Chapter 142: Blessed by the Gods

Yang Xu vigorously touted the many benefits of Youzhou, saying its vast land and sparse population meant per capita farmland was huge.

For example, they have high-yield potatoes and sweet potatoes, and next year corn, which you can't find elsewhere. In Youzhou, spending a little money gets you the best, highest-yield seeds; as long as you're not lazy, you won't starve. Most importantly, the Great King pays grain and money to conscripted laborers.

This alone was enough to make refugees envious—where else do conscripted workers not work for free? Youzhou actually pays them!

Moreover, those with Youzhou household registration can buy many things outsiders can't get cheaply, such as cotton and cloth, which are said to be expensive even in Chang'an.

Moreover, this winter there's another item that can be bought with a household register: honeycomb coal.

"I'm not bragging—this year Youzhou guarantees no one will freeze to death. The government said if you can't afford to buy, you can trade goods, or work off your debt. You lot, if you really have no livelihood, go reclaim land in Youzhou: once you register, you get five mu of wasteland per person, and after five years it's yours. Where else can you find such a deal? Last year my family had only one meal a day, the kids were howling from hunger; this year we harvested over five thousand jin of potatoes and over three thousand jin of sweet potatoes. I found this job, and now my family can have three meals a day without problem!"

The refugees listened, eyes red, but they weren't stupid either.

"But Youzhou is a border prefecture—word is the northern barbarians say they'll go south and just go south?"

"Exactly—what crop yields that many mu? I've never heard of such a thing in all my years."

"Border prefectures are so dangerous..."

"We used to be timid, but now our lives are good. If the northern barbarians dare come south again to ruin our good days, we'll just grab our knives and fight! You lot, staying cooped up like this—when will this life ever end? Why still fear the northern barbarians? Youzhou has military colonies—do you know what a military colony is? It turns your registration into a military household: you drill in the morning, farm in the afternoon, the Great King gives you land and housing, and aside from the taxes you turn over, everything else is yours. If I'd found this job earlier I'd have enlisted. I see you still have able-bodied men here; you'd be better off joining the Youzhou Guard than wasting away in misery, which is too bitter and stifling. Having suffered myself, I'm telling you this. Besides, Prince You is in Youzhou City—we're not afraid of small skirmishes. If the northern barbarians really bring a big army, won't the General of Shanggu Pass be watching? Won't he come to the rescue?"

"That sounds nice, but can we actually get Youzhou household registration? Qingzhou won't even let us in."

"Sure, sure—Youzhou's territory is huge, not like Qingzhou's little place; we have plenty of land to farm. If we honestly farm and stay loyal to Prince You, pay taxes, why wouldn't the Great King want that? You agree, right, uncle?"

"Exactly, exactly!"

"I'm not making this up—there's proof. This year isn't it a drought? Some places suffered severe drought, couldn't pay taxes, people starved and went out begging. A troop came to Youzhou and ended up staying to reclaim land. Because Youzhou City has deep wells—if not, just haul water from the city; a bit of hardship beats starving to death. Those folks just stayed put; now several work in the mines, earning enough to get by.... What am I deceiving you for? I'm about to board a ship—did I swindle any of your silver? Seeing everyone suffer reminded me of my former self last year.... If you want to go, arrive before spring opens and I'll guarantee you a plot to reclaim. Our Great King is kind-hearted; he'll surely give you a way to live."

"Youzhou's territory is vast, with sea and mountains; even fishing works. What big wind? With Prince You here, we'll surely receive special heavenly protection!"

Yang Xu spent his time hawking fish, wearing his lips raw, and in the end even resorted to superstition.

"Aren't you afraid of heavenly wrath? Our Great King is the emperor's son—he certainly has blessings! At such a young age, ruling a state, how many people in the world have this fortune? Anyway, you lot stuck in Qingzhou don't."

When leaving, he even gave them directions for the northern route.

In any case, do what you can, then leave the rest to fate. The Great King firmly believes that as soon as someone is moved, a little news will spread, and eventually someone will burn their boats to seek a new life.

The fish from the Treasure Ship were unloaded ashore, turned over once, then went into the Great King's Warehouse—couldn't enter Qingzhou City—and the next day the Treasure Ship left the dock to keep fishing.

Before the Great King left, he looked around several times near the Qingzhou Ferry but still didn't see his friend, sighing who knows how many times.

His friend went out to the wider ocean.

Once far from shore, the Treasure Ship went into operation mode; the Great King turned sorrow into power and dove back into the sea at once.

The diligent Great King decided to catch more fish, bring them back to feed the people and boost the happiness index to finish the task. One shipload on the way out was enough to earn him a profit; on the return he'd bring that ship's catch to the people.

Who knew that after the Great King dove in and messed around a bit, those on board would hear a familiar whale song?

Wei Shen's excitement was no less than the Great King's: "The sperm whale hasn't left—is it still waiting for us?"

Bai Ze also poked his head out to look; the whale's intelligence was decent, knowing not to approach the coast. Bai Ze now thought highly of the sperm whale, but back in Youzhou he wouldn't think so…

Beneath the sea surface, the Great King discovered a reef area and found some seashells; happily picking them up, he looked up and delighted to see his big partner dive over.

From then on, operating the small boat that supported the Great King became ever more arduous—the sperm whale would carry the Great King around to chase fish. This time it was still nearby surfacing for air; next time who knows where it'd be. Later it developed into the sperm whale picking him up and dropping him off, and the Great King and the sperm whale grew ever more accustomed to each other.

Anyway, this crafty whale had the Great King eating out of its hand, and while waiting for the Treasure Ship's hold to fill over those few days, it tricked him into eating two beast feed pellets.

With the help of the sea's natives, not only did the Great King's range expand, but his catch doubled. The sperm whale seemed able to precisely locate fish schools and bring the Great King up to raid them; his holds were overflowing, and Bai Yang no longer complained about lacking seafood varieties—working capital was tight.

However, as they drew nearer to Youzhou, the sperm whale showed no intention of turning back, and the Great King, reluctant to lose it, began to worry.

Day after day he gestured, trying to get it to turn away; the Great King now knew this was just a bay with no other whale activity, and he hoped the sperm whale would return to its migration route.

Unfortunately, no matter how they tried, communication failed, and the creature still loitered around the Treasure Ship each day.

The Great King grew worried, deeply concerned: "Alas, it's alone in the bay with no friends—how lonely! Why can't it understand human speech? Come back next year!"

For this he stayed below deck two whole days, not showing up, to see if the sperm whale would leave if he wasn't there—but Wei Shen came each afternoon to tell him the sperm whale was still around.

The Great King grew troubled; in the evening he went to complain to Bai Yang about this heavy affection.

Bai Yang laughed enough and asked if he'd been feeding the creature too many beast feed pellets.

The Great King counted on his fingers: "Whoops, all together that's about six pellets! Is its intelligence now up to par?"

Bai Yang burst out laughing, munching happily: "I don't know what that sperm whale's original intelligence was, but our family's dumb dog, after eating five pellets, will press the elevator button—going down knows to press the first floor, coming back up will jump to press our floor."

The Great King lamented: "Going to Youzhou, it'll have no companion—what if it heads back and gets bullied? I can't even bring it home to keep in a freshwater lake."

"You're overthinking—just issue an edict, deify the sperm whale so superstitious ancients wouldn't dare harm it; when in doubt, consult mysticism, got it? As for lacking a companion, why not lure another one? Fine, there aren't many whales in Bohai Bay…so just buy one—we can't manage that here, have Qiao Yi go buy a sea beast to keep it company."

The Great King took it seriously, turned and left: "White Brother, you're still the smart one!"

"Hey! I was just spouting nonsense!" the Great King had already walked out…

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♥

Big, with a bit of intelligence, able to accompany the Great King's new beloved pet living in the sea—a sea beast, right? Simple.

Qiao Yi agreed to head back into town for a stroll at the Spirit Beast Pavilion to find one, just have the Great King ready with money.

The Great King pulled out his Yuanbao card and counted the balance—six figures.

With money in the card the Great King felt confident, though he hadn't yet docked or said for sure: "... you first help me seek it out, see whether it will stay in Youzhou or leave; if it settles, then buy it."

With his sperm whale companion at his back, the Great King's range underwater expanded greatly, income surging—this doesn't even count the many precious personal reserves he's stockpiling in his warehouse unsold.

The Great King had stockpiled some sea cucumber, sea urchin, and yellow croaker; besides eating them himself, he planned to have Wei Shen bring some back home for his grandfather and uncle.

The Great King first held six-figure sums, having saved fifty thousand on the way out and come back with six times that—truly thanks to the sperm whale carrying him; this is also one reason he's willing to spend money to buy it a playmate, feeling the money owes it a share.

When the Youzhou Lighthouse came into view, the Great King was sitting on the sperm whale's head, going along for a breath of air, and seeing those still-faint lights he instantly grew excited.

The Great King dove into the water ahead to point the way for the sperm whale: "See that? That's my home! From now on, when it's dark and you see a lit spot in this sea, that's my home—you can go there to visit me. When I return I'll issue an edict forbidding Youzhou's folk from harming you, all right?"

The sperm whale didn't know if it had seen it, but anyway the creature responded to every sentence, letting out two bellows.

That night the treasure ship spotted a large school of fish; Da Wang didn't rush back, planning to haul them up and pile them on the deck to distribute to the people upon return. This time, better to dock by day, let the crew rest, and let the folk feel the joy of a good harvest, liven things up.

After hauling the netted fish onto the deck, the treasure ship rested overnight and set sail for You Prefecture the next morning, stepping through the sea mist.

Da Wang worried the humpback whale wouldn't recognize the way, so he specially went down to accompany it; this guy just sat on someone's head, chattering away. This is the You Prefecture ferry, which he had renovated and deepened; your build was fine before, etc.

"All you need to do is familiarize yourself with the route; once you do, you can go back and find your little companion. Next year around this time, you can come again—maybe I'll have time to go play in the deeper sea with you. How about that? Give a squeak? Do you understand?"

The humpback whale let out a long cry, then dove a bit; Da Wang almost choked on water...

"You Chou, do you actually understand or not?"

This time the humpback whale made no move; the Zhetian on his shoulder let out a cry, "Ying!"

"Not you."

Zhetian objected to his 'love of the new, hatred of the old'; hearing that, it angrily scraped its claws on Da Wang's shoulder, and in an instant, as Da Wang wanted to appear dignified before the folk, the shoulder of his newly changed clothes tore open...

The troublemaking Zhetian simply couldn't believe it—how could this fragile garment tear like that? It stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then moments later realized what had happened, and shuffled over to stand on the tear, acting as if nothing had occurred.

As long as I keep stepping on it, the clothing remains intact.

Da Wang knew nothing of this, still busy giving his new companion precautions.

"Alright, you don't plan to leave today, do you? I'll come again tomorrow—if you're still here, I'll buy you a playmate to keep you company in this bay. All right, that's settled—look, we're almost there!"

The first to spot the treasure ship's return was the lighthouse keeper, who hurriedly notified the few You Prefecture garrison troops stationed here: Da Wang is returning!

The shore immediately sprang into action—beating gongs and sending someone to report to the manor.

When Da Wang drew near, he saw the shore crowded with a sea of people.

He wanted to make a splash, but not like this!

Wasn't this exposing his face? How will he be able to wander the streets casually from now on?

In a flash, Da Wang thought of the Owl Rider's metal mask that covers half the face. He thought it looked fierce and handsome, so he ordered a small one for himself, though he hardly ever got to wear it.

He rummaged through the warehouse, took it out, and clipped it onto his face.

He felt at ease.

All at once he felt much more relaxed, with a strong sense of security—right? He realized the mask could serve this purpose, and Da Wang decided to have several made to rotate wearing.

Although the shore was crowded, the You Prefecture garrison kept order, so it was still quiet.

Until everyone saw the humpback whale trailing alongside the treasure ship—because this guy wasn't swimming straight, darting up and down, it caused Da Wang to bob on the sea surface, instantly drawing everyone's attention...

Once they realized it was a huge fish, the crowd let out a huge gasp.

The officials of the You Wang residence had already recognized him from his build, the Owl Rider mask, and the gold crown on his head; no matter how startled, they still had to work, so they quickly shouted at the disorderly folk.

"Silence! The one sitting on that fish is Prince You!"

The folk swallowed their astonishment and knelt down in all sincerity to welcome the You King.

Da Wang spotted in the distance what he was used to seeing, and he worried about his little companion.

He patted the big head beneath him, "You feeling dizzy? No problem—you needn't fear the people at this ferry; they are all my subjects, and I will issue an order that they not harm you."

Whether the humpback whale understood or not, when he patted it, it swung its tail hard and let out a long cry in response.

The people on the shore immediately knelt down more devoutly.

Could Da Wang be a deity descended to earth? Such a huge fish serving him.

Now, the people gathered here are all from nearby counties and villages; they've lived by the sea their whole lives and never seen a fish this big—longer than their boats!

Actually, before the treasure ship arrived at You Prefecture, they hadn't even managed to catch a fish over a meter long, because their technology didn't allow it.

They didn't think the humpback whale was just a big fish; this certainly wasn't an ordinary fish—how could a fish be so smart, and still carry a person through the water? This is a heavenly deity's mount! A divine fish!

When that whale song, seemingly echoing from ancient times, rang out along the shore, the folk began to kowtow in advance, shouting, "Your Highness, eternal joy and boundlessness!"

That was utter devotion, profound reverence.