Chapter 406

"Have you seen what they're wearing?" Chen Wuji, without changing expression, jerked his chin toward the soldiers and asked Chen Bushi.

Chen Bushi gritted his teeth, staring at Chen Wuji, "I saw it, I'm not blind, it's Fully Armored—so what?"

"Outside of them in Yunan City, you can't find any unit wearing Fully Armored; you've read more military books than I, so you surely know what it's like to crush an unarmored unit when you're Fully Armored." Chen Wuji said lightly.

"Yes, so what? What does that have to do with my wine?" Chen Bushi gritted his teeth and asked.

"Do you know how long I've stored this wine? I don't even drink it on ordinary days; I only open a jar on auspicious days to taste it, and you—you went and dug up the whole thing!"

Speaking of this, Chen Bushi's urge to kill flared up again.

"With just this unit, what do you think they see in me that makes them follow me through life and death? Shouldn't I treat them better? Give them good food and good drink?" Chen Wuji asked.

Chen Bushi stared blankly for a moment, then nodded.

Chen Wuji said lightly, "Actually they themselves know deep down, this isn't about serving the Court; it's about serving me, Chen Wuji."

Chen Bushi's expression flickered slightly, and he nodded again softly.

Chen Wuji pressed on, "Moreover, have you seen what kind of knife they're holding?"

"Strange Sword!"

"Yes, the Strange Sword is the Infantry's weapon against Cavalry; it's not something just anyone can wield—whoever uses it must be an elite soldier." Chen Wuji said.

"In other words, we now have a unit of Fully Armored Mo Dao Army, and they're battle-hardened Old Veterans."

"With just these six hundred men, I'd dare go anywhere in Nan Jun, even if the enemy outnumbered me several times I wouldn't back down. San Shu, they're even sharper than the Clan Troops we've secretly trained hard."

"So, you say I should personally cook for them, and you bring out your treasured fine wine to treat them to a meal—isn't that appropriate?" Chen Wuji asked.

Chen Bushi cleared his throat lightly, "Um, I might have spoken a bit too loudly just now; it's indeed appropriate, but, I feel it might still not be enough?"

"They're taking turns resting; the others have gone home." Chen Wuji said.

Chen Bushi asked, "Shouldn't we have another meal another day? It's not about scarcity but inequality—you can't personally cook for these three hundred, let them drink fine wine, and ignore the other three hundred; they'll feel resentful."

"Indeed we need another meal."

"Fine, I'll handle the wine; I'll definitely get you good wine, equally aged ten years." Chen Bushi patted his chest, speaking with full confidence.

Chen Wuji stared, "Uncle San, just how much wine have you hidden?"

"Gone, kid, stop dwelling on it—I can at most scrape out another one or twenty jars, just enough for the other three hundred to each have a bowl." Chen Bushi immediately became wary.

"I won't steal and dig again; today it's not like you're not here—you have zero trust in me." Chen Wuji shook his head speechlessly.

Chen Bushi let out a light snort, "You're acting like you've never done this before."

Chen Wuji: ……

Damn!

His reputation now seems somewhat bad.

"Uncle San, you're not watching your wine stash every day, are you? How is it that just as I dug up a wine jar, you popped out like the Earth Traveling Grandson?" Chen Wuji, busy with his work, asked on the side.

Chen Bushi glanced sideways at Chen Wuji, let out a light snort, "Do you think I have that much free time? Did you forget how many things you arranged for me before you left?"

"I came down the mountain today after hearing you'd returned to Yunan with your troops, wanting to ask how things are here—you bastard, you didn't even send word; with mountain communications difficult, I have no idea what state you're in out there."

"It's also a coincidence that let me discover some people have already sneaked back to the village, and they've even sneaked off with all my wine jars."

"Not all taken; I left some for you." Chen Wuji laughed.

"The fighting outside is exactly what we discussed earlier; Gu Wenjie that bastard completely copied our guess. The only difference is he didn't have time to finish his fortify-and-clear plan; the people of southern Yunan basically avoided disaster, while the north suffered a bit, and we only managed to rescue a small part."

Hearing that, Chen Bushi's brows furrowed heavily, "What do we do about the disaster-stricken people?"

"Qin Feng is handling this; he's the county magistrate." Chen Wuji said.

"We two briefly discussed the specifics; those with stored grain should go back, each village resettles land boundaries, dividing the ownerless plots so fields don't go fallow."

"Those whose household grain was completely looted by bandits, having lost their livelihood, we'll try to settle them in the city and find them a trade; as for land, we'll likewise redraw the boundaries."

"Because of the turmoil caused by the Gu, Li, and Xue families, the whole northern Yunan is nine-tenths empty. Before, everyone complained there wasn't enough land to farm, so they opened more wasteland, leading to village brawls one after another. Now it's good—more land than people, and they can't plant it all."

Besides the people whose homes were completely looted, the Gu, Li, and Xue families—these three great clans—left behind large amounts of land, even occupying about half of the land left by the people.

"I have no objection to how you've arranged these things, and I can't think of any better ideas, but the Military Authority Token must still be held in our own hands." Chen Bushi lowered his voice to remind.

"No one can say exactly how the situation will develop, but your earlier remark was right—these troops must belong to Chen Wuji, not the Court."

Chen Wuji chuckled, "Got it, San Shu—this is just like riding a donkey to watch a play; we'll see how it goes."

"Mm." Chen Bushi responded, "I'll go serve the dishes."

When the personal troops saw Commandant Bu Shi personally serving dishes, they all sprang to their feet at once, instantly forming a long line, crowding up to Chen Wuji to take the dishes.

Negotiation Colonel stir-fries the dishes, Guoyi Commandant plates them.

This treatment left those personal troops feeling dazed.

They had served under the Western King before, enduring countless injustices—they were always first to be sent to die, last to receive any good thing, and even each reward was whatever others left behind.

If it weren't so, they wouldn't have resisted so fiercely when Yang Tiejiang first urged them to take up arms and fight again; they came only for the face of military pay and reward silver.

But after these days of contact, everyone's mindset began to change.

Each time Chen Wuji treated them well, they cursed in their hearts the Western King, that bastard.

They were already used to a life of slaughter; if not truly forced, no one would want to go back to shouldering a hoe to farm, or work in the city as a laborer moving stones.

"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and move—have a taste of my cooking; I tell you, my dishes are worth a lot." Chen Wuji waved his spatula and shouted.