The capital of Datong is Yong'an City, the capital of Sili Prefecture. All Yong'an and Yong'an seek is peace. Such a name lacks a bit of domineering power for Datong, an empire that dominates the world.
It has been more than 500 years since the founding of Datong. In the first half of the time, most people in the world talked about the capital of Datong as the capital, and foreign envoys were called Shangjing. However, later on, the feudal princes in Datong were in chaos and the country was declining. The emperor had no choice but to gain support from powerful ministers. The ceaseless enfeoffment of princes resulted in fewer and fewer places under their actual control.
Datong's dominance of the world relies on tigers and warriors who are good at fighting, but with less territory, there will be less taxes, and the elite tigers and wolves have to eat meat all the time. There are fewer and fewer kings, and the princes are getting stronger, so people call the capital and the capital. to Yongwei City.
Yongwei, the former name of the capital of Datong Empire, means to conquer the world forever.
Maybe even the emperor of Datong thought that the word "wei" was really harsh, so he changed it to the word "an".
Without the strong military power, the awe and pride have also faded a lot.
Sili Prefecture occupies a very large area, with 18 counties and more than 320 counties. Now Emperor Datong's imperial edict can show that the imperial majesty cannot be desecrated.
The place is only one county or eight counties.
The people in the eight counties may not know or care about who the current Emperor Datong is, but when it comes to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Guan Chengna, it's a different story. There are some who praise him and some who feel sad.
In March of the 24th year of Datong calendar, Shunyou.
Farmers are working hard in the vast fields of Yong'an City. They use their hoes to bring up clay stars. Occasionally they stop and wipe their hands upwards from the left chin to the right face. Large beads of sweat are squeezed onto the ground. Fell into the soft soil.
The woman following next to her carefully scattered the seeds in the bamboo basket around her waist. Upon seeing this, the half-grown man immediately took a small hoe to cover the soil, and stepped on it a few times.
Guan Cheng saw most of them like this when he left the capital. This was the standard two-generation cooperation model of the Datong Empire.
If you are a wealthy family, there will be long-term and short-term workers driving old scalpers to drag the wooden plow from one end to the other, back and forth.
"It's spring again. Farmers plant seeds and wait until autumn to make food. Qin Tianjian said that there will be enough rain this year, so it must be a good harvest year." Guan Cheng always had a smile on his face, and it seemed that nothing could make him feel sad. Upset and worried.
"Will Your Highness still go to Mr. Cao's house today?" Sima, the guard of the East Palace next to him, asked.
"That's natural. We will go as promised yesterday. Gu is the crown prince, how can he not keep his word?"
Sima's words of promise made him curl his lips inwardly. The Crown Prince is a person who is worth more than ten thousand people. He has been on duty in the palace for more than ten years. He has never heard of any Datong prince who likes farm work, miscellaneous work, or even running around. Go out and follow the farmers to tend crops.
Even those princes who were enfeoffed could not have any princes.
Royal nobles, they are all golden branches and jade leaves, how can they be willing to degenerate all day long?
In Sima Wu Chengju's view, the prince himself was corrupted.
The crown prince is the crown prince of a country. Even if what Emperor Datong says now is not much better than farting, he is still the common ruler of the world and is known as the human emperor. Even the kings of Zhao and Chu, the strongest vassal states at present, will be old when they come to Yong'an City. Wait for the summons honestly, then kneel three times and kowtow nine times.
When Wu Chengju was young, he traveled all over the world and visited many vassal states. The county magistrate always had ceremonial guards when he went out, and the people of the country could only stand quietly on both sides of the rectangular sign of avoidance, but the county magistrate still had to go out. You have to kneel down to greet and send him off.
Looking at his master again, Wu Chengju couldn't help but mutter in his heart, why can't he be more angry?
Datong is already like this. Can you still be majestic after leaving these eight counties?
But complaints are complaints, and Kuai Ma still has to keep up.
Today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has three recognized hobbies.
One is to do some weird things. The old masters think that they are weird tricks, and as a prince, they are very valuable. However, the prince always forgets what is behind his back.
One likes to chat with the people of the country, and also likes to stay with the mud-legged people to farm crops. He often leaves a message to say hello and then runs out of the palace. For this, His Highness the Crown Prince was punished a lot, but he couldn't control it at all. A sixteen-year-old The more the young boy is not allowed to do it, the more he likes it.
There is another thing that is more normal, and that is books. The prince's teachers were very pleased for a time. It is not a bad thing that the future heir of the empire likes to read. However, since the age of fourteen, the prince has thought that he has become a master, and has been clamoring to write a book. He believes that the teachings of the old masters are outdated, and the knowledge learned now cannot restore Datong to its glory, so His Highness the prince decided to write a book.
The prince's arrogance made the old masters very angry, and they collectively asked to see Emperor Datong.
Later I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince's buttocks were red and swollen from the fall and he had not left the palace for a full month, which made the peasants outside the palace a little uncomfortable.
Wu Chengju was already numb. His own father couldn't help but give up on what he was worrying about.
It's also a shame that I only have two sons now, and the younger one is less than three years old, otherwise it would be really difficult to determine the position of crown prince.
A group of people followed the horse as they whizzed past the official road and soon arrived at the nearest village.
Next to it is fertile farmland.
A young girl had just poured a bowl of water for her father when she heard the sound of horse hooves. A dozen knights were clearly visible in her eyes, and the one leading them was none other than the current Crown Prince.
When the girl saw this, a touching smile appeared on her face.
"Xu~~~"
Guan Cheng controlled his mount and turned over to dismount. He jumped a little anxiously and felt a little numb pain in the soles of his feet.
"Your Highness, drink water!" The girl ran over with a bowl in hand, with two words written on her blushing face: bold.
Wu Chengju directed the soldiers to take out a full set of equipment, and more than a dozen strong men poured into the ground, digging holes, planting seeds and burying the soil, which was like a smooth flow.
"Ling'er, the water you gave me tastes so sweet." Guan Cheng adjusted the expression on his face to be as handsome as possible. For this purpose, he even left a lock of hair hanging down on the side of his face.
The girl smiled sweetly and said: "What did you say, Your Highness? Isn't this water all coming out of the well?"
Guan Cheng drank all the water in the bowl and said, "Your water is definitely different. It tastes better than honeydew. Gu Xiang drinks it every day."
The girl gave Guan Cheng a charming look and then picked up the bamboo basket and tied it around her waist.
Two people stood at the edge of the field, one in front and one behind.
The farmer next to him was still very frightened when he saw the prince for the first time. He knelt down and screamed. In Guan Cheng's eyes, the whole field was full of buttocks.
Later, everyone gradually discovered that His Royal Highness had no airs at all, and often helped the lonely elderly people and sent food and cloth.
The common people don't know what it means to win people's hearts, but they know who is really good.
Everyone said that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be a wise king in the future.
Guan Cheng once said: "Mingjun doesn't know that the area that Datong Dynasty can directly control now is so large, just these eight counties. In the future, if I can make all the people in this county full, I will be a qualified emperor." If you can still read and understand, then you will be a wise king."
Some of the common people are veterans who know the bitterness of His Highness the Prince's words, but most people don't understand. They believe that the Prince will definitely do it. At that time, their children can also read, and only those who have read can be considered a promising person. .
At that time, Guan Cheng was only ten years old, a half-grown boy.
Later, everyone discovered that His Highness the Crown Prince was particularly interested in the little girl of the old Cao family. The people in the game thought they were smart and tried their best to use their wisdom so that others would not see their shyness. However, who was young when he came here? That wasn't the case back then.
Everyone understood, it turned out that His Highness the Crown Prince and our old man had the same relationship when they fell in love with the aunt-in-law, but no one opened their mouths to tell the truth. If they like her, they can only like her. It is impossible for a prince of a country to marry a girl from a peasant family.
The ministers in the court advised the prince to know the superiority and inferiority, and to distinguish between superior and inferior. They also quoted from classics and said that those who are far away will resent those who are near and those who are close will not be inferior.
Guan Cheng smiled and said, "Could it be that the beasts in the temple think that the people in the fields are villains?"
The ministers did not respond, but the answers in their hearts made Guan Cheng feel even more uncomfortable. The common people who supported the entire empire were not even human beings to the adults wearing official robes and sitting in carriages.
Guan Cheng was once called to the dormitory by his father and beaten with a stick for half an hour. Then he faced the wall and thought about it. Guan Cheng, who was crying in pain, was shocked when he saw the huge map. As at that time, The only prince has been hearing and seeing how the sages of Datong conquered the country thousands of miles away from the thorns and thorns.
Guan Cheng's eyes moved around on the map, and pride instantly took root in his heart. However, there are still hundreds of vassal states in the world, and the area directly controlled by Datong is divided into pieces on the map. Even if they are put together, they are not as big as a third-class vassal state.
After his father came back, Guan Cheng immediately ran forward and threw away all his doubts. However, his father, who had the impression of being as majestic as a mountain, instantly hunched his straight back and looked at the map without saying a word for a long time.
Emotions were pervasive in the silence, and a lingering unwillingness lay dormant in the young heart.
From that moment on, Guan Cheng seemed to be sensible, but he also seemed to be more deviant.
The officials in Yong'an City don't care whether the prince is sensible or not. The princes in the court are backed by various vassal states and attack each other. Datong has ruled the world for hundreds of years, and the legal principles in name are still there. The numerous vassal states in the world also need a fig leaf.
Guan Ze was helpless in the face of this situation, even the smallest vassal state was larger than eight counties.
No one cares about the royal family's thoughts. The more powerful people are, the more they lack awe towards the emperor on the throne.
Guan Cheng didn't care about awe. There were no words other than "sword" in the history books he had read. As long as someone has swords, guns and armor, he has rights. The princes dare not obey orders because the emperor has too few troops, not even an army of ten thousand people.
There are many ancient trees on both sides of the road. Now they are sprouting green buds one by one. The dots are very beautiful. What Cao Linger likes most is spring. It is neither cold nor hot. The wind blows just right and is mixed with a good smell. The smell.
Old Man Cao did not dare to really let the current Crown Prince work, so he sent his daughter to the fields to rest.
The shyness of the girl corresponded to the restlessness of the boy, but all the courage dissipated without a trace when she was alone. The warmth in the atmosphere made Cao Ling'er's face turn red.
"Your Highness."
"Um?"
Cao Ling'er broke the awkward silence but didn't know how to speak.
On the contrary, Guan Cheng was a little annoyed, why was he so useless today.
"Ling'ergu heard that your father is planning to find a match for you?"
Cao Ling'er was a little panicked when she heard this, but she nodded and said, "I heard my father and mother last night saying that I am fourteen this year and it is time."
"Then what do you think?"
Cao Ling'er shook her head crazily, but then said: "But dad also said, you are the prince, the prince of Datong, and I am just a peasant girl. Even if the ancestral graves are covered in smoke, I can't become a concubine, let alone a princess. .”
More than just smoke, it is impossible for the eighteen generations of ancestors to collectively fake the corpse. These are the exact words of Mr. Cao.
Guan Cheng didn't know how to answer, and he didn't know that his father had recently started to look for a candidate for the crown princess for him, but what was embarrassing was that there were suddenly no girls of the right age in the families of the princes and nobles, such as the Minister of Humerus.
Guan Cheng's face was slapped hard.
But even so, the princess cannot be Cao Ling'er.
The two of them had things on their minds, and even their desire to chat was suppressed.
"Hey, what if I'm not the prince?"
Guan Cheng looked up to the sky and asked himself, but Cao Ling'er was shocked.
"Your Highness, please don't talk nonsense. God has a destiny. How can you change it at will? You are His Highness the Crown Prince of Datong and the future co-lord of the world. There is a difference between heaven and earth."
Guan Cheng smiled: "Ling'er has been studying a lot recently, and everything he said makes sense."
Cao Ling'er's face instantly turned red again, and she buried herself deeply in her arms.
Not far away, a butterfly flapped its gorgeous wings and landed on the flower, attracting the girl's attention.
"Go and catch me for you." Guan Cheng patted his butt and started to take action.
Cao Ling'er grabbed Guan Cheng's sleeve and said urgently: "Your Highness, farewell."
"What's wrong? You don't like it?"
"I like it, but you can't possess it just because you like it, right? Your Highness must have never seen butterflies when they were young. They have been waiting for a long time for the day when they can fly."
Cao Ling'er's words aroused Guan Cheng's interest, "Aren't butterflies just small butterflies when they were young? Then wouldn't they be born with the ability to fly?"
Cao Ling'er shook her head and said with a chuckle: "It turns out that His Highness also doesn't understand."
Guan Cheng was not annoyed and said, "Then tell me."
Cao Ling'er's eyes returned to the butterfly and said: "The butterfly was an insect when it was young, a small insect without wings and legs."
"Insects? Insects can turn into butterflies?" Guan Cheng's face showed disbelief. This kind of thing is too different.
Cao Ling'er said: "Yes, butterflies are just small insects. I didn't know it at first. Once I saw a white cocoon and thought it was a silkworm, so I took it back. But after a few days, what came out was a butterfly. I think Strangely, I caught a few butterflies and locked them in the firewood shed. After two or three days, there were many small insects. Then after another half month, they started to spin white silk like silkworms. After another half month, they came out. Just beautiful butterflies.”
"Become a butterfly from cocoon?"
"Your Highness is really talented in writing, and his casual remarks are so apt." Cao Ling'er saw Guan Cheng's eyebrows knitted together in thought, so she knew it and didn't bother him.
"Insects, butterflies...insects without wings and legs can actually turn into butterflies? It's amazing!"
The more Guan Cheng thought about it, the more he felt like he had grasped something, sometimes clear and sometimes blurry. He felt that he also needed to tear open a thick cocoon to see the world.
"Gu seems to have some enlightenment! Ling'er, you are really Gu's lucky star!" Guan Cheng suddenly held Cao Ling'er's hands with eyes burning.
"Ling'er, go back and tell your father to wait. Go back to the palace alone. You may not be able to come out in the next two days. I will come back to you after these few days." After saying this, Cao Ling'er, who was blushing with shame, rode off. go.
The peace of Yong'an City is about to end.
