The scorching sun baked the earth.
Unlike usual, Qingzhou pier was bustling today because of the merchant ships from Chang’an.
More than seven thousand people escaped from Chang’an to Qingzhou this time, and all of them needed to be settled in Qingzhou City. As Xiao Ming followed Fiji and Luo Quan towards Qingzhou City, Pang Yukun and the Qingzhou officials were responsible for the food, clothing, and housing of these officials in Qingzhou.
At this moment, on the concrete official road leading to Qingzhou City, three carriages were galloping. The crisp sound of hooves stepping on the concrete road made Fiji and Luo Quan both stick their heads out to look at the ground.
“This must be Qingzhou’s concrete road, I suppose. Secretary Feng once mentioned it, and it truly lives up to its reputation,” Fiji said.
Luo Quan also nodded, “It seems to have just rained in Qingzhou, yet this concrete road is not muddy at all, it’s even cleaner than the gravel roads in Chang’an City.”
Fiji nodded upon hearing this, then he looked at the citizens entering the city. The citizens were dressed in clean and tidy clothes, and their faces were rosy and full, indicating that life here was good.
After entering the city, Fiji’s eyes were even more restless. He noticed that there were an unusual number of merchants in Qingzhou City, and the density of these merchants clearly surpassed that of Chang’an City.
The goods pulled by these merchants’ carriages were even more varied. Besides some large merchants with carriages, there were also peddlers carrying poles, shuttling through the civilian quarters of Qingzhou.
Some calls came from the peddlers, and the attracted citizens of the city seemed not to be stingy with their copper coins.
At the same time, on the streets, there were also some people wearing green long robes and carrying waist knives. These people were not soldiers, because there was a “警” (jing – police) character embroidered on their arms, not “兵” (bing – soldier).
These people dressed in police uniforms patrolled the streets. Some idlers squatting in corners looked at these people with great fear, as if they were a flood or a savage beast.
Besides these strangely dressed people, he also saw four or five other types of people wearing peculiar clothing. Because he and Luo Quan were in the same carriage, he could only suppress these questions and wait to ask Xiao Ming.
The carriage wound through the city for a while, then stopped in front of a government office on a street. Everyone got off the carriage.
“Councillor Fei, General Luo, please!” Xiao Ming said to the two.
Luo Quan and Fiji were still stunned by the sights of Qingzhou. Turning their heads, they looked at the Qingzhou Chamber of Commerce opposite. Many merchants were going in and out of the Chamber of Commerce at this time, making it very noisy.
“Your Highness, I could only learn about Qingzhou from newspapers before. Seeing it today, my heart is greatly shaken,” Fiji sighed.
Luo Quan also said, “Indeed, why does it feel like this isn’t Great Yu Empire when I arrived in Qingzhou this time?”
“Gentlemen, you will naturally gain a deep understanding of Qingzhou’s unique features, after all, you will be living here from now on. Today, let’s talk about the chaos in Chang’an.”
At the mention of this, Fiji said sadly, “Your Highness, before His Majesty departed, he entrusted the last will to Concubine Zhen. In the last will, His Majesty decided to establish Your Highness as the Crown Prince. Now that the imperial family has passed away, a nation cannot be without a monarch for a day. We hope Your Highness, after settling the ministers, will choose a day to ascend the throne and become Emperor.”
“Last will!” Xiao Ming was greatly surprised. Concubine Zhen had indeed mentioned something about a last will before getting into the carriage, but Xiao Ming had told her to wait until he returned before saying more, so Concubine Zhen didn’t say anything further. However, he never imagined that at the last moment, Xiao Wenxuan would give him the throne.
But what use was it to him now? Chang’an was now occupied by the Prince of Zhao, and the Thirteenth Prince would surely be installed as emperor. Even if he produced the last will now, the Prince of Zhao and others would probably say it was fake.
However, for him, this last will was not entirely useless. In this era, everything needed a legitimate reason. Now with the last will, he was the legitimate prince of Great Yu Empire. He would be justified in fighting anyone, though whether others were willing to be beaten was another matter.
Luo Quan added, “Your Highness, His Majesty also spoke to me about this last will before he passed away. There will be no mistake. We hope Your Highness can raise a royal army to campaign against the Prince of Zhao to quell his rebellion.”
Fiji’s eyes darted around upon hearing this. He said to Luo Quan, “The Prince of Zhao’s entry into the capital this time is not simple. Don’t forget the barbarian cavalry in the Prince of Zhao’s army. In my opinion, the Prince of Zhao must have borrowed troops from the barbarians, acknowledging thieves as his father.”
Xiao Ming’s heart sank. If barbarians were included, the situation in Great Yu Empire would become even more complex. He said, “Although I also want to immediately raise an army to attack the Prince of Zhao, the current situation within Great Yu Empire seems unclear. If other vassal kings also have ulterior motives, how should I handle it?”
These words made Luo Quan silent. He had spoken too quickly and had forgotten the situation Xiao Ming was facing. He said, “Your Highness, I was reckless.”
Fiji mused, “Is Your Highness concerned about the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Yong?”
“Yes, that’s right. The fiefs of the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Yong are both connected to my fief. If I were to raise an army and head to Chang’an now, with an empty rear, and these two were to attack, I would suffer a complete defeat.” Xiao Ming said.
Now that Xiao Wenxuan was dead, the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Yong certainly had their own intentions. I would not trust these two. After all, I had been tricked by the Prince of Wei and had witnessed the shamelessness of the Prince of Yong.
Fiji pondered briefly and understood Xiao Ming’s meaning. He sighed. As he had predicted, all the vassal kings would now be suspicious of each other.
Xiao Ming continued, “Moreover, once this war starts, my trade losses will be significant. Most importantly, we will lose the court’s grain and fodder support. And it’s possible that a large number of refugees will pour in, which will pose a serious threat to Qingzhou’s food supply. Without a stable food supply, I will not easily send out troops.”
After receiving the news from Chang’an, Xiao Ming and Pang Yukun had already discussed it. Overall, they would try their best to avoid joining the war in the early stages, but instead, take advantage of the chaos to sell weapons in large quantities and accumulate resources to support industrial development and military preparations.
This strategy was similar to the isolationism during the Second World War in the United States. He would not be foolish enough to immediately launch a so-called “righteous war” just because he had a last will. For him, whether he had the last will or not was the same, because he wanted to be emperor.
And this emperor was not just a title in the last will, but the actual entire Great Yu Empire. So, in order to gain the world, accumulating grain and slowly claiming kingship was necessary.
He certainly didn’t want to become the target of everyone’s attack at this time.