Chapter 116

The Great King wouldn't let the soldiers help with his two-mu field; he dragged Wei Shen along with his Bai Ze and Weini, and it took five or six days of dragging before the planting was done.

Since the ones in charge of adding soil, Bai Ze and Weini, weren't reliable, the hired technical advisor kept saying it was too thin one moment and too thick the next.

As for the field the Great King had planted, how should I put it? In Wei Shen's words, it's a painting that ruined a painting.

Originally there were too many varieties, making it a bit messy, and the Great King also made all sorts of chaotic markings in it. The ridges of that field were long or short, fat or thin.

The Great King was extremely enthusiastic about farming, and with his influence, the soldiers sent to the fields no longer felt it was a bitter task. Actually they also knew the situation; if they didn't convert to military households to farm, whether they could eat this year was really a problem.

After the Jin family's caravan brought goods worth five hundred thousand taels back to Chang'an, it sparked a new trend in Chang'an. It wasn't that no other Chang'an merchants went to Youzhou to purchase goods; it was just that their scale couldn't compare to the Jin family's.

The Jin steward returned and reported his Youzhou observations to the master of the household; the Jin family's Chang'an manager immediately sought an audience with the Second Prince, who was the maternal uncle of Baili Heng.

He gave a detailed description of the newly built walls of Youzhou, saying they were stronger than Chang'an's walls, which was quite extraordinary.

Who would have thought the Second Prince still didn't care, saying that place was a border city, its walls were bound to collapse soon, so rebuilding them was normal, and building them higher was also normal.

"If Old Three had a bit of money, he'd definitely have built walls; his princely mansion is just like that. The last time Jin Fengxian came back, he also mentioned the Prince You's mansion—he's just a kid, having just experienced the Xianbei southward invasion, and he'd pile up a wall with every single cash coin. We need to focus on the Prince of Yu, not this little kid Old Three. Do you know that supplying Old Three's three thousand border troops is the doing of our Prince of Yu? Hah, after failing to become a son-in-law to the Marquis of the Eastern Capital, the Prince of Yu turned around and stabbed him."

The two then brought up the royal family, but this didn't cause any stir in the Second Prince's quarters.

In the Great King's leisure time, besides summoning Zhao Zhu Ge to come chat, he would go look at his field every day whenever he had time. Some things he wouldn't say to his subordinates and palace people, he would tell Mr. Zhao. Zhao Zhu Ge's perspective on matters always gave the Great King a fresh outlook.

When Zhao Zhu Ge was busy, he would go out toiling in the fields.

"Isn't he not allowed to go out? Going to till the land should be fine, right! Even the Chancellor doesn't bother managing him; the northern side of the princely mansion has almost all been turned into military farms, with hardly any outsiders, so it's actually safe."

Even after three days there was still no sprouting, the Great King went back and pulled out that published planting book to study a bit, only to be loudly mocked by Wei Shen. Feelings: you let others plant by the book, yet you yourself plant blindly with eyes closed.

Proper seedlings didn't sprout, but after three or four days, a bunch of scrawny little grasses popped up—it was just barren land.

So the Great King squatted on the ground, pulling out each one with his little chubby paw and throwing them away.

While he quietly worked, Wei Shen again thought the child was adorable. Then his skin probably itched again, and when the Great King was squatting pulling out weeds, he kicked his rear from behind……

His attendants closed their eyes……

The Great King plunged headfirst into the soil, climbed up with a little black face covered in dirt, and shouted, "Damn it, this king is furious!" He called out to the attendants who had come with him, "You're just going to watch? Zhe Tian, Weini, Bai Ze, get revenge for me!"

Bai Ze didn't want to join the idiots' children's war; in public it pretended not to understand, feeling perfectly fine about it.

The other two were quite obedient; Weini's beast-feeding pellets were certainly not wasted—it got up and chased Wei Shen, though he couldn't run fast enough. Seeing that this help was no good, Zhe Tian still had to rely on it; the creature flapped its wings hard, and Wei Shen, who was fleeing swiftly ahead, was knocked straight to the ground, whereupon Weini pounced on him and stomped on him with its feet.

Wei Shen, pressed under it, could barely breathe; in the blink of an eye, a man and a bear rolled around on the ground several times……

Wei Shen was pressed by it, simply unable to catch his breath; he and the bear rolled on the ground several rounds in the blink of an eye...

The King initially clapped and cheered from afar, but laughing and laughing he couldn't laugh anymore—this is the land he painstakingly planted! If you roll two more rounds and pack it down, what seedlings could grow?!

"Come! Come quickly! Throw them both out of my land!"

The imperial guards hurriedly ran in, a few of them dragging Wei Gongzi and the bear...

The King's land can't be examined closely; everywhere are his tiny footprints, which are more destructive than small grass. Zhao Bao and the calm sword-holding Ling Yin beside him chimed in, "You say, does our Prince's plot have any hope?"

Ling Yin thought seriously for a moment, "Partially there is hope."

Zhao Bao:...

After all this tossing and turning for a few days, that afternoon the King suddenly heard a familiar chime. Opening it, indeed there was another screen full of confetti, and the walls of Youzhou city were completed.

【Congratulations, my lord, on completing the side quest—building the walls of Youzhou city.】

The following notes are the same as before at the You Prince's mansion; professional manpower is immediately reclaimed, the technical supervisor NPC Zhao Zhu Ge is reclaimed in thirty days, and there is also a warranty period.

The King didn't rush out to look at the finished walls; he refreshed the main quest.

Of the three previous main quests, two were completed and he claimed their rewards; only the hunger index remains uncompleted. Now that the walls are built, three thousand families have earned high wages. The King looked expectantly as he refreshed, but the six points still weren't reached, rising from a little over one to three point two.

This huge pit in Youzhou is really hard to fill!

Indeed, not being full remains Youzhou's biggest problem, which needs to be solved first.

The King seriously looked at the two newly refreshed main quests:

【Main quest: My lord, your city's recent happiness index has risen, but the hunger index remains stagnant; according to big data analysis it still far exceeds the red alert line, still posing a high risk of overthrowing the regime. Please continue to strive as the lord of one city, making the utmost effort for the people's peace and prosperity. The system detects that your city faces not only external worries but also internal troubles. Now issuing new main quest:】

Task Two: Please strive to increase the happiness index by nine percentage points.

Task reward: a‑level spin‑draw x1.

Task Three: Rock Sparrow Mountain has become the number one bandit stronghold within Youzhou territory, posing a great threat to passing merchants and nearby residents; please eliminate it within the time limit.

Time limit: sixty days.

Task reward: b‑level spin‑draw x4

Task penalty: 10000 ingots (ten thousand ingots)】

Upon seeing that the points needed to raise the happiness index increased from six to nine, while the reward remained the same. Moreover, that bandit‑suppression task also carries a penalty—ten thousand ingots isn't that a hundred thousand taels of silver?

No, no, no, this money cannot be spent; Rock Sparrow Mountain must be wiped out!

The King was secretly swearing, wondering what to do about this, when he suddenly saw a reward‑box with a bow tied on it flashing in the upper‑right corner of the panel. Huh? Does he still have an unclaimed reward?

He immediately shook his head—impossible, I am the most proactive about claiming rewards!

He clicked it, and indeed it was a reward.

【Congratulations, my lord, for the first time personally leading the militia and soldiers to successfully repel the enemy attack, safeguarding the city's safety—confetti! Now rewarding the basic city‑construction plan for Youzhou city x1, and issuing a side quest:】

Side quest: 1, according to the 《Youzhou City Basic Construction Plan》, complete the new infrastructure task. 2, according to the 《Youzhou Migration Register》 generated from the 《Youzhou City Basic Construction Plan》, complete the people's relocation and compensation.

Task description: According to the 《Youzhou City Basic Construction Plan Diagram》, complete the paving of Youzhou City's basic roads and the construction of water supply and drainage facilities.

Official subsidy: 《Youzhou City Basic Construction Plan Diagram》 x1; 《Youzhou City Migration Register》 x1; relocation compensation x922;

All raw materials; all props;

On‑site technical supervisor NPC x1 (to be reclaimed after task completion); professional manpower x3000 (to be reclaimed after task completion);

Logic chain supplement: recruit local Youzhou manpower x3000;

Estimated construction period: three months (ninety days);

Mission items: work uniforms x3000 (3000 sets of summer uniforms); work meals x3000x90; work fees x3000x90