We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Huang Jin got off the carriage. It was already getting dark outside, and the air was filled with fog, making his vision hazy.

And in this dim fog, a faint light penetrated the fog and came into Huang Jin's eyes.

It was a city, a majestic city with bright lights!

The lights on the city walls are like the brightest stars in the night sky. The outline of the city is looming in the fog, like a sleeping giant, quietly guarding this barren land.

Its presence was so shocking that Huang Jin almost forgot to breathe.

The Ninggu-branded flag on the city wall fluttered in the wind, as if declaring its indomitable spirit to the entire northern border.

"This... is Ninggu County City?" Huang Jin widened his eyes and muttered.

Countless imperial guards stood at the foot of this majestic city, and the imperial guards generals standing at the forefront stared at the towering city walls in silence.

As a veteran who had participated in the war outside the Great Wall with Emperor Qing, the image of Ninggu County City in the past flashed through his mind.

Emperor Wen of the previous dynasty established Longcheng County here, which was later changed to Liucheng County, with 997 households and 3,789 people.

As a small county with a population of only 4,000, it naturally could not develop in this area outside the Great Wall, and was even once attacked by barbarians.

It was not until Emperor Qing led his army here, wiped out the barbarians, and ordered his soldiers to establish Ninggu County and build Ninggu County City here.

At that time, the Ninggu County City was just a small rammed earth city with a wall about 100 meters long and 20 meters wide at the bottom.

And now... the majestic city before him seemed to have descended from the sky. In a trance, he even thought he had returned to the imperial capital.

The closer the convoy got to the city wall, the more Huang Jin could feel the shock brought by this city.

The city walls are brightly lit, like strings of sparkling gems inlaid in the night sky. Every brick and stone of the city walls is smooth, as if carved out of the same mold.

The walls of the imperial capital are not so regular. When the imperial capital was first built, Emperor Qing chopped off a lot of heads in order to standardize the quality and size of bricks and stones.

Huang Jin couldn't help but think, even for those cities inside the Great Wall, how long would it take to build such a tall city wall?

Not to mention that this is outside the Great Wall, it will take at least half a year, right?

The commander of the imperial guards had different ideas from Huang Jin.

He kept thinking about whether he could take down such a city if he led the imperial guards.

After thinking for a long time, the answer is: Definitely not!

In autumn and winter, the city was surrounded by ice and snow, so there was no need to fortify the city. Before the defenders of the city starved to death, the troops outside the city were frozen to death.

It’s not that cold in spring and summer, but there’s no better way except to surround them.

As for a hard attack, what a joke! This city wall is at least more than ten meters high. It is meaningless to rely on piling up human lives in front of such a city.

He couldn't think of a way to capture the city no matter what, which made him, as a member of the emperor's personal army, a little discouraged.

Just as everyone was still struggling with the tall city walls, a burst of laughter penetrated the fog and reached everyone's ears.

The marching team broke through the fog. Wang Xizheng looked in the direction of the sound and could not help but exclaimed in surprise:

"Father, look, there are people over there."

Suddenly, everyone's eyes opened up and what came into view was a vast expanse of flat land.

The neat fields are divided by straight paths, ditches and fences, forming well-organized farmland.

On the ridges of the fields, farmers wearing conical hats and coarse clothes were bending over to work.

The man held the strange-looking plow and drove the slow-moving old ox to the next field.

The woman moved gently yet powerfully as she scattered the wheat seeds into the plowed land.

Children ran in the fields, laughing and occasionally helping to straighten up the crooked ears of wheat.

Looking around, almost every piece of land outside the city walls has been developed into acres of flat farmland.

"This..." Wang Yongnian was a little speechless.

He thought about the starving people everywhere in Ninggu County, the iron hooves of the barbarians everywhere, and even thought about the entire city having fallen.

What I didn't expect was that the scene of spring plowing, full of life, was like being in a dynamic painting by a landscape and pastoral painter.

"Lord Wang." Huang Jin came out of his brief trance, "This place doesn't seem to be what you thought."

Wang Yongnian suddenly felt his face getting hot.

He felt embarrassed and was also a little surprised.

How long has Prince Ninggu been here? Only about a month at most, right?

In just one month, how could the people's livelihood in the territory be arranged in such an orderly manner?

Could it be that he has a great sage assisting him?

Just when he was wondering, Wang Yongnian suddenly heard his son beside him cry out "wa".

"The roads are connected, the chickens and dogs can hear each other. The people who come and go are all happy and content."

Wang Xizheng suddenly fell to his knees in a state of great emotion, tears streaming down his face. "Teacher, the 'Peach Blossom Spring' you've been searching for so long really exists!"

Wang Yongnian then remembered that his son's teacher, the great scholar whom even the emperor respected, was the leader of the Peach Blossom School of Confucianism.

The Taoyuan School combined the agricultural thoughts of various pre-Qin philosophers. Its school revered Shennong as its teacher and regarded agriculture as the foundation of the country.

Its founder wrote an article called "Taoyuan Ji", which tells the story of how he accidentally entered a Peach Blossom Spring and saw a country of peace, harmony, freedom and equality. The people relied on farming to support themselves, and there was no filth or darkness in the real society.

Although the Taoyuan School is recognized by Daqing and has some influence, there are very few Confucian scholars who believe in it.

In Daqing, there are still many orthodox Confucian scholars who believe in the interaction between heaven and man.

Therefore, the Taoyuan Sect had to find another way. Most of its disciples focused their energy on farming, either specializing in agronomy like ordinary farmers, or serving as agricultural officials in the Granary Department of the Ministry of Revenue.

This led to orthodox Confucian scholars looking down on the Taoyuan School even more, believing that they were peasants who had degraded themselves and associated with farmers, and were not worthy of being in the upper class.

If his son had not worshipped the leader of Taoyuan Sect, Wang Yongnian would not have allowed him to join the Taoyuan Sect.

"Alright, get up." Wang Yongnian pulled his son's sleeve. "What can we say about what we see? How can we prove that this is the Peach Blossom Spring that Mr. Jingjie mentioned?"

Wang Xizheng was stunned when he heard this.

My father was right. Although the scene of spring plowing in front of us was pleasing to the eye, it did not explain much.

But after coming out of seclusion, the bleak scenery and fear of the future have been suppressing me, resulting in a huge contrast in my heart after seeing this heartwarming scene just now.

The Peach Blossom Spring recognized by the Taoyuan School requires happiness, peace, prosperity, freedom, and equality. Farming alone is not enough.

Wang Xizheng wiped his tears and stood up embarrassedly.

I thought I had really discovered the Peach Blossom Spring, and I was thinking of writing letters to my teachers and senior brothers, asking them to come and witness it.

Now that his father had brought him back to reality, Wang Xizheng suddenly felt a little lost.

At the same time, his favorability towards Prince Ninggu was rising sharply.

A prince who, having just taken up his fiefdom, puts all his energy into encouraging farming and really ensures that the people have land to farm, can't be that bad.

Although he was the Wang family's enemy, Wang Xizheng also knew that judging from the dirty things his family had done, his enemies could basically be considered good people.

His Royal Highness Prince Ninggu is a good man!