Chapter 101: Just Shout It Out Loud!

Once Wen Gu's "battle robe" was laid out, the seniors who had previously cast kind and gentle gazes at him instantly changed their attitudes.

They each held important positions and wielded great power, and they had rushed back to Xinzhou City during the New Year precisely because they knew Zhao Laoda's private treasury was full at this time and they could demand a share.

They had originally viewed their other colleagues as mere competitors, but they hadn't expected that right before the meeting started, another pup would be added to the mix!

It was just that, after all, they knew very little about Wen Gu, so while they were on guard, they didn't attach particular importance to him. A pup's teeth couldn't gnaw on much... right?

There was no time to think too much now! They had to put the surprise brought by Wen Gu aside for later and continue with their plans.

The first "wailing and misery" conference of the New Year began!

The big shots present scrambled to put on their performances, and for a time, invisible smoke of war permeated the room.

The intensity was such that if it weren't for the fact that weapons were forbidden inside, these few would likely have started fighting right then and there!

If they didn't snatch it now, by the time the meeting ended, Lao Zhao's account balance would be completely divided up by others!

When snatching for funding, one cannot have any hesitation or soft-heartedness!

Wen Gu sat at the end of the table, observing the battle before him and the reactions of the Zhao father and son.

The uncle of the Zhao family appeared calm, but his facial muscles twitched from time to time, showing that his inner emotions were not quite as stable.

As for the cousin of the Zhao family, he wore an expressionless look that suggested he had "expected this long ago."

As the main force once the weather warmed up, the City Defense Army could be considered to have the best odds of winning. The two big shots in charge of the City Defense Army had only just managed to brew a bit of tearfulness when the chief and deputy of the Xianshou Army across from them had already started wailing!

They wailed with full emotional intensity and explosive power!

"Our Xianshou Army's 'hunting' expeditions from the end of autumn through the entire winter have involved continuous combat and heavy consumption; we are in urgent need of supplies!"

"We are starving!"

"We are suffering!"

"We are exhausted!"

From the secretly executed plans to the frostbite on the soldiers' bodies, they wailed about everything. On top of that, there were the work tasks to continue after the New Year: meeting ships heading north during the thawing and rising water period of late winter and early spring, and monitoring merchant caravans and scattered groups of refugees...

Wen Gu listened as this big shot, dressed in old cloth garments, wailed and sang of their poverty.

As one of those who had headed north during the autumn and winter seasons, Wen Gu had seen the equipment of the Zhao family's Xianshou Army.

Wherever the Zhao family might cut costs, they would never do so on military spending, especially not for the Xianshou Army, which served as their blade facing outward!

The military funding for the three armies would never be cut; that was the foundation of the Zhao Clan!

The elite units of the Xianshou Army were well-equipped, and while the other units in the army were slightly less so, they were certainly not as poor and destitute as this big shot was wailing about.

Anyone who didn't know better would think the Xianshou Army was "hunting" while riding donkeys!

However, the Xianshou Army big shots currently wailing didn't care about what others thought; he just had to let the boss know about their difficulties!

Especially after seeing that divine artifact called the Thousand-Mile Mirror, the demand was even stronger!

Word was that the efficiency of craftsmen polishing lenses was currently low, and the number of Thousand-Mile Mirrors produced was certainly limited, so there must be a priority order for distribution—who goes first and who goes last? Who gets more and who gets less?

Wen Gu was the inventor and manufacturer, but the one responsible for the distribution was Zhao Laoda!

"Boss, look at me!"

"My Xianshou Army is the one that has to run out there!"

"We are the face of the Zhao Clan!"

"We are the ones who most need the latest military equipment supplements!"

"We are the sharpest blade in your hand, Boss!"

Head of the Family Zhao: "..."

When the big shots of the City Defense Army saw they had been beaten to the punch, they cursed the others in their hearts for being underhanded, then hurriedly and forcefully interrupted the other side's "casting," before extremely skillfully proceeding to wail, flatter, and disparage them all at once—

"Master!!"

"Our City Defense Army doesn't act as ostentatiously as the Xianshou Army, and our wailing isn't as loud as theirs; we only know how to keep our heads down and work, contributing silently!"

"You are the sensible head of the family; you absolutely cannot let the honest children suffer, ah ah ah!"

Wen Gu's gaze landed on the big shots of the City Defense Army, and he thought to himself.

To be fair, the City Defense Army's workload was indeed heavy.

During the past autumn and winter, the City Defense Army had been "plowing the fields" across the Xinzhou region, clearing out evil entities and screening those villages and towns that hadn't been checked before.

After the New Year, as the weather warmed, the City Defense Army would have to face the crises outside once again. They also had to strengthen patrols and protect farming; the tasks were indeed heavy, and the military funding required for this was not small.

However, just looking at the newly built defensive works and the replacement of city defense equipment, one could see that Lao Zhao had subsidized a great deal!

Had the City Defense Army suffered in terms of military funding?

Not at all!

It just didn't look obvious.

Yet, these forty- or fifty-year-old generals holding heavy military power performed the bitterness and helplessness of honest men with grievances with fluid ease. The seemingly honest scholars on the side cooperated with all their might to enhance the performance. With the combination of civil and military, the rendering was intensified!

The big shots of the City Defense Army wore looks of honest and wronged grievance, as if they had suffered a huge loss in their daily lives.

In reality, their purses were full, and they were itching to lick clean all the extra balance in the Zhao family's warehouse!

Wen Gu's gaze then shifted to the representative of the Patrol Guard Division.

The chief of the Patrol Guard Division, Pei Jun, was not good at this, so the deputy rushed up and wailed even louder, one man worth two.

It was often said that the Patrol Guard Division was the Zhao family's "own son," and the youngest one at that.

There was a folk saying: the youngest son and the eldest grandson are the apple of an old person's eye.

In the eyes of many, the Patrol Guard Division held the status of the "legitimate youngest son," the one favored by the Head of the Family Zhao among the three military institutions.

But!

The deputy of the Patrol Guard Division adopted a posture of "having deep grievances that are hard to speak of," his whole body seemingly radiating a sense of bitterness and repressed forbearance—

"Even the 'legitimate youngest son's' house has no surplus grain!"

"Master, love me a little more!"

Your family's youngest legitimate son is living in straitened circumstances!

Can you bear to watch the youngest son you personally fostered suffer from stunted growth?!

The chief officer Pei Jun did not say much, but every word he spoke served as an assist; every time, he could silkily pick up the deputy's act—this act must not be interrupted!

With a hint of just-right paleness and sorrow on his face, and a voice three parts choked with sobs, he vividly performed the misery of a "noble scion whose family is in decline, worrying about his next full meal," inciting sympathy.

Wen Gu looked at their "frail and weak" postures, which lacked confidence, and then recalled the scene where Uncle Shen's first reaction upon seeing the people from the Patrol Guard Division was to hide...

The Patrol Guard Division is still lacking confidence?

If they were given any more favoritism, wouldn't they be going to heaven?!

However, Wen Gu could understand.

In such chaotic times, everyone hopes to stuff their pockets with more supplies and support more people. Everyone hopes to receive greater support from their lord!

When striving for extra military funding and support, what is being compared is the subjective initiative of all parties!

If you want military funding, you cannot want face!

How can one have both?

Everyone knows it is an act, but if you want something, you must howl it out loudly!

You must shake the emotions of Zhao Laoda! Strongly convey your own needs!

Are we crying for ourselves?

No!

We are doing it for the tens of thousands of Soldiers, troops, and commoners under our command!

We are doing it for the Zhao Clan!

The Xianshou Army, the City Defense Army, the Patrol Guard Division.

Every party is conveying the same message: Boss, look at me! Is there any cake? My mouth is big, let me eat first!

At this moment, Wen Gu was sincerely holding a mindset of learning.

Seniors, they are truly all seniors!

This spectacle is something an ordinary person would never see, and even if they did, they would struggle to keep their composure.

Indeed, when the family business is large, the Head of the Family is not easy to be.

It is hard to hold a bowl of water level; the palm and the back of the hand are both flesh.

Look at his uncle-in-law, visibly becoming haggard.

Look at his cousin, Zhao Shaozhu, gradually going from expressionless, to "what kind of nonsense are you all talking about," and then to an emotional blank.

And look at these few people performing on the stage—

The three parties are definitely all old partners, cooperating with tacit understanding; one look and they know how the next step should go.

Look at them; they only say half a sentence, yet they can complete a massive exchange of information!

With people working in coordination, they can highly efficiently facilitate the achievement of their goals, scraping money from the accounts of the Zhao Family father and son!

Wen Gu felt deeply touched, and thinking of the employees under him, he fell into deep thought.

His own solitary fighting is indeed a disadvantage; he must whip his subordinates into shape as soon as possible, so that when he faces such occasions in the future, he will also bring people to coordinate with him.

One responsible for reason, one responsible for madness!