Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 294: They gave out money without doing anything?
Just as the officials and gentry in Guangzhou were celebrating their success with smug satisfaction, believing they had figured out the new governor's "background," a real storm was quietly brewing outside the city.

Lu Xiang-sheng needs time, and the best cover is to make everyone think that he has already given in.

Taking advantage of this hard-won peace, he devoted all his energy to his first priority in heading south—reorganizing his army!
Outside Guangzhou, a piece of land that was originally barren was completely transformed in just over ten days by the labor of tens of thousands of people.

Countless tents sprang up from the ground, lined up one after another, stretching all the way to the foot of the distant hills, resembling a new city.

The original military camp was expanded more than three times its original size. Tall wooden fences and barricades isolated this vast land from the outside world. Only on the towering watchtower, a commander's flag embroidered with the character "Lu" fluttered in the southern wind.

This place is where Lu Xiang-sheng holds power, the furnace where he will forge his thunderous army.

Inside the camp, the atmosphere was far from monolithic; rather, it was like ice water poured into a pot of boiling oil, filled with sizzling divisions and oppositions.

For the first time, 14,000 soldiers gathered here and were clearly divided into several camps.

The largest force consisted of 6,000 wolf soldiers from Guangxi.

Most of them were burly, with bulging muscles on their bare arms, and eyes like hungry wolves in the forest, full of untamed wildness.

They gathered in small groups, talking loudly in a local dialect that no one else could understand, their eyes filled with undisguised contempt as they looked at the other soldiers.

This group of people is the sharpest knife of the Ming Dynasty on its southwestern border, but also the most difficult to wield.

In contrast, there were four thousand new recruits from Guangdong, their faces filled with fear.

Most of them were farm boys who had just been recruited from the fields, still carrying the scent of the soil.

Many people hadn't even received a decent military uniform, and their hands were more unfamiliar with holding rifles than with holding hoes.

They looked at the fierce Guangxi soldiers with fear, and were filled with awe for the two thousand veteran soldiers of the Beijing garrison who exuded an aura of iron will.

These two thousand veteran soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were Lu Xiang-sheng's direct subordinates brought from the capital. They were the pillars of the entire army and looked at everyone with scrutiny.

Finally, there were two thousand cavalrymen, also from the north.

They led their respective warhorses, some soothing them, others grooming them, forming their own separate groups.

Both the man and the horse exuded a calm and fierce aura, as if they had been through many battles.

They were clearly uncomfortable with the hot and humid weather in southern Guangdong, but military discipline and the emperor's military pay made them suppress all their impatience.

The arrogance of the wolf soldiers, the cowardice of the new recruits, the aloofness of the Beijing garrison, and the composure of the cavalry create a picture of numerous conflicting factions amidst a landscape of hilltops.

The air was thick with the mingled smells of sweat, horse manure, and tension, as if a single spark could ignite this enormous powder keg.

In the midst of this oppressive, almost suffocating atmosphere, three drumbeats suddenly resounded from the central command platform, like thunderclaps in a dry sky!

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to it.

Lu Xiang-sheng, with a long sword at his waist, strode up the high platform, surrounded by dozens of his personal guards.

He stood there quietly, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed crowd below the stage.

The audience fell silent for a moment, but beneath that silence, countless eyes, some curious, some scrutinizing, and some disdainful, were surging.

They were all waiting.

We await what this young governor, who is said to be manipulated by Guangdong officials and gentry, will say.

Is it a lengthy instruction? Or just an empty slogan of loyalty?

However, Lu Xiang-sheng remained silent.

He simply raised his hand.

As he moved, hundreds of strong soldiers from the Beijing garrison, in pairs, carried enormous, incredibly heavy wooden crates up to the platform with a thud.

The dull thud of the wooden crate hitting the ground seemed to strike the hearts of every soldier.

Hundreds of large boxes were stacked into a small mountain on the high platform.

What are they doing? Is it distributing weapons? Or clothing? Everyone was filled with questions.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded.

Zhou Chaoxian, who was standing next to him, immediately understood and stepped forward, shouting with all his might, "Break the box!"

With this roar, hundreds of strong guards on the high platform raised their feet and kicked fiercely!

A series of dull, battering sounds, like a battering ram pounding on a door, echoed throughout the venue!

One box after another, the wooden planks facing the thousands of soldiers, were kicked to pieces!

At first, only a few pieces of wood flew everywhere, a few glints of silver light shining through the breaches. But when the fronts of dozens of crates were kicked open almost simultaneously—

Crash——!!!
Without the restraint of the front wooden board, the neatly stacked snowflake silver ingots burst forth like a flood, instantly overcoming the last obstacle!

Countless silver ingots poured out of the breach with a "whoosh," piling up into a glittering silver mountain in front of each box.

The entire edge of the platform seemed to be instantly inlaid with a continuous wall made of pure silver ingots!
The silver ingots collided, producing a crisp, melodious, yet awe-inspiring sound.

The dazzling, overflowing silver light, almost spilling off the platform, created a brutal and unreasonable visual impact, slamming into the eyes of the 14,000 people below the stage.

If the deathly silence just now was the calm before the storm, then this moment is complete upheaval!
However, the boiling sound waves had distinct layers.

After the initial shock, the two thousand veteran soldiers of the Beijing Garrison and the two thousand cavalrymen of Xuanda quickly developed a sense of fervor on their faces.

They looked at Lu Xiang-sheng on the high platform with unreserved admiration and trust in their eyes.

This wasn't the first time they'd seen something like this.

From the capital region to Shandong to Jiangnan, Marshal Lu's "greeting gift" on behalf of the emperor was always so simple, direct, and irresistible!

They stood tall, enjoying the mixed gazes of envy and awe cast upon them by their unsophisticated comrades.

The real eye of the storm was the 10,000-strong square formation composed of 6,000 wolf soldiers and 4,000 new recruits from Guangdong!

"Ten taels? Did I hear that right? Ten taels of silver?!" A wolf soldier sergeant grabbed the collar of the man next to him, spitting as he spoke, his eyes wide like copper bells.

"My God! Ten taels! I served in the army in Guangxi for five years, barely surviving, and my total pay was less than ten taels!" Another wolf soldier slapped himself hard, the burning pain on his face telling him that he was not dreaming.

"It's true! Look at all that gleaming silver! It's even better than what my chieftain keeps hidden in his cellar!"

For these fierce soldiers who had toiled in the muddy fields of the southwestern frontier and would risk their lives for a few coins' worth of reward, the scene before them was beyond their wildest imagination.

An old wolf soldier with a hideous scar on his face was trembling uncontrollably.

What was he risking his life for in the army? Wasn't it just for a full meal and a few coins?
He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms without him even realizing it.

He looked up at the god-like figure on the high platform, and for the first time, the arrogance in those eyes, which were originally wild and untamed, faded away.

He heard it clearly: Lu Shuai shouted "By order of the Emperor!"
This is the emperor's money! It's the emperor's way of showing compassion to these worthless officials and gentry who call them soldiers!
At this moment, the so-called laws and military discipline were not as tangible as the ten taels of silver that were about to be in his hands.

This silver was given by the emperor and distributed to them by Marshal Lu!
The logic couldn't be simpler: whoever represents the emperor and gives them money, their life is theirs! Following Commander Lu is following the emperor!

Meanwhile, in another corner of the crowd, Li Tianjing, a newly recruited farmer from Guangdong, was completely dumbfounded.

Last year, he worked with his father on a few acres of poor land. After deducting rent and exorbitant taxes, the family's harvest amounted to less than two taels of silver.

Ten taels of silver... He dared not think about it, and had never even considered it.

When the quartermaster actually handed him a heavy ten-tael silver ingot bearing the official seal, he trembled violently, his hands shaking like leaves, unable to hold the cold yet scorching metal.

He knelt down with a thud, not facing the platform, because he could no longer see anything, and tears streamed down his face like a river bursting its banks.

Li Tianjing kowtowed repeatedly, muttering only a few incoherent words: "Thank you, Your Majesty... Thank you, Commander Lu..."

……

The concept of loyalty becomes incredibly concrete in the face of 140,000 taels of silver.

It is no longer an empty slogan from the halls of power, but the weight of these ten taels of silver in my hand, and the burning warmth in my heart.

As the last ingot of silver was distributed, and as 14,000 soldiers clutched their windfall to their chests, Lu Xiang-sheng once again raised his longsword, pointing it to the sky, and roared with all his might:

"To be loyal to the Emperor! To die for the Ming Dynasty!"

This time, he was not met with noise and chaos.

"Long live!!!"

"Long live!!!"

"Long live!!!"

Fourteen thousand men used all their strength to let out a single roar.

The roar converged into a devastating sonic wave, like a mountain collapsing and a tsunami crashing down, destroying everything.

The sound waves rolled out, causing the city walls of Guangzhou, several miles away, to tremble slightly and startling countless circling birds.

(End of this chapter)