The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Chapter 170: Taking her through the back door

Ning Yuxuan asked, "What's your intention in doing this?"

Feeling someone pulling her to the side, Ji Man raised her eyes and made direct contact with Marquis Moyu's slightly deep gaze.

"Why do you also know about the road construction matter?"

"What road construction?" Ji Man looked at him blankly as if she had no hidden intentions and shook her head. "This one is just teaching Haohao how to read and happened to see that phase in a book."

"Oh?" Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed and let her go. "Tell me, what book was that phrase from?"

Ji Man straightened the front of her robe and solemnly answered, "It's from the Analects of Confucius - Building Roads. It's a lost Confucian classic. The main point of the book is inform the later generations that if you want to enjoy fortune, you have to construct roads first. When traveling becomes more convenient, time will be saved, which will lead to a reduction in transportation costs. This will result in a reduction in prices for goods and boost consumption."

Looking at Ning Yuxuan, who was stunned by her words, Ji Man sighed and patted his shoulder. "It's okay. I already knew that even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to understand."

Her words were clearly a bunch of nonsense, so why was she acting as if everything was rightfully so? Feeling rather helpless, Marquis Moyu looked at her for a long time before deciding to leave.

As he was turning around, Ji Man stopped him by grabbing his sleeve. "Marquis, what were you saying about that road construction?"

Ning Yuxuan paused. He turned his to the side and said, "Do you really not know that Zhangjun Prince petitioned for a road to be built between his fiefdom and the capital?"

Ji Man smiled and said, "Oh, so you were talking about that matter. Isn't that a very normal matter? The emperor should agree to that request. He hasn't ascended to the throne for a long period of time and wouldn't want to gain the reputation amongst the commoners as someone that mistreats his brother, right? It's only a road. It won't require that much money from the national treasury."

"A woman's viewpoint is lacking." Marquis Moyu snorted. "This road can't be built."

Acting as if she didn't understand why, Ji Man asked, "Why not?"

It was obvious why the road couldn't be built. If the national treasury funded the construction of a trade road, once it was easier to transport things between the two places, many other things would also become more convenient too. The new emperor wasn't an idiot; he wouldn't act like someone that had more money than sense.

However, taking advantage that right now all of the titled princes, who were normally situated far away in their respective fiefdoms, had come to the capital to pay respects to the new emperor, the dowager empress tearfully complained to them about the new emperor. And so, rumors of the new emperor mistreating the dowager empress and his imperial brother were spread.

After the new emperor had ascended, he had put down harsh rules regarding taxation. It could even be said that the popularity of the new emperor was already at an all-time low. There were even many elegant scholars that wrote poems with metaphors about Zhao Li being a fatuous and incapable ruler and his taxes. Over time, the commoners seemed to have developed a tacit understanding of the new emperor.

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Marquis Moyu rejected Zhangjun Prince's petition by using the reason that the Ministry of Revenue was reporting a deficit in funding. However, after these words were said, the construction for Wangyue Pavillon should be stopped too. Since he had said there was a shortage in the national treasury, then nothing else should be built or renovated either.