She picked up the young prime minister while fleeing famine

Chapter 963 A Sense of Disconnection

It's good that someone has surrendered, but the old King of Qi has passed away, so Yan Xing can't show too much joy.

But I was still thrilled, after all, Yongzhou was originally part of the Great Yan Dynasty, and it was the only coastal city in the Great Yan Dynasty.

Previously, the Great Yan Dynasty had to trade with Yongzhou City to obtain seafood. Now that Yongzhou has returned to the Great Yan territory, things will be much more convenient in the future.

Thinking of his father's long-standing worries, Yan Xing felt that his father could rest assured once Yongzhou was fully returned to China.

As it turned out, Yan Xing underestimated the situation. Although Yongzhou had submitted, the pirates at sea were not so easy to subdue, and there was still a long road ahead.

"That's true. Xia Ze is still too inexperienced to manage Yongzhou at all."

"Rather than letting him become a puppet or a victim of infighting, it would be better to let him submit a letter of surrender and use that power to suppress his generals." After thinking for a moment, Banxia understood the old King Qi's idea.

If he had lived a few more years until his grandchildren grew up, perhaps he would have made different arrangements.

But he dared not gamble now, because there were too many pirates in Yongzhou, and almost all of his men were fierce warriors. His brother-in-law, Li Si, was still considered family, so he might not bother to deal with his nephew, Xia Ze.

But what about everyone else?

At first, out of gratitude to the King of Qi, they might not have any thoughts, but over time, their greed and ambition might change them.

So after much consideration, King Qi entrusted his grandson to the throne, telling him to surrender to the Great Yan after he succeeded to the throne. He believed that the Great Yan would take good care of his grandson and would not put his life in danger.

Of course, the most fundamental idea that prompted King Qi to make this decision was that Xia Ze was mild-mannered and disliked fighting, preferring medicine.

Ever since he saw Banxia cure his ailing great-aunt, he developed a strong interest in medicine.

He had been learning medicine from many doctors before, and last year he met the master and apprentice Yao Weng by chance. With Mu Xue's introduction, Xia Ze became Yao Weng's last disciple. Since then, he has devoted himself to studying medicine and has no interest in managing the city.

Not to mention that he was surrounded by powerful generals and pirates. King Qi worried that if he was not around, his children would be bullied or even lose their lives.

Therefore, it would be better to keep the child away from this vortex from the beginning. The grandson has no grand ambitions to expand the territory, so it would be fine for him to be a leisurely prince for the rest of his life.

After Xia Ze became the Medicine Master's apprentice, he went to the Valley of Divine Physicians once to participate in a medical exchange. The Medicine Master took him there to broaden his horizons, and Ban Xia was also there. She was quite surprised at the time.

That's why she had such thoughts. Now it seems that the child's heart is not in politics. It would be a good thing for him and the people under the old King Qi to withdraw at this time.

People's hearts change, so it's better to let go of some things when you're most emotionally connected, thus cutting off the possibility of falling out later.

If they surrender now, the generals and others will be handed over to the court, and they will still remember the kindness of the old King Qi and take care of Xia Ze.

If they are forced to assist Xia Ze, an eleven-year-old child, no one knows what the future holds.

Banxia had heard many historical stories of young emperors who ascended the throne and became puppets. How many emperors could there be like Kangxi?

Not to mention, Xia Ze's ambitions lay elsewhere.

Banxia had to give Old King Qi a thumbs up. He couldn't let go while he was alive, but he let go cleanly after his death. He was indeed the one Lian Chengmo followed in his previous life, and he was indeed the king who was supported and respected by all the people of Yongzhou.

An elder who can take things in stride, who has foresight, and who can also protect his descendants is a blessing.

"Xiaxia, you're absolutely right. Old King Qi made a good move." Yan Xing clearly shared the same thought as Banxia and agreed. The two siblings hadn't seen each other for a long time and rarely had a chance to be alone. That day, Banxia chatted with her elder brother for a long time before finally stopping.

Yan Xing listened to Ban Xia talk about Li County and longed to visit it. He said that he had finally come out and he must go to Li County when he returned.

After all these years, this is the first time he has had the opportunity to go so far from the capital. Among his brothers, apart from the little ones from the fifth to the eighth, only Yanxing has not been to Li County yet, and he is very curious about it.

Nowadays, only a few wealthy families in the capital can afford electric lights, but I heard that even the main roads in Li County have streetlights. It's so convenient, no wonder Xiaxia always stays for a long time when she goes to Li County.

Three days later, Yan Xing, as the crown prince, attended the funeral of the old King Qi with a group of officials from the Great Yan in full regalia. Bing accepted the surrender document presented by Xia Ze with both hands in front of everyone.

Although some military officers in Yongzhou were reluctant, they all kept quiet when they saw the various treasures and even weapons for fighting pirates bestowed by the Great Yan. In any case, it was just that the civil officials in the government offices had someone above them to keep them in check; the military officers were still under the command of General Li Si.

As long as military officers can fight, have weapons and equipment, and receive a steady stream of military pay, they are all easy to talk to.

As for the civil officials, with Lian Chengmo mediating and their martial prowess practically nonexistent, Yan Xing managed to subdue them all without much effort.

After leaving behind a new prefect of Yongzhou, Yan Xing and his entourage were to return to the capital ten days after the funeral.

Of course, on the way back, they passed through Yunzhou, and Banxia accompanied him on a detour to Li County.

How could Yan Xing describe his feelings upon seeing the various facilities in Li County at that time?

There's a sense of disconnect, like a country bumpkin entering the city, bridging a gap of centuries and millennia.

Since Li County became Banxia's fiefdom, Liancheng Mo truly stopped interfering; all appointments and dismissals of civil officials were handled by Banxia.

Occasionally, when the county magistrate comes to Banxia asking for some kind of reform, Banxia casually writes down what she has seen and heard in modern times, and it is always enlightening.

Therefore, although the magistrate of Li County is just a magistrate, he is definitely the most forward-thinking official in the entire Great Yan Dynasty. If he is not forward-thinking, he cannot keep up with Banxia's thought process.

In this respect, even Lian Chengmo, who spends most of his time traveling, cannot compare.

Nowadays, most of the farmland on the outskirts of Li County has been turned into various factories, and the area is packed with people even before work hours.

Therefore, when the county magistrate came to see Banxia, ​​she asked him to arrange a "bus". In order for the bus to run smoothly, tracks were laid on the main road.

While many buildings in the inner city are still old-fashioned, the area of ​​the outer city near the inner city is almost entirely occupied by high-rise buildings.

To make it easier for people living in high-rise buildings to go up and down, Banxia specially commissioned Lian Chengmo to design an "elevator mechanism" to facilitate everyone's movement between floors.

Even the well-traveled Yan Xing found it quite novel when he first rode an "elevator," as such a thing didn't exist in the capital.

The houses in the capital are all fixed in place. Demolishing them and building high-rises with cement would be a huge project, and the current imperial treasury cannot support it. Moreover, the construction teams in the private sector are not yet mature enough.

So apart from the cement high-rises in Li County, other places only have five or six stories at most.

To put it bluntly, it's still a transportation issue. Banxia's factory in Li County can produce steel bars because she owns an iron mine.

While she could produce cement in other places, she couldn't produce steel bars. Outside her fiefdom, iron was controlled by the government, and even a princess was no exception.