Chapter 61: Impossible That He

The Great King, upon waking, first summoned Zhao Zhuge to collude testimonies; it concerned Mr. Zhao helping him buy a large ship overseas.

After they agreed and had breakfast together, the Great King habitually opened the Prosperous Dream Panel and glanced at it; the Secluded Prefecture summary in the middle had changed!

On the Secluded Prefecture household count, a green arrow appeared, showing that the registered households in Secluded Prefecture had increased by two thousand one hundred.

The Great King was still a bit dazed, and someone had even moved their household registration to Secluded Prefecture?

What a huge bump on the head! It's definitely bigger than the one on White Marsh's head!

Or Zhao Zhuge reminded him, "My lord, the great household census of Secluded Prefecture should have results, right? These two thousand households aren't from other commanderies moving in; likely they're those who had fled returning."

The Great King realized, "From the mountains… up?"

Almost no men from large families, with elders above and youths below, voluntarily become bandits; those who end up that way either committed crimes or dodged conscription. In Secluded Prefecture, it's more common that impoverished families are left with only one member, who then resolutely goes up the mountain to engage in this zero‑cost trade.

This differs from the previous two; the Great King promised that as long as one's hands are clean of innocent lives, they can return, re‑register their household, and become registered residents of Secluded Prefecture again.

Doing this, quite a few people came forward to register separate households.

Moreover, those who had previously dodged conscription now have their families seeking them out, for Secluded Prefecture's circumstances have changed; the Great King prioritizes military families in all matters, and lately there's been little warfare, so serving has become attractive.

The household census dragged on this long, and finally the results appeared. The Great King joyfully gained a population of at least two thousand more, while two thousand bandits were reduced.

He firmly believed that if one could eat their fill, no one would love to linger in the mountains as a bandit—oh, except the chiefs of the strongholds.

The authorities also do not accept that kind.

Those caught are uniformly sent to jail; in future wars they'll all be sent to the front lines. If blood is on their hands, it's even simpler—sending them away saves grain.

The Great King was especially energetic today going to work at the front hall, and he also brought Zhao Zhuge along.

At the start of the court assembly, Minister Xue indeed mentioned that the household census had ended, and he submitted a simple register to the Great King.

The Great King, already knowing the results, pretended to glance at the population figures twice and then set them down.

"Not bad; now that the census is finished, it's exactly the time to put some people's household registers to use. Our Secluded Prefecture backs the great sea, the sea's resources are abundant—there's no reason the people should go hungry. Mr. Zhao helped Our King buy a fishing ship overseas, and then We will organize the people to go fishing!"

Minister Xue and Grand Tutor Xu exchanged a glance—buying a ship overseas?

Before they could ask for more details, the Great King spoke again: "A large ship needs a large dock; our Secluded Prefecture has no suitable one. I think we should simply build a new one. Otherwise, like this time when Zhao Chuan and Guang went south to buy grain, they still had to detour from Secluded Prefecture to the neighboring Fishing Sun Commandery to catch a ship that could go straight to Established Health. Our Secluded Prefecture has lagged far behind. This way, I've already decided: the new dock will be rebuilt at the old Secluded Prefecture dock, bringing it closer to our royal palace. Officer Wang?"

"I am here!"

"Revise the notice from last time that conscripted laborers for the commercial street; this time recruit those around the seaside, and also enlist a thousand people, with a one‑month deadline. This time bring the household register when you sign up, and get the seal stamped."

Officer Wang: "…Yes."

Minister Xue opened his mouth but said nothing. What would he ask? Ask the Great King where the money for building the dock comes from, or why not repair the city walls?

Wasn't that just asked a few days ago…

Fortunately it's just a dock, not a major project.

After the small court meeting dispersed, as he went to work in the front office, he quickly stopped thinking about it, calmer than ever before.

The Great King…… is no ordinary Great King.

That Zhao Zhuge is even more inscrutable. Fortunately, so far everything he's done has benefited the Great King and Secluded Prefecture.

If I can't figure it out, I won't dwell on it. Minister Xue diligently gets to work on his own duties. Secluded Prefecture's territory is not small; the Great King needs to study, and all the messy affairs are handled by these subordinate officials.

Several swift horses galloped all around the Old Ferry vicinity, covering Pond Water County and Dragon Head County to the south; good news flew on wings into every struggling household striving to make a living.

A thousand people allocated to the Pond Water and Dragon Head counties—quite a substantial quota.

The two counties instantly boiled over; no repeat conscription, those who had gone before couldn't go again, while families who got the opportunity were simply overjoyed to tears.

The Great King is truly formidable—how long did it take to build the main street, and now he's recruiting people to build a dock?!

The Wan Qie household, whose member once saved the Great King's claw from a crab, is up for conscription this time; his uncle died at the hands of the Western Liao Xianbei.

This time the one reporting for duty is his father Wan Liang; he and his grandfather spent a day wandering the courtyard before finally receiving word of the person.

Wan Liang first thing pulled out the tightly wrapped household register, its chest bound with ragged cloth, and handed it to his father; his father took it, flipped through, saw it was intact, and then relaxed.

Wan Liang turned to the last page: "I reported our household address, and the officials have an adult later flipping through the Dragon Head County register to check. They confirmed our family has no bandits, my younger brother… died on the battlefield, and since we never went for the earlier conscriptions, they stamped the last page of our household register."

The grandfather and Wan Qie went together to look at that seal; it was simply a rectangular stamp reading "Dock Construction".

The illiterate father and son looked again and again; this was practically a turning point in their family's fate. Although only one month's work, they also earned nine taels of silver—enough to replace their boat with a new one and help the family get through this harsh winter.

Wan Liang recalled, "Exactly! When we were queuing at the East Splendor Gate, we happened to run into the Great King returning to the palace. The Great King looked smaller than our eggplant, yet rode atop the tallest red horse, with a retinue of blade‑wielding guards shouting behind him—most imposing!"

"Isn't that imposing? That's the Great King……

"Smaller than our eggplant, what does he look like?"

Wan Liang spoke fluently, saying the Great King looked like a celestial child—fair and chubby, big‑eyed, appearing six or seven years old; as he rode past the East Splendor Gate, a crowd of officials knelt to greet him, his aura incomparable.

Upon hearing "fair and chubby, big‑eyed, six or seven years old," Wan Qie couldn't help but recall the clumsy child at the seaside who'd been pinched by a crab and started crying; after all, in this world, plump children like that are few.

He then shook his head again—impossible.

Your Majesty, that is the King of Youzhou; there's no way he could be that stupid!