Chapter 46: Expanding the City

"My lord, the Regional Inspector heard that you are planning to expand the new city, and specifically commanded me to bring the finest craftsmen of the Southern Frontier."

"Craftsmen?" Fang Han asked in surprise.

The man nodded and said, "My lord, thirty years ago, Elder Wang presided over the construction of the provincial capital. Later, he participated in the building of multiple cities. He is without a doubt the foremost master builder in the Southern Frontier."

To be honest, Fang Han was somewhat tempted.

Though his purpose was not to build a new city, but rather to use the expansion as a stalling tactic to buy time for development.

As long as the new city remained unfinished, their control over the Southern Frontier would face no immediate threat.

Moreover, expanding the city could delay the growth of the separatist factions.

Just as Wang Shi had stated in his examination paper.

Bandits ought to be left to slaughter one another.

When the old city was torn down and the new city construction began, those separatist factions would inevitably send men to harass the site.

With just a little manipulation, they could be made to fight amongst themselves.

Should no one come to cause trouble, a grand twenty-li city could be successfully erected.

Either way, it was a profitable venture.

Therefore, upon hearing about the craftsmen, Fang Han felt his resolve waver.

After all, while he was adept at political machinations, city-building was entirely outside his expertise.

A well-constructed city required consideration not only of height and materials,

but also the intricate design of internal defensive passages to ensure soldiers could reinforce any sector at the fastest possible speed.

Without an exceptional master builder at the helm, completing a massive undertaking like a twenty-li city would be exceedingly difficult.

"My lord, Elder Wang is already well past seventy. His lifelong wish is to participate in the construction of a great city," the man continued, fanning the flames.

He wanted to help Fang Han make up his mind to proceed with the city building.

"My lord, securing grain first is the most critical priority. Rather than building a city, we should open up wasteland for farming."

Su Zihuan advised.

Fang Han pondered for a long time, finally letting out a long sigh.

"Lord Su's words are wise. Securing a food supply must still take precedence."

"Once we have grain, we can wipe out the bandits, retake the mines, extract iron ore, forge tools, and then build the city."

"Even Fang Li suffered consecutive failures at the beginning, until he secured a sufficient grain supply. Only then did he gradually quell the rebellions."

"Even so, he failed to subjugate the Southern Barbarians."

"There is nothing inappropriate in me following his method."

"Furthermore, the common folk in the city still have fields to tend to, and manpower is lacking. What a pity."

After saying this, Fang Han changed the subject. "However, as for that craftsman, we can allow him to reside in the city, conceive the blueprints for the new city, and await my future orders."

Once Fang Han finished speaking, the gathered officials breathed a collective sigh of relief.

As long as the city expansion was temporarily put on hold, they could accept it.

As for any future attempts to expand, they could address the pros and cons when that time came.

Fang Han's decision stemmed partly from a genuine shortage of grain,

and partly from a desire to see how many chips these factions were willing to put on the table to make him order the construction of the new city.

Since they had all come bearing gifts and urging the expansion of the new city, they would surely not skimp on labor.

And as for the iron mines, they were currently in the hands of those factions.

Without iron implements, any thoughts of expanding the new city would be in vain. The separatist factions were well aware of this.

That was why some of them were even willing to cede their mines.

Seeing that Fang Han had yet to make a final decision, the representatives of the separatist factions successively began to offer the gifts they had brought.

"My lord, the Inspector of my province is willing to provide three hundred laborers to assist you in building the new city."

"My lord, the Inspector of my province has ordered the collection of three thousand catties of iron to forge tools to help you build the new city."

"My lord, the Inspector of my province has sent two hundred taels of gold to fund your construction of the new city."

"My lord, the Inspector of my province..."

For a moment, everyone vied to present their gifts. Unable to take it all in at once, Fang Han instructed them to speak one by one and had a scribe record everything.

Soon, all the supplies were logged:

A total of three operating mines.

Five thousand catties of ironware.

Five hundred taels of gold.

And eighteen hundred laborers, with lodging and board for all these workers requiring no concern from Fang Han whatsoever.

Everything would be solely borne by the respective separatist factions.

With this arrangement, all the obstacles to building the new city melted away.

Given these resources, provided there were no bandits causing disruption, a new city could rise in no time.

However, those who sent laborers also stated that they needed to dispatch soldiers to keep watch,

ensuring the laborers would not slack off.

Fang Han sneered inwardly. Guarding the laborers? They clearly wanted to monitor the movements here.

Moreover, it would allow them to maintain contact with the bandits.

Yet, Fang Han held such petty tricks in complete contempt.

What he needed was time. Now that the mines could be operated, as long as he could find saltpeter, he could manufacture gunpowder.

Once firearms made their debut, whatever separatist factions or Southern Barbarians existed would all have to bow down.

The other officials still persistently urged Fang Han to think twice.

This time, however, there was no reason to refuse any further.

Consequently, Fang Han stood up and laughed heartily, "Good, very good. Su Zihuan, I command you to take charge of discussing the construction of the new city with the master craftsman."

"A twenty-li great city, once built, will certainly be more magnificent than the capital."

"Hmph, Fang Li, there will come a day when I show you that an elder brother is an elder brother, and a younger brother is a younger brother."

Hearing that he was assigned to liaise with the craftsmen, Su Zihuan knew the matter was settled and said no more.

In any case, no timeframe had been set; at worst, he could simply drag it out indefinitely.

The delegates from various prefectures, upon hearing that Su Zihuan was placed in charge, felt deeply resentful yet utterly helpless.

Agreeing to build the city was already the best possible outcome.

As for Su Zihuan, they would simply leave him to their respective Regional Inspectors.

With this matter temporarily concluded, Fang Han invited these men to enjoy the year-end festival within the city.

The objective was to have them spend their wealth right here.

Peace prevailed throughout the festival, and people from the Southern Barbarian tribes gradually began to arrive in greater numbers.

As the new year began, everything in the city steadily moved onto the right track.

One day, Sun Shengyuan, whom he had not seen for a long time, sought out Fang Han.

"Sir, the potato seedlings have been successfully cultivated. There are one thousand three hundred and five plants in total."

Hearing that the potato seedlings had been successfully cultivated, Fang Han showed no surprise; this endeavor was bound to succeed from the start.

"Following the previous reward system, have Liu San handle the disbursements for those who contributed. Plant all the remaining saplings."

During the spring plowing season, the five thousand mu of terraced fields in his possession were due for sowing.

The climate of the Southern Frontier was favorable; apart from the winter months when farming was impractical, crops could be sown at any other time.

Spring planting would coincide precisely with an autumn harvest.

However, the common folk within the city currently had their own fields to tend to, leaving no surplus manpower.

Furthermore, communication with the Southern Frontier was isolated, making it difficult to attract a population.

The best immediate approach was to suppress the bandit menace and force their surrender.

Yet the bandits also held vast amounts of fields that required manpower.

Although their land could not compare to newly reclaimed wasteland, it could not be allowed to go to waste either.

After much deliberation, Fang Han still felt he should make a move regarding the Southern Barbarians, but without letting them perceive his intentions.

His only option was to bypass the Southern Barbarians, head toward the border of the Great Liang Dynasty, and see if he could gather some commoners.

In truth, attracting population from within the borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty would be most suitable.

Presently, however, the Southern Frontier lacked sufficient strength, and it was truly unwise to let Lin Qingxue and Fang Li catch wind of it.

After all, neither of the two was a simple character.

Should he become entangled with them and invite constant harassment, the losses would outweigh the gains.