Chapter 570: The Jumping Shamans' ~

The Great King ordered Changli to lead the Snow Cavalry in retaking Changzhou; when they set out, he followed eagerly, seeing them off outside the West City Gate. You think he didn't want to go, that he'd rather stay home and glare at those old geezers, huh~

The Snow Cavalry vanished on the horizon; the seeing-off Great King and Weishen together wilted, beginning to sigh long and short.

Great King: 'No need to worry about grain and fodder, no need to worry about subsequent management—just fight without restraint, how great would that be? I'll immediately march south to unify the Great Jin.'

Weishen: 'Sigh! Just killing without burying won't do. Speaking of which, being a General really feels good—I see Changli is happier than you right now.'

The two brothers exchanged a glance, envious.

Brotherly love, shattered ten thousand times, returned again.

The Great King pinned his hopes on this autumn's harvest, especially the various large farms.

He idled away, and no one could control him anymore—studying was out of the question; Weishen went to train martial arts, and he went out to slaughter in the manor in broad daylight.

The idle street‑stall tycoon went into business!

Just after drawing a pie for the new Feather Forest, Jia and Ma—who doesn't need money~

With plenty of time today, the Great King strolled around the manor; from afar he smelled a rich fragrance, '…Is that meat?' The Great King, long deprived of the delicacies of fields and pastures, was successfully lured.

The stored provisions were finished, but he could still pull out raw materials and have people make them—though that would still be troublesome to conceal. Usually he only secretly gave Xiao Jin some raw meat; having been away from Youzhou for so long, the Great King grew homesick.

'Even if it's just for those few fields, I, the King, must go back.' His navy, his palace, and the mightiest city walls under heaven—now added to his cravings.

In short, he made no profit at the start; the Great King bought twenty roasted, golden‑glistening, fragrant 'Xunfeng Geese'. Whether the birds knew him or not, as long as they tasted good it was fine. Seeing someone eat them with relish, the Great King generously footed the bill. What he could freely buy was now limited to food—food being one of the few consumables without a temporal price gap.

The Great King packed up his stall, clutching a goose leg as he went back, 'So fragrant~ I'll bring some for my maternal grandfather to taste!'

Just then he was about to summon Weike over; the postage had been spent on bringing some food—what's that about? The Baili family's filial son treats his ancestors that way, but toward his maternal grandfather he's quite amenable.

He divided the three among those in the house, gave one each to his cousin and the two veteran generals, and the Great King took a bed curtain, made it into a huge bundle, and handed it to Zhetian.

'The letter and the goose go to Changzhou's maternal grandfather, Marquis Weiting—got it?'

Lord Zhetian obviously wasn't cunning enough; he doesn't charge by the piece, after eating his own goose he got a medium‑grade pill, happily clutching the huge bundle as he headed for Changzhou. When Marquis Weiting received the roasted Xunfeng Goose, it was still hot.

The old gentleman again stared at Zhetian for a moment—this speed, divine.

The old gentleman received this filial‑piety takeout at the army camp; at the time there were many people around, wolves many meat scarce, all snatched clean. The next day Weike was packed up and sent out of Changzhou; Marquis Weiting's exact words: 'Go to Chang'an and perform well to back the Great King~'

Baili Jun initially seized Chang'an, quickly ascended the throne; all factions, filled with righteous indignation, stirred restlessly, rapidly expanding near their own territories, each more ruthless than the last, clearly intending to pull Baili Jun off his horse at a moment's notice.

When the Great King announced his southern march and swiftly took Chang'an, the south quieted down again.

Everyone suddenly seemed to become honest, afraid of being the bird that sticks its head out.

In unison they waited for other forces to first clash with the Northern Frontier, hoping both sides would suffer losses—this point, the Great King this guy had already sensed a bit.

He temporarily refrained from marching south, while constantly keeping an eye on the situation in the south.

After the Great King took Chang'an, everyone suddenly took a liking to peace. Old Two withdrew his troops from Langya; Old Four halted his outward expansion; after Hanshou took Wuling it did not continue eastward to confront Old Four; when the Great King later received news, Hanshou's rebel king Baili Qi had ascended the throne.

'Build the capital at Hanshou, make the state Chu? After I catch my breath, I'll immediately attack Little Chu.' Since the Hanshou rebel king hung the still‑child Old Five on the city wall, he has already become a thorn in the Great King's eye.

The Marquis of Dongdu and others stared at the map, their faces grave; from west to east, the Daba Mountains and Wushan to the initial capital—this Hanshou marquis's territory is truly not small. Moreover, its water system is well developed, its products abundant; these years they have basically never suffered drought.

The southwest heartland—tail huge, impossible to shake.

Only Weishen's heart is as big as the Great King's, 'Haha, still Little Chu, the name sounds so intimate?'

The Great King, wilfully: 'He calls himself Great Chu, but I insist on calling him Little Chu!'

Marquis of Dongdu: ……

'Your Highness, the Hanshou rebel king is likely our greatest internal threat. His territory's waterways crisscross, the shamanic winds prevail; having held Hanshou for years, he has already merged with the locale, posing a major challenge to our northern cavalry. Compared to Jingzhou and Guangling, Hanshou is truly the toughest nut to crack.' On the grasslands, invincible cavalry going into such terrain would find its advantage hard to bring to bear.

But the Great King thought it through: 'Hanshou's problem is distance. Still, compared to Hepu Commandery and Nanhai Commandery, it's passable. In terms of difficulty it's comparable to burning the Qiang? I can take the Qiang on the highlands, likewise I can take Hanshou with its developed waterways. We even have a navy—can we not outdo those shipbuilders? Actually, can we not outdo those Jumping Shamans?'

Marquis of Dongdu: ……

Fengxiang: ……What jumping?

The Great King still dissatisfied: 'I've long wanted to say—how could the name "Hanshou rebel king" be proper? Baili Qi? Can that character suppress him? Is the 'Qi' character something a marquis can use? My father is so broad‑minded; if someone comes up with such a name he doesn't see anything wrong with it!'

Marquis of Dongdu: ……

Again and again, they started criticizing dad. Fortunately today they're all trusted military aides; not a single civil official from Chang'an is present.

Not only that—the Great King's criticism addiction kicked in; he immediately wrote to Youzhou again, this time criticizing the Shipbuilding Bureau of the Works Directorate, ordering them to rush production of light landing craft capable of ferrying cavalry across rivers.

Warships can't reach Hanshou anymore; he'll have to rely on himself.

Youzhou's Junior Superintendent of Works, upon receiving this handwritten letter, immediately pulled out two handfuls of hair.

Shipbuilding is easy, he dares to guarantee that Youzhou's shipbuilding ranks first in the Great Jin. But a ship that can carry cavalry—if it's too small it won't bear the weight of armored soldiers and warhorses; if it's too big…… if you tell the Great King that the ship needs five or six warhorses to pull it, or that you must go ahead two years to fell timber locally, dry it, and prepare…… which is more likely to keep you alive? Waiting online.