December 23, 8th year of Hongdao.

On this day, the entire city of Changsha was dyed red.

Big red ribbons floated through the streets and alleys, and the gorgeous red carpet paved the road for ten miles.

Lan Cai'er rode on a noble frame, specially given from outside the city, as the queen's mother's home Fengju was welcomed out, escorted by thousands of palace guards who showed off their might, and passed through the city from outside the city.

Near the red carpet, at the entrance of the street houses, all the residents of the city poured out, holding streamers in both hands, cheering and congratulating from the bottom of their hearts.

Since Lu Yuan entered Changsha, he has subdued the Five Poisons Sect internally and quelled rebellions in various places.

So that the people of Dongting, who had been in turmoil for several years and suffered from war, were able to restore a rare peace and regain stability in the troubled times.

Externally, since the Northern Expedition, it has broken the Zhou people, beheaded the two pillar states of the other side, and destroyed the army of 100,000. Then the three counties were determined, the eight prefectures were expanded, and the prestige enjoyed in the countries, which was simply unparalleled.

It can calm the people internally, and promote the prestige of the country externally, for such a king, which people can not love it?

The stronger Lu Yuan is, the greater the victory for foreign countries, and these Changsha people can also enjoy greater benefits.

It's the simplest.

The imperial examination that has just ended these days has gathered more than 10,000 scholars from all over the world who are seeking official positions here.

They have lived here for more than a year, and their daily consumption, even the rent alone, has made the people of the city's large and small merchants earn a lot of money.

In this regard, the people of Changsha have benefited enough.

Not to mention, today's wedding, Lu Yuan ordered to go down early, and the whole country will have fun.

Not only did he pardon some prisoners who had committed lesser crimes, but he also distributed some wine, food, and meat to all the people in the country, so that they could enjoy themselves with the king.

This work has been in the works for a year and has long been perfected.

What about other places, Lu Yuan didn't know.

However, the people in Changsha City did go door-to-door yesterday, and each household was rewarded with a pound of meat, ten pounds of rice, and a pot of wine.

After welcoming the relatives today, there will be a large number of flowing water seats in Changsha City, which will be placed for three days, and the people in the city can come forward to enjoy it no matter who they are.

Eat people with a soft mouth and take people with short hands.

With the above many benefits, do you say that the people in Changsha City can not be grateful to Lu Yuan from the bottom of their hearts for bringing all this?

And now that the Great Sage Monarch in their eyes is married, although the person of the marriage is a bit unpleasant, he is a demon girl of the Five Poisons Sect.

But the big guys can understand it too.

Just like the storyteller said, the king married the demon girl of the Five Poisons Sect in order to appease those Miao people and make them stop making trouble.

As long as you can appease those fierce Miao people, and don't let them be idle anymore and run out to rebel, then this big guy will not be so resistant to the queen.

There is even a slight support.

After all, the people's wish is very simple, don't mess around, don't fight, the state collects less taxes, the officials are less greedy, and don't make so many bad things about robbing people's daughters.

For the people, it is already a rare good day.

In the history books, it is enough to talk about the great prosperity.

So it's not just Changsha.

On the day of the wedding, Lu Yuan's 17 prefectures and 170 counties, and even some more important towns, under the supervision of local officials, also set up banquets and celebrations to celebrate the king's marriage.

Joke.

When the king got married, he even issued an edict early to celebrate with the country.

Do you local officials dare to do their best to make the people everywhere rejoice with them?

And honestly.

Although it is to mobilize the people, the entire celebration expenses do not actually require a penny from the local government.

For this wedding, Lu Yuan spent more than 4 million taels of silver, nearly 100,000 troops for a year's military expenses.

The cost is so great, it is about a pomp and circumstance, and a joy with the people of the world.

Now that the money has been distributed, all localities only need to prepare on their own in accordance with the rules and the allocated funds. There is no need to spend money on the local treasury, and the people and money will be lost.

Of course, rules are rules, and systems are systems.

Is there a person who is bold enough to dare to reach out even the wedding funds given by the king, and even dare to bring fish and meat to the people for the celebration with the country that was originally planned, which is not easy to guarantee.

Lu Yuan could only send more people to supervise, and let people inspect afterwards and clean up more pests.

But that's a long way off, and that's a matter for the future.

At least in Changsha City at this time, it is the real people who are happy and celebrate together.

The welcoming procession followed the ten-mile red road, entered the city from outside the city, enjoyed the blessings and cheers of the people along the way, and then passed from the city to the outside of the city, and entered the temporary Changsha Palace.

When you arrive at the palace, the same red carpet is paved, and the various decorations along the way have become more luxurious and magnificent.

Even the people who watched the ceremony on both sides changed from ordinary people to officials of all sizes in the city and envoys from various countries.

The wedding car soon arrived at its destination, and there were only some maids left on both sides of the vehicle.

Lu Yuan stood on the high platform, watching the arrival of the big red vehicle in the distance, his eyes were gloomy, and his thoughts were far away.

Before I knew it, I had already traveled through seventeen years, and my body was already thirty-three or almost thirty-four years old.

After so much time, after continuous struggle, he finally had the business of being a king and realized his dream of being the king and the emperor. At this time, it is even more necessary to marry the holy daughter of the Five Poisons Sect and achieve the achievement of finding a witch wife.

Time flies, it's like a dream!

In Lu Yuan's mind, thinking back to the events over the years, he really felt like a world away.

Is it true that in just 17 years, I have accomplished these great deeds?

He asked himself in his mind, but in the end he didn't answer.

In the end, he could only take a deep breath, put a smile on his face, and then took a step and slowly went down to greet his queen.

Whether it's true or not, it's a dream or a reality.

At least for now, let's assume that all this is real.

Have fun in time and live in the moment.

In front of the wedding car, Lu Yuan held his queen's hand, felt the other party's trembling slightly, held her firmly, stepped on the stairs step by step, and walked towards the wedding in front of him.

"There is a tree in the south, and the kudzu is tired. Happy only gentleman, blessed with Suizhi.

There is a tree in the south, and the kudzu is barren. Happy only gentleman, blessed will be. ……”

The ceremonial official read the wedding words in his ear, but Lu Yuan's mind was no longer here.

Following the steps of the wedding, completing the various processes one by one, and praying to the heavens, hoping that God would bless the couple, the whole wedding finally came to an end.

After saluting and thanking his courtiers and envoys from various countries at the banquet, Lu Yuan did not continue to stay at the banquet, affecting the performance of the people below.

Instead, he walked through the deep Miyagi alone and came to his wedding room.

The red candle shadow swayed, and the light veil covered it, Lu Yuan entered the room, looked at the queen who was sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, her voice was a little thin, the corner of her mouth smiled, and she walked to the side.

said softly: "Cai'er, today you and I are officially husband and wife." ”

When the words fell, the people came up.

It was destined to be an unforgettable night.

……

The taste of husband and wife is indeed unforgettable.

Since their marriage to Lan Caier, the newlywed man and woman have been eating the marrow and knowing the taste, and they have been immersed in it for more than ten days.

It is also partial that they are all innate grandmasters, with plenty of energy, dragon spirits and tigers, as long as they don't want to, even if they are idle for one or two hours.

is so general, and when it comes to doing things, there is even less moderation.

Day and day, night and night, ridiculous, this is the man and woman.

But fortunately, Lu Yuan is already the king of a country, and he has made great achievements, both in internal affairs and martial arts, he has made outstanding achievements.

There is only one thing, which is really insufficient, and that is that there are no heirs.

This is simply a fatal weakness and a threat to a dynasty.

Without an heir, how can we ensure that the dynasty can be passed on for a long time?

If there are not enough sons to guard the Quartet, how can we ensure the consolidation of the dynasty's foundation?

If it weren't for the fact that many ministers knew that the king of his family was a congenital grandmaster, he could live to be one hundred and fifty years old, and now he is only in his thirties, and he can live for nearly one hundred and twenty years in the future, and his age will be long.

With such a long life, it is enough to maintain the dynasty.

I'm afraid it's early, before the founding of the country, Sun Siwen and they will admonish Lu Yuan to give birth to an heir early.

But even so, there is no one under Lu Yuan's knees, and in this era of many sons and many blessings, it still makes people feel unsteady.

So for his subordinates, now the king is absurd day and night, absurd!

It's not ridiculous, how can you be the heir of the moment?

If it's not ridiculous, how can it stabilize the country's foundation?

is not ridiculous, this country and society will have no inheritance.

They are not afraid of Lu Yuan's absurdity, because in this world where personal force is the rule, as long as the monarch has strong force, absurdity is nothing, this is the right of the strong.

What they are afraid of is that Lu Yuan is the kind of saint who is pure-hearted and has few desires, and he is not close to women, so he only thinks about the important affairs of the military state, and then he will die.

Therefore, for Lu Yuan's absurd behavior, the ministers such as Cui Changqing and Sun Siwen turned a blind eye and did not say anything.

Anyway, now domestic government affairs have always been handled by them left and right.

Other military affairs, now that the war has stopped, it is just recuperation. The military affairs of each team are also handled by each subordinate and can be operated on their own.

Moreover, although Zhou Qing is located in Xiangyang, northern Xinjiang, he is also a general in the country, and he also has to help deal with some important military affairs.

With the assistance of many parties, as long as there are no major events that affect the fortunes of the country, in fact, it doesn't matter whether Lu Yuan is there or not.

Or in fact, as long as there is an effective and feasible system that works, the meaning of the king is really only a symbol.

However, for many kings, this means that they are hollowed out, that their power is seized, and few people can accept it.

Therefore, in the end, the struggle between royal power and relative power will often be inextricably contested, and eventually the country will decline.

Fortunately, these are all things that those who succeed should consider.

As the founder of the country, Lu Yuan is full of words and has great prestige.

Not to mention being set aside.

It should be Cui Changqing and Sun Siwen, who are thinking about their own power, how can they not be completely eroded too much.

Of course.

With the relationship between the two and Lu Yuan, the trust and value are naturally not comparable to ordinary kings and prime ministers.

This kind of power struggle basically does not happen to a few people.

However, although no one cares about Lu Yuan's absurdity, and even supports him, Lu Yuan's state of mind is not a person who has always indulged in pleasure.

After spending a month with Lan Cai'er, he got up from the gentle countryside and finally found time to start handling government affairs.

And the first thing is that he has always been in charge of military affairs.

"The king, since the king defeated the Zhou people in the north and continuously sent prisoners to the south of the Yangtze River, the ministers were ordered to rectify the battles of all departments, Miao soldiers, and surrender the people, and did not dare to sleep day and night.

And the rest of this year has passed, and now all the ministries have been reorganized.

Among them, after the Northern Expedition, there were more than 78,000 soldiers. There were 60,000 Miao soldiers, and in the end there were more than 23,000 people.

According to the king's order, these remnant soldiers and Miao soldiers, eliminated the old and weak, and their strong cadres were reorganized and reorganized into a domestic forbidden army, and finally won 90,000 troops.

The more than 10,000 old and weak who were eliminated were organized into prefecture and county soldiers and distributed to all prefectures and counties.

The 110,000 soldiers who were recruited also eliminated the old and weak, and the elite were retained, and 90,000 were also left behind and accepted as forbidden troops.

In this way, the forbidden army has a total of 180,000 people, divided into nine armies, each with 20,000 people, which is the nine armies of the king.

The remaining 20,000 soldiers were selected and organized into two counties of Xiangyang and Xichuan, with 10,000 soldiers each.

The 60,000 people brought back by the king from Xichuan County also left him strong, and also left 5,000 soldiers, as well as soldiers from the local government.

According to such statistics, Changsha has 180,000 forbidden troops, 20,000 county soldiers, and 34,000 county soldiers, totaling 234,000 soldiers and horses.

If you count the palace guards in Changsha City and the soldiers and horses of the various government offices in the city, there are 240,000 people.

The prestige of the army, dozens of surrounding countries, except for the three foreign countries of Zhou, Liang and Vietnam, are almost incomparable! ”

In the council hall, Lu Yuan sat at the top, listening to the report of the disciple Li Liang below, bowing slightly, and his heart couldn't help but be quite excited.

In fact, Lu Yuan originally had a general idea of the number of troops under his command, but he never had a specific number.

Now, after continuous rectification, eliminating the old and weak, and taking in the elite, I finally know a specific situation.

There are a total of 240,000 soldiers and horses in the country, including 180,000 elite soldiers. If the whole country is mobilized, it will be possible to send a large number of people and brave soldiers, and even make an army of 500,000.

This kind of strength, to be honest, is enough to stand out from the crowd when you look at the whole world.

What?

Zhou, Liang, and Yue?

Didn't you see what Li Liang said, except for these three foreign countries, there is no comparison in the world.

The three kingdoms of Zhou, Liang, and Yue were originally the overlords of one state. The position of strength is not comparable with other small countries.

To put it simply.

Like the two kingdoms of Zhou and Liang, each of them owns seven counties and ten counties, with a territory of thousands of miles and tens of millions of household registrations. Under the full force, millions of soldiers can be sent, and the whip will be broken, and the world will not be afraid.

It is the Yue Kingdom that has been continuously weakened, and only the territory of the four counties remains. The two counties of Linhai and Yuzhang alone also have a million household registrations, five or six million people, and there are tens of millions of people in total.

If you count the three counties of Guangling, Jian'an, and Jiuzhen, as well as the three southern prefectures of Xiangyang controlled by the imperial court, there are 16 or 7 million people under the rule.

Not to mention that these territories are all rich lands, not only important for grain production, but also for business and travel, which can provide a lot of money and grain.

With the population of this territory, it is not a problem for the Yue Imperial Court to raise three or five hundred thousand soldiers.

This kind of strength is still two or three times that of Lu Yuan's Changsha Kingdom, and the two are also not of the same magnitude.

"Even if the national strength of my Changsha country has doubled now, it is still too far behind the Yue court. ’

Lu Yuan couldn't help but sigh when he calculated and compared like this.

It is no wonder that the Yue Imperial Court was coerced by him, Yan Wangqiu, and Su Xuange, and finally agreed to cede the land of the three counties.

It's really the territory occupied by the imperial court, and it's too rich.

Before the Northern Expedition, Lu Yuan and his Changsha, Ninghai, and Nanhai combined populations were only half of the four counties of the imperial court.

The same is true for construction sites.

When it comes to wealth, it is even worse.

At the level of innate grandmasters, there are six directly under the imperial court. If you count Jihui and Qiao Kangquan, there are as many as eight.

On Lu Yuan's side, the three kingdoms combined, there are only four.

Again, a two-fold gap.

Even these gaps are only temporary, waiting for the implementation of the imperial court's policy of self-cultivation and recreation.

When the local authorities are relieved, in a decade or two, these gaps will be even greater, becoming three or four times.

With such advantages, of course the imperial court will not be in a hurry.

Not to mention the imperial court, even if it is Lu Yuan, with this kind of strength, he will not be in a hurry.

Because time is on their side.

"The king knows. You've worked hard these days, so let's go down first. After a while, the court will have its own reward. ”

Thinking clearly, Lu Yuan came back to his senses, then looked at Li Liang, and waved his hand.

"Yes."

Li Liang heard the order, saluted, and slowly retreated.

With a sound of gentle footsteps, it gradually faded away, and in the main hall, only Lu Yuan was left alone.

The hall was empty and silent, and the sound of breathing could be heard clearly.

Except for the two lamp attendants on both sides, huddled in a corner of the hall, there was no one else.

Lu Yuan didn't care about these waiters, but his hands hung down on the eucalyptus, supporting his chin, thinking alone.

"On the side of the Yue Imperial Court, they want to use time to consume me, hoping that after one or two decades, after the cultivation is completed, they will come to clean up the mountains and rivers.

But on my side, it will also take time.

The millions of new immigrants need to be resettled and recuperate. The newly formed army of more than 200,000 people needs to be run in and rest. The newly opened land of the eight prefectures in Jiangbei also needs stability.

Even on the side of the Innate Grandmaster, Xiaoqing's side will take a few years before he can break through. ”

Lu Yuan muttered to himself while pondering his thoughts, and then the corners of his mouth slowly hooked up a smile: "Of course, there is the most important thing." With this twenty-year buffer, with the cultivation progress of my Taiping Daoshu, it should not be a problem to break through to the cultivation of condensing one qi.

Even breaking through the second qi is not impossible.

And as long as I can condense one qi, my cultivation will be equivalent to the Dao master of the six great avenue veins.

Until then.

Not to mention the land of the three counties now, even if the territory is doubled, with my strength, I can also support it.

And one or twenty years, this is a long time, if I can, in addition to Xiaoqing, I haven't been able to use the immortal qi to cultivate one or two more innate grandmasters.

If this is really the case, there are four or five innate grandmasters in the country, and I am the cultivation of the Sixth Great Dao Dao Master, who in the world dares to underestimate it? ”

The Yue court thought that time was on their side.

But in fact, it's really unclear which side time is on......

Lu Yuan is looking forward to it, one or twenty years later, when the imperial court turns against him, and then his jaw drops by the strength here.

The faces of these people in Shangguan Ming must be very good-looking.