Rise of a Lonely City: From Exiled Prince to Ruler of the Nine Provinces

The night Zhou Yong was secretly escorted back to Hanyuan City, the fire at the Dingbeiguan granary burned until dawn.

Five granaries, containing 5,000 shi of grain, were reduced to ashes. Thick smoke billowed, visible for dozens of miles around.

The garrison at Dingbei Pass was in complete chaos, with some fighting the fire and others arresting people, but they couldn't even find a trace of the arsonist.

When the news reached Han Yuan, Xiao Chen was interrogating Zhou Yong in the courtroom.

This once-mighty border general now knelt on the ground, trembling like a stray dog.

His grassland robe had been stripped off and replaced with prison clothes, and his face still bore bloody marks from being whipped by Wang Dashan during his escape.

"explain."

Xiao Chen sat behind the desk, his voice calm, "What did the Fourth Prince make you do?"

Zhou Yong looked up and saw Xiao Chen's eyes, which were as cold as the winter in the North.

He shivered and dared not hide it.

"Fourth Prince... has ordered me to keep an eye on Your Highness in the Northern Border. Your every move must be reported immediately."

"How do I report it?"

"Use carrier pigeons. Release them every three days. If... if there is an emergency, release two."

Xiao Chen's eyes sharpened: "Where's the carrier pigeon?"

"In...in my private residence, there is a hidden compartment in the study."

Xiao Chen gave Zhao Tie a wink.

Zhao Tie immediately led his men there—and returned half an hour later, carrying a birdcage with three grayish pigeons inside.

"Go on," Xiao Chen said, looking at Zhou Yong.

"The Fourth Prince also said... if Your Highness gains a foothold in Hanyuan, he will... he will find a way to make it unsustainable for you."

Zhou Yong's voice grew softer and softer, "So this humble general robbed the relief supplies, hoping... hoping to force you to submit."

"What about the grain?"

"It's hidden in an underground warehouse in Dingbeiguan. The original plan was to wait until things calmed down before transporting it to the grasslands to sell..."

"Who will they be sold to?"

"The Azure Wolf Tribe".

Zhou Yong swallowed hard. "They offered a high price: one shi of grain for one horse."

One bushel of grain can be exchanged for one horse.

Xiao Chen calculated that five thousand shi of grain could be exchanged for five thousand horses. That would be enough to arm a cavalry unit.

Fourth Brother really went all out.

"Anything else?"

Xiao Chen asked, "Fourth Brother, what other arrangements have you made in the Northern Border?"

"And... there's Black Wind Stronghold."

Zhou Yong said, "Although Liu Er is dead, there are still the Fourth Prince's men in the village. They are responsible for monitoring the movements of various tribes on the grassland, and... they also take on some dirty work."

"for example?"

"For example... assassinating disobedient tribal chiefs, robbing caravans and framing the steppe people, sowing discord between different tribes..."

One by one, the cases sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

The Fourth Prince, Xiao Jing, has gone too far.

He instigated half of the chaos in the North.

"Does the imperial court know about these things?" Xiao Chen asked.

"I...I don't know."

Zhou Yong shook his head. "The Fourth Prince did it discreetly, all through intermediaries. Even if we investigate, we won't be able to trace it back to him."

Xiao Chen remained silent for a long time.

The courtroom was so quiet you could hear the lamp wick popping open.

"Zhou Yong," he said slowly, "the crimes you committed are enough to warrant death ten times over."

Zhou Yong kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, spare my life! This humble general is willing to atone for his crimes by performing meritorious service, and is willing to testify against the Fourth Prince! I only beg Your Highness to spare my life!"

"I will not take your life."

Xiao Chen said, "But someone will take it."

He stood up and walked up to Zhou Yong: "I need you to write a statement, write down everything you just said, word for word. Sign it and put your fingerprint on it."

"Yes, yes, yes! This subordinate will write! This subordinate will write!"

With paper and pen brought, Zhou Yong lay on the ground, writing shakily.

It was written on three whole pages, clearly describing how the Fourth Prince instructed him, how he relayed messages, how he plundered relief grain, and how he colluded with the grasslands.

Finally, he signed the document, pressed his fingerprint, and affixed his seal.

Xiao Chen picked up the confession, read it carefully, folded it, and put it in his pocket.

"Zhao Tie".

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Take him away and keep him under strict guard. Don't let him die, and don't let him escape."

"yes!"

Zhou Yong was dragged away, leaving only Xiao Chen, Han Lie, Wang Dashan, and Zhang Meng in the courtroom.

"Your Highness," Zhang Meng spoke first, "with this confession, we can bring down the Fourth Prince!"

"It can't be brought down."

Xiao Chen shook his head. "A single confession isn't enough to bring down a prince. Fourth Brother can say Zhou Yong framed him, or that I was tortured into confessing. He's got his people in the court. Whether this confession even reaches Father is questionable."

"Then... what should we do?"

Wang Dashan grew anxious, "Are we just going to let it go like this?"

"Of course it doesn't count."

Xiao Chen sneered, "But taking down Fourth Brother isn't something we need to do right now. What we need to do now is make this confession as effective as possible."

"What is its purpose?"

"Exchange grain," Xiao Chen uttered.

Everyone was taken aback.

"Wasn't the 5,000 shi of grain that Zhou Yong robbed hidden in the underground warehouse at Dingbei Pass?" Xiao Chen said. "Let's use this confession to make a deal with him."

"trade?"

"right."

A glint of light flashed in Xiao Chen's eyes. "I'll guarantee his survival if he hands over the food. Also, he has to hand over the carrier pigeons and all the communication channels he has. I need to use these to send some 'good news' to Fourth Brother."

Han Lie was the first to understand: "Does Your Highness intend to... turn the tables on us?"

"Exactly."

Xiao Chen walked to the map. "Fourth Brother, didn't you want to know what I was doing in Hanyuan? I'll tell you. Building city walls, training militia, mining coal, planting frost wheat... I'll tell you everything."

"This...isn't this exposing our true strength?" Wang Dashan asked, puzzled.

"I won't tell you everything."

Xiao Chen said, "Truth and falsehood, reality and illusion. Let him think that Han Yuan is still the same impoverished Han Yuan, and that I, Xiao Chen, am still the same useless seventh prince. Only then will he lower his guard."

Zhang Meng suddenly realized: "Your Highness is brilliant! Let's wait until the Fourth Prince lowers his guard, then give him a decisive blow!"

"more than."

Xiao Chen's finger moved across the map. "I need to take over Zhou Yong's entire network of connections on the grasslands. From now on, I need to be the first to know about the intelligence from all the tribes on the grasslands. I need to know their every move better than Fourth Brother."

"But will Zhou Yong hand it over obediently?" Zhao Tie worried.

"He will."

Xiao Chen was very confident, "Because he has no choice. The confession is in my hands. If he dares to disobey, I will send the confession to the capital. At that time, Fourth Brother will be the first to kill him to silence him."

The group exchanged glances, and each saw awe in the other's eyes.

This sixteen-year-old prince was far more cunning and ruthless than they could have imagined.

"So what do we do next?" Han Lie asked.

"Next," Xiao Chen sat back down at his desk, "I'm going to reorganize Han Yuan."

"A crackdown?"

"right."

Xiao Chen picked up a pen and wrote a few words on the paper: "Hanyuan City currently has more than three thousand people, a mixed bag. There are veterans, refugees, surrendered soldiers, and ordinary people. The management is chaotic, and orders are not being followed. If this continues, it will fall into chaos on its own without anyone else even having to fight it."

"How does Your Highness plan to reorganize things?"

Xiao Chen wrote three words on the paper:

Department of Civil Affairs, Department of Military Affairs, Department of Public Works.

"From today onwards, the City Lord's Mansion will be reorganized into the Three Offices."

He explained, "The Civil Affairs Department, which manages household registration, taxes, land, and litigation, is headed by Uncle Fu. The Military Affairs Department, which manages troop training, defense, and public security, is headed by Wang Dashan. The Construction Department, which manages mining, smelting, and construction, is headed by Old Man Han."

"And what about that person?" Zhao Tie asked.

"You're in charge of intelligence."

Xiao Chen looked at him and said, "You'll take over Zhou Yong's channels. From now on, I need to know about the movements of the various tribes on the grasslands, in the capital, and Fourth Brother's actions immediately."

Zhao Tie solemnly replied, "This subordinate obeys!"

"And Zhang Meng."

Xiao Chen looked at Zhang Meng, "The five hundred elite soldiers you brought will be organized into a separate battalion called the 'Jingbei Battalion,' and you will command them. Their treatment and equipment will be the same as the Hanyuan Army. But the training will be even more rigorous. I want you to become the sharpest blade in Hanyuan."

Zhang Meng knelt on one knee: "This humble general will certainly not fail Your Highness's trust!"

Xiao Chen helped him up, then looked at everyone: "The Three Offices are just the framework; the specifics of how they operate need to be refined. For example, the household registration: how many people and households are there in Hanyuan now, and how many people are in each household? All of this needs to be registered and recorded. The land also needs to be remeasured and allocated according to households. Taxes need to be regulated; they can't be collected arbitrarily. And..."

He rattled off more than a dozen points, each one hitting the nail on the head.

Han Lie listened, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

This is hardly a sixteen-year-old boy; he is clearly a shrewd and ruthless ruler who is well-versed in the art of governing a country.

"Your Highness," he couldn't help but ask, "where did you learn these methods?"

Xiao Chen paused.

Where did you learn that?

From the books of my past life, from the lessons of history, and from the trials of blood and fire these past three months.

But he couldn't say that.

"I learned it from books," he said casually. "There was a capable minister in the previous dynasty who wrote a book called 'Ten Strategies for Governing the Country,' which contains many methods that we can learn from."

Han Lie was skeptical, but didn't ask any more questions.

"There's one more thing," Xiao Chen said solemnly. "From today onwards, all expenses in Hanyuan City must be recorded. The income, expenditure, and surplus must be publicly disclosed every month. Let everyone know where the money is spent and where the grain is used."

Publicize the accounts.

This was unheard of in the Great Xia Dynasty. The government's finances were always a murky affair. They dared not even bother to investigate, let alone make them public.

"Your Highness," Uncle Fu asked cautiously, "wouldn't this... be too..."

"Too what? Too transparent?" Xiao Chen looked at him. "Uncle Fu, why is Hanyuan City poor? Because corrupt officials have embezzled all the money. If we want Hanyuan to become rich, we must first make the accounts clear and transparent. Anyone who embezzles even a single copper coin, I will cut off their hand."

The voice wasn't loud, but it was firm and resolute.

Uncle Fu dared not try to persuade him any further.

"Finally," Xiao Chen stood up, walked to the door, and looked at the gradually brightening sky outside, "from today onwards, Hanyuan City will abolish the poll tax and adopt 'distribution according to work' instead."

"Distribution according to work?" The crowd looked at each other in bewilderment.

"That's right," Xiao Chen explained. "Those who do more work get more grain. Those who do less work get less grain. Those who don't work get no grain. Those who build the city wall get three catties of grain a day. Those who mine get four catties of grain a day. Soldiers get five catties of grain a day. The elderly and children get rations per person, but they also have to do some work they can, such as spinning thread, weaving cloth, or making straw sandals."

This is unprecedented.

In the Great Xia Dynasty and even the previous dynasties, taxes were levied per capita and grain taxes per household. Whether you worked or not, you had to pay. But Xiao Chen's method directly linked work to food. More work, more pay; less work, less pay; no work, no pay.

"Will this...will this work?" Wang Dashan hesitated. "Won't those lazybones cause trouble?"

"Causing trouble?" Xiao Chen laughed. "Hanyuan City doesn't support idlers. If you want to eat, you work. If you don't want to work, get out. There's no such thing as a free lunch here."

Everyone fell silent.

They knew that once this method was implemented, there would definitely be opposition and unrest. But in the long run, it would benefit Hanyuan—it would force lazy people to work, improve efficiency, and ensure that those who actually did the work received the compensation they deserved.

"Let's do it!" Han Lie was the first to give the order. "I've lived for over sixty years and have never seen such a novel approach. But I think it can work!"

"I support it too!" Zhao Tie said. "Soldiers shed blood and risk their lives, so they should eat more than idlers!"

"This subordinate has no objection!" Wang Dashan stated.

"This old servant... will obey Your Highness." Uncle Fu nodded as well.

"Alright." Xiao Chen turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "Then it's settled. From today onwards, Hanyuan City will operate under the new rules."

Its daybreak.

The first ray of sunlight shone into the courtroom, illuminating Xiao Chen's young face.

He stood there, his back straight, like a pine tree.

A new chapter for Cold Abyss City officially begins on this day.