Chapter 494: The Great King Wants Face

The Great King probably felt he had shouted too quickly, and immediately adjusted his expression.

"Elder brother, the Zhou clan was the first to believe in our strength; why not give them a discount? Although it differs from what we agreed upon, alas, this world isn't easy either!"

Wei Ke understood and immediately went along: "Didn't we agree to calculate by distance? Do you think it's easy for our cavalry to sortie? With what risk……"

The Great King interrupted him, "But I want to return to You Prefecture for the New Year~ the south is chaotic, while our You Prefecture is lively~" showing a willful and blunt demeanor.

This guy, after acting coquettish with his elder brother, then turned to Young Master Zhou and said: "We soldiers don't have all those devious motives; cut out the back-and-forth probing games. We need military funds, you need a safe haven—let's cooperate for mutual benefit~"

Actually, the Zhou clan can rest assured trusting us; we are the regular army of the Northern Border, and when the time comes the cavalry will pass Luo Water Pass to meet us partway. You've surely heard of the affairs of the Xie and Lu clans; compared to them, the Zhou clan really has nothing for us to scheme over except that bit of military funding. If we are to cooperate, just go back and get ready, and we'll pick up a few more families along the way before setting off for the Northern Border.

After hearing that this was the regular army of You Prefecture, Young Master Zhou immediately became much more courteous, regardless of what he thought inside; his attitude improved. He still couldn't help asking again whether the Northern Border cavalry would really come out of the pass, and the Great King decided to give him a reassuring pill.

"Young Master Liang Ben, the commander of Luo Water Pass, Wu Jian, is my father's deputy."

After Young Master Zhou left, Wei Shen gave the Great King a fist‑and‑palm salute, saying, "You really dare to spout nonsense—what if they find out about the situation inside the Marquis of Eastern Capital's household?"

"Anyway, they don't even believe we're really surnamed Wei; the most famous general in the Northern Border is the Marquis of Eastern Capital, so they'll surely guess I'm a second‑generation heir from my age. I didn't even know how many sons the Marquis of Eastern Capital had before I met him, and the Zhou clan has no connection with the military." Anyway, he can't use his own identity, after all the protection fee isn't cheap, this guy also feels it's a bit not good, and the Marquis of Eastern Capital ends up taking the blame so fortunately.

"Never mind that, is there really cavalry to meet us?" This was the first time Wei Ke had heard of such a thing.

The Great King felt pleased, "Anyway, we have it now."

The Wei brothers only knew the Great King wanted to pull off a big job, but they didn't expect it to be this big.

The Great King wanted to bundle up the gentry and wealthy merchants of Qing and Gun Prefectures, and even those commoners who wished to migrate to the Northern Border, and take them all away.

The Great King's idea was utterly mad; these two prefectures lie closer to the Northern Border, with only two fiefdoms between them. Once war breaks out, these ownerless lands will immediately fall, unable to resist.

Bai Li Jing has been at it so long and still hasn't even cleared a single Han Shou.

Therefore, the Great King felt that his not having any designs on Shangdang and Qinghe was already giving face to his old uncle, so borrowing a passage through wouldn't be a big deal, right?

The Great King's Liang and Bing Provinces have long been desolate, yet he has always eyed the population of the south; he fears that if war erupts fully, the Great Jin will end up with nine out of ten homes empty. The more he thinks about it, the more feasible this seems. Having come all this way, we can't just go back empty‑handed, right? His elder brother Bai said he's a thief who doesn't return empty‑handed, so the Great King decided to unilaterally sever ties for three days.

The next day Wei Ke met again with the head of the Zhou clan, clearly stating that he could protect everyone's safe relocation to the Northern Border, and even directly indicated that other gentry and wealthy merchants could also come along, following the Zhou clan's fee schedule.

One million taels for moving the whole clan; for smaller families with few people, the price is negotiable.

This is also good for the Zhou clan; originally both sides lacked trust and were on guard against each other, but if a few more major clans joined, perhaps the risk could be shared. Besides, the Zhou clan really did pass the word to families they were on good terms with.

That very night the Great King summoned Zhu Ti and ordered her to mobilize the Owl Cavalry to come out and meet them.

Then this guy also worried that too many great clans responding to his call would make the line too long and risk a mishap; he slapped his head and confidently notified Luo Water Pass, asking Liang He to send some personnel as well.

Dong Fu is the future Grand Marshal, and someone the Great King absolutely trusts; he will become the highest military official. Zhu Ti only informed him of this matter alone.

The Owl Cavalry set out in full formation from the south gate before dawn, and most officials only found out the next day when they went to court. To be frank, Xie Yuan was also startled upon hearing it; the Owl Cavalry suddenly heading south made everyone think something had happened to the Great King in the south.

Dong Fu hasn't yet taken the post of Grand Marshal; for now Zhang Tu is the highest commander of You Prefecture's cavalry, but everyone knows he can't direct the Owl Cavalry or the Snow Cavalry, and he isn't even aware of this matter.

Hearts were uneasy all morning; at noon Xie Xiang and Xie Yuan went again to the Ministry of Commerce. Chief Steward Zhu saw that both looked worried and felt Dong Fu should hurry up and take office, since her department is the Ministry of Commerce and constantly having officials interrogate her really wastes her money‑making time.

The Chief Steward took the initiative, saying, "Your Highness will return soon; it was said to try to come back before the year's end." Whether or not it's possible, the answer is always "as much as possible."

When asked about the Owl Cavalry, she directly referred them to Dong Fu: "The position of Grand Marshal has always been the Highness's intention for Lord Dong; for future military operations, the two of you can consult Lord Dong. As for me, I'm not clear on the specifics, and today my workshop has a seafood processing plant opening." As colleagues, Dong Fu taking on some of the load in advance is only fitting.

Xie Xiang and Xie Yuan were also learning for the first time that the Great King actually thought so highly of Dong Fu; upon reflection, this person indeed manages the city's and palace's defenses in an orderly fashion with no fault to be found.

It's precisely this rapid promotion speed that leaves the two somewhat unsure of the Great King's intentions; who would have thought that Dong Fu and Zhu Ti are truly his close associates, his confidants.

The Great King also personally wrote a sealed letter, had Cover Heaven recognize the personnel on the topographic map, and spent three thousand taels to send this troop‑mobilization and return‑route letter to Liang He at Luo Water Pass.

Because the court had blocked the strategic Luo Water Pass at Qingxianxia leading to the Northern Border, and it had become active again, Liang He personally selected three thousand armored elites to await the Owl Cavalry's rendezvous, so as to go south and provide cover for the Great King's daring maneuvers.

The next day the Great King reappeared, shouldering Cover Heaven on his shoulders, and everyone assumed it was coming back and forth delivering messages.

From that day on, aside from the Great King and Cover Heaven still lurking at the Zhou clan's fort, everyone else began to act separately. The great households weren't forced to follow them, but everyone nearby had to be notified; since they were all involved, a single sheep and a flock made no difference.

The Great King widened the net's spread, and the Zhou clan felt the wait began to feel extraordinarily long.

Moving the whole clan is no trivial matter; the Great King kept delaying, and they alternated between worrying he was unreliable and fearing they'd catch the northern cold spell, but in the meantime they made sure that the one million taels were paid in full.

After waiting a few days like that, once the Great King saw the Owl Cavalry and Liang He emerge from Luo Water Pass, he finally began to make preparations for departure.

The Zhou clan breathed a sigh of relief and said nothing more; by now another four families of various sizes and two wealthy merchants had declared they would join them. The Great King had already collected 2.6 million taels in advance protection fees, with another half still due upon arrival in the Northern Border, plus the one million taels from earlier lifting the siege of the Zhou clan's fort, so this trip would net him about 6.2 million taels.

Although it wasn't pure silver but also included silk and cloth, the Great King reckoned it was still quite profitable.

A set of armor and weapons converts to 330 taels of silver; picking up a bit more along the way, this trip will net nearly 20,000 pieces of equipment!

The Great King strode forward with a step that recognized no kin, affixing a seal to their "protection fee". Wei Shen found this seal most peculiar; the white strip on the silver box read "Void if torn", and once you stuck it onto something, any attempt to peel it off would surely shred it— the Great King boasted that it guarded against both gentlemen and villains alike.