Chapter 7: Taking Over Youzhou

When the governor discovered that the Prince You had no intention of settling scores with him, he resigned himself and began ordering his attendants to pack up and move in, and he instantly beamed with joy.

You ask what he's happy about?

Of course, someone has taken hold of this hot potato that is Youzhou!

Great Jin practices the commandery-principality parallel system, so the fiefdoms of the princes are all commanderies treated as states.

Serving as governor of a border prefecture like Youzhou, his heart is always in his throat; if the city were to fall again, as governor he would not die defending it on the spot, and later he would still be ordered to die.

With the Prince You taking over Youzhou, he can immediately request a transfer elsewhere. Even if he doesn't get promoted, a lateral move to another post as governor would still be preferable, since there aren't many commanderies in Great Jin worse than Youzhou, so he'd be unhappy not to.

As Prince You turned around, he discovered that the officials of Youzhou Prefecture were looking at him with tears in their eyes, and the child was quite puzzled.

He asked the Chancellor Xue beside him, "They seem quite excited?" Could it be their first time seeing the imperial family?

Chancellor Xue couldn't tell the little king that they were happy because the burden had been lifted, so he calmly replied, "Your Highness, you are the first prince to come here since the founding of Great Jin; because of your arrival, this Youzhou City, which shares its name with the prefecture, will become the capital, so their joy is quite natural."

Baili Jing said, "I understand, but please still address me as Your Highness; calling me 'Great King' feels awkward." This Youzhou "Great King"… really doesn't sound noble.

"I obey Your Highness's command."

On the first day of moving into the Prince's Manor, the troops rested and regrouped.

The next day, the minor court assembly in the front hall of the Prince's Manor convened as scheduled.

Baili Jing found it quite remarkable: though small, the sparrow has all five viscera; although it cannot compare to the grand court assembly of Chang'an's Hall of Establishing Eternity, it still looks quite formal.

In fact, he had never witnessed the court assembly at the Hall of Establishing Eternity; one reason is his youth, another is that his father emperor… frequently cancels court assemblies for strange and odd reasons.

He sat on the upper throne, gazing at the empty great hall where only two sparse rows of people stood isolated; the inexperienced Prince You was still quite pleased.

Grand Tutor Wang and the Chancellor each said a few words about the tasks at hand.

The Chancellor needed to organize the team of new officials they had brought, so they could quickly understand Youzhou and take charge of its military and civil affairs.

The Grand Tutor outlined his next study plan: he would begin learning how to govern his fief, which meant the Great King would have to continue rising early to study.

Prince You waved his hand, saying, "Studying is not urgent; the learned Grand Tutor should first assist the Chancellor in taking over Youzhou, and I also need to first get to know Youzhou; we can discuss study time later."

The two senior figures exchanged a glance and ultimately voiced no objection. Youzhou is naturally the Prince You's domain; there's no need to upset the child just because he's newly arrived.

Then… let's talk about it after we're busy.

After the meeting dispersed in haste, he retained the two commanders of the Prince's Manor Guard.

The commander of the Guard was Zhang Tu, and the deputy commander, his own man Zhao Chuan, were both men in their thirties, their attitudes equally respectful.

Throughout the journey he had interacted with both of them, and so far they don't seem to be the oily, fawning type; of course, it's also possible that he simply isn't worthy of them…

"I have retained these two commanders precisely to emphasize the Guard's future training matters. Youzhou is a border region; the border troops stationed at Shanggu Pass are far from Youzhou City, so the drill of our Manor's three thousand soldiers must not be relaxed. I spoke plainly: these troops used to be stationed outside the peaceful Chang'an, and their training level is far insufficient; does Commander Zhang understand my meaning?"

Many have suffered from water and soil incompatibility along the way, their bodies even weaker than his.

Prince You has forgotten that the city lord's hearty vigor also strengthens the body; now he is solely preoccupied with the fear of the city falling and its people perishing.

Zhang Tu glanced up at the outwardly childlike Prince You and thought, "This imperial family is truly absurd."

He and the deputy commander declared together that, after completing repairs, they would earnestly drill the troops and vow to protect Prince You to the death.

After hearing this, Prince You snorted arrogantly, "Youzhou borders the Xianbei tribes and is not far from the Southern Xiongnu; don't harbor any wishful thinking. The lessons of the past are only four years old, not distant at all. Training is not just to protect me, but also for your own sake. If Youzhou City falls and I perish, Chang'an will only have the Guard buried with me."

The two commanders hurriedly knelt, saying they dared not, and reiterated their resolve.

Prince You, seeing that things were satisfactory, said, "There are two more matters: one, find someone skilled in horsemanship to teach me to ride; two, find a few people to accompany me for an outing shortly."

"Our man" Zhao Chuan quickly said that the commander's duties were busy, so he would handle these two matters.

After the tasks were done, the Prince You on the throne strained to jump and finally managed to stand on the ground.

The two commanders: …

Prince You walked behind with his hands tucked in, slowly changing clothes, showing no sign of the awkwardness of his short legs.

Zhao Bao lagged behind in sending off the attendants, saying, "Go, go ahead and find Physician Wang to replace Your Highness's throne!"