Chapter 75

To tell you the truth, Li Zhi smiled and said: "There are many Xu families, and there are actually not many who are really capable. Forget it, since Assistant Regional Commander Liao looks down on us, we don't need to force ourselves to join in. The status of civilian braves is actually a small matter, and it will be useless after the war. How about this, let's do something practical, Magistrate Sun, allocate some grain and pay, how about it?"

Magistrate Sun said: "General Li comes from the two Lis, isn't this more noble than the Xu family? Besides, that Liao guy is still separated from the Xu family by a layer, I really don't understand what he is arrogant about! As for grain and pay..."

Magistrate Sun gritted his teeth and said: "Three hundred civilian braves, two taels each, I'll give six hundred taels! How about it?"

Fang Hedong was furious and stood up: "The imperial court allocated two hundred thousand taels, and you only give six hundred? With such corruption, are you really not afraid of bursting to death?"

Magistrate Sun smiled bitterly: "Fang Junior Brother, you have read all your books into a dead end! Don't you know the two-eight rule?"

"What is the two-eight rule?"

County Assistant Ren Ren Youwei said: "Let me speak for Magistrate Sun. The two-eight rule is officialdom common sense, referring to the payment and allocation. The imperial court rewards one hundred taels of silver, passing through layers of hands, and there can be twenty taels in the county; the tax silver collected by the county, handed over to the treasury, can finally have twenty taels in the hands of the Son of Heaven, this is the two-eight rule. Being able to achieve the two-eight rule is a clear government and a good official."

"This, this... how unreasonable!" Fang Hedong was dumbfounded.

The Master of Records also said: "The Son of Heaven gave two hundred thousand taels, but when it reached the county, there were only thirty-six thousand taels. Assistant Regional Commander Liao took away thirty thousand taels as military pay, and the county actually only got six thousand taels. Then the clerks, government office runners, etc., all owed quite a bit of salary silver, now it is wartime, and those who want people to risk their heads for death naturally cannot owe it anymore, which took another three thousand taels. The remaining three thousand taels have to be paid from all the civilian braves and garrison soldiers in the county. So Magistrate Sun gives six hundred taels, I'm afraid he still has to pay some out of his own pocket."

Fang Hedong kept saying it was absurd, and added: "What about those Liao barbarian heads? You earned at least ten thousand taels, right?"

Magistrate Sun smiled bitterly: "The heads were all handed over to the Prefect, how could such an easy money-making thing be my turn? If there were no such heads, how could those thirty-six thousand taels be allocated? I have a share in the money of empty quotas. But this kind of silver, if I don't take it, how can the Prefect take it? If the Prefect doesn't take it, how can the Governor take it? Fang Junior Brother! The kind of official with high character and clean hands you imagine only lives in the mouth of the storyteller!"

Fang Hedong didn't give up: "What about the shares of those empty quotas?"

Magistrate Sun was helpless and said: "Fang Junior Brother! You only say that you come from a humble background and have no background. We studied together as fellow students, you have no background, did I have one? How did I climb to today's position, just by ability and talent? Being able to do things is one thing, being sensible is also one thing! If I don't honor those silver pieces everywhere, where would I be today?"

The County Assistant said: "Magistrate Sun is actually a rare good official. Not to mention anything else, just take the empty quota matter, Assistant Regional Commander Liao put down how many cruel words, and finally could only eat five percent at Magistrate Sun's place. If it were elsewhere, I'm afraid eight percent would be small! Look at the surrounding counties, which one is not seven or eight percent? Actually, for this matter, Magistrate Sun has already offended Assistant Regional Commander Liao deeply."

Magistrate Sun sighed and said: "Fang Junior Brother, only when you are in that position can you plan for that government. You are not in this position, having full talent, what's the use? Relying on your flesh and blood, what can you do? I don't have that much ability, I have to protect myself first, and can only do better than the neighboring county and cleaner than my colleagues, so that the common people in this county can breathe a little more."

Li Zhi raised his glass and said: "Magistrate Sun also has talent, it's just that he is in the game and it's hard to help himself. How about this, Magistrate Sun allocates six hundred taels, and I will also pay six hundred taels, first to solve the urgent need, Fang Brother, what do you think?"

Fang Hedong nodded slowly after a while.

In the dead of night, Wei Yuan and Li Zhi returned to Shayang Village. Magistrate Sun wanted to keep the two of them in the county government office for the night, but was refused by the two.

Shayang Village was very simple, with only one well, the well water was only enough for cooking and drinking, let alone bathing, even washing one's face was not possible. Wei Yuan and Li Zhi simply didn't sleep, and stood in front of the map to discuss tomorrow's battle.

Li Zhi originally took out a map, but after seeing Fang Hedong's hand-drawn map, he silently put it away.

"What does Wei Brother plan to do?" Li Zhi asked. This was actually a bit of a test and examination.

Wei Yuan thought: "Defending blindly is too passive, it's not a long-term plan. If I can have Li Brother's iron cavalry, I plan to take the initiative to sweep away the Liao barbarian camps on the periphery first."

Li Zhi's eyes lit up, and he said: "I was just planning to fight a field battle with the Liao barbarians to test their quality, it's rare that Wei Brother thinks so too. I brought sixty personal guards this time, I will call them all over tomorrow, divide them into two teams, I will lead thirty and Wei Brother will lead thirty."

"How can that be, Li Brother should command, I'll just follow and fight." Wei Yuan declined. He had no experience in leading troops, and war was not a child's play, he couldn't use human lives to add experience to himself. Furthermore, Wei Yuan always felt that leading dozens of people behind him was a bit cumbersome, affecting his harvesting of military merit.

The two then agreed on the march route. Fang Hedong marked a total of four possible camp locations, and the two prepared to sweep them one by one from west to east.

After the agreement, Li Zhi sent two riders back to his defense zone to mobilize all his personal guards. Wei Yuan had no horse, but Li Zhi had three, so he gave one spare horse to Wei Yuan.

Just past the third watch, Li Zhi's personal guards all arrived. At this time, there was still a period before dawn, the personal guards were all cultivated, energetic, and didn't need to sleep at this time, so they made preparations before the expedition, took care of the horses, maintained military weapons, and then watched the map under the leadership of two captains, memorizing the march route.

Fighting against Northern Liao, the most taboo is night fighting, this is common sense in the army. So they had to wait until dawn to fight.

During the preparation, Li Zhi handed Wei Yuan a small box: "Want a set?"

Wei Yuan took it, saw the mark of the Four Sages Academy on the lid, opened it, and saw a stack of talismans inside. Among them were "Sharp Soldier Talismans", which could add effects like armor-piercing and sharpness when pasted on weapons, lasting for one day; "Sturdy Armor Talismans", totaling two, one for himself and one for the warhorse; "Revival Talismans", which could speed up physical recovery, also for the warhorse; and finally "Water Healing Talismans", pasted on his body to speed up wound healing.

These talismans were low-grade talismans, but they were well-made, and the effects of all talismans were standard for one day. The Four Sages Academy has always been famous for its words and deeds, and its talismans are also unique.

Wei Yuan was still considering whether to use them now, when he saw the personal guards all take out a box, pull out the talismans inside, and add blessings to themselves and their warhorses one by one. All the talismans were exactly the same as the ones in Wei Yuan's hand. Only then did Wei Yuan understand that this box of talismans was the standard military equipment for Li Zhi's personal guards.

Li Zhi patted the talismans on his body while saying: "Don't look at these as just the lowest-grade talismans, they can be more useful than high-grade talismans if used well. I plan to order another three thousand boxes from the academy later, and my own troops will each have ten boxes first."

At the last moment before dawn, all the personal guards began to eat, and had a full meal. Their military rations were similar to the Grand Void Palace meat jerky, and a thin strip could resist a day of hunger. However, the military rations used by Li Zhi's personal guards were of better quality than those issued by the Grand Void Palace, not only resisting hunger but also refreshing the spirit and accelerating the recovery of spiritual power.

All preparations were completed, and the sky began to brighten, the rolling night gradually faded, the field of vision gradually expanded, until it was blocked by the deep yellow and light brown in the distance.

A team of iron cavalry left Shayang Village one after another, along the predetermined route toward the first suspected Liao barbarian camp.

(End of chapter)