Chapter 799: Chapter 11: Shouzhe’s Assessment as Quasi-Crown Prince! Turmoil Brewing (Requesting Monthly Votes)

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Two poor kids~~

They don’t even know that they have become pieces in the secret game of two families, and eventually, even their marriage will not be in their own hands.

However, not having the autonomy in marriage is the norm in this world, especially for the direct lineage, it is even more so.

This is because the marriage of the direct lineage is not just their own personal affair, but it also concerns the long-term future of the entire family. If they were to act freely with regard to marriage, wouldn’t it create chaos?

Including Wang Shouzhe, Liua Ruolan, and Prince Anjun and his wife, all were joined in marriage under family arrangements. Being able to choose one from several target candidates is already a great fortune.

A moment later.

After another round of beating, the two little ones finally calmed down, and quietly huddled in the corner, drawing circles. The two of them exchanged a glance and couldn’t help feeling a bit sympathetic towards each other.

Wang Shouzhe didn’t rush to take up the topic of marriage alliances but instead leisurely took a sip of immortal tea and smiled at Prince Anjun Wu Mingyuan: "Prince Mingyuan, I heard from Tianyan Fairy last time that you were working on enclosing land for protective forest planting in the Anbei Guard and improving the land. How is the progress?"

How is the progress, Wang Shouzhe was actually already very clear.

His understanding of Wu Mingyuan and the Anbei Guard far surpasses Wu Mingyuan’s understanding of the Wang Family. The Immortal Hall established by Household General Wang Mei has been gradually infiltrating the Anbei Guard for decades, serving as Wang Shouzhe’s eyes.

Speaking of this, Wu Mingyuan’s spirit was aroused and he suddenly wasn’t sleepy anymore: "The Anbei Guard is located at the northwest frontier of Southern Desert County, at the junction of the Dara Desert, West Sea County, and Southern Desert County. Although that region is named ’Guard’, in terms of actual area, it’s actually larger than the combined Longzuo South Six Guards."

"My plan is to gradually develop the Anbei Guard into a grain-producing base, then use protective forests to steadily advance into the Dara Desert, ultimately turning the entire desert into tens of thousands of miles of fertile land. You know, the entire Dara Desert’s total area is almost equivalent to half of the Daqian Kingdom."

"Currently, the technical challenges of planting protective forests have been initially overcome by us, making large-scale planting technically feasible. Our people have also found several underground water sources, solving part of the irrigation water problem."

"For the main crops, we’re using the drought-tolerant Pearl Rice improved by the Longzuo Purple Mansion Academy’s Changchun Valley. It thrives in sunlight and drought, with tall plants and thick roots, better penetrating sandy layers effectively absorbing the nutrients from the earth. Moreover, Pearl Rice has a high yield per acre, and the plants can be processed to raise cattle, sheep, and pigs. And the manure from the livestock, once fermented and decomposed, is a good fertilizer for growing fields."

"For secondary crops, we’ve chosen Jade Crystal Grapes and Ziran Spice. The former can fully utilize the advantages of underground water source areas, producing higher value to brew wine for sale. As for Ziran Spice, it’s suitable for intercropping with Pearl Rice, maximizing land utilization..."

Speaking about farming, Wu Mingyuan really became eloquent, entering a state of excitement, with brilliant lights shining in his eyes.

But Wu Dianshan beside him was listening with drowsiness. He is just a leisurely prince, accustomed to tending to flowers and fishing leisurely, without interest in large-scale development and farming.

However, he knew that Wang Shouzhe was somewhat intrigued, seemingly putting Wu Mingyuan to the test.

On the contrary, Wang Shouzhe listened very attentively, occasionally pointing out some doubts, to which Wu Mingyuan patiently responded one by one.

As Wang Shouzhe’s questions delved deeper, Wu Mingyuan’s answers also became more detailed, covering everything from soil composition, fertilization, pest control, to underground water exploration and excavation, the construction of irrigation channels, and even meticulous planning, construction, and overall design of the Anbei Guard—he was familiar with all of it.

His expertise and dedication in terms of planting and local construction were thereby fully revealed.

Such prowess even made Wang Shouzhe secretly nod in approval.

Wang Zong’an’s eyes also carried a hint of admiration.

He had been nearly entirely involved in the development and construction of the Qingluo Guard and knew the difficulties therein. Yet the difficulty faced by Prince Anjun in developing the Anbei Guard was far beyond that of developing Qingluo Guard. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

After all, the Qingluo Guard built upon the already completed reclamation of Qingluo Sea. Building the Qingluo Guard on that basis is quite a bit simpler compared to pioneering, while Prince Anjun’s Northwest Guard is almost entirely barren, everything needing to start from scratch.

"Prince Mingyuan, with your current plan, at most a hundred years would be needed to manage Anbei Guard well." Wang Shouzhe poured Wu Mingyuan a cup of tea and then casually asked, "However, even if this place is managed well, it’s just the size of Longzuo South Six Guards, which adds barely anything to the overall national power of the Daqian Kingdom."

"Those few underground water sources in Anbei Guard are far from enough to support your ambitious plan to pioneer Dara Desert. What does Your Highness think?"

Wu Dianshan beside him couldn’t help but admire inwardly; this Wang Shouzhe is absolutely the most astonishing individual he has encountered in his life.

Others facing a quasi-crown prince would try every means to establish connections. And a quasi-crown prince would carefully observe and investigate before accepting followers and subjects, perhaps conducting an interview or exam.

But here with Wang Shouzhe, the roles were reversed entirely, turning into Wang Shouzhe testing the quasi-crown prince back and forth, who exactly is recruiting whom here?