Chapter 101: Buying People's Hearts

Under the lash of the whips from Meng Dayong and the other instructors, and because the soldiers did not want to implicate their comrades by making mistakes themselves, all the soldiers trained very diligently.

An hour later, the ten men of the first squad were already able to march in unison, and then Meng Dayong began training the soldiers to form a hundred-man phalanx, marching in step to the rhythm of the slogans; once the hundred-man phalanx could also march in step, it would be time for all the soldiers to form a thousand-man phalanx to march in step.

"One, two, one, red, blue, red, one, two, one, red, blue, red..." Following the instructors' rhythmic chants, the thousand-man phalanx marched in step, everyone lifting their feet at the same time, swinging their arms at the same time, all moving in perfect unison, as if they were one person.

Meng Dayong and Meng Yifan stood on the high platform of the Parade Ground, watching their soldiers. Meng Dayong was incredibly excited and said, "The Art of War says that a truly elite force can be as swift as the wind, as slow as the forest, as invasive as fire, and as immovable as a mountain."

"Our troops here, their Military Posture can be considered as immovable as a mountain, and their marching can be considered as slow as the forest. Yifan, looking at our troops from their formation, they are even more orderly than that bunch of veterans from Dongchuan Prefecture."

Meng Yifan did not agree. He had seen the military parades of the People's Liberation Army on Earth; that was what you called moving in unison, without the slightest discrepancy. The marching of these thousand soldiers now was barely on par with the level of university military training, but given the limited time—only half a day—Meng Yifan was basically satisfied.

At 6:30 PM, the Greater Yang was about to set. Seeing that the training for the day was about enough, Meng Yifan ordered the troops to dismiss. Just like at noon, all the soldiers lined up, and each person received a large basin of food.

Except for a few soldiers who were still bachelors—eating their fill alone meant the whole family was satisfied—who held their basins and began to eat with slurping sounds, the other soldiers all carried their basins home to eat with their families.

Zhang Shagen carried his basin home. Although he had been whipped quite a bit that afternoon, he was still very happy looking at the rice filled to the brim in his basin, along with the fragrant slices of Monster Cured Meat.

Back when he was doing hard labor in the Labor Camp, he would get beaten if he made a mistake, and at mealtime, they only issued two steamed buns. With such a small amount of food, how could it possibly be enough for a whole family to eat? During that time, Zhang Shagen was often moving stones on an empty stomach.

In the Labor Camp, when the managing bailiffs were in a bad mood, they would also find amusement in whipping the laborers, even forcing Zhang Shagen to crawl between their legs and bark like a dog. At that time, Zhang Shagen felt very humiliated.

But in the military camp, before the instructors hit him, they would tell him where he had made a mistake and why they were hitting him, which made Zhang Shagen feel convinced and willing to accept it, even after being beaten.

"When children go to school to study and don't learn their lessons well, the teachers will also hit their palms. If I don't train well, the instructor whipping me is the same principle." Zhang Shagen thought it through clearly and did not harbor any resentment just because the instructor had hit him.

Moreover, when the thousand-man phalanx was marching in step, Zhang Shagen was in the midst of it and inexplicably felt a strong sense of belonging, feeling that he was a member of this collective. This feeling made him very excited, and he was sincerely willing to train hard in this troop.

Zhang Shagen carried the food home. When his son Zhang Mancang saw the five or six slices of oily Monster Cured Meat in his father's basin, he shouted with joy, "Meat, there's meat to eat!"

Zhang Shagen grinned. The hard training today and being whipped by the instructor were nothing; as long as he could let his family have meat to eat every day and be full, no matter how bitter or tiring it was, it was worth it.

Zhang Shagen's wife, Wang Xiuzhi, saw it immediately. The scars from the whipping on her husband's back made her eyes turn red instantly, and she choked up, "Those officials are too cruel, look at what they've done to you! Dear, why don't we stop being soldiers."

"Xiuzhi, don't talk nonsense. The instructor hit me because I really didn't do well; this isn't the instructor's fault. I'll train hard tomorrow, and I won't get hit again," Zhang Shagen laughed. "You know, my body is very tough; a few lashes of the whip are nothing."

Zhang Shagen's parents also felt sorry for their son, but they did not say he should stop being a soldier.

In this world, as refugees with nothing like them, what else could they do if they didn't become soldiers? Continue to move stones in the Labor Camp? Doing hard labor would tire a person to death, and they wouldn't even be full. How could that be better than being a soldier?

In such chaotic times, it was too hard for ordinary people at the bottom like them to survive.

"Shagen, I just feel sorry for you." Wang Xiuzhi couldn't help but let her tears fall, looking at the scars on Zhang Shagen's back with heartache. Their family was too poor to even have medicine, so they could only rely on Zhang Shagen to recover slowly on his own.

Zhang Shagen smiled honestly, wiped the tears from his wife's face, and laughed, "It's okay, it'll be better in two days. Come, let's all eat together. I will train hard in the future, and our whole family will have meat to eat every day."

"Thump! Thump! Thump!" Just as Zhang Shagen's family was eating, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

Zhang Shagen was stunned for a moment and got up to open the door, only to find Meng Yifan standing outside. This gave Zhang Shagen a huge fright, and he hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and said with some trepidation, "Lord, why have you come?"

"Brother Shagen, get up quickly. We just came to see you. You were beaten quite a bit during the day, so I came to bring you some medicine for your injuries," Meng Yifan said.

When Zhang Shagen's family saw Meng Yifan personally coming to deliver medicine, they were all so moved that they bowed deeply. In their eyes, Meng Yifan's status now was like the County Magistrate of Luolong County, the parent-official who held their lives in his hands. That he would condescend to deliver medicine was such a great favor.

"Sister-in-law Wang, you apply the medicine for Brother Shagen. This healing medicine is specially made, and the effect is very good; I guarantee that by tomorrow morning, the wounds will be completely healed."

Meng Yifan handed over a bottle of ointment. Wang Xiuzhi was a bit at a loss, but in the end, she took it with some embarrassment.

"You all continue eating. Brother Shagen, after you finish eating and apply the ointment, go to sleep early; you have to continue training tomorrow," Meng Yifan said, then turned and left. Many soldiers had been beaten today, and he had to deliver ointment to every family.

Meng Yifan left, but Zhang Shagen's family still looked at the doorway in disbelief. After a few minutes, Zhang Tiezhu said, "I've lived to this age, and I've never seen such a good official who cares about his subordinates. Shagen, you must listen to Lord Meng in the future and train hard."

Zhang Shagen nodded, looking gratefully at the ointment in his wife's hand, then at their house and the basin on the table. For these things, he decided to sell his cheap life to Meng Yifan.

The next place Meng Yifan went to was Xu Le's house. Xu Le did not have a partner, and his family had all died when they encountered a Demon Beast attack while fleeing from famine, leaving him as the only bachelor.

Seeing Meng Yifan come to his door to deliver ointment, Xu Le was very shocked. He was a smart person and could see that Meng Yifan was doing this to win people's hearts.

But they were refugees who had nothing but their cheap lives, and ordinary people like Xu Le and Zhang Shagen were not even a First Grade Martial Artist, so their combat power was very limited. Why would a powerful expert like Meng Yifan need to win their hearts? What was the use of this?

Seeing that Xu Le was all alone at home, Meng Yifan said, "Lie down quickly, I'll apply the ointment to your back."

Xu Le was a bit confused and said, "Lord, I'll do it myself."

"Your wounds are on your back, how can you reach them yourself? Lie down quickly. We're all grown men, what are you shy about?" Meng Yifan laughed.

Xu Le was a bit embarrassed and said, "Lord, I haven't bathed in over a year, and my body is very dirty. Don't dirty your hands; I'll do it myself."

Meng Yifan said, "My family was just a poor hunter in the mountains, how clean could I be? Lie down quickly. You're so long-winded, you don't look like a grown man at all."

Seeing that Meng Yifan insisted on applying the medicine for him, Xu Le stopped refusing and lay on the bed. Feeling Meng Yifan apply the ointment to the wounds on his back, the originally stinging wounds suddenly felt much more comfortable and less painful. The efficacy of this ointment was truly miraculous.

"Lie still and don't move around, get a good night's sleep, and you'll be fine tomorrow morning," Meng Yifan said, then turned and left. He still had to continue to the next house to deliver ointment.

Xu Le looked gratefully at Meng Yifan's back. Although he knew Meng Yifan was winning people's hearts, Meng Yifan not minding his filth and personally applying the ointment for him still moved Xu Le deeply, and he decided in his heart to swear his life to Meng Yifan.