Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

“When I initially went to Jianjiang for disaster relief, how did Prince Wu know that I would trace the matter back to Liu Xun and move the silver in advance? Could it be that Prince Wu can predict the future?”

This question had been weighing on Fang Zheng Yi's mind for a long time.

Prince Wu stared at Fang Zheng Yi with a strange expression after hearing this, remaining silent.

Fang Zheng Yi felt uneasy under his gaze and asked, “Why isn't Your Highness speaking?”

Prince Wu was silent for a while before finally saying, “It's rare to see someone as lacking in self-awareness as you are.”

“......”

“In the capital, you offended countless officials in your frenzy to provide disaster relief. With someone as unscrupulous as you, what good outcome could Liu Xun expect? Naturally, this Prince had to order people to withdraw in advance. I had originally hoped that the disaster would escalate, giving me a chance, but who knew I would encounter a busybody like you.”

“......”

“Also, in Haiyuan City, this Prince had actually arrived there long ago. To act cautiously, I sent people ahead to scout out the situation in Haiyuan City, only to learn that the Lü family had been taken down by you in less than a day. Alas, it's truly unimaginable how you managed to do it?”

This was the first time someone had said he lacked self-awareness.

Fang Zheng Yi's face was covered in black lines. He didn't respond to Prince Wu's words and continued to ask, “To be honest, the evidence I found linking Your Highness to the Lü family, apart from the Lü family's letters, is only circumstantial for now. How did Your Highness manage to act so discreetly? Even checking the accounts at the Ministry of Revenue revealed no discrepancies.”

“Lü family's rampant smuggling of salt, shouldn't there be issues reflected in the accounts?”

“This Prince knew that the Lü family would keep some evidence for self-preservation, that lawless scoundrel Lü Renjie!” Prince Wu looked helpless: “Of course, you wouldn't find any problems checking the accounts, because the false accounts started from the Qian Kingdom's Ministry of Revenue records. The vast majority of the private salt revenue is in the old lands of the Qian Kingdom. If the root is wrong, how can you find the mistakes?”

Fang Zheng Yi blurted out: “Zhang Shi?”

“Correct, only he could cooperate with this Prince to accomplish this matter. This Prince promised him two million taels of silver every year. However... although Zhang Shi works for this Prince, he is not loyal to me. He only loves money, but his heart is with the Emperor.”

“Heh, but once he's on this Prince's ship, it'll be difficult for him to get off.”

Fang Zheng Yi rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache: “Does Your Highness have other informants in the imperial court?”

Prince Wu shook his head: “The Emperor is very perceptive. I only had a chance before when he was busy with the war. The more people you win over, the greater the risk of exposure.”

“Then what are Your Highness's plans for establishing your own domain?”

Prince Wu got up and walked to the window, looking out at the coastline: “This Prince can earn nearly seven million taels of silver a year from private salt and other channels. Do you know what this silver is used for?”

Fang Zheng Yi lowered his head and glanced at his feet.

Prince Wu indirectly earned a lot of silver through foreigners, and he obviously saw the benefits.

Now that he was desperate and talking about establishing his own domain, he probably had long planned to flee overseas.

He truly deserved to be called the number one runaway in the Great Jing!

“Building ships?”

“Clever!” Prince Wu turned his head to look at Fang Zheng Yi with admiration: “That's right, a large amount of silver has been spent on building and acquiring sea vessels. This Prince has been investing silver into it without regard for cost in order to speed up the process.”

“Over the years, this Prince has dispatched five fleets overseas. Besides shipbuilding, they are exploring sea routes and acquiring land overseas. The risks of going to sea are extremely high. Only two of the five fleets have successfully returned. This Prince has also suffered heavy losses, but fortunately, we succeeded. It's all worth it!”

“Our Great Jing prides itself on being the Central Kingdom, but its vision is short-sighted. The world is bigger than we imagine. Salt production methods, high-yield crops, and even the manufacturing level of foreigners are not inferior to Great Jing. There are probably even more valuable things overseas.”

“Moreover, overseas are just a group of small countries with short histories. In this Prince's view, they are vulnerable! As long as we can successfully go overseas, there will be a great future!”

Prince Wu became silent again, and after a while, he continued, “This Prince has had enough of his current life, hiding and being at the mercy of others! Going overseas has been a plan for a long time, but I have not been able to make up my mind until now. You have given this Prince a push.”

“Your Highness is truly the first person to open his eyes to the world! I admire you.” Fang Zheng Yi was truly somewhat impressed.

He was a figure who could be recorded in history, but unfortunately, he chose the wrong path.

“How do you think this Prince compares to the Emperor?” Prince Wu looked at Fang Zheng Yi with a hint of anticipation.

“There's nothing to compare. In my view, Your Highness is just a drowning man.” Fang Zheng Yi said calmly.

Prince Wu was stunned. He had originally felt very proud, but he never expected Fang Zheng Yi to answer like this!

Fang Zheng Yi was speaking from the heart. Prince Wu's extraordinary vision, as displayed now, surprised him, but not to the point of being shocked.

The reason was simple: to some extent, he and Prince Wu were the same kind of person.

Drowning people, desperate, will never let go of the slightest chance of survival.

Prince Wu, a marginalized figure in the royal family who was not favored, had some ambition and was unwilling to have his fate controlled by others. Seeing a glimmer of hope, he would naturally seize it and not let go.

The so-called opening one's eyes to the world was just something one had to do!

Seeing a path to survival, one could only desperately break through, forcibly twisting one's own views and opinions. These were all unavoidable choices.

The so-called times make heroes is the truth. Fang Zheng Yi was originally just an ordinary clerk.

Let him govern a county of people? What a joke! He hadn't even lived his own life properly.

But with more than two thousand lives in his hands, and those people supporting him, he had no choice but to fight.

To beg for food, to rob! In order to let people live, he completely tore off his own face.

One painful transformation after another led to who he was today!

He was like this, and so was Prince Wu.

It's just that Fang Zheng Yi saw it clearly. As a transmigrator, he could better examine himself from God's perspective.

These words made Prince Wu feel somewhat defeated.

His anger faintly rose to his head, but the next moment, he was like a deflated ball, laughing miserably and saying, “Indeed, you are right.”

“Since I was a child, I have not been favored by the late Emperor! I have always loved astronomy and mechanics. Because of this, I was disliked by the court officials and abandoned by the late Emperor! They destroyed my books and creations.”

“I thought that after being enfeoffed, I would have freedom, but what happened? I only had the worst conditions! After painstakingly managing it well, it was forcibly taken away by the Emperor!”

“What choice do I have!” Saying this, the resentment in Prince Wu's stomach seemed to suddenly erupt, and he angrily said, “People are the knife and chopping block, and I am the fish and meat!”

“I have been manipulated by others all my life! If this is the arrangement that Heaven has given me, I will never accept it! Man will conquer Heaven, and my fate can only be controlled by myself! The late Emperor liked to eat elixirs, so I gave him elixirs, letting him eat his fill! The Emperor wants to seize my fiefdom, and sooner or later I will take it back!”

“Meeting those foreign merchants was Heaven's will! My fate changed from that time. Do you know? Those sea merchants who came from afar had always circulated a curse on their ships, called the Pustule Disease. Almost none of the people who were infected and survived on the fleet survived! But what about my fleet? No one has ever contracted this disease. What is this! This is Heaven's will! The Mandate of Heaven!”

Listening to Prince Wu's mumbling complaints.

Fang Zheng Yi was speechless.

Isn't this just sepsis? It may be because people on the Great Jing side love to drink tea, and the rich diet can supplement vitamin C, thus avoiding it.

But if it's unfavorable to you, you'll conquer Heaven, and if it's beneficial to you, it's the Mandate of Heaven.

Your thinking is really traditional!

.....