wang will be able to present more of such watermelons next year. Even we old officials want to shamelessly ask the emperor for some.

West of Shi Chongguan, Tuoba Ren received the secret report, he read the secret report carefully, feeling it a little unbelievable, the power of the Liangzhou bandits was not small, to be so easily destroyed by the Duan Wang? How could he believe this? It can be said that there was the handiwork of the Red Robe Army and the garrison, but even then it was not very believable. Because of the Suixi Kingdom’s involvement from time to time, these two armies have been stationed on the side of Shi Chongguan, there was no sign of transferring troops.

This matter was very strange, the guards they all knew about were only the imperial guards who came with Duan Wang, their main duty was to protect Duan Wang’s safety. At best, the escort army with no more than five hundred people, how did they annihilate the bandits of more than two thousand people?

Tuoba Ren turned his back a few times, his eyebrows locked, was this Duan Wang really as stupid as the rumour? Or was the imperial guard really so powerful?

No matter what, that kind of speculation, he really didn’t wish to see it become true. He came here with a mission, in order to capture Duan Wang to threaten the emperor of the Great Yan Kingdom.

If Duan Wang was a shrewd person, and the imperial guards were all fearless people, then can their plan be implemented smoothly?

Under anxiety, Tuoba Ren coughed lightly a few times, the weather was warming up in the beginning of spring, his illness was not as serious as in winter, and his body and bones were also relieved a lot.

He came to Shi Chongguan for several months, but he had not found any breakthrough, Duan Wang was in Liangcheng, although it was not far from Shi Chongguan, but Shi Chongguan defense was not broken, it would be difficult for them to attack Liangcheng.

他来到石崇关几个月，还没有寻找到任何的突破口，端王在凉城中，虽然离石崇关不远，可是石崇关不破，他们就难以攻入凉城。

Shi Chongguan was a difficult-to-defend and difficult-to-attack place. Five years ago he was lucky enough to break through it in one fell swoop, directly controlling the whole city. It was also that time that it left him a lifetime of regrets. Today’s Shi Chongguan was heavily guarded by the Great Yan’s armies, there was also a Red-Robed Army lying in wait for the opportunity, it was difficult to break through as five years ago.

Seeing Duan Wang jumping under his nose, even after accidentally accomplishing such a big thing, made him feel more and more intractable.

However, he originally issued a military order in front of King Khan, that he must take down Duan Wang, but now it seems that it’s useless to just wait here, he should act. Perhaps it would be more reassuring to go to investigate the situation in person, Tuoba Ren made up his mind in his heart.

With everything settled, Ming Yu relaxed, he was able to eat and drink well, and Qing Ping, who was waiting for him, was also a lot happy.

“Qing Ping, the weather is good today, let’s go shopping together? You can look at your rouge powder or something, you should use some of it ah, what a woman should do is to dress up beautifully.” Ming Yu stretched out and said.

Qing Ping was not angry, “Wang Ye if you want to go out, just say it directly. Why is there a need to pull me?” 

“Hehe! Do you agree with this? Spring is infinitely good, but it might be disappointing.”  Ming Yu smiled mischievously with no upright manner. 

Qing Ping glared at him, she really wanted to nag him for having no manners, “Alright, let’s come to an agreement first, you can only wander around the city, you are not allowed to go out of the city, and you have to bring a few guards with you. This is what Commander Mo had commanded. ”

Now the barbarians were watching them like a tiger watching its prey, there were frequent movements on the border. If they entered the border unguarded, it would be dangerous outside the city. There were also bandits that cannot be ignored. Although Ming Yu destroyed Song Qingfu and had a deterrent effect on the Liangzhou bandits, there was no guarantee that those bandits would not resort to making some move out of desperation. At least it would be safer in Liangcheng, so Mo Jiang instructed Qing Ping not to let Wang Ye act alone, if he had to go out of the city, she must also notify him, then he would arrange it.

Originally, Mo Jiang was supposed to protect Ming Yu without leaving an inch, but Ming Yu really didn’t have enough manpower at hand, the guard battalion had to be taken care of. Recently a new batch of young and strong people from the village came to the guard camp to train. Therefore, Mo Jiang still couldn’t pull out his hand for the time being, so he could only let Qing Ping restrict Ming Yu and prevent him from going out of the city.

Ming Yu originally didn’t want to cause trouble to Mo Jiang and the others, it’s not impossible to stay in the prince’s residence, didn’t you see him holed up at home for the whole winter? However, going out today was important.

Ming Yu threw a candied fruit in his mouth, moved one leg over another and said ridiculously: “Qing Ping, take a look at yourself, all day long you do nothing but repeat what Commander Mo says over and over. Let me ask you, is there another implication in this?” 

Qingping was stunned, then her face turned red with shame. The master was good at everything, but there was no door on his mouth. She stomped her foot and said angrily, “Wang Ye! Don’t talk nonsense, who is Commander Mo? How could he fancy me just because I want him to? If I confess, won’t it just make people laugh? Wang Ye’s Great Learning and the Five Classics of Confucianism books from yesterday, it seems that the Shengzu learning court had not yet finished making a copy, right? I will go to Mr. Zhou to talk about it later, okay? ”

Mr. Zhou was the teacher sent by the emperor to Ming Yu. When he came to Liangcheng with Ming Yu, he lived in the prince’s residence. He supervised and taught Ming Yu to study every day.

Hearing Mr. Zhou’s name, Ming Yu’s face changed and he quickly begged for mercy, “Cough! Good Qing Ping, I was just saying it, nothing serious. I didn’t mean it. Alright, alright, I’ll give you something as a gift later, okay? ”

Qingping had not yet dissipated her anger, she did not intend to pay attention to him. Ming Yu was someone who spoke sharp and unkind words, it wasn’t good this time, so it took a lot of effort to coax her well.

He ordered the people to prepare the carriage and horses because he was only walking around the city, so they specially ordered the light carriage to be simple. But no matter how streamlined it was, Wang Ye’s guard was still indispensable.

The main thing for Ming Yu to go out today was to go to the craftsman’s workshop, which was a place for craftsmen to produce and experiment. When he first came to Liangcheng, he wanted to station them in the prince’s residence but the residence was too small to open a smithery. When he was completely settled, Ming Yu set up a craftsmanship workshop alone and set aside a separate place in the west of the city.

Because of the good news coming from the craftsman who visited, saying that the glass matter had progressed, Ming Yu planned to go over today to take a look.

After getting off the carriage, Elder Huang had already led people to wait at the door, everyone’s faces were beaming. Seeing Ming Yu, after saluting, Elder Huang came up and said joyfully: “Wang Ye, we have made glass according to your method, it’s shiny and transparent, delicate and clean, I have never seen such a magical thing.”

Ming Yu was also happy in his heart, he waited for so long. His painstaking efforts were not in vain. This glass production cost was low, if it was launched, not to mention that it was scarce and expensive, he thought it would definitely lead to a luxury trend. As long as it was properly marketed and sought after by the world, will he still be afraid of lack of money?

As for marketing, hehe! Who under the sky was as skillful as him? With the endorsement of his imperial father, it will not be difficult for this glass to be popular.