Chapter 213: Ultimate Goal Fifty Thousand

The King was blocked by the Chancellor, and the next day he obediently appeared at the court assembly.

It's been a while since I came; there are still many things to report to the King, including that Youzhou has taken in over a thousand refugees bit by bit, which should be reported to the King. Also, after the autumn harvest, Youzhou's finances finally have a surplus! That is, after paying all Youzhou officials and soldiers their salaries, there is still a remainder.

The King, delighted, took the account book Zhao Bao presented, looked at it, … the figure was moving.

It's still not as much as what a mine digs in a month.

But this time it's finally not a deficit, how gratifying! The King strove to control his expression, squeezed out a smile: "Not bad, everyone keep working hard; our Youzhou will only get better, the future is promising." The subject shifted, the King instantly turned serious: "Now that we have money, let's form a Youzhou Guard Battalion!" Heaven knows there's a surplus—such excuses are few; if you have one, use it right away.

There was a moment of silence below, then discussion voices gradually arose. The King is usually lenient, so they didn't dare not speak.

The Chancellor first asked: "Wasn't it last time that Commander Zhang recruited three thousand Flying Eagle Guards? Your Highness, are you planning to recruit another unit?"

The King thought, what could three thousand Flying Eagle Guards do? Though recruited under the pretense of refugees, they are not yet farming in military colonies like the regular army; internal security has always been handled by the Youzhou Garrison, but the King also hasn't shortchanged the Youzhou Garrison—their monthly pay has never been lacking.

Zhang Tu has under his command a total of thirty thousand soldiers currently registered with the King, gathered bit by bit over multiple occasions. The Chancellor couldn't possibly be unaware; everyone is just maintaining the surface rules.

But upon going out and observing the situation, the King always feels that having less than fifty thousand troops offers no security at all.

Fifty thousand is his goal, but squeezing another twenty thousand out of Youzhou's population is difficult, so the King only plans to recruit ten thousand, with the remaining ten thousand to come from slaves and refugees.

Tomorrow, the treasure ship will continue southward, taking Youzhou's over a thousand previously purchased slaves and two hundred able-bodied refugees to Liaodong Commandery. Then it will continue south to transport newly bought slaves; these five thousand, after completing the border fortifications, the King intends to form them into an army, to remain in Liaodong for training and salt production—also a hidden card.

This time, for recruiting troops and buying horses, the King also has a ready-made excuse: "Although I was delayed by affairs and only now returning, my retinue came back early; you should all understand the situation of this trip by now? Along the way I was assassinated four times, two of which involved large-scale death squads. Many people want my life; are you going to oppose my self-defense?"

Below it was very quiet, not a single person made a sound, and they weren't crazy.

"Well, not speaking of my personal safety, I cannot ignore the people of Youzhou and all of you here. Do you think staying in Youzhou means safety? Do you know how chaotic the outside is now? From the arrival of the refugees, haven't you noticed? If they had a choice, who would come to a place like Youzhou?"

Below it remained quiet, and the King continued: "This time, at the Father Emperor's longevity celebration, not only did the princes gather, but many neighboring countries also came to congratulate; even the Eastern and Western Xianbei of our northern border attended the celebration. Even the distant small state of Wusun showed up, and even those bold enough to seek marriage with a princess! Moreover, the Emperor agreed, bestowing the Fourth Princess in marriage to the Wusun Kunmi—something I could never have imagined before. On the return trip, I turned south and discovered that many great clans had built something called a fort, where the whole clan took refuge. Oh, I heard that inside those forts they keep private troops. The great clans know that with frequent natural disasters and a chaotic world, preparations must be made; for a city as big as ours, with so many people to protect, relying only on those few Flying Eagle Guards? Perhaps they don't even have as many private troops as a single great clan in Jiangnan."

In the great hall, gasping sounds began to appear; they had thought the south might be rough, but they didn't expect it to be this bad.

Moreover, how could the Emperor agree to give the princess to Wusun? A group of people stared at each other.

Again the Chancellor stepped forward: "Your Highness's benevolence toward the people is Youzhou's fortune; I support Your Highness expanding the Flying Eagle Guards to protect Your Highness and the people's safety."

Hear, hear—expanding the army into the Flying Eagle Guards, not counting as the You King's personal guard, barely legal? Well, let's accept it.

"If we conscript too many, Youzhou can't afford it; let's first recruit ten thousand."

Passed unanimously.

This doesn't require the King to personally handle it; someone will take care of it, and the King just needs to await the person in charge.

The court assembly dispersed, and he finally remembered the guest he had brought back, Zhou Huang.

Just after returning, the King had no mind for lessons, but he still went to see the Grand Tutor, and incidentally inquired about the situation at the Northern Border Academy; checking in at the academy is still necessary.

As for Zhou Huang, yesterday they ran to outside Youzhou City at the break of dawn; he used that faint glimmer of light, and was greatly shaken by the Youzhou city wall.

This is merely the first step; once he entered the city, crossed the moat and arrived at the East Glorious Gate, the stern guards at the gate and the lofty gate tower delivered a second blow.

Only later did he realize that was not the palace's main gate, but merely the eastern gate; the main gate faces south.

He couldn't imagine it.

The Owl Cavalry brought him to find Zhao Bao, who arranged for him to stay in the front guest quarters, the Azure Moon Pavilion. He lives on the second floor, able to overlook a corner of the King's magnificent grand garden and the overlapping majestic halls ahead; now he is prudently keeping to himself in his room.

He continually felt he had arrived in a new world; what he had seen and heard in two days had already made the Changzhou Divine Child begin to doubt life.

If you now tell him this is an Immortal Palace and that the You King is actually a deity who descended to the mundane world, he would believe it, after all, outside they still have a dragon drifting about.

Palace attendants told him the King summoned him and to bring his luggage; Zhou Huang knew this was to send him to the academy.

He brought his few attendants and followed the palace servants to the battlements of the South Hua Gate of the main gate to wait; along the way they dared not gawk openly, only stealing glances, for fear that if they acted presumptuously, the on‑duty soldiers would suddenly rush out and flash their blades at him.

After waiting there a moment, the You King came over.

On his shoulder was still that familiar bird, dressed no differently than on the ship, not showy.

Clad in a dark‑red robe and wearing a simple gold‑silk crown, he looked rather like a young scion of a great clan.

The difference is, the white, huge, fluffy creature beside him has been changed into… a bear!

Zhou Huang took a deep breath—this is no ordinary pet, right!

What looks most normal is the eagle over half a meter long on his shoulder; I don't know how the King manages to carry it.

The King came over and warmly greeted him: "How have these two days been? Are you used to food and lodging in the prince's residence?"

Zhou Huang hurriedly replied, expressing deep thanks for the Highness's hospitality, etc.

The King was very enthusiastic: "Hey? Why are you being so polite? You are my maternal aunt's younger brother—we are family, our own people! Haven't you eaten lunch yet? The road to the academy is far; let's have lunch outside before we set out!"

Zhou Huang could only follow along.

The King brought him onto the same carriage; Weini immediately squeezed in as well—fortunately the carriage was quite spacious.

Zhou Huang dared not move the whole way, even regulating his breathing; his home is just to the southwest, and he is overly familiar with bears.

The King repeatedly emphasized that Weini is very well‑behaved, but the pressure of the beast on Zhou Huang is real—this You King… truly is no ordinary person.

The King went out; the South Hua Gate didn't open the main gate, they exited through a side gate. After leaving the South Hua Gate, the King eagerly lifted the curtain to let him view the Youzhou streetscape; Zhou Huang glanced at the receding main gate—indeed it was even more extravagant than the East Glorious Gate.

……Those two princes' mansions he had seen during his earlier travels—what exactly do they count as!