The Transmigrated Life of a Salty Fish Family

Chapter 895 Presenting a Gift to His Majesty

The chubby baby lay sprawled on thick hay, his hands serving as a pillow. The autumn sun danced above the clouds, dappling his porcelain-white face with its light, making him feel drowsy.

If the oxcart hadn't been moving so fast and so bumpy, Yan Yuzhen would have fallen asleep.

The Yan family's oxcart only remained a proper oxcart for a few days before she made some minor modifications, adding a second floor surrounded by a small wooden fence.

Here, Yan Yu can lie down however she wants, eat whatever she wants, and sleep however she wants—in short, she can be completely at ease!
No more patting or pinching the little sprouts every now and then...

The cubs have boundless energy; it's truly terrifying.

In addition to the officially established force of 5,000, Xiao'an Camp also had an unofficial rear guard, farmers hired for the regular military transport, and a group of boy scouts uniformly bearing the name of General Yan's personal guard.

The rear army was divided into regular personnel to handle various miscellaneous affairs for military families and a group of medical soldiers personally led by Qiu Xiang.

In addition, there were the families of Yan Jiajun's soldiers who wanted to go to Beijing for various reasons.

A total of 7,843 people.

The more than 3,000 people that Wei San and Wei Qi took with them were all soldiers from Qishan Prefecture. They were returning to their hometown to pick up their wives, and also had the important task of searching for lost relatives and friends in Xiao'an Village and even Xiao'an Camp along the way.

Wei San was steady and reliable, and coming from a general's family, he was well aware of the proper conduct of the county post station officials along the way. As for Wei Qi, Yan Yu found him annoying. He was always trying to please her mother by calling her "Auntie" this and "Auntie" that, just for a few bites of food. It was really beneath him.

Of course, she would never admit that this guy's actions were tantamount to stealing her food. She had endured it for a long time, but she could no longer tolerate it.

Between giving him a good scolding and sending him away for a while, Yan Yu chose the latter.

After all, they were brothers who had fought side by side, and General Yan was magnanimous and did not hold a grudge against him for his minor flaws.

After sending over 3,000 people, Yan Jiajun's army still had a formidable force of over 4,000 people heading to Beijing. Adding Pan Zheng's team, the total was nearly 5,000.

Since leaving Guanzhou, the area where Yanjia Banner has been waving has been peaceful all the way.

Having been tempered by war, this new army has quickly shed its immaturity, and its actions still carry the scent of blood and fire from the battlefield.

Its sharp edge was fully revealed.

As the army passed by, scout squads would disperse, sometimes openly and sometimes covertly.

They uncovered several gangs of petty thieves hiding in the shadows, committing robberies.

They also followed the clues and found several locations where stolen goods were sold.

Yan Yu, of course, would not let it go. He happily mustered his troops and sent men to wipe them out completely.

She and Pan Zheng split the stolen money and goods equally.

Pan Zheng was so happy he couldn't stop grinning, wishing such good things could happen every day.

While on the road, he was even more attentive than Yan Yu, not only taking on the task of organizing information, but also being very proactive in dispatching troops, insisting on going along three out of five times.

After seeing blood several times, I had a different feeling than before.

As for the offenders, no matter who they were, they weren't bothered with any interrogation; they were simply tied up and sent to the Guanzhou army camp stationed along the canal.

After her uncle finished the imperial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations), he did not rush to the capital. Instead, he invested heavily in manpower, resources, and funds to dredge and clear the canal.

The purpose is obvious.

The aim was to open up a direct waterway between the northern regions and the capital, and even further connect the north and south.

No order was issued in the imperial gazette.

In other words, this canal project was entirely a spontaneous act by the Guanzhou government.

Guanzhou was so poor that everyone knew it.

Even if most of the manpower for dredging came from enemy prisoners captured in successive battles, and a small portion came from bandits like Yan Yu who were suppressing bandits, the manpower expenditure was very limited. But what about tools and food? You can't say that prisoners could work on an empty stomach and dig mud in the river with their bare hands, can you?

The officials in the court submitted a flood of memorials, all accusing Prince Canying of being arrogant and domineering, abusing his military achievements, arbitrarily mobilizing border troops, and using spoils from Xizhou to harass the people along the Grand Canal...

The various sins, some major and some minor, are too numerous to mention.

Oh, and there's also the one about showing contempt for the monarch.

The King of England does not agree with this.

In the recorded broadcast of the court session, the King of England cried out that he was wronged and innocently claimed that the canal was dredged precisely to better transport spoils of war into the capital!
The King of England said: "Your subject is of utmost loyalty and has always been concerned with delivering the spoils of the battle to Your Majesty. The gains from this battle are secondary; the greater purpose is to secure the borders. Your Majesty has commanded me to guard the borders, and I will not fail in my duty to maintain peace and stability in this region."

Although most of this is due to the Emperor's divine favor, from your humble servant down to the common people of the North, we have also made some small contributions. We earnestly hope that you will respectfully present these to your father in person to repay this imperial grace!

Yan Yu really wants to give the prince a big round of applause! (Sea dog applauds)

This is a flattering shot!
This is a fallacy of semantics! It's a misrepresentation!

The canal was dredged as a gift to His Majesty!
Is there anything wrong with this?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with it!

In order to ensure that everything, big and small, was transported to the capital without missing a single item, our Guanzhou Army, fresh off the battlefield, immediately threw themselves into the intense dredging project without even taking a break. How dedicated are we?!

This year, the grain tax from the autumn harvest in Guanzhou was allocated to the Prince of Ying, and he used it all to feed the dredgers. The Prince of Ying's granary was empty as soon as some grain was brought in, and before it could even be warmed up, it was gone again. There was no need to hang any chains. Just ask him how high his awareness is.
Disturbing the peace?

nonexistent!

Wherever our Guanzhou army passes, we not only do not disturb the people, but we also catch petty thieves, find abducted children, register and reunite lost relatives, help repair houses, till the land, and even burn down the high-interest loans that have been taken away nine times and returned thirteen times...

When the people saw my Guanzhou army, they cheered and jumped for joy, lining the road to welcome us, crying and laughing at the same time, laughing and crying at the same time.

The military and civilians live in harmony.

Yan Yu couldn't help but laugh.

The morning assembly was really interesting.

Most of the courtiers attacked the King of England because of the large sum of money from the Western Regions.

This shows that the imperial court was truly short of money.

Other, more serious crimes, such as contempt for the monarch, pale in comparison to this fortune, vanishing as quickly as they come.

The claim that the King of England presented the gift is actually untenable.

The reason he was able to debate with the scholars without being defeated was that he temporarily put aside his pride and resorted to shameless rhetoric and stubborn sophistry.

Throughout the entire event, his face remained flushed.

It's not that they're blushing from arguing, but mostly from shyness.

Upon returning to the Prince's Palace, the Prince would withdraw into himself for a while, taking a day or two to recover.

During this time of day, the area in front of the Prince's Mansion is unusually quiet.

Once the King recovered, the gates of the Prince's Palace were once again bustling with activity.

The candidates who passed the autumn examination are eagerly awaiting a meeting with their beloved tutor, His Highness the King of England.

The autumn examinations in the capital and in Guanzhou concluded simultaneously.

When he first took on this task, the Prince of Ying was fine, but Yan Lao Er was on high alert. During the exam days, he ate and slept in the exam hall.

He followed the examinee for several days as he took the exam.

Before entering the examination room, they didn't care about the eyesores and showed off their entire bodies, turning over the examination baskets carefully.

During the exam, while patrolling the entire room, my legs were constantly moving.

He stares at people writing, and he follows them to the toilet.

Tianqing was worried that the scholars were bored and thirsty, so she ordered someone to refill their water.

Worried that it would rain when the sky was overcast, he climbed a ladder onto the roof to check if the tiles were leaking.

At night, the candle flickered in the wind, just like Yan Lao Er's little heart, afraid that someone might accidentally touch the flame and set himself and the examination hall on fire.

I heard that in previous exams, some candidates burned themselves to death.

Yan Lao Er found it hard to believe.

Don't you know to run when it's on fire?

Have you gone mad from the test?!
He could only patiently persuade the test takers who were burning the midnight oil writing all night to take a break and stop writing, and answer the questions during the day, okay?
Later, an experienced official in the examination hall heard him speak until his voice was hoarse and gave him some pointers.

Yan Lao Er then suddenly realized what was going on.

He swaggered around the exam hall with a group of men, his scabbards clattering loudly, and shouted menacingly, "Put out the candles! Go to sleep!"

For those who were slow, he had their candles snatched and thrown into the water bucket!
Throw it hard, the kind that makes a loud noise.

He's so vicious, I ask you, aren't these test takers afraid!
I haven't written in so long that my typing speed has gotten slower. I didn't manage to post it before midnight, sob sob (╥╯^╰╥)
Let me explain why I haven't updated in so long. I was hospitalized for a period of time, took two courses of traditional Chinese medicine, and am currently on my third course.

My friends and family all agreed that my frequent episodes of illness were due to staying home all the time, leading to irregular sleep patterns. They advised me to return to a normal life and introduced me to a relatively easy job. After considering it, I decided to take the advice. People who aren't full-time homemakers don't know how tiring housework is compared to working outside. You can slack off at other jobs, but cleaning your own house requires real effort! So, I decisively went out to work to avoid being lazy.
Then, my eldest son, who's always been a homebody, couldn't adapt to boarding school and gloriously became a day student. You guessed it, right? Yes, I'm that heartbroken kid who has to drive my child 40 kilometers every morning and evening!

Time is tight, but as long as I don't get sick, staying home is alright~
What I fear most is the changing weather. I could have updated a few days earlier, but it rained for several days, and I couldn't avoid it. I also caught a fever, so I'm only updating today.
Sigh~ Go ahead and punch me with your little fists, I won't fight back~
Lying flat now~!(ω)