Hyperdimensional Player

Chapter 344 Stabilizing Public Sentiment! A Miscellaneous Treatise on the Way of the Overlord (Part Six)

Scorching sun.

After settling in for two days, Bao Le'an's family went to the county government office to collect tools at the beckoning of the yamen runners. Then, the men split into one group and the women and children into another, and a vast, dark mass of people, numbering several thousand, gathered and headed toward the direction of cultivating the fields and digging ditches.

As Bao Le'an passed an intersection, he saw several people dressed as craftsmen. The old man in the lead was about fifty years old. After he gave a few instructions, a yamen runner immediately shouted, "Those who know crafts, stand by the roadside."

"Any blacksmiths or miners? Quickly follow this gentleman, you'll get fifty coins a day."

Bao Le'an was intrigued, but unfortunately he didn't have the skills to take on such a job.

They don't get paid for their work these days, don't even think about it; they're lucky if they can even get food to eat.

In the end, only a dozen or so people were selected from thousands of applicants.

Because of his good health, Bao Le'an was assigned to dig ditches. Those who did the heavy work were allowed three meals a day, while the other women and children only received two meals a day. Because he worked hard, at noon, the clerk in charge of supervising the work rewarded him with a piece of meat. He didn't know what kind of meat it was, but it was only the size of a finger. He secretly hid it, intending to take it back and share it with his two children.

It's not that no one tries to cheat or be cunning; a few lashes will make them behave. One lash will tear their skin and flesh, and after a day of hunger, they'll be obedient the next day.

tired.

I'm so tired, like an animal.

When Bao Le'an finished his day's work, he was so tired that he could hardly speak when he got back. Because of the lack of livestock, the ditches were all dug by manpower. But time waits for no one. The water conservancy in Nanhan had not been repaired for several years. If they did not seize the next month or two, the spring plowing would be delayed.

Enrichment.

Very fulfilling.

And I feel that I am still alive, living like a human being.

People in this era are very different from modern people. You could call them shameless, but once they actually started working and were exhausted, Bao Le'an and the other resettled refugees finally felt at ease.

They are useful and valuable, and will not be easily discarded.

As long as there's work to do and food to eat, as long as you're not exhausted to death, you can work yourself to the bone.

The whips in the hands of those overseers were no joke. If they failed to meet the targets set by their superiors, they would be severely punished, or even lose their heads.

They treat cattle and horses like people, and people like livestock.

Throughout Cailong County, cattle and horses are far more valuable than people. They can rest after finishing their work, but Bao Le'an and the other refugees can only rest for a while during lunchtime before immediately starting work again, carrying baskets of soil to other places.

The place where the refugees were settled was a dilapidated shack. They had to repair it themselves, and it was barely habitable, offering little protection from the wind and rain.

Bao Le'an took out a strip of dried meat from his pocket, tore it in half, gave more to his son and less to his youngest daughter. He did heavy work and had three meals a day, which was better than the rest of the family. His youngest daughter's mouth watered. She took a small bite and said with a big smile, "Dad, it's delicious."

The son, about fifteen or sixteen years old, was a young boy, not very strong, and quite taciturn. His name was Bao Ping. He took the dried meat, swallowed, and then walked to his mother, who was resting against the wall. He handed her the dried meat and said, "Mother, you're weak, you eat it."

The youngest daughter glanced at the dried meat in her hand with a reluctant expression, then handed it back to Bao Le'an and brought it to his lips, saying, "Dad, you do the heavy work, you eat it."

The couple looked at each other, and their eyes instantly filled with tears.

The old wife reached out and took the dried meat, tore off a strip of meat, and gave it back to her eldest son. Bao Le'an did the same. He stroked his youngest daughter's head and said in a hoarse voice, "Eat quickly."

"You are at the age when you are growing."

The family shared the finger-length jerky. Bao Le'an glanced at his wife, signaling her to rest, then got up and went out to check on the other villagers nearby.

Everyone was exhausted.

But while there was still a little daylight, the men in charge gathered together and spoke in hushed tones. The oldest man, who was about fifty years old, was chewing something. He glanced at Bao Le'an and whispered, "This Red Army uprising is probably going to succeed."

The others looked up but remained silent.

They don't know much and aren't good with words.

The old man continued, "It's not that no one has rebelled in the past, but this is the first time I've seen someone act in this way."

He had also rebelled in his early years; when Zhang Yuxian launched his uprising, he infiltrated one of the rebel armies.

But the rebel army at that time never thought about farming and pacifying the people. They just killed officials and local tyrants, robbed money, grain and women. After they finished robbing one place, they would move on to another place to continue robbing. But no matter how much they robbed, they could not feed so many mouths.

Throughout history, there have been countless rebellions, but this is the first time I've seen a righteous army that doesn't coerce ordinary people into joining them.

They feel at peace now.

Because they know that the hard work they do today will feed their whole family next year, or at least keep them from starving.

Instead of conscripting able-bodied men, those who wanted to join the army had to be selected carefully. Only those who were physically strong and had a good foundation were accepted. In the words of the officials, the higher-ups had made it clear that priority should be given to 'good families.' Soldiers did not need to be tattooed, and criminals were not the main force of the army.

He didn't coerce the people to their deaths. Back when this old man rebelled, he used a knife to force the people he had coerced to attack the city. Countless people died when he captured a county town.

Under that emperor's rule, human life was both valuable and worthless.

What's valuable is population, which is productivity. As long as there are people, there's work to be done, and there's a labor shortage everywhere.

What's worthless is that they never hesitate to kill. At the beginning of the uprising, some people took advantage of the chaos to loot. There were also local bandits and scoundrels. They were all physically strong and had some fighting ability. In the past, they were recruited to suppress the local areas or incorporated into the army. After some training, they could fight.

But the Red Army just kept killing!

In Cailong alone, hundreds of people were killed. The killing continued until not a single ruffian could be seen on the streets, and those who were still alive were as scared as quails.

That's over a hundred heads! People from all walks of life, whether they were from gangs or not, would die if they showed their faces.

They thought that by gathering a crowd and making a scene, the other side would compromise and incorporate them, and they might even be able to get a job as officials. After all, these people were real local bullies, and the rebel army still needed to use locals to manage a county they captured.

But their response was a well-coordinated charge by the army!

That is, two squad leaders led twenty or thirty men, armed with swords, shields, spears, and bows and arrows. In one round of charging, they killed most of them. Even the leader of the Qingfu Gang was wounded by a hail of arrows. Before he could even use his lightness skill, three or five fierce soldiers thrust his spears at him and killed him on the spot in the street.

These third-rate martial arts masters would be doomed if they directly confronted an army. These fierce soldiers were not even the Red Army's elite troops; they were merely auxiliary troops used to suppress local forces.

The Qingfu Gang's main businesses were loan sharking and underground banking. When the gang leader died suddenly in the street, his entire family was raided and wiped out that same day.

The biggest winners were the two squad leaders, who I heard have been promoted to captains, which is actually equivalent to centurions, but they belong to the local troops.

That constable was said to have a sharp spear technique called the Huanhou Spear Technique, which was the spear technique used by Zhang Fei during the Three Kingdoms period. His background was not very clear, but it was said that he was a disciple of the Lion-like Sect and had studied martial arts under a master soldier.

These people's martial arts style is completely different from that of the Jianghu sects. They use a combination of swords, shields, bows, arrows, and formations, and can easily kill even second-rate Jianghu masters.

The old man who spoke naturally didn't know that much, but he had practiced military martial arts, and when he was bragging to others, he couldn't help but say, "The other captain probably practices Li Cunxiao's Thirteen Taibao Kung Fu."

"It is said that those who master this skill will be invulnerable to swords and spears."

Those around them clicked their tongues in amazement, their faces full of envy. They wished they could have such superb martial arts skills, so that they might be able to find a job in the army.

It's getting dark.

The group chatted for a short while, not daring to linger. If they were discovered by the patrol, they might get a beating.

After everyone had left, the old man cautiously made his way to another spot.

"Have you found out?" asked a long-bearded man dressed like an accountant.

The old man bowed respectfully and said, "I've figured it all out."

"There are no bandits or outlaws."

The man opposite nodded and said, "Then go back. Keep a close eye on things, and I'll recommend you for a village chief position in the future."

The old man was overjoyed, bowed respectfully, and took his leave.

The next day, as dawn broke, Bao Le'an and his family got up to work. He received a bowl of porridge, drank a few mouthfuls, and tried to sneak some to his children, but a minor official saw him and glared at him. He quickly finished the porridge in a few bites, grabbed his food, and went to work.

"Lunch will be provided, so your families won't starve."

"If you skimp on food and get exhausted from working at noon, neglecting your duties, don't blame me for being ruthless with my whip." The clerk looked fierce and menacing.

This morning, several heads were circulated among the counties. They were all heads of people who had been chopped off for embezzling and misappropriating rations. They were still fresh.

Damn it.

They were practically a group of killing gods descended to earth.

The minor official was trembling with fear when he saw the several Imperial Guards who brought the severed heads. Who knew what these Imperial Guards were? There weren't many of them, only twenty or thirty, and they were directly under the command of that Ming King. In the past half month, they had killed twenty or thirty officials.

I heard that some skilled eunuchs were recruited, but I don't know where they were placed.

Once someone falls into the hands of these people, the death penalty is the first punishment; even the county magistrate had his home confiscated.

These people all have deadpan faces, as if they have no emotions. They are definitely executioners. If anyone is caught embezzling, not only will they have to spit out everything they have eaten, but their entire fortune will also be confiscated.

When Duncan first started his career, he had to feed so many people, and the front lines also required money and supplies, so he had to be extremely careful with every penny.

Anyone who dares to undermine him will face his wrath.

Duncan could have completely disregarded the lives of so many people, such as the winter food supply for the Bao Le'an family, but since he was going to do it, he would go all the way. It was just a matter of feeding hundreds of thousands more mouths. As the King of Kings, returning to his old ways, how could he not be able to feed all these people?

kill!

For Duncan, the front lines were not so difficult. The Southern Han had been ruined by Liu Chang, and most of its troops were no match for him. The real challenge was to keep these hundreds of thousands of people alive through the winter and until the spring harvest.

He has already exploited half of the powerful and influential families of Southern Han, both psychologically and physically.

They had to extract two ounces of oil from his bone marrow; that oil could be used elsewhere to save his life.

Duncan wouldn't fabricate something out of thin air.

Wealth can only be transferred from one place to another. Before the first wave of productivity explodes, it can only recover by constantly exploiting the old forces.

Hundreds of thousands of people are starving and desperate for food; what's the big deal about killing a few more?

Duncan felt he had been playing very conservatively.

Bao Le'an will never know that the relief grain they received, enough for able-bodied men to eat three meals a day, came at the cost of clearing out the entire Cailong County.

Food doesn't just appear out of nowhere.

Only when the first spring harvest arrives will these appeased naturalized citizens become truly obedient citizens.

They will remember who fed them.

"The magistrate has arrived." A voice came from afar.

He was a fair-skinned, beardless middle-aged man with a dignified air. After being escorted here by the constables, the first thing he did was to inspect the soup kitchen. Only after confirming that no food had been withheld did he nod in satisfaction. The deadline was very tight, and if people didn't get enough to eat, they would die.

He then leisurely inspected the reclamation progress of the barren fields within a radius of more than ten miles.

This not only concerns his official position, but also his life.

Duncan was too ruthless.

He wasn't worried at all about not having scholars to serve him. In the Southern Han Dynasty, Confucian scholars would even undergo castration to become officials, so what else couldn't they accept?

If they can give up Jill, then they can give up anything else.

The magistrate's name was Xu Hao, and he was somewhat famous in the Southern Han Dynasty, but he was famous for an anecdote. It is said that when he first took office, he happened to encounter Liu Chang issuing a "castration order". He was so scared that he abandoned his post overnight and fled back to his hometown in order to avoid being castrated.

But no.

When Liu Chang learned of this, he made an example of him. So, his chief eunuch dispatched an urgent messenger overnight, who managed to reach Liu Chang's hometown and, with the help of experts from the Imperial Castration Bureau, castrated Liu Chang right there in his home.

Not only Xu Hao, but even monks and Taoist priests had to be castrated at that time. Gong Chengshu was a member of the Demonic Sect and the mastermind behind the castration policy.

Under his control, many Buddhist and Taoist practitioners in the Southern Han Dynasty were so frightened that they fled.

After being castrated, Xu Hao, deeply saddened, decided to lie low and wait for an opportunity. After the Red Army occupied Qiongzhou and other places, he immediately took the lead in surrendering. He and Li Fengji and others were among the first batch of Confucian disciples to submit.

It was because of these people that Duncan was able to carry out sweeping reforms.

Scholars have only so many pursuits.

Books contain beautiful women and golden houses.

Yan Ruyu is no longer of use.

Enjoyment has been reduced by more than half.

Duncan could give important positions to any scholar who wasn't too greedy for money, offering them fame, fortune, and power, allowing them to avenge their families and make their mark on history.

These people were even more ruthless towards Liu Chang's lackeys than Duncan was.

If it works, use it to the fullest extent.

What does it matter if the roots are wiped out?
As long as it leaves a mark on history, it's worth it!

Xu Hao happened to be a scholar who wasn't particularly greedy for money. He was in charge of the affairs of a county and only wanted to realize his ambitions. He was already lacking something, so naturally he wanted to fight for things that others wouldn't even dare to dream of.

Throughout the entire Southern Han Dynasty, there were many people like him.

Because Liu Chang castrated too many people.

The total registered population of the Southern Han Dynasty was only over two million, of which more than ten thousand were eunuchs.

Wherever Duncan conquered, people would immediately flock to him. Most of these people were fair-skinned and beardless, including scholars, officials, monks, and Taoists, all of whom had an irreconcilable hatred for Liu Chang.

To boost its performance, Liu Chang's Imperial Castration Office was staffed with hundreds of skilled castrators, which could be described as managing tens of thousands of chickens every day.

Xu Hao stood on a high slope, looking down at the busy laborers below.

His performance evaluation next year will focus on two things: spring planting and autumn harvest, and protecting the borders and ensuring the safety of the people. How many of these resettled refugees can get through the winter peacefully and become obedient citizens will directly affect his performance evaluation next year.

"As long as spring planting goes well next year, people's hearts will be at ease."

Xu Hao subconsciously touched his chin, but suddenly seemed to remember something, and his face was full of sorrow.

When the rebel army captures the Prince of Xing's mansion and takes Liu Chang and his men into custody, we will petition His Majesty to have this man castrated ten times, and to bring all of Liu Chang's concubines and maids to His Majesty so that His Majesty may avenge them.

Alas!

Xu Hao, grieving the loss of Ji'er, already felt that life had little joy left, even though he was still in his prime.

A ride to the dust.

A messenger brought a battle report from the front lines, his expression excited and his voice hoarse as he exclaimed, "A great victory! An unprecedented victory!"

Eight hundred to one hundred thousand.

The vanguard of the rebel army had already reached Xingwangfu, which is now Guangzhou.

………………

(End of this chapter)