Prince An was completely satisfied.
He had the coffee he had been craving for early this morning and ate a sandwich he had never seen before. He was in a wonderful mood.
In the Golden Palace, Emperor Jingyuan, sitting at the head of the table, clearly sensed that Prince An, the Crown Prince, and the Ministry of Revenue officials were all in very good spirits.
Seeing the sandwich crumbs on Prince An's lips, Emperor Jingyuan seemed to understand something.
The first major event at court today was Emperor Jingyuan's clear decision to suppress Buddhism in the Great Yan Dynasty, and he also specified the destination of the monks: to go directly to the newly discovered gold and iron mines to mine.
Guagua, these monks in the north are alright since they're closer to the mines. But if they're monks from the south, most of them will probably die on the way there. It's such a waste of manpower.
Host, you're right.
Guagua, look around. Aren't there any mines in the south?
Host, this is absolutely necessary!
Upon hearing this, the eyes of all the civil and military officials lit up immediately.
Especially Emperor Jingyuan.
Is there a mine?
It's great to have a mine!
Then we can just send those monks from the south to the mines in the south to make contributions!
Emperor Jingyuan's eyes clearly said: Tell me quickly, tell me, where are the mines in the south?
Go mining right now!
Great Yan urgently needs all kinds of mines!!!
At this moment, everyone in the hall pricked up their ears, waiting for Shen Mingzhu and Guagua to reveal the location of the mine so that people could be sent to confirm its location and begin mining operations.
Guagua, tell me quickly! What are you waiting for?
Host, there's a huge coal mine in Huizhou!
Guagua, that's great! Coal will be useful for heating during the Little Ice Age. Even if the people of Huizhou couldn't afford coal, they could still keep warm by collecting coal ash.
Host, what are you thinking? How can those in power allow them to collect coal cinders!
Guagua, when the time comes, Emperor Jingyuan can issue an edict ordering local officials to distribute some to the people. The most important thing is to have local officials.
Sigh... Host Emperor Jingyuan is in charge of the overall strategy of the Great Yan Dynasty. How could he possibly focus on the lives of the people in Huizhou?
Emperor Jingyuan: Guagua is right.
However, since the Crown Princess has brought it up, he will issue an edict.
Let's just consider it a small "benefit" for the local people.
Hopefully, this can warm the hearts of ordinary people during this cold winter.
As the emperor of the Great Yan, he was quite wise in adapting to local conditions.
Guagua, that coal mine in Huizhou isn't in Panxian County, is it? It's that Sunshine Flower City in Dayan now, isn't it?
Host, yes, that's it! Located in southwestern Sichuan Province, at the border of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, it's in a pretty good location!
All right!
Upon hearing the location, Emperor Jingyuan immediately gave a look to Grand Eunuch Wang Defu, and his men immediately sprang into action.
Unbeknownst to Shen Mingzhu, a small team rushed to Huizhou by express courier.
After court, I'll tell brother, the Crown Prince, and let him handle it.
The Crown Prince Yan Beichen, who was mentioned, was all smiles, beaming with pride, and feeling very pleased with himself.
Mingzhu trusts him and is happy.
The Second Prince, Yan Yunxuan, frowned deeply as he looked at the smile on Crown Prince Yan Beichen's lips.
Yesterday, he was prepared to make a good impression in the Imperial Study, but his grandmother fainted. His father, mother, concubines, and others went to Cining Palace, and he naturally followed at the very back. However, when he left the palace, he learned about the incident at Huguo Temple.
As a result, the Crown Prince, Prince An, Shen Mingzhu, and others discovered so much gold and silver jewellery that they literally tore down the entire Huguo Temple
And so, the entire Great Yan is now immersed in the campaign to suppress Buddhism.
Why...
At first, he thought he could show his filial piety to their grandmother, but she just wanted to be left alone.
What he didn't expect was that his elder brother, the Crown Prince, was so lucky that he inadvertently did a great thing for the Great Yan.
The Emperor was very pleased!
You can tell just by looking at today's morning court session...
He was still lost in his own thoughts when he suddenly saw Crown Prince Yan Beichen step forward.
"Father, I have received reliable information that a coal mine has been discovered in Panxian County, Huizhou. I request that Your Majesty send people to confirm and the mining operations to commence."
The Second Prince Yan Yunxuan stared in disbelief: What?
Coal mine?
How did he know?
Why didn't his undercover agents in the Crown Prince's residence receive the news?
Shen Mingzhu was also somewhat surprised.
Guagua, look! Great Yan still has many capable officials. The coal mine has already been discovered!
The system rolled its eyes at the sky.
Host, this is normal. The Great Yan still has many people destined for greatness, like your Crown Prince brother.
Hehe, Guagua, my Crown Prince is very handsome and kind. He must have had some good fortune to become the Crown Prince.
Crown Prince Yan Beichen: My greatest fortune is meeting Mingzhu.
All the officials: Isn't that right?
This was something His Majesty fought and fought for on behalf of his precious Crown Prince, and they all know that.
Shen Changyuan: I know about this. The "cabbage" in my house has been coveted for a long time.
They practically took it all to their own home!
Prince An: Yes, that's true.
So he wants to marry his daughter to the Marquis's mansion, hehe~~~ "
He and his daughter, Princess Changning, were also fortunate people.
Hehe~~~
He's really smart.
Emperor Jingyuan, seated at the head of the table, glanced at the assembled civil and military officials, then looked at Crown Prince Yan Beichen and said,
"Your Highness has done well. If the news is true, you will be richly rewarded!"
"Thank you for your great kindness, Father Emperor."
He then returned to his position.
Guagua, could you check if there are any other mines near Panxian County? We could mine them together sometime.
Oh, right, host, there really is one.
Really? What other mines are there?
Host, there's an iron ore!
All the officials: Excellent!
That's great news!
No wonder they often hear magpie calls these days; now they understand.
Shen Mingzhu: Are you sure?
Where did these magpies come from, in the dead of winter with light snow falling?
The entire court: We heard it!!!
Shen Mingzhu: Fine, fine, you can decide what you hear. If you heard it, you heard it!
Guagua, where is the iron ore?
Host, located at the confluence of the Yalong River and the J-Sha River in the eastern district of Panzhihua County, within Sichuan Province.
That's good! As long as there are mines, that's fine. There's plenty of iron ore, so we can forge lots of weapons and armour. The barbarians will be desperate enough to come and rob us later.
Yes, host, things won't be so peaceful for long!
Let them come! Our soldiers of Great Yan will utterly crush them!