The Eternal Beauty of the City of Wealth

The queen also laughed and nodded: "Xuan'er, mother believes it, believes it, haha."

At court the next day, Yuan Huan came out and said, "Your Majesty, the envoys from the various vassal states have arrived in Guicheng one after another."

"They also brought all the first year's compensation here and are transferring it to the Ministry of Finance for registration."

Zixuan smiled and nodded: "Very good, then let the princes return to their country."

"Your Majesty, I have spoken to them. The princes have not left. They said they have something to discuss with you."

Zixuan glanced at Yuan Huan and asked, "What's so important that you have to discuss it with me face to face?"

"I have asked, but the prince did not want to talk about it and insisted on seeing you in person."

Zixuan pondered for a while and then asked Yuan Huan, "Where are they now?"

"Your Majesty, they are waiting outside the palace to be summoned. Do you think we should call them in?"

Zixuan waved his hand: "Let them in."

Yuan Huan agreed and walked out. Not long after, the princes followed Yuan Huan in.

After entering the hall, everyone bowed to Zixuan and said, "We pay our respects to City Lord Zixuan!"

Zixuan also bowed in return, and then ordered the palace servants to watch over his seat.

After the princes were seated, Zixuan smiled and asked, "My lords, you have requested to see me. What advice do you have for me?"

Duke Dao of Jin chuckled and said, "City Lord Zixuan, we have a favor to ask of you. I wonder if you can grant it?"

Oh? Zixuan asked doubtfully, "What is it that you, my lord, wish to ask for? Why don't you tell me first?"

Duke Dao of Jin bowed again and said, "City Lord Zixuan, we have been in Fugui City for these few days and have really enjoyed everything here."

"Therefore, after discussion among the nobles, we plan to purchase a property in the capital of Fugui City for each of us to use in the future. I wonder if City Lord Zixuan agrees?"

Zixuan thought for a moment and said, "My lords, the land and property in my Fugui City all belong to the imperial court. They can only be rented, not bought or sold."

"If you are willing to come and live in my wealthy city, you can rent a few houses in Guicheng."

Duke Dao of Jin stroked his beard and said, "Oh, so that's the case. I wonder how much the rent for that house is?"

Zixuan thought for a moment and said, "There are two types of houses. One is an ordinary residential building, which costs one hundred taels of silver per month."

"The second one is the high-end villa area. Each unit costs one thousand taels of silver per month. You can decide which one to rent."

Duke Dao of Jin pondered for a moment and said, "City Lord Zixuan, please allow me to discuss this before giving you a reply. Do you think this is feasible?"

Zixuan nodded: "My lords, please do as you please."

So the princes gathered together and started discussing it.

A quarter of an hour later, Duke Dao of Qi bowed again and said, "City Lord Zixuan, we have reached an agreement."

"We've decided to rent that villa, one for each of us. I don't know when we can move in."

Zixuan smiled faintly: "My Lords, this can be done now."

The princes were delighted upon hearing this, and immediately shouted impatiently, "Great! City Lord Zixuan, process this now!"

Good! Zixuan waved to the Civil Affairs Department's governor and said, "Lord Wang, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Yes!" Wang Xun agreed and took the princes from various countries to go through the rental procedures.

In August of that year, Gao Hou summoned all the officials and garrisons in the government office of Shalan County in Qi State.

He looked at everyone with a stern face and asked anxiously, "Everyone, according to the report from the Marquis of Chi, Jiang Guang has ordered Cui Zhu to lead an army of 50,000 to destroy us. What do you think we should do about this?"

After hearing this, everyone was immediately frightened and turned pale. They all lowered their heads and dared not say a word.

Gao Hou was furious upon seeing this and slammed the table. "You guys usually eat my food and spend my money! How come you're all so stupid at this critical moment?"

At this time, one of his trusted aides, Li Feng, stood up, clasped his fists, and saluted, saying, "Sir, in my opinion, you should first write a letter and send an envoy to the State of Lu to ask for help from Duke Xiang of Lu."

"For now, we must quickly reinforce the city, manufacture more arrows, and prepare rolling logs, bricks, and stones, and then defend and wait for help."

"When the reinforcements from Lu arrive, we can attack them from both sides. What do you think, sir?"

Gao Hou thought about it and then nodded: "Okay! For now, I'll follow your plan. Come on! Repair the letter."

In the wealthy city of Kyoto, in a villa area within Guicheng, the princes sat in the living rooms of their villas, happily drinking drinks and chatting.

Duke Dao of Jin stroked his beard and said with a smile, "My lords, what do you think of my idea?"

The princes and nobles hurriedly flattered him, saying, "Duke Dao is so smart! We admire him! Now that we have such a nice house to live in, we don't even want to go back!"

The King of Wu continued, "Everything in this wealthy city is unique in this world. Its environment and scenery are like a paradise on earth!"

Duke Xiang of Lu also hurriedly followed up: "Yes, yes, when I get old, I will come and live here."

Everyone echoed in unison: "Yeah, that's what we thought too..."

As everyone was discussing happily, a guard walked in from outside and bowed to Duke Xiang of Lu: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from the country."

Duke Xiang of Lu was startled, and quickly stood up, bowing to the princes and saying, "My lords, I will go and take care of some government affairs first, and we will talk later."

After saying that, he led the guard back to the villa he rented.

He opened the letter and saw that it was written by Gao Hou, the lord of Salan, and the content of the letter was asking him to send troops to lift the siege of Salan.

When Duke Xiang of Qi saw that it was another war related to Qi, he immediately felt afraid of Qi again.

He had just been defeated by Zixuan, losing tens of thousands of soldiers in vain, and had his land occupied by Zixuan and he had to pay compensation.

Gao Hou came to ask him to send troops to help. He didn't even have time to hide away, so how could he dare to provoke Duke Zhuang of Qi?

I think Jiang Guang and Zixuan have become sworn brothers and sisters.

If I send troops to rescue them, wouldn't I offend City Lord Zixuan again? Then it wouldn't just be a matter of occupying land and paying compensation. Perhaps...

Thinking of this, he immediately ordered his clerk: "Write a letter to me, saying that Lu and the other states suffered heavy losses when they attacked Fugui City."

"There are no more troops to send to Shalan for rescue. Let Gaohou handle it on his own."

"Yes!" the clerk agreed, quickly opened the bamboo slips, and began to write.

When Gao Hou received the letter, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth, tore the bamboo slips into pieces, and threw them to the ground viciously.

"Damn it! It's really like when a wall falls, everyone pushes it; when a drum breaks, everyone beats it! I, Gao Hou, have helped the Lu Kingdom for many years!"

"Now that I'm in great trouble, Duke Xiang of Qi has turned a blind eye and stood by idly by! I'm so angry I'm going to kill myself!"

"Someone, call Li Feng over here. I have something to ask him!"

“Yes!” The guard agreed and called Li Feng over in a moment.