Chapter 818: Footprints

Liu Dahu hugged a pot of bone broth and poured it into the pan.

Tian Tian carried winter melon, cabbage, wood ear mushrooms, and the rest, adding them one after another.

Crown Prince Ji Chuanye grabbed several soul-goji berries and scattered them in.

Sword Maid sat to the side, the corners of her lips slightly raised, carrying three parts reserve, three parts arrogance, three parts disdain, and one tiny part helplessness.

“My father taught me this. Father says eating this way preserves health.”

The Crown Prince placed beef balls into the pot and patiently waited for the hot pot to come to a boil.

The aroma of beef gradually spread.

Eating beef was against the law.

Even under the comparatively enlightened rule of Prince Pingxi Residence, cattle remained extremely important productive property. For an ordinary household to taste a mouthful of beef was no easy thing.

But if you said the Heir, a Prince, and the Crown Prince could not even get beef to eat... that would be too unrealistic.

Besides the beef balls, there were thin slices of beef.

The Crown Prince put those into the clear broth as well.

“You can drink the broth later too.”

The Crown Prince introduced the meal with great seriousness.

According to Little Sixth himself, all the wild indulgence of his youth had been a deliberate stain upon his own reputation.

But regardless of the reason, since he had never cultivated the physique of a Martial Artist, a life of wine, women, pleasure, and excess inevitably depleted his foundations early.

Fortunately, Little Sixth had realized the problem in time.

He had spent so many years struggling against his father and finally managed to sit on the Dragon Throne.

He could hardly afford to collapse after only a few years, leaving behind a widow and orphans and benefiting... someone else.

Ever since his eldest son was born, Little Sixth had paid close attention to preserving his health.

And because the Crown Prince had always possessed a weaker constitution from childhood, Little Sixth frequently guided his son’s diet as well.

Beside the children... another hot pot was simmering.

Zheng Fan sat there with a cigarette between his fingers.

The Blind Man sat across from him.

He had just finished reporting on the progress of various matters since the new year.

In short, everything in eastern Jin continued improving steadily.

After two years spent laying foundations and making plans, even though they had just launched another war, that campaign felt more like stretching after a long period of rest.

Next... eastern Jin would enter an even faster period of development.

The key issue inside all of this was population.

Population was a mystical thing.

It was not as though the moment you thought there were too many people, the number would immediately shrink.

Nor could the population instantly grow because you suddenly decided there were too few.

Giving birth now was too late.

People were not rabbits.

And as for everyone inside the Prince Residence laying foundations for the sake of future generations, planting trees so descendants could enjoy the shade... motivation was not especially high.

The Prince’s two children were still inside their mothers’ bellies.

And neither the Prince nor the Misters had finished enjoying themselves yet.

So when it came to the population problem, the only real option for the immediate future was continuing to absorb people from Chu and the snowfields.

Savage nobles who met the asset requirements could even be directly registered as Standard households.

Perhaps they did not care much about Standard-household benefits.

But they certainly liked official recognition of their status and the protection that status could provide.

As for refugees from Chu... after the great victory at Fan City, many who had still been hesitating began migrating toward Jin on their own.

If they could not beat the Yan anyway... and if the Yan might very well come invade again in another year or two... then why not join early?

But even adding both groups together did not provide enough population to satisfy the growing demand.

Fan Li and Xue San had gone to investigate the silver mine.

Yet mining itself devoured manpower on an astonishing scale.

Once every trade and industry entered proper operation, each one became a beast that ate people.

There was no helping it.

Eastern Jin had truly been too barren when all of this began.

Savages and Chu troops had ravaged it one after another.

After Yan occupied the region, this place spent a long period as a frontline battlefield.

No one had intended to develop or restore it.

Real development only began after Zheng Fan took control.

So to a certain degree... feudal enfeoffment truly could strengthen the development and consolidation of frontier lands.

On the grand scale, the Three Marquises of Great Xia had opened the frontiers.

On a smaller scale, Chu, the state with the most complicated regional and ethnic problems, had enfeoffed a huge number of nobles across its territory. After centuries, except for the southern frontier, most people had come to identify themselves as Chu.

On an even smaller scale... there was eastern Jin.

The common people here took pride in being able to eat stuffed buns.

The Blind Man laid out the problem.

Prince Pingxi listened.

The cigarette butts scattered across the ground showed exactly how seriously the Prince had been listening.

But the crux of the problem lay in this:

Xu Wenzu had done too good a job.

Once Yingdu settled down, central Jin basically settled down with it.

Population movement was low in this era to begin with.

And because war had never truly spread into Yingdu, eastern Jin, which desperately lacked people, found it difficult to draw population from there.

Stuffed buns were certainly attractive.

And plenty of people did cross Wangjiang continuously to seek shelter under Prince Pingxi Residence.

But that was still only a cup of water against a cartload of firewood.

“Back then, we thought having Xu Wenzu sitting in Yingdu would stabilize our rear so we could free more energy to deal with the threat from Chu. Now the threat from Chu has shrunk, but the rear instead...”

Zheng Fan smiled.

There was no way to finish that sentence.

The Blind Man picked it up for him.

“The main problem is that we fought too well and stabilized the situation too thoroughly. As long as we stay peaceful here, the lands of the Three Jin simply cannot descend into chaos.”

Prince Pingxi did not notice that the Blind Man’s sentence could be read in reverse.

“Too much food in the mouth and you can’t chew it. Issue some policies encouraging childbirth. Give Standard households subsidies for having more children.”

“Master, Standard households are already working very hard at producing children.”

Standard households enjoyed strong guarantees in daily life and generous benefits.

With food and clothing secure, enthusiasm for making babies was naturally high.

Besides, Prince Pingxi Residence had abolished the poll tax long ago.

Unlike other places, where drowning newborn infants was still a custom in some households.

“Ah. We’ll see.”

Prince Pingxi shouted toward the children’s table:

“Son, bring Dad two plates of beef.”

“Coming, Father.”

Tian Tian picked up the beef and brought it over.

Compared with the children’s clear-broth pot...

Zheng Fan’s side was cooking a red, spicy broth.

Once the beef went in and began rolling in the bubbling soup... the children at the other table stared so hard their eyes nearly went straight.

Suddenly... the health-preserving pot in front of them no longer smelled quite as appealing.

Of course... their expressions only increased Zheng Fan’s appetite.

After the meal ended, the Blind Man withdrew to continue handling official business.

Zheng Fan practiced with his saber as usual.

Then soaked in the bath.

By afternoon... the Prince’s homebody life began.

Siniang was busy.

The Princess had gone to the Gourd Temple to pray.

And... both women had large bellies now.

The Prince’s choices had been reduced to one.

Little Sixth had once complained in a letter that both of his women were pregnant.

At the time, Zheng Fan thought the bastard was showing off about having more children.

Now... he finally understood the misery.

Fortunately, Liu Ruqing’s belly still showed no movement.

Whether she herself felt anxious was another matter.

The Prince, at least... secretly released a breath of relief.

When Zheng Fan entered her courtyard, Liu Ruqing was trimming branches.

She wore a green padded jacket with white soft-soled shoes.

The whole image resembled a dan actress upon a stage.

Except she wore no makeup.

Natural beauty.

Seductive to the bone.

Rumor throughout the world claimed Prince Pingxi preferred married women.

In truth, Siniang and the Princess had both been untouched originals.

Only Liu Ruqing had genuinely saddled Prince Pingxi with that reputation.

But... worth it.

Everyone teased Mengde.

Everyone envied Mengde.

When she saw the Prince arrive, Liu Ruqing came forward to greet him.

In full view of the maidservants, Zheng Fan reached out and pulled Liu Ruqing directly into his arms.

His wandering hands moved with practiced ease.

A thousand-li raid through undefended territory.

Up and down they ranged, searching everywhere, rain and dew distributed evenly across the battlefield.

In moments...

Ruqing’s eyes had turned soft and watery, her breathing uneven.

The two maidservants beside them pressed their lips together.

Neither looked shy.

Clearly, they had long since grown accustomed to this.

But both still clenched the handkerchiefs in their hands, as though somehow sharing every sensation their mistress experienced.

Unfortunately, their Prince was extremely picky when it came to women.

They had occasionally stepped forward to help “push the cart,” but neither had ever truly received his favor.

The Princess had once joked that Ruqing alone might not be able to withstand him, and what would happen if Ruqing became pregnant too?

So she had advised the Prince to take a few more women into his rooms.

But the man who had rejected harem manga in his previous life already felt “burdened by sin” after ending up with three women in this one.

He truly had no interest in opening more rooms and taking in more people.

Besides, this was exactly like the population problem.

Two years earlier, eastern Jin had lacked enough grain and therefore could not absorb refugees on a massive scale.

Now that the foundations were ready... there was no longer a great wave of refugees available.

Likewise, you could not only think about the present inconvenience of having two pregnant wives.

Children eventually came out.

You still had to think about your waist in the future.

It was broad daylight.

So there was no rush to enter the bedroom.

Besides, there was still something he needed to go out and do later.

Liu Ruqing began singing opera for the Prince.

Her singing had become better and better.

The Prince, who had never understood opera and still possessed no genuine interest in the form itself, nevertheless listened with obvious pleasure.

It was a little like some men in later generations going to karaoke.

Were they truly there because they passionately loved singing?

Tea in hand.

Small pastries beside him.

A little song in his ears.

Even the afternoon sunlight seemed brushed with a thin layer of gold.

Thanks to Dugu Mu’s head... and Grand General Nian’s balls... the Prince, who had only recently returned from war, possessed more than enough patience to enjoy this quiet little life inside the Residence.

When the song ended...

Liu Ruqing, who had long since mastered exactly where her man’s excitement lay, raised an orchid hand beside her lips and leaned her body slightly backward.

Half refusing.

Half shy.

Charm and seduction balanced perfectly.

Then she called:

“Uncle~~~”

“Hiss...”

No matter how many times he heard it... he never tired of it.

One could even say every clear, properly sung line before this had existed solely to build toward that final call.

Complete.

Satisfied.

The Prince crooked a finger.

Perhaps this was what made Liu Ruqing most captivating.

They had already been together for a long time.

Yet she still preserved that sense of bashfulness.

Every time, it gave the Prince the feeling of some street tyrant committing the classic crime of bullying men and seizing women.

With the Prince’s present status, if he truly went out and bullied men and seized women, even the court Censors might decide it was not worth mentioning.

They might even cry tears of joy and declare that Prince Pingxi had finally “learned the greater principle” and begun properly “staining himself for the state.”

But doing such a thing outside lacked style.

Too vulgar.

Too low-end.

At home, though... heh-heh.

After hugging Liu Ruqing and fooling around for another while, Matron Ke entered to report.

Xiao Yibo understood the rules well.

Whenever the Prince was inside one of the ladies’ courtyards, Matron Ke was the one sent to deliver messages.

“Go change clothes. Come out with me.”

Liu Ruqing looked somewhat surprised.

She might now also be a Side Consort, but compared with those other two, she had always regarded herself as a concubine.

Matters involving going out publicly beside her man generally did not fall to her.

Still, she did not refuse.

The other two were physically inconvenient right now.

Playing coy at this point would only become tiresome.

Liu Ruqing rose and returned to her room to change.

Matron Ke stepped forward.

Looking at the two maidservants trailing behind on soft, sluggish legs, she spat and scolded:

“You two little sluts. Your legs are so weak you can barely walk. Sooner or later I’m marrying both of you off!”

With that, Matron Ke went to the tea table herself.

She bent down to collect the fruit trays and tea.

Her back happened to face the Prince.

The Prince, who had spent half the afternoon polishing the gun, casually slapped her backside.

A wave rolled.

The rebound was excellent.

“My lord~~~”

Matron Ke was not one of his bedroom women.

But she had breastfed the Prince before and counted as half a member of the family.

At that moment, one of the maidservants who had not yet gone far proved daring enough to turn around and laugh:

“Matron, call ‘Your Highness’ a couple more times. The Prince likes that better.”

Matron Ke’s face immediately flushed bright red.

She cursed:

“You little wretch! I’ll tear that mouth of yours apart!”

...

Ordinarily, when the Prince left the Residence on official business, a formal entourage accompanied him.

There were no gongs beating or banners filling the sky.

But row after row of Brocade-Clad personal guards in uniform, Flying Fish Sabers at their waists and steps perfectly aligned, were already enough to proclaim the sacred inviolability of princely authority.

This time... the Prince went out in a carriage.

Liu Ruqing changed into plain formal clothes and sat inside with him.

The carriage entered the Residence Academy.

The Prince Residence had first opened its academy back in Shengle City.

Afterward, it moved into Snow Sea Pass, then into Fengxin City.

Its scale had continued expanding along the way.

Basically every child of appropriate age from a Standard household studied there.

For children from non-Standard households... things were much harder.

The traditions of all Xia were simple on one point:

As long as parents possessed the means, they were willing to spend on their children.

If you lived in some remote village, perhaps everyone was equally poor and no one laughed at anyone else.

But when it happened right in front of your face... when you could see other people’s children studying inside the academy while your own child still played in the mud at home... who could endure that?

So whenever the Prince called troops, it was not hard to understand why so many people eagerly tried to enter the labor corps or auxiliary battalions.

Compared with that incentive... the cost of a “free” academy was practically nothing.

Fortunately, eastern Jin’s population was still not large enough.

If Fengxin City ever grew into another Yingdu... the Blind Man might truly invent “school-district housing” as another means of stimulation.

Today... was the formal graduation day for the academy’s first cohort of students.

So Zheng Fan, as Headmaster... had to appear.

The academy was divided into two tracks.

After selection, children suited for military service were separated from the others.

Those intended for the army would receive two additional years of training.

Afterward, they might rotate through duty as the Prince’s personal guards or spend time inside military camps.

The other children entered shops and workshops earlier, beginning as the lowest-level skilled workers.

This world had always been brutally realistic.

If your blades and spears were not sharp enough... then no matter how beautifully you built your own home, you were merely preparing a wedding dress for someone else.

Yan had always honored military achievement.

Among the people of Fengxin City, sending a child into the army was viewed as the most reliable and most promising path upward.

After all... their own Prince never lost a battle, did he?

By the time Zheng Fan’s carriage reached the academy drill ground... it was already dusk.

More than eight hundred children stood there in perfectly ordered ranks.

No.

Young men.

When lines of Brocade-Clad guards entered formation and the carriage rolled in... the graduating cohort, at a command from the academy officer, dropped to one knee as one.

Right fists braced against the ground.

They shouted together:

“We greet Your Highness!”

“We greet Your Highness!”

There were familiar faces among them.

The most outstanding stood in the first row.

Zheng Man.

Liu Dahu.

And others.

When the academy had first begun taking children, most of those accepted had been homeless orphans.

Among them, more than half had entered new family lines through a peculiar old arrangement: compensation silver belonging to soldiers killed in battle was used to take in children, who changed surnames and were registered as descendants of the dead.

The sisters working in the red tents beneath the Residence had preserved another tradition from the days of Shengle City.

They donated silver to establish memorial tablets and take in children as well.

“My father” had been a soldier of the Prince.

“My father” had died fighting for the Prince.

I had grown up because the Prince supported me.

And now...

I would enter the Prince’s army under the Prince’s protection and serve him in turn.

Even death-sworn retainers were rarely bound this completely.

Once this generation of children entered the army... once they gradually grew into commandants and officers... the armies beneath Prince Pingxi Residence would become even more loyal and more tightly gathered around the Prince.

And in the next cohort... and the cohort after that... there would be more Savage children.

More Chu children.

More Barbarian children.

At present, the various armies under the Residence still possessed very distinct compositions.

The existence of these academy cohorts would gradually bind those complex elements together.

On this point... the Blind Man’s arrangements possessed genuine foresight.

The Prince stepped out of the carriage.

Behind him came Liu Ruqing.

Looking at the young men kneeling before him...

Zheng Fan felt a little emotional.

In later generations, even a thirty-year-old could still be called an immature child.

But in this era... these boys already carried responsibilities and missions upon their shoulders as they prepared to enter military life.

The Prince and the Side Consort personally presented identity tablets to the young men one after another.

The Prince lightly patted each boy on the shoulder.

This “shoulder-patting salute” had become popular in Fengxin City.

The Side Consort handed over the tablet.

Then gently stroked each boy’s cheek.

In an age when a ruler merely running outside without shoes to greet a guest could be praised by scholars as “honoring worthy men”... this level of ceremony was almost absurdly advanced.

After all... the identity of this Headmaster was rather special.

“You are all my good children. You are all my good students.”

The Prince’s voice echoed across the drill ground.

“I believe that today... you are proud of me. And tomorrow... I will be proud of you!”

“WE WILL DIE FOR YOUR HIGHNESS!”

“WE WILL DIE FOR YOUR HIGHNESS!”

Prince Pingxi stood with both hands behind his back.

He watched the young men before him shout wildly that they would die for him.

And his heart filled with an indescribable emotion.

Perhaps... some days earlier, his own people had concluded that their appearance had changed the original trajectory by which this world’s Demon Kings were meant to be born and operate.

That was certainly something worth pride.

But that felt more like a game of chess.

They had seized several moves of initiative.

Yet ultimately... it remained a game.

Today... here...

Zheng Fan finally found something that moved him more deeply.

Compared with those “Demon Kings” whose destinies had been changed... what he should truly be proud of... were these young men whose lives had contained adoption, growth, and the chance to become adults because he had appeared in this world.

He turned around.

Lowered his head.

Looked back along the road he had traveled.

Those footprints... were clear enough now.

[End of Chapter 818]