Chapter 904 Teaching a Son

Leaving Town was a walled village, but not just any walled village. Ostensibly, it was managed by a Chu man surnamed Tian, who acted as the village head. The guards patrolling the walls and the surrounding area were also Chu people, with Chu hairstyles and clothing. However, in reality, it was directly controlled by Zhennanguan (Southern Garrison Pass). Inside and out, the village was staffed by Yan soldiers disguised as Chu people.

There were quite a few Chu people in the J восточнаяn Army. Some were prisoners of war who had been re-employed, others were soldiers brought from Fancheng (范城) by the Fan and Qu families, and still others were Chu people who had snuck across the border to become *biao hu* soldiers (registered households).

*Biao hu* status was difficult to obtain, often requiring meritorious service, but sometimes it could be “bestowed.”

Here in Shanggu Prefecture, especially in this walled village of Leaving Town, there were many *biao hu*. After all, this was where the two forces met.

Civilians understood the importance of appearances; the facade was the face, and it had to be well-maintained.

Leaving Town was a facade facing Chu, one of many.

Here, Chu people who had snuck across the border came every day and were then sent to Jin territory behind Zhennanguan.

These "Chu people" were well-fed and well-clothed, a showcase to Chu.

Even in later generations, the border lines were like this, often facing the foreign side with tall buildings, elaborate and magnificent.

When Zheng Fan traveled in his previous life, he even heard that there were local people specifically responsible for turning the lights on and off in empty buildings every day.

This was not a deception, but wisdom.

These Chu people exaggerated the *biao hu* system, using themselves as examples, and even recruited others to achieve performance goals. How many adult men or women, or even children, a person recruited could be counted as "performance."

Um,

The Wangfu (Prince's Mansion) valued children, and in fact, every force knew that children were the future, but before they could become qualified labor or combat power, they had to be raised for a long time.

The Wangfu was willing to pay this cost. In Blind Man's words, children were the easiest to brainwash.

Wash away their "Chu" attributes and make them think they were subjects under the rule of the Pingxi Wangfu, children carefully cared for by Prince Pingxi.

In fact, this was how it was done in the publicly funded schools in Shengle City from the beginning. Regardless of whether the children were Yan, Jin, Savage, Barbarian, or Chu, they would not delve into their ethnic attributes, but would all be assimilated into one object of allegiance.

Liu Dahu, Zheng Man, and their group had already grown up, and every year, batches of children growing up in this environment would enter the army and various industries under the rule of the Wangfu.

Of course, the above "recruiting" method was naturally designed by Blind Man. If pyramid schemes were used well, they could unleash extremely terrifying potential.

In response, the Chu Kingdom had also made many efforts to suppress this population loss, but people had legs, and the Chu army only had a few military camps on the south bank of the Wei River. The long Wei River bank could not be filled with soldiers, and when it was not the flood season, people could reach the other side with a piece of driftwood. Then, the Yan soldiers on the other side would pick them up.

Blind Man provided the method, but it was Jin Shuke who implemented and improved it.

Jin Shuke made the military merit of border forts and patrols based on picking up smuggled people.

This could greatly stimulate the enthusiasm of the people below to be snakeheads (people smugglers).

However, there were also side effects.

That was, some border soldiers felt that "those who are willing will take the bait" was too slow, so they simply crossed the Wei River to Chu villages to grab people, leading to a new round of friction between the two sides. The new Yan military forts built on the opposite bank of the Wei River were derived from this situation.

At this time,

Zheng Fan was sitting by the window on the second floor of a restaurant in Leaving Town. This also copied the Wangfu model; the restaurant was also a public industry.

At the moment, there were only two tables of people on the second floor, Zheng Fan's.

One table was Zheng Fan and Jin Shuke sitting opposite each other, with Tiantian and Chuanye accompanying them.

The other table was where the Sword Saint and the others were sitting.

The door of the restaurant was closed, and a waiter was saying at the door that it was closed for the day.

Inside, the first floor was actually full of armored soldiers, the garrison troops transferred by Jin Shuke.

Zheng Fan was usually an extremely cautious person, but this time, whether he went to Xuehaiguan (Snow Sea Pass) or Zhennanguan, he behaved very casually.

Even the sword maid next door was surprised by this.

This was not difficult to understand. After working so hard for so many years, with his own efforts and, most importantly, the efforts of the demon kings, if he could not even understand his direct line of soldiers, he might as well find a piece of tofu and kill himself.

At this moment,

Zheng Fan looked through the window at the street below. A group of Chu people with their families were being issued identity cards in an orderly manner, and then using the cards to receive food.

The food was the same, steamed buns with fillings…

The stacks of high steamers were emitting an alluring aroma of rice and flour.

Now, this food was gradually being called "Pingxi Mantou" (Prince Pingxi Steamed Buns).

This was naturally the behavior of the people below to "suck up" to Zheng Fan, but the main reason was this "slogan." To be a citizen under the rule of the Wangfu, you could not only eat white steamed buns, but the buns also had fillings, although they were shredded radish or pickles, there were also shredded meat!

For these Chu people who had just been "tricked"...

No,

For the Chu people who had just been led here, a full meal of steamed buns was indeed a great comfort to their body and mind. It could ignite their hope for future life, and then from here, they would go to the north of Zhennanguan to be arranged.

Tiantian was helping to peel peanuts, placing the peeled peanuts on a plate.

Chuanye was helping to pour tea. When pouring tea for Zheng Fan, Zheng Fan didn't even look at him, he was already used to it.

But when pouring tea for Jin Shuke, Jin Shuke was obviously a little flustered.

Not to mention Jin Shuke's experience after following Zheng Fan, but in fact, for the Barbarians, for hundreds of years, the Yan people had exerted great pressure and fear on the desert by relying on the Zhenbei Houfu (Marquis of the North).

Now, the Crown Prince of Yan was pouring tea for him, Jin Shuke was really a little restless, so he could only keep smiling and try to focus his attention on the prince sitting opposite him, borrowing "courage" from afar.

The prince finally turned his gaze away from the street and said again:

"You've done a good job."

There were two prefects in Zhennanguan who could be called capable officials.

But in fact, the real coordination and arrangement of this area could not be separated from Jin Shuke.

"This is what this subordinate should do, Your Highness," Jin Shuke was still very honest. "However, this subordinate has a suggestion."

"Speak."

"This subordinate suggests that from today onwards, the Chu people absorbed by Zhennanguan should all be settled in place. In the future, this place will inevitably become the main battlefield between Yan and Chu again. Accumulating enough civilian strength here can be used for the war."

Recruiting laborers and auxiliary soldiers and putting them into the battlefield was itself a kind of consumption.

And building Zhennanguan better would give the army more security in the rear when fighting here.

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "After returning to Fengxin, you can talk to Blind Man about it, and you can discuss it together."

Zheng Fan was not in a hurry to agree. Zhennanguan was the first line of defense against Chu, and whether it was appropriate to retain too many Chu people here required consideration of more than just simple war factors.

"Oh, right, I plan to let Gong Wang guard Xuehaiguan, and Zhennanguan, I plan to let Gongsun Zhi sit in.

They don't need to bring their main force, just bring some retainers to take office."

In fact, this was further stripping them of their military power, letting them be "local lords" in these two strategic passes.

This was a conspiracy, because on the surface, they were promoted, after all, holding a strategic pass was good, right?

Moreover, they had nothing to complain about. Jin Shuke and Keyan Dongge were old members of the Wangfu, weren't they taken down first?

After wielding the knife against one's own people, it would be much easier to wield the knife against outsiders.

In short, the main theme for the next period was that everyone should not take the initiative to cause trouble and should concentrate on farming.

"Your Highness is wise," Jin Shuke praised.

"Heh."

Zheng Fan threw two peanuts into his mouth and said, "In all these years, there hasn't been a year without war. It's finally time to take a break."

"Your Highness, it's like pulling back a fist a little bit, in order to make the punch stronger next time," Jin Shuke said.

Because everyone knew that after recuperating, the next step would be the war of unification.

Logically speaking, it was still a bit too early. It would be most stable to recuperate for a generation and then hand it over to the next generation to complete this great cause. But now, the desert barbarians were without a leader, the snowfield savages were a mess, and most of the famous generals of Qian Chu had fallen. Meanwhile, Yan had tiger generals and a god of war. Who knew what the next generation would be like?

Most importantly, when the late emperor was in power, Ji Laoliu (Sixth Prince) often complained to his father that he was trying to finish the work of three generations in one generation, being too impatient and overspending the country's strength.

After Ji Laoliu himself sat on the dragon throne, he immediately began to prepare for the upcoming war of unification. Even his descendants could not be allowed to have this opportunity to leave his name in history as a great emperor!

At this time, another group of people came to the street, still lining up to get wooden number plates.

The prince also happened to turn his attention to the people below again.

"Hmm?"

Seeing this, Jin Shuke also turned his head to look down.

"That woman…"

It wasn't that he had discovered a stunning beauty, but the Chu people who had smuggled over, although they weren't as miserable as the famine refugees, they couldn't be dressed brightly. Those who were doing well in Chu would not sneak over here to start from scratch.

Therefore, in the new batch of people, a woman wearing a purple dress was particularly eye-catching.

Her hair was combed, and her clothes were not cheap. To be precise, at this time, "bright" clothing was a symbol of status. What ordinary people cared about most when buying cloth to make clothes were two things: one was whether it was strong, and the other was whether it was resistant to dirt.

The village guards responsible for maintaining order below also noticed this woman. Immediately, two guards pushed through the crowd to negotiate.

From a distance, Zheng Fan could still see the kind of smile gradually appearing on the faces of the two guards that… all men understood.

Jindong under the rule of the Wangfu was stable and peaceful, but this did not mean that everyone and every soldier below was as pure as white paper. Under normal circumstances, it was not appropriate to snatch a beautiful woman from a refugee team, after all, Leaving Town still needed to be a signboard. If things got out of hand, they would not be able to bear the consequences.

But giving some benefits to her family, giving some silver, and marrying her daughter as a wife or concubine was very normal. It was a matter of mutual consent. Although it was a bit opportunistic, her family might want to find a backer in the new place.

But just then, a person came riding a horse from the distance on the street.

It was forbidden to ride horses in the walled village. The person ignored this rule, obviously having nothing to fear.

And that man obviously knew the woman in purple. After dismounting, he went straight to the woman in purple. Seeing the man coming, the two guards diligently stepped forward to salute, and then retreated knowingly.

"Your Highness, his name is Tian Rong."

"The village head of Leaving Town?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Yes."

A smile appeared on the corner of Zheng Fan's mouth. The building below was full of armored soldiers, but obviously, the village head of Leaving Town did not know this, otherwise he would not have come to find a woman so close to the prince.

This showed that in this Leaving Town, Tian Rong was only the nominal master, and the real power had long been hollowed out. The one who arranged all this must be Jin Shuke.

"Well done."

The prince himself didn't know how many times he had said this to Jin Shuke.

Jin Shuke said seriously:

"Your Highness, those who are not of our race must have different hearts. So far, this subordinate does not dare to hand over the real power here to the Chu people."

Zheng Fan nodded slightly.

At this moment, Ji Chuanye, who was drinking water, suddenly choked. He immediately put down his cup, lowered his head, and began to cough.

Tiantian helped him pat his back.

Soon, Ji Chuanye recovered and continued to sit obediently on the bench.

Zheng Fan picked up a peanut, put it in his mouth, and chewed while saying:

"Slap yourself."

Ji Chuanye was stunned for a moment, pursed his lips, and reached out to slap himself twice.

"Are you swatting mosquitoes?" the prince asked.

"Slap! Slap!"

Ji Chuanye slapped himself hard twice, his cheeks flushed.

Tiantian looked at her younger brother like this, but didn't dare to say anything.

Jin Shuke felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, his lips trembled, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to say it.

Everyone sitting at this table was a shrewd person.

The reason why the crown prince coughed earlier was because when he heard Jin Shuke say "those who are not of our race must have different hearts," he couldn't help but smile. To cover up his gaffe, he pretended to choke on water.

The crown prince was a smart child, and he also had a city, but the child was still a child, and it also depended on who he was with.

No one could carry a city all day long. It was normal to suddenly "can't help but laugh" because of a sentence.

Originally, this small detail would have passed, but someone caught it and didn't let go.

The Sword Saint sitting at the next table was fine, but Jianbi (Sword Maid) and He Chunlai, Chen Daole and the others were a little shocked to see the crown prince actually slapping himself.

What was domineering?

What was arrogance?

In a word,

He made the crown prince of a country slap himself.

Zheng Fan picked up another peanut, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

And the crown prince with flushed cheeks did not sit there foolishly waiting for the next punishment, nor did he show any childish innocence or resentment. Instead, he got off the stool and bowed to Jin Shuke in front of him,

Said:

"Chuanye (his personal name) does not respect his teacher, Chuanye is wrong, please forgive Chuanye, teacher."

Children from ordinary families might be stubborn when they made mistakes, stubbornly refusing to admit it, but the crown prince knew very well what he should do.

Jin Shuke stood up subconsciously,

"Sit down," Zheng Fan picked up the tea.

Jin Shuke sat down again.

The crown prince remained in the bowing position without moving.

Tiantian wanted to plead for mercy, but knew that she should not speak now.

"Chuanye, is it very funny?"

"Foster father, Chuanye was wrong, Chuanye just… just couldn't hold back for a moment, Chuanye…"

This time, the crown prince really meant to cry, not because he was wronged, but because he really regarded Zheng Fan as a father-like figure.

As for regarding Zheng Fan as his subject… he didn't have the face for that…

"Tell me, who is in front of you?"

"He is Chuanye's teacher, the teacher of military strategy that foster father found for Chuanye, he is, he is the former Zhennanguan General of Great Yan, Jin Shuke."

"He was there for the thousand-mile raid on Xuehaiguan; in the Yan-Chu national war, he saved my life and overturned the battle in one fell swoop, capturing and killing the pillar of the Great Chu; later, he followed this prince on many expeditions, and made great achievements for Great Yan.

He has been born and died for Great Yan, holding the official position of Great Yan, and bearing the title of Great Yan;

Think about what he has contributed to Great Yan,

Think again,

What contribution have you, this crown prince, made to this Great Yan since you were born, except for contributing a little to your father's fight for the throne from your grandfather?

When he said those who are not of our race, what qualifications do you have to laugh here?"

"Foster father, Chuanye was wrong, Chuanye was wrong, Chuanye was really wrong."

"Get up, look at me."

Ji Chuanye straightened up and looked at Zheng Fan, his small body still twitching slightly.

Since entering Jindong, he had never been scolded and punished by Zheng Fan like this.

"Today, if your father was sitting here, it wouldn't be as simple as slapping yourself twice. I estimate that you would have to kneel there until dawn, and even your position as crown prince might not be guaranteed.

This time, I brought you brothers out to let you see, to let you see what kind of preparations I and your father are making and what kind of efforts we are making for the future unification of the Xia.

You are the crown prince of Great Yan,

If your father doesn't depose you, you will probably be the emperor of Great Yan in the future.

Villagers in the countryside can point fingers at the barbarians, at the savages, at the Chu people, at the Jin people, and laugh at them;

You,

Cannot.

You can't help but laugh, proving that you really think that way in your heart, that you really believe that.

Chuanye ah…"

"Child is here, foster father…"

"I don't want this unification of the Xia that I and your father have worked so hard to achieve to be ruined by your one laugh."

An emperor who has just unified the world and is a racist is finished.

"Chuanye understands, Chuanye will change."

Jin Shuke also said at this time: "Your Highness, this subordinate…"

Zheng Fan waved his hand and said:

"Sit back."

"Yes."

The crown prince sat back obediently.

At this time,

There was a sudden commotion below.

That woman in purple actually drew a soft sword from her waist and directly stabbed Tian Rong in the chest, causing a burst of panic.

After the commotion was triggered,

All the doors and windows on the first floor were kicked open, and the armored soldiers who were originally here to protect the prince swarmed out, directly dispersing the crowd and surrounding the woman in purple.

On the second floor, the Prince of Pingxi, holding a teacup and having just scolded the crown prince of a country,

Immediately searched for the figure of the Sword Saint,

And found that the Sword Saint was already standing by the window at some point.

Zheng Fan made a gesture to calm down and told Jin Shuke and the others not to move.

Immediately afterwards,

The prince, holding a teacup, walked to the side of the Sword Saint as if nothing had happened, and whispered:

"Why didn't you let me know?"

The Sword Saint glanced at Zheng Fan and whispered as well:

"You were scolding the child, so I didn't bother you."

He added:

"A seventh-rank swordsman, you can beat her."

The muscles on the prince's face completely relaxed, and he supported the window with his elbow, drinking tea while watching below,

Said;

"Quite pretty."

"The person?" the Sword Saint asked.

"The clothes."