Isolated town in northern border region

When news of the fall of the Chen Kingdom spread, the first to react were not the officials in the court, but the common people who had not yet had time to escape.

Outside Wuzhou City, several farmers working in the fields heard a passing caravan say, "Your emperor has surrendered," and their hoes froze in mid-air.

An older farmer straightened up.

"It's gone down?"

The caravan members nodded.

"It's already been reduced!"

"The Chu army did not massacre the city, did not loot the grain, and did not even replace the officials."

The old farmer put down his hoe and squatted on the edge of the field. He neither cheered nor shed tears; he simply sat silently for a while before continuing to hoe the ground.

After returning to the capital, Xiao Lie did not stay long. He only spent a few days with Jiang Min before returning to Chen with Zhou Xun.

He stayed in various parts of Chen for half a month, and in each place he went, he did two things first.

They opened the granaries to distribute grain and posted notices to reassure the people.

The wording on the notice was very simple.

"All taxes levied in the past shall be reduced by half."

"If a family member dies in battle while serving in the army, the family will be exempt from land rent for three years."

"The rest of the people should continue their farming as usual, and the officials should not disturb them."

Someone read the notice aloud to the illiterate. After listening, no one spoke. A woman holding a child stood outside the crowd, listened to the contents of the notice, lowered her head to wipe the mud off her child's face, and asked a question in a low voice.

"Isn't the King of Northern Frontier of Chu a bloodthirsty man?"

"How could they be so kind?"

"Are we going to run or not?"

The people next to him didn't respond, and no one packed their luggage anymore.

Xiao Lie stayed the longest at Ninghai Port.

Ninghai is the largest port in the south of Chen State, with a gentle coastline and deep enough water to accommodate large ocean-going ships.

Before the war, the Chen state had built some docks and warehouses here, but most of them are now abandoned. The docks are overgrown with weeds, and the keels of several old ships are stranded on the mudflats, leaning obliquely in the mud.

Xiao Lie stood at the edge of the dock, looking at the calm sea, where waves gently lapped against the pebbles on the shore.

"Rebuild this port."

"Dock dredging, warehouse reconstruction, and recruitment of local craftsmen and seamen."

He looked back inland from the end of the pier.

"The Chen state has such favorable geographical conditions that we must make use of them."

Zhou Xun was silently taking notes when Xiao Lie suddenly spoke up.

"Is that Tie Muyun?"

"yes!"

Zhou Xun answered instinctively without any hesitation, but as soon as the words left his mouth, his fair face turned bright red.

Xiao Lie chuckled.

"Oh, I get it!"

"Leave this to me!"

After Xiao Lie finished speaking, he took off running, and Zhou Xun chased after him like a timid wife, shouting as he went.

"Your Highness! Please don't do anything reckless!"

"Your Highness!"

…………

When the artisans from Chen were summoned to Ninghai, they were initially filled with trepidation.

The job posting was displayed at the city gate, and it read:

"Anyone willing to work will be paid daily and given lunch."

Some people went with a skeptical attitude. The first day's work was to clear the dock ruins. Sure enough, there was a meal at noon, and it was all you could eat.

A few more people came on the second day, and a few more on the third day.

Two weeks later, the ruins on the dock were cleared away, the roof of the old warehouse was replaced, and several small fishing boats began to test sail in the near sea.

An old fisherman squatted by the dock, watching the fishing boats that were returning to shore, and sighed.

"The prince of Chu... is kinder than our former emperor."

"In the past, when people performed corvée labor, they had to bring their own food. Now, not only are meals provided, but they also receive money!"

Rubber harvesting has also been fully launched in Wuzhou.

Xiao Lie instructed the craftsmen to develop strict harvesting procedures.

Each tree is pruned every three days, with only one new cut made each time, and old cuts are not allowed to be made repeatedly.

At first, some farmers found it troublesome, but Xu De stayed in Wuzhou for half a month, teaching people step by step, and gradually the process was formed, and the harvesting volume steadily increased.

When the first batch of rubber products was transported back to Chen State from the northern border, Qian Wanli brought several rubber sealing rings and several pairs of rubber-soled military boots to a market in Wuzhou and set up a stall. He repeatedly pulled a rubber strip to demonstrate its elasticity and sealing properties, and let the onlookers try on the rubber-soled military boots.

More and more people gathered around, and someone asked a question.

"How long will these shoes last?"

Qian Wanli patted his chest and guaranteed it.

"It will last three times longer than what you used to wear."

That afternoon, more than a dozen people came to the temporary workshop and asked if they could learn how to do it.

Qian Wanli looked at those faces and smiled like a Maitreya Buddha.

"Of course I can learn!"

"The prince said that anyone who is willing to work hard can learn!"

The schools in Chen State are also reopening. This is the first step in Xiao Lie's pilot program. If it goes well, it will be promoted in Chu State.

The official school had been closed for almost two months due to the war, so Xiao Lie ordered it to reopen and added a new rule.

"Tuition is free, and lunch is provided."

At first, not many people came, and some families even suspected that this was a new way of recruiting soldiers.

Xiao Lie didn't explain much, but simply had a notice posted at the school gate.

"Once you can read and write, you won't be easily fooled!"

"Those who enter the academy can participate in the imperial examinations and distinguish themselves!"

Half a month later, the number of children attending the classes increased from dozens to hundreds, and adults also began to come and listen in during their off-season.

An elderly woman, leaning on a cane, stood outside the school and listened to the lessons for half a day. As she left, she said something to the young man next to her.

"So that's how you recognize characters..."

At the same time, Ninghai Port's seagoing vessels successfully completed their first trial voyage.

It was a medium-sized cargo ship with its ribs reinforced with steel from northern Xinjiang. After sailing north along the coastline for a hundred miles, it returned. When the captain came back, he was covered in dust, but his steps were steady.

"The boat doesn't rock, and it doesn't leak."

When the news reached the capital, Shen Chongyuan was reviewing documents related to railway expansion. After reading the letter, he put it on the table and said something to the clerk next to him.

"The sea route from Chen Guoyun Rubber is now open."

The mindset of the people of Chen was changing quietly.

Initially, some people discovered that they had paid half less rent for their land than the previous year;

Then someone bought cheap salt and cloth at the market;

Later, some young people stood in front of the job posting for a while before going inside.

A farmer in Wuzhou was resting on the edge of his field, chatting with his neighbor.

"In the past, after paying the rent, there wasn't much left."

"After paying rent this year, there's still more than half left!"

The neighbor said.

"The soldiers of Chu did not cause trouble, and they did not even catch chickens when they passed by."

The farmer remained silent for a while.

"Well...it seems like things are better than before, huh?"

The neighbor did not answer.

But the two of them squatted on the edge of the field in the sun for a long time, and neither of them got up to leave.

Before leaving the State of Chen, Xiao Lie planted a rubber tree outside Wuzhou City.

He dug the hole himself, put the sapling in, filled it with soil, tamped it down, and watered it with a ladle.

The craftsmen standing nearby watched him finish, and no one said a word.

He straightened up, dusted off his hands, and said to the craftsmen behind him.

"Ten years from now, this tree will be able to support a hundred people."

When the news reached Jing Kingdom, Jiang Jun was looking at a nautical chart in the imperial study.

After hearing the secret report, he put down the nautical chart and remained silent for a moment.

"Did the people of Chen not resist?"

The envoy lowered his head.

"No...on the contrary, they were very compliant."

"Xiao Lie reduced land rent, opened the port, recruited craftsmen, and reopened the school."

Jiang Jun slowly traced a line on the nautical chart with his finger.

"Reduce land rent, open ports, establish schools... it's the same old routine again."

"Xiao Lie really thinks he can rule the world by relying on these peasants!"

"madness!"

"If everyone in the world could read and write, people's hearts would be in chaos!"

"How can we win the hearts of the people then?"

He stood up, walked to the window, remained silent for a moment, and then turned around.

"How is the Crown Prince of Chen?"

The eunuch answered.

"He settled in Wenshu City, where he spent his days reading and practicing calligraphy under the tutelage of many great scholars from the Imperial Academy."

Jiang Jun nodded.

"Let him continue reading."

"Tell him that the enemy of his father and the land of Chen still exist."

He paused.

"Once he has mastered his skills, I will help him take it back!"