Chapter 310
(Added 3000 characters up front, refreshed)
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Having finished writing, they dispatched people to send it to all prefectures and counties; the Great King also summoned Zhu Ti, and that very night Youzhou City learned of this news—they had upgraded Youzhou City!
The Youzhou locals were very accustomed to issuing such notices; they skillfully surrounded the clerk making the announcement.
"Our Youzhou troops are indeed formidable; we even took Liangzhou and drove away the Xiongnu—when will they come back?"
"Has our Great King become emperor?"
"Will Youzhou City be renamed? After all, it's now a national capital—hahaha~"
"Will our Youzhou residence become as valuable as Chang'an?"
"Should our Prince You's mansion be renamed the imperial palace?"
The clerk's forehead was drenched in sweat as he heard your questions—none of which he could answer!
But not answering wasn't an option; these locals had them completely surrounded, making escape impossible.
"This… the matter of His Highness ascending the throne as emperor… as far as I know, it's not currently on the agenda. Our His Highness was originally a feudal lord; the feudal lords of the Great Jin took a prefecture as their state, and previously our Youzhou could actually be called You State, with Youzhou City being His Highness's national capital."
You can understand it this way: the territories currently under His Highness's fief include all the cities he personally conquered in the entire north!
His fiefdom changed from You State to North Border State. His Highness hasn't turned back yet; as for the rest, we'll wait until he returns to discuss.
The locals still weren't satisfied, saying, "His Highness is just too honest…"
Exactly, it was our Prince and the Youzhou cavalry who drove out the northern barbarians, but the southern court has cut us off; now we have nothing to do with the south.
The Prince is still too young, kind-hearted!
The Prince is too good-natured; that way he's easily taken advantage of...
Clerk: ……
What the heck? Did the Prince of You suffer a loss?
An old lady even shoved aside the two people in front of her from behind, stepped forward, grabbed the clerk's sleeve, and urged: "Go tell the Prince, the emperor up ahead is gone; from now on the new emperor of the south will be his brother, and a brother is not the same as a father! They've essentially split the household, so hurry up and make yourself emperor!" After all these times, they are no longer afraid of Youzhou's officials and soldiers, and the old lady anxiously advises them.
Exactly! We only listen to the Great King! If we go back, we won't do it! The Great King ascended the throne, and from now on we won't even have to pay the court's taxes!
Clerk: ……
Don't get worked up, everyone; I will definitely convey your opinions to the Chancellor when I return—rest assured, rest assured!
The clerk squeezed out of the encirclement, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a breath. Who knows what the Prince is thinking; the people are also worried sick.
The reaction at the Great King's main camp will surely differ from elsewhere; the remaining prefecture populace, upon hearing the news, some are happy, some numb.
Those who are happy are those who have personally witnessed the might of the Youzhou cavalry, feeling that relying on a big tree makes for good shade.
As for those who are indifferent to the numbness, surviving this winter is their primary task; who governs them is a matter for after they get through it.
【Great King's Mini Theater】
Foolish author: Report——! Informing the Great King, your fans say that when you shoot arrows with the Sun-Shooting Bow, you are——a master of outlining.
Great King dazed·JPG
Great King looks up dictionary·JPG
Great King hands on hips·JPG
Great King: What fans? I don't have any fans! Could it be that people from the Youzhou prison have escaped?! Drag them back!
Foolish author: ……
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Another three days passed; during this period the Great King had already studied the newly released Bingzhou and Yizhou maps thoroughly, and then waited for the familiar full-screen shower of flowers!
This time not only was Mission Three completed, but a fifth 3D full-terrain map also appeared—a long, narrow map in earthy yellow, with the large characters '【Liangzhou】' on it.
The Great King immediately shut himself in a room to claim the reward; this time it was practically a bumper harvest.
"Bountiful harvest~ bountiful harvest! I, the King, have been running around outside for half a year, and the little savings I had have been completely squandered; finally I can recover!"
This time there are three mission rewards; for his grand harvest plan, the Great King stubbornly held off claiming them all together.
His primary mission one—eliminating the Youzhou populace's hunger index—was completed after they turned in this year's grain tax a few days ago; it is estimated that after a year of hardship, some poor families in Youzhou have managed to turn things around by reclaiming land and planting high-yield crops.
This mission comes with an A-rank spin-wheel reward.
The second reward claimable is from Side Mission Two: a major household census of Yizhou, Bingzhou, and Liaodong, with the reward being three C-rank spin-wheels.
The third reward is what the Great King has been working toward: the reward for unifying the northern borders—five border checkpoints and three A-rank spin-wheels.
Waging war costs money; not mentioning that he just went through turmoil with empty lands and empty pockets, just saying his regular forces increased by 150,000 in a short half year, and all these people need to be fed and supplied.
The Great King raising a single offspring to support 200,000 regular troops is a huge burden. 【200,000 = Yumen Pass Tang Qian 100,000 + Shanggu Pass 50,000 + his own 50,000】
All at once he waited for seven big and small spin-wheels; Mengmeng scattered flowers on the light board, and the Great King almost followed suit by scattering flowers himself in his room, circling the room proudly and hopping about.
This time even Bai Ze didn't mock him; the speed at which the Great King's money and grain flow out is worthy of sympathy. The child's grain hoard, saved up for so long, is nearly emptied, while the number of mouths to feed has suddenly surged, and Zhuti is still continuously transporting grain outward.
The Great King, returning gleeful, first claimed the five checkpoints he had long been yearning for.
"The Great Wall has arrived!"
After he finished collecting and refreshing his warehouse, the first row showed a marker
After clicking Use, the green checkpoint marker shaped like a city wall floated up a line; the king skillfully moved the default Secluded Province map backward, pulled out a fresh earth-yellow Cool Province at the end, found the northwesternmost edge of the Northern Region and began to stretch it…
The king, who was working, suddenly sighed, "Careless! I previously thought the Northern Region and Upper Valley Pass weren't far apart, almost in a straight line, and I wondered if I could stretch it over, but it seems impossible—they aren't on the same map!"
The king stretched it as much as possible; who knew this thing, although it had no length requirement, but if it encountered a mountain range it wouldn't work either—they only help him block transportation routes, and a mountain range, being a natural barrier, is not within the buildable terrain for checkpoints.
The king kept pulling eastward until he hit a mountain range, at which point he was forced to stop.
Likewise to the west, the king kept extending until he could extend no further, so this Northern Region checkpoint ended up more than three or four times longer than the previous one, completely blocking everywhere humans could pass.
As soon as he confirmed it, the construction task popped up immediately.
【Side Quest One: Construct the Shuofang section of the Northern Border belonging to Cool Province, border line checkpoint.
Official subsidies: all raw materials; all tools and equipment;
On-site technical supervisor NPC x1 (to be reclaimed after task completion); professional technical manpower x5000 (to be reclaimed after task completion);
Logistics chain supplement: recruit Northern Border populace x10000;
Estimated construction period: ninety days;
Task supplies: work uniforms x10000; work meals x10000 x 90; work wages x10000 x 90;
Winter construction subsidy: cold‑proof tents x1000 (units)】
The king glanced at it and immediately clicked to claim it, discovering it was almost the same as the original Liao East Commandery; he pulled up the construction blueprint and saw it was nearly identical, only the length parameter differed.
The king had nothing else; for these laborers, as many as needed were available, so he immediately summoned the on‑site technical supervisor, and an old man suddenly appeared out of thin air in the room, giving the king a start!
He glanced at the closed door, then at the living person before him, the meaning was obvious; the NPC coughed and said apologetically, "There are many people outside… Greetings, your lordship; I, a humble commoner, am the on‑site technical supervisor for this construction project, your lordship may call me Old Man Yu."
Old Man Yu?
All right.
"Old Man Yu, this Northern Region is the first time taking on such a construction task; unlike You Province, where the populace has already become accustomed to many such projects. After I withdraw my troops, you will still need to attend to all matters at the worksite."
"Your lordship, rest assured! I, a humble commoner, will certainly do my best to handle this."
"I have great faith in the abilities of NPCs; I've seen many and they are all excellent. This time's ten‑thousand‑strong workforce is roughly half soldiers, half civilians. I summoned you first so you could step forward to help recruit the civilians; the Northern Region, with all its neglected affairs awaiting revival, needs your attention."
The old man laughed and agreed; the king then dispatched the five thousand technical workers and all the materials, dumping them at the construction site.
Looking at the map again, the familiar little ants were already bustling about; this scene gave the king an inexplicable sense of relief.
The grain and fodder were split in half; one half would be given directly to the Northern Region garrison's command, the other half would be distributed daily by Old Man Yu to the civilian laborers. After arranging these, the king had someone summon General Anbei.
General Anbei was utterly bewildered— the pie he had drawn just a couple of days ago had actually come out of the oven?
"... The military provisions aren't abundant either, I know that. So for this checkpoint construction requiring ten thousand people, I am making an exception by recruiting five thousand Northern Region garrison troops; in a moment you will pick five thousand men to send to the worksite. Moreover, the checkpoint construction is entirely under Old Man Yu's charge; you only need to wait for him to finish and notify you to relocate. These five thousand soldiers are paid; their uniforms and rations are for their own use, and their wage silver you will keep in storage for military provisions. I looked at the blueprint—the project includes a barracks for the garrison; once built, you can move in there."
"I don't understand—are we about to start work? And the conscripted laborers are being paid wages—is that what you mean, Your Highness?" Anbei felt his ears might have a problem.
"That's exactly it—three hundred wen per person per day. They already have military pay, and although I'm not wealthy after campaigning all over, it's no problem for them to turn over the money they earn during work hours to serve as the Northern Region army's provisions, right?"
"Of course there's no problem—three hundred wen a day!"
"What could possibly be wrong with three hundred wen!"
"They'd even fight over thirty wen!"
Anbei stared at the king, still unable to regain his composure; the king, eager to draw lots, was about to dismiss them, saying, "Just understand—help Old Man Yu recruit those other five thousand civilians as well. Be sure to prioritize families so poor they can't even open their pots; we need to let the poorest people of Cool Province survive this winter."
"Recruit throughout Cool Province?"
The king thought for a moment, "Just around here, after all time is pressing. In front of the northwestern Jade Gate Pass, I also want to build one."
As Anbei left the door, his admiration for the king was beyond words.
Don't look down on him just because he's young—he's rich!
Old Tang's decision was exceedingly wise; rather than side with the crown prince who harbors grudges, it's better to support this unmatched‑strength hardline faction, the You King. Look at his strength—he doesn't even bother patching checkpoints; he just builds a brand‑new one outside!
Ever Peace
Baili Jin held the token commanding the capital's great army; when Emperor Ningde was buried, none of the second, third, or fourth brothers appeared at the imperial mausoleum.
In the meantime, bad news kept coming—whatever the King of Jiangxia had seized the surrounding Lujiang Commandery, whatever the King of Jing had issued an article denouncing him, and the King of Guangling appeared in Established Health, mingling closely with the local aristocracy.
The only consolation was that Emperor Ningde had been buried; his ascension to the throne was not far off.
Emperor Ningde's imperial mausoleum had been built long before his death, its scale quite grand; but the ceremony that day was rather shabby, with only the successor present, bringing along a few clueless youngsters.
Just as Baili Jin felt victory within reach, a thunderbolt from the court struck him.
First, the imperial mausoleum guards came to report, saying something had happened at the mausoleum!
As the guards were on their morning patrol, they discovered a person hanging at the entrance to the late emperor's underground palace.
How could this be—Emperor Ningde had only been buried a few days ago and already something happened!
Baili Jin instinctively felt it couldn't be anything good.
But under everyone's gaze, he couldn't say his father's mausoleum affair wasn't important; he would set it aside for now and speak later.
Sure enough, after summoning the reporting guards for questioning, "... the person hanging there looked like he'd been dead for several days, dressed in northern Xiongnu noble attire… After consulting an experienced veteran, they confirmed he had died from his spine being crushed. Moreover, a strip of cloth was wrapped around his neck, inscribed, inscribed with the words 'Left Virtuous Xiongnu King Lan He'."
Baili Jin jumped to his feet, "Lan He is dead?"
The officials erupted in an uproar.
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Confirming this is also simple—just summon everyone who participated in the earlier peace talks for identification; they all said it was Lan He himself.
The truth is about to surface—who did it?
Isn't that the one who stays in the north, refuses to come back, shouting that he'll drive out the Xiongnu and Xianbei— that You King?
Baili Jin immediately took in the officials' expressions, his face grim, ready to throw out anyone who showed any appreciation.
Previously, the You King boasted that he would hold onto the northern lands he had carved out, refuse to return to the capital for a new fief, and even declared he would completely sever ties with the Chang'an court; everyone laughed at him for overreaching.
The General Who Pacifies the West and the Duke of Sukok, together with their 500,000-strong army, were crushed by the Xiongnu allied forces; they simply didn't believe a mere You King could have any solution.
Whether the population of Youzhou's fief reaches 500,000 is unknown.
Now everyone's face is sore, and with each having their own faction, no one is voluntarily cheering for the You King.
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This chapter has been revised.
If you have time, you can take another look („ಡωಡ„) thank you
End of Chapter
