Chapter 175

Chapter 175

When Jin Bao heard that she would see Daddy soon, she practically bounced three feet into the air. No longer in the mood to run around and play, she trailed after Xie Chengyan wherever he went.

Xie Chengyan could not help laughing at the tiny child clinging so closely to him.

“Jin Bao, you can go play for a while. Once Uncle finishes up here, I’ll come find you. You could also see if there’s anything you want to bring your daddy. We’ll be traveling for another two days and staying in Pingyuan County for a few more, so it will probably be five days before you see him.”

Jin Bao immediately pouted. Still, she knew better than to make a fuss. Everyone in Jintang Valley was busy, working hard to build their new home.

She would go see if there was anything she could do to help.

After Jin Bao left the command tent, Xie Chengyan could finally turn his full attention to making arrangements.

Only then did he notice that his junior schoolmates seemed to be harboring some resentment.

This was especially true of their teacher’s eldest disciple, Zhou Mingyuan.

“Junior Brother Mingyuan, you don’t look well. Are you exhausted? Do you need to rest?”

Xie Chengyan desperately needed capable people right now. Jintang Valley was the heart of their future domain and an important military base. Not a single detail could be handled carelessly. If he rushed through the handover while these men remained prejudiced and unwilling to put forth their best effort, it would be too late for regrets when something went wrong. He would not have invited helpers, but brought in a pack of disasters.

Zhou Mingyuan was a straightforward man and made no attempt to conceal his feelings. “Chancellor Xie, there is something this student does not understand. I ask that you enlighten me.”

Xie Chengyan gestured for everyone to sit.

“Junior Brother Mingyuan, ask whatever you wish.”

“Chancellor Xie, as the chancellor of a nation, why have you chosen to associate with rebels? Teacher taught us so that we might improve the lives of all people under heaven, not so that you could seclude yourself in one small corner. The world outside is in utter chaos. This is precisely when you should be bringing peace and order to the realm. The imperial court must be in dire need of a man with your abilities. We all know that your talent is exceedingly rare, and Teacher has praised you before us more than once. Yet now you have withdrawn to this remote corner. Do you truly feel no resentment? If that rebel Xiao is coercing you, we will do everything in our power to help you escape the Northern Frontier and return to court.”

Xie Chengyan was slightly surprised. It seemed Teacher had merely sent him the men. Everything else was for Xie Chengyan to resolve himself. This was another test from his teacher.

After realizing this, Xie Chengyan shook his head and sighed.

Teacher loved setting him difficult problems as much as ever.

Xie Chengyan did not answer Zhou Mingyuan directly. Some truths were far more real and powerful when witnessed in person than when explained with words.

He rose, clasped his hands behind his back, and surveyed the dozen or so scholars present. Every face wore the same expression as Zhou Mingyuan’s. Unless he helped them set aside their prejudices first, none of them would be able to get any work done.

“Gentlemen, you will refute anything I say. Why not come with me and see the valley for yourselves?”

Their confusion only deepened, but no one objected. One after another, they stood and followed Xie Chengyan out of the command tent.

On the way from the valley entrance to the command tent, Xie Chengyan had kept the scholars in their carriages out of concern that the journey on foot might tire them.

Now, however, he led them through the valley on foot.

“Mingyuan, look over there. That is the inner city, which is almost complete. It will serve as the military camp where our armies will be stationed.

“What do you think? I designed all of it. The main structures are already finished, with only the final work remaining. Would you like to take a look inside?”

The buildings captured Zhou Mingyuan’s attention at once.

“Chancellor Xie, why have I never seen the material used for these buildings? And the ground beneath our feet… This is a mountain valley. By all reason, it should not be so flat. How was this done?”

Xie Chengyan picked up a rock from the riverbank and handed it to Zhou Mingyuan.

“Here. Try striking the road with it.”

Puzzled, Zhou Mingyuan accepted the rock and hurled it down as Xie Chengyan instructed.

The rock struck the ground and went tumbling away. It left only a faint white mark on the surface. There was no damage, not even a dent.

Zhou Mingyuan and all the others who had come with him stared in shock.

“What is this material? How can it be so hard? Even a solid rock like that couldn’t break it.”

Xie Chengyan still offered no answer. He simply continued leading them farther in.

When they reached the gate of the inner city, he stopped once more.

“Mingyuan, all of you, look. This is the inner city. How does it compare to the city gates you’ve seen before?”

Zhou Mingyuan raised his head and gazed at the imposing gate before him. One glance was enough to tell that it was virtually indestructible.

The city wall in particular appeared to be made from the same material as the road they had just tested.

If the two truly were made from the same substance, then these walls were genuinely impregnable. No wonder this place was called Jintang Valley.

Inside the inner city, every stretch of ground was paved just like the roads outside.

Even if the enemy tried to dig a tunnel, they probably would not be able to break through it.

“This… Chancellor Xie, why has none of this ever been seen outside?”

By the time Xie Chengyan finished showing them around the entire inner city, every last one of them was dumbfounded.

Still, he gave them no explanation. Instead, he took them on a tour of the outer city as well.

Houses were already going up there. Shops lining the planned streets, the eastern and western markets, and the residential quarters were all under construction at the same time.

The beginnings of the city had taken shape, and by a rough estimate, it would be able to house ten thousand civilians.

All manner of workshops along both banks of the river had already begun production.

The faces of civilians and soldiers alike were wreathed in smiles.
Here, they would neither starve nor freeze. The work beneath their hands was building a better tomorrow.

Hope filled their hearts and gave them the drive to labor. Everyone wished they could pour every ounce of strength into building their own home.

Farther toward the valley entrance lay vast tracts of freshly turned earth.

Rivers and channels crisscrossed the fields. Farmers and soldiers guided oxen through the soil, plowing and turning it with tremendous enthusiasm.

Compared to the chaos outside, this place had become a true paradise hidden from the world. There were no corpses of the starved beside the roads, no parents selling their children, and no one left homeless. Every person here radiated an unyielding resilience.

In this seemingly barren mountain valley, Zhou Mingyuan saw life surging with vigor.

Just then, a tiny figure in the distance entered their view.

With nothing else to occupy her, Jin Bao had run into the fields.

Potatoes had already been planted across eighty percent of the farmland, while the rest held sweet potato seedlings that Old Han had brought several days ago.

All the sweet potatoes had sprouted, and some had even begun to rot.

Yet with Jin Bao’s ability, she had managed to plant and grow them all the same.

At that moment, she was accelerating the growth of the crops already in the ground.

She had heard Uncle and Daddy talking.

The crops had been planted more than a month later than they should have been, so the harvest would undoubtedly suffer.

Jin Bao had already intended to accelerate their growth. Since she had nothing to do today, she had wandered out to the fields.

There, she found everyone hard at work.

With a sweep of her little hand, the bare ground wherever she passed instantly burst with life and verdant green.

What everyone now saw was Jin Bao running happily through the fields. Everywhere she went, the once-barren soil was gradually blanketed in green.

Her bell-like laughter rang out at the same time.

Anyone could hear the happiness in it.

Jin Bao’s Mental Power could likely cover the entire valley now, but she seemed to prefer racing freely through the fields.

She delighted in the breeze drifting through the valley and brushing gently over her cheeks.

A smile touched Xie Chengyan’s lips, and his eyes brimmed with warmth. As he watched the little girl run in delight, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes gathered like the petals of a flower.

Zhou Mingyuan and the others, meanwhile, were too astonished to speak.

“Chancellor Xie, what exactly is happening?”

It took them a long moment to recover their voices and form a complete sentence.

This time, Xie Chengyan did not keep them in suspense. Pointing toward the farmers in the fields and the workers laboring in the distant workshops, he said to Zhou Mingyuan and the others, “You speak constantly of serving the common people and working for the welfare of all under heaven.

“But have you ever truly lowered your heads, walked among them, and looked for yourselves? Is the Great Xia you speak of the same Great Xia its common people know?

“Improving people’s lives cannot remain a slogan on your lips.

“We must truly give them homes and fields that produce food. Everything we are doing now is meant to let ordinary people live and work in peace, instead of wandering from place to place and fleeing in every direction just to survive.

“If you believe that what Xiao Che is doing constitutes rebellion, then I, Xie Chengyan, am willing to follow him to the very end.

“Every scholar carries his own vision of the realm in his heart. The Great Xia in my heart looks like what stands before us now. At the very least, ordinary people should be able to live in peace, and we should be able to protect the food that keeps them alive.”

Xie Chengyan’s words drew Zhou Mingyuan into even deeper contemplation.

Then he looked toward Jin Bao again.

“Chancellor Xie, what about that little girl? Does she possess some kind of special ability?”

Xie Chengyan laughed. “Her? She is indeed rather unusual. She is the last Princess of Great Xia, my own niece, and the successor appointed by the Emperor. The imperial edict is proof.”

Once again, Xie Chengyan took out the imperial edict and handed it to them.

He could have produced the edict from the start and used it to silence them, but that would never have solved the heart of the problem.

He wanted them to undergo a genuine change in outlook and learn to place the people’s livelihood first.

Zhou Mingyuan and the others immediately bowed, raising their hands respectfully above their heads.

After reading the imperial edict, the way they looked at Jin Bao changed as well.

“She truly is the Princess. Then isn’t Prince Cheng in the Capital the actual rebel?”

Xie Chengyan did not answer. In a few days, once they understood the current situation, they would naturally realize that everything they were doing now was for the peace of the realm.

“Mingyuan, I ask you only this: will you stay or leave? Do not concern yourself with Teacher’s instructions. Follow what you truly believe, because the people I need must be absolutely loyal to the Princess and willing to follow her. I have no use for opportunists who change sides with the wind.”

Xie Chengyan fixed his gaze upon them.

Zhou Mingyuan looked once more at the verdant fields in the distance, as though finally reaching a decision.

“Chancellor Xie, I, Zhou Mingyuan, pledge my loyalty to Her Highness the Princess.”

“As do we.”

A relieved smile appeared on Xie Chengyan’s face.

“In that case, begin familiarizing yourselves with every matter in Jintang Valley today. Later, I will take eight of you with me to serve as magistrates in the county seats.

“If any of you feel that the position of magistrate is beneath your talents, say so now. I, Xie Chengyan, will force no one. I know that all of you are ambitious young men who aspire to great things.”

When Xie Chengyan finished, no one raised an objection.

Every one of these men had been carefully selected by Qin Wenyuan. Any one of them could easily surpass the useless officials filling the imperial court.

There was nothing wrong with a gifted man possessing a measure of pride. Xie Chengyan had been the same in his youth.

Only after years in officialdom had he learned to sheath his edge, growing measured and wise.