We'll have you impersonate the Crown Prince and create a prosperous era for the Great Qian Dyna

Overall, Zhou Tianze isn't a bad person.

Especially after he prepared to abdicate the throne.

Huang Chen nodded slightly in agreement, but also brought another piece of news.

"Third Prince, your maternal grandfather has also come to the capital from Yunzhou Prefecture."

Zhou Tianze gave a wry smile.

"Thank you for the reminder, Steward Huang. I will stop him."

There was a tacit understanding between the three of them.

But Qin Zhi'ang still came.

He began to spread the news that the crown prince was a fake.

The question of who would inherit the throne of the Great Qian Dynasty caused unease among the people.

The period when public opinion was at its most intense coincided with Zhou Tiancheng's preparations for ascending the throne.

All the rumors and gossip vanished the moment Zhou Tiancheng ascended the throne.

There's no other reason than that domestic manufacturers are starting to step up their efforts!

You dare to spread rumors about the emperor? Do you want to die?

Zhou Tianze even went to see Qin Zhiang in person.

No one knows what the two talked about. All that is known is that the Third Prince stayed in Qin Zhi'ang's residence for a whole afternoon. After leaving, the Third Prince went straight back to Jiangnan, while Qin Zhi'ang looked as if he had aged ten years.

After Zhou Rui became emperor, Zheng Ye'er began to manage the harem.

The first thing was actually a talent show!

As a result, Zheng Ye'er only chose those she found pleasing to the eye, ignoring Zhou Tiancheng's opinions entirely.

In her words, "Aren't we enough women? Why are you being picky?"

What else is there to say?

Zhou Tiancheng went with her.

According to Zhou Tiancheng, he didn't want to participate in the talent show, since he couldn't handle even these few women!

He's almost thrown up from drinking all the tonics that Steward Liu gave him!

But there's nothing we can do.

Zheng Ye'er was afraid that others would say she was jealous, so she selected dozens of women for Zhou Tiancheng.

then……

Then the harem turned into a mahjong parlor.

Zhou Tiancheng returned to the northern frontier in the spring, while Zheng Ye'er took a large group of women on a trip.

She didn't care at all whether Zhou Tiancheng lived or died.

On the day the Great Yue Pass was recaptured, Zhou Tiancheng appeared by the river.

He looked at the villas by the river and felt a pang of emotion.

"This is the house I once reserved for myself. I thought, if I can't be the emperor, I'll come here and be a rich old man."

Manager Liu offered earnest reminders from the side.

"Your Majesty, you should refer to yourself as '朕' (Zhen)."

Zhou Tiancheng remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"I am still me. Calling myself 'I' makes me feel too distant from the people."

Such remarks kept popping up from time to time, and Manager Liu had become somewhat used to them.

At this moment, Zhou Tiancheng was also in high spirits.

"Do you see those villas?"

"That's for Xinhua, and the one next to it is for the Ten Ghosts of Fengcheng."

When this was mentioned, Zhou Tiancheng's voice became a little softer.

Seeing that he was a little sad, Xiao Shi calmly spoke up from the side.

"I can accept my brothers' inheritance."

"Those ten villas are all mine, not one less."

These words made Zhou Tiancheng laugh.

"You're really greedy."

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore. Now that the Great Vietnam Pass is back and the coal mine is up and running, let's start smelting iron."

"Bring those scholars from the Department of Natural Sciences here. If they can't figure it out, they're not allowed to leave!"

Even Steward Liu couldn't stand it anymore.

"The science department has only been held once, with only a few successful candidates. They were already busy with gunpowder, firearms, and cannons, and now they want to get into iron smelting."

"Your Majesty, are you trying to torture them to death?!"

Chou Tien-cheng was perfectly justified!

"Who told me I'm the emperor?"

"Besides, wasn't the book I wrote before used as teaching material for the science department?"

"They should have some results after their research, right?"

Steward Liu quickly spoke up.

"Your Majesty, these things will take time!"

Zhou Tiancheng touched his nose.

"Then let's hold another one, and bring a few more scholars who have passed the imperial examinations in the field of natural sciences. We're short-handed, aren't we?"

This time, Steward Liu did not try to dissuade him.

Unfortunately, the Great Qian Dynasty truly lacks capable and pragmatic individuals.

……

Three years later.

The Yuan Dynasty fell.

The barbarians did not cause any greater trouble.

Faced with an army of steel, their pride in courage was utterly insignificant.

The Northern Xia re-established its kingdom and requested to be subordinate to the Great Qian Dynasty.

There was no other way, because they had heard that the tax rates in the various prefectures within the Great Qian Dynasty were pitifully low, but once it came to taxes between countries, they were frighteningly high.

It is said that Tuoba Lie and Kazan came to the capital in person and wept bitterly in the court of the Great Qian Dynasty.

"Your Majesty! Northern Xia is suffering! The people of Northern Xia are barely surviving!"

"You were the one who saved Northern Xia from disaster, you can't abandon its people!"

Zhou Tiancheng calmly refused.

The Great Qian Dynasty needs money!

Without tariffs, he would lose a huge amount of money!

There's nothing we can do.

Tuoba Zheng brought her son to the capital.

The mother and son knelt before Zhou Tiancheng.

"Your Majesty! Please give Northern Xia a way out! The people of Northern Xia are on the verge of starvation..."

Zhou Tiancheng's face turned ashen!

"Did Tuoba Lie send you?"

"He truly grasped the essence of the National Protection Army!"

"Coming here every day to complain about being poor, what kind of nonsense is that!"

Tuoba Zheng immediately stopped crying.

But she secretly pinched her son.

The little kid burst into tears on the spot.

Zhou Tiancheng was both angry and amused, and picked up the little kid with a helpless expression.

"Yes, yes! I agree, isn't that enough?"

"You guys really are!"

He didn't even know how to start the conversation; these people were utterly shameless!

But it's still a good thing.

The Great Qian Dynasty expanded its territory, and the people of the Northern Xia and the Great Qian Dynasty became more harmonious. They nominally belonged to the same country, only their customs were different.

In the following period, Zhou Tiancheng began to abolish serfdom, establish schools, and generally bring the constitution of the Great Qian Dynasty closer to that of later generations.

He even wanted to separate the royal family from the political system, retaining only one position of honor.

There's nothing I can do!

Let me put it this way: ever since he became emperor, he has been busy until two or three in the morning every day, and he has to get up at six o'clock the next day. If it weren't for the fact that he could take a nap at noon, he probably would have died of exhaustion long ago!

He was scared!

But he wanted to relinquish power, and the officials wouldn't allow it!

There was no way around it; Zhou Tiancheng's prestige was too high. Whenever it was mentioned that he intended to withdraw from affairs, a wave of petitions from the people broke out all over the country.

Nobody wants to be harmed by those officials without restraint anymore.

Zhou Tiancheng thought about it again and again, and he also felt a headache coming on.

"I'm just an actor, I've played emperors before, but do you think I've never actually been an emperor?!"

"Who knew being an emperor was so tiring?"

"I should have been a tyrant!"

Left with no other option, he decided to run away secretly.

Unfortunately, Steward Liu intercepted him with his men beforehand.

This act of fleeing was repeated more than a dozen times.

Zhou Tiancheng also became the first emperor in history to fail in his attempts to flee more than ten times!

On the day Zheng Ye'er's son turned eighteen, Zhou Tiancheng ran away without looking back.

Not only did he run away, but Zheng Ye'er also ran away.

This eighteen-year-old crown prince, having just come of age, was unexpectedly declared an orphan. Unable to find his parents, he was placed on the throne in a state of bewilderment.

I endured it for more than ten days.

This eighteen-year-old couldn't take it anymore and, once again, tried to pull the royal family out of the core of power, retaining only their status, just like Zhou Tiancheng.

But he was rejected.

When Zhou Tiancheng heard the news, he was fishing on the banks of West Lake and laughed until his stomach hurt.