Chapter 62

When Duan Jin came in, he saw that Ye Suijin was also asleep.Duan Jin had an extremely different privilege compared to others around him - he could go directly to Ye Suijin's side anytime without having to announce his arrival first, unless Ye Suijin had secret matters to discuss and had ordered him to withdraw.

No one questioned Duan Jin's privilege. After all, someone in close attendance like him was a must for a figure of great importance.

Ye Suijin was a woman. Having Duan Jin, the boy she had raised, serve as this attendant was indeed more suitable than anyone else.

So Duan Jin walked right into the study, but saw that Ye Suijin was sleeping in the sunlight.

The prefectural administrator's study originally had heating pipes underneath the floor. When the Li family had the house renovated, they made sure the flues were all connected properly. After Ye Suijin moved in, she could use them right away.

At this time, the room was warm and cozy. She sat on the couch, leaning back against the pillow, her elbows propped on the short table supporting her head, her eyes closed napping.

Too many trivial affairs these days made one feel tired.

The sunlight coming through the mulberry paper gently enveloped her. Her skin seemed to glow, her brows and eyes were extremely beautiful.

Duan Jin didn't even want to wake her up.

He just wanted to stand here, with no one else around, and gaze freely and boldly at her face.

But that wouldn't do. He had come in for a reason.

After greedily stealing a few breaths, he still had to open his mouth and call her as lightly as possible: "Mistress? Mistress."

Ye Suijin's eyelashes fluttered twice before opening her eyes.

Duan Jin said gently, "Mistress, are you awake?"

He came closer, and even bent down slightly, moving a little closer to her.

Ye Suijin rested her head on her elbow, her gaze still a little sluggish after just waking up.

It was common for people to be like this when they just woke up. So they needed to wake up fully.

Duan Jin couldn't help lifting the corners of his mouth.

Ye Suijin remained still, leaning on her elbow. But following Duan Jin's smile, she also smiled.

She raised her hand, reaching for him: "Ah Jin..."

Duan Jin was stunned, holding his breath, not daring to move.

But full of anticipation.

However, her fingertips stopped just before touching him.

Confusion appeared in Ye Suijin's eyes.

"Ah Jin?" She called out, as if not completely sure.

Duan Jin didn't understand, and responded: "Mistress?"

Ye Suijin retracted her hand.

"It's Ah Jin." She said.

As if talking to herself, like a sigh.

Who else could it be if not him?

Duan Jin lowered his eyes and reported: "Mr. Yang is here."

She put down her elbow that was propping up her head, and her gaze became clear, obviously fully awake now.

This time, really awake.

"That's great." She said, "Quickly invite Mr. Yang in. And summon Jiang Yinyu as well."

"Also notify everyone that we'll have a meeting later."

Duan Jin obeyed and went out to invite Mr. Yang in.

He then turned around to call for someone, asking them to notify everyone else.

Everyone acted efficiently. Once given instructions, they turned around and left immediately. Duan Jin watched their backs, then looked up at the sky.

It was very windy yesterday, but the sunshine was especially good today.

Duan Jin stood in the sunshine in the courtyard of the study, thinking about what had just happened in the study.

There was inexplicable confusion in his heart.

Mr. Yang came in.

He had come from Tangbei Fort. Having gained Biyang earlier, there were too many things to handle, so Ye Suijin could not let herself get tangled in these affairs. She summoned him over and had Fifth Uncle Ye stationed at Tangbei Fort.

Anyway, it was close by. The courier routes were already unobstructed, so passing messages was convenient. It was also quick to travel between the two places.

Although capturing Biyang had been in their plans all along, Mr. Yang was still overjoyed when it really happened.

Soon, Jiang Yinyu arrived as well - his work place was also very close to the study.

Jiang Yinyu was now the person most familiar with all kinds of data about Biyang. Mr. Yang pulled him along and asked him many questions, all of which he was able to answer clearly and in detail. This was especially to Mr. Yang's taste.

Before long, Fifth Son and the others arrived one after another.

"Where is Fourth Uncle?" Ye Suijin asked.

Duan Jin came in: "Fourth Master can't be found."

Ye Suijin looked to Fifth Son. Fifth Son said: "Let me go find him. Really, where did he randomly run off to."

Fourth Uncle Ye was extremely fond of black horses.

Among his beloved black steeds, the one he loved most was called Whirlwind. This was the one he rode to Biyang.

At the moment, he was lecturing Whirlwind in a grave manner.

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"You can't get startled by the war drums and throw me off."

"We can't let the youngsters laugh at us right? At the very least we are their elders, we can't perform worse than a bunch of juniors."

"But come to think of it, the youngsters have indeed experienced more than us. Who's to blame for this? We elders are preoccupied with affairs and naturally can't be as free and easy as them, able to dash off with Sixth Sister anytime we want, right?"

"We..."

"Dad!" A shout from behind interrupted him, "What are you doing? You're so hard to find!"

"Ahem." Fourth Uncle Ye quickly straightened his back, hastily stroking Whirlwind's mane a couple times, "I'm looking over Whirlwind, worried it might not suit the water and soil here."

"What not suiting water and soil, hasn't it been to the capital and everywhere?" Fifth Son couldn't make head or tail of it, "The water of Deng and Tang Prefectures connects, how could it not suit the water and soil of Tang Prefecture?"

Fourth Uncle Ye said irritably: "Why are you looking for me?"

Fifth Son: "Oh, Sixth Sister is asking for you. Mr. Yang has arrived."

"Why didn't you say so earlier." Fourth Uncle Ye knocked Fifth Son on the head, flicked his sleeves, and strode off with the air of a hero.

Fifth Son rubbed his head: "???"

In the study, Mr. Yang and Jiang Yinyu were both present, in the middle of briefing on the various matters of Biyang.

When Fourth Uncle Ye came in, Ye Suijin beckoned to him: "Uncle, come take a look."

Fourth Uncle Ye squeezed over to crane his neck and look together with her.

Ye Suijin pointed it out to him: "...We'll pass through Pingshi and head for Huyang. The waterways of Du River, Bi River, Li River must all be under our control, the transport services have to be grasped firmly in our hands."

Fourth Uncle Ye kept nodding: "Mm-hmm!"

Ye Suijin noticed something amiss and glanced up at him.

Fourth Uncle Ye strove to stand up straight, clearly somewhat ill at ease, looking left and right.

Ye Suijin withdrew her gaze.

She first felt amused, then her heart ached.

The uncle in her memories was already a seasoned and valiant veteran general.

Compared to her, he was senior in both generation and age, with richer life experience. So he had always put great pressure on her.

But it turned out he would also feel nervous at the starting point.

Ye Suijin pretended she didn't notice and continued: "This way, connecting Xinye and Huyang, I plan to establish a county here in the future."

Xinye was under Nanyang's jurisdiction. Eighteen years later it would become a county, but right now it was still just a town.

There were so, so many differences between the present and the future.

Yet back then, it had never been noticed at all.

In the past, going from Ye Castle to Neixiang County, Rang County, Nanyang County, was already considered going far away. Whenever there was an opportunity, all the children would fight to go. If any of them wasn't brought along, they would surely bawl tearfully.

And now, she casually pointed at the map and said "establish a county".

Moreover, she had truly and solidly taken a major city like Biyang, occupied half of Tang Prefecture, and still dared to demand official posts from the Emperor.

Fourth Uncle Ye actually felt a little numb already.

No matter what Ye Suijin said, he just nodded "Mm-hmm" anyway.

Out of the corner of his ear, he heard that on the other side, near the desks, Mr. Yang and Jiang Yinyu were already enthusiastically discussing the matter of dredging waterways.

When they talked about specifics, Jiang Yinyu even took out a small abacus from his sleeve and started briskly calculating the required corvee labour.

Mr. Yang was also counting on his fingers, calculating in his heart while murmuring out loud.

"We still have to dredge the rivers?" Fourth Uncle Ye asked.

In the past, it was the official landlords who demanded corvee labour from them to dredge the rivers.

But now, they had become the ones demanding corvee labour from others.

Yet Ye Suijin sighed.

As the core of the entire Ye army, when she sighed, even Jiang Yinyu stopped moving the abacus beads, and everyone in the room looked at her.

"There are not enough people." Ye Suijin said worriedly, "We're short everywhere."

Everyone laughed.

Although they didn't know Ye Suijin had rebirthed this year from eighteen years in the future on a summer day, it was indeed on a summer day this year that Ye Suijin started leading them out of Ye Castle.

Up till now, it seemed like they had experienced many earth-shattering, world-changing events, but counting on their fingers, huh, it had only been five months so far?

Fourth Uncle Ye felt especially bewildered: "Only five months? I didn't get it wrong?"

He truly felt as if years had passed since Ye Suijin said "Take Deng Prefecture".

So that was it, they advanced too quickly, yet available manpower struggled to keep up. Ordinary people rarely had such troubles.

Even Mr. Yang couldn't help laughing.

"Don't be impatient." Mr. Yang said, "As long as a place is stable, the population will naturally grow."

Deng Prefecture was able to gather so many refugees simply because it was more stable than surrounding areas. The common people were naturally attracted here.

With more people, talents were bound to emerge.

"Before my third brother returned home, I instructed him to post notices in the counties of Deng Prefecture to recruit talented people. I wonder how many he's managed to recruit. Post notices in Biyang as well to attract talent. There are far too many vacant positions." Ye Suijin sighed.

She added: "If you know of anyone suitable, by all means recommend them. Old Jiang, that goes for you too."

Somehow, she had started addressing Jiang Yinyu as "Old Jiang" in front of the Governor.

Jiang Yinyu was extremely delighted and responded spiritedly. But he hesitated, "The people I know are mostly merchants..."

"What's wrong with merchants? They're much better than scholars," Ye Suijin said.

During her conquests, she had dealt with many merchants. Merchants valued trust and were proactive and pragmatic. As long as profits were agreed upon, they were extremely handy to use.

After taking power, she had to deal with scholars.

There were so many shameless scholars. Ye Suijin was sick of them.

She said, "I like merchants. Feel free to recommend any useful ones."

Jiang Yinyu readily agreed.

Biyang also posted notices to recruit talents.

Anyone proficient in law, mathematics, agriculture, irrigation, martial arts, criminal investigation and arrest were wanted.

In the past few years, Biyang had no proper government. Patrols, night watches, and fire prevention were overseen by various households. But there was no one to resolve disputes and conflicts between commoners. They could only resolve issues among themselves.

There was a complete lack of law enforcement for criminal cases.

Even coroners were wanted in the recruitment notice.

Administratively, Biyang was Ye Suijin's base. She naturally oversaw all military, political, and civilian affairs across both prefectures. Currently, her staff consisted only of people brought over from the Ye Family Fort, without any outsiders.

Under the Prefect, Biyang had a county. It existed before, just vacant in recent years.

Now it was re-established. Positions were vacant from the county magistrate down to the county advisor, sheriff, and clerks. Going further down, institutions like the market and leveling offices that regulated trade had people before. But they were controlled by the Li and Ke families and were now completely emptied out.

While county security could rely on the sheriffs and clerks for a regular county, that was not enough for a major city like Biyang.

Currently, security was maintained by the Ye troops, but they could not be bound to such tasks.

Positions like the Patrol Commander and Military Posthouses had to be rebuilt.

The neighborhood heads did exist across districts, but most curried favor with powerful households to get their posts. There were many complaints from the commoners, so they would definitely need to be removed and replaced.

Curfews were also abolished in recent years, along with inspections.

All of these had to be reinstated.

Biyang was completely reshuffled with many vacant positions requiring talents. The notices recruiting talents caused a huge stir across the entire city.

After years of oppression and enduring in silence, the city suddenly erupted with tremendous vitality.

The deep impression Ye Suijin left at the execution grounds gave the commoners unprecedented trust and confidence in her. Many scholars saw the notice and after contemplation, put down their books and went to the Prefect's office to volunteer.

"See, I told you so," Mr. Yang said happily while stroking his dirty beard.

"Noble birds choose the best branches to perch on. This has always been the case."