Chapter 318

They first skipped over the Human Wasteland, then discussed other affairs of the Northern Border. The King heard everyone call Liangzhou a prefecture, and also call the Beidi Commandery and Wuyi Commandery prefectures, leaving him confused.

In the past, the administration of these places was chaotic because the Great Jin did not value the northern border; measuring by household numbers, they appointed only a Commandery Governor to oversee the vast lands of Liangzhou. Now it's time to clarify things. Ignoring the uninhabited Liaodong Commandery for the moment, the four major commanderies of the interior should simply be redefined.

Youzhou, Wingzhou, Bingzhou, and Liangzhou would establish prefectural offices to govern their subordinate commanderies; only then could they be effectively distinguished and managed.

Regardless of how it was before, the King pays no attention; he is quite confident he can draw people from the south, and first set up the framework.

Let's study it; there's no reason it can't be done.

For example, Liangzhou is actually a prefecture-level region, its territory quite vast, and within it there are many large commanderies such as Wuyi and Beidi; lumping them all together as 'commandery' would only cause administrative confusion.

The Great Jin has fertile southern lands it can ignore the north, but the King must pay attention.

He couldn't be bothered to drag things out over this matter; he simply made the decision.

From now on, the four interior prefectures will restore prefecture status, appointing Prefectural Governors to oversee the commanderies in their jurisdictions. Within prefecture borders, the commanderies will continue the old system, with Commandery Governors and Commandery Lieutenants. The Commandery Governor handles administrative affairs, the Commandery Lieutenant handles defense. The Governor of Liangzhou will also oversee the three commanderies of the Western Regions. Any objections?

This is proper business; as for the King's suggestion to the Senior Chancellor, he can only applaud.

The topic moved on: 'You Prefecture does not need one for now; as for the candidates for the other three prefectural governors, Your Highness, do you have any leads?'

The King: ……

Heavens!

The King is completely flustered, unable to escape the issue of lacking personnel, right?

'I think Tang Qian is not bad; he's not good at administration, just give him an assistant skilled in this area.'

……

The King was wryly dealing with the backlog of affairs, completely unaware that the 20,000 cavalry he had taken away had not only unified the Northern Border but returned intact, causing such a shock to this city. A day later, the populace was still chatting about it.

Even a single military flag of the cavalry could be discussed in the teahouse for half a day.

During Emperor Ningde's reign, the King kept a low profile; now that his strength has been revealed, some talents have belatedly realized the strength of You Prefecture.

The teahouse owner has seen more of the world than the common folk; whenever people talk, he always chimes in with two sentences. 'You Prefecture's city walls are firmer and more towering than Chang'an's, while Chang'an wins with its deep foundations—truly comparing them, one cannot surpass the other.'

Then they would boast that Chang'an's walls have gate towers but lack arrow towers and walled citadels, which are not fashionable there.

Whenever this happened, hearing the guests' exclamations and applause, the owner would smile proudly.

'Although their walls lack so many ornamentations, the inner city still has a moat. Our You King's Mansion—no, I mean the Northern Border King's Mansion—has one, and I hear that moat is quite deep!'

The guests laughed loudly, asking the owner, 'You couldn't have gone near the prince's mansion and taken a look, could you? Haven't you been driven off by the soldiers?' The hall was lively, making people forget that outside was an age of chaos; the owner had not gone out to trade for two years, instead running the teahouse to get by.

Xie Yuan today brought his two disciples to the old city district, happen to stop by this small teahouse for a rest; the liveliness made him dazed, as if he were in Jiankang.

They had no such liveliness in Chen Commandery; Chen Commandery's literary style was even better, with poetry and flower gatherings being more common. Ordinary commoners would all gather in teahouses to talk extravagantly…… they had never seen such a thing.

When the army returned to the city, the whole city seemed to come alive. Previously, You Prefecture's teahouses had no business; even if two wen could buy you half a seat, nobody felt like going in to pass the time.

Xie Yuan pushed open the window facing the street; outside was the main street of the old city district. Besides seeing peddlers carrying loads, the roadside also had many small stalls selling steamed buns, stuffed buns, and large bowls of tea.

Shouts rang out incessantly; You Prefecture City—it is alive.

It is more full of the breath of life than when he first came to Youzhou.

Xie Yuan set down the rough tea in his hand, "Youzhou is going against the current."

"Sir, where do these words come from?"

"In the south, internal turmoil continues unabated, with several rebel kings each governing their own territory. This autumn, many places have suffered poor harvests again, and refugees are everywhere. This winter, who knows how many people won't make it through……"

"Look out the window, Youzhou—how can it not be considered going against the current?"

What he didn't say was that yesterday the triumphant army returned, and Youzhou's aura of weapons surged straight to the heavens.

Everything has been completely overturned.