133: Chapter 126: Vigilance Against Lyuzhou 133: Chapter 126: Vigilance Against Lyuzhou Jiangnan had been locked down for a month, and the population of Lyuzhou City…..

had reached a hundred thousand!

This number, Wu You had gathered himself these days…..

It was the tenth day since Hong Lie had arrived in Lyuzhou, and he still had not seen the mysterious Magistrate of Lyuzhou, yet the situation in Lyuzhou seemed visibly to be getting better and better.

“I say, Old Wu, why the long face all day?”

In a tea stall near the city gate, Hong Lie, cradling a big bowl of deep-fried meat worms that glowed golden, ate with relish, appearing heartless and liverless, which made Wu You’s stomach turn even more.

“General Hong, you see…..

the population of Lyuzhou City keeps growing.”

“Hmm…..

indeed,” Hong Lie nodded: “The past two days, the queue for meals has been longer than before, definitely more people.”

Wu You’s face twitched, looking at Hong Lie in a low tone: “Haven’t you noticed something is amiss, General?”

“What’s amiss?” Hong Lie, munching on the worms, looked at Wu You curiously.

To speak or not to speak, these worms were really moreish, they had the chewiness of beef but not as dry; that meat juice with their so-called black pepper sauce was truly delightful.

When leaving here, he’d have to ask Chen Qing for some to take back and see if it could be raised in the Hong Family’s backyard.

“General…” Seeing that the other party seemed oblivious, Wu You frowned and said, “Look around you, do you know how many people are in Lyuzhou now?”

“Roughly over a hundred thousand…..” Hong Lie replied honestly, not understanding why the other was so serious.

“One hundred and sixteen thousand eight hundred and fifty-three!” Wu You said in a cold voice: “Among them, less than twenty thousand are elderly, women, and children, and there are ninety thousand able-bodied individuals over the age of fourteen!”

“How do you know this so clearly?” Hong Lie inquired curiously.

Wu You’s face twitched again, thinking he was like you, heartless and liverless, not basking in the sun then queuing up with the refugees for meat…..

“Do you know what this signifies?” Wu You said with a sigh.

“What?”

“Military recruitment!” Wu You narrowed his eyes, speaking in a deep voice: “Most of these young and strong have lost their families and lands, they are excellent sources of soldiers, and here in Lyuzhou, the desire to enlist is exceptionally strong!”

“Oh…..

that’s true…..” Hong Lie nodded: “The pay is good, ten silver taels a month, I’d be very willing if I were one of those refugees.”

“Ten silver taels a month…..” Wu You sighed: “If there were no soldiers at the beginning and high rewards were needed to attract warriors to enlist, it makes sense, but now Lyuzhou has the ability to defend itself, yet this condition has not changed.”

“So it hasn’t changed, what of it?” Hong Lie said, puzzled: “What’s the issue with that?”

“What’s the issue?” Wu You said with a smile: “The Magistrate is recruiting soldiers in the name of the Imperial Court, but everyone knows that the Court would never allow such extravagant pay; the border troops in the north don’t even get these benefits.

It’s fine for now, but what will happen once the crisis is resolved?”

“Will he keep shouldering this costly soldier’s pay?”

“Probably he’ll disband them on the spot…..” said Hong Lie nonchalantly, continuing to eat his meat.

“Disband them on the spot?” Wu You gave him a look: “Have you seen those soldiers, their abilities, their strength?

Does he seem like someone who would disband them just like that?”

“What are you worried about?” Hong Lie asked with a frown: “Are you worried that Chen Qing will rebel?

His recruitment efficiency is not enough then, there’s been no new recruits in these ten days.”

“And yet the atmosphere hasn’t diminished!” Wu You said darkly: “Haven’t you noticed that Lyuzhou is subtly raising the status of those soldiers?

Privileges like priority settlement in Lyuzhou, property allocation, children of recruits having preferential admission to official schools; now, in Lyuzhou, the unmarried young women and widows almost all prefer to marry soldiers, don’t they?”

“Really?” Hong Lie was taken aback: “But didn’t I hear that going to work on Daqing Mountain also gets these benefits?”

“That’s why it’s not normal!” Wu You exclaimed coldly: “These refugees, saved during great tribulation, are like rootless duckweed; Lyuzhou City gave them safety, ample food, there was no need to offer such high rewards really, they should be doing whatever they are told, like work-for-aid, whether it’s farming or craftwork, as long as they are fed, ninety-nine percent of refugees would not resist.

So why offer such generous benefits?

Is there too much money to spend?”

“Ah…” Hong Lie was a bit stunned, feeling like that made sense.

These days, he too had sensed that the common folk of Lyuzhou were perhaps living too well?

The cost was indeed high…

“But that’s also good, right…” Hong Lie said with a chuckle, “Isn’t it a good thing that the common folk are doing well?”

“A good thing?” Wu You sneered, “How do you think this meat worm tastes?”

“Ah?” Not understanding why the other person suddenly brought up the topic of meat worms again, Hong Lie scratched his head, “Very nice, the flavor is delicious and chewy, even tastier than the fatty beef shipped from the West Sea.”

“Then if you got used to this, and you were asked to eat the mutton at home again, would you be accustomed to it?”

“Ah…..probably not,” Hong Lie grimaced, “It looks like I really need Chen Qing to bring some back to the Capital City.

Just thinking of only being able to eat dry and fishy mutton and fish when I return makes me feel uncomfortable…”

“You see, even you feel this way.

So what about those common folk who can only afford coarse grains when they return home?”

“Ah…” Hong Lie looked up, feeling something was slightly off.

“We who lead soldiers have always known not to let the lower ranks eat too well…” Wu You said coldly.

“Unless you can ensure they always receive such treatment, otherwise, you can’t set the treatment too high from the beginning.

Scholars have always said, it’s difficult to transition from luxury to frugality, and there is reason in this.

Once these farming folk have tasted the flavor of the meat worms and have had good days, do you think they would be willing to go back to their previous lives?

The farmers might manage, but what about the soldiers?”

“You’ve seen it too, what kind of strength do those soldiers have?

They’re strong and receive relatively good treatment.

You think they’ll agree to disband?

Even if Chen Qing is willing, those soldiers won’t want to!”

“This…..” Hong Lie swallowed the meat in his mouth,”What can be done?

Will these soldiers really rebel when the time comes?”

“That depends on how you see it…” Wu You said pensively.

“If Chen Qing disbands the soldiers himself, then any rebellion would be his responsibility.

But if the Imperial Court forcibly makes Chen Qing disband them, then the soldiers will not think it’s Chen Qing’s fault but will resent the Imperial Court.”

“If it were powerless commoners, that would be one thing.

But these soldiers are not the same; they are armed and will have murderous intentions arise on their own.

If the Imperial Court tries to take away their treatment and Chen Qing, on the other hand, can offer it, who do you think they will listen to?”

Hong Lie: “…..”

“Jiangnan holds literature in high regard; it’s actually the least likely place for rebellions to occur, because not only is confucian constraint severe here, the common people also do not live too poorly.

Most people who seek a stable life would not be willing to follow rebels, but now it’s different.” Wu You pointed outside, “This corpse transformation incident broke the peace, so…

the person who can provide stability and a better life will naturally gain unprecedented prestige.”

“You’re trying to say that Chen Qing wants to rebel, aren’t you?” Hong Lie gave the other a sidelong glance.

“With just the power of one Lyuzhou?

And the situation you just described is also incorrect.

What you just said requires that Chen Qing can always satisfy such a lifestyle, which is impossible.”

“At first I thought it was impossible too…” Wu You sighed, “I thought the Magistrate was a bit foolish for elevating the treatment for the refugees because once the treatment declines in the future, it would end up being a thankless task, ‘A favor in the morning, enmity in the evening,’ as it has always been.

But look…..

there are now a hundred thousand of them.

Have you felt any decrease in the distribution of food?”

Wu You pointed at the meat worm in Hong Lie’s bowl, “Look at these meat worms, when there were only tens of thousands of people, they could distribute one per person each day.

Now there are over a hundred thousand, and they can still distribute one per person, as if there will never be an end.”

“This…” Hong Lie, feeling somewhat guilty, scratched his head, “It should…..

be temporary, right?”

“What if it’s not temporary?” Wu You sneered, “What if he can guarantee such days?

Even better?”

As he spoke, Wu You pointed to some soldiers wandering outside, “Look, our soldiers have been arranged to take turns guarding here, eating the same rations every day for over ten days.

Guess what they would feel in their hearts if they continue eating like this for another month or two before I take them back to continue with the army rations?”

“Ah….”

“And this is just the matter of food…..

other things are even more dangerous…” Wu You lowered his voice, “These days, I haven’t stopped sending soldiers to probe the depths, asking and dealing with the city gate soldiers.

Surprisingly, they weren’t guarded at all and spilled everything honestly.

The soldiers in Lyuzhou used to be commoners who, after joining the army and believing in the Gate Deity of Lyuzhou and that Tiger Guard Army’s so-called God of Fighting, became so formidable!”

“This…..

Isn’t revealing everything a good thing?” Hong Lie frowned, “The situation seems a bit unreasonable, but at least Chen Qing isn’t hiding anything.”

“He never intended to hide it!” Wu You said coldly, “He deliberately revealed it.

Haven’t you noticed these past few days that our soldiers…..

are increasingly envious of Lyuzhou’s soldiers?”

Hong Lie frowned.

He did have a feeling about that.

The personal soldiers around him were alright, but the regular soldiers almost talked every day about how great the soldiers from Lyuzhou were, with most of their words filled with envy and even jealousy.

“You haven’t mixed with the border army and don’t know the situation there.” Wu You sighed, “The army has always been polarized, with soldiers of bloodlines considered superior, while those without bloodlines, no matter their treatment or promotion, are worlds apart from bloodline personal soldiers.

Such an atmosphere leads to a sense of division within the army, but this situation is not unique to Great Jin; it’s the same with all powers in the world, and it was seemingly unsolvable.”

“But with this Magistrate Chen, it’s different here!” Wu You spoke with a low, certain tone, “Here…

ordinary people can become as strong as bloodline soldiers, just this fact alone will attract many heroes from the army.

The situation here, if magnified indefinitely, must be a calamity that will topple Great Jin!”