Da Tang Si Zi: My Six Super Rich Little Nuggets!

Chapter 139 Zhang Jianzhi and the Ancient Ailao Kingdom

698 AD.

Zhang Jianzhi is almost 80 years old.

Zhang Jianzhi succeeded Yang Yuanyan as the Chief Administrator of Jingzhou.

For someone whose career had been fraught with setbacks for almost his entire life, such a promotion and transfer was practically meaningless on his resume.

The only thing that brought him comfort was that he and the former governor hit it off immediately.

After the routine handover was completed, the two began to arrange meals, a river cruise, a bath, and music listening...

Meanwhile, two other people were also taking a bath.

One of them is Mei Xiaosi, who is almost eighty years old.

After the next court.

Mei Xiaosi slowly straightened his sleeves as he looked up at Zi An, who still looked like a young heartthrob, and said:

"You know, today in the imperial court, Old Zhang finally made some progress."

Zi An glanced at Mei Xiao Si:

"Oh, so that's all there is to it. To put it nicely, you're a late bloomer! You're just a tool used by the mastermind behind the Shenlong Coup that forced you to step down?"

You said all his hard work back then was useless; he only started to show his talent when he was over sixty.

"It's only in old age that one truly understands the meaning of winning through luck rather than hard work."

Mei Xiaosi smiled innocently:

"Of course not! We don't need to. Those who transmigrate are all such important characters, they won't even let us relax..."

Zi An waved his hand gently:

"Who said that? Let's relax now!!"

Mei Xiaosi said, "Zi'an, you are no longer the emperor, you don't know. I really envy your youthful appearance. I am already 74 years old, sigh, and I still have so much work to do every day. I am too tired."

Sometimes I really wish Qiu Rongmu would get some wild ginseng so we could continue our journey through time. Now it's not just a 'laughing rhinoceros' anymore, it's an 'old rhinoceros'. But I just can't let go of the burdens on my shoulders..."

Zi'an's eyes darted around, and she smiled, "Letting go is easy, just go with the flow. Let's go to the sauna first and relax."

Don't even mention the Tang Dynasty's imperial saunas; they were truly exceptional. After each bath, my complexion was as radiant as a newborn baby's! My skin was so smooth.

Mei Xiaosi nodded: "Let's go! This is not only relaxing, but also recharging our mind and body and improving our transmigrated temperament! After steaming, I feel like I'm still a child at heart, seventy years younger than I am now!"

Zi'an laughed heartily and continued, "What's the story with Zhang Jianzhi?"

I'll tell you in a bit.

Mei Xiaosi changed into her sauna clothes and continued the topic.

"When Zhang Jianzhi was young, he studied very hard and was a true academic star. He was admitted to the Imperial Academy."

The Imperial Academy Chancellor Linghu Defen saw that this young man was exceptionally talented and decided to send him to the Imperial Palace staff to provide advice and strategies.

Later, Zhang Jianzhi passed the imperial examination with flying colors and became a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). He initially served as a minor official in Qingyuan County.

In the blink of an eye, it was the first year of Yongchang (689 AD). I made a big move in the court to select a group of virtuous and talented people.

At that time, Zhang Jianzhi was already 64 years old.

More than a thousand people were vying to take the exam, but Zhang Jianzhi outshone everyone and came in first.

That was good; he was promoted to Censor, and then, step by step, climbed his way up to the position of Attendant in the Imperial Library.

"What exactly happened between you two?"

“At that time, the Turkic leader Mochuo proposed a marriage alliance, wanting to marry his daughter to our royal family. I wanted Wu Yanxiu to marry her.”

Zhang Jianzhi said something he shouldn't have said, though it wasn't the outrageous statement, "Since ancient times, emperors have never married daughters of foreign tribes."

His inexplicable stupidity infuriated me, so I sent him to serve as the governor of He and Shu prefectures.

In the past, five hundred soldiers were sent to garrison Yaozhou every year. That place was too dangerous; it was rife with miasma, and anyone who went there would surely die.

Zhang Jianzhi wiped the sweat from his brow and said to me:

"Your Majesty, I'm not joking. I looked up the history of Yaozhou, and wow, it's like telling the story of 'Japanese train platforms'!"

That place used to be called 'Ancient Ailao Kingdom'. Just look at that sad name. It's so remote that it could be nominated for the 'Most Remote Place Award'. The mountains are high and the waters are treacherous. Just entering it makes you dizzy. Finding your own people there is harder than finding a tiger.

During the Western Han Dynasty, it had absolutely nothing to do with us. Emperor Wu of Han sent Tang Meng to clear the way. When they passed through Yelang, Dian, and Zuo, the Ailao Kingdom refused to greet our people! They stubbornly protected themselves and refused to submit no matter what.

Towards the end of the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, lo and behold, he suddenly had an epiphany and actually volunteered to become our companion.

He said, 'Let me become a vassal state!' So we actually accepted him and established Yongchang Prefecture to govern him.

As a result, that place became like a "small factory for getting rich," with salt, cloth, felt blankets, woolen goods—you name it, they had it. They traded it all for our benefits; it was practically a great place to make money!

This place doesn't have the 'geographical advantage' that its name suggests; it's bordered by Daqin (the Roman Empire) to the west and Jiaozhi (Vietnam) to the south.

Just think about it, there were so many precious tributes, it was impossible to take them all!

When Liu Bei saw that the military supplies in Shu were tight and the troops were almost starving, Zhuge Liang immediately crossed the Lu River in May to go to Yaozhou to collect some goods. He also sent Zhang Boqi to select some able-bodied men, which would add some "fresh blood" to his army.

The Records of Shu states that after Zhuge Liang's southern campaign, the Shu Kingdom became incredibly wealthy, and as a result, they used Yaozhou as a "bank" for several years.

However, nowadays, the production of salt, cloth, and taxes in that area are completely unsatisfactory!

The tribute is gone! The weapons are gone! And the wealth is nowhere to be found!

Instead, they forced the locals to do hard labor for those savages, living like pigs and dogs.

"Tell me, Your Majesty, I truly feel sorry for you. Let's not allow this 'what a pity, what a pity' to become so widespread!"

Zi'an listened attentively to the Empress's description, her brows slightly furrowed.

Although Mei Xiaosi is now an old woman, with the marks of time still gently etched on her face, she still shines with the pure and lovely appearance of a child, and her eyes reveal a subtle depth.

She paused slightly, as if pondering something, then said softly:

"I was really anxious at the time!! Although I am the invincible empress, I was surrounded by enemies at the time, and I only had some resources. I could not possibly cope with the chaos.

The most terrifying thing was that I discovered I was not professional in the field of warfare, and I couldn't find a single trustworthy general whom the Tang Dynasty could fight with all its might—only at that moment did I understand where the real crisis... came from!!