Chapter 208: Liaodong Commandery

【Attached new territory name: Great Jin·You Prefecture·Liaodong Commandery】

【Geographic location: Northern Hemisphere·Great Jin·Around Bohai Sea】

Territory area: 42,500 square kilometers

Population households: 0

Nobody the Great King cares a bit; the people he bought from the south can fill it back, and if there are refugees, even better. He is very satisfied with this area; it's bigger than You Prefecture, and anyone who picks up a piece of land this big would grin ear to ear.

The Great King called up the full topographic map of the brand-new Liaodong Commandery, and it was easy to see that it was subordinate to his main fief, You Prefecture. Although the actual sizes are similar, on the panel display You Prefecture is the main map, while the uninhabited Liaodong is just a tiny icon. Beside the green You Prefecture 3D full topographic map, a blue three-dimensional map shaped like an inverted triangle has been added.

The You Prefecture map is a long strip, while Liaodong is an inverted triangle, directly inserted into the Bohai Sea.

The Great King clicked once, and the blue map representing Liaodong's terrain floated to the top, while You Prefecture receded to the second layer and became smaller.

"Oh, that's pretty interesting!"

The Great King clicked on the map, discovering it was just like the full topographic map of You Prefecture; he could zoom in and out freely, and could see every meter of land and the mountains and rivers on it.

"……Wait! If I grab that stretch of Eastern Xianbei vassal states north of the Bohai Sea, would these two maps connect? Become one big piece?!" The Great King suddenly got excited.

Bai Ze had already grown used to this fellow's occasional startles, and calmly replied: "You'd better wait until you actually manage to seize it before talking."

Nowadays, this level of pouring cold water simply can't extinguish the Great King.

"By then everything will be my territory; after building a expressway, we can reach Liaodong directly by land hahaha~"

Can't sleep, simply can't sleep.

The Great King then opened the border checkpoint that Mengmeng wanted to build for him;

【Side quest: Construct the Liaodong Commandery border checkpoint.

Official subsidy: all raw materials; all tools and equipment;

On-site technical supervisor NPC x1 (recovered after quest completion); professional manpower x5000 (recovered after quest completion);

Logistics chain supplement: recruit local manpower from You Prefecture x5000;

Estimated construction period: ninety days;

Quest items: work uniforms x5000; work meals x5000x90; wages x5000x90;

Winter construction subsidy: cold-resistant tents x500 (tops)}

The Great King immediately clicked to accept the quest, so he could first see the construction plans.

After clicking the quest, the Great King first claimed the construction blueprints, pulled them up to view, and found they resembled the Shanggu Pass he had seen.

It's like raising the city wall and then adding a watchtower every segment, like a long dragon directly separating Liaodong from Goguryeo and the Eastern Xianbei vassal states.

Thus the inverted-triangle Liaodong Commandery is left with only its two sea-facing sides exposed.

The Great King laughed himself silly; in the future Liaodong will have cities, so walls won't need to be built—he just needs to secure this border checkpoint. Although its coastline is long, current seafaring capability is practically nil; for now, aside from his treasure ship, hardly any vessel can land on Liaodong Commandery by sea.

This length is indeed a massive project; no wonder it requires ten thousand people.

If using slaves, he can save the wages to invest in Liaodong. Joking aside, the purchased slaves receive a full set of clothes identical to those of You Prefecture registered residents, plus meals and cold-resistant tents—this is already quite good treatment.

The Great King directly obtained enough food to feed five thousand slaves through the winter, feeling very pleased.

He immediately summoned Zhu Ti: "Your purchased slaves have a place to stay; I've taken on a big order—Liaodong needs a long border checkpoint built, requiring five thousand people."

Zhu Ti calculated for him: You Prefecture can still send back one thousand people, another three thousand are already on the road, and the south continues to purchase more; gathering five thousand will be quick.

"Traveling by land is too slow; originally the Donghai Commandery had gathered over two thousand people, and I had agreed with Chen Cang to make a solo trip to bring them back, but now maybe it's not possible?"

Great King: "Why not?"

"Isn't it necessary to send the lord back to You Prefecture?"

Great King: "Huh? You Prefecture is fine; why would I rush back? I'll first go south to Donghai Commandery, bring the people to Liaodong, then head north home—I'm still eager to finish the side quest."

After saying that, the Great King thought it was wrong—how could they transmit information from south to north so fast? It's only been a few days; his letters to Chang Prefecture wouldn't get a reply that quickly.

Zhu Ti replied: "He Guang is currently overseeing southern affairs in Donghai Commandery, and I have trained messenger pigeons to relay information back and forth."

The Great King gaped: "How come I didn't know about this great thing? I've never used it!"

Zhu Ti glanced at the Rolling Cloud Crane pacing on his desk: "You already have this divine artifact, yet you still think about ordinary pigeons? It's faster than anything." The Rolling Cloud Crane flapping its wings once could soar ninety thousand li—no problem—but a round trip across the Great Jin territory wouldn't take much time.

The Great King looked at Zhetian, then at Zhu Ti, and raised a practical problem: "……But it doesn't know the way!"

Zhu Ti: ……

What a waste of heavenly treasure! Daily perched on the shoulder as a pet!

The Great King inquired about the pigeon training method; after the people left, he stared at Zhetian thoughtfully, almost looking the crane bald.

However you want to do it, just say it outright—don't scare the crane!

After thinking it over, the Great King realized Zhetian's intelligence definitely can't compare to that of a pigeon—it would be utterly outclassed.

That pigeon training method probably won't work on this fellow.

By the time he thought of it, he was almost leaving You Prefecture's territory, and this fellow could still find him—so……

"Zhetian, be honest—can you directly find our home here? Do you remember the Suiyu Hall? Weinie is surely still lying there, you remember, right?"

The Great King tirelessly explained to it the You Prefecture Prince's Mansion, intending to use direct communication to make Zhetian into a messenger crane.

"Our home in You Prefecture, the northern border's You Prefecture Prince's Mansion, my sleeping quarters Suiyu Hall—do you still remember? Before leaving, I, you, Bai Ze, and Weinie all lived there together; let you go back on your own and find the way? Weinie even throws itself around the house; having it as a locator would be useful, right? At least you grew up together with it……"

The Great King painstakingly nagged, and Zhetian somewhat cooperated—looking attentive—but whether it actually understood is hard to say.

From those metallic-glinting bird eyes, the Great King really couldn't read any useful content; after wandering outside for several days, he eventually fell asleep from exhaustion, not knowing when.

The next day, bright and early, he was finally awakened by the sound of waves.

The treasure ship was speeding across Bohai Bay, preparing to return to pick up the rear troops and then head south to Donghai Commandery; the Great King feared they might collapse while waiting.

The Great King opened his eyes; Zhetian was crouched beside his pillow, not making a sound.

When the Great King sat up at the desk, picked up his cup and was about to pour water to drink, Zhetian spat out the thing it had been holding in its beak into his cup……

It really spat it into the cup……

The Great King took a deep breath: "First thing in the morning you're being cheeky! What is this dirty or not thing you just tossed into my cup? Do I still want the cup?"

The Great King, sorrowful and angry, reached in and pulled out, "My little bamboo cup can't be used anymore! What is this? Whose fur is this? Zhe Tian, you bad thing! ······ Bai Ze, I think I really miss our Winnie now; seeing this colored fur makes me think of our Winnie."

Bai Ze couldn't help but interrupt him: "Could it be that this is the fur of the stupid bear Weini?"

Great King: "Ha?"

Zhe Tian held his head high and chest out.