Dragon's Origin

“What if they don’t act?” The Emperor was excited for a moment, then frowned, “The Qiu family was extorted two hundred million gold coins by you, but they are still honest and didn’t do anything?”

“Are you stupid?” Wang Sheng directly and unceremoniously cursed at the Emperor, “If they don’t act, won’t you act?”

The Emperor chuckled twice and said nothing more. The gaze of Steward Zhou beside him had already turned elsewhere, as if he hadn’t heard a word of what Wang Sheng had just said.

“Right!” The Emperor remembered another thing, “If they annex a principality and get great benefits, and several major princes become addicted to annexation and become stronger and stronger, what should we do?”

“Fighting back and forth will definitely weaken their strength.” Wang Sheng didn’t believe that the Emperor hadn’t thought of this, and glared at him, saying, “At least within ten or twenty years of conquering and annexing, the princes will at most have larger territories and more people, but their strength may not necessarily increase.”

The Emperor had actually considered this point long ago, and this was also his conclusion. The problem was, what about after ten or twenty years? Such a long time is enough for those princes to digest the new territories and cultivate the next generation of people. If the royal family doesn’t have greater improvements by then, I’m afraid their living space will be squeezed smaller and smaller.

“Enfeoffment!” Wang Sheng said without thinking, “Directly give those great dukes a few marquis titles, and let them reward their sons or meritorious officials themselves. If you give them titles, wouldn’t they have to be grateful to the Emperor? With titles, wouldn’t those princes try to give them some fiefdoms?”

“Wonderful!” The Emperor slapped his thigh and exclaimed.

Since I’m giving them titles, those guys have to give some fiefdoms as a token of appreciation, right? Moreover, it’s not like the Emperor is giving titles to others over their heads, but giving them a few blank imperial decrees for them to fill in themselves, with the fiefdoms left blank. They have to fill them in. You can give them or not, but anyway, my Emperor’s sincerity is here. If you don’t give them, maybe your own sons will object.

Giving it to sons is fine, giving it to meritorious officials is fine, as long as a fiefdom is given, this precedent is set. Don’t think that it’s just a few principalities. Giving them huge territories will gradually divide and fragment them, making them smaller and smaller. Do you really think there are no different voices within the family?

The Emperor praised Wang Sheng’s casual idea, and drank several more cups with Wang Sheng, appearing extremely excited.

“Don’t just bring it up casually, there always has to be a reason.” Wang Sheng advised, “Anyway, hint at it by taking advantage of this division of the Kaixuan Kingdom. Whoever gives you benefits will be granted a duke title. Those who are already dukes will be given a few small earl and viscount titles. Don’t give too high at once, take it slowly, and grasp the rhythm.”

The Emperor nodded repeatedly. If he couldn’t even do this, how could he have been the Emperor for so long? He ate the meal with a beaming smile, almost humming a little tune.

“By the way, you not only tricked me out of a team of musicians, but now those people are said to be pulling another batch of people into your Marquis’s mansion. What are you planning to do?” Speaking of singing tunes, the Emperor thought of the team of royal musicians he had given to Wang Sheng, and asked casually.

“I don’t believe you don’t know.” Wang Sheng continued to retort to the Emperor, leaving the Emperor speechless, before opening his mouth and saying, “Didn’t they tell you that I formed a band?”

“Wasn’t the original one complete? What are you doing with so many people?” The Emperor was purely curious. Of course, he knew that Wang Sheng had formed a band. If it wasn’t a band and they were all experts, would the Emperor be able to talk to Wang Sheng so calmly?

“A brand new band, brand new music, needs a lot of people.” Wang Sheng didn’t explain in detail to the Emperor, and said in one sentence, “You should have heard rumors that the music they play is good. When this batch of people has practiced for a few months, they will give you a special performance in front of the Emperor. There are two new musical instruments, and when people are proficient, they will be sent to you together.”

“That’s great, I’ll wait.” The Emperor finally showed a smile. It was rare for Wang Sheng to send the Emperor something good. He had heard about the brand new musical instruments for a long time, but he hadn’t seen Wang Sheng take any action. Now that Wang Sheng actually offered to send them to him, it naturally made the Emperor very happy.

“Speaking of which, I was inconsiderate about the last matter.” The Emperor smiled for a while, and after drinking a few cups with Wang Sheng, he sincerely apologized to Wang Sheng, “I’m used to doing things and bossing people around, and I didn’t consider your feelings. This cup of wine is my apology, I’ll drink it first.”

After speaking, the Emperor raised his wine glass and drained it in one gulp. Steward Zhou was completely stunned when he heard the Emperor apologize. He had heard the Emperor and the Empress say these things in the palace, but he never thought that the Emperor could directly apologize in front of Wang Sheng!

Wang Sheng was obviously also caught off guard, but since the Emperor had already made this gesture, Wang Sheng still had to give him a little face, and accompanied the Emperor in drinking a cup.

“Seeing that you old man is not bad, I’ll tell you a little secret.” Since the Emperor gave him face, was willing to lower his face and admit his mistake, and his attitude was very good, Wang Sheng didn’t mind making him a little happy, “Mei’er is now being filial to her godmother. The benefits from this ransacking of the house, the ones that are easy to liquidate, have all been given as filial piety.”

The Emperor immediately revealed a smile, and couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed in his heart. He now realized that Wang Sheng really wasn’t putting on a facade of being open to negotiation, but was clearly this kind of person. Anything, everyone puts it on the table to discuss and resolve. As long as it’s not excessive, basically a solution can be found. If you really do it in private, I’m afraid it will be the fate of the Qiu family and the Kaixuan Palace.

“What do you estimate, what benefits can the royal family get from this division of the Kaixuan Palace?” The Emperor was in a better mood, and he had no scruples when discussing some major matters with Wang Sheng, and he was not afraid of leaking secrets.

“What benefits do you want to get?” Wang Sheng didn’t answer, but asked the Emperor.

“It’s best to get a piece of land, and then exchange it with the surrounding principalities nearby, bordering the capital, and expanding the capital’s territory.” The Emperor answered very seriously, “Wasn’t that what you meant at the beginning?”

“Is the possibility high?” Wang Sheng asked.

“At most, there is only a 50% chance.” The Emperor answered honestly, “I have analyzed it with several important ministers several times, and the possibility is not high. Those princes are unwilling to see the royal family become powerful.”

This is very normal. A powerful Emperor is a constraint to the princes, and no one wants to see it. The best thing is to maintain the status quo and continue to treat the Emperor as a puppet Emperor, and themselves as the local emperors of the principalities.

“Ask for this first, and if it doesn’t work, retreat to the next best thing, ask for money, ask for gold coins, ask for wealth.” Wang Sheng thought for a while and answered, “I believe they will definitely not be stingy. You can use this wealth to slowly build the capital into an economic and cultural center.”