I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

In the imperial study, Chen Qingyun sat there thoughtfully. After an unknown amount of time, he heard footsteps coming from outside the door.

"Your Majesty, the Ninth Prince has arrived."

Zhang Huan of the Qianqi Division reported.

Chen Qingyun nodded slightly. Seeing Zhang Huan, he remembered something and ordered, "Return to Jiangzhou City and secretly monitor Jiang Zuo. If he is about to enter the capital, wait until he enters the capital, then bring him to me."

As long as Jiang Zuo is willing to come to the capital, Chen Qingyun will have a way to bring him into the palace.

The only question now is whether Jiang Zuo will choose to come to the capital after reading the letter.

"I humble my duty and obey my orders."

Zhang Huan leaned over and said, then prepared to go to Jiangzhou City again.

He had just returned to the capital not long ago and had not even had time to sit down before he had to continue traveling back and forth between the two places.

A moment later, the Ninth Prince Chen Xiu walked into the imperial study.

"See the Emperor."

Chen Xiu leaned forward and knelt on the ground.

The Ninth Prince had great respect for the emperor in front of him, and even admired him.

When Chen Qingyun seized power, Chen Xiu was the first to express his support.

"Wenxin, long time no see."

Chen Qingyun called her ninth brother by his nickname and her attitude was quite gentle, completely lacking the majesty of the empress in the past.

Facing the emperor's closeness, Chen Xiu became a little more nervous and said, "It's been two or three years."

Chen Xiu had been in Pingcheng before, responsible for guarding the northern border and rarely returned to the capital.

"Did you encounter any troubles when you conquered the State of Chen in the south?"

Chen Qingyun asked in a concerned tone.

Chen Xiu said: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Everything went very smoothly during the Southern Expedition. The soldiers worked together and fought bravely, and did not let Your Majesty down."

The battle to destroy the State of Chen went very smoothly indeed. The Chen army did not pose much real threat to the Yan army at all. Except for some obstacles in the siege of Jiankang City, the rest of the battle was basically a crushing victory.

The results of this southern expedition indeed exceeded Chen Qingyun's expectations. He originally thought of forcing the Chen people to hand over the three states of Hudong, but he did not expect that Jiang Zuo was even more ruthless and directly led his army to destroy the entire Chen State.

"I will reward you one by one when I go to court tomorrow."

Since Chen Qingyun has been promoting a simple lifestyle in recent years, although the destruction of the State of Chen is worth celebrating, he does not want to hold a grand banquet and waste money from the national treasury.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Chen Xiu knelt down again and couldn't help but think of something, and said: "But your majesty, Jiang Zuo is still in Jiangzhou City and has yet to go to the capital. Should we wait until he enters the capital before giving him the reward?"

After all, Jiangzuo made the greatest contribution in this southern expedition. If the greatest contributor was not here, Chen Xiu would be embarrassed to accept the reward.

Chen Qingyun shook his head and said, "Don't worry about him. Reward the other soldiers first. I will naturally order him to come to the capital from Jiangzuo."

Considering Jiang Zuo's personality, I'm afraid he won't be very interested in the rewards from the court.

Chen Xiu was silent for a moment before nodding: "Understood."

Chen Qingyun continued, "I heard that Jiang Zuo often took you to brothels in Jiangzhou City. Is this true?"

Chen Xiu was startled, thinking that the emperor was going to blame him, so he quickly explained, "Your Majesty, we did not do anything out of line when we went to those places. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

They didn't do anything excessive when they went in and out of the brothel at that time, but it was indeed inappropriate to frequently go in and out of such a place of pleasure, so Chen Xiu had no choice but to plead guilty.

"I don't mean to blame you, I just want to ask, is this what Jiang Zuo meant?"

Chen Qingyun urgently needed to know whether Jiang Zuo had done anything bad behind her back, but she couldn't ask directly, so she had to beat around the bush.

The Ninth Prince was stunned for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, this is not entirely Jiang Zuo's idea. I am also at fault."

"You are actually willing to excuse Jiang Zuo?"

Chen Qingyun was still a little surprised. After all, she knew Chen Xiu's character quite well. She only thought that the latter was an upright person. Little did she know what means Jiang Zuo had used to win over the Ninth Prince.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty." Chen Xiu said with a little self-blame.

"Forget it. I don't intend to pursue this matter."

Chen Qingyun said calmly, but in fact he really wanted to know more about Jiang Zuo from the Ninth Prince, but he didn't know where to start.

After thinking for a while, she asked, "Jiang Zuo postponed his entry to the capital. What on earth is he doing in Jiangzhou City?"

Before this, Chen Qingyun had also received news that Jiangzhou City had a brand new look, attracting many people from all over the north and south. Some people even called Jiangzhou City Jiangdu City, meaning the second capital, to praise its prosperous scene.

Chen Qingyun had witnessed Jiangzuo's ability to govern the local area with his own eyes. As for whether he could replicate the successful experience of Anding County in Jiangzhou City, Chen Qingyun had no doubt at all.

Chen Xiu still knelt on the ground and said, "Jiang Zuo said he had some business matters to deal with."

"Business? Don't keep kneeling, stand up and talk slowly."

After hearing this, Chen Xiu stood up, his eyes attracted by a letter on the table.

"This, isn't this the letter that Jiang Zuo asked me to deliver? Why did it appear on the emperor's desk?" Chen Xiu wondered in his heart.

The address on the envelope was the place Chen Xiu had gone to before.

Remember that Chen Xiu just delivered it less than an hour ago, and it arrived in His Majesty's hands so quickly?

Didn’t Jiang Zuo say before that this letter was not for Your Majesty?

The more Chen Xiu thought about it, the more confused he became. He simply ignored it and continued, "Jiang Zuo has earned a lot of money by buying and selling houses in Jiangzhou City. Maybe he will make more money before he is willing to come to Beijing."

"Buying and selling houses?" Chen Qingyun was a little puzzled: "How much money did he make?"

Chen Qingyun had also witnessed Jiang Zuo's ability to make money.

Chen Xiu said: "It seems that I earned more than six million taels."

"Six million?"

Chen Qingyun was stunned.

You, Jiang Zuo, are really good at making money!

Chen Qingyun expressed his envy in his heart.

"Forget it, as long as it's not illegal." Chen Qingyun changed the subject and asked, "What is the current situation in the South Country?"

Although she had received reports from various parties before, she still wanted to know more details from Chen Xiu.

The Ninth Prince said, "Our army has completely stabilized the situation in the South. The resistance forces in Chen have all retreated to the southwestern border and are no longer a threat to Yan. Our army is now pursuing them and will not give them a chance to counterattack. As for the old party in the court of Chen, we have already controlled them. The old aristocratic families in Chen have all nominally recognized the Great Yan. As for the territories of these forces, our army has not yet taken over them."

Those aristocratic families are not what Chen Qingyun has to deal with now. After all, there are so many states and counties in the north, and so many aristocratic empresses that he cannot deal with them all, let alone those old forces in the south.

As long as these people behave themselves, the empress will not deal with them.