Chapter 527

On the third day after receiving Chen Wuji's military order, Qian Fugui led his troops and rushed to Hezhou.

This fellow, who had been leading troops abroad for half a year and could be said to have honed some skills, upon entering the Hezhou Prefecture Office still appeared as an arrogant young master, his splendid brocade robe ostentatious.

What's more ostentatious, as he moved there came a crack— the clear clashing of armor plates.

"Deputy General Qian Fugui pays respects to my lord!" Qian Fugui stood at the door of Qinzhi Hall, raised his voice and shouted, "Deputy General reporting for duty!"

"Come on in, cut out this sneaky nonsense." Chen Wuji, who was looking at documents, looked up, laughed and shouted, then put down the documents and personally rose to greet him.

Chen Wuji always maintained sufficient respect toward these subordinates.

Merely standing to respond or proactively raising a cup—such small acts are not considered disrespectful of hierarchy in his presence; rather, they are a means to draw closer.

Qian Fugui grinned as he walked in, gave Chen Wuji a vigorous salute, "My lord, I've missed you dearly; I thought you planned to dump me in Ping Shan County, just like San Shu guarding West Mountain Village, staying there unmoved."

"No, San Shu also needs to move lately, though he has some matters there and can't leave for now!" Chen Wuji examined Qian Fugui, gave his shoulder a firm pat, "Really strange—you've fought so many battles, yet your face never gets dark."

"My lord, this is my natural beauty; although I can't compare to you, others can't compare to me either. Even if I personally brave blades and arrows, charging into battle for months, my face wouldn't darken." Qian Fugui chuckled, "Others can only envy; this is innate, unlearnable."

"Sit!" Chen Wuji laughed and scolded, "What nonsense are you spouting? My face isn't even white, let alone comparable to your natural beauty."

"You are my lord; even if I were whiter, I wouldn't dare compare myself to you." Qian Fugui said with a smirk, his flattery smooth as silk.

Get lost.

Chen Wuji picked up the teapot and poured a cup for Qian Fugui, then asked, "Is everything arranged properly in the army?"

"It's fine, but the barracks built by the Sheep Commandant seem a bit small; I'm worried that when the Baojia Brothers bring their people over, there might not be anywhere for them to stay." Qian Fugui said.

Chen Wuji blinked, "What do you mean? From your tone, you've recruited quite a few new troops this month again?"

When Yunan divided the troops, to facilitate independent action, Chen Wuji had once ordered each unit to voluntarily absorb prisoners, Refugees, bandits, and volunteers who enlisted as Young Strongmen, reporting once a month would suffice.

After all, they are out fighting, the situation changes constantly; making them report after each recruitment would be quite troublesome, and a month is neither too long nor too short—just about right.

Qian Fugui felt a bit guilty, "My lord, let me confess frankly; I have never actively recruited strong warriors—you can check however you like. Currently, all these troops come entirely from bandits, prisoners, and Refugees."

Chen Wuji nodded, "Fine, go ahead and say yours."

Qian Fugui then explained the situation, "Ping Shan County has many bandits; I fought battle after battle, fighting every day was quite exhilarating, but after tallying the prisoners, I was a bit at a loss. All the bandits together, the young and strong actually numbered over three thousand..."

"My lord, you had already ordered that regardless of their former status, once they became bandits they could never again be civilians; I had no choice but to enroll them into the army, which instantly added three thousand."

"The increase in troops from Refugees and prisoners, I think I reported earlier to my lord: nearly a thousand Refugees in Ping Shan County chose between settling down and joining the army, opting to serve for rations; the origin of the prisoners is simpler—they were all beaten down by me."

Chen Wuji gave a slight nod, "How many troops do you have in total now?"

"Over eight thousand; a little boost and it reaches nine thousand." Qian Fugui said weakly.

Chen Wuji's vision darkened; disaster, the grain burden suddenly surged.

"From what you just said, the troops under the Baojia Brothers have also greatly increased?" Chen Wuji asked.

Qian Fugui had just lifted his teacup and immediately set it down again.

"Drink yours; drinking tea doesn't delay your speaking." Chen Wuji said.

"Yes." Qian Fugui sucked a sip of tea, "His side is a bit fewer than mine, but as far as I know, it's also close to six thousand."

Chen Wuji furrowed his brow slightly, "Yunan has no battles to fight; how did he increase his troop numbers?"

"My lord, speaking of this, it's really quite a coincidence." Qian Fugui said.

"On my way here, scouts detected several groups of retreating soldiers of unknown origin; I was puzzled at the time—there is basically no fighting in Hezhou territory, where could so many stragglers come from? After a small skirmish, I finally figured out what was going on."

"These people are from Guangyuan Prefecture."

"The stragglers from Guangyuan Prefecture ran to Hezhou?" Chen Wuji murmured.

"Yes, and their numbers are not small; moreover, they are carrying a large amount of Luggage and Supplies, apparently the retainers of a local aristocratic clan, passing through Hezhou on their way to Qingzhou." Qian Fugui said.

"After clarifying the situation, I prepared to give them a beating; my lord, the situation you painstakingly stabilized cannot be ruined by these lot. As a result, my scouts and the Baojia Brothers' scouts ran into each other, and then I met with the Baojia Brothers."

"The Baojia Brothers thought that my lord had ordered the mobilization of Bīngmǎ; perhaps something had happened in Hezhou requiring urgent Bīngmǎ, so they had me hurry my unit to Hezhou, while they lingered a few days entangled with those retreating troops."

"As for those retreating troops I saw, unless the Baojia Brothers are all killed in pits, they will certainly need to replenish the army with about two thousand prisoners."

Chen Wuji could not say that Qian Fugui and the Baojia Brothers had handled things incorrectly; they had handled them very well.

But with a sudden increase of nearly ten thousand troops, Hezhou's financial pressure became considerable.

Xu Zengyi had just taken Guangyuan Prefecture; the forces absorbed there were at least several thousand.

Adding it all up, the troops originally calculated at twenty thousand instantly surged to nearly forty thousand.

If there are no other sources of income, feeding forty thousand troops with Hezhou's current frail state looks difficult no matter how you look at it…

"My lord, has something happened in Hezhou?" Qian Fugui asked.

Chen Wuji waved his hand, "Hezhou is under clear skies, nothing is happening; it's just that recently some people have been itching to cause trouble for me, I intend to strike first and pull out his dog tooth."

"Who is it? Which bastard is so blind as to seek trouble for my lord?" Qian Fugui's eyes widened, his aura instantly rising; the killing intent honed on the battlefield of blood and fire suddenly exploded.

He wasn't joking; he really exploded in anger all at once.

"Lu Ping'an!"