Building Up Ji An Prefecture
In regards to the process of taking in Ji An Prefecture, Feng Yu Heng was very satisfied, but when it came to taxes and the cost of things, she was not very knowledgeable. Fortunately, there was the prefect of Yu Zhou, Qian Feng Shou, present. She simply pushed this off to Qian Feng Shou and his assistant. When it was taken care of, she would look it over and pass it. But the sixth prince, Xuan Tian Feng, said: “In truth, I can handle this sort of trivial thing. Why handle it through someone else. We in the prefecture can handle it ourselves.”
It was not as though Feng Yu Heng had not thought of having Xuan Tian Feng help out, but she was just too embarrassed to ask, alright! No matter what was said, he was still a prince. Coming to this sort of place to become a teacher was already making her feel apologetic. How could she trouble him with other work? But now that he took the initiative to bring it up, she just went with the flow and handed to job to Xuan Tian Feng.
As for the measurement of the lands occupied by the merchant shops, this was handled by Li Zhu’s group. As for the living accommodations, they were all already prepared. She directly entered the prefecture guard’s manor, while Li Zhu’s soldiers went to live in the residences that had been for the personal army. After tidying it up a bit, it was quite nice.
Xuan Tian Feng followed her and entered the prefecture guard’s manor. Either way, the residence as far too large. She would live in the inner courtyard, and Xuan Tian Feng would live in the outer courtyard. The two would not get in the other’s way. It was also convenient to have discussions about the constructions in Ji An Prefecture at any time.
Wang Lin’s group went and found themselves their own residences. With the collapse of the Teng family, there were many residences were that were emptied out that had been lived in by the Teng family’s people. When the 30 thousand members of the Northeast Army entered the prefecture, they arrested everyone within nine generations of relation to the Teng family. Anyone with even the slightest relation to the Teng family would be thrown into the prisoner transport carriage. That would be handled by the Board of Punishments when they reached the capital.
The Teng family’s courtyards were made to look very magnificent. Wang Lin brought everyone to find a couple of residences, and they were all able to have their own small courtyards. The conditions were also quite good. It was even better than in the capital. The people were very satisfied with this, and there were even some that felt that settling down here would be quite good. As for those that were a bit older, they began to think of settling down here and bringing over their family members from the capital. Either way, families could not be separated for long periods of time.
With her own people finishing with their arrangements and the merchants also having their measurements taken and paying to buy the deeds, all of the money was placed into the newly-constructed treasury inside the prefecture guard’s manor. it would be the foundation for building up Ji An Prefecture.
Of course, this money sounded like quite a bit, but for Ji An Prefecture, which had all kinds of expenses, it was like a drop in a bucket. Feng Yu Heng had also brought out a large amount from inside her space. At this time, she was very thankful for the people who were scammed into opening shops, as well as the people that had come to live. At the very least, there were buildings that lined the streets, which saved her a great deal of effort. Her money would be used to supplement the extremely poor residences.
The accountants of the prefecture guard’s manor were brought over from Yu Zhou’s Hundred Herb Hall. The people recommended by Wang Lin were very reliable. As for the servants in the manor, there was an extreme shortage. She simply began to look for workers among the residents. First, this would quickly resolve the problem of finding workers. Second, it would be a service for normal citizens. At the very least, those that worked in her territory would not be beaten, cursed or have their pay deducted.
Also, the manor would need to begin another round of renovations. All of the furniture needed to be replaced. Among those people whose shops had been stolen and forced to come and live in Ji An Prefecture, there were some that sold fabrics and some that focused on wooden furniture. They happened to receive the work for the renovations to the prefecture guard’s manor. Not only did Feng Yu Heng feel at ease, but they were also happy to do it.
Five days later, the prefecture guard’s manor had its name formally changed to “Imperial Daughter Ji An’s Manor.” It was the same as in the capital, and Feng Yu Heng was very satisfied.
On this day, she brought Wang Chuan, Huang Quan, Xiang Rong and Shan Cha to Ji An Prefecture’s streets. This side had basically begun running once again. The prices in all of the shops had been reset, and the inn even accepted the price that had been set by the prefecture guard’s manor. At the start, the people were a little unwilling because Feng Yu Heng favored the people too much and did not provide policies that favored them as the Teng family had. But after a few days, they found that although their prices had dropped, it was clear that more people had come to buy things. After the calculations, they earned even more than they did before. Only then did they feel at ease and decide to live peacefully in Ji An Prefecture.
All of the family registers were once again unified with the one in Yu Zhou. After a few centuries, Ji An Prefecture had once again belonged to Da Shun, and this was a thing worth celebrating. There were even people that set off firecrackers in front of their houses to celebrate.
When the people saw Feng Yu Heng in the streets, they expressed their warmth, and some shops even had their clerks send some of their pastries to Feng Yu Heng. Feng Yu Heng did not argue about it but had her servants send a bit of money. The amount that was sent was more than would usually be spent buying it. In truth, she had a goal for coming out today. After some investigation, she found out that the shops that she had set her eyes on that night on the main street belonged to the Teng family’s people. They had already been sent to the capital, and those shops were empty. They once again belonged to the prefecture.
She was preparing to connect the shops and open a Hundred Herb Hall. A few days earlier, she had already told Wang Lin to take care of this matter. Now that she arrived before the shops, she found that Wang Lin’s side was handling it very smoothly. In just a few days, they had made it look very reasonable, and she could faintly see traces of the capital’s Hundred Herb Hall.
Seeing her come over, Wang Lin quickly ran out from the inside. While running, he shouted to the people in the back: “Those signs need to be hung up properly. The operating room is on the first floor.” When he reached Feng Yu Heng, he saluted then said with a smile: “Boss, don’t you think that this looks quite decent? The inside was renovated to resemble the one in the capital as closely as possible. There are some places where the structure is truly too different and could not be changed, and they have been made into the most appropriate things possible. In another three days, work should be successfully completed. It’s just that the paint will be fresh and will smell a bit. I fear that it will require another few days.”
“That can’t be helped.” Feng Yu Heng said to him: “Everything will be done as you see fit. Money can be taken from the imperial daughter’s manor. The Hundred Herb Hall here can also have its funds diverted.” When the Hundred Herb Hall in the capital had been closed down, a large sum of money had been turned into banknotes. She handed them to Wang Lin to take care of for the sake of constructing the hospital over here. “Right now, the prefecture does not have a bank. Go to Yu Zhou to retrieve funds. After a few more days, we will need to think of a way to have the boss of the bank open a branch over here. It will make things more convenient.”
She calculated the future direction of Ji An Prefecture, and she gained more confidence that this place could become a bustling little city. She had already drafted up a plan for public transportation. Aside from moving around inside the prefecture, they could also go toward Yu Zhou. She was preparing to begin the service today.
Aside from this, inside the shops left behind by the Teng family, she had chosen one that was to be turned into an accessory shop. After all, her own jade mine was over here. To not open an accessory shop to make jade accessories felt a bit too much of a waste. Moreover, she had received a letter from Xuan Tian Ge the day before. It said that Craftsman Bai and Bai Fu Rong had set out and were heading in her direction. The two had gotten annoyed with life in the capital, and they wished to enjoy the peace and quiet over here. Craftsman Bai had also mentioned wanted to make use of the jade mine to help Feng Yu Heng as a jade accessory craftsman. This would be repaying Feng Yu Heng’s grace of saving Bai Fu Rong.
She did not hope that Craftsman Bai would repay any grace or anything, but if the two wanted to leave the capital, it was also a good thing. To be able to have someone influential like Craftsman Bai was even better. Also, Bai Ze had gone with Xuan Tian Ming to the battlefield. Leaving Bai Fu Rong in the capital would cause her to think more about him. With Fu Rong coming to this side, she could visit more often. At the very least, she could help take care of her a bit.
Through this situation, Feng Yu Heng had even begun thinking of turning Ji An Prefecture into a trade hub of the Southwest. With Ji An Prefecture as the center, it would spread in all directions and attract everyone from all over. Just thinking about it was very moving. But she herself did not have that much energy. The reason that she had come to Ji An Prefecture was that it was closer to the South, and this made it easier to transport military supplies than from the capital.
In the end, her main focus would be on the battle in the South. No matter what grand ideas she had for Ji An Prefecture, it did not have enough people to help her realize them. But all of this was just temporary. People would need to be slowly recruited, and she hoped that there would come a day when she could find a reliable helper like Qing Yu that also happened to be skilled in business. It was just that this sort of person was hard to find, and she needed to slowly find one.
Fortunately, she currently had Xuan Tian Feng present who could help her take care of a few things. Although she did not know how long the sixth prince could remain in Ji An Prefecture, Feng Yu Heng had a feeling as though the sixth prince would never return to the capital. He would just remain anchored in this place forever. She could practically imagine it. Many years later, when they had all begun to grow older, she would still be able to see Xuan Tian Feng’s slightly hunched back heading in the direction of the school each day, as groups of students were taught by him. They would then become the pillars of the court.
Ji An Prefecture was basically on the right track. As for Yu Zhou, the shops that had been snatched away were returned. Some people continued to travel back and forth between Yu Zhou and Ji An Prefecture to manage them, and there were some that hired more workers to manage them. There were even some that simply turned around and sold their businesses. They then used this money to begin building up in Ji An Prefecture once more.
The Teng family also had a large number of businesses in Yu Zhou, and Feng Yu Heng did not ask for them. They were all placed in the management of Yu Zhou’s government. In an instant, so many shops in nice places entered the control of the prefect’s manor. Qian Feng Shou was so happy that he could not stop smiling. Because of the Teng family’s tyranny over the years, Yu Zhou was left in a bad condition. He had always been a poor prefect, and there were even times when he needed to use his own salary to supplement the government’s funds. Now that so many shops had entered his hands, not to mention being able to immediately replenish the government’s funds, but he would be able to steadily collect taxes. To Yu Zhou, this was a great benefit.
Only with a wealthy government could the citizens obtain even more support. This was something that Feng Yu Heng understood. Ji An Prefecture was nothing more than just a place that was no larger than a couple counties. It could not be compared in size to Yu Zhou City. There were also less than a quarter as many residents. That was why Ji An Prefecture relied on Yu Zhou to survive in many aspects. Although Qian Feng Shou was part of Xuan Tian Ming’s faction, and there was the connection through Qian Li, she never believed that demands could be made just because they were subordinates. Instead, there needed to be an equivalent exchange. Only like this would the other side become more cordial. Also, she still needed to leave a good impression on the people of Yu Zhou and gain a better reputation. Only like this could she stabilize her foundation in this world.
Qian Feng Shou was extremely grateful to Feng Yu Heng, and he repeatedly spread word around Yu Zhou about how great Imperial Daughter Ji An was and how great Ji An Prefecture was after being rebuilt. This caused even more craftsmen to move to live in Ji An Prefecture because they had heard that Imperial Daughter Ji An was handing out free houses.
Feng Yu Heng did not stop the people that came for that reason. She really hoped that Ji An Prefecture could quickly continue down this path, and her energy could then be placed on the battle in the South.
Calculating it, Xuan Tian Ming should have already begun setting out for the South…