FYN Chapter 1203 - 1192: The Tycoon
Chapter 1203 - 1192: The Tycoon
In the capital, a person disguised as a man quietly slipped out of the General Mansion.
Li Xianyi looked at the city gate behind her with determination in her eyes. Her father was obstinate, and now with public grievances rising, he was still loyal to that ruthless Empress Dowager to suppress good citizens. Her stepmother, taking advantage of her father’s absence, even tried to betroth her to a flatterer at court. But even if her father were home, he probably wouldn’t oppose it.
Li Xianyi had lost faith and hope in this family, so she chose to leave. From now on, she would use her mother’s surname and be called Bai Xianyi. No longer would there be a Li Xianyi in this world.
Bai Xianyi left the capital without knowing where to go. Her initial destination was Lishan Prefecture because she’d heard that Prince Linsan was the most merciful to the common people, and it was also the place with the fewest refugees.
However, recently, Lishan Prefecture had been surrounded by the people of the King of Xichuan and Prince Donghe. Although she had practiced martial arts since young, she still felt unsafe and eventually thought of the recently rising Prince Ye.
She knew nothing of Prince Ye’s background, but she knew he must be extraordinary, and his Ye Family Army intrigued her even more. What kind of army, after all, had developed in such a short time, remained unknown to everyone, and yet left Prince Donghe’s people powerless to resist?
Curious, Bai Xianyi set off in the direction of Xindu, unaware that her talents would find their best use there.
Ye Qiu did not discriminate against women; on the contrary, he respected them greatly and was committed to improving their status, even encouraging them to participate in work and providing quite a few jobs for them.
His initial decisions drew much opposition, and in his stubbornness, he even angered two strategists who left, declaring that differing paths could not be walked together.
But Ye Qiu did not try to retain them and instead further promoted the enthusiasm for women to work. Time proved his decisions right; restraining women only boosted men’s status and self-esteem but did nothing for societal development.
Although women were relatively weaker than men in military campaigns, they were endowed with meticulous minds and quick actions, able to play significant roles in many positions.
And because women were less likely to be suspected, Ye Qiu even established a female camp. The women who entered enjoyed the same status as male soldiers, but they did not engage in battles. Instead, they handled logistics and gathered military intelligence. The more capable among them even entered enemy lines as spies.
Because Ye Qiu gave them enough respect, in this era of conservative oppression, these women were particularly loyal to him, so there was no worry about rebellion.
Gradually, after seeing results, the men also acknowledged their contributions. The entire domain of Ye Qiu transformed in appearance. The women there could now freely go out and work alongside men. Although their status was still not equal to men, unprecedented changes compared to before and other regions had occurred.
The saying goes, "Women can hold up half the sky." With so many additional laborers, society naturally began to develop. Nowadays, it’s rare to see refugees on the streets of Ye Qiu’s territory.
Though many still wore patched clothes and many couldn’t afford refined grains, at least they could fill their stomachs with coarse grains. Most importantly, they had hope and expectations for the future, unlike the previous lifeless existence.
Liu Dong was still the City Lord of Jing’an City. Today, he came to Xindu to report to Ye Qiu. Walking down the street, he was astounded. Why hadn’t he worked for Prince Donghe before? Wasn’t it because Prince Donghe didn’t treat people as people?
But Prince Ye was different. How long had it been and such a huge change had already occurred? He even heard that some small rebel groups from nearby capital cities had voluntarily defected to Prince Ye with weapons. What was this? This was the will of the people; this was support. If Prince Ye wasn’t successful, who else deserved success?
Liu Dong was filled with grand ambitions, even envisioning the day when the people would support Prince Ye as emperor.
However, Liu Dong also felt a bit worried. Currently, most of the reason people could eat was due to the Ye Family pouring money into it. But no matter how wealthy the Ye Family was, how long could they sustain it? They couldn’t indefinitely avoid collecting taxes, but once they started, wouldn’t the people suffer again?
Liu Dong had these worries, hadn’t Ye Qiu considered them?
Of course, he knew that the Ye Family’s money would run out one day, but from the inception of his plan, he had already devised strategies to cope.
In fact, the Ye Family wasn’t entirely at a loss. Firstly, what Prince Donghe left behind wasn’t insignificant, and the Ye Family had secretly made a small fortune. Secondly, the Ye Family provided grains free to the poor, but landlords and the wealthy did not receive this benefit. Moreover, Ye Qiu created a Merit Plate, where the names of those donating a certain amount of grains or other goods were engraved.
These people lacked not money but power. Wise people could see that Ye Qiu’s future achievements wouldn’t be small. Just forking out some grains to have their names remembered by Prince Ye—why not?
And everyone else was donating; if you didn’t, wouldn’t you fear getting into trouble while still on Prince Ye’s land?
Not losing money was another factor. As Ye Qiu’s territory grew stronger, commerce naturally flourished. Whose business was the largest in the region? Naturally, it was the Ye Family. Hence, there was no real loss.
Yet Ye Qiu had thought about it; a nation’s wealth couldn’t be entirely controlled by one family, not even the Royal Family. So, once he ascended the throne, he planned to grant the Ye Family Dukedom and honors, but gradually transfer the power to trade away. His rise as a merchant was a lesson in itself.
But discussing this now was premature; different times required different policies, and Ye Qiu deeply understood this principle.
When Bai Xianyi entered the region of Xindu, she could hardly believe her eyes—the state of development, the appearance of the people—was this truly amidst war?
However, she also broke into a smile because seeing women able to work outside confirmed to her that she had come to the right place.
Following local advice, Bai Xianyi arrived at a recruitment location because she had heard that women could become soldiers there. Clutching her longsword, believing her martial prowess was considerable, she thought she would be recruited.
Ye Cheng happened to be inspecting the area today and witnessed Bai Xianyi showcasing her martial skills. Instantly amazed, he wanted to introduce her personally.
"Second Master!" Seeing the staff here respectfully address an imposing man, Bai Xianyi felt an uncommon nervousness.