Chapter 1106: Resting

Perhaps because Qi Haoran had just returned from the gates of hell, Mu Yangling was very clingy to him. On average, she would come over to take a look after leaving for less than an hour. Coincidentally, Qi Haoran was recuperating and could not get out of bed. As he was very bored, he would gaze at her eagerly every time she came.

Seeing them like this, Qi Xiuyuan simply stopped letting Mu Yangling work and only let her focus on accompanying Qi Haoran while he recuperated. This way, Fan Zijin would be responsible for all the financial and logistical matters.

Due to the transportation of rations, some officials from the Ministry of Revenue had come along on his expedition. In addition, there were many officials from the Ministry of War’s logistics department. However, in the face of the accounts and large amount of assets left behind by Great Jin, they still did not have enough manpower.

However, Great Qi would not trust the officials of the Jin Kingdom. Hence, Fan Zijin was extremely busy. In the end, he enlisted the help of Little Bear to help him supervise some matters.

For example, the gold, silver, and jewelry that the Jin royal family could not take away.

The taxes that the Jin Imperial Court imposed on the commoners were considered the highest among the few countries. The Jin royal family had always been extravagant. Because they were in a hurry to escape this time, the situation did not allow them to take too many things with them. Therefore, other than the hidden gold, silver, and jewelry that they had not discovered, there were many other items left in the palace. Not to mention the palace, even the coffers were filled with plenty of valuable items.

The Jin Emperor was much richer than when Qi Xiuyuan entered Lin’an and took over the Great Zhou Imperial Palace.

If this money passed through the hands of the officials, even if Great Qi’s government was clean and relatively uncorrupt, it would probably be reduced by 10 to 20% by the time they were tallied. After transporting the items to the capital, it would probably be reduced by another 10 to 20%. By the time it was added to the inventory, less than 60% would reach the Great Qi Emperor.

Coincidentally, the area from the north of Jingzhao Prefecture to the south of Dading Prefecture was the lost land that had just been taken back. Due to the raging flames of war, the lives of the commoners there were not easy. Since they had to provide disaster relief anyway, it was better to do it in one go. They would also prepare the seeds, farming tools, plowing oxen, and so on for the commoners as much as possible.

There was not much grain left in Great Jin’s grain warehouse, but it did not matter because they had gold, silver, and jewelry. He believed that many merchants were willing to transport things to the Central Capital to exchange for them.

Just like that, a third of the treasures left behind by Great Jin were gone. Then, there was also the compensation for the soldiers who had died in battle, and subsidies for the injured soldiers. Moreover, ever since the Great Zhou fled south, the army had never disarmed. Upon enlistment, most of the soldiers stayed in the army until they died or became crippled.

This time, Qi Xiuyuan was generous. Anyone who was below the rank of section commander, over 40 years old, and wanted to retire, could return to their hometown after receiving a considerable sum of military funds. The local county office would also give the retired soldier the freehold field he deserved.

With this policy, half of the remaining treasury were gone. In the end, there was less than a quarter left.

If Qi Xiuyuan also rewarded the soldiers, there would not be much left. However, even if there was not much left, it was still more than ten carriages.

Little Bear had to supervise the registration of the records one by one to ensure that everything was put to good use.

That was why Qi Xiuyuan and Fan Zijin were so busy. This matter could only be handled by an official of the Imperial Court, but there were only about 20 officials on this expedition. Thus, they had to handle many things themselves. This was why, although the war had ended, they were even busier than before.

In the entire Central Capital, the most idle people were probably Qi Haoran and Mu Yangling.

The Jin people in the Central Capital were in a hurry to pack their luggage and leave, and the Great Qi Imperial Court did not stop them. As long as they did not have a criminal record, they were allowed to leave. As for those who had committed murder, fraud, and various other crimes, starting from the beginning of this year, no matter how the Jin Court sentenced them previously, it would be invalidated and crimes would be punished according to the Qi law.

Hence, the commoners were also busy, and the nobles were even busier. Those who had never done great evil were in a hurry to find a way out with their wealth. Those who had done great evil even attempted to give huge bribes in hopes of leaving the Central Capital.

After Qi Xiuyuan took over the Central Capital, new decrees were issued almost every day. A huge crowd of commoners stood in front of the notice wall of the government office, cheering excitedly or running around in panic, so they were all very busy.

As an idler, Qi Haoran felt that he couldn’t be too unconventional, so he gave Mu Yangling all sorts of tasks. One moment, he said that he wanted to drink soup made by her personally, and the next moment, he wanted her to make clothes for him. The next day, he complained her soup was too salty and asked her to cook porridge instead. At the same time, he also found fault with the clothes she made…

At first, Fan Zijin was worried about his wound and would visit him. Seeing that he was well enough to torment Mu Yangling, he turned around and left. After that, he never visited him again and would at most ask Yanmo when he thought of it.

Qi Xiuyuan was even more direct. He simply handed the Jin Imperial Palace to the couple to keep them busy. Whenever he thought of it, he would ask Eunuch Wan. After learning that Qi Haoran was gradually recovering, he stopped visiting him altogether.

The days passed quickly and soon it was late July, the time when the hot summer transitioned to autumn. Qi Xiuyuan gave relief to the refugees and registered the refugees as ordinary civilians. The fields were also distributed accordingly. The 400,000-strong army had been reduced to 320,000. They had also arrived at their camp, leaving only 10,000 elite soldiers and their team in the entire Central Capital.

Having accomplished all that, Qi Xiuyuan returned to the court in satisfaction.

At this moment, the cousins thought of the couple who were still recuperating somewhere in the palace and became worried. This kid was injured in a vital spot. Although he had been recuperating for more than a month, they did not know if he could travel at this time. Thinking that they had not visited him in the past month, they felt a little guilty.

With this thought in mind, the two of them quickly went to visit him at his palace.

As soon as they entered the main hall, they heard Qi Haoran’s energetic shout. “Turn, turn, step on leaves in the air. Aiya, why are you so stupid? You can’t release your qi when you’re already in midair. You have to increase your internal energy…”

Qi Haoran was standing under the corridor with one hand on his waist, teaching Mu Yangling qinggong. Seeing that her speed had yet to increase even after jumping for a long time, he wished he could demonstrate it himself.

Mu Yangling jumped down from the tree and wiped her sweat. She said proudly, “I think my qinggong is good enough now that I can go around this palace in one go.”

Qi Haoran pursed his lips. “Then can you get out of the palace? You call this mediocre qinggong good?”

Mu Yangling said indignantly, “I’m not competing with you. You have strong internal energy. There’s not much I can do about it since I can raise my qi while in the air. I think my qinggong is already impressive enough as is.”

“That’s why I said you lack ambition. You’ve been practicing martial arts since you were nine years old. It’s been more than 20 years, but your qinggong is still so lousy. Why are you so stupid? I wonder if Baozhu will be like you…”

Seeing that the couple was about to quarrel again, a palace maid hurriedly came up with two cups of tea. “Your Highnesses, you must be tired after training all morning. Do have some tea and rest.”

Mu Yangling took the tea, but she also took Qi Haoran’s cup. “Didn’t I tell you that His Highness can’t drink tea now and can only drink plain water? He needs to take medicine.”

The palace maid quickly complied, but she stole a glance at Qi Haoran.

Although Qi Haoran felt that plain water was tasteless, he still pursed his lips and waved at the palace maid to dismiss her.

The palace maid heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly retreated. When she turned around, she saw the Emperor at the door. With a plop, she knelt down to pay her respects.