Chapter 767

Yang Fang saw the short, clerk-dressed boy at the rear of the troop, and his head buzzed.

Too familiar.

Go, ask how there's still an underage youth in the troop!!

The attendant beside him immediately went over to ask, and after a while returned to report: 'That is the son of a clerk named Shi Yan; Shi Yan broke his leg, and his son has taken over his post. I have already asked—he studied for several years at the Northern Border Academy, and he seems sharp, so he should be able to handle the clerk's duties.' Actually such things are very common in the Great Jin; sons inherit their fathers' professions, and the aristocratic clans monopolize all positions in the bureaucracy, big and small.

Yang Fang twitched the corner of his mouth, still talking about inheriting the father's business—does the late emperor lying in the imperial mausoleum know? He couldn't help turning his head again; this time he noticed another cousin of his in the troop… Is he someone he knows, or someone he doesn't? Are there any real workers in this troop?!

He took a deep breath; before, not even a little bit had heard of this, not even a rumor. The emperor leaving court is no small matter—could it be… that he decided it himself?!

Probably his expression was too complicated, and the attendant said: 'We have two clerks on this trip; even if he lacks experience… why not, I'll call him over and you, sir, can give him a few instructions?' He knows this mission is very important; the previous exile convoy to Che Shi set off yesterday, and he had gone to watch the excitement.

That works.

The Great King was summoned for questioning; he glanced at Yang Fang, then unusually calmly dismounted and followed.

This guy flashed his little white teeth, came up, bowed and clasped his hands to Yang Fang, saying, 'Uniform Official Order, sir!'

Yang Fang hastily dismounted, fearing to shorten his lifespan.

"Cough! I heard you're… standing in for your father as a clerk?"

The Great King sighed deeply: "It's true. My father good-for-nothing, just before setting out he broke his leg; to avoid delaying such an important assignment, I, with my strong build, had to take his place."

Yang Fang: ……

He really couldn't, under everyone's gaze, ask the court whether you were leaving, nor dare, in front of so many people, expose the Great King's identity and bring unknown risks. So he could only speak tactfully: 'I observe you are still young, and this assignment is very important; as a clerk, I don't know if you can handle it? I can give you… leave to let your father recuperate, salary paid as usual, and for this trip I can temporarily summon a clerk from the Ministry of Agriculture. What do you think?'

The Great King gave him a rapid blink, saying, 'Ah, no need, no need! I started schooling at three; what can't a clerk do? I'm no worse than my father, sir—entrust the work to me, and you'll worry… rest easy!' The Great King slapped his own mouth; in his excitement, the truth almost slipped out.

Yang Fang: ……

The Great King had made up his mind; Yang Fang could only announce the departure.

The troop left the city; according to the plan, the first stop was Yi Prefecture. The Great King felt that, although You Prefecture is under the emperor's feet, its administration and other aspects should be clearer. With limited time and energy, they simply skipped You Prefecture and headed west.

All the way the troop raced, other officials complained and were exhausted, only he, Wei Shen, and Ling Yin remained lively and jumping about.

Those two fellows, during breaks, would come up to mooch Yang Fang's dry rations, eating and taking; Yang Fang watched them and shook his head, sighing. The next day during a break, he finally couldn't help whispering: 'The imperial examinations are imminent, popular resentment is rising, His Majesty leaving the palace now—if Lord Xie finds out, who knows how worried he'll be. A Shen, you shouldn't encourage them either.' All day his nerves were taut, fearing some danger might suddenly jump out from the roadside.

It's already settled; the Great King's attitude is good. He put on an innocent look and nodded vigorously, 'Right, A Shen!'

Then, adept at passing the buck, "It's just the quota that Ah Shen got for me~"

Wei Shen drew a deep breath, "No, you……"

The king started feeling his pockets, "Eighty thousand~~"

Seeing that they were about to pull out those IOUs sufficient to settle accounts, Wei Shen immediately sat back down, the bachelor saying, "Yes! It's all my fault for leading Shi Dgongzi astray."

Yang Fang: ……

Two slices of rolling-knife meat.

The king is indeed busy, so they headed straight to Hejian, which in Yi Prefecture has the most farmland; the second stop was the king's large farm in Yi Prefecture. Having a clear mind prevents being deceived; the king placed high hopes on this autumn harvest.

All the way along the expressway they arrived directly; the fields on both sides of the road had turned yellow, with farmers bustling back and forth; the king, an amateur, occasionally got off to check the growth.

Although this year is still drought, last year he spent a lot of money to build spring-eye water storage; along the way it looks decent, the king smiles every day like a blooming trumpet flower. The further south they go, the livelier the road becomes; Yi Prefecture used to be far superior to You Prefecture in every aspect, and over the past two years they have gradually shaken off the impact of the Douye War of that year.

The king looked at the convoys on the road, whipped and commanded vigorously: "Hey~ There's actually a caravan coming from the south! Looks like the world isn't as different as we imagined!"

As it turned out, Yang Fang sent people to check, and that so-called big caravan was actually an escort team; they had come to the northern border to purchase seeds of special northern crops such as corn and sweet potatoes.

"Has corn also been grown in the south these two years?"

"They all say that the seeds from our You Prefecture's Shengping Granary are the best."

"To buy seeds from Shengping, you need the household register; each household knows roughly how much."

"So… they came to buy Yi Prefecture's newly harvested grain to take back as seed?"

"They claim to be from Luoyang in speech, but none of their accents are actually Luoyang. My maternal aunt is from Luoyang, and Luoyang certainly doesn't have this accent."

Before reaching Hejian, when the king encountered the fifth escort team on the road, he felt that the situation… was probably not good.

"Someone wants to move my granary!?"