" Shen Yuan?"
This name sounds familiar.
As Yuchi Feihu was recalling, Wei Gongzhan stepped forward and bowed, saying, "So it's the newly appointed second-place scholar, Lord Shen. What brings you here, Lord Shen?"
"It really is General Yuchi!" The scholar stepped forward excitedly, "Has the imperial court finally realized Chen Qing's wolfish ambitions and sent someone?"
Yuchi Feihu and the two Wei Household beside him exchanged glances, then looked at the bustling refugee queue in the distance. Finding no one paying attention, they breathed a sigh of relief and pulled each other aside. Finally, Wei Gongyan spoke first, "What makes you say that Lord Shen?"
Wei Gongyan asked seriously, but he was secretly overjoyed. He had always disliked Chen Qing, and it was said that Wei Gongcheng, that crippled bastard, had also come to rely on him. Now, seeing that he was about to be dependent on others, he was feeling very resentful. But unexpectedly, things took a turn for the better. It seemed that the man surnamed Chen had probably done something wrong!
"General, there's no need to address me as 'sir.' I am your humble servant. No, I was stripped of my official seal by Chen Qing long ago; how could I possibly have the face to call myself 'sir'?"
"What?" Yuchi Feihu was taken aback. " Chen Qing seized your official seal?"
Although he was a military officer, he remembered that such a major matter as revoking an official seal required the Emperor's personal decision.
"On what grounds?" Wei Gongzhan asked, frowning.
"Ha," Shen Yuan sneered, "That Chen Qing, using our failure to fulfill our duties as county magistrates, claims that he took our official seals on behalf of the court. That's utterly absurd! Those man-eating zombie demons number in the hundreds or thousands. Unlike Liuzhou, our county doesn't have private armies. How could we possibly defend ourselves? To hold us accountable for such a reason, and even take our seals on behalf of the court—this Chen Qing is clearly trying to seize power in Liuzhou by taking advantage of this opportunity!"
"Such a thing is true!" Wei Gongyan the first to respond, "I always felt this boy was no good, but I never expected him to be so bold as to dare to seize an official seal!"
"That's really bold!" Yuchi Feihu nodded in agreement.
Wei Gongzhan, however, felt somewhat puzzled. Chen Qing's act of seizing the official seal was indeed against the rules, but what was the significance?
Taking such a huge risk just to collect a few official seals? With so many troops, Chen Qing could easily have rendered these county magistrates powerless; why go to such lengths and leave himself vulnerable?
Thinking of this, he asked, " Lord Shen, do you know where Chen Qing's private soldiers came from?"
Upon hearing this, Yuchi Feihu also became interested. He was also eager to know where those troops outside Liuzhou, whose quality was comparable to the direct descendants of the Duke's mansion, came from.
"This..." Shen Yuan's expression turned somewhat strange. He leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "I haven't been here long, so I don't know the specifics, but to be honest, these soldiers in Liuzhou are a bit strange!"
"Strange?"
Wei Gongzhan's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "What do you mean?"
"The soldiers of Liuzhou, it is said, were initially recruited by Chen Qing because all of Liuzhou's military forces had been mobilized and city defense troops were needed to maintain order. So he asked the Jiangnan Provincial Governor for the right to recruit soldiers and recruited private soldiers from the civilian population. Later, because of the zombie incident, under the pretext of urgency, he expanded the recruitment from the civilian population, which is how Liuzhou's army reached its current size."
"Recruited from the common people?" Wei Gongyan couldn't help but say, "Are you kidding me?"
Yuchi Feihu also had a "Are you kidding me?" look on his face. "As for the quality of those soldiers, even many aristocratic families, who raise them with a lot of resources from childhood, might not be able to train them to that level. You're telling me you can recruit soldiers like that from the common people? You try recruiting a few and see what happens!"
Seeing the way the men were looking at him like he was an idiot, Shen Yuan smiled wryly and said, "I don't know the specifics either, which is why I said it's strange. I've been in Liuzhou for more than seven or eight days and I have a fairly good understanding of the situation here. From what I've observed, the main source of soldiers in Liuzhou does indeed come from the civilian population!"
He pointed towards South Street in the distance and said, "Do you see that big group of people gathered over there?"
Yuchi Feihu and the others nodded. "What are they doing over there?"
"In the selection process," Shen Yuan said in a low voice, "The refugees from Liuzhou are constantly arriving, and Liuzhou's recruitment has never stopped. There are temporary recruitment sites all over the South Street. If you have a skill, such as being proficient in archery, horsemanship, or weaponry, you can be given priority for recruitment. If you are not good at anything, as long as you are strong and of the right age, you also have a chance to enlist."
"So, the soldiers really come from the civilian population?" Yuchi Feihu hesitated. "Could they be recruited as miscellaneous soldiers?"
"I don't know about that, but under Chen Qing's influence, there's a surge in people joining the army in Liuzhou. The conditions are excellent; any ordinary refugee who enlists, regardless of their background, can immediately register their household in Liuzhou and receive a house allocated by the Liuzhou government. Once enlisted, their wife and children will also be registered in Liuzhou, and they can collect their meals daily from South Street, with meat at every meal."
"Don't the refugees here also have meat?" Yuchi Feihu swallowed hard and pointed to the queue in the distance.
"This is only for newly arrived refugees, and they only get meat for three days!" Shen Yuan said. "They say it's to help the new refugees recover. After three days, they have to go to North Street to get more food. The food there isn't as good as it is now; it's just thick porridge with a little meat occasionally."
At this point, he was clearly somewhat resentful, because he had been sent to North Street to receive food for the past few days. As a dignified second-place scholar in the imperial examination and the head of a county, he had been reduced to drinking porridge in North Street, not even as well-treated as a common soldier. Just thinking about the aroma of the meat worms he had enjoyed for the first two days made his stomach rumble.
"I see there are quite a few people in Liuzhou," Wei Gongzhan, looking at the bustling scene in the distance. "How can the government guarantee that everyone has thick porridge and occasionally meat on such a large scale? Even if you were to fall on hard times in the capital, you wouldn't get this kind of treatment."
"That's why I say Chen Qing is a wolf in sheep's clothing!" Shen Yuan said angrily, "He must have foreseen this disaster and prepared food and won people's hearts in advance!"
Wei Gongzhan looked at the passersby outside. They were full of energy and had rosy complexions, which were obviously due to having no worries about food and clothing for many days. He fell silent for a moment. He had noticed earlier that the people in Liuzhou City had excellent complexions. Even this man surnamed Shen in front of him looked good. This was rare even in the capital.
Most people in Liuzhou have a sallow complexion year-round, especially in the north, where 90% of the population has a sallow complexion. They often go hungry, and it's common to see farmers with only a cloth between their legs to cover themselves in the sweltering heat. Yet, the people in Liuzhou all seem to have a set of decent-quality cloth clothes to wear.
If there were more officials like this who could win people's hearts, wouldn't that be a golden age?
Just then, a commotion arose outside. Looking over, they saw many people staring at the sky. The newly arrived refugees were so frightened they crouched on the ground, while those who had already spent some time in Liuzhou were excited, bowing from afar and shouting, " Day Wandering God!"
"That is?"
Yuchi Feihu and the others stared in astonishment at the majestic, silver-clad general in the sky.
"This is what I meant by the eerie place in Liuzhou!" Shen Yuan looked up at the sky and lowered his voice, saying, "Some so-called gods have inexplicably appeared in Liuzhou. According to the rumors spread by Chen Qing, a calamity has struck, and the sleeping gods of Liuzhou have awakened to protect the people. For example, the giant wolf at the gate has been dubbed a door god, supposedly to keep demons Liuzhou City. In my opinion, that door god is probably a demon itself!"
"And this ' Day Wandering God' is even more outrageous. They claim to be a righteous god of the Underworld who captures wandering souls, and that everyone who dies in Liuzhou will be included in the Underworld and enjoy Underworld lifespan. It's truly laughable!"
"Is that so?" The group was immediately intrigued.
"The key is that they're spreading these rumors so convincingly!" Shen Yuan sneered. "Some people, I don't know if they've secretly taken bribes, are crying and spreading rumors everywhere the next day that they had relatives appear to them in their dreams, saying how well they were doing in the Underworld. It's truly laughable. Chen Qing's crooked methods of bewitching people have already made the people here somewhat blindly follow him, even the teachers are aiding and abetting him!"
"Why do you say that?" Yuchi Feihu asked, taking the lead.
"It's said that the Underworld is very busy and needs highly respected teachers to help manage Underworld affairs. These teachers, who are supposed to have been raised on classical texts, actually put on airs and spend time every day going to the Underworld to clock in and be on duty. Haha."
"Forehead"
The three of them looked at each other; the situation in Liuzhou did indeed sound quite eerie.
"By the way, Young General!" Shen Yuan looked at the other party eagerly and asked, "Has the imperial court sent reinforcements?"
"Yes, the imperial court has sent reinforcements!" Yuchi Feihu nodded solemnly.
I'm not lying, the imperial court did indeed send them to reinforce Jiangnan, it's just that the result wasn't perfect.
"When do the generals plan to make their move?" Shen Yuan immediately became excited!
He'd been waiting for this day for ages!
"Uh..." Yuchi Feihu was momentarily speechless. Wei Gongzhan, standing beside him, quickly said, "It's like this, Lord Shen. The three of us were sent here first to investigate the situation. The imperial army has already sealed off Jiangnan; no evil spirits can escape here!"
"That's good, that's good!" Shen Yuan's eyes immediately filled with tears. He had been living in a daze these past few days, and he thought he was going to be trapped here forever.
"We need to gather enough intelligence before the higher-ups can send troops," Wei Gongzhan continued. "I remember that before us, the imperial court had also sent troops, led by General Hong and General Wu You. Where are they now?"
Shen Yuan was taken aback, then shook his head. "I haven't been here long and haven't heard of this."
"I see." Wei Gongzhan's expression immediately turned serious upon hearing this. "Then it seems we cannot act rashly. We must first find out the situation here. Lord Shen has been here for many days. Do you have any channels for obtaining intelligence?"
"This..." Shen Yuan was stunned. He had been in a daze these past few days, just hanging around with the refugees, eating and drinking for free. Where would he have gotten this ridiculous connection?
But he certainly couldn't say that aloud, so he made a serious gesture as if he were thinking, and then said, " Liuzhou is extremely mysterious. To obtain more information, I'd probably have to go deep inside. I haven't registered as a citizen of Liuzhou yet, so what I know is limited."
"How can I register Liuzhou residents?" Wei Gongzhan asked hurriedly.
"Three ways!" Shen Yuan hurriedly said, "First, as I just mentioned, join the army. This is the most convenient path for you gentlemen. You only need to demonstrate your skills slightly, and you should be able to be recruited into the Tiger Guard Army or the Door God Army, becoming citizens of Liuzhou. Second, you can sign up to lease land in Great Azure Mountain outside the city. It is said that there is currently a large area of farmland being reclaimed in Liuzhou. Anyone willing to lease land can become a citizen of Liuzhou. Third..."
"How about the third one?" Yuchi Feihu asked curiously.
"Third," Shen Yuan's expression turned somewhat strange, "Is the academy recruitment that will begin tomorrow. I've heard that anyone who gets admitted to the Liuzhou Yin-Yang Academy can become a citizen of Liuzhou!"
The three of them were taken aback, and all exclaimed in unison in astonishment, "What academy?"