My lord, spare his life!

"Uncle Yan, have we forgotten something?"

The Dongfan Mountains were unsafe, and Fan You did not want to linger.

Zhang Yang suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Something seems to be missing?

The thought had barely formed when a sudden gust of wind swept through the forest, causing the branches to sway violently. At that moment, a colossal creature emerged from the dense woods, its throat emitting a terrifying roar that could make any beast tremble. Zhang Yang stared intently, and saw that the newcomer was none other than the ashen-faced Big Mimi. Its tiger-like eyes seemed to hold both anger and resentment, and even the very air around it seemed to be affected, becoming chaotic and murky. The nearby vegetation was visibly withered and lifeless.

Zhang Dami remains as majestic and extraordinary as ever.

The blood and mud that covered its body did not diminish its imposing presence in the slightest.

Standing there, it exudes the majesty of a mountain king.

"Where have you been running around playing? You came back covered in mud, don't you even know what time it is?" Zhang Yang, the owner, was not happy. He purred at Zhang Dami twice and slapped the mud and pebbles off its thick fur. "I was waiting for you to carry me. What do you call this? This is called abandoning your post and neglecting your duties!"

Zhang Dami's eyes widened in fury, his brows furrowed menacingly, and a low growl rumbled from his throat, revealing his menacing, interlocking fangs. Every muscle beneath his fur was tense and straining, his nostrils flared, as if he were about to leap up and pounce, his sharp teeth snapping Zhang Yang's neck in the next instant.

But when Zhang Yang slapped it with mud, it felt like a mountain was hitting it, making its head buzz and its head spin.

Zhang Dami let out a series of heavy, labored breaths.

It tucked its tail between its legs and took a few steps back.

The roar in his throat turned into a few weak sobs.

Not only did it lie prone, but its huge tiger paws covered its afflicted head, and its tail was also pressed tightly against its rump, looking like it was begging for mercy.

"What? Who bullied you?"

As a star beast, Zhang Dami is extremely intelligent and perceptive, but no matter how intelligent it is, it is not human and cannot speak human language. However, upon hearing Zhang Yang's words, Zhang Dami was so angry that it jumped up and down on the spot, and the dignified mountain lord let out a barking, jumping, leaping and roaring.

Zhang Yang: "..."

She slowly tilted her head.

Her intuition told her that Zhang Dami's insults were very harsh.

Fan You couldn't help but feel sorry for the star beast, and Zhang Yang forced him to speak human language: "Big Mimi is probably resentful that the master abandoned it just now. I wonder how much effort it took to escape."

Several question marks slowly appeared on Zhang Yang's forehead.

She said softly, "Uncle Yan, can you even speak human language? What do you mean I abandoned it? Didn't you just grab me without a word? If Dami is going to blame someone, it should be you for not taking it with you when you grabbed me, right?"

He pinched Zhang Dami's ear and said, "The enemy is here!"

Fan You: "..."

Having such a ruler is truly karma.

In Fan You's eyes, Zhang Yang was an absolute prodigy, but in the eyes of Xu Jin and others, he was full of merits. Zhang Yang and his companion bravely ventured into the Eastern Frontier Mountains, a journey that lasted for more than ten days. At first, Magistrate Xu Jin remained calm, but as time went on, he became restless, fearing that the two would perish at the hands of the Eastern Frontier bandits. He wanted to send men to rescue them, but he was afraid of alerting the enemy, and he couldn't sleep at night.

"Zhang Shijun's subordinates are not worried at all, so why are you so concerned?" Du Fang was not unaware of the magistrate's thoughts, but seeing how anxious the magistrate was, he couldn't help but tease him a bit.

Xu Jin: "They should not be confused."

He observed coldly and noticed that Guan Zong and Puyang Kui treated Zhang Yang differently than usual, guessing that they had only recently become acquainted or that their conflicts of interest were not yet deep. Whether Zhang Yang lived or died could not harm their fundamental interests or even their lives, but he was different.

Du Fang: "So?"

Xu Jin simply took a sip of tea.

Du Fang smiled and said, "I want to surpass the old guard."

Xu Jin, who had been correctly predicted by Du Fang, was not annoyed. He laughed and said, "Why not? Lord Puyang has been missing for several days, and that Guan Zong... let's not mention him. He's just a rough and uncouth fellow..."

Du Fang asked, "And what about Fan Shuyan?"

Xu Jin: "I will not contend with them."

Du Fang: "..."

Ever since the local forces that suppressed his friend were wiped out, he felt that his friend's personality had undergone a subtle change. He had gone from being a timid and submissive person to someone who was reserved, deep, and full of malice. However, this was not necessarily a bad thing.

It's always better to bully others than to be bullied.

When Zhang Yang and her companion returned, the remains outside the city had been properly disposed of, and the snow had been shoveled away. It was still early, and the city gates were open, with people frequently seen entering and leaving. The common people in the city might not have seen Zhang Yang in person, but they all knew from the refugees of her heroic figure descending from the sky on her mountain mount, Zhang Dami. Upon seeing her mount, Zhang Dami, the guards didn't even bother checking her travel permit and let her pass directly.

"Quickly, relay the message to the magistrate."

"The magistrate has returned."

"It is the magistrate—"

Zhang Yang had only been in the city a short while when he heard a commotion around him, as if everyone knew him. He looked around, noticing a few familiar faces, but mostly strangers. Their enthusiasm seemed rather odd to him.

Fan You: "Does my lord dislike this?"

Winning the favor of ordinary people is both easy and difficult. It's easy because these people are very easily satisfied; if those in power splurge a little and give them a way to survive, they will be grateful and wish they could grovel on the ground. It's difficult because their lives are worth less than grass, and most people in power won't even spare a glance for them.

Not to mention sacrificing one's own interests to please them.

Their joy is as worthless as their value.

Or rather, those in power should be grateful if they allow these commoners to live under the same sky and breathe the same air as them, instead of only learning to be grateful after receiving benefits.

"It's not that I dislike it, it's just that I feel it's not worth it."

"Not worth it?"

"I didn't do anything, did I? Why does he like me? It's all so inexplicable..." In Zhang Yang's view, human emotions and desires are precious, with "joy" being the most intense. Only by paying a high price can she earn equal affection.

She didn't give anything in return, so what does the other person like?

Fan You: "..."

Speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Our lord saved their lives, so he is their savior. If it weren't for your righteous act, these refugees would have frozen to death outside the city long ago, and even the common people inside the city would have faced the dire situation of running out of ammunition and food. This natural disaster is far from over, and the long winter could take the lives of most of them." Fan You vaguely realized that his judgment of Zhang Yang was not fair.

She does indeed possess the primal aura of a wild world, but she also possesses a purity untouched by worldly rules and regulations.

Zhang Yang asked suspiciously, "Isn't this just common sense?"

Since she had impersonated the Prefect of Tianyue, she should have done what she was supposed to do; one shouldn't take advantage of others without paying. Besides, she was merely a savior, not a second parent. Zhang Yang casually mentioned the past: "In my younger days when I was out robbing, I often saved people along the way, but the next time they saw me, they would call me a 'caravan robber dog' or a 'cancer.'"

Speaking of this, Zhang Yang felt quite aggrieved.

Why are they allowed to rob other players, but not allowed to rob them themselves? If you're bad, practice more, stop lying around complaining.

These words, however, had a different kind of impact on Fan You.

"Did you save many people in the past, my lord?"

"Yes, yes, I remember them all."

"...And they all cursed you afterward?"

"Sigh, when I was rescued, they would say a few words of thanks... but when they cursed at me, they cursed me with nasty language." So nasty that even the game's censorship system couldn't pronounce it, so I had to resort to various homophones.

Zhang Yang stepped on their heads and let them curse him.

She couldn't help but feel sad when she talked about these things.

Fan You looked at Zhang Yang, whose gaze returned his with an open and honest expression, devoid of any falsehood. He looked away, a mix of emotions welling up inside him, his contempt for the place where Zhang Yang had grown up growing even stronger. What a desolate place it was, that its inhabitants were so shameless and devoid of morality!

Ungrateful wretch!

Little did they know that the grace of saving a life is greater than heaven!

Fan You said in a gentle tone, "My lord, please don't worry about them."

At this moment, a bold child, unafraid of the tiger beneath Zhang Yang, ran over and pulled two still-warm boiled eggs from his clothes. A stiff smile spread across his face, red from the cold, but when his gaze met Zhang Yang's, he shyly looked away.

run--

It didn't move.

Something wrapped around her waist, and a gentle but irresistible force pulled her back, landing her steadily on the tiger's back.

The next moment, my cheek touched something cool and soft.

Zhang Yang tossed a small box into her arms.

"Take this. Apply it to your face three times a day, just like I did." With that, Zhang Yang put her down and urged Zhang Dami, whom he was riding, to continue walking. He felt a pang of regret. "I don't have much of this ointment... Is there any doctor in the city who can make a copy?"

Fan You couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Finally, something that even our lord lacks?"

He thought Zhang Yang could pull out thousands or tens of thousands of copies of anything, but Zhang Yang didn't hear the sarcasm in his words: "I do have a hoarding habit, but I don't fill up the limit on everything."

The number of slots in the game's inventory is also limited.

"Congratulations on your triumphant return, Magistrate Zhang." Zhang Yang saw the magistrate walking briskly towards him from afar, his face beaming. Without asking about the outcome of Zhang Yang's trip, he said, "I have already prepared a banquet in the county court to welcome you back, Magistrate."

Zhang Yang nodded: "Mm."

She glanced around: "Where are Jundu and the other two?"

The magistrate had already prepared his answer: "A few days ago, Lord Puyang took several followers with him, saying he was going to his ancestral home to investigate the situation and recruit villagers. Among the refugees who have come to seek refuge recently, there are quite a few strong men, and Lord Guan is helping Dongsu patrol and train the troops."

"Training troops?"

"The current situation is unstable, so we should prepare for the worst." It's better to train and prepare in advance than to wait until someone attacks before we start.

A county cannot support many soldiers.

The higher-ups always cut back on food, and the soldiers stationed in the county often went hungry.

Fortunately, local wealthy households generously donated, providing the county government with ample food for disaster relief and surplus grain to recruit more soldiers.

This is also where Du Fang and he had their conflicts.

Du Fang felt that recruiting too many able-bodied men would cause them to leave their jobs to train in the army, seriously affecting land reclamation and farming. Without a stable source of food, how long could this army last? The county magistrate, on the other hand, believed that Zhang Yang's trip would surely yield results, and taking some risks was not out of the question.

Zhang Yang: "Why can't we establish military farms and achieve self-sufficiency?"

Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just..."

The magistrate was stunned as he spoke.

Previously, the problem of grain and salary deductions could not be solved by military settlements because a large amount of local land had been seized by a few families, leaving few local people with their own land, let alone land allocated for military settlements. However, the current situation is that those families have been overthrown, the county government has re-registered the land, and in addition, the sharp decline in population caused by natural disasters has forced a large amount of land to remain vacant.

It would be perfect for use as a military settlement.

The magistrate's words, which were on the tip of his tongue, took an unexpected turn.

He smiled respectfully and said without any flaws, "However, I dare not act on my own authority. This matter must be discussed in detail after the magistrate returns."

Show full respect to your immediate supervisor!

Zhang Yang looked at Fan You, trying to get some advice from him.

She had only seen information about military settlements by chance in the survivor base's library. The information was only briefly mentioned in a few sentences. She knew nothing about how to implement them, what the benefits and drawbacks were, or how to avoid mistakes in execution.

Fan You: "..."

Does his master only know the two words "military settlement"?

Left with no other choice, he had to speak up to smooth things over, lest the magistrate see through Zhang Yang's illiteracy: "I am willing to share the burden for my lord."

Zhang Yang nodded: "Yes, you can just look for him."

What's the point of hiring employees who don't work?

Upon entering the county court, the magistrate first dismissed his attendants, then subtly probed whether Zhang Yang and her companion's trip had been successful. The subtext was: how much grain had she obtained from the Eastern Barbarian rebels?

Zhang Yang was just telling the truth.

"There's so much stuff, I've made a fortune."

The magistrate was about to smile when she cut him off with her next sentence.

"Shuyan said that the copper and iron he obtained are to be used to mint coins. Can the county government send people to do so? If we are going to mint coins, I think we should design a pattern and implement anti-counterfeiting measures to prevent counterfeit coins from flooding the market after the copper coins are issued, which would damage the county government's reputation."

Magistrate: "..."

His mind was buzzing.

What to cast?

coin?

Does the county government mint coins?

He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know where to begin.

Zhang Yang asked him, "But is there not enough metal for minting coins?"

The magistrate opened his mouth: "No—"

Zhang Yang: "If that's not enough, I can help you solve the problem."

The magistrate stammered, "How do we solve this?"

"I'll go out and dig for you guys."

"Did Your Excellency discover copper mines in the Eastern Fan Mountains?"

Speaking of which, not only in this county, but also in the surrounding vassal states, the copper shortage is quite severe; it's almost impossible to find any decent copper or iron mines. They have to buy their copper and iron from even more distant vassal states, resulting in a huge loss of profits every year.

Even if you wanted to use silver as a substitute—

Sorry, silver is also in very short supply.

Furthermore, the powerful and wealthy favored glittering gold items, and since gold was scarce, they opted for copper instead. Aristocratic families hoarded vast amounts of copper coins, causing trouble every year at tax season, while the royal court ordered commoners to pay taxes in copper coins instead of grain… Caught between these two pressures, the common people suffered terribly. The county magistrate was well aware of the situation but was powerless to do anything about it.

If a copper mine is discovered nearby...

The magistrate felt his heart beating even faster.

Zhang Yang's next sentence immediately dampened his enthusiasm.

"No copper ore found."

"But I can dig it out."

Magistrate: "..."

He felt like his brain was about to get tangled up.

No copper ore was found, but copper can be mined?

Zhang Yang didn't explain much to him; the county magistrate would find out later. But before that, she had something to do.

"Magistrate Xu, come and hit me."

Fan You, that stingy fellow, seemed lost in thought; the name above his head flickered between yellow and green, far less stable than the magistrate's green. The stunned magistrate repeated, "Hit me!"

??(?w?)

Xu Jin: "I suspect that Magistrate Zhang intends to harm me!"