Chapter 967

“Boom, boom, boom…”

Along with the salutes sending fireworks high into the sky, brilliant fireworks bloomed in the night, clustered together and beautifully moving. Unlike previous New Year’s Eves, the people of Qingzhou City had eaten their New Year’s Eve dinner and left their homes early to gather on the Imperial City Avenue, waiting for the fireworks display.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful.”

The moment the fireworks bloomed, the bright light instantly illuminated the Imperial City Avenue, revealing a dense crowd of people. The children’s innocent voices at this time drowned out the noisy whispers. For the children, their eyes were only on the fun and beautiful fireworks. But for every adult who came to the Imperial City Avenue, they were more looking forward to the mysterious event that the court had announced before the New Year. It was said that tonight, they would witness a moment when a miracle would happen…

In the palace, Xiao Ming, his officials, and his concubines were also admiring the beautiful fireworks in the night sky. The salute cannons were located in the square in front of the Zhengda Guangming Hall.

“Father Emperor, what exactly is this mysterious event tonight?”

Xiao Yi’s face, wearing a thick cotton coat, was red from the cold, but his eyes were shining with excitement. Like everyone else, most people in the palace also did not know what mysterious event was going to happen tonight.

Fei Yuer stood side by side with Xiao Ming, looking at Xiao Yi with some affection. In the blink of an eye, eleven years had passed, and Fei Yuer had transformed from a sixteen-year-old girl into a twenty-six-year-old graceful lady. The naivete on her face was gone, replaced by a touch of charm and allure, and her every move became more and more like a mother of the nation.

“If Father Emperor tells you, it will no longer be a secret, and there will be no surprise, right?” Xiao Ming stroked Xiao Yi’s head. Unconsciously, Xiao Yi’s height had reached his waist. At seven years old, he would be a proper elementary school student in the modern era. Precisely because of this, Xiao Ming also began to be strict with Xiao Yi’s education. He would always take time to personally teach Xiao Yi, believing that he had reached an age of understanding. More importantly, as Xiao Yi grew older, the voices in the court for establishing a Crown Prince grew louder, and he received memorials praising Xiao Yi almost every few days. He was naturally well aware that this was nothing more than people trying to curry favor with Fei Ji.

In addition, this was also related to Xiao Yi’s third-place finish in the Qingzhou Middle School’s year-end exam at the age of seven. After the domestic situation stabilized, in order to popularize education, Xiao Ming refined the educational system. The Great Yu Empire established four stages: elementary school, middle school, high school, and university. The reason for this was that after more than ten years of education, Qingzhou University had already cultivated a group of excellent talents. From these talents, he specifically selected a group of elites to establish Qingzhou Normal University. As the name suggested, this professional college would continuously provide educational talent for the Great Yu Empire. At the same time, he no longer centralized everything in Qingzhou but allocated some resources to other cities. For example, Jinling, Youzhou, Jinzhou, Songjiang, Suzhou, Lin’an, and Chang’an all began to establish industrial and commercial systems and support education as per the court’s requirements. Some universities were also established in these cities to cultivate local talent.

Xiao Yi had participated in the middle school exam at Qingzhou Middle School on a whim during Xiao Ming’s inspection, and unexpectedly, he got the third place. According to the standards of the Great Yu Empire, Xiao Yi should only be in elementary school. Therefore, this result immediately became a popular story. His eldest son was also praised highly, and Fei Ji even hosted a banquet for many officials to show off about this matter. However, in Xiao Ming’s opinion, this was nothing special. With a father like him, Xiao Yi would naturally remember and learn things quickly, so he could not be measured by this.

“Yes, Father Emperor, I’ll wait a little longer.” Xiao Yi stood honestly beside Xiao Ming, looking old and mature, which made Xiao Ming and Fei Yuer shake their heads repeatedly.

“The eldest prince is so sensible, unlike my stinky boy who has already asked a hundred times,” Lu Fei’s hearty voice came. Beside him stood a chubby boy who was about the same age as Xiao Yi. This was his third son, Lu Ping, while his eldest son, Lu Yun, was eighteen years old and had already entered the Imperial Guard for training.

Luo Xin turned around at this time. Today, he had brought his eldest son, Luo Xing. This New Year’s Eve was of great significance. Everyone with a name in the court was invited to the palace to attend the banquet and was allowed to bring their family members. For the officials and generals, the fireworks and the mysterious event were secondary. The important thing was that so many key personnel of the court were gathered together, allowing them to communicate with each other and let their children experience the world. Therefore, both civil and military officials brought their children, including Niu Ben and Pang Yukun, and the palace instantly became very lively.

“Your Ping’er is still asking questions. My boy hasn’t said a word yet. He’s terrified. He’s so spineless,” Luo Xin glared at his son.

Xiao Ming smiled. These two were his right-hand men who had made great achievements and now held high positions in the army. It was because of the support of this group of loyalists that his control over the army was as stable as a mountain.

Xiao Ming said, “Ping’er and Xing’er don’t seem to be studying in Qingzhou’s elementary school, do they? After the New Year, why don’t you let them enter the palace to study with Xiao Yi? This way, he can have a playmate his age.”

Lu Fei and Luo Xin were overjoyed to hear this. Lu Fei immediately slapped Lu Ping on the back of his head and shouted, “Thank the Emperor! It’s a blessing that you can study with the eldest prince.” Luo Xin also pushed Luo Xing forward, and the two of them bowed respectfully and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness.”

“Rise,” Xiao Ming said with a smiling face. The commotion here naturally did not escape the eyes of the other officials. Many officials showed envious expressions. Lu Ping and Luo Xing would have a bright future. However, they also knew that the Emperor was doing this to consolidate his relationship with the Lu and Luo families. As for Niu Ben, the Emperor had personally arranged a marriage, marrying a noblewoman to his eldest son, Niu Chong, showing him great favor as well.

As everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, Su Liangcai ran over, breathless. After arriving in front of Xiao Ming, Su Liangcai took a moment to catch his breath and said, “Your Majesty, we can begin now.”

Xiao Ming’s eyes instantly lit up. In fact, today’s mysterious event was the official electrification of Qingzhou City. After the thermal power plant began generating electricity, it first supplied power to the military machinery department and then established power facilities in Qingzhou City. Therefore, Xiao Ming gave Su Liangcai a crucial task, which was to officially supply electricity to Qingzhou City on New Year’s Eve. He was genuinely tired of using candles.

“My dear ministers, today I said I would give all of you and the people of the city a gift. This is today’s mysterious event.” After speaking, he nodded to Su Liangcai.

Su Liangcai then shouted loudly, “Three salutes, begin!”

Following his command, three salutes were fired in front of the Zhengda Guangming Hall, and then, the streetlights on both sides of the Imperial City Avenue and the streetlights in the palace all lit up. The entire Qingzhou City was brightly illuminated.