Chapter 150: Flying Eagle Guard

Great King plunged into the crowd the next instant, 'Grilled squid, this king is here!'

Wei Shen stood nearby and couldn't hold him back; this guy's legs are incredibly fast. He quickly waved at those behind, 'Hurry up and chase, don't let go!'

The close guards behind hurriedly shoved into the crowd, desperately……

The Grand Tutor who came along to broaden his horizons: ……

The Great King discovered that this street had an abundance of delicious snacks, including street foods he'd never seen. To support the people's livelihood, he went stall by stall handing out money. His stomach was only so big, saving room for grilled squid, so he tried a bite of everything.

The guards crowded around following; the heavy task of carrying things for the Great King fell to the 'elder brother' Wei Shen beside him. After all, the Great King never gave orders, and he couldn't command the stern-faced Ling Yin clutching his sword.

Soon Wei Shen became a moving bundle laden with paper packets of various snacks and a heap of useless trinkets the Great King had won in ring-toss.

"If you don't like it, don't buy every one!"

"How would I know I don't like it without trying?"

"After trying all this, there's nothing I like?"

"There is, but I get full after two bites—what if there's something better later?"

Wei Shen nodded, deliberately scanning the Great King's physique—well, he's slimmed down lately, but he couldn't admit defeat, 'Who? Who gets full after two bites? You?' His face said: 'I don't believe it!'

The Great King turned around looking for the Grand Tutor's figure, 'Sir, sir! Is this considered an accusation against me?'

The Grand Tutor didn't want to judge him; catching him was a good excuse to resign. Coming out with the Great King, his experience was limited to haggling and ring-toss skills.

Lu Xin on the tavern's second-floor balcony lowered his head and saw the Great King with candied haws in his left hand and a large squid in his right, whooping past leaving a trail of laughter, while a teenager behind shouted curses as he chased.

"For the Prince You to eat like that and still stay slim is no easy feat~" Looking at him, he'd lost quite a bit of weight compared to when he sold them roasted sweet potatoes.

Xie Yuan also watched the bustling street below, where lanterns were just lit, with relish, waving for the attendant to bring another pot of wine.

"He should grow tall and sturdy, not stay skinny. The Marchioness of Wei Ting hails from the Hongnong Yang Clan; the Yang family is famed for producing beauties, while the Baili Clan are genuine northern stock, tall and sturdy—this little fatty won't fall short."

Lu Xin made a risky comment: "I really want to paint this scene and sell it to him when he grows up."

"Hah, making him grow up won't be easy."

Youzhou celebrated a joyous year, as if the gloom that had shrouded it had suddenly lifted.

The people of Youzhou now love to say that Youzhou has regained heaven's blessing—not only has a Great King like this come to find work for the poor, but even dragons have chosen to appear in Youzhou; the heavens' intent is obvious, right?

Heaven's Chosen Youzhou!

Upon hearing this, the Great King grew worried: 'Can't they just say the first half and be done with it?!'

You're afraid I won't die in Chang'an, aren't you!

He dared not go out in daylight to play with turtle‑candy for fear of dealing with that mirage; without him, those two wouldn't even come ashore, yet that couldn't stop the fishermen. They go out to sea, pray once, return safely and pray again—now Youzhou's most famous tourist spot is that ferry crossing; it's doubtful anyone in Youzhou hasn't been, with crowds bustling there every daytime.

After the New Year, the Prince You's mansion issued a notice conscripting laborers to build an academy, and Youzhou bustled again.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the Great King also opened a new shop on Zhuque Avenue—a jewelry store mainly selling gold and silver ornaments, named Luofu Tower.

The Great King's assassin's awl is modern in design, ancient in craft. Of course, there are also finished ornaments made with modern casting and hard‑gold techniques purchased later. He can now use silver from his own mine, and in the future the raw material for silver ornaments will be self‑produced.

Compared to the handicrafts of Baiyang, the Great Jin's artisans are superior, so the Great King bought catalogs of two famous gold‑brand names and made handcrafted ornaments accordingly. Since Great Jin's ornaments lack the variety of later ages, they excel in fine workmanship but fall short in creativity—after all, later generations have incorporated millennia of fashion trends.

At the same time, the Great King also liked the high‑tech, single‑mold ornaments from later ages; this caused Luofu Tower's jewelry to make a splash as soon as it debuted, instantly gaining fame.

The folks of Youzhou City lack exposure, but wealthy merchants do—these styles aren't even in Jiankang; they're quite fresh.

The wealthy merchants snowed in Youzhou last year inevitably added jewelry to their procurement lists—gold is pricey, but buying a few silver pieces is fine; the Great King prices his ornaments at the Great Jin average, charging by craftsmanship.

Hardly three days after opening, Zhu Ti said the stockpile he'd accumulated was nearly sold out, and the Great King looked at the ledger with satisfaction.

"How can everyone be so willing to buy jewelry? I heard a few local magnates and gentry from Youzhou also bought quite a bit."

"Gold and silver are money; just pay a bit of processing fee, and when you need cash you can spend it directly. So regardless of wealth, anyone with spare change doesn't mind keeping some gold‑silver ornaments."

The Great King felt this business had great potential.

"From now on, on the first of each month we'll launch at least three new designs, so every customer knows there's something new on the first, forming a habit that will bring them back regularly."

The Wei Shen opposite, nibbling an apple, gave him a thumbs‑up upon hearing this: 'You'll surely make a fortune in business—even a feudal lord would be buried in obscurity!'

"You thought the Great King would be polite?" He lifted his chin: 'No way!'

Wei Shen: ……

This guy can't resist any praise.

While the Great King was worrying about what pretext to use for expanding the army, a report came from the lower county: a large wave of refugees had entered Youzhou territory.

At that moment the Great King was holding a small court in the front hall; everyone noticed he wasn't worried at all and even smiled.

Early spring hasn't even arrived; now people come to dig wild vegetables but there's nowhere to dig, so we have to rely solely on Youzhou to support them—what's there to laugh about?

After laughing enough, the Great King asked: 'Do you know roughly how many there are?'

The reply said: 'About over a thousand.'

The Great King spoke solemnly: 'Really a lot of people! Putting them in Youzhou would be a destabilizing factor—but our Youzhou is vast and sparsely populated, and we desperately need people; there's no reason to drive any of them out. As I said before, send them to the newly demarcated refugee village. With so many, we mustn't let them disturb the normal life of Youzhou's populace! We need to assign overseers; my Personal Guard Camp isn't enough to guard the palace and the borders…… So, Zhang Tu, issue a conscription notice: those accepted will receive the same treatment as regular troops.'

Zhang Tu came forth to receive the order and asked the Great King how many to recruit suitably.

The Great King: 'Recruit three thousand.'

The Great King is basically pole‑dancing on the Great Jin's statutes—Minister Xue can't just stand by and watch.

He came forward, made a token objection, saying a feudal lord cannot keep more than three thousand private troops.

The Great King widened his eyes: 'This isn't my private force; it won't join the Personal Guard Camp—I only said the treatment would be the same.' Just then the Heaven‑Shrouding beast that had gone out to play flew back; the Great King sat on his throne, and it perched on the back, looking down over everyone below.

The Great King pointed at it and said imperiously, 'Why not call it the Flying Eagle Guard? I don't want to rely on the Personal Guard Camp for everything—you said it's a private force, so don't pin all hopes on my guards. Youzhou is developing; as the population grows, I need more troops in my hands to keep the regime stable. I'm not asking Minister Xue to support them; I've already decided—let's do it this way!'

Minister Xue: '……If it doesn't join the Personal Guard Camp, then I agree; it's also reasonable.'

The Grand Tutor glanced at him—what a performance. But where exactly is it reasonable?

After the court dispersed, the Great King gave Zhang Tu and Zhao Chuan a thumbs‑up; both widened their eyes, thinking they were seeing double.

"You didn't misread—recruit ten thousand. Still the old rule: separate registration and training. After a month's grand contest, the bottom three thousand form a new army called the Flying Eagle Guard; the top seven thousand go into the West Great Camp, while the original West Great Camp moves to the East Great Camp together."

………………New chapter………………

………………New chapter………………

………………New chapter………………

Great King, at the start of spring, wants to launch a major construction project in the northern part of the city to build a residential area of two wards, recruit 1,500 laborers to build an academy, take in refugees, and have the Luo Fu Pavilion immediately expand its workforce of artisans to craft gold and silverware; with the academy built, woodblock printing goes on the agenda, and the printing masters also need to recruit more apprentices, and even on his seaside a 'dragon' has appeared.

Such a Youzhou is already enough to draw attention.

Youzhou is no longer a stagnant pool; it is no longer the Youzhou that the people of the Great Jin considered optional.

With the growth of visiting wealthy merchants and the fish catches sold by treasure ships along the coast, Youzhou's economy is developing; this fact cannot be covered up.

Great King, thinking he had finally found an excuse, simply decided to recruit more at once; recruiting earlier would also allow earlier training, so that little Ice River would have to be guarded against, and Great King also fears that if real chaos breaks out, his geographical position would truly be a major problem.

He always feels that something big could happen in September; Great King firmly believes in the saying that when others doubt you have something, you'd better actually have it.

Causing the brothers' wariness is fine; he had better placate his father the emperor, and his persona must not collapse.

Great King, seated at the head, drifted off in thought, his mind wandering farther and farther; upon returning to awareness, he saw the two people below looking worried.

"Are you worried we can't recruit ten thousand? Well, for Youzhou that number is a bit high, but we're not in a rush; we can take our time, maybe extend the timeline? Serving in Youzhou means the king will support you, and you'll receive a salary; for families with many sons, it's also a way out."

"Your Highness, adding another ten thousand would indeed have places to settle them, but… are our military funds sufficient?"

"Yes, Your Highness! Adding ten thousand isn't just ten thousand more mouths to feed; we can continue garrison farming, but weapons and armor for ten thousand aren't a small number. Iron controls are strict, so equipping ten thousand people isn't easy even with money." Especially the weapons Great King produces are of quite high quality.

"I have my own ways; you just need to recruit them. Now that refugees have already arrived, let the Youzhou guards keep an eye on them, make the first batch set a good example, and absolutely no chaos."

The matter was thus settled.

After Youzhou passed the New Year, spring plowing was still far off, but workshops had already begun bustling recruitment; the whole of Youzhou was 'alive'.

Youzhou has only about 120,000 households; Great King has been recruiting laborers for two years without repetition, and this time it's another 1,500, plus the various workshops, mines, treasure ships at the year's start, and the northern residential area—even without saying everyone has taken a turn, more than a quarter of households have been involved. Walking down the street, Great King feels that the spirit and appearance are different.

In the past, when our poor family got a turn at good fortune, we didn't dare spend the money we earned, saying we had paid debts or used it up; Youzhou's tough folkways are no mere talk.

Now everyone around has had a turn; those who haven't are originally in relatively good conditions, and common folk also dare to come out to pull a few feet of cotton cloth to make clothing for their children, and they have begun preparing materials, awaiting spring to also repair their houses. Great King feels relieved, and the populace has undergone a noticeable change.

When Great King had some free time, he immediately went to the weapon shop in Wanji to order equipment; the shop attendant, John Pu, upon seeing his patron the great benefactor again, almost jumped up from his seat.

"My BOSS, welcome! What do you need this time? As usual, I'll give you the best price!"

"If the price is right, I want to order about ten thousand spears and armor."

"Ten thousand! That's a huge order enough to feed him for years!"

"Of course I'll give you a satisfactory price! Is it the special alloy armor from last time? For ten thousand I can give a discount……"

"No no no, it's the steel‑plate armor we ordered eight thousand of last time, the ordinary version, got it?"

John Pu was a bit disappointed, but a ten‑thousand‑unit big order! He immediately became enthusiastic again.

"That's the kind of steel armor that iron can't pierce, right? Same price as last time, quality assured, warranty still three years."

"No, this time the quantity exceeds eight thousand, so you need to give me another discount; I also want to order horseshoes, stirrups, and saddles later, which you can make, as long as you give me a suitable price."

"Let's negotiate; ten thousand is only a little more than eight thousand, I really have hardly any profit……"

"I want to order twelve thousand, but need installment payments; what price do you give?"

Great King is already a seasoned haggler, and with the previous prices as reference, he finally knocked it down to a 9.2‑fold discount (i. e., 92% of the original price). He first paid a deposit for two thousand sets; John Pu delivered the twelve thousand armor and matching weapons horseshoes in three installments, and Great King also paid the remainder in three installments.

Both parties wrote a contract, uploaded it for record‑keeping, and the deal was considered done.

Leaving the weapon shop, Great King tallied his balance; the stall at the back showed no progress, so he'd likely have to spend money (in‑game). The money from the fish catch at White Poplar he turned into grain, and his ingot total hasn't changed recently.

Fortunately, his mine will be finished in a few days; Great King starts looking forward to the day his silver is unearthed.

At the same time, many slave traders in the south reached a business peak; their prefectures and counties almost all saw a great merchant come to purchase adult male slaves.

They don't care about the slaves' origins—whether they were sold for committing crimes, how bad their reputation is; as long as they're healthy and able to work, they're wanted. It's said that great clans buy them to do hard labor, as long as they can work.

Now it's fine; the slaves seized in hand, those returned by big households, those sold for crimes—whatever kind of person, there's now a market for them.

The great merchant rounded up all the male slaves of a county and took them away; many coastal prefectures and counties experienced the same thing.