Chapter 15: Youzhou's Tyrant

Along the coastline heading east, most of the fishing villages encountered were poor and desolate.

Only by going farther from the shore could one catch big fish; turning big fish into dried fish could fetch a good price, but the risk doubled, and the cost was often one's life. Staying near the shore and doing only small-scale fishing could just stave off starvation, leaving families sallow-skinned and emaciated from malnutrition.

Baili Jing knew that dead crabs were inedible and poisonous. The fishermen's reluctance to catch them because they couldn't transport them alive was understandable, but he always felt that the dense clusters of shellfish on the rocky shore were edible.

He smashed one open with a stone, and the meat inside was almost the size of his palm.

"Grand Tutor, can't this be eaten? It's so plump~"

Xu Zhi, who was gazing at the sea horizon, turned his head and glanced, saying, "Those are mussels; the fishermen usually knock them down when they have time to feed chickens, and no one has heard of people eating them."

The Great King thought, "There are so many of them, a vast expanse; if people could eat them, how wonderful!"

Smelling a fishy odor, not unlike raw fish, why does he always think this stuff is edible?!

"Then let this king try a bite……"

Before the Grand Tutor could even stop him, he saw the Great King, who was past the age of eating anything he caught, bite into a raw mussel……

Soon, "yue!"

A mouthful of fishy taste, not the freshness he imagined.

Zhao Ba came running with a water jug, as if he had tasted arsenic, his face drained of color.

"Looks like it needs to be cooked before eating! See what this king is doing—if chickens can eat it, it's non‑toxic, so of course I can eat it too." He is invulnerable to all poisons, so letting him test the saltiness is just right.

It just scared Zhao Ba silly; he had been following the Great King from afar while he frolicked, but now he dare not step away, just pacing nearby.

Zhang Tu, having received the Great King's order, personally pried off several large ones with his sidearm, and the Great King insisted on bringing them back to cook as an extra dish.

At noon they stopped at a fisherman's household to share a meal; the hostess, hearing that Baili Jing wanted to try the mussels, remained calm.

Although this is mostly fed to chickens, humans can eat it too. They occasionally pry some off to eat, but eating too much causes stomachaches. Coastal folk know it has a slight toxicity, and unless they are desperate enough to skip a meal, they generally avoid it.

For a noble wanting to taste freshness, she merely advised everyone to eat just one or two; more would cause abdominal pain.

After the mussels were cooked, they opened on their own, revealing the red meat inside. Zhao Ba tasted a first bite—it was indeed fresh and edible—so he slipped one to the Great King, allowing him only that one.

Baili Jing has a small cat‑sized stomach; lately everything he eats by the sea smells good. He finally got a cooked mussel, took a careful bite, his eyes lit up, and he solemnly commented, "The meat should be extracted and tossed in a sweet‑and‑sour sauce."

Zhao Ba: ……

You see this household—do they look like they have sugar, that precious food?

After tasting it, the Grand Tutor deeply agreed and nodded, "Your insight is excellent, sir!"

Zhang Tu gulped down three or four in a row; his constitution is strong, so eating a couple more is fine.

Zhao Ba: ……

In the afternoon they continued on their way, walking another three days along the coastline; the map‑information gathering task was already half done. On the fourth day they headed north, and the Prince of Youzhou finally learned what "fierce local customs" meant.

When they lodged in a small village, they almost got wiped out in one pot.

This remote village of only over fifty households, far from the authorities, leveraged its geography to be both civilians and bandits; any merchant passing through their village would be fleeced.

Relying on their numbers and remote location, they always succeeded.

This time, upon seeing the Great King's entourage, the dozen or so able‑bodied guards who had been hesitating were swayed because the Great King's little date was too eye‑catching; pulling off this heist and selling a horse would let the whole village enjoy a prosperous year.

The head Village Chief hardened his resolve and decided to go ahead!

Who would have thought that the innocent‑looking five‑year‑old child was actually a decoy; the Great King's attempt to worm information out of him nearly failed and he almost got lured out to be seized.

Or it was Zhang Tu who spotted someone lurking furtively in the thicket outside their lodging courtyard, which made him more wary. Upon close observation, what a fine lot—these people were a bit amateur. A group of able‑bodied men loitered around their courtyard; even a simpleton out and about would now know to stay alert, let alone Zhang Tu the professional, who instantly spotted the clumsiness.

When a dozen or so guards simultaneously drew their standard sabers from the carriage, the villagers finally realized they had kicked an iron plate.

After all, they weren't outright vicious criminals; families lived in the village, watching a few get hacked, the rest also gave up struggling.

A crowd of ragged, sallow‑skinned, emaciated commoners knelt on the ground, swearing they had harmed no one; as the Great King's Baili Jing, he ultimately could not bring himself to order their execution.

Their character was flawed, but after all they were just poor troublemakers.

He produced a namecard of Xue Xiang to intimidate the Village Chief: "The newly arrived Premier of Youzhou, Xue Xiang, is my clansman; I'll have him send people to keep a close watch on your Redwater Village. If any more merchant‑robbing occurs, the whole village will be seized for forced labor! Coincidentally, Youzhou City lacks workers for wall repairs, so your whole village would be perfect as the lowest‑grade laborers!"

Seeing that these people were truly frightened, he again began to persuade them to reclaim land.

The remote Redwater Village had also heard of the new policy, but they did not trust the government.

"Give land deeds in five years? No need to pay silver for land? Who would believe that?!"

"Our place has no good land, it's all hills; before, buying hill land cost two taels per mu, and now you want to give it free for five years of cultivation? If this is real, my whole family would kowtow daily to whatever that You Prince is!"

"Even our own land officials grab land; could unregistered land really be given to me for free? I never dared dream of such a thing..."

"Ownerless land belongs to the government; if I put in a year's effort and then at harvest they change the policy again, what then?"

……

This is just the government's credibility being too low.

The Great King almost laughed in anger, deciding to turn back and inspect the county seat that governs this village— the people are this poor, yet they're still being gouged!

As a mere child he lacked persuasive power, so he simply had the Grand Tutor explain the land‑reclamation matter to everyone. In short, Youzhou has been turned upside down; here the Prince of Youzhou calls the shots. The order to grant land deeds after five years of reclamation comes from the You Prince's Manor; if the authorities later renege, everyone can go to the Youzhou You Prince's Manor to file a complaint.

When they arrived at Tongshui County, which governs Redwater Village, they found that this county too counts as a major county of Youzhou, and without much inquiry they discovered that the former magistrate was indeed enormously wealthy.

This man did not come from a great clan, yet in this part of Youzhou he possessed a five‑gate mansion, a thousand mu of fertile farmland, and eleven concubines— all of which blatantly told the Great King two words: greed!

He let Zhao Ba casually inquire, and for two taels of silver learned that the magistrate loved beauties and silver, being the top wealthy tyrant of Tongshui.

Hearing this, the Great King was furious! He planted his hands on his hips and swore sovereignty: "Outrageous! I am the tyrant of Youzhou! What right does he have?!"

Grand Tutor: ……

Is this title so glorious?!

Thinking of the magistrate's mansion being even more luxurious than the You Prince's Manor, the Great King's eyes shifted; he immediately wrote a letter to Premier Xue, ordering him to send people to arrest the magistrate, with solid evidence the man would be executed on the spot and his property confiscated.

Despite his young age, the Great King had already grasped a few little tricks for getting rich.

Great King's diary:

【May 17, Tongshui County, Redwater Village.

Many mountains and stones, the folk are fierce and sturdy; this king almost got captured!

After the Grand Tutor's patient education, the people promised to reform.

They're all so thin that I, the king, can't bear to punish them harshly; who made me surnamed Baili?

I, the king, found that this place isn't lacking advantages: rolling hills, few people, and from a height you can see the sea—it's really a good feng shui treasure land!

Then let this king's royal tomb be situated here!

If Youzhou remains this poor, the day I, the king, will need my royal tomb is not far off.