Chapter 43 - Meeting Xia Chunyu

 

The first 100 li to reach Wuxi Feng Long said would be easy turned out to be more difficult. It's been almost five years since he last visited Wuxi, and the path he first thought to be optimal has changed due to the flood. Fortunately, the total distance has only increased 10 li, which was perfectly fine for him, and short enough to not really delay their journey too much. 
The last 120 li were done by boat, as it is faster to get to Wuxi by water. A commercial line operates between the city and the southernmost part of Lake Tai, as this is the path used by most travelers coming from other locations around the empire. 
As they reach Wuxi, Feng Long feels eager to meet Xia Chunyu again. He has good memories from his last visit:

-Zhong Kunyi... I'm so eager to see Xia Chunyu, it's been so many years, and we have almost the same mindset. 
-I'm curious to see him again too. 
-We will arrive shortly. I can see that the city seems bigger today. Jiangsu is not very rich, but they are much more friendly than Anhui, they do attack if threatened, but they always try to reach a good balance, like I do, before using brute force.
-Diplomacy.- Zhong Kunyi smiles.
-Exactly.

As their boat arrives at the wharf, they prepare to disembark. As usual, in most empires, soldiers hold them in the ship:

-Hey, who are you? Where are you from?

Feng Long smiles:

-I am Feng Long, emperor of Zhejiang. 
-Feng Long? Show me your official seal, why would an emperor arrive in this place alone?
-Hey, he's not alone! - Zhong Kunyi complains. 

Feng Long shows his official seal. The soldiers verify that the seal is authentic, and bow to him:

-Welcome to Wuxi, His majesty.
-I want to get to the imperial palace, this was not a planned visit, but I have some emergency to talk with His majesty. 

The soldiers guide them to the palace. Feng long seems impressed, as the landscape changed so much and there are so many new buildings in the area.
Upon arriving in the palace, the soldiers stop. One of them runs into the palace. Xia Chunyu was on his throne, reading a book:

-Your Majesty! - The soldier bows.
-You can rise. Why are you rushing? 
-Your Majesty, Emperor Feng Long is waiting for you outside. Should I allow him to see your Majesty?
-Feng Long... wow, it's been a long time since I saw him. You can let him in, please.
-Your Majesty is wise!

The soldier bows to Xia Chunyu, then turns around and rushes back. He gesticulates to his colleagues, and they allow Feng Long to walk into the palace.
As soon as he sees Xia Chunyu, he walks a bit faster. Xia Chunyu smiles and descends from his throne, meeting him. Both bow to each other:

-Feng Long... It's been a long time since I saw you... - Xia Chunyu smiles.
-Xia Chunyu... five years have passed. And you still looking better than me. - Feng Long giggles.
-Well... This is another kind of dispute. Please, let me introduce you to my prince.

Xia Chunyu opens his arms, inviting Feng Long to enter another room. Feng Long smiles at Xia Chunyu and moves forward. Zhong Kunyi waits.

As soon as he enters the room, he sees a young man that is remarkably similar to Yu Lexuan. He smiles, while Xia Chunyu introduces him:

-Feng Long, I'd like to introduce you to my prince, His highness Ouyang Ziyu. Ouyang Ziyu, I'd like to introduce you to Feng Long, an old friend of mine and emperor of Zhejiang. 
-My pleasure. - Ouyang Ziyu smiles and bows to Feng Long.

They both rise:

-Well, so I saw that you brought another person with you, Feng Long. May I ask you who is he?
-Please, let me introduce him to you. - Feng Long smiles.
-Of course. 

Xia and Ouyang accompany Feng Long. He moves closer to Zhong Kunyi:

-I'd like to introduce you to my minister of finance, Zhong Kunyi. 
-Nice to meet his majesty and his highness. - Zhong Kunyi bows to Xia and Ouyang.

They bow back to him. Xia Chunyu smiles:

-I can see that Zhejiang still producing good results from your beauty of governance model, Feng Long! - Xia Chunyu smiles.
-We are catching up with you, Xia Chunyu. 
-So, beauty aside, I think you want to talk about something important with us, Feng Long. Please, accompany us to the tea room, you both must be tired from the journey.

Xia Chunyu and Oyang Ziyu move together to another room. Feng Long and Zhong Kunyi follow them.

The room has a beautiful decoration, and also a very privileged view of the lake through a large window. A small table is arranged on the side. Xia Chunyu asks his guests to take a seat, and brings hot water and infusions:

-Feng Long, Zhong Kunyi, this is green tea. It is specially grown and has a very different taste from other teas you may have drunk before. 
-We greet Your Majesty- Both bow to him.
-You can rise, please. 

Ouyang Ziyu serves the tea. He then sits close to Xia Chuyu:

-Feng long, you can start, please. - Xia Chunyu smiles.
-Well, apart from this tea having a heavenly taste, the reason I traveled to Jiangsu is for us to review some trade agreements, and, more importantly, let your Majesty know about a new disease spreading in Anhui. My minister of health, Zhang Yi, and my prince, Yu Lexuan, both traveled to Huangshan to investigate it, after hearing from commoners and travelers in Jiangxi that an unknown disease was killing people in Anhui. Zhang Yi developed a test so we can trace if the disease is present in water or blood samples. Huangshan's prince, Ding Qi, strongly supported us and is carrying mass testing on his sector. Anhui does not have a position on that, but we suspect that Hefei is the place the disease is coming from. Ding Qi managed to detect over 250 cases in a 1000 test round. 
-This is concerning! What are you doing to keep it far from Zhejiang? 
-As we have identified the disease very early on, and given how strongly enforced was the testing in Huangshan, we have barely recorded cases, only two among all the population. 
-This is good to know, but I think we must prepare for it here in Jiangsu too. We hardly have had an epidemic in the last 5 years, once we see anything abnormal, we close our borders and keep people at home. Ouyang Ziyu has a mastery of producing medicines, and we only usually record a few deaths.
-It is a good thing that you have followed my beauty of governance model, Xia Chunyu. I was really concerned that Jiangsu would be gotten unguarded. 
-This is what we are supposed to do as emperors, keep our people safe, and have a good relationship with our neighbors. - Xia Chunyu smiles.
-Of course!
-So, Feng Long, I think having these tests is a good thing. I am willing to buy enough tests for our population.
-We can sell them for you and send a small batch by pigeon. Each one can carry enough material to perform about 10 tests. We can send some of them, and also a larger quantity later. 
-Good, Feng Long. Ouyang can close this deal with Zhong Kunyi later. 
-I hope it may help you, as it helped us and also Ding Qi. 
-Anhui is the one to blame them... Well, you know how I hate that emperor... - A teardrop runs from the right eye of Xia Chunyu.
-Please, Xia Chunyu... let's not remember it. Yes, he is reckless, but we can fight it diplomatically, remember one of the principles of beautiful governance. - Feng Long smiles and looks at him.
-Yes... I was just a bit sad about it, but I feel better after listening to you...

Feng Long smiles. After they drink the tea, Xia Chunyu gets up:

-So, I kindly ask Zhong Kunyi to accompany the prince to his room, so you can negotiate. 

Zhong Kunyi smiles and also gets up. Ouyang looks at him and moves:

-Please, follow me.
-Sure, his highness!

As they move out of the room, Xia Chunyu gets closer to Feng Long, looking at him sweetly. Feng Long also engages in the same energy.

...

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