During the period when Prince Yan was away, the conflict between the new nobles and the aristocratic families in the court became more acute. On the one hand, these two factions were self-righteous, and on the other hand, they were in full swing. They were fundamentally incompatible with each other. Sometimes, the gap between the scholars, farmers, merchants, and workers was no smaller than the gap between the eighteen tribes of barbarians and the Liang people.

The aristocratic families had been handed down from generation to generation, and their wealth was very rich. Almost every family had a large farm and land. Since the price of grain continued to fall during the Yuanhe period, in order to make money, the aristocratic families secretly engaged in business. It has changed from being sneaky before Emperor Wu to being a common practice today. On the one hand, this has virtually enabled the merchants who were originally at the bottom to enter the mainstream, and on the other hand, it has also continuously harmed the civilian merchants.

Daliang has had laws since the time of Emperor Taizu, which prohibits those in positions of honor, princes, and nobles from competing with the common people for profit. This is because once a businessman is associated with the word "official", he is no longer a pure businessman. Even if he does not actively deceive others, there will always be villains who take advantage of his power.

The hatred between the old families and the new nobles has a long history and is not a matter of one day.

The rise of the new nobles at this time was like a salted fish turning over a new leaf. Either the east wind would prevail over the west wind or the west wind would prevail over the east wind. The old families would of course do their utmost to suppress them. New and old grudges were sandwiched together. When the country was in turmoil, they could still hold their noses and unite as one. Now that the barbarians had surrendered and Jiangnan could free up its hands, the war situation seemed less urgent and it immediately broke out like labor pains.

After Prince Yan returned to the court, he didn't even have a break. What was waiting for him was a chaotic quarrel at the court meeting.

From whether to abolish the beacon ticket, to the various drawbacks of the new civil service system, and finally to the canal office. Then they argued from the king's power to the people's rights, from the civil and commercial rules to the ancestral family law, and finally the war was somehow led to the army, starting from the current expenses of the garrisons in the four borders, and all the way to the question of whether the war in Jiangnan should continue - Fang Qin and his party had grasped the essence of King Yan. If it weren't for the huge expenses of the war in recent years and the national treasury crying out for poverty every day, King Yan would not have seized the opportunity to be obsessed with money and made the court so chaotic.

Someone from an aristocratic family stood up to stir up trouble: "Your Majesty, the eighteen tribes have surrendered. We will have a large amount of abundant purple gold in the future. The vitality of the country is slowly recovering. It is really not appropriate to start a war within three to five years. I think the peace talks presented by the Westerners recently are very sincere. They withdraw from the Yangtze River, give up the occupied land, and only open up Western ports along the East China Sea coast, and disperse the garrisons to several specially opened ports along the coast. This can not only give peace to the people, but also serve as a transit point for our maritime trade in the future. Why not? General Gu is picking on everything without any reason and constantly adding conditions, which is a bit too inhumane."

Naturally, the Yan Wang Party responded: "Why should we give up the fertile land along the East China Sea to a bunch of Western monkeys? Can't we open our own ports? Don't we have our own merchant ships and caravans? The land passed down by our ancestors was ceded to the Westerners with just one sentence. There is really no one in the whole court who is more generous than you!"

Fang Qin personally took the field, and put aside the sharp topic of "treason and collaborating with the enemy", and said calmly: "The Westerners came from afar across the ocean, and most of the military supplies they use need to be supplied from thousands of miles away. The soldiers they bring are exhausted and have left their homes. In my opinion, there is no need to be too cautious. What's the use of pretending to negotiate first? In less than ten or eight years, they will be unable to sustain themselves. General Gu has devoted himself to Daliang, and he has been injured and sick for these years. He has never had a few days of comfortable and restful days. Even if you feel sorry for my 100,000 bloody soldiers on the front line, it's time to stop fighting and rest. This matter can be discussed later. I wonder what the rules are for the beacon tickets... of His Royal Highness Prince Yan?"

King Yan, who had heard this from the beginning, was dragged out by him. He looked up at Fang Qin and said, "I think we don't need to discuss it later, right? The beacon ticket is named after 'beacon fire', which is closely related to war. Since you all want to cede land to feed the tigers and wolves, there is really no reason to issue the third batch of beacon tickets. The court will use the tax revenue of the next five years as a guarantee, and it will be enough to raise some money to pay off the debt."

Fang Qin shook his head and smiled, "King Yan is just being angry. Is a ceasefire at this time a way to cede land to feed the tigers and wolves? The Westerners are already losing ground. This is a disguised form of surrender. Once they are at sea, they are just a group of rootless duckweed. They really don't pose a serious threat to us."

Chang Geng also smiled, and said indifferently: "Lord Fang knows everything about the world without leaving his house. It is really admirable. He knows that Westerners are rootless duckweed from thousands of miles away. Such far-sightedness is beyond the reach of our generation."

Seeing that the two men were using the same tone of greeting each other, Li Feng had to step in and say, "Military affairs are decided by military personnel. I summoned you here to discuss the urgent matter of beacon tickets. Why are you arguing about the Liangjiang battlefield? You haven't figured out a small account after all this time, and you're worrying too much - Ah Min, you should also stop talking."

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue followed the emperor's words and stood up and said, "Your Highness Prince Yan has just returned from Jiangbei. I'm afraid he hasn't figured out the reason why the third batch of beacon tickets was blocked. You also know that although the salaries of civil and military officials in our dynasty are relatively generous compared to the previous dynasty, they still have families to support. They rely on this salary to maintain a little face. How dare they become rich and powerful... At this time when the country is in trouble, I really can't help. Since the subscription of beacon tickets was included in the official examination, how many people have lost their fortunes? Now I really can't take out a penny. The prince has always had a close personal relationship with the Chamber of Commerce tycoon Du Wanquan and others. Do you think you can come forward and collect them again?"

Chang Geng refused to fall into this trap with a hidden meaning. He said calmly, "I have already visited Mr. Du and others on the way back to Beijing. Factories are just being built in various places. As a charity businessman, I sometimes have to take care of refugees. The expenses are very high. Now most of my wealth is tied up in the canal office. Even if I want to ruin my family, can I also give up the refugees who have been settled with great difficulty? To be honest with you, Mr. Du told me that he really can't take out a penny."

Fang Qin refused to let him go: "Did Your Highness not think of leaving a way out when he pushed for the Fenghuo Ticket?"

Chang Geng gave him a cold look and said, "Master Fang, I made it very clear at the beginning. The money will be borrowed first. When the two years are up, the treasury will be able to exchange it naturally. If you really can't spare the money for the time being, you can try the third batch of beacon bills to solve the urgent problem. When calculating the inflow of silver and money into the treasury, Master Fang had already taken over the Ministry of Revenue and did not raise any objections. Now you come to ask me, I would like to ask you, where did the money that flowed in and out of the Ministry of Revenue in the past two years go, and why is there such a big difference?"

Fang Qin finally couldn't help but said angrily: "Every entry in the account book is here. If Prince Yan has any doubts about me, you can check it out!"

Chang Geng smiled wryly and said, "That's right. The officials in the Ministry of Revenue would not be so unbalanced as to even keep the accounts in balance. So, it must be that Lord Fang was bewildered and made a mistake in his calculations back then?"

Li Feng: "Enough!"

Fang Qin hurriedly apologized. Chang Geng bowed slightly and stood aside without saying anything. He was very silent most of the time in court meetings. If he had anything to say, it was usually the people below who spoke. He seldom confronted others like this. Fang Qin could not help but glance at him, feeling that something was wrong.

Prince Yan must have been prepared for the embarrassing situation of the beacon ticket. Why would he rather quarrel in front of the emperor than speak out smoothly? What is he laying the groundwork for?

The court meeting ended in a bad mood. Prince Yan was left behind and walked in silence with Li Feng, one after the other. Although Li Feng's broken leg had recovered, he still had a root cause of the disease. If he walked fast, he would look a little lame.

"Accompany me for a walk in the garden." Li Feng said.

It happened that the Crown Prince had just finished school that day and was playing in the garden with the Third Prince. When he saw his father and uncle, he hurried over to greet them in a proper manner. The Crown Prince was getting older and older, and now he looked like a little boy. The Third Prince was only five years old, was still teething, and had a slight lisp when speaking.

When Li Feng met the prince, of course he had to show off his fatherly power. He first found faults with the prince out of thin air and scolded him, then interrogated him about his studies with a stern face.

The prince answered properly at first, but in the end he kept glancing towards his brother. Li Feng followed his gaze and was immediately filled with laughter and tears.

The toothless Third Prince was not old enough to be interrogated by his father. He stood aside in silence, but was later called away by King Yan. King Yan took him to sit on the ground in a very casual manner, picked up a few grass stems, and made a grass grasshopper. How could a child in the palace have ever seen such a wild area in the countryside? The Third Prince's eyes were wide open, and he stupidly leaned over to look at it. After a while, the little thing held a grass grasshopper in his left hand and a grass katydid in his right hand, and was so happy that he didn't even bother to hide his missing front tooth.

Li Feng: "...playing with things and losing one's ambition, what kind of words are these?"

He glared at Chang Geng with a stern face, and sent the two reluctant children away. Li Feng saw from afar that the Third Prince stood on tiptoe and put a katydid into the Crown Prince's hand. The Crown Prince then took his free hand. The older child led the younger child, and they looked like a pair of little brothers from an ordinary family.

The prince is gentle in nature, like his grandfather.

Li Feng was rarely moved. When he turned to Chang Geng, his expression softened a lot and he asked, "It's been so long, you still don't want to get married?"

Chang Geng's smiling expression immediately faded.

Li Feng saw that he didn't like to talk about this, so he sighed and said, "Or I can make the decision and let you adopt a child from the clan. When you are old in the future, you will always have someone to take care of you."

Chang Geng paused and twisted his hands. There seemed to be grass juice still on his fingers. He glanced in the direction where the Third Prince left, and seemed to be quite interested. However, after a while, he still did not nod.

Chang Geng: "Thank you, my Royal Brother. It's not necessary."

"If the child follows you, he will inherit the title in the future. Even if he has done nothing, he will at least be a prince. It is a bright future, and there are many people willing to give it to him." Li Feng said, "You don't have to worry about damaging your virtue by taking away someone else's children."

Chang Geng suddenly bowed to the ground and said, "Your Majesty, I wish to follow the example of Shang Jun and have no intention of burdening my descendants."

Li Feng's eyes twitched slightly, and he turned around and looked at him silently.

Chang Geng bent over and refused to get up. He looked young and strong, yet lonely and desolate.

I wish to emulate Shang Yang - to carry out reforms by any means necessary, to be hated and despised by the world, to be torn to pieces in the streets... to become the ash of the vigorous burnt of this era.

All the eunuchs were sent away that day, and no one knew what the Li brothers talked about in the garden. They talked from noon to dark, and then Prince Yan left the palace on his own.

Only a few stalks of grass that had been pulled out and woven into grass insects were left standing bare.

The next day, Jiang Chong received an instruction from Prince Yan - do not let Marquis Anding return to the capital, the war can be avoided, but he must stay in Liangjiang.

The heavy rain in the south of the Yangtze River is somewhat cruel. A few days ago, it was so hot that people couldn’t sleep. Suddenly, a violent storm changed the weather. The moisture could penetrate into people’s bones.

Mr. Ya wiped the moisture off his face, quickly climbed up the stairs, and climbed to the top along the iron steps extending from the ugly and terrifying shell of the Western sea monster. An old man with glaring white hair had his back to him, lying on something, his hunched waist like a piece of burnt bamboo.

Mr. Ya coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesty, why are you still not resting so late?"

"Sleep abandons people when they get old," the Pope said, waving his hand. "Come here and look at this."

There is a "clairvoyance" on the top of the sea monster. It is not the kind of gadget that can be clipped on the bridge of the nose. It is more than three feet long, made of copper, with circles of bamboo-like marks on the outside. It is firmly fixed to the ground with a triangular frame. There are circles of complex scales on the copper tube, all of which are Western characters.

This is the real "clairvoyance" that can see a thousand miles away.

Through this long tube, they could see the territory of Daliang on the opposite bank from the sea monster floating in the East China Sea.

In just a few years, the silent fertile land on the opposite side began to burn with an eternal light in the night - the brightest and most concentrated one was the garrison's watchtower, and further back it was much softer, with the lights from many newly built factories working and keeping watch at night. It wasn't extremely bright, but it was distributed everywhere like a handful of tiny stars.

Mr. Ya asked curiously, "What are you looking at, Your Majesty? Are there any unusual movements by the enemy?"

"The enemy has been moving," the Pope whispered. "The people of the Holy Land first succumbed to their own greed, and then placed unrealistic expectations on the peace talks. They lost the initiative and could only retreat again and again. Now the command ship retreats to the sea. In a while, the Daliang people will probably send troops to cut off our supply line to the country. By then, we don't know how it will end."

Mr. Ya: "Don't we have a reason for retreating to the coast? The Japanese Islands can be used as a dedicated supply channel at that time... We can go through the open sea. Although the Liang people have imitated our fast-moving tiger sharks, the overall fleet design is not yet suitable for open sea operations."

"The Japanese are like a pack of wild dogs. When you have the upper hand, they will come to you without hesitation to get your carrion. Once you lose power, don't expect to get their loyalty." The Pope sighed. "Besides, is it true that the Daliang navy cannot adapt to distant sea operations? A few years ago, they didn't even have a decent navy - how can they base their chances of winning on the assumption that the enemy is weak?"

Mr. Ya was silent for a moment: "But Your Majesty, the Holy Envoy..."

"I asked you to come here for this matter." The Pope took out a letter from his arms. His hands were shaking like autumn leaves, but his expression was extremely cold and hard. He did not show his usual gentleness and kindness at all. "I am from China. Take a look."

Mr. Ya took it quickly, and then his face changed: "This...is this true?"

The Pope lowered his voice and said, "The Holy Land has changed."

The Conservatives took the Liberal Party's leave and made the seesaw paralyzed. They mobilized tens of thousands of people from several dependent countries to approach the holy land in the name of protest, created riots, deposed the king, executed more than 30 old nobles including the first heir to the throne, and supported a king who was a poor little guy with a thousand miles of appearance.

A few days later, the royalists, who were belatedly aware of the situation, launched a counterattack and the new king was forced to step down after wearing the crown for only seven days.

The political arena in the Holy Land is extremely unclear now, and anything can happen. The holy envoys who were loyal to the old king have naturally lost their power, and the royalists are desperately trying to show goodwill to the Holy See, which the old king has neglected for half his life, and will not cause trouble for them in the short term.

Mr. Ya has a very sharp mind and figured out the whole thing in an instant.

The Pope turned suddenly, staring at him with hawk-like eyes: "This is an opportunity, do you understand?"

Mr. Ya lowered his voice excitedly: "The Holy Envoy..."

The Pope nodded slightly and said humbly and grimly: "He is no longer a Holy Manifesto."

Mr. Ya took a deep breath and clenched his fists under his complicated cuffs: "I'll get ready now."

"Jacques," the Pope said, his old hands tucked into his sleeves, standing in the night wind, "If we lose this opportunity, we may never be able to set foot on this land again. It has awakened."

Mr. Ya looked back at the distant shore, recalled the lights he had just seen, and his heart shuddered, and he left in a hurry.

While the Liang people were unaware, a sudden "rebellion" broke out within the Western Army.

It took less than an incense stick of time from the time the Holy Envoy received the news from the Holy Land to the time he made a hasty escape. It was a pity that he did not know that his message had been intercepted, and it was too late. It also took less than an incense stick of time from the time he led the remnants of his troops to flee to the time he was secretly arrested by the papal guards who were waiting for him.

The Holy Envoy and his men were killed on the spot by Mr. Ya, who then arranged a sailing ship and pretended to retire after success, keeping the news of the civil strife in the Holy Land secret. In the peaceful Western naval port, ordinary soldiers were still carrying out routine patrols. They only knew that the Holy Envoy was summoned back to the Holy Land, and there would only be one boss from now on.

The Pope did not change his weak attitude towards peace talks with the Daliang people, and on the surface he continued to retreat little by little until the autumnal equinox of the ninth year of Long'an.

A batch of Western baggage supplies arrived at the Western military port from overseas. A large amount of military supplies and purple gold were like a group of dark ghosts, quietly pressing onto the scorched south bank of the river.