Chapter 259: Seeking Advice at the Coffin Shop

The Dayu Dynasty has a serious fear of insufficient troop strength.

In the Lingnan Six Commanderies, besides the standing border armies, every county has Provincial Troops, and the commanderies also have conscripted command troops.

Perhaps initially, these forces were the backbone defending the frontier.

But now, many of them seem to have become mere decorations, and a potential source of chaos in the localities.

Provincial Troops farm when idle, and serve as soldiers when war comes.

When not mobilized, they are just ordinary people.

But if they are mobilized, in this frontier about to descend into total chaos, no one knows what they will become.

Qin Feng wants to remove all three commandants of the Yunan Provincial Troops; perhaps he also has this in mind.

But in Chen Wuji's view, this is almost impossible.

That is three full commandants.

Unless he ignores the court and simply kills those three, letting Chen Wuji take their places by seniority.

Wait……

Upon thinking this, Chen Wuji's eyes suddenly changed, "Sir, you wouldn't…?"

Qin Feng, who was eating heartily, lifted his head, "What?"

Chen Wuji made a throat‑cutting gesture.

Qin Feng laughed loudly, "As an official appointed by the court, I naturally follow the court's laws and regulations—how could I do such a thing? Rest assured, I won't. I am completely confident in this matter; just stay calm and wait."

Chen Wuji felt a bit bewildered; if he doesn't resort to dirty tricks, how else could he get rid of those three?

Could it be that he intends to seek instructions from the court?

But how could the court possibly agree to such an outrageous thing?

"Eat, eat!" Qin Feng waved his chopsticks and called out again.

Chen Wuji could only suppress his thoughts and wait for Qin Feng to work out a result before speaking further.

This guy is playing the rascal; he really seems to have no other option.

Regardless of whether Qin Feng can succeed, he indeed needs to think this matter through carefully first.

The Yunan County Provincial Troops have four brigade commanders, with a total strength of about 1,200 men.

Adding the Chen clan troops to this scale, the numbers would likely need to reach two thousand.

He has only just managed to roughly organize the roughly five hundred men of the Tianchi Pass Provincial Troops and the clan troops, with hardly any experience to speak of; suddenly taking charge of nearly two thousand people would surely leave him at a loss.

He truly cannot fathom where Qin Feng gets such audacity.

Is the Chen family name really that effective?

"I'm full!" Qin Feng flung his chopsticks onto the table and took a hearty swig of wine.

"Madam, where's the person?" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

After all hope of escape vanished, the madam who had been honestly guarding the door hurried in with a fawning smile, "Sir."

"Take me to see Xiaofeng's specifications, and also attend to General Chen." Qin Feng slapped his belly and rose to his feet.

The madam repeatedly agreed, first ordering someone to bring Qin Feng over, then she smiled fawningly at Chen Wuji and said, "General Chen, the girls upstairs are all free tonight; if you like, pick one and let her attend to you."

"No need, just keep a few rooms ready for me." Chen Wuji said.

The madam instantly panicked and hurriedly asked, "General Chen, have I neglected you in any way? Let me make amends!"

Saying this, she plopped down on her knees and kept kowtowing.

"It's nothing to do with you; I still have business." Chen Wuji said, "Also, get the silver ready quickly."

Only then did the madam let out a long sigh of relief and quickly assented.

Chen Wuji bent down, picked up a jar of unopened wine placed to the side, turned and left the private room.

Leaving Ji Yunxuan's gate, Chen Wuji saw Chen Xingyuan standing guard at the door, holding a knife.

Besides him, there were also many clerks and runners from the county office.

Seeing this commotion, it seemed the entire Yunan County Office had been mobilized.

"Why not enjoy yourself a little?" Chen Xingyuan asked with a smile.

Chen Wuji shook his head, "There are other matters; surely Qin Feng wouldn't have ordered you to handle this as well, would he?"

"It wasn't an order to everyone; I was the only one he told." Chen Xingyuan said, "This plan was settled a few days ago; Qin Feng intends to kill three birds with one stone, and he asked for my opinion."

"Tame Xiaofeng, win over the city's rich and powerful, then deal with me?" Chen Wuji asked.

Chen Xingyuan nodded, "However, what the sir meant was to invite you to drink flower wine and, by the way, appoint you as a commandant; he didn't say he'd win you over."

"Do you also agree?"

"Naturally I agree; the Chen clan now needs authority."

Chen Wuji shook his head, "The step is too big; it's easy to strain the crotch."

"Our Chen clan has people; a mere thousand is nothing, and even ten thousand would be no problem." Chen Xingyuan said this with great confidence, his eyes shining brightly.

Chen Wuji gave a self‑deprecating light laugh, "But I don't have that much confidence."

"The family head should trust the main vein." Chen Xingyuan said.

"I might still need to look for a few more days." Chen Wuji shook his head and said.

As for the Chen clan's main vein, he naturally believes in it.

But from his observations these past few days, those people have not shown any strong ability to command troops.

Perhaps they intend to hide their talents, but since they haven't displayed them, Chen Wuji feels uncertain in his heart.

After returning, he still needs to verify this matter.

If the main vein's people really are concealing their abilities, that would naturally be the best possible outcome.

"Go about your business; I'm leaving."

Chen Wuji greeted Chen Xingyuan, picked up the wine jar, and went to East Market.

Chen Li and the others followed behind, serving as guards.

After the population of Xishan Village kept increasing, they forcibly assigned several guards to Chen Wuji.

The honest and steady Chen Li was also counted among them.

Although Chen Wuji believed he would be fine, Chen Luozi and the others were uneasy.

Chen Wuji couldn't insist, so he compromised; it was just a few more helpers, no big deal.

Coffin Shop.

Xu Zengyi, whose complexion had improved considerably, was sitting at the doorway roasting a lamb leg.

His cooking skills seemed quite good; a strong aroma could be smelled from afar.

"Really, it's better to come lucky than early; today I seem to have a treat." Chen Wuji felt around for a section of round wood, sat down beside Xu Zengyi, and placed the wine he'd brought to one side.

Xu Zengyi looked left and right, "You didn't bring the yellow-skinned thing again?"

"These past few days I've been swamped, can't spare a moment—no, wait, I've also been up the mountain these days but didn't run into it. It seems the yellow-skinned thing knows you want to take it for medicine and doesn't want to come down the mountain." Chen Wuji joked, asking, "Is it completely gone?"

"It can still hold out a few more days; I ran into one in East Market the day before yesterday." Xu Zengyi said, glancing at Chen Wuji, "You didn't bring any game, yet you brought a jar of wine—what's up?"

"There really is something."

"I won't do killing and arson, but eating meat and drinking is fine."

Chen Wuji: ……

"I'm just a small-time operator; I really wouldn't dare scheme against you. I only want to ask Shopkeeper Xu for a few ideas—I've run into this matter out of the blue and have no clue."

Xu Zengyi didn't ask which aspect, but instead asked, "Have you dealt with the provincial troops at Tianchi Pass?"

Chen Wuji nodded.

"Is there going to be a war?" Xu Zengyi asked.

"It's possible."

Xu Zengyi turned the lamb leg, which was golden brown and sizzling with oil, "What aspect do you want to ask about?"