Three days later, the Southern Tour entourage successfully arrived at Luodong City.
Among all of Great Xing, this city's prosperity ranks among the top five.
If solely considering the north, Luodong City ranks second, right after the Capital.
From afar, they could already see the majestic outline of Luodong City's walls from the official road.
The official road nearing Luodong City was paved with bluestone, making the carriage ride incredibly smooth.
officials from Luodong City began to welcome the Southern Tour entourage ten li away.
Emperor Yongyuan personally dismounted from his imperial carriage, offered some words of comfort to these officials, and then continued towards Luodong City together.
The number of officials in Luodong City was considerable; dozens came to greet them, significantly more than in Jade Prefecture City.
The Three Little Ones sat inside the carriage, observing the commotion outside through the window.
"There are so many officials in Luodong City, meow."
Li Xuan muttered softly.
"Li Xuan, you wouldn't know this," Princess Ankang explained with a smile to Li Xuan.
"Luodong City was originally intended to be built as a new capital, but the Late Emperor, who decided on this matter, passed away before Luodong City was completed. Afterwards, the topic of relocating the capital was never brought up again."
At this point, Princess Ankang lowered her voice and said, "Everyone felt it was somewhat inauspicious."
After saying this, the Little Girl returned to her normal volume:
"However, countless human and material resources had already been expended to establish Luodong City, and it wasn't good to just abandon it. So, it was managed with the specifications of a large-scale Fu City."
"But for some unknown reason, Luodong City developed extremely smoothly from the very beginning. In less than three years, it became a famous prosperous city in the north."
"Everyone felt that the feng shui here was good; although it didn't prosper the Late Emperor, it could prosper others."
"Later, it continued to develop more smoothly up to now, and the city has been expanded several times. If you add it all up, its scale has long surpassed the Capital."
Li Xuan's eyes lit up after hearing this.
It sounded like the Capital held the title of the capital city, but in reality, from a city perspective, Luodong City was already the largest city in Great Xing.
"Why did the Late Emperor suddenly decide to relocate the capital?"
"Could this place really be some kind of geomantic treasure land?"
Li Xuan, with doubts, gazed at Luodong City in the distance.
The majestic city gate gradually unfolded in his sight.
The three large characters for [Luodong City] were carved on it in huge script.
The city gate had long received the news, and the gate was cleared. Garrison troops guarded both sides of the road, clearing a wide entrance path into the city for the Southern Tour entourage.
Emperor Yongyuan was also visiting Luodong City for the first time.
He was very curious about this city.
Emperor Yongyuan had personally witnessed how insistent the Late Emperor was on this new capital city back then.
Later signs all indicated that the Late Emperor's vision was indeed unique; Luodong City had developed smoothly all the way to the present.
If Luodong City could have been completed before the Late Emperor's demise and gained the title of the new capital, it would probably be much more prosperous than it is now.
More importantly, Luodong City would be a crucial point of this Southern Tour.
From Luodong City, the Southern Tour entourage would travel south by water.
Luodong City relied on a Grand Canal that ran through Great Xing from north to south, which was the fundamental reason for its prosperity and development to this day.
This Grand Canal took ten years and tens of millions of laborers to dig back then, holding extraordinary significance for Great Xing.
When the Late Emperor insisted on building this Grand Canal, all the civil and military officials in the court opposed it. But with the economic benefits brought by the canal's completion, everyone collectively shut their mouths.
Those who called the Late Emperor a tyrant later lost some of their confidence.
Unfortunately, the Late Emperor never saw any of this.
The Late Emperor passed away a few days after the Grand Canal was opened, naturally unable to witness the results it brought.
As the Southern Tour entourage entered the city, both sides of the road were crowded with commoners who came to watch the excitement.
The commoners here didn't show much reverence for the Southern Tour entourage; instead, they displayed more curiosity.
Moreover, the commoners here were full of spirit, showing no signs of being oppressed, which was vastly different from many places they had visited before.
"Could the local officials here be honest ones?"
Li Xuan was more sensitive to the emotions in the crowd and didn't find anything unusual.
But for such a large and prosperous city, the amount of illicit gains was unimaginable.
It would be strange if no one was corrupt in such a place, wouldn't it?
Even if the chief official of Luodong City was an upright person, were all his subordinates also clean?
Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, assuming that those who came to watch the excitement were not the ones being oppressed.
Luodong City had specially built temporary imperial residences, so the Southern Tour entourage didn't need to stay and rest at the government office; they could go directly to the temporary imperial residences.
This was also the most comfortable place they had stayed on their journey south.
The place had already been cleaned and all supplies prepared; they just needed to move in.
Luodong City was a Fu City, so the largest yamen here was the Fu Yamen.
The Fu Yamen had arranged servants to wait at the temporary imperial residence for orders, but Emperor Yongyuan sent them all back.
The Southern Tour entourage already had servants, so there was no need to use people from the Fu Yamen.
But from this action, it could be seen that Emperor Yongyuan was wary of the officials in Luodong City.
Compared to his previous firm attitude, Emperor Yongyuan was noticeably much gentler after arriving in Luodong City.
Not only did he not present any evidence of wrongdoing, but he also showed no intention of arresting any corrupt officials.
It was unclear whether he lacked sufficient evidence or had other plans.
After settling into the temporary imperial residence, the local Fu Yamen immediately hosted a grand banquet and splendid song and dance performances to welcome Emperor Yongyuan, inviting several renowned masters from Luodong City.
They had arrived in the afternoon, and after settling in, it was just in time for dinner, arranged perfectly and reasonably.
The banquet was arranged just right, and Emperor Yongyuan chatted happily with the local officials.
Emperor Yongyuan would offer a word of encouragement, and the local officials would cheer "Long live!" It was a truly harmonious scene between monarch and subjects.
"Eh, are the officials here Emperor Yongyuan's people?"
Li Xuan saw the good atmosphere at the banquet and couldn't help but wonder.
But Prince Zheng, who had been quiet for a long time, also became active today.
He led a group of Capital officials, frequently exchanging pleasantries with the local officials, presenting a harmonious picture.
However, they all maintained a sense of propriety, and no one dared to overshadow Emperor Yongyuan. No matter what topic they discussed, it would eventually circle back to Emperor Yongyuan, with a few words of praise for him.
Emperor Yongyuan nodded with a chuckle, always putting on an act of feigned displeasure.
The banquet appeared harmonious, but both Emperor Yongyuan and Prince Zheng were, in fact, somewhat abnormal.
Yet, if Li Xuan were asked to explain why, he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason.
"Strange, logically speaking, these two shouldn't be so happy at the same time."
Li Xuan mumbled, and couldn't help but turn his gaze to the stage.
He was always an expert in this field, considered a master in the appreciation of song and dance.
In terms of song and dance, whether it was the dignified style of the palace or the passionate style of the pleasure houses, Li Xuan had considerable experience in appreciation.
Therefore, he wanted to see what was different about the song and dance masters of Luodong City.
Li Xuan watched the performance on stage with rapt attention. These girls, he didn't know where they were found, were all very talented.
Moreover, they even managed to combine both dignity and passion, which earned Li Xuan's great praise.
Li Xuan could tell that it was probably due to the limitations of the occasion; otherwise, these girls should have had even more room to showcase their talents.
"What a pity."
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Watching song and dance performances with the Emperor always came with such restrictions.
The style seen at Hu Yu House, Emperor Yongyuan probably wouldn't be able to see it in public for his entire life.
Unlike his Little Cat, whenever he missed the girls, he would just go to Hu Yu House to see them. He could even invite the courtesan queen to dance for him alone.
Just then, a Flower-Clothed Eunuchs brought them a note.
Yu'er took it and handed it to Princess Ankang for inspection.
After reading it, Princess Ankang immediately put the note into her Ice Moon Bracelet, then tugged Li Xuan's little ear and wrote on his bottom:
"Stop looking. Imperial Father wants you to keep an eye on Prince Zheng's movements."
Li Xuan showed a helpless expression, but his eyes were still fixed on the stage. Only his little ear, which Princess Ankang had pinched, twitched, breaking free from Princess Ankang's mischievous hand, and then turned towards Prince Zheng's direction.
"Gentlemen, the prosperity that Luodong City enjoys today is largely due to your diligent and incorruptible governance."
"This cup, I toast to all of you!"
"Your Highness flatters us."
"We, your humble officials, are honored to drink this cup with Your Highness."
Prince Zheng's side was filled with such meaningless pleasantries, which Li Xuan found rather dull.
"The officialdom of Luodong City seems harmonious…"
"But this is too bizarre for Great Xing!"
Li Xuan frowned slightly.
After all, after leaving the Capital, he had seen nothing but unpleasant sights, so the rare good situation in Luodong City made Li Xuan feel unreal.
The officials of Luodong City were respectful to both Emperor Yongyuan and Prince Zheng, offending neither side openly.
But this was impossible in the current political landscape of Great Xing.
Either Emperor Yongyuan or Prince Zheng, one had to take a stand.
In such a struggle, if you wanted to avoid choosing a side, you would only end up offending both.
Anyone who could become an official couldn't possibly fail to understand this basic principle.
Not everyone was from the Wu Family, possessing the capital to watch the tigers fight from the mountain.
"The officials of Luodong City are putting on an act, but I can't even tell who they are trying to placate."
Li Xuan couldn't help but frown.
The banquet only came to an end late into the night. Emperor Yongyuan, feeling tired, left the banquet hall first.
Princess Ankang and the others also followed him out.
If Emperor Yongyuan didn't leave, others wouldn't dare to leave the banquet first.
Therefore, once Emperor Yongyuan left, everyone else also gradually departed. Only those who still had some leisure would continue to stay at the banquet to drink.
And today, Prince Zheng seemed to be in an exceptionally leisurely mood, as if after holding back for so many days, he had finally found an opportunity to vent.
As he left the banquet with Princess Ankang, Li Xuan couldn't help but glance at Prince Zheng one more time.
When he saw that Prince Zheng was the last to stay at the banquet, Li Xuan somewhat understood the stance of the Luodong City officials.
After Princess Ankang left the banquet, she was immediately taken to Emperor Yongyuan's quarters by Chief Steward Shang, who had been waiting for a long time.
Emperor Yongyuan was drinking sobering tea, with no trace of his previous fatigue.
"Ankang, Li Xuan."
"Did you find anything?"
Emperor Yongyuan asked them.
Princess Ankang had only been guessing, but with Emperor Yongyuan's question, she knew who the real guest of honor was at tonight's banquet.
"Imperial Father, if we use the previous methods, can we not control the officials of Luodong City?"
Princess Ankang was, of course, referring to Emperor Yongyuan's method of "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" and "eradicating the roots" that he had used throughout the journey.
Any corrupt officials who could be touched, Emperor Yongyuan would strip of their positions completely, directly executing their entire families, to deter others whose tails hadn't been caught.
Along the way, Emperor Yongyuan replaced all the officials who could be directly replaced, promoting those young jinshi.
These young jinshi were talented, but they were all new recruits in officialdom. No one could say to what extent they would succeed.
However, Emperor Yongyuan had too few usable talents at hand, so he had no choice but to do this.
Moreover, before they arrived in Luodong City, the accompanying young jinshi had all been assigned, and now they were all used up.
It was evident that Emperor Yongyuan had carefully calculated, bringing just enough people, and running out of them just before Luodong City.
To Princess Ankang's question, Emperor Yongyuan snorted and shook his head, replying:
"The officials of Luodong City are indeed not corrupt officials; they can even be considered a benchmark of uprightness in Great Xing's officialdom."
"It's just a pity that they are loyal to Prince Zheng."
"Apart from this matter, I can't even find a single flaw in them."
The helplessness in Emperor Yongyuan's tone was palpable.
Li Xuan also looked astonished, not expecting Luodong City to be in such a situation.
These officials had no problems at all; on the surface, they could even be said to be rare talents of Great Xing.
But their efforts were not for Emperor Yongyuan, but for Prince Zheng.
Prince Zheng now wielded immense power in the court; unless he was overthrown, it would be truly difficult to punish him.
The officials of Luodong City had not made any mistakes; on the contrary, their political achievements were excellent. Emperor Yongyuan could not only not punish them, but even had to promote and encourage them.
This situation, where could one go to reason?
No wonder Prince Zheng was so happy at the banquet today; it turned out he was on his home turf.
"After isolating Prince Zheng for so many days, aren't you going to continue, meow?"
Li Xuan felt a bit regretful.
"It's useless. Luodong City is not like those small counties. The Internal Affairs Bureau's manpower cannot keep an eye on Prince Zheng."
"Moreover, with the cover of Luodong City's officials, I can't roughly isolate Prince Zheng."
"It might get better once we get on the boat in a few days."
Emperor Yongyuan explained.
"If that's the case, why not get on the boat and leave earlier, meow?" Li Xuan asked, puzzled.
"Our ship needs some preparations," Emperor Yongyuan smiled mysteriously, then continued, "And the latest news should also reach Prince Zheng."
"When he finds out, his expression should be quite something."
"More importantly, people only reveal their flaws when they are relaxed."
"Li Xuan, before I leave here, I must place my people in important positions in Luodong City."
"It's just that there isn't a suitable opportunity right now, so this matter is up to you."
Upon hearing this, Li Xuan couldn't help but point to himself with his tail, asking in astonishment:
"Meow?"