I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 341 Look at this pancake, it's so big and round.
It was rare for Liu Miao to step out of the house, and even the warm sunlight outside felt a bit dazzling.

The surrounding buildings and decorations were also quite different from before. While Liu Miao and his colleagues were thinking about and formulating systems, the entire city of Jinling, under Zhang Zhao's leadership, began to be renovated again in order to qualify it as an imperial capital.

The prosperity of Jinling stemmed from the rational layout of its markets and neighborhoods. Therefore, there was little to modify about the outer city; the main construction remained within the city walls.

The inner city was renovated, separating the imperial city where court officials worked from the temporary palace where the emperor resided.

Zhang Zhao's original plan was to expand the northern part of Jinling City, building a palace for the emperor named Ziwei. He also planned to construct a garden city to the northeast as a camp for the imperial guards, providing direct access to Sangbo (Xuanwu Lake) to the north, facilitating the defense of the palace and allowing Liu Miao to inspect and train the troops at any time…

However, Liu Miao halted this massive project, citing the fact that the country was not yet at peace, and instead focused on repairing only the imperial city and palace within the city.

"It's all money!"

Liu Miao could only sigh that he was fortunate to have reacted quickly and intercepted the Central Plains aristocratic families in advance, preventing them from escaping back to Hebei as they had hoped.

Conservatively estimated, they seized at least 100,000 bushels of grain and 30,000 taels of gold from those powerful clans in the Central Plains. This should have been enough to cover the expenses of Liu Miao's ascension to the throne, preventing a huge financial burden.

Liu Miao headed north of the city, where an army selected from the Three Wu regions was stationed.

The soldiers inside were mostly selected from the common people who benefited most from Liu Miao's policies, making them the elite of the army. If nothing unexpected happens, this army will be expanded into the personal guards led by Zhou Tai and Chen Wu, becoming the future central imperial guards.

As a fellow townsman of Liu Miao and a refugee from Xuzhou, Xu Sheng, who benefited from the equal land distribution system, was also in this army. Based on his merits in Xiaopei, he had been promoted from military commander to colonel.

Xu Sheng immediately came to greet Liu Miao upon seeing his carriage.

When Liu Miao saw the ancient sword hanging at his waist, he smiled.

"Let's go! Get in the car!"

"We have the ancient sword, but what's with the lack of wine? Come on! I'll treat you to a drink!"

Xu Sheng was both pleasantly surprised and somewhat taken aback: "Is my lord calling me?"

"What? You have personal guards and fellow villagers with you? Bring them all along!"

"My lord, that's not what I meant..."

"Enough talk! Get up here!"

Xu Sheng boarded Liu Miao's carriage with some shyness, and looked at Zhou Tai and Chen Wu driving the carriage for Liu Miao, feeling even more uneasy.

"Wenxiang, do you have anything you urgently need right now?"

"I am already content with this treatment; how could I dare to ask for more?"

"Bullshit!"

Xu Sheng's heartfelt words were shut down by Liu Miao's two words, leaving him only able to look down at his toes in frustration.

Fortunately, Liu Miao didn't ask too many questions afterward. The carriage drove all the way to the edge of the West Market before slowly coming to a stop.

"My lord, this is..."

I said I'd buy you a drink!

Liu Miao had more than a dozen men, including Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and his personal guards. Including Xu Sheng's fellow villagers and their personal guards, there were more than twenty men in total, which was quite a large force.

Zhou Tai led the way, skillfully squeezing through the crowd, and arrived precisely at the backyard of the brothel.

Although Liu Miao did not intentionally eavesdrop on the journey, due to the recent situation, even if he did not want to listen, some sounds inevitably reached his ears.

Do you think Liu Biaoji will declare himself emperor?

"That's obvious! Besides Liu Biaoji, who else has the qualifications? Are we just going to stand by and watch the Han Dynasty perish?"

"But after all, the emperor abdicated the throne to Yuan Shao. According to the rites and laws, the current emperor should indeed be Yuan Shao."

"Have you gone stupid from reading too much? Putting everything else aside, do you know what Jinling will become if Liu Biaoji were to declare himself emperor?"

"Turn into what?"

"Fool! Of course it's the capital! My family's workshops and your house will be worth many times more than they are now! And we might even be able to get some official positions, understand?"

"But……"

"But what? But again, it's your treat today!"

"..."

Liu Miao looked at the people chatting and saw that they were all dressed in silk and satin clothes, and their faces and bodies were exceptionally clean. Combined with their words, he felt inexplicably at ease.

As a regular customer, Zhou Tai had already struck up a conversation with the brothel's waiters.

"Any new tricks lately?"

"Yes! Yes!"

The other party led everyone into a room, which immediately caused the soldiers behind Xu Sheng to exclaim in surprise!
The magnificent house had no tables, chairs, or mats; instead, dozens of bathtubs of various sizes were dug out and filled with hot water, the rising steam making them appear as if they were covered in a white mist.

Beside each bath, a woman dressed only in a blue silk robe was kneeling.

Her slender figure was shrouded in mist, creating a hazy, ethereal beauty that caused the soldiers to exclaim in surprise, "Good heavens! If it weren't for General Liu, we would never have seen anything like this in our lives!"

Xu Sheng was also dumbfounded, clearly not expecting that services in Jinling City had developed to this extent.

Zhou Tai was the most carefree. He had a maid take off his clothes and jumped into a bath, splashing water everywhere and making some inexplicable groans.

At this moment, a maidservant came forward to remove Xu Sheng's armor and led him into a bath. Xu Sheng was still looking around blankly, but when he saw Liu Miao soaking in the bath next to him, he felt a little relieved.

Seeing that their officers had already soaked in the bath, the other soldiers finally had no more reservations and all joined in.

At this moment, a waiter brought out a wine pot and placed it beside him. Xu Sheng could not refuse the waiter's hospitality, so he raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"icy?"

Soaking in hot water, my body was initially burning up, but a glass of iced wine instantly made me feel comfortable.

Liu Miao also took a small sip of the ice wine.

“Wenxiang”.

"Here!"

Xu Sheng quickly stood at attention, but Liu Miao gestured for him to stay still in the bath.

Do you think this kind of life is pleasant?

Soaking in hot water, drinking iced wine, and having a beautiful woman by your side—how could you not be happy?

However, after some hesitation, Xu Sheng still advised Liu Miao—

"My lord, this is nothing but pleasure, of no benefit to the country! And it is far too extravagant! Now that the nation is in peril and the state is in turmoil, I beg you not to indulge in such pleasurable things!"

After Xu Sheng finished speaking, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

After all, Liu Miao and he were not close before. Now that Liu Miao had kindly brought him along to enjoy himself, he said something that displeased Liu Miao. He really didn't know his place!

Unexpectedly, Liu Miao was not angry. Instead, he laughed and said, "Wenxiang is mindful of danger even in times of peace! With such spirit, he can be called a good minister!"

"However, although this item is luxurious, it is, after all, located in the market town of Jinling. It is not something I possess alone!"

Such enjoyment was certainly extravagant, but it did not occur in the palace, but rather in the marketplace of Jinling.

In other words, while such enjoyment remains an insurmountable barrier for ordinary people, the difference lies only in wealth, not power.

Even an ordinary person, as long as they have enough money, can enjoy the same treatment as Liu Miao at this time, instead of being shut out by some special privilege.

Therefore, Liu Miao did not feel repulsed by this service, which was even more comfortable than at home; on the contrary, he was very pleased.

"Does Wenxiang think that such extravagance is a bad thing?"

Liu Miao shook his head: "But I think it's a good thing."

"The reason this shop owner does these things is because it's profitable."

"But those who can afford these are clearly a minority."

"Believe it or not, soon someone will sniff out the business opportunity and cut costs... for example, instead of digging so many pools, there will only be one big pool; or instead of ice wine, they will use cool water drawn from the well."

"The cost of these things will gradually come down, and one day, ordinary people will be able to afford them."

Liu Miao lay on the stone platform behind him: "Therefore, it's not a bad thing to be more open-minded."

"I just asked Wen Xiang if he was lacking anything, and he answered no... Could it be that he feels that the position of captain is enough for him?"

Xu Sheng quickly shook his head: "No!"

Xu Sheng naturally also wanted to become a Lieutenant General!

But he also knew that he was still relatively inexperienced.

Moreover, if Liu Miao were to appoint him as General of the Household or General, how would he appoint people like Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci?
The world is still in chaos, but sooner or later everyone will be able to achieve great things in battle!
If everyone becomes a general, what will happen then? Will there be no more titles to be bestowed? Will people then have to protect themselves?
Just like this bathhouse, if you can enjoy it simply by having money, then everyone will work hard to earn money. But if this bathhouse is inside the palace, then no matter how much money you earn, you still can't enjoy it... So what's the point of earning money? What's the point of making merit?

Seeing Xu Sheng's predicament, Liu Miao asked him again: "Wenxiang, do you know that Zhou only enfeoffed fifty-three vassal states with the surname Ji, but why is there a total of seventy-one states?"

Xu Sheng certainly knew the answer to this basic question!

"Apart from the Three Excellencies, the rest were all meritorious officials who assisted Zhou in conquering Shang, such as..."

Xu Sheng's pupils suddenly contracted!
Thinking about the context, Xu Sheng's heart suddenly started pounding!

Would the lord do that?
No, no, no. Only meritorious officials can be granted titles of nobility, and only those with the surname Liu can be called kings. This is the ancestral instruction of Emperor Gaozu...

But not all the vassal states enfeoffed by the Zhou emperor were dukedoms.
……

Countless thoughts jostled in Xu Sheng's mind, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

"My lord, is this really true?"

Liu Miao smiled without saying a word, but got up and had the maidservant beside him wash his body.

"Wenxiang, you should think this over carefully! You never know when this might happen to you!"

Whether it was because he had been soaking for too long or for some other reason, the sound of Xu Sheng's pounding heartbeat rippled through the bathtub!

Divide the land and establish fiefdoms! Build a state!
The pie in Liu Miao's eyes was far too big for Xu Sheng!
But what if?
What if!
Xu Sheng was also among the first group of refugees to arrive in Jiangdong.

He was a witness who saw Jiangdong transform from backwardness to prosperity and Jinling from poverty to wealth!
Back then, no one would have believed that Jinling, then known as Moling, would become such a prosperous city, let alone that one day they would be able to enjoy such divine service.

But today, Liu Miao and the people of Jiangdong have indeed done it!

If such an incredible thing can be accomplished, then the division of land and the granting of fiefdoms... doesn't seem like something unattainable after all.
(End of this chapter)