Chapter 259: Half and Half

At night they stayed in the naval camp of the military dock, with Da Wang and Wei Shen sharing a room.

The daytime shock was too great; Wei Shen couldn't fall asleep for a long time, and he kept tossing and turning in bed.

Even without a night light here, Da Wang's five senses were very sharp; he could feel it.

This guy was thinking things over; Wei Shen's constant flipping made Da Wang completely dizzy, and he couldn't help but say, "Cousin, the pancake's done, take a break."

Wei Shen: "What pancake?"

Da Wang: "Flipping back and forth isn't that frying a pancake? Hurry up and stop flipping it, it's done, done……"

Wei Shen: "…… You little brat, are you hungry?"

Da Wang: "Hmph! I'm not hungry; I'm thinking about things…… Cousin, the Xiongnu allied army has already gone to An Ding Commandery. If An Ding falls, next will be Chang'an. Will the Great Jin perish?"

Wei Shen had been unable to sleep from excitement over those weapons earlier, but hearing this he instantly cooled down……

He wanted to say no, but Da Wang wasn't stupid either; on the contrary, this guy was extremely sharp.

"Chang'an might be besieged, and then those old fogies will advocate peace talks, ceding territory or sending them off with silver? They've done that before; anyway, it's all just frustrating."

"Really…… can't we win?"

"The odds aren't great. Think about it: An Ding Commandery lacks a grand general, the Xiongnu allied army is advancing aggressively, the remnant northern expedition troops that fled back to An Ding have lost their vigor. It's obvious that with the commander-in-chief dead, a defeated fleeing army has little combat power. Moreover, it's uncertain whether the Yumen Pass forces went to An Ding or withdrew back to the pass. Would the court send Chang'an's garrison north? Unlikely. They're afraid of dying, so they'll definitely keep people to defend Chang'an to the death."

Da Wang snorted, "Maybe the great clans are already starting to flee south! Those people only argue in the court. My father emperor really has a good temper; if it were me, I'd have long replaced those old fogies who just flap their mouths all day and never think of solutions."

That successfully made Wei Shen laugh, "Even if you reach that position, you might not be able to replace them. Aren't they all from prestigious clans? Ordinary folk who can't even read characters still become officials? They can form factions. The scholars still look down on us military leaders. The Wei clan is also a noble house, yet aren't they looked down upon by the Wang, Xie, Cui, and Zheng families?"

Da Wang chuckled under the covers, "Heh heh heh～ there will be times when they cry. My primary school…… ah, it was supposed to be built at the start of spring, but now everything's a mess, I can't attend to it. Sooner or later I'll make all the people of Youzhou literate, using whoever learns best! Everyone's human; given the chance to study, who learns better isn't certain. In the future, under my command, I won't look at background, only at ability."

"You have ambition, Great King!"

The two brothers turned aside here, exchanged a few jokes, and the topic returned to Chang'an.

"I hope Zhu Ti can smoothly bring back my sister and Wei Zhaoyi; those people in Chang'an are hopeless to rely on. Actually…… cousin, I also worry that the court will send the Southwest Army to guard Chang'an, and then in the northwest…… there's another pit."

"Are you worried about my grandfather and father? They have more experience than you; it's fine."

Da Wang thought to himself, "That's because you don't know the origins of Bai Ze."

"'And my father too—now no one knows where he is. Such a face‑conscious person, now captured, must feel terrible……'"

Wei Shen was about to speak when he didn't expect you to still be so fond of your father from the candy‑person giveaway relationship?

Then I heard Da Wang himself adding: "…but he had it coming. If he'd paid any attention to the border and the army, watched less song and dance, he wouldn't have been so easily captured."

Wei Shen: ……

"'So do you actually feel sorry for your father or not?'"

Da Wang gestured a distance, remembering that Wei Shen couldn't see, and changed his wording: "Half and half. Knowing where he is, I'll go rescue him. Having fallen to this state, he kinda deserves it; I hope he learns a lesson."

………………New Chapter………………

………………New Chapter………………

………………New Chapter………………

Before bed, Da Wang finally remembered the pressing matter at hand, and he secretly contacted Ling Yin through the home garden. This time Ling Yin was at home giving special training to the owl riders; Da Wang didn't come along because he didn't leave Youzhou, and fortunately there was still someone left in Youzhou.

Da Wang had him send some wagons and horses to the Youzhou ferry tomorrow to transport weapons.

The next morning, Da Wang got up early and followed Zhao Zhuge to inspect the newly completed military dock.

This dock not only built berths for warships and some basic facilities, but also had ashore living and training areas for the navy.

Here directly matched were small camps for the basic crew of six warships; Da Wang could station at least eight thousand navy personnel here, even though he fundamentally lacks that many in his budget.

Zhao Zhuge said the satellite dock in Liaodong was also finished, but it's not this big. Youzhou's dock can berth ten warships, while Liaodong only has half that, a scale of five ships.

Da Wang stood before row after row of barracks, his eyes sparkling with stars.

How great this is—ready‑made houses and training grounds; expanding the army now has a place to put them.

Coincidentally, the east and west great barracks and the old royal mansion are already saturated; this time the military dock could also hold another ten or twenty thousand…… if he still had people who could expand.

With the Youzhou dock in place, others are also calm; it's just that they've gained a new awareness of Da Wang's wealth.

Take a look at these barracks buildings, this lighthouse! This is only what they can see on the surface; who knows how deep the excavation goes underwater.

Da Wang was also curious about that lighthouse; yesterday he only paid attention to the cannons and didn't notice there's also a new lighthouse here.

"'There's also a light up here—how is it separated from the old ferry's lighthouse?'"

Zhao Zhuge gave him a quick rundown: "The lights on the lighthouse differ in color; this is the military dock's lighthouse, and it shines a green signal light."

"'That works too; later I'll issue a notice so the fishermen don't take the wrong turn.' Actually the two docks are a bit far apart."

What Da Wang didn't know was that the neighboring Longtou County had already taken this green light as a scenic spot. The lighthouse had been lit for several days after completion; whenever they had nothing to do after a meal, they'd come out to glance at that cluster of green light. In the future, with this lighthouse at their doorstep, their fishing boats returning late at night could precisely find their way home. No longer would they need to spend the night at the Youzhou ferry and only be able to feel their way back the next day.

The five‑hundred‑strong contingent that had come running finally arrived before dusk in the afternoon, all five hundred boarding the deck of the Canglang together, and it was still surprisingly empty……

Putting five hundred people into the Canglang made it seem just able to get going. Look, there's no need to take out all six ships; right now they can't even make use of them. The urgent task is still the inland northwest.

This time Da Wang summoned the NPCs of the other five ships as well, six groups totaling eighteen people, and Zhao Zhuge gave everyone a fresh introduction again.

The king also simply encouraged his first batch of navy.