Chapter 328 - 210 Qingcang is Dying
Xia Dynasty, year three.
The realm had finally settled down and, with the help of Spirit Valley, it had already shown signs of a prosperous era.
The Imperial Palace had also finally received basic repairs; the collapsed walls and palaces had been swept away, replaced by open grounds. In Jiang Fugui’s view, most of the palaces were an unnecessary waste since their maintenance required a vast amount of silver tael each year.
The cost of rebuilding one palace could cover the construction of a road spanning hundreds of miles and dozens of water conservancy projects. Moreover, continual maintenance each year would necessitate tens of thousands of silver tael—in total, keeping the original size of the palace would require at least several million tael a year.
And that was just the basic cost; the actual total would be even more.
About this, the ascended Jiang family had quite an opinion, and the Empress had complained more than once about refurbishing the palaces. The ministers below had also invariably advised the Emperor to build a few palaces.
In a side palace, a small bridge ran over flowing water, and a pavilion with a furnace to warm wine was set up.
Jiang Fugui and Gu Wen were drinking, the former incessantly complaining, "That woman knows nothing about household matters; keep up her clamor for a few more days and I’ll depose her. And as for Jucai, after all these years he still hasn’t grasped any interpersonal skills. As the Crown Prince, he ought to secretly meet with and befriend some ministers."
"It’s only because I, his father, have no interest in this position; otherwise, he would have died many times over."
Gu Wen indifferently said, "The world is but a makeshift stage; you think everyone is a dragon, but in reality, most are mere insects. Not everyone excels at everything; Jucai is a general, but clearly not fit to be a monarch."