The kings of the Xianguo Dynasty all supported the women of the Yanxiao family as the main wife and the main concubine, and the succession to the throne was also chosen among the queen and the concubine, so it was necessary to get involved, today's Xianwang is still the cousin of the Marquis of Lu, and the relationship between the King of Xian and the Marquis of each generation is not ordinary.

But by the generation of the crown prince Jiang Yu, the prince is very likely to fall into the hands of the Jin State, and now the side concubine Lian Hui has not moved for a long time, and the position of the Yanxiao family in the political arena of the Xian State in the future will be greatly weakened, and even a political earthquake that will break the muscles and bones.

Thinking of this, Bai Liyan (Wei Xian) whispered:

"Does Master Hou suspect that the crown princess has done something?"

"No, Ben Hou asked my niece, but he didn't find anything abnormal."

"Shhh...... It can't be drugged. ”

Lu Hou shook his head again:

"Ben Hou recently hired a famous doctor to diagnose the pulse, and there has been no abnormality."

"This is neither poisoning, nor is it a disadvantage of having sex, nor is it like the prince is poor and weak, so what is the problem?"

"This is also what Ben Hou is worried about, can Lord Wei have a way to crack it?"

"It's difficult, it's very difficult, it's very difficult to find out what caused the infertility just by using the current method. Unless you can go deep into the prince's mansion to investigate in detail, it is really difficult to know the truth. ”

Neither can it be infertile through poisoning, beating, and surgical excision, nor can it be infertile due to avoiding the ovulation cycle, and Xihuan's belly will be enlarged before the age of sixteen, which just shows that there is no problem with the prince's fertility. Having ruled out almost all the means known to cause infertility in modern times, Bailiyan really couldn't think of any other way to cause infertility.

"Wei is ashamed, I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about it."

"In that case, Lord Wei, please go back."

"This ...... Then Wei said goodbye......"

Not long after Bailiyan left, Xue Teng came to the back house, and the young man who played chess before was holding a book and reading under the corridor, which was very elegant.

"Master Hou has a harvest?" The young man asked, hugging his book.

Xue Teng sighed and said:

"Yes or no."

"Oh, that's it."

"I really can't hide anything from Mr. Zongbo [Note 1]. However, I have asked Wei Xian about raising children, and he is helpless. ”

As if in anticipation, Zong Botai shook his head and said:

"As far as I know, Wei Xian's medical skills are mostly bitter diseases, not miscellaneous diseases. The infertility of the crown princess is extremely strange, and its difficult to diagnose the lesion is also reasonable. However, Wei Xian is a good person to trace the source, and I am afraid that this matter will not end here. The Hou Ye still needs to wait and see what happens, and even if there will be big changes in the prince's mansion in the future, it is not known. ”

"A big change? Can Xihuan be abolished! ”

Zong Botai shook his head:

"It's very difficult, even if it's a lot of trouble, it's not possible."

……

On the way back to Wei Mansion after leaving the Luhou Mansion, Baili Yan thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this matter was indeed weird, how could there be a reason that neither poisoned nor used external forces to make eight or nine women infertile, even modern medicine could not do it.

"Jiang Jie, you quickly go to Yongxing City and invite Lu Gao and Guan Longxiang to my mansion."

"No!"

The transfer of power under the feudal dynasty system is related to the stability and sustainability of state power, and the crown prince is the only candidate for the transfer of power.

The next day, after the dispersal of the dynasty, they returned to the mansion, and Lu Gao and Guan Longxiang were already waiting in the atrium hall.

The six surnames of the Zhao family moved to the capital and settled in Yongxing City, Yongxing City is currently under military management, and there is no government office, and the Zhao family is recommended by Bailiyan to serve as officials of Yongxing City to maintain the basic operation of Yongxing City.

In order to facilitate management and give full play to the advantages of the scholarly family of the Zhao family, many schools prepared by Yongxing City are also managed by the Zhao family, and the expenses are paid from the Yongxing City camp.

"Lord Wei, call the two of us here today, but do you want to discuss with each other?" Guan Longxiang said.

"There are indeed two tricky things, and I can't get out of it for a while in Chenling, so I have to explain to Mr. and General Lu to do it first. The first thing is the recruitment and education of craftsmen in Yongxing City, now that the treasury has just been restored, Yongxing City should be spent on military supplies first, so the training of the school, the library and the newly recruited craftsmen has not yet been settled, and the official intends to spend this money and grain on the account of my Wei Mansion for the time being. ”

"I'm afraid that's not right!" Guan Longxiang said worriedly, and continued: "The juku hall and study garden in Yongxing City are all set up for workshops and military attachés, and the money and rice and grain consumed are still enough to deal with it. ”

"What Mr. Guan Long said is not unreasonable, but for now, we can do it first, and when the world is peaceful in the coming day, and the treasury income improves, the necessary funds can be gradually allocated by the treasury, and at the same time, the children who are enrolled in the school can pay some more on their own."

"But in this way, how can the loss of the adults be compensated for, have the adults ever thought about it?"

"Hehe......" Baili Yanfu smiled: "Today's investment is a rich report for the coming day." Just as livestock need to use grain and grass, fishing needs bait, all the same. If there is no upfront investment, how can there be a return in the future? ”

There are four main revenues of Wei Mansion, one is the department store of Yongxing City's specialties exported to Shanling, one is the Dingsu and Xuanting Marquis Mansion, and the special products are sold to other vassal states in the market, and the profits of this piece are three percent for Zhao Xun for war expenditures, two percent are for filial piety to King Xian, three percent are reserved for Bailiyan himself, and the other two are half of Ding Su and Xuanting.

The third piece is that Yongxing City's profits from the sale of military products to foreign countries are owned by Bailiyan personally.

The fourth piece is the steelmaking patent of the Ligong faction, and 20% of the profits from the sale of weapons are owned by Bailiyan.

Due to the reputation of steel blades in recent years, the reputation of the Central Plains countries, whether it is Yongxing City or the Ligong faction, the sales of steel weapons are in short supply, and the income is quite large, plus the sales of pearls and pearl powder, the family background of the Wei Mansion is extremely rich, but at the same time, the expenditure of the Wei Mansion is also quite amazing.

At present, there is no such thing as investment in education and scientific research, and of course there is no such understanding.

Due to the construction of Yongxing City and the development of hundreds of craftsmen, thousands, or even tens of thousands of apprentices, craftsmen, and women workers engaged in the production of light and heavy handicrafts without any grain output, the required wages and rations all came from the state treasury expenses and profit income.

At a time when the belt is tightened, it is extremely rare for the treasury to be able to maintain the most basic expenses, and it is almost a luxury to expect the treasury to allocate funds for education, research, and the development of basic handicrafts and talents.

Therefore, all the funds for R&D projects came from the support of the Wei government, such as the even archer crossbow, the four-wheeled baggage vehicle, and the construction of new warships, all of which came from the Wei government, and also included large-scale projects such as digging dry docks, which were not within the scope of the financial budget.

The use of the battalion to dig dry docks still had to pay money and grain from the Wei Mansion, so the actual income of the Wei Mansion at the end of the year was not high. For this reason, Jiang Rong did not complain behind her back that Bailiyan would not be in charge, tens of thousands of inches of silver and hundreds of thousands of dollars would be spent when she said she would spend it.

Now the construction of the school, the study garden and the training of craftsmen are all included in the expenses of the Wei government, and the increase in expenses is secondary, Guan Longxiang is even more worried that such a huge amount of money will not be able to recover even the capital in the future.

It is precisely because the investment in education cannot be effective in the short term that it gives people the illusion that it is a thankless task, and almost no one in the vassal states advocates the establishment of funds to run schools, and even asks why they should study if they do not even have enough to eat.

In fact, in times of both education and material scarcity, investment in education is inevitably accompanied by short-term economic pains. The Xian country is not only facing economic and internal problems, but also surrounded by foreign powers, internal and external troubles, and the economy is weak, and if it cannot take advantage of the Black Turban Rebellion to seek change, it will be even more difficult in the future.

Bailiyan is a long-term plan, and people at the time do not understand, so the only way to forcibly promote the implementation of the policy is to use arbitrary power and dictatorship, and after five or ten years, there will be immediate returns.

"I have made up my mind on this matter, and Mr. Guan Long does not need to say anything more. This second thing, Mr. Guan Long and General Lu Gao, have you ever found something strange in the prince's mansion? ”

"Strange? What do you mean? ”

Guan Longxiang was puzzled and asked, Lu Gao touched his beard and rolled his eyes clockwise, and said as if he had realized something:

"After Liang Feng became the Sima envoy of the Jin Army, Ji Jinsheng, who replaced him, I often see him interacting with hundreds of officials and magnates, and I am afraid that this person is not simple."

At this time, Guan Longxiang frowned and shook his head and said:

"Ji Jinsheng is a treacherous person, but there is nothing abnormal, what the adults are referring to should not be this."

"Hehe, Mr. Guan Long, who knows me, is also ......"

Since Ji Jinsheng was transferred to the Prince's Mansion at the beginning of last year, he has been haunting the city of Chenling as a prodigal general.

Regarding Ji Jinsheng, Bai Liyan heard a little about it when he was a proton in the Jin Kingdom, but he knew little about it. Later, he was transferred to Qianyue Mountain as an overseer for unknown reasons, but at that time, he only thought that he had violated the political bottom line and was assigned to Qianyue Mountain.

Now suddenly transferred back to the Central Plains and inserted into Xihuan Mansion, Bailiyan secretly also sent secret agents to monitor it, except for often meeting friends with alcohol and staying in brothels, no serious secret-related behavior was found.

"Actually, Wei hadn't paid attention to this matter before, and it was Lu Hou who mentioned it, so I felt strange. Mr. Guan Long and General Lu Gao, don't you think that only Xihuan has given birth to a son in the prince's mansion so far, and none of the other women is pregnant, don't you think it's strange at this time? ”

"Hahaha......" Lu Gao suddenly laughed when he heard the news.

Guan Longxiang asked curiously:

"Why is General Lu Gao laughing?"

Lu Gao suddenly touched his beard again seriously, as if nothing had happened:

"Ahem...... The prince is young, what do you think of that...... Haha......"

Bai Liyan and Guan Longxiang suddenly realized that Lu Gao probably wanted to say that the prince might not have enough energy when he was young.

At this time, Guan Longxiang said:

"My lord, Lu Hou has already asked people to investigate this matter in detail?"

In Guang Longxiang's words, Bai Liyan nodded:

"Well, it's the crown princess, and I haven't noticed anything abnormal. That's why I think it's strange. ”

"That lord wants General Lu Gao to go to the general to ask about the inside story."

But it was meant. However, presumably King Xian has also secretly asked Yanping, most of them have not found anything, and if we rashly send someone to investigate, Xihuan will definitely be suspicious. Therefore, this matter cannot be personally intervened by General Lu Gao, and it needs to be acted in a roundabout way. ”

Directly asking Lu Gao to ask Yanping for questioning is obviously useless, if he wants to be poisoned, it is absolutely impossible for Xihuan's temperament to leave a handle, but it is counterproductive to arouse the vigilance of the Jin people.

"Therefore, I plan to ask General Lu Gao to ask someone to go and interrogate Yanping, while Mr. Guan Long will do another thing at the same time."

"Your Excellency, please command."

"From today onwards, I need to know the daily consumption of food and clothing in the Prince's Mansion, and the more detailed the better."

"Adults suspect that they are eating?"

Guan Longxiang guessed, and Bai Liyan shook his head:

"It may be possible, but if it is caused by food, the servant who has been placed in the palace by the king will not be unaware of it. Moreover, this matter is too desperate, and all the favored women are infertile. People have preferences, and not all women eat the same food every day. ”

[Note 1] Zongbo: Ancient compound surname