In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

The roars in the valley gradually subsided, but the scorching frenzy in the air grew even stronger.

The thirty-six guards remained kneeling on one knee, fists raised high, their chests heaving violently, their eyes like tempered steel, staring intently at Qin Shaolang, as if looking at a god walking among mortals.

Qin Shaolang did not make them kneel for too long.

He raised his hand, his voice calm yet carrying an unquestionable authority.

"Get up, everyone."

"yes!"

Everyone stood up in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized, subtly exuding the iron-blooded spirit of a soldier.

Qin Shaolang's gaze swept over them one by one, and he slowly said, "I will keep my word. But armor and weapons won't fall from the sky."

His voice wasn't loud, but it calmed everyone down and made them listen intently.

"Starting tomorrow, Chu Wu."

"Here!" Chu Wu straightened his back abruptly.

"You will take ten men and continue training them—formation, assassination, and hand-to-hand combat—nothing can be neglected. Also, you will be responsible for the security of the entire estate."

"Yes! I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" Chu Wu roared, his face red and his neck thick.

"The rest of you will split into two groups. One group will continue with me to fire the kilns and smelt steel; this is our foundation, and we absolutely cannot stop. The other group will go to the nearby mountains to prospect for iron ore. The county government will issue a notice soon, and what we need to do is get ahead of everyone else and find the best veins!"

Qin Shaolang assigned tasks in a clear and organized manner, without uttering a single unnecessary word.

The crowd was filled with excitement, and everyone was eager to try. Before, they were refugees and slaves, living day to day, never knowing what they would do tomorrow.

Things are different now!

Following Brother Qin, they have clear goals every day, and with every task they do, they can see the hope of the future getting closer little by little! This down-to-earth feeling fills them with boundless energy!

"Did you understand everything?"

"Understood!" the crowd roared in unison.

"Alright, dismissed! Go do whatever you were doing!"

Qin Shaolang waved his hand, and the crowd immediately dispersed, each going off to find work. The area around the earthen kiln instantly became bustling with activity.

Only then did Su Jin take Su Tang's hand and slowly walk over.

Her gaze was complex as she looked at the composed man before her, the shock in her heart still lingering.

He was not only exceptionally brave and skilled in medicine, but more terrifying was his ability to strategize and plan. He seemed to have been born knowing how to unite people, how to bind a mob together, and how to guide them in the right direction.

"Young Master Qin," Su Jin's voice was soft, tinged with a hint of probing, "Do you... really believe that the magistrate will keep his promise?"

In her view, the government had always been untrustworthy. If they were forced to bow their heads today, they might mobilize a large army to besiege them tomorrow. Placing her hopes on the government's credibility was tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin.

Qin Shao: "He will."

Qin Shaolang's answer was simple and direct. He turned his head, looked into Su Jin's clear eyes, and explained, "He doesn't trust me, but he trusts the steel in my hands. As long as we can keep producing this stuff, he won't dare to have any disloyalty. Because what he fears isn't losing his official position, but losing his life."

Su Jin was incredibly intelligent and immediately grasped the key point.

This is not cooperation, but coercion. Qin Shaolang used his absolute technological advantage to tightly bind Li Jian'an's interests to his own. Their fates were intertwined—one for the other, the other for themselves.

As long as the steelmaking technology remains in Qin Shaolang's hands, Li Jian'an has no choice but to obey and even protect them, because if Qin Shaolang falls, he won't survive either!

Once Su Jin understood this, her heart finally calmed down a little.

Looking at Qin Shaolang, she suddenly felt that this man was like a bottomless ancient well. You thought you had seen the bottom, but when you looked down further, you found that it was still deep darkness, and you could not find the end at all.

Just then, from the distant path came the sound of rapid hoofbeats and the rumble of wheels!

The guards on guard immediately sounded the alarm!

"Enemy attack! A large force is approaching!"

The crowd that had just dispersed instantly gathered again, each grabbing a stick or hoe and staring fiercely at the direction of the intersection.

Chu Wu immediately shielded Qin Shaolang, drawing his ring-pommel sword from his waist.

"Brother Qin, you go first! I'll hold them off with the brothers!"

Qin Shaolang simply waved his hand, showing no sign of tension on his face, but instead revealing a faint smile.

"They're not enemies." He patted Chu Wu on the shoulder and said in a relaxed tone, "They're our great contributors. Magistrate Li's 'sincerity' has been shown."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a long convoy of cars came into view.

It was a caravan of more than a dozen oxcarts, each loaded with heavy sacks, the wheels leaving deep ruts on the dirt road.

The escorting team consisted of dozens of yamen runners wielding official swords, and the leader was none other than Zhang Wenyuan, the county yamen clerk who had previously fled in a disheveled state!

Everyone was stunned by the sight.

Especially when they saw the snow-white rice grains peeking out from the sacks on the truck, they all gasped in shock!

food!

It's all grain!

Mountains of grain!

These people had never seen so much grain in their entire lives!

Zhang Wenyuan tumbled off the carriage when it was still dozens of steps away and jogged over, his face plastered with a fawning smile that was almost distorted.

He ran up to Qin Shaolang, barely daring to breathe, and knelt down with a "plop," his posture even more perfect than that of the guards!

"Master Qin...Master Qin!" Zhang Wenyuan's voice trembled as he pulled a register from his robes and held it high above his head. "The county magistrate has ordered me to escort one thousand shi of fine rice to relieve the Qin family's urgent need! This is the grain register; please take a look, Master Qin!"

A thousand stones!

When Zhang Wenyuan uttered those three words, the entire valley fell into a deathly silence.

All the soldiers stared wide-eyed and gaped, feeling as if their minds had stopped working.

What does 1,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) mean?

These thirty-odd people, even if they ate to their hearts' content, could only consume one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice a day. One thousand shi would be enough to feed them for three years!

This...this is fucking a dream!

Chu Wu pinched himself hard, and the intense pain instantly brought him back to his senses.

it is true!

All this is true!

Brother Qin really only used one sentence to get the county magistrate to obediently empty the entire county's granaries!

"Gulp!"

Someone swallowed first, and then a chorus of swallowing sounds followed.

The next second, deafening cheers erupted again!

"Brother Qin is awesome!"

"Long live Brother Qin!"

This time, the cheers were more enthusiastic and heartfelt than ever before!

Divine weapons and steel armor are all too far-fetched. Only this mountain of grain is truly real!

It means that from today onwards, they will never have to go hungry again!