Chapter 138: A Turn for the Better

"Who did this!"

Before the boundary marker between Yuanyang County and Shu Yang Xian, Yuan Li wore a gloomy face.

After receiving the news, he rushed to this place the very next day to see what had happened.

Yuan Mu, a member of the Yuan Family who managed the fields, knelt on the ground, shivering with fear.

"The sky was too dark, we couldn't see what they looked like. When they saw us, they started hitting us without saying a word. Several hundred people on the farm were beaten and injured. By the time the sun rose the next day, we discovered all the rice was gone."

"We heard that Yan Wang arrived in Yuanyang County with troops the day before yesterday; it must have been them," another member of the Yuan Family said.

Guo Tu was dumbfounded; it was clear that Yan Wang was paying them back in kind.

He thought to himself that this Yan Wang was truly capable of being both a gentleman and a scoundrel; it was impressive.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Li cast a fierce gaze toward Yuanyang County and said to the general beside him, "Tonight, lead your troops across the border and cut their rice as well. Whatever you can't cut, burn it all."

In a single night, his Yuan Family's eight thousand mu of rice had vanished; how could he endure this?

"Yes, my lord," the general said.

As his voice trailed off, he suddenly saw a troop of men and horses coming from Yuanyang County.

The person leading them was none other than Chang Wei.

Arriving at the boundary marker, Chang Wei did not cross it, but merely gave a cold laugh and pulled a sickle from behind his back.

Then, with a wave of his hand, Chang Wei and the soldiers began cutting the rice along the boundary marker.

Subsequent soldiers kept arriving, each one holding a sickle.

Behind the soldiers were throngs of commoners.

They spread out to various locations and cut down the rice near Shu Yang Xian one by one.

Finally, he saw Zhao Xu riding over leisurely on horseback.

"Yan Wang, you are truly despicable," Yuan Li shouted angrily as Zhao Xu arrived at the boundary marker.

"When it comes to being despicable, I should take the Prefect of Yuanzhou as my teacher. Burning wheat, having soldiers pose as bandits to rob merchants—what's next? Is the next step to pose as Northern Di people to attack Yan Commandery?" Zhao Xu sneered.

Yuan Li was furious, "Yan Wang, do not spout nonsense. Without proof or evidence, be careful that I don't impeach you for slander."

"Yan Wang, you are a dignified Imperial Prince after all. To commit such base acts, are you not afraid of losing the face of the Imperial Clan and becoming a laughingstock?" Guo Tu spoke up with sarcasm; naturally, he had to help his master at this moment.

"Baseness depends on the person and the situation. To deal with a base person, one must be even baser than him. As for the face of the Imperial Clan, failing to seek justice and revenge for one's own subjects is what truly loses the face of the Imperial Clan and makes one a laughingstock," Zhao Xu looked at Guo Tu with contempt. "These base methods must have been devised by you, this base person, right?"

"You..." Guo Tu was so angry his face turned deathly pale.

Yuan Li gritted his teeth, "A sharp-tongued Yan Wang indeed. This move, I have lost. However, I would like to see how Your Highness intends to resolve the matter of the trade routes."

At present, since Yan Wang had ordered all the rice at the border to be cut, he naturally could not retaliate.

Otherwise, if his men ventured deep into Yuanyang County, they would surely be ambushed by Yan Wang's people, and the loss would outweigh the gain.

Thus, he deliberately used the trade issue to provoke Yan Wang.

"I have also ordered the Commandery Governors of other commanderies not to allow merchants to enter or leave Yan Commandery. Hmph, Your Highness, your Wine may be good, but I fear it will not be sold. However, I can act as a good person; as long as Your Highness sells the Wine to the Yuan Family at a low price, the Yuan Family can buy it out of respect for Your Highness."

Yuan Li added.

"Daydreaming. Even if I were to pour all the Wine away, I would not let your Yuan Family benefit," Zhao Xu frowned.

Compared to the rice, this matter was indeed more of a headache for him.

Seeing that Zhao Xu could only suffer in silence on this matter, Yuan Li became even more smug.

But the next sentence from Zhao Xu made him fly into a rage.

"However, with Zhang Kang dead, the Yuan Family's trade with the Northern Di is cut off, isn't it?" Zhao Xu said indifferently.

"Yan Wang, let us wait and see." This matter had always been his heart's affliction.

The Yuan Family's massive estate was something he had accumulated bit by bit.

Especially the business with the Grassland, which had allowed the Yuan Family to thrive over these years.

Now, it had all been ruined by Yan Wang.

Zhao Xu let out a cold snort and ignored him, instead going down into the fields to cut rice.

Last night, he had not only mobilized all his soldiers but also organized many commoners to cut and transport the rice.

All this rice was given to the families of the commoners whose fields had been burned.

He knew that once the Yuan Family found out, they would surely retaliate, so he had Ge Dong organize the commoners of Yuanyang County to help the commoners near the boundary marker cut their rice, creating an empty buffer zone.

Yuan Li, having asked for a snub and failing to gain any advantage, snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Over the next few days.

Zhao Xu did not leave Yuanyang County.

On one hand, he urged the establishment of the Village Soldiers, and on the other, he led troops to help the commoners of Yuanyang County continue cutting rice.

"Our soldiers come from the commoners, and they must also be able to return to the commoners. They must be able to fight, and they must be able to cut wheat."

Sitting on a field ridge, Zhao Xu rolled up his sleeves, holding a sickle in his hand.

He had cut rice in his previous life, and he still remembered the posture for cutting rice; his work was not at all inferior to that of the commoners.

Chang Wei straightened up and laughed loudly, "Your Highness, this subordinate admires you more and more now. I never expected that someone raised in the Capital City could be so nimble at cutting rice."

The nearby commoners all looked at Yan Wang with eyes full of reverence.

Before, they had only heard that Yan Wang was kind and approachable; now, they had truly witnessed it.

In this world, Yan Wang was likely the only Imperial Prince who could go down into the fields to cut rice with the commoners.

"Having Yan Wang as our lord is truly our good fortune."

"Indeed, we suffered a bit of a grievance, and His Highness immediately made it up to us. Following such a lord, we won't be at a disadvantage."

"Hehe, indeed, we will have good days ahead."

"..."

A few farm women sat in the shade of a tree at the edge of the field, carrying baskets of food; they had come to deliver the meal.

Now they kept sizing up Yan Wang, forgetting all about serving the meal, until their husbands shouted loudly.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

Just then, a burst of hoofbeats suddenly rang out.

Everyone in the fields looked up.

They saw a unit of silver-armored Cavalry coming from the direction of Shu Yang Xian across the way.

"Chen Hu!"

Chang Wei shielded his eyes from the sun to look at the road and shouted in pleasant surprise.

Zhao Xu looked over, and it was indeed Chen Hu.

At this moment, the Cavalry led by Chen Hu seemed somewhat puzzled to see so many people in the fields and slowed their pace.

When he saw Yan Wang in the field, he was even more surprised.

He immediately dismounted and ran toward Yan Wang.

"Chen Hu pays his respects to Your Highness." Upon reaching Zhao Xu, Chen Hu knelt on one knee.

Then he bowed to Chang Wei as well.

Zhao Xu helped Chen Hu up and said with a smile, "You have finally returned."

Chang Wei asked, "On the way back, did you encounter any trouble?"

Chen Hu gave a surprised sound and said, "How did the General know? After entering Fanyang, the cities of Fanyang would not allow us to enter. Fearing trouble, I could only hide by day and travel by night, and today we finally managed to enter Yan Commandery."

Zhao Xu and Chang Wei exchanged a look; Yuan Li had indeed been causing trouble again.

Fortunately, Fanyang Commandery was flat as a pancake, with roads everywhere.

If there had been mountain passes or dangerous checkpoints, Chen Hu's journey would have been troublesome.

Chang Wei then spoke of the Yuan Family's retaliation today.

"So that's how it is." Chen Hu frowned, but his brow soon smoothed out, and he smiled, "Your Highness need not be overly troubled. This time, the Emperor has granted Your Highness a tremendous benefit; now Shanggu Commandery is also Your Highness's fief, and he has also permitted Your Highness to expand the Personal Army to sixty thousand men."

"Really?" Chang Wei was even more pleasantly surprised than Zhao Xu, his eyes widening like ox eyes.

What he cared about most was the expansion of the army.

Generally speaking, a vassal king possessing one commandery may have at most thirty thousand troops, and for each additional commandery, he may expand by another twenty to thirty thousand men.

The Emperor had granted thirty thousand directly, which showed how much he valued Yan Wang.

Chen Hu nodded heavily, "The Imperial Edict will arrive at Yancheng in a few days."

Zhao Xu's eyes darted, and his heart suddenly felt at ease.

The first thing he thought of was not the matter of expanding the army, but the matter of trade.

Shanggu Commandery is adjacent to Jinzhou; leaving Jinzhou leads to Sizhou, passing Sizhou leads to Yuzhou, and passing Yuzhou leads to Ningzhou.

Most importantly, from Shanggu Commandery one can reach Jinzhou by waterway, then go straight down the Yellow River from Jinzhou, and follow the water network southward along the Yellow River until reaching the walls of Jinling City in Ningzhou.

Thus, the trade route would be opened.