Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 152 Xuanyuan Yunqi

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Winter had already arrived, and people were all wrapped in thick fur coats, including Lu Chen.

Martial artists have a certain resistance to the cold. A grandmaster like Lu Chen is not afraid of the cold at all. Even if Lu Chen doesn't wear such thick clothes, he will be fine. However, not being afraid of the cold does not mean that he cannot feel the cold. The cold wind hitting his body still makes him feel a little uncomfortable.

Most high-level martial artists are like this, such as Bai Qingqing and her group; they also wear thick clothes.

Winter made Lu Chen feel a little uncomfortable. Her women were all wrapped in thick fur coats, which covered their graceful lines and prevented them from showing off their perfect figures.

But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't change the weather.

The arrival of winter also brought many problems to Beijun. At this time, Lu Chen was completely unaware of what troubles Beijun would encounter in winter. He had been preparing to deal with the southward advance of the Northern Xian King for the past half month, so he paid little attention to the political affairs of Beijun.

In the early morning, Lu Chen woke up to the soft fragrance of Yelü Nanyan's body. After having some breakfast with Yelü Nanyan, Lu Chen went to his study as usual.

When he arrived at the door of the study, important officials and military generals from the Northern Commandery were already waiting at the door.

Now they gather in the study every five days to report to Lu Chen on the recent situation in Beijun and discuss some of the events that have occurred in Beijun.

At first, Lu Chen didn't actually have any rules about reporting things, but gradually Li Rui and the others formed a habit, so Lu Chen simply stipulated that major events in Beijun should be discussed every five days.

Upon seeing Lu Chen arrive, Li Rui and the others immediately bowed and greeted him, saying, "Greetings, Your Highness!"

"Long live the Prince!"

Lu Chen nodded slightly and went directly into the study. "Come in, all of you."

Then everyone followed Lu Chen into the study. The study seemed even more crowded today because there were more people participating in the discussion.

Basically, as long as an official's loyalty reaches 90, and they hold an important position in the North County, Lu Chen allows them to participate in council meetings.

Seeing the increasingly crowded study, Lu Chen thought to himself that it was fortunate that the Council Hall had already started construction, and the temporary Council Hall should be set up soon, so he wouldn't have to continue to squeeze into this study.

At this moment, Lu Chen glanced at everyone and then said, "Same as always, let's talk one by one."

Upon hearing this, Li Rui stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, winter has arrived. Although Beijun successfully defended against the barbarian raids this year, many people still lack clothing and food. Should we distribute porridge this year?"

The people of Beijun have always been poor. Even though Lu Chen has exempted them from a lot of agricultural taxes, they are still very poor, and most of them have difficulty filling their stomachs.

This is why every time the Northern Prince's Mansion recruits workers, there are always many people who are eager to become workers there.

Once you enter the Northern Prince's Mansion and become a worker there, the people of Beijun will no longer fear hunger or cold.

After hearing Li Rui's words, Lu Chen thought for a moment and then said, "Let's continue distributing porridge. However, this year the Northern Prince's Mansion will contribute some silver to buy grain, and the porridge will be distributed in the name of the Northern Prince's Mansion."

Li Rui instantly understood Lu Chen's meaning. Lu Chen was trying to win people's hearts, which was understandable. After all, Lu Chen was now the vassal king of Beijun, and the entire Beijun was Lu Chen's fiefdom. As the king of a fiefdom, it was normal for him to win people's hearts.

Li Rui immediately replied, "Yes, Your Highness."

Lu Chen asked, "Does Lord Li have anything else to discuss?"

Li Rui glanced at the military officers beside him, led by Mu Changtian, and then continued, "Your Highness, recently the people in Yancheng have been complaining that they can't buy timber. They claim that the Wanning River Valley and some forests have been surrounded by Yancheng's army, and woodcutters are unable to go in to cut firewood."

"Winter is coming, and if we don't have enough timber, many people in Northshire will probably freeze to death this year."

Hearing this, Lu Chen was stunned for a moment.

Lu Chen himself is a Grandmaster. Although he can feel the cold, he is not afraid of the cold. Precisely because he is not afraid of the cold, he has no concept of winter and has even completely forgotten that people can freeze to death in winter.

Since it wasn't directly related to him, Lu Chen hadn't paid much attention to it before. However, after hearing Li Rui say that, Lu Chen realized what was going on.

Heating is indeed a troublesome issue.

After Li Rui finished speaking, Lu Chen glanced at Mu Changtian and his group of generals. At this moment, Mu Changtian stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, there are currently military camps of the Northern Commandery in the forests surrounding Yancheng, or they may be hiding secrets of the Northern Commandery. Therefore, I have ordered the soldiers of the Northern Commandery to seal off most of the areas."

Lu Chen was aware of this, especially since a large area of ​​forest in the region where the artillery battalion was located had been allocated to Mu Jingwu's artillery battalion. This was mainly to prevent spies from discovering some secrets of Beijun.

It was right to block those forests.

However, the heating problem for ordinary people should indeed be solved.

Lu Chen thought for a moment, then said, "General Mu, after you leave the Northern Prince's Mansion, open up some less important areas to the common people. We can't let them freeze. If they all freeze to death, how will we build up the Northern Prefecture next year?"

Mu Changtian said, "Yes, Your Highness. As soon as I left the Northern Prince's residence, I immediately ordered the soldiers to lift some restrictions in the forest areas."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Changtian stepped back, and Li Rui also retreated to his previous position.

Lu Chen glanced at everyone and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Mu Changtian stepped forward again and said, "Your Highness, the army has already recruited 50,000 new soldiers. Combined with the existing soldiers from the Northern Commandery and the Black Cavalry, the entire Northern Commandery now has 120,000 soldiers. Do we still need to recruit new soldiers?"

Upon hearing Mu Changtian mention the issue of soldiers, Lu Chen pondered for a moment before saying, "For now, we don't need to. The Northern County can't support too many soldiers."

The soldiers in Beijun were mostly peasant soldiers, and the soldiers recruited by Mu Changtian could not be considered regular soldiers in a strict sense. They only trained occasionally and went back to work when it was time to farm, so their combat effectiveness was very weak.

Lu Chen's plan is to professionalize the soldiers of Beijun in the future, turning them into professional soldiers. The current Black Cavalry is a prime example of this; the Black Cavalry is entirely supported by the Northern Prince's Mansion.

However, supporting hundreds of thousands of professional soldiers would be a huge burden on the finances of Beijun and the Northern Prince's Mansion, and they cannot do so at present.

Ultimately, it all comes down to money and food.

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Mu Changtian replied, "Your subject understands."

Mu Changtian then retreated to the spot where he had been standing.

After Mu Changtian returned to his original position, Xuan Yuanchen stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the craftsmen you requested have arrived in Yancheng. When I arrived at the Northern Prince's residence this morning, those craftsmen were already waiting for you to receive them at the city gate."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen's eyes lit up. "So fast?"

Lu Chen was somewhat surprised. He thought it would take at least one or two months for these craftsmen to arrive in Yancheng, but they arrived from Dayu City in just over half a month. Now he could start preparing for the large-scale production of his gunpowder and red-coated cannons.

Perhaps we can even prepare a big surprise for the King of Northern Xian when he leads his army to Beijun.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen continued to say to Xuan Yuan Chen, "After the morning meeting, I will go with you to see them."

After discussing the craftsmen, they went on to discuss some topics related to the development of North County, such as the promotion of potatoes and sweet potatoes, and the issue of taxation.

However, Lu Chen never mentioned the topic of dismissing officials.

Lu Chen had long wanted to deal with the officials in Beijun, but he faced a major practical problem: after dismissing the officials in Beijun, he would have virtually no capable people left, which made Lu Chen very conflicted.

Although he hated the corrupt officials in Beijun, if these corrupt officials were gone, who would do his work? His decrees would probably not be able to be conveyed. Lu Chen could only endure it for the time being.

After the morning meeting ended, Lu Chen went to the city gate with Xuan Yuan Chen.

At this time, the area outside the north gate of Yancheng was filled with ordinary people. They were all very curious about what these people carrying large and small bags and pushing large and small carts were doing.

Someone said, "The prince is here," and the people quickly made way for him.

Soon, Lu Chen rode his horse to the artisans of Dayu City. At this time, there were two young men who looked to be only in their twenties or thirties in front of the caravan. The men were strong and powerful, and their muscles stretched their fur clothes. They were about 1.9 meters tall.

Lu Chen then checked the information of the two people.

【Name: Mo Fei】

[Identity: Current leader of the artisans of the Northern Prince's Palace, formerly an artisan from Dayu City. Upon learning that the Northern Prince needed artisans, he immediately led two thousand artisans to Yan City.]

[Strength: Rank 5]

Loyalty: 100

……

【Name: Mo Xing】

[Identity: Currently a craftsman in the Northern King's Palace, Mo Fei's younger brother, formerly a craftsman in Dayu City. After learning that his elder brother Mo Fei was going to Yan City to serve the Northern King, he also went to Yan City.]

[Strength: Rank 5]

Loyalty: 100

……

Upon seeing their information, Lu Chen was taken aback. Both of them had the surname Mo.

Could it be that the Mohist school of thought actually exists in this world?

After learning about Dayu City over this period of time, Lu Chen discovered that some of Dayu City's philosophies were very similar to those of the Mohists. In addition, the appearance of two people with the surname Mo made Lu Chen even more suspicious.

Whether they are from the Mohist school or not is irrelevant. The most important thing is that these craftsmen are 100% loyal to the Northern King's Mansion. Having them forge weapons reduces the risk of leaks.

At this moment, Mo Fei and Mo Xing approached Lu Chen simultaneously, bowed, and said, "We are humble subjects Mo Fei and Mo Xing, paying our respects to Your Highness!"

The other craftsmen also bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Highness!!!"

"Long live the Prince! Long ...

Lu Chen nodded, then said with a smile, "Alright, get up, everyone."

Just then, Lu Chen's gaze was suddenly drawn to a figure in the distance.

He hadn't noticed because there were too many people, but after the craftsmen all lowered their heads, Lu Chen suddenly saw a woman wearing black and red armor on a white horse not far away.

The woman had her hair tied in a high ponytail, wore a red robe, and held a red-tasseled spear in her hand. She was very beautiful, with delicate features and a heroic air about her. She looked dashing and spirited.

This……

Lu Chen was immediately filled with doubt.

He didn't seem to have seen this woman in the Black Cavalry before.

Moreover, there seemed to be no white horses among the Black Cavalry, and most importantly, no women.

After noticing the color of the horses, Lu Chen quickly noticed another detail: the soldiers behind the woman were also riding white horses, not the black horses of the Black Cavalry.

Out of curiosity, Lu Chen immediately used the system to identify the woman's information.

【Name: Xuanyuan Yunqi】

[Identity: Daughter of the Xuanyuan family patriarch in Dayu City, 23 years old this year, younger sister of Xuanyuan Chen, Grandmaster level. Hearing that Yancheng needed craftsmen, she led three thousand light cavalry to escort them to Yancheng. Her feelings for the Northern King are somewhat strange.]

Rating: 98

Loyalty: 100

【Favourability: 50】

Upon seeing Xuan Yuan Yunqi's information, Lu Chen was stunned once again.

A rating of 9...98?

However, Xuan Yuan Yunqi is indeed very beautiful, but her beauty is unique, unlike the beauty of the women Lu Chen had seen before.

Moreover, she is not only beautiful, but also a grandmaster.

This……

The system didn't tell him that it had summoned a third Grandmaster.

Was Xuan Yuan Yun Qi a reward given to him by the system?

After all, the 500,000 people of Dayu City are considered as system summoning rewards, so Xuan Yuan Yunqi should be included as well, right?

Lu Chen was somewhat unsure.

After all, this surprise came too suddenly.

He never imagined that there was a female grandmaster with a score of 98 in Dayu City.

Of course, there was another thing that surprised Lu Chen.

Those were three thousand white horse light cavalry.

The system didn't mention these three thousand white horse light cavalrymen at the time; it only considered them as ordinary citizens of Dayu City.

Lu Chen had always thought that the Black Cavalry were all the soldiers capable of fighting in Dayu City, but he never expected that Dayu City also had three thousand light cavalry.

He knew from the beginning that Dayu City had great war potential, but he didn't expect Dayu City to be so powerful.

At this moment, Lu Chen was a little curious as to why the three thousand light cavalry led by Xuan Yuan Yunqi had not come closer.

Just as he was thinking this, he discovered that Xuan Yuan Yunqi had actually led three thousand light cavalrymen away.

Lu Chen frowned.

A female master with a rating of 98 appeared in front of me, glanced at me, and then ran away?

Could she have escaped?

Lu Chen quickly turned to Xuan Yuan Chen and asked, "General Xuan Yuan, who is that woman in black and red armor? Why did she leave with her soldiers without bowing to me?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuan Chen immediately said, "Your Highness, that woman is my younger sister. She is the city guard general of Dayu City, and those three thousand cavalrymen are also the city guards of Dayu City. They are here to escort the craftsmen to Beijun."

"The people have been delivered, so they need to hurry back to Dayu City to prevent it from being attacked by the barbarians. As for why my younger sister didn't bow..."

At this point, Xuan Yuan Chen hesitated for a moment, then forced himself to say, "On behalf of my younger sister, I apologize to Your Highness. My younger sister has been spoiled since childhood and does not know proper etiquette. I hope Your Highness can forgive her."

"When my younger sister comes to Yancheng next time, I will definitely grab her and kowtow to Your Highness to apologize."

Lu Chen was stunned for a moment upon hearing Xuan Yuan Chen's words.

Don't you know any manners?

Is it really a lack of manners?

(End of this chapter)