Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

If we're talking about hatred, probably no one hates Zhou Ji more than the Jiang family. If it weren't for Zhou Ji's wolfish ambition and murder of the eldest prince, the eldest prince, who is half-Jiang family blood, would be sitting on the throne now. But now, all their previous efforts have been in vain. Although the late emperor left an edict summoning Qi Le to the palace, who can guarantee what will happen a few years from now?

Jiang Pingda sighed. He would write down the situation here in a memorial and send it to the capital by express courier, awaiting instructions from the capital. This method of only besieging and not attacking was something the Princess had specifically mentioned before his departure; she had stated frankly...

"You don't need to worry about the food supply at all. Just try to minimize bloodshed and casualties. Ideally, you should learn from the strategy that Prince Ding'an used against Jialing Pass. If you can surround the city and run out of food, you can win without a fight."

Thinking of the certainty and cunning on her face when she said those words, and recalling the continuous flow of grain and fodder to the military camp, he seemed to understand why the Princess Zhenguo was so revered at Jialing Pass, almost mythologized. It turned out that the Princess really could conjure up food.

The war ended earlier than anyone expected. Most importantly, no one expected that Zhou Ji's soldiers would defect on the battlefield without any resistance. They simply threw down their weapons and surrendered when they saw them coming in.

Ultimately, this is all thanks to Zhou Ji's tyranny in the Southern Province over the years! In recent years, in order to expand his army, he has long since disregarded the imperial law that "only those 23 years of age or older can serve in the military." Within his jurisdiction, men aged 16 and above are forcibly conscripted. Many men of this age are still unmarried when he sends them to the battlefield. As a result, many families are left with only the elderly, women, and children, who have to do all the farm work during the busy season. Consequently, large areas of land in the Southern Province are left uncultivated, and grain production has decreased.

The population plummeted, and newborns became increasingly rare. His series of tyrannical policies fueled widespread resentment and public discontent. Therefore, his defeat was in line with popular sentiment; it was a worthwhile and universally welcomed defeat. The city's inhabitants even lined the streets to welcome Jiang Pingda's army into the city.

Jiang Pingda detailed all these circumstances in his memorial, requesting the Emperor and Empress Dowager to make their decision.

Zhou Luo's imperial edict arrived quickly. In it, Zhou Luo ordered Jiang Pingda not to return to the capital, but to lead his army directly to the fiefdom of the Prince of Huainan and capture him in one fell swoop.

Upon receiving this imperial decree, Jiang Pingda was not surprised; in fact, he had long wanted to do so. Although the Prince of Huainan and the Prince of Dingbei were not directly involved in the First Prince's affair, they had nonetheless fueled the flames. The thought that so many people, knowing that the Prince of Ding'an intended to harm the First Prince, had actually welcomed it filled him with hatred!

The Prince of Dingbei is dead, and his heir is incompetent and not a threat. Therefore, what he needs to do now is to launch a sudden attack on the Prince of Huainan and defeat him in one fell swoop.

Jiang Pingda summoned his troops and announced the military order to return to the capital. Although some of his men were puzzled by his chosen route back to Beijing, obedience was the highest duty in the army, and no one questioned his true purpose.

The Prince of Huainan also had spies, and after learning of Jiang Pingda's next move, they felt relieved. But who could have imagined that the army, which had been marching normally towards the capital, would suddenly change course in the middle of the night and head straight for the Prince of Huainan's fiefdom? When the Prince of Huainan opened his eyes after a night's sleep, he had already silently lost a county and two towns.

The King of Huainan was greatly alarmed and quickly summoned his son, officials, and retainers to discuss the matter.

In the council hall of the King of Huainan, his sons started arguing and creating a huge commotion. The King of Huainan was so angry that he pinched his philtrum to keep from fainting.

"Shut up, all of you!" King Zhou Gang of Huainan slammed his hand on the table, causing the teacups on it to bounce briefly before falling back down.

The group was stunned by the father's imposing presence and stopped talking, all looking at him and waiting for him to continue.

"I called you here to discuss matters, not to listen to your shrewish bickering. If you keep arguing, get back to your own yards and stop embarrassing yourselves," Zhou Gang yelled at his son.

"Your Highness, I think the Emperor is determined to abolish the feudal system this time. If he doesn't agree, then we'll have no choice but to fight him. However..." The official didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood what he meant. Winning by force would be fine, but if they lost, the fate of the Prince of Ding'an would be their fate. Moreover, Your Highness's troops are not as strong as the Prince of Ding'an's; you should think twice!

“Father, I agree with Lord Li. The Prince of Ding’an’s army of 300,000 men was defeated by the imperial army. Now we have less than 100,000 men. If we want to fight the imperial court, I think we should just call it a day! Otherwise, we’ll all end up being tied up and sent to the capital to be beheaded.” Zhou Shou, the second son of the Prince of Huainan, said without restraint.

He was the legitimate son of the Princess Consort of Huainan. Because he was born prematurely, his health was not as good as his elder brother and younger brother from a young age. The Princess Consort of Huainan was afraid that this son would not amount to anything, so she named him 'Shou' in the hope that he would live a long life.

Perhaps it was the auspiciousness of his name, but despite his sickly appearance, he grew into adulthood day by day, though his physique was still somewhat frail compared to others. Therefore, his father, the Prince of Huainan, never had any demands of him, only that he survive. He was initially quite content with his situation; his mother was the Prince of Huainan's principal wife, and his maternal family was a long-established and prestigious clan. He was very certain that the position of Prince of Huainan's heir would be his.

As a result, after Shen Jingheng's people came to his side, they fed him all sorts of nonsense every day, saying that his father never intended to make him the heir apparent. Otherwise, he was already quite old, so why hadn't he been granted the title yet? Also, although his mother was the principal wife, the prince and the eldest son's mother, Consort Qing, were cousins ​​and had been childhood sweethearts. So the position of heir apparent was reserved for him, and so on.

Zhou Shou thought about it carefully and it seemed to make sense. His father had always been very strict with his elder brother, demanding high standards of writing, riding, and archery, and punishing him severely for even minor mistakes. In contrast, his father never scolded him, no matter if he misbehaved or skipped school. Instead, he would look at him with affection and say...

"If you don't want to learn, then don't. Anyway, there will be plenty of people to do those things for you in the future!"

At the time, he thought his father meant that if he became the next King of Huainan, he would have plenty of people under his command, some to manage his territories, some to write memorials for him, and some to fight for him. But now, thinking back on his father's words, he clearly meant that someone would take his place as the heir apparent of the King of Huainan, and someone would also take his place as the next King of Huainan.

So during this time, he started to cause trouble for his father. Not only did he cause trouble, but he also dragged his mother, the Princess Consort, into it. The Princess Consort of Huainan had previously believed that her son would definitely be the next Prince of Huainan, but after hearing her son's explanation, she felt that what he said seemed to make a lot of sense. Thus, the not-so-bright Princess Consort of Huainan had been causing quite a bit of trouble for the Prince of Huainan during this period, insisting that he immediately request that her son, Zhou Shou, be appointed as the Crown Prince of Huainan.