Working on special projects was a happy business. At the very least, it made that fellow Liu Acheng happy.
Once Xie An took the initiative to find a special project, and Liu Cheng quickly helped him get a major one established, well... once that sense of fulfillment came flooding in, all those miserable feelings about political quagmires, having no idea where to begin with the Northern Expedition, and the utter chaos in Jiankang simply vanished.
The main thing was that Xie An really got things done, really understood what he was told, and really was willing to strike deals without the slightest hesitation. He even promised to find Liu Huzi a proper widow of a second-rank first-class family, then immediately wrote letters to look for one!
Moreover, with the emperor and Empress Dowager behind him, his political resources were ultimately limitless. Once the plan was ready and the project submitted, it was approved at once and immediately entered its launch phase.
Then, almost alongside the first batch of supplies allocated by the court, the first batch of gentry sons he had conned into coming arrived as well. Although they were joining the Western General of the Gentlemen of the Palace's staff, Shouchun shared its computing power! Besides, the supplies also had to enter the great granary first, and the shipbuilding project immediately found itself with more room to breathe.
Well... if that meant keeping Xie Wan fed, then so be it.
Over the following stretch of time, especially after Awu brought the children to visit their father after autumn arrived, the thoroughly cheerful Liu Acheng genuinely felt that this was good, that this was pretty nice too. Shouchun had a pleasant climate, life was fulfilling, and both work and marriage were going smoothly. If the emperor was willing to keep