Exiled to the Frontier, He Became the Empire’s Most Powerful Lord - Chapter 35

This was the first time that the Left and Right Chancellors and Princess Zhaoyang had been put in charge of the country.

Since Emperor Yuanwu had previously spent no more than a month in the underground palace, there was naturally no need to appoint a regent.

However, this system of regency has a loophole: even if the regency is in charge, the control over the princes is much less than that of the emperor.

This gives the princes room to fight amongst themselves! Moreover, both the left and right prime ministers have their own princes to support, so who knows what will happen next.

“Heh, it seems that old man’s health problems are getting more and more serious! Next, the second brother and his gang should start to lose their temper and start fighting like dogs!”

The eldest prince was laughing wildly in his mansion, indulging in unrestrained drinking of fine wine.

“Your Highness, what should we do next?”

A dark figure suddenly appeared and asked.

“Wait! These guys are getting too cocky right now, each one wants to be the crown prince! Once they’ve fought it out enough, we’ll add fuel to the fire!”

The eldest prince continued to laugh wildly!

“You must remember, this Great Zhou belongs to Xiao Qi; he is the rightful heir of our Great Zhou!”

“And all I need is her!”

The eldest prince suddenly stopped smiling and said very seriously.

In his mind, he naturally pictured the stunningly beautiful face of the Imperial Preceptor Zhaoyang after she removed her veil.

“I wonder if His Highness the Barbarian King knows about all that you have done for him!”

The shadowy figure sighed.

“That doesn’t matter! Because he is the only brother I acknowledge, my dearest brother!”

The eldest prince suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Your Highness, you’re in too much of a hurry! By pushing your life force to the second-grade Grandmaster realm like this, you probably won’t live more than three years!”

The shadowy figure shouted a warning.

“I don’t want to either! But time is running out, and I don’t know how much longer I have to live!”

The eldest prince sighed, and soon silence fell around them.

“The emperor secluded himself in the underground palace for half a year? The two prime ministers and the Imperial Preceptor of Zhaoyang were overseeing the country?”

Zhou Lingfeng frowned; this whole thing seemed rather strange.

To this day, he still cannot understand what Emperor Yuanwu’s true purpose was in watching the empress die and then deposing him.

In my memory, Emperor Yuanwu and his empress were childhood sweethearts and had a very close relationship.

If it weren’t for this, the Tie family wouldn’t have fully supported his ascension to the throne, and the entire family of men wouldn’t have shed their blood on the battlefield for the sake of the Great Zhou.

It’s not enough to simply explain it as someone whose achievements overshadow the emperor! In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the five great clans, with their long-standing and intertwined power, were strong enough to resist the imperial authority when they joined forces, and even threatened to surpass it.

If they could tolerate the emperors of the five great aristocratic families with a history of thousands of years, how could they not tolerate the Tie family?

Zhou Lingfeng felt as if he were facing a fog, vaguely able to grasp some clues, but they quickly disappeared.

However, Emperor Yuanwu’s six-month seclusion was actually beneficial to him!

The older brothers in Shengjing will definitely take advantage of this time to expand their strength and strike at their opponents!

That way, they won’t send anyone to cause trouble for me from time to time!

During this time, Zhou Lingfeng held a funeral for the girls who had died in Qiutang.

He personally erected the tombstone and kept vigil for a day and a night.

This surprised everyone.

Although those girls who lost their virginity were as lowly as ants, they were remembered by the prince for his entire life!

After the first lottery draw, the entire city of Mangcheng was swept up in a lottery frenzy!

After careful consideration, Zhou Lingfeng decided to hold the meeting once every five days.

This left many people feeling unsatisfied, while others felt that a hundred coins could buy ten days of wonderful anticipation, which was quite a happy thing.

This is much better than dreaming! Because when you wake up from a dream, you have nothing left!

But with the lottery, there is a chance to win, although the odds are very slim, you will never despair.

The holiday ends after the sixth day of the Lunar New Year!

The Barbarian King’s cabinet began to operate! The army, civilians, and barbarians from the mountains, totaling 100,000 people, suddenly began to cultivate the wasteland.

Every day thereafter, some barbarians would be led down the mountain by their companions, and after being assigned to barren fields, they would grin excitedly.

The barbarians lived a simple life. They would casually build simple houses and stoves next to the wasteland and then begin their daily work.

The thought that no matter how much grain these barren fields yielded, would not be confiscated by the government filled me with indescribable joy.

“What? Mr. Fang died without any warning! How is this possible?”

After receiving reports from their spies, the Lin family was filled with doubt and uncertainty, but ultimately decided not to provoke the Barbarian King for the time being.

After all, with Emperor Yuanwu currently in seclusion, the most crucial moment is for the princes to vie for their respective interests, and the mere barbarian king can be set aside for the time being.

“Your Highness, the first batch of cement samples has been produced! In addition, the distiller you requested has also been developed!”

Lei Xingmie rushed over early in the morning, his face full of joy.

“Oh? That’s wonderful!”

Zhou Lingfeng immediately followed Lei Xingmie to the test site.

Half an hour later, looking at the cement that had been stirred and solidified, Zhou Lingfeng burst into laughter!

“The craftsman who develops cement will be rewarded with one hundred taels of silver and granted a ninth-rank official position!”

Zhou Lingfeng said loudly.

“It’s all thanks to the prince’s amazing recipe. We actually managed to recreate it exactly as you wrote it.”

The experienced craftsmen were overjoyed and rewarded him with a hundred taels of silver!

Although this ninth-rank official position was lowly, it was like their ancestors’ graves were emitting auspicious smoke for them.

Craftsmen are considered to be in lowly professions, so how could they dare to dream of becoming officials one day?

The other craftsmen looked at the group with great envy, wishing that such a good thing could happen to them.

They never expected that the prince would be so learned and creative.

“Chief Secretary Lei, if the craftsmen succeed in any further research and development, they shall be rewarded in the same way as usual!”

Zhou Lingfeng’s words immediately energized the others.

Zhou Lingfeng was also satisfied with the development of the distillation apparatus!

Once activated, the fruit wine, distilled eight times, will become an absolute game-changer! Any fine wine from the Great Zhou Dynasty will become garbage.

“From now on, recruit large numbers of barbarians to work down the mountain! Three meals a day, meat every three days! Those who want wages will be paid, and those who want land will be given land!”

Zhou Lingfeng ordered Lei Xing to destroy the Dao.

Whether it’s building cities and roads or collecting and transporting mountain fruits to make wine, a lot of labor is needed!

These barbarians are honest and kind-hearted, and strong; one of them is as good as three.

“By the way, could you also help me find out where the best swordsmith is in Python City?”

Zhou Lingfeng called Lei Xingmie back and asked him about it.

“Is Your Highness going to forge a sword?”

“Do you need me to help you find some good materials?”

Lei Xingmie said ingratiatingly.

“No need, I have my own plans!”

Zhou Lingfeng waved his hand, explaining that the Azure Lotus Sword he had used last autumn had broken when he killed Fang Xuance.

That was Qiu Tian’s destined sword, and he wanted to forge a new one to give to her.

After Lei Xingmie left to take on the mission, autumn arrived!

After several consecutive lottery draws, she quickly amassed a considerable fortune, all without using her own initial investment.

Although no grand prize was awarded in these few draws, there were still quite a few first and second prizes! Winning fifty or a hundred taels of silver would be quite satisfying.

As for not winning, that’s just bad luck! It’s only a loss of a hundred coins, which is much more worthwhile than going to the gambling den!

After all, casinos only offer a 1:1 payout, while the lottery offers a payout of 50,000!

So a brand new profession quickly emerged in Python City: lottery analyst, and many people even started making money from it. As for casinos, well, what are those? Go play ball yourself.