I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 196 The sheer number of powerful individuals shocked Mu Tianbo.
After witnessing Constable Chen and his companion chasing thieves, Mu Tianbo and the others were shocked and suddenly gained a profound understanding of why the militia stopped building city walls when constructing the city.

If the people who rescue the militia are all like this, then even if we build city walls, we probably won't be able to stop them.
If that's the case, then what's the point of building city walls?
On the other hand, the thieves were no match for Officer Chen and his companion.

In just two or three minutes, when Mu Tianbo and the others had almost disappeared from sight, the thief was finally caught by Constable Chen and his companion.

"Hehe, keep running, keep running!"

Grabbing the thief's arm, Constable Chen slapped the back of his head repeatedly.

"No, no, I won't run anymore, I won't run anymore."

The thief looked dejected, his head drooping listlessly.

"Tell me, where is what you stole?"

"It's right here in my house."

Afterwards, Constable Chen and his companion took the thief to his house, retrieved the two stolen packages, and returned to Ruixiang Tower.

"Look, are these your things? Check if anything is missing."

"No no."

After opening and inspecting it briefly, the Nguyen brothers and Madam Tran immediately shook their heads.

Then, the Ruan brothers came forward again, took out about ten taels of silver, and tried to stuff it into the hands of Constable Chen and his companion.

"Hey, hey, hey, please don't!"

However, upon seeing the two men's actions, Constable Chen and his companion immediately changed their expressions and decisively stopped them without the slightest hesitation.

Isn't this just letting them make mistakes?

That will result in a deduction of merit points.

How can this be possible?
Within the People's Salvation Army, all promotions require corresponding merits and achievements.

Otherwise, even if the current situation is special, many people can become county magistrates or even prefects in newly occupied areas without sufficient meritorious achievements.

However, when the national officials' attendance is reviewed every six months, if your achievements and political performance do not meet the standards, and there are others whose achievements and political performance surpass yours, then your position will be immediately demoted.

Therefore, for the officials and generals in the People's Salvation Army, meritorious service and political achievements were everything.

Even the lowest-ranking village chiefs and constables could be quickly promoted as long as they had enough merits and achievements.

In the past, minor officials like constables were not even considered true government officials.

The highest promotion one can get is a constable.

Now, however, the People's Salvation Army has opened up the path to promotion.

As long as one has enough meritorious achievements, one can be promoted all the way up.

Constable, head constable, chief inspector of county-level patrol office, chief inspector of prefecture-level patrol office, chief inspector of county-level patrol office.

Most importantly, the positions in the People's Salvation Army are not just those of simple administrators; they possess corresponding supernatural powers, which is what makes them so sought after.

Even if they were just the lowest-ranking constables, they could easily crush the so-called top experts from the common people.

Faced with all sorts of temptations and such a clear path to promotion, who would easily give it up?

Naturally, they would spontaneously avoid situations where their merits and achievements were deducted.

Such practices as accepting bribes, embezzlement, and corruption can be avoided to the greatest extent possible.

Especially for lower-level officials, as long as they still want to be promoted, they must avoid it and never leave themselves with the slightest stain.

Officer Chen and his companion left with the thief.

Duke Mu Tianbo of Qian, along with Madam Chen and the Ruan brothers, escorted them all the way out of the inn, watching their figures disappear before returning themselves.

For a moment, everyone was filled with mixed feelings and had their own thoughts.

Mu Tianbo's eyes flickered. He looked at the inn, which was nearly empty due to the early morning, then at his mother sitting silently there, and the Ruan brothers, the stewards. After a moment of contemplation, he quietly approached the innkeeper.

"Mr. Zhou, can I ask you about something?"

"Hehe, no problem, no problem, Brother Mu, please go ahead."

Looking into the boy's bright eyes, the innkeeper already had a general idea of ​​what he wanted to ask, and couldn't help but smile and say something.

"Hmm, are there many people like that thief and those two constables around here?"

After a moment's hesitation, Mu Tianbo asked.

The innkeeper's eyes flickered slightly, a thought rising in his mind that he had expected this, but he remained outwardly calm, smiling as he said:

"There really aren't many people in the entire Longchang County with skills like that thief."

"Oh~!"

Mu Tianbo was initially disappointed, but then he felt relieved. There shouldn't be many powerful people like that who cause trouble.

Seemingly sensing his thoughts, the innkeeper couldn't help but change the subject with a smile.

"However, there are many who are slightly inferior to him."

"Oh~? Mr. Zhou, could you tell me about it?"

The innkeeper glanced at Madam Chen, who was also looking over with curiosity, and Brother Ruan, and without refusing, smiled naturally and said:

"That's a lot. In the entire Longchang County, there must be at least eight hundred, if not a thousand."
"Boss Zou across the street, Boss Ma next door."

"what!"

Mu Tianbo stared in shock, his mouth agape, his face filled with disbelief.

He originally thought that even if there were a few more experts who were slightly inferior to the thief, there shouldn't be too many more.

However, the innkeeper said that there were at least eight hundred, if not a thousand.

This is just unbelievable.

I doubt that even Kunming, the major city in Yunnan Prefecture where their Mu Wang Mansion is located, has this many extraordinary soldiers.
Moreover, the power possessed by those superhuman soldiers was far inferior to that of the thieves.

But now, the innkeeper says that in just an ordinary county like Longchang, there are a thousand or eight hundred skilled thieves who are slightly inferior to the thief from before.

Does this mean that if the People's Salvation Army wanted to attack Kunming, all it would take was for the strongman in this small county to make a move and easily occupy Kunming?

In that instant, they felt that their future was bleak.

If the militia were all that powerful, then even if they returned to the Ming Dynasty, they would probably still be captured or even killed.

After a long while, Mu Tianbo finally came to his senses. "Then..."
"May I practice this kind of martial art?"

"you?"

The innkeeper sized Mu Tianbo up and down, then smiled and said under his anxious gaze:

"Hehe, why not?"

"really?"

"Of course, as long as you engage in long-term and intensive training, you too can cultivate true qi."

"It's that simple?"

"Of course it's more than that. If you want to become a top-tier master, you'd better go to a martial arts school to learn martial arts techniques. That's the fastest way to become a master, and your potential is also higher."
Maybe in three to five months, you'll be able to be like him.

However, what the innkeeper didn't say was that by then, that person might have become even stronger.

After all, while you are improving, others are also making progress.

"Three to five months?"

Upon hearing that it would take three to five months, Mu Tianbo couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.

They need to get to the Huguang region as quickly as possible; they can't stay here for three to five months to practice martial arts.

Then, as if he had thought of something, Mu Tianbo asked again:
"You said that thief is already the strongest among the top experts, there aren't many like him in the entire Longchang County?"

But those two constables seem to be even stronger to me.

"Ha ha."

As if he had heard something funny, the innkeeper couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Seeing this scene, Mu Tianbo was a little confused. His originally smiling face became somewhat stiff.

Just as Mu Tianbo was about to change his expression, the innkeeper stopped laughing and explained to Mu Tianbo:

"Officer Chen and his ilk are government officials, unlike us."

Even the weakest among them could easily crush the strongest among the common people.

"Ah~?"

Mu Tianbo was shocked once again.

"Would someone as powerful as him be willing to join the government and become a lowly constable?"

In Mu Tianbo's mind, experts all have their own pride and generally do not easily join a certain force, even if that force is the government.

"No, no, no, you've got it backwards. It was only after they joined the government that they became those powerful individuals."

"."

Mu Tianbo was stunned for a moment before he suddenly realized what was happening.

"You...you mean the Salvation Army has methods to rapidly increase one's strength?"

"Yes, it certainly exists, but it might be a little different from what you imagine."

"What's the difference?"

"hehe."

When Mu Tianbo asked the question, the innkeeper chuckled but did not answer.

In an instant, Mu Tianbo realized that perhaps this was some kind of secret that could not be discussed.

Of course, this isn't really a secret.

As the saying goes, what one person knows is a secret, but what two people know is no longer a secret.

Moreover, there are now more than a million people who possess the status of a celestial being.

Furthermore, the dynasty did not prohibit the leakage of information.

Information about the divine status naturally leaked out little by little.

However, it seems to be an unspoken understanding that, apart from those who are truly close to them and those who have merged with the Heavenly Authority, none of them have ever acknowledged it in front of outsiders.

Most of them are just rumors that seem plausible, and no one can be sure until they have experienced them firsthand.

And when they heard that the People's Salvation Army could quickly enhance a person's strength, making them stronger than the strongest master.

Mu Tianbo and the others were stunned once again.

They weren't stupid; even ordinary constables could achieve such a promotion.

So what about the actual soldiers of the militia? Their promotions must have been even greater, right?

If all the militia members were super strong individuals capable of moving swiftly and powerfully.

That doesn't require many; just tens of thousands of people would be enough to sweep across the entire world.

Of course, he could only sweep across the world, but he had no way to govern such a large territory.

But this means that, if the People's Salvation Army wanted to, they could march east and sweep across the Ming Dynasty at any time.

They couldn't imagine which army in the Ming Dynasty could possibly stand against such a people-saving army.

In an instant, everyone's expression changed repeatedly, but in the end, they could only sigh inwardly.

They've all been driven out of Yunnan, like stray dogs, so this is none of their business.

After calming himself down a bit, Mu Tianbo chatted with the innkeeper about other things.

In any case, he could not stay here to practice martial arts, and as the Duke of Qian of the Ming Dynasty, he could not possibly join the People's Salvation Army.

So for the time being, he can forget about acquiring that kind of super-powerful martial arts.

Since that's the case, he stopped asking about these things to avoid making himself even more itchy.

As they talked, the conversation turned to trains and the transportation of military supplies.

"Oh, you mean trains? They're a mode of transportation developed by the artisans of the Weapons Manufacturing Division, based on the Heavenly King's guidance."

All you need to do is start a fire, and you can travel a thousand miles by day and eight hundred miles by night.
A journey of thousands of miles takes only a few days.
The Western Region merchants you met mostly arrived by train.
However, if the militia needs it, the transportation of ordinary merchants and travelers will be immediately stopped and converted to military use.

(End of this chapter)