Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 305: Visiting the Dragon Palace
Li Xian thought for a moment, then finally spoke, “Yan Ze’an, listen to my orders. After Huang Fu arrives, you are to receive him throughout the process and make all decisions yourself. Your task is to force the Cai State to dispatch troops!”
“Yes!” A strange light flashed in Yan Ze’an’s eyes.
Yan Ze’an, and the entire Yan family, were nearly killed by Huang Fu; their children were locked in a room without food or water for half a month, and the whole family almost starved to death. How could Yan Ze’an ever forget this hatred? There is a saying: misfortune should not befall one’s family — this completely enraged Yan Ze’an.
The last time envoys from various countries came, Yan Ze’an did not do anything to Huang Fu, because at that time, Yan Ze’an was the prime minister of Anyang, entrusted by Li Xian to mediate between the countries.
But this time was different. Yan Ze’an heard another meaning from Li Xian’s words — “Old Yan, it’s time to repay the grudge. This time you can play as you please, and you must enjoy yourself; at the extreme, it will only come down to war with the Cai State.”
Not to mention, seeing Li Xian’s arrangement, many people’s eyes flashed with excitement and curiosity: they wondered what kind of spectacular scene would happen when Yan Ze’an meets Huang Fu this time, especially since Li Xian gave Yan Ze’an full authority!
Li Xian smiled and turned to Fang Shijing, “Fang Shijing, in half a month, there will be a new industrial expo, and this time the scale will be bigger; the first-generation machine tools and others can be exhibited and sold publicly. We can even customize machine tools according to demand. Of course, the technology of these machine tools cannot be too advanced; you manage the specifics.”
“Yes.” Fang Shijing responded.
Now that they had allied with the Dragon Palace, Anyang had more spirit stones — for Anyang, spirit stones were less suitable than liquid spirit energy; but for selling, spirit stones were still easier to handle. Liquid spirit energy could only be obtained at the “Adventurer and Mercenary Association.” This was called a monopoly.
Then Li Xian turned to Li Yuanming, “Li Yuanming, once we go to war with the Cai State, post the bounties on the heads of every Cai soldier at the ‘Adventurer and Mercenary Association.’ Arrange the details yourself.”
“Yes!” Li Yuanming’s eyes were full of excitement — he loved this kind of work.
Then Li Xian looked at Yan Zhengqing, “Yan Zhengqing, prepare for war! Also, we now have five supersonic fighters; allocate two to you.”
“Yes!” A gleam flashed in Yan Zhengqing’s eyes — the Yan family was going to take revenge, and this time with Li Xian’s explicit permission, he was extremely excited and thrilled.
After Li Xian finished speaking, he felt there was something he hadn’t considered, and turned to Xu Ren, “Sir, do you have any additions?”
“If we go to war with the Cai State, what about the safety of merchants?”
“Oh…” Li Xian immediately began to think deeply. Anyang had decided on the development direction of “industry and commerce,” so everything must consider the safety of merchants. Merchants traveled all over the world and were actually in a very dangerous position.
This was not a minor issue. Emperor Li Xian had to take care of all the merchants’ safety — this was a huge topic. There would be many wars in Anyang’s future, so they must formulate regulations.
Everyone was silent, thinking about this issue; this seemingly simple problem involved the very foundation of Anyang’s development.
Li Xian thought for a while and still had no particularly good solution, so he could only gather ideas. Not to mention, all officials serving under Li Xian were carefully selected elites with a deep understanding of “industry and commerce.” Some officials were even former merchants.
After more than two hours of discussion, they finally drafted a regulation.
First, special action teams would be established at Anyang’s various bases and concessions, preferably stationed with experts at the Nascent Soul stage.
Second, openly sell the Lingtong Treasure Mirror — which was Anyang’s current communication device. But the Lingtong Treasure Mirror was very precious because it used computer cores, so purchasing one required strict qualification restrictions.
Third, post permanent tasks at the “Adventurer and Mercenary Association.” These were passive tasks that didn’t need to be actively accepted; if mercenary groups or adventurers happened to save merchant caravans by chance, they could claim generous rewards afterward. These rewards would be issued by Li Xian, that is, the Anyang government, using a portion of tax revenue.
Fourth, encourage merchants to form armed groups, but registration was mandatory.
Fifth, encourage mutual aid and communication among merchants, and encourage connections between merchants and armed forces.
Here are the five points. With these five points, plus the improvement of related laws and so forth, the safety of merchants can basically be guaranteed; this is already the greatest limit the Anyang prefectural government can achieve; beyond that, merchants must rely on their own strength. After the discussion, Li Xian announced the end of the morning assembly, and then Young Master Li took his princess to play. In governing Anyang, Li Xian has always been a hands-off manager, only taking care of the big picture, leaving the rest naturally to the officials.
If you keep your subordinates busy, they won’t have the mind to do other things, such as rebellion.
In fact, due to Li Xian’s trust, as well as the rapid development and future brilliance of Anyang, everyone has been willing to work hard without complaint.
When Huang Fu arrived in Anyang by plane, Li Xian and Xia Qingqing came to the seaside; after several negotiations, Li Xian finally obtained the opportunity for a “one-day tour of the Dragon Palace.”
To be precise, this was not just a “one-day tour.” This time, going to the “East Sea Dragon King’s Mansion on Yingzhou,” Li Xian would officially receive the title of “Wise King in the Dragon Palace.” After more than a month of busyness, Dragon Princess Ao Qingxue finally completed the related arrangements.
But besides that, there seemed to be other matters.
Besides Xia Qingqing, Li Xian was only protected by two Nascent Soul-level experts—‘Shadow’ and Feiyu Zhenren. Additionally, Li Xian himself was now a Nascent Soul-level expert, while Xia Qingqing was still at the peak late stage of the Golden Core stage, just short of enlightenment.
The golden beach, the clear sea water rolling; Anyang’s development had not caused any pollution, thanks to the magic arrays and spells.
The shallow seawater barely covered the ankles of Li Xian and Xia Qingqing, a few naive crabs crawling about. Xia Qingqing, like a little girl, picked up shells by the shore. Having been almost confined to the palace since childhood, Xia Qingqing had little chance for fun.
“Wow, I found a red conch shell…” Xia Qingqing picked up an almost perfect shell that looked like red jade, looked at it again and again, then turned around and handed it to Li Xian, “Here.”
Li Xian looked at Xia Qingqing’s somewhat reluctant but expectant eyes, with a hint of waiting for praise, and gently took the shell, “This is Qingqing’s first gift to me, really beautiful.”
“Hehe…” Xia Qingqing immediately laughed happily and turned back to continue picking shells.
The waves gently washed the golden beach; the sea was always so abundant. Playtime always passed quickly, when suddenly the waves began to roll violently, and then the sea water in front of Li Xian started to part to both sides, a crystal-clear passage appeared before him.
Two mermaid maidens appeared beside the passage, “Welcome, Wise King.”
Li Xian looked and saw that although the lower halves of the two mermaids were tails, they each had their own charm; one had sapphire-blue scales, the other ruby-red scales. Their faces were somewhat delicate and tender, with fresh rosy skin, hair flowing gently in the water, seeming like a blend of fairy and witch.
Suddenly, a sharp pain came from his waist; Li Xian turned his head to see Xia Qingqing’s back of the head facing him, her right hand just having left his waist.
Li Xian sighed in his heart: marrying a princess has just this one disadvantage—wanting a concubine? No way! When Li Xian came to this immortal realm, he had once fantasized about the Seven Fairies, but now it seemed he could only continue dreaming—the reality was impossible.
Turning back, Li Xian saw the two mermaid maidens barely holding back their laughter, waiting for his reply.
Li Xian twitched at the corner of his mouth, “Lead the way.”
The road ahead was beautiful; the two mermaid maidens’ water-control abilities amazed Li Xian even more. Under their control, a set of underwater tunnels formed, over a hundred zhang long, about one zhang wide and high, with marine creatures swimming around. This tunnel floated suspended in the seawater.
Xia Qingqing watched excitedly; Li Xian also enjoyed the view. This sea travel was really wonderful; only Shadow and Feiyu Zhenren carefully guarded Li Xian. Especially for Feiyu Zhenren, Li Xian was the hope for his own future ascension, so he must protect him at all costs.
The seawater grew darker and darker; suddenly bright light shone ahead, a magnificent city appeared in front.