Chapter 445

Xie Yuan figures even coming from Shanyang Pass isn't that quick, and Youzhou has already heard the news; he doesn't know how much time lag there is.

"Your Highness, the attack on the Shaodang Qiang was because they seized Jinhui City on the Longxi frontier; as the Northern Border Minister of Justice, you should be careful not to invite disaster with your words. You've been here a while—have you looked at the Northern Border laws?"

Lu Tong: ……

It's just that after seeing him, I don't want to work anymore.

After Xie Yuan finished clearing the king's name, he no longer wanted to be rewarded with jade; he just wanted to go block the manager and ask for the details.

Leaving the Lu residence, he went straight to Zhuque Avenue; indeed the street was bustling, especially the Luofu Tower selling jewelry, where the little clerk at the door shouted at the top of his voice: "The Prince of the Northern Border leads four hundred cavalry to a great victory over the Shaodang Qiang!"

"All jade in the shop is half price~"

"The Shaodang Qiang have been renamed Qingyu Commandery and now belong to our Northern Border~"

A crowd of onlookers gathered, cheering along.

We can't afford the jade, but we can cheer for a person!

Even the street clerks all know, yet the court hasn't received the news?

Doctor Xie, full of vigor, went to Wanxiang City to block Zhu Ti; seeing him, Zhu Ti remained calm: "A great victory over the Qiang! This happened three days ago; I just found out myself. Judging by the time, even an eight-hundred-li rush couldn't reach Youzhou. Our intelligence office has a single-line way to contact the Prince; you don't have that… how regrettable."

Doctor Xie: ……

"How is the Prince?"

"Lively and jumping about."

Xie Yuan: ……

He has no way to deal with those few capable aides of the Prince; besides, their personalities are each more eccentric than the last—for example, Ling Yin, for example, Zhu Ti.

"Then may I ask Manager Zhu, is there any other definite news?"

Zhu Ti handed over a neatly organized brief she had prepared to Xie Yuan: "The above information is true; Mister Xie can order the newspaper office to make the plates and print it, and the next issue can publish it. Our Prince, though young, already has the merit of expanding territory; a grand celebration in Youzhou is not excessive."

"What does Manager Zhu mean?"

"The Prince wants to liven things up upon his return, and give each person in Youzhou a sheng of rice, because all the cavalry in this Qiang campaign came from Youzhou households."

Upon hearing that this was all something the king would do after his return, Xie Yuan nodded to show he understood, then Zhu Ti added: "Please tell Mister Xie to inform the Grand Minister of Agriculture to prepare early."

Xie Yuan then understood: the king wasn't going to manage this grain; it would have to come from the state treasury.

Not to mention Xie Yuan, even Zhu Ti wanted to give the Grand Minister of Agriculture a tear of sympathy—the grain store in the treasury is so empty that even mice would starve to death.

In these bad times, the only thriving business is grain shops; the Northern Border officials' salaries, though still calculated by the old rule of several hundred dan, have long been paid out in equivalent silver. The soldiers the king supports eat from the military granary, which basically comes out of the king's own pocket—all the output of the Ministry of Commerce filling this huge deficit; the treasury certainly doesn't have that capability.

Xie Yuan decided to struggle a bit: "……Youzhou each person one sheng? Isn't that a bit much?"

Zhu Ti expressed helplessness: "Even half a sheng, the Prince can't afford to lose face!" Pinching and scraping, after cooking a pot of porridge there's nothing left; at least eat a dry meal, a full meal.

Xie Yuan: ……

You think the king just came up with this out of nowhere, scattering silver for no reason?

It's not that he idly fiddled with the mission board; now the four main missions are all stagnant, which really hinders the king's infrastructure projects! The latter two—medical bureau and academy—are hard to advance due to slow transport of goods and information; reputation points are hard to gain at all, unless there's another opportunity like last time's black-and-red explosion.

The king then turned his gaze to the two stubborn households ahead, an old problem: the hunger index and the happiness index.

These two are stuck there, unmoving, so the king can't extract any profit; all day he just spends on his own in the manor and market. These two main lines actually have methods; the king slapped his head and decided to shed some blood off the Western Qiang great victory, to cast a brick to attract jade, making those numbers budge a bit.

Our king wins battles and still gives each person a sheng of grain—isn't that happiness? The Northern Border's military is strong; do the people lack a sense of security?

No matter how you think about it, something must be done; this guy got up in the middle of the night and told Zhu Ti about it. He thought, "I can't let the courtiers at home idle while just collecting their salaries—take care of this grain, you lot!"

Zhu Ti's brief contained very detailed information, even including a map of the new commandery, Qingyu Commandery. Xie Yuan went back and personally wrote an article to hand to the newspaper office, urging them to carve the plates and publish it as soon as possible.

The Grand Minister of Agriculture has many heads, but the king doesn't care; the king's own ways to make money are plenty.

The new commandery has just been taken, city construction just begun; the king decided to stay a few more days to stabilize the situation before speaking. This guy showed up again after a long absence at the Phoenix Market, where the street‑stall tycoon opened for business.

This time the goods have strong local flavor; this guy sells wherever he goes.

Today's stall is a mess, ranging from cordyceps, rhubarb, various handicrafts of the Qiang people, to whole yak horns and large and small jade ore stones. The ore mined these days, the king occasionally hauls away some.

Bai Yang right now is shining a strong flashlight there, trying to see which piece can be opened large, to cut out better‑quality white jade.

When someone asks the price, the king sells everything by weight, ten yuan per jin. Some don't know what Hetian jade is; Bai Yang even specially took a few fine‑crafted pieces of good quality to display as samples. Now it's good—before long a crowd gathers in front of the stall, everyone loves to snag a bargain.

The king's hands went soft from taking money, and he loudly shouted, "Sell for ingots, oh! Site‑wide clearance sale~"

When the stall closed and the jade stones sold the most, Bai Yang silently put away the untouched cordyceps and rhubarb: "This kind of wild good stuff, selling it here has no market; it belongs in our shop. Next to you there's a cultivator—compare his wares, and cordyceps amounts to nothing!"

Qiao Yi sighed: "The king, still a youth, dares to demand a million taels; I can't even sell these fully potent medicines here—these people simply aren't afraid of death!"

The king, pleased as punch, picked up the yak horn and offered it to his white brother, but was sternly refused: "No! Dirty and filthy, this isn't worth anything! I refuse to accept junk!"

The king stood with hands on hips: "Wait, I'll have the Office of Works make fancy wine vessels for me and sell them to you at a high price!"

Bai Yang: ……

Qiao Yi laughed loudly on the side, giving a thumbs‑up to the business genius king.

Got it.

——————————

Yap yap:

I guess I know why the traffic and volume in the book city dropped—I was leaning on the bookshelf, thanks everyone!

Yesterday alone, the new book's debut had 5200+ copies; when I first released a book, the debut day had only over 300 copies, which was already a lot……

Where do all these books come from? Anyone who's written knows, 100,000 words is a hurdle. The AI is back again, students are on vacation, and I have to PK with elementary schoolers again…… Cherish handwritten books by real people. Writing a 200-word gist, the machine generates 2,000 words, and yet someone reads it and says the writing is good…… Hard to judge. Don't you feel lifeless? Is it all just adjectives?

In our group there's someone who disconnected, updated, ran, and left the road, saying they'll come back to continue updating when the foreign persimmon season is good— the sunk cost is too great……

There will be a second update in the evening.

★

★

………………New chapter…………

………………New chapter…………

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Great King did not allow Zhang Fangtong to enslave the common people to mine for free; mining with wages quickly recruited many miners.

Because the neighboring city's construction actually pays money, the new government's reputation in Qingyu is very good, and Great King also promised to later send them some useful tools.

Before, whether copper or silver mines, they were all system-made and required no attention from him; this matter prepares to have the Directorate of Armaments replicate a batch of useful tools from those several mines.

Jade mining gradually got on track; Great King immediately had Zhu Ti send his own people to open a workshop, which could both monitor Qingyu Commandery and obtain first-hand good goods.

That day Zhu Ti specially came to find Great King: 'Has something happened in Youzhou?'

Zhu Ti: 'No. Xie Yuan found me this afternoon, saying he represents the court officials, requesting Your Highness to immediately set off back to Youzhou.'

Great King decisively refused: 'That won't do; I still need to observe more. I just sent people to inform the surrounding several Western Qiang tribes about the change of lord in Changdang, and I still don't know their reaction! If they unanimously decide to give this head to Dianliang, once the Snow Cavalry leaves it will really be troublesome.'

Zhu Ti: '... You guess why Xie Yuan is in a hurry to have you go back?'

Great King: 'Mr. Xie indeed predicts events like a god, haha~ He fears the Western Qiang alliance will attack. So I cannot leave even more; this place has already invested in infrastructure, there's no reason to give the Qiang an advantage.'

Zhu Ti: 'Then there must be a time limit, right? I'm afraid an old man might hang himself at the gate of Wanxiang City.'

Great King: 'I don't believe that; you just need to tell them it'll be soon.'

Zhu Ti: 'Understood, delay tactic.'

Great King: '... Why say it out loud.'

A stern-spoken Grand Manager left; Great King went out and saw his newly obtained provisional Grand Commander, Dong Fu, who didn't choke him, he did nothing, just kept glancing at Lord Bai Ze lying on the grass sunbathing.

He had long been curious; a unicorn beast in the mortal world, he had never seen before.

Even adding his two lifetimes together, he had only seen it in books.

Moreover, Bai Ze's appearance; each time he sees it he is amazed, actually seeing a sacred feeling from Great King's pet; it's quite different from ordinary.

Great King saw Dong Fu repeatedly examining Bai Ze there, thought he was knowledgeable, and hurried over to show off.

'Mighty and good-looking, right?! My great auspicious beast is called Bai Ze!'

Upon hearing the two characters 'Bai Ze', Dong Fu's face changed greatly; even his gaze toward Great King changed, and Bai Ze turned its head to look at him.

Great King was also surprised: 'You actually know him? Could it be that you're an old friend?'

Bai Ze: '...'

Dong Fu hurriedly said, 'I dare not.'

'I heard from Your Highness's personal guards that Your Highness's two beloved pets have been raised since childhood; I don't know where Your Highness obtained Bai Ze from.'

Great King brought out the usual excuse: 'Picked it up at the seaside~'

Then it matches! It really is a unicorn, resembling a lion-deer, an auspicious beast!

Great King upon hearing: 'Huh, you know quite a lot; what else do you know?'

Dong Fu has seen many big scenes; seeing this legendary divine beast also made him a bit excited: 'Moreover... I've heard Bai Ze can speak human language, knows all about ghosts and spirits worldwide. It can ward off evil and avoid disaster, symbolizing auspiciousness.'

Great King felt like he was floating, as if the praise was for him: 'Indeed, Lord Bai Ze is amazing~'

Originally after death he returned to his youthful appearance and came to Great King's side, already exceeding Dong Fu's understanding; now seeing the legendary divine beast, Dong Fu increasingly feels unreal, could all this be his fantasy?

Roughly seeing his hesitation, Great King generously shouted at Bai Ze: 'Please squeak? Say a word, Lord Bai Ze.'

Bai Ze completely ignored him, just sunbathing on its own.

Great King didn't feel embarrassed; he only felt unconvinced: 'Fine, fine, fine, not listening to Your Majesty? What's so great about being able to speak? When I return to Youzhou I'll teach Winnie to speak! Hmph!'

This thing basically didn't care; after letting out harsh words it ran off to watch the Snow Cavalry drill.

Dong Fu's expression gradually became strange; according to his knowledge, only a virtuous king can cause Bai Ze to appear in the world. So this...

Bai Ze lazily lay down again; Dong Fu was about to follow Great King away when he heard a faint, ethereal voice from afar, directly hitting him: 'It's him.'

Dong Fu abruptly turned his head; Bai Ze lifted its head and glanced at him, feeling good, and repeated once more: 'It's him.'

Really can speak!

Bai Ze actually knows what he's thinking! Dong Fu's inner shock need not be mentioned.

When Great King was to accompany Old Tang's people in the afternoon to patrol the borders, Dong Fu, who had always been polite and merely a spectator, unexpectedly voiced opposition. The reason was that Great King should not let himself be placed in danger, as surrounding tribes could at any time besiege Qingyu. He had also led troops before and could substitute for Great King in patrolling the borders.

Great King was extremely surprised.

Without hesitation they let him go; after all, the Grand Commander originally handles military affairs, and early contact with the grassroots is also good.

When Dong Fu really mounted and rode off with the cavalry, Great King immediately ran back to gossip with Bai Ze: 'You say how he suddenly became proactive? I mean, how did he suddenly gain such a sense of participation; wasn't he previously rather passive?'

Bai Ze: 'He suddenly realized you are the tall one among a bunch of shorties?'

Great King angry: 'Speak properly! Who's short!'

Bai Ze: 'Oh, then he saw that you are wise and mighty, and decided to swear death-defying loyalty to you?'

Great King forcefully patted the Zhe Tian in his embrace: 'Wrong! I see Xie Yuan's shadow in him, which is terrifying!' Could it be that in the future he will do something, and the court will have another who dares to shout 'Great King cannot'?

Zhe Tian: '...'

Bai Ze: '...'

Congratulations to you.

Clear Mirror Dong Fu, literarily able to assist the state, militarily able to mount and kill enemies; Great King however feels not good, always feeling he is Xie Yuan plus (with martial force) version.

Great King and Tang Qian spent a period of time in Qingyu; the surrounding tribes all received the notice he sent out, but there was no movement. Unknown whether the outcome of Changdang was too tragic, or they are waiting for some opportunity; anyway, temporarily it's all calm.

But Great King cannot delay too long here; he still needs to return to Youzhou soon, and the court is urging him daily.

Finally Great King decided to leave Tang Qian's forces with two thousand; Great King also ordered the Qingyu Commandery Commander to locally recruit another three-thousand-scale garrison; after training, the two thousand from Shan Yang Pass will withdraw back; he plans to build an outpost at the altitude of Jin Hui to monitor the Southern Kunlun Western Qiang, with Shan Yang Pass responsible for joint defense, under Tang Qian's charge.

When Great King announced these decisions, he was speaking while trying hard not to cover his wallet. Heaven knows how much silver this will need!

The army needs food and pay; construction needs silver.

Cousin, I'm not happy. I just had the construction site's draftsman work it out, and he drew me a construction diagram, saying that once built it would cost at least fifty thousand taels.

Wei Shen began picking at his fingers. "Only fifty thousand taels? You could dig that out of a silver mine in just ten days!" The Great King's strength is unfathomable!

Great King: ……