Chapter 442: New City

Da Wang and Bai Yang finished gossiping and went back to sleep; he still had important matters the next day.

At dawn the next day, this guy got up; he wanted to get the mission reward before the general assembly of the people, then announce it all together—what kind of cake could be as big as this one? Da Wang planned to go out and finish the remaining twenty percent.

After studying the map, Shao Dang is just a long strip; if he runs a bit further northwest, he estimates he'll have finished gathering.

Da Wang's excuses are all ready-made; go take a look at his newly acquired big mine.

"……If I come back late, just push the meeting time back a bit."

Wei Ke didn't try to dissuade him, and nobody else here could sway Da Wang either, so at the crack of dawn Da Wang set out from Da Yun Valley with his personal guard.

After these days everyone had gotten used to it; riding horses here was a completely different experience from Youzhou, and Da Wang still found it exhilarating. Da Wang rode the White Dragon, galloping wildly northwest for over an hour, then north for another hour—this bewildering behavior left the personal guard looking dazed, he finally stopped, turned back to look for his mine, and finished the remaining twenty percent.

Then, coincidentally, after the personal guard was driven off and scattered to look for whatever exposed jade mine, Da Wang just 'picked up' a person.

Da Wang thought Dong Fu was an upright, clear‑mirrored Qing official who would be a national hero sacrificing himself for the people, having given his all in a past life—heard he died rather horribly? Da Wang projected his own feelings, worrying that if Dong Fu came to the North Border he'd feel no sense of belonging; if it were him, he'd be exhausted and want to give up.

You imagine, you spend your life running for the dynasty and the people, only to end up dying miserably—just thinking about it breaks your defenses.

The sharp-witted Da Wang immediately decided he couldn't just let him go to Youzhou; instead he should have Dong Fu travel with him, so he'd have more contact with the North Border's populace, see that the people still aren't fed or clothed properly, and the big shot would still have to strive!

Dong Fu had no objection, took the bundle of supplies Da Wang had prepared for him, and followed along with Da Wang's script.

When the guards came back, Da Wang showed no change in expression, saying he'd picked up a Jin traveler who'd gotten lost while out roaming in this little mountain valley.

Regarding this excuse the personal guard stayed wary; having thought it was an uninhabited area where they could relax, the personal guard who had let their guard down now refused to leave and instead kept a close watch on Da Wang, who had already 'hit it off' and begun discussing the imperial examination system with Dong Fu……

Wei Shen refused to go crazy riding with Da Wang because his beloved warhorse was gone, was missing for half a day, and then discovered Da Wang had picked up another person.

"Tens of thousands are waiting for you in Da Yun Valley, and you go out on a trip and just pick up a person?"

Da Wang decisively shook his head: "No, I've found the location of the jade mine and already marked it."

"Then what does this person say? If he's reliable, just bring him along."

"A very knowledgeable and learned person, quite reliable—he knew Zhu Ti back when he was in Jiangnan, you say that's a coincidence?!"

When Wei Shen heard he had an old acquaintance, he immediately let his guard down, and Da Wang took the opportunity to shake him off, claiming he needed to go change clothes.

Returning to the king's tent, he immediately opened the light panel; the reward for Qingyu Commandery's basic city construction had been issued, and the side quest for construction had popped up.

【Side quest: Construct Qingyu Commandery basic city

Items include: basic version city wall x1; low‑config governor's office x1; low‑config garrison x1; low‑config main thoroughfare inside the city x1;

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

On‑site technical supervisor NPC x1 (recovered after quest completion); specialized technical manpower x5000 (recovered after quest completion);

Logistics supplement: local manpower from the North Border State x5000;

Estimated construction period: 5 months (150 days)

Quest supplies: work uniforms x5000; work meals x5000×150; work wages x5000×150】

Da Wang glanced over and immediately saw the point: "Why is everything low‑config? Meng Meng, you can't afford to play?"