Chapter 17 Baicheng
Once you enter Jizhou, you are not far from Baicheng, the capital of Jizhou.

As soon as we left Qingzhou, there seemed to be an invisible dividing line between heaven and earth, dividing Qingzhou and Jizhou into two completely different worlds.

The once lush and green world instantly turned into a Gobi desert covered with yellow sand.

There is no vegetation on the bare surface, and the scorching sun burns the endless wasteland.

Even Wang An, who had been mentally prepared, couldn't help but look solemn.

It seems that being the King of Jizhou is not easy...

Although Baicheng, the capital of Jizhou, is not far from Qingzhou, that is only relatively speaking.

The area of ​​Jizhou was more than twice that of Jingzhou, the second largest state in the Daliang Dynasty.

So from the map, Baicheng is right next to the border of Qingzhou, but it still took everyone three full days to reach their destination.

During these three days, Wang An felt extremely heavy-hearted.

Because during these three days, although Wang An and his party never strayed from the official road, they only encountered two small towns with less than a hundred households and seven or eight poor villages.

This number seems to be quite a lot, but we have to consider that the people are not far from Qingzhou, and theoretically it is still in the inland area of ​​the Daliang Dynasty.

Moreover, the official road was straight and flat, and everyone could ride horses very quickly, so three days was enough to cover two hundred miles.

The crowd walked along the official road again. As an important transportation route connecting the Daliang Dynasty with the Jizhou border, it should have been extremely prosperous.

However, this road is rarely visited.

The people we met on the road were all ragged and looked pale and thin.

When he saw Wang An's group, he did not dodge, but just stood on the side of the road and watched with lifeless eyes.

However, it was only after arriving in Baicheng that Wang An realized what desolation meant.

Baicheng, the capital of a state, has walls less than 15 feet high made of rammed earth bricks. Even so, there are only ruins left.

Many places collapsed directly, revealing the scene inside the White City.

Looking through the gap, all you can see are low thatched houses, and even brick and wood structures are rare.

At this time, the vanguard of the Black Armor Guards had already informed the officials of the provincial government in advance. More than a dozen officials of all ranks led a hundred yamen runners to kneel outside the low city gate to welcome His Royal Highness Prince Xin who was coming to the fiefdom.

There was also a three-meter-long tattered red carpet extending from outside the city gate. This was all the ceremonial equipment that the Jizhou provincial government had for welcoming Wang An.

"I, Chen He, the Chief Clerk of Jizhou Prefecture, respectfully welcome His Royal Highness Prince Xin!"

A leading official prostrated himself on the ground, saluted Wang An and said.

Wang An waved his hand to signal the other party to stand up, and then immediately realized that the other party could not see his movements, and then said irritably: "No need to be polite, stand up and talk."

"Yes!" The official stood up, his figure thin but straight.

Although he still lowered his head, Wang An could still see the other person's appearance clearly. He was a middle-aged man in his early thirties with a moustache.

Although he was respectful to Wang An, he was not afraid at all. "Where is the governor of Jizhou? Why doesn't he come out to see me?" Wang An was slightly displeased. Although he had always kept a low profile in the court, it did not mean that he could tolerate the local officials being so neglectful to him.

“Let His Royal Highness Prince Xin know that the court has not appointed a governor for Jizhou for three years. Even the official positions in the provincial government are mostly vacant. All affairs in Jizhou have been handled by Chen and his colleagues over the years.” The middle-aged official gestured to the other officials who were still lying on the ground behind him.

Wang An couldn't help but sigh, wondering whether his decision to come to Jizhou to become a vassal was the right one.

Jizhou is so big, but not only does it not have a governor, but even its daily operations can only rely on a dozen or so petty officials.

No wonder that during the 200 years that the Daliang Dynasty occupied Jizhou, the people of Jizhou were the Daliang Dynasty. As a poor and impoverished place, it even became a place where the court exiled criminals.

But since he had already come here, it was too late to regret it. Wang An looked at the middle-aged official in front of him and said, "The government affairs of a state are very busy, and it all depends on your hard work. I will definitely write to the court to ask for your credit!"

Hearing this, Chen He and the other officials who were still kneeling on the ground couldn't help but look at Wang An with excitement on their faces.

Most of these people were not doing well in officialdom or had offended the powerful, so they were transferred to Jizhou, a remote place.

For many years, no one from either the Ministry of Personnel or the Cabinet had ever asked about them.

If Wang An could really write a letter to the court to ask for credit on their behalf, perhaps one day he would be transferred out of Jizhou.

Chen He, who had always been calm, showed excitement for the first time. He quickly made way and said, "Your Highness Prince Xin must be tired after the long journey. I will lead you to the palace to stay."

"There is also a palace?" Wang An couldn't help but be surprised.

Since the establishment of the Jin Dynasty in Daliang, no vassal king has ever been enfeoffed here.

Logically speaking, even if the officials of Jizhou showed up to please him, it would be too late in such a short time.

Could it be that he just built two houses and claimed that they were preparing a palace for himself?
As if seeing the confusion on Wang An's face, Chen He couldn't help but blush, but he didn't explain, just gestured towards Baicheng: "Your Highness, please follow me."

"Thank you, Lord Chen, for leading the way." Wang An did not ask any more questions and kicked his horse to officially enter his fiefdom.

Entering Baicheng, a narrow yellow mud road runs through the entire city, and you can almost see the end at a glance.

Because it is the main street of Baicheng, there are some brick and wood shops on both sides of the street, but they all appear to be very narrow and dilapidated, and the exposed walls and pillars even have traces of being burned by the fire.

Except for the first row of brick and wood buildings, the houses behind are basically thatched huts made of yellow mud bricks, which appear narrow and low.

There were few pedestrians on the street, and like the people Wang An met outside the city, most of them were ragged, pale and thin.

Only a few businessmen, dressed respectably, were leaning against the shops on both sides of the street, looking at Wang An and his party curiously.

"The people of Jizhou don't seem to be afraid of officials?" Wang Anqi asked.

In other places in the Daliang Dynasty, even if Wang An did not display the prince's ceremonial guards, the people along the way would have avoided him as far as they could just by seeing the Black-Armored Guards, let alone watching like the people of Jizhou.

Chen He heard this and explained: "Most of the people in Jizhou do not accept the imperial court's teachings, and the people have always been tough, so they are not afraid of the imperial officials."

Wang An suddenly realized that since the imperial court conquered Jizhou and established prefectures and counties, it has hardly invested much energy in this land, and countless criminals have been exiled here over the past few hundred years.

Apart from the immigrants who moved in at the beginning, the local people were either criminals or descendants of criminals. Moreover, they lived in a barren border area. If they were not tough, they would have died in the wilderness long ago.

(End of this chapter)