Chapter 40: Li, the Boundless King
Prefect Li not only had no intention of saving Li King’s life, but when he received news that Prince Yu’s assassins had arrived in Yandi, he secretly rejoiced.
The scene at the Yanzhou City Gate demanding military pay had utterly shamed him, his authority in ruins.
As long as this Li King lived, this incident would be remembered; only when Li King died could this stain be erased!
Moreover, who among them, the officials, didn’t know that the future of the world would inevitably belong to Prince Yu? What harm was there in contributing to Prince Yu’s cause?
When Commander Huo, who had arrived in Yandi, heard that Li King was not in Yanzhou City at all, but in a border city. That area, spanning dozens of miles, had only scattered small villages.
The border city was a camp for border soldiers, making it difficult for outsiders to infiltrate. Assassinating Li King there would be too difficult.
Just as he was worrying about how to infiltrate the border city, he suddenly heard that Prefect Li was sending dozens of people to the border city with supplies, reportedly to assign tasks to the Black Feather Camp, delivering provisions and tools.
Commander Huo made a decisive move, leading four subordinates to impersonate delivery soldiers, making it easy to blend into the convoy and head to the border city.
At this time, the border city was bustling with the distribution of military pay. The garrison army had thought Li King would find an excuse to withhold some of their military pay, but they didn’t expect Li King to have no such intention; not a single tael of silver was taken from them.
The garrison army also worried about offending Prefect Li. If Li King didn’t look after them, their future days would likely be difficult.
Jinsui took the opportunity to mention that he asked the Tuntian Camp to help him plant some seeds brought from Chang’an. In addition to the Imperial Court’s military pay, he would give the planters an additional monthly wage.
Liu Chang, the captain of the garrison army, a middle-aged man, was overjoyed upon hearing this and immediately said he didn’t need wages and would definitely help the Prince plant well.
Jinsui smiled and said that one matter was separate from another. The garrison army planted the Imperial Court’s fields and received military pay; helping him plant should also be compensated with wages. Otherwise, he would have to let the Black Feather Camp plant.
In his previous life, he was also a commoner. He had no experience interacting with the powerful and influential, and his straightforwardness offended people, but he had extensive experience communicating with commoners.
As expected, with his words, Liu Chang guaranteed that the Prince’s crops would be planted well.
Jinsui said there weren’t many seeds and asked him to select ten households most skilled in planting first, and he would guide them on the planting method.
What Jinsui asked the garrison army to plant were potatoes, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes from his space. He planned to plant these three first and then plant peanuts next spring.
There weren’t many seeds, and winter arrived early in the border city. If there was a sudden drop in temperature, they could build greenhouses.
At the same time, he convened a meeting with the Black Feather Camp and the two assistant secretaries to set the development tasks for the border city, stating that to prosper, roads must be built first.
Not to mention building roads to the outside, they should first build the roads within the city.
Next, they would repair houses and prepare in advance for autumn and winter.
Dig cellars to store provisions for winter.
Build public toilets…
Assistant Secretary Wei was gratified that the Prince had not given up on himself and was almost moved to tears. He advised Jinsui.
Since he had arrived in Yandi, he should submit a memorial to the Emperor reporting peace.
He should also explain the matter with Prefect Li to the Emperor, so that no one who didn’t understand could falsely accuse the Prince.
Jinsui waved his hand and said, “Then I’ll trouble Assistant Secretary to write it for this King.”
Assistant Secretary Wei was very excited. He, an eighth-rank assistant secretary, could write a memorial to be presented to the Emperor! He immediately promised to write it well.
Assistant Secretary Cheng had drunk again last night and was dozing off during the meeting. Jinsui asked him if he had any suggestions for the city’s construction.
With his eyes hazy with drunkenness, he chuckled and said, “We need taverns, as many as possible.”
Jinsui felt that this person was completely different from yesterday. With a dark face, he said sternly, “The border city is a military outpost; there will never be taverns!”
“Including brothels, gambling dens, and gaming houses, none of them will be allowed!”
Seeing the Prince’s anger, everyone held their breath and dared not say more.
Assistant Secretary Cheng seemed completely oblivious to the atmosphere and continued to smile:
“No taverns, no taverns. By the way, does the Prince have his personal seal with him? To procure supplies and disburse treasury silver, the Prince’s seal is required.”
Jinsui was startled, almost forgetting this matter. He didn’t even know Gu Changxiao’s real name, so how could he carve a personal seal?
Thinking of his current reputation, any crazy action he took would likely be considered normal, so he couldn’t show any weakness.
Pretending to be indifferent, he said, “This King will no longer use anything from Chang’an. Have someone re-carve one for this King, just carve ‘Li King’.”
Everyone just thought he was sad, remembering things from Chang’an, but a group of rough soldiers didn’t know how to comfort people.
Assistant Secretary Wei quickly said, “This subordinate will personally help the Prince carve it. However, a personal seal with only a title is no different from a large seal.”
Jinsui rested his chin on his hand, contemplating. This personal seal had to be unique and fit his persona.
‘Li King’. Soon, his eyes lit up. He thought of an excellent name for the personal seal and immediately took paper and brush to write it, handing it to Assistant Secretary Wei:
“Carve this. From now on, this will be this King’s personal seal name!”
Assistant Secretary Wei took it and looked, almost falling over in shock. He quickly said, “This, this isn’t appropriate, Your Highness. How can this be used in public?”
Everyone craned their necks to look. On the paper were written five large characters:
Li, the Boundless King
Others were fine, but Assistant Secretary Cheng was already doubled over with laughter and repeatedly praised, “This seal is excellent!”
Jinsui, receiving support, smiled and said, “Right? Li King, Li King, then this King will be Li, the Boundless King!”
Assistant Secretary Wei was on the verge of tears. He didn’t dare to get angry at Jinsui, but said to Assistant Secretary Cheng:
“You should try to persuade the Prince!”
Han Xing and the others saw the Prince smiling and, regardless of any impropriety with this personal seal, all smiled and said:
“This subordinate also thinks it’s very good.”
Thus, outnumbered, Assistant Secretary Wei’s single objection was ineffective. He personally went to carve the seal for Jinsui, Li, the Boundless King.
Jinsui waited for his new seal to be made. At the same time, as a ‘new official with three fires’, he issued ten new regulations for the border city.
The first was strictly prohibiting defecation and urination in public places! Severe punishment for those caught!
Second, hands must be washed before meals and after using the toilet.
Third, drinking raw water is forbidden. Whether it’s well water or river water, it must be boiled before drinking.
Fourth, a major de-worming campaign. Everyone must bathe once every three days, and all lice and fleas on their heads must be thoroughly cleared.
Fifth, establish garbage disposal sites; garbage must not be thrown around the city.
…
All ten new regulations were related to personal and public hygiene.
Only heaven knew how devastated Jinsui felt when he saw plump lice crawling in their hair and beards, and fleas jumping from one person to another.
Including the garrison army, they all felt that Li King was a noble person who loved cleanliness, so he couldn’t tolerate others being dirty.
Although they found it troublesome, they respected Li King, and these regulations did not harm their interests, so they were willing to comply.
However, they were all somewhat reluctant to comply, and even the patrol personnel were not very diligent.
Jinsui then gathered everyone and held a grand ‘Hygiene Sports Meet’, warning them that the plague in Luocheng was still spreading and that if they didn’t want to contract strange illnesses, they had to maintain good personal hygiene.
Hearing that eating after using the toilet without washing hands would lead to illness entering the mouth, causing diarrhea, dysentery, and other diseases.
Fleas and lice would suck blood from sick people and then transmit it to healthy people; this is how infectious diseases spread.
If upstream people washed things in the river, and downstream people drank raw water, the water might look clean, but it was full of impurities. Drinking it would surely cause illness.
If a dead body floated downstream, and you drank that river water, you would be waiting for your whole family to get sick!
…
She explained it simply and understandably, and by using real cases from the Imperial Academy of Medicine, the border soldiers had never heard such things. Just the five words ‘the Imperial Academy of Medicine said’ carried credibility.
As expected, after the meeting, everyone was much more proactive in following the regulations. The men agreed to wash in the river, while the women and children boiled water at home to wash.
They also used castor oil to comb their hair to remove insects, and children had their hair cut short. The livestock pens were cleaned, and the fishy smell at street corners and behind houses was greatly reduced.
In just a few days, although the old and dilapidated border city remained old and dilapidated, after being cleaned, it faced the Northern Frontier to the north, the Central Plains to the south, mountains to the west, and forests to the east.
Beneath the decay and vicissitudes, there was an added touch of romantic beauty.
Jinsui admired the refreshed border city and watched Han Xing lead people in road construction. He then turned his head and saw a convoy that had conveniently come from Yanzhou City.
He called Assistant Secretary Cheng over: “You were right. Li Heng couldn’t wait even a few days. Look, he’s sent people to deliver tasks.”
