Chapter 618

After looking at the numbers in Dingzhou Treasury, Chen Wuji's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally settled steadily into his stomach. 'Good, Hu Bu Gui is someone who knows how to be thrifty and manage a household; feeding these Bīngmǎ until next year will be absolutely fine. Even just for the sake of these numbers, I ought to give Hu Bu Gui absolute preferential treatment.'

'The numbers look good?' Chen Luozi asked curiously.

Chen Wuji laughed lightly and relaxed, passing the book over, 'Jiu Shu will see just by looking; Hu Bu Gui's treasury, I can only say it's more than sufficient—this is the first time I've seen such a abundantly stocked treasury.'

The numbers on it almost moved Chen Wuji to tears.

After several prefectures, he finally got to see a decent treasury.

In Hezhou Treasury, after being messed with by Gu Wenjie, even people speaking inside have an echo; Guangyuan Prefecture is even worse.

Guangtongzhou is somewhat better, at least giving Chen Wuji a slight boost, but compared to Dingzhou it's lacking by far more than a little.

The harvest in Dingzhou is quite stable, but Guangtongzhou is a classic case of killing the hen for its eggs; although it can temporarily give Chen Wuji a slight boost, the large amounts of grain and money in the treasury still have to be returned to the people to restore livelihood.

Dingzhou, truly lives up to being an old-line prefecture of Nan Jun.

Over these years, Hu Bu Gui in Dingzhou has certainly not been idle.

Based on this alone, even if he risks betraying us in the future, Chen Wuji will still grant Hu Bu Gui absolute treatment and equal authority as a Prefect; he truly deserves it.

'No wonder Hu Bu Gui's reputation in Nan Jun has always been so good; his office is indeed splendid.' After looking at the treasury numbers, Chen Luozi couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.

Although these treasury numbers are just a bunch of cold data, what they represent is much more, nearly fully representing a region's economy, livelihood, officialdom atmosphere, and other aspects of strength.

Xu Zengyi didn't go look at the treasury numbers, gave a light chuckle, and said calmly, 'So, even though we know Hu Bu Gui is loyal to the Court, what he deserves still has to be given.'

'We can't chill his heart, and we certainly can't let our lord bear a bad reputation.'

Chen Luozi lightly nodded, 'Sir, enough, enough, you don't need to keep lecturing me; I admit my thinking was narrow.'

'Your concerns are both actually not wrong, each has its own reasoning, but matters have priorities; what you said, Sir, is still the more urgent now.' Chen Wuji summed up in a sentence, pulling the topic back to the distribution of reduced troops, 'I think we should stick to the old method: each unit gets a supplement, avoiding a situation where one family dominates.'

Xu Zengyi and Chen Luozi had no objection to that.

After a pause, Chen Wuji continued, 'I was thinking, Hu Bu Gui's unit could just become its own army, how about calling it the Justice and Righteousness Army?'

Chen Luozi asked, 'I have no problem with the title Justice and Righteousness Army, but if Hu Bu Gui's unit gets a designation number while the other units don't, isn't that a bit inappropriate?'

'Our old units, I never intended to give them designation numbers; the five divisions—front, rear, left, right, and center—are enough for the Bīngmǎ, just a slight distinction.' Chen Wuji said.

This was originally his offhand idea, but since the Zui Rong Army Army acquired its own designation number, the distinction already existed; now we're just going with the flow to formalize it.

Chen Luozi rubbed his gums, 'Front, rear, left, right, center five divisions? Using battle formation sequence as designation numbers—this sounds weirdly archaic.'

He muttered a sentence, looking at Xu Zengyi, 'Sir, do you think it's good?'

'Nothing wrong with that.' Xu Zengyi said casually while chewing mint, 'As for the direct-line units, the lord means there's no need to be so meticulous about them, nor to flaunt an overbearing designation number.'

'Actually, the lord's decision also has another benefit: it can conceal clumsiness.'

Chen Luozi chuckled, 'You mean, when the Zui Rong Army Army, or the Justice and Righteousness Army, gains fame abroad, but only upon reaching the battlefield will we discover that those without designation numbers are actually the fiercest?'

Xu Zengyi nodded.

Chen Luozi leaned back, 'Although it sounds a bit odd, it's indeed reasonable; Hu Bu Gui should probably like the name Justice and Righteousness Army.'

'It's literally just to save his face.' Chen Wuji said.

'Since you both have no objections, let's decide this way; the specific regulations will be up to you two. I'm going to catch some sleep—perhaps I've talked too much, suddenly feeling a bit sleepy.'

Xu Zengyi shook his head, 'My lord, have you considered that maybe you've been sleeping too much these past few days? A nap at noon, another in the afternoon—I haven't heard of anyone sleeping like that.'

'It's rare to have two days of leisure; let me catch up on sleep, sir!' Chen Wuji laughed.

'Since raising troops, I've felt fine about everything else, but in terms of sleep, I feel I owe myself a great deal.'

Xu Zengyi waved his hand, 'My lord, rest early; leave the rest to this old bone of mine—after all, I'm merely a strategist, not the lord, and that's only proper.'

Chen Wuji chuckled and swayed back to the rear courtyard.

The environment of Dingbian County Office is excellent; on the north-facing corner there's a sunny little room where sunlight can bask from morning till evening, a cushioned bench placed by the window, and outside the window are fresh, pleasant flowers and grasses.

These past few days, Chen Wuji has really liked sleeping in that spot; it feels like lying on the grass under tree shade as a child, dappled tree shadows falling on his body, the scent of flowers and grasses between his nostrils, especially tranquil.

After yawning, just as he lay down comfortably, a red-clad lovely figure descended from the sky.

Chen Wuji got face-sat.

He speechlessly pulled his head out from the skirt, 'I say, young lady, what are you up to today?'

'Do you like this?' Qin Zhansong laughed with a coquettish expression.

This woman's complexion has been improving lately; her skin is so watery it seems to be able to ooze water.

Chen Wuji has always thought this is all the fruit of his painstaking efforts.

'I do like it, but it's a bit scary!' Chen Wuji said, his hand moving naturally; this hand of his is now so familiar that he doesn't need to grope or Shìhòu—he can locate precisely.

Qin Zhansong let out a soft sigh, 'My husband isn't afraid of charging into battle, yet he's afraid of this?'

'Can charging into battle and this be considered the same thing? This is a person being startled by instinct.' Chen Wuji said, 'Where have you been busy these past few days?'

'Just drilling troops, what else can I do? Wanting to train a unit from scratch that can rival the Imperial City Department is really hard; I now regret taking on this matter, my legs are about to run themselves ragged.' Qin Zhansong pouted her red, moist lips, complaining with a resentful expression.

Chen Wuji chuckled, 'You haven't been full of fighting spirit all along?'

'I don't want fighting spirit anymore; I just want to be a dead fish.' Qin Zhansong said resentfully.