Frost for a Thousand Years

"Your Highness, Song Gan requests an audience."

When Wei Wusheng was in the commander's camp, the guards outside the gate reported to him.

“Song Gan…” It wasn’t that he didn’t know this person, after all, he was the head steward of the Song family, but Wei Wusheng had never had any private contact with him, so he felt a little surprised, but he still quickly said, “Please let him in.”

"Yes."

The guard withdrew from his barracks.

Then, an old man dressed in simple cloth, which was not at all rustic or shabby, walked in.

Before Wei Wusheng could speak, Song Gan rose from his desk, walked to the center, knelt down on both knees, and bowed respectfully to him: "This servant of the Song family pays respects to His Highness the Prince of Zhongshan."

Wei Wusheng was a prince, not the crown prince or the emperor. Officials of some status would usually just bow respectfully to him when they entered. However, Song Gan was just the head of the Song family, so there was no need for him to kneel.

If it's not an attempt to please or plead for mercy, then this action is an expression of emotion.

He was a retainer of the Song family and Song Shi'an's steward, but he still regarded Wei Wusheng as his lord.

Upon seeing him, Wei Wusheng quickly walked up to him and helped him up with both hands: "Master Song, please get up."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Song Gan slowly stood up.

"My lord has come to see me, surely to discuss important matters," Wei Wusheng said respectfully, extending his hand. "Please sit."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Song Gan nodded politely. After the other man sat back down in his seat at the general's desk, Song Gan also sat down in the chair to the side, maintaining a humble posture, and said, "I am here to see Your Highness at this time on the orders of my master, Lord Song."

"Coming to see me at this time?" Wei Wusheng asked with some suspicion. "So, he instructed you on the day he left, and then deliberately waited until today to tell me?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me," Song Gan said frankly, "That is indeed the case."

Wei Wusheng laughed, already used to the other party's style of doing things, and said, "That means he has made another decision that I will not agree to."

"Your Highness," Song Gan said directly, no longer beating around the bush, "Lord Song should have already resigned from his post and is staying in Sheng'an."

Upon hearing this, Wei Wusheng was immediately dumbfounded.

What does it mean to stay in Sheng'an?
You came to Huaijun Tuntian with me, and now you've suddenly run away without even consulting me. Is this how you conduct yourself?

Don't you care at all about the bond we once shared?

You don't remember anything from the past, do you?
"Your Highness." Song Gan knew that the other party was probably getting a little agitated and about to get angry, so he continued directly, "Young Master Song said that he went to Sheng'an to ask Your Highness for permission to build the imperial palace."

How to fight?

“His Majesty’s visit to Huai County for the Autumn Harvest Ceremony will last at least a few days, and at most a little over a month. After that, the Huai County Palace will no longer be of use,” Song Gan said. “Therefore, it is not advisable to build it.”

“Not suitable for construction?” Wei Wusheng was taken aback. “Even if the scale is reduced to 20% of the original, it is still not suitable for construction?”

"Yes."

Upon hearing this, Wei Wusheng's dissatisfaction with Song Shi'an completely vanished.

I originally thought that Song Shi'an was prioritizing the overall situation and wanted to critically conform to the world.

I never expected him to be even more stubborn than me.

“We must agree that the palace will not be built, or we should seek someone else.” Wei Wusheng nodded, and then, based on his understanding of the Crown Prince, he said with certainty, “But His Highness the Crown Prince will definitely not agree, so Song Shi’an must have already resigned from his post.”

"Your Highness is wise."

“Now that things have come to this point, His Highness is already confident that the land reclamation project is a sure thing. Shi An’s willingness to relinquish power has actually put his mind at ease.” Wei Wusheng’s eyes grew serious. “Shi An, is he trying to teach the Crown Prince a lesson?”

"Your Highness, Lord Song would not dare to be so arrogant."

“No, he needs to be taught a lesson.” Wei Wusheng stood up and said, “I will not allow the military settlements to succeed without Shi’an.”

"No, Your Highness, please don't do that." Song Gan hurriedly stood up and said, "You can do it just like when the Prefect was here, or even more so, and let Jia Guihao sit with you in the main camp."

“I understand what you mean,” Wei Wusheng said. “Are you saying that even if no one sabotages it, the land reclamation program is still not feasible after the personnel are changed?”

Song Shi'an wanted the Crown Prince to accept defeat convincingly.

“Your Highness, the Prefect doesn’t want to prove that the military settlements can’t function without him. He would be quite pleased and relieved if they could succeed without him,” Song Gan said.

"Good good."

Wei Wusheng raised his hand, not wanting to engage in any more political correctness with him, and interrupted directly. However, seeing that the other party was somewhat uneasy and afraid of being offended, he said quite cheerfully, "I said, I completely believe in him."

……

Si Pingguan Zhong Yao, along with Eunuch Lian and others, headed to Jianxing City in Huai County.

As they approached their destination, the two men sat in a carriage, making final arrangements before the reappointment.

“Eunuch Lian,” Zhong Yao said, still lacking confidence, “the funds allocated are far from enough to build such a palace.”

“Aren’t there still so many people? They can all be used by you,” said Eunuch Lian.

“But His Highness said that only 20,000 people can be mobilized,” Zhong Yao said.

"That's what Your Highness says, but everything is aimed at completing the palace," said Eunuch Lian. "There are 500,000 people here, and adding another 10,000 or even tens of thousands won't have a significant impact on the autumn harvest."

“Your Excellency, I am only responsible for the construction of the palace. The autumn harvest is not within my duties,” Zhong Yao said.

"Don't worry, we're all working for His Highness. Lord Zhong just needs to do his job well," said Eunuch Lian.

On their way here, the two had a serious discussion about building the palace.

Then Zhong Yao told Eunuch Lian from a professional perspective that it couldn't be calculated that way—originally, building the palace required 100,000 people, but after the scale was reduced to 20%, it only required 20,000 people.

The reason is also very simple.

Because the size and specifications of the main hall cannot be changed, and the core celebration area of ​​the autumn harvest ceremony is the main hall.

In other words, the areas that were reduced were all auxiliary areas where the primacy was not so high.

The core and secondary cores cannot be modified.

To give another example, if the perimeter of a palace wall is reduced to 20% of its original size, would the labor force required also be reduced to only 20%?
wrong.

The length of the city wall has indeed been shortened, but the number of city gates, which constitute the majority of the construction work, has not decreased.

Unless the original four doors are reduced to one.

But this doesn't conform to the etiquette of the imperial palace.

The result was that not a single gate was missing, and not a single city tower was lost.

Twenty thousand people are far from enough.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince's requirement was that the temporary palace be completed before the Emperor arrived.

But how could someone in the engineering field finish a project the night before the supervisor's inspection?

Even Eunuch Lian wouldn't do something so risky; he's the top person in charge of the imperial palace.

Therefore, in order to ensure quality and meet the deadline, the workforce of 20,000 people will become 50,000 through layers of additional requirements.

Of course, for Eunuch Lian, Huai County has 500,000 people, and borrowing only one-tenth of them would not affect the overall situation.

It wasn't as bizarre as Song Shi'an had described. The two of them then traveled by carriage to Jianxing City.

Because someone had already sent a message to Jianxing by express courier, Ji Zhi and a group of officials had been waiting in advance.

The carriage stopped, and Zhong Yao and Eunuch Lian got out.

Ji Zhi hurried forward with small, quick steps, and took the initiative to bow: "This humble official greets Eunuch Lian and Lord Zhong."

Lian Gonggong and Zhong Yao politely returned the bow.

“Prefect Ji… no, Prefect Ji,” Eunuch Lian said with a smile, “I’ve kept you waiting.”

Upon hearing this address, Ji Zhi showed a hint of embarrassment and then said, "Your Excellency, I will temporarily serve as the acting prefect, but according to the Great Yu Law, when acting as an official, one's official position remains the same as before."

“Once this land reclamation project is finished, you’ll be officially in charge,” Eunuch Lian said with a hint of seduction.

The reason why the Crown Prince chose Ji Zhi, who was not a member of the Crown Prince's faction, and even someone from Song Jing's faction, to act as Song Shi'an was not because he acted recklessly, but because there were reasons.

Prior to this, after Xi Shan was whipped with a top, the civil officials of Huai County severed ties with Song Shi'an.

Some of them went to the capital to pledge their loyalty to the Crown Prince, while others wrote letters to explain, including some of Song Jing's men.

But Ji Zhi was not among them.

This precisely demonstrates his loyalty.

That is, integrity.

However, when the Crown Prince later inquired with officials about the feasibility of building the palace, he did not make excuses, complain, or grumble like Fan Wuji and Gao Yunyi. Instead, he felt that the Autumn Harvest Ceremony was a major national event and equally important.

Such patriotic officials are trustworthy.

Patriotism is not just about loving the Great Yu in a narrow sense, but about loving the Prefect, the Crown Prince, and the Emperor.

"Your Highness, I will obey all your orders and do my utmost." Even though he was given a promise, Ji Zhi was not too excited; he only felt uneasy.

The situation in Huai County is not as simple as those in power see it.

It's not enough to just harvest the rice with a sickle and put it in bags.

But there was nothing he could do; the Crown Prince's decree had been issued first. Someone like him couldn't negotiate with the Crown Prince.

Moreover, the Crown Prince was merely informing them, not discussing it. Unless, of course, he wanted to do nothing at all.

"Is Prefect Ji currently stationed in Jianxing?" Eunuch Lian asked.

“This was decided by Lord Song beforehand,” Ji Zhi said. “If he has something to do, he will summon me to the main camp. If not, I will temporarily act as the prefect’s representative in charge of affairs here.”

“The matter of military farming is of great importance, and now Prefect Ji has to entrust it to someone. You should go to the main camp to take charge of the overall situation,” said Eunuch Lian.

Ji Zhi knew that he was urging him to replace Song Shi'an as soon as possible, so he said, "Your Excellency, I will go to the General Headquarters as soon as possible. But today, with you and Lord Zhong here, and many officials from the prefecture, I have prepared a banquet to give the officials a chance to report to Your Excellency and get to know them."

"Prefect Ji has made a good decision." Eunuch Lian smiled with satisfaction.

“Then, sir, Lord Zhong, please—” he extended his hand.

"Please." Just as Lian Gonggong was about to walk into the city, he made a gesture as if he had suddenly remembered something. "Hmm, shouldn't Lord Song's household steward still be at the prefect's residence?"

“Oh, you’re talking about Song Jiacheng,” Ji Zhi said. “When the Crown Prince’s decree arrived, Song Jiacheng moved out of the Prefect’s residence.”

"So soon?" Eunuch Lian frowned, quite puzzled. "As the steward of Lord Song's household, this is his first visit to Jianxing City. How can we not see him? Have you invited him to a banquet?"

"Well," Ji Zhi said helplessly, "Song Jiacheng left by car this morning."

"Oh, that's such a shame..."

Eunuch Lian showed a regretful expression, but he was truly relieved.

He could allow himself to fail, but not to work hard. When Song Shi'an tried to sabotage him in order to prove his importance, Song Shi'an interfered and caused trouble.

After resolving Song Shi'an's problem, Huai County's agricultural settlements officially entered the era of Lord Lian.

.........

After Eunuch Lian and Si Ping left the city, the Crown Prince kept a close eye on the affairs of Huai County.

Every day, there were no fewer than dozens of reports coming from various counties in Huaijun.

He read each letter carefully and responded as soon as possible.

For those officials, the approach was mainly one of encouragement, trust, and empty promises.

The phrase "Your merit is indispensable" has been said countless times after the successful completion of the land reclamation project.

Meanwhile, Sheng'an was also doing his best to raise funds and allocate grain and fodder to various counties to replenish the Huai County's military farms as much as possible.

Putting everything else aside, he is definitely a diligent, hardworking, and never-slack-off crown prince.

At this moment, a eunuch entered the hall and reported, "Your Highness, a letter from the Sixth Prince!"

"Quickly, bring it here." The prince tensed up and hurriedly reached out.

"Yes."

The eunuch handed over the letter.

The prince took it and quickly opened it.

To be honest, his biggest worry was Wei Wusheng.

Everyone in the world knows that peace and security are interconnected.

Now Song Shi'an is going to challenge himself and prove him wrong. And Wei Wusheng has taken control of the Huai County army. Will he refuse to cooperate because he wants to stand up for Song Shi'an?
Military settlements consist of the army and land reclamation. If the army were to shirk its responsibilities or engage in passive resistance, it would cause considerable trouble.

However, he breathed a sigh of relief after reading the letter.

Wei Wusheng offered to appoint Jia Guihao as his deputy general to assist him in commanding the garrison troops.

Who in the world doesn't know that Jia Guihao is his henchman?
His willingness to keep his trusted confidants by his side indicates that he will not cause trouble.

At most, it's just a matter of giving orders and having him do what they say.

The prince felt that his micro-management skills were fine, because the two places were not far apart, and the urgent message could be sent back and forth in less than a day.

Quite decisively, he approved the memorial in red ink—"Yes."

Then, she slowly stood up, walked forward slowly, and murmured:
"Song Shi'an's steward left Huai County overnight."

"Wei Wusheng also accepted the change of the prefect immediately."

"Are you all afraid that if I lose, I'll have to shift the blame and it will fall on you?"

The Crown Prince knows everything.

He knew that Song Shi'an just thought he was too young and his understanding of things was too simplistic.

However, the Crown Prince simply did not believe that things had gone this far, that he had given Huai County his absolute support, and that he had arranged everything in a perfectly reasonable manner, so how could there be any problems with building a palace and harvesting rice?

"Shi An, do you want me to regret it after I've messed everything up?"

The Crown Prince smiled calmly and said, "I am much more magnanimous than you. Once the land reclamation is completed, I will forgive and forget, and will still give you an important position!" (End of Chapter)