Chapter 102: Fighting for Food

The seniors were overly emotional and dramatic, constructing scenes and rendering atmosphere with great smoothness, yet they were also able to balance emotion and fact.

Such excessive exaggeration was also a way of showing that they were not incompetent and that they still performed their primary duties well. It was just that, in today's setting, they wanted to vividly let the boss know their needs.

It was just too vivid, forcing the Head of the Family of the Zhao Clan to feel immense psychological pressure!

The Head of the Zhao Family supported his forehead, his eyelids drooping slightly.

With the people below performing with such vigor, he too put on a mask of agony.

He truly did not want to watch!

At this time last year, when he calculated the accounts and found a surplus, he felt it was a waste to leave it in the warehouse, so he asked several old brothers to speak about their respective difficulties, and he would then allocate the account balance based on the needs of each party.

When it came to the matter of supporting the army, the Head of the Zhao Family had always been generous.

He could be frugal in his own life, but military funding could not be lacking!

Grain, fodder, and supplies—whatever they asked for, he gave!

However, once the door was opened, this group of people climbed right up the pole!

This year was even worse; they came to hold a meeting, and they had even changed into costumes!

The direction of the meeting was within his expectations, but when truly faced with it, the Head of the Zhao Family still could not help but feel a wave of mental exhaustion.

He glanced at the incense burning to the side; the time was about up, and what his subordinates wanted to express had been expressed, so the Head of the Zhao Family waved his hand.

The three parties below stopped their performance with great discernment.

If they kept acting, Zhao Laoda would truly get angry, and it would be counterproductive.

They only looked at the Head of the Zhao Family with anticipation in their eyes, waiting for the Head of the Family to make the final decision.

However, the gaze of the Head of the Zhao Family swept past them and looked at Wen Gu, who was sitting at the end of the row. His line of sight lingered briefly on the coarse cloth clothes Wen Gu was wearing.

He did not know who had privately informed Wen Gu, but the style was surprisingly uniform. He hoped Wen Gu had not learned bad habits from this group!

The Head of the Zhao Family had originally thought that since Wen Gu had made a great contribution, he truly had the intention to cultivate this junior, which was why he allowed Wen Gu to start coming into contact with high-level meetings and get to know these old seniors better.

However, for this first meeting of the New Year, the influence on the young man was not very good; from the start of the meeting until now, Wen Gu had remained silent, and he did not know if he had received a huge psychological shock.

Since he was already here, he might as well let the young man participate more and have his say.

Thus, the Head of the Zhao Family said, "Wen Gu, you speak as well; if you have any difficulties or any plans, feel free to talk about them boldly."

After finishing, as if worried, the Head of the Zhao Family emphasized, "Stay calm!"

State things objectively and express them subtly!

Don't just start by crying about how miserable you are!

Wen Gu stood up and performed a salute; he did not appear flustered or constrained, nor did he have the exaggerated overflow of emotion like the seniors, but instead carried the rationality and subtlety of a scholar from a humble background. His demeanor was sincere and upright.

The faces of everyone present instantly turned solemn, and they grew wary.

Pei Jun, who was playing the role of a fallen aristocrat today, also had a sharp look in his eyes, a cold glint flashing through them.

What? Was Wen Gu, this "noble relative of the imperial harem," going to pretend to be a "scholar from a humble background"?

No way, right?

This kid wouldn't also be learning from them to put on a show, would he?

Could it be that he had also planned this in advance?!

Even the father and son of the Zhao Family sitting at the head of the table felt their hearts hang in suspense.

No way, right?

He couldn't have already learned bad habits in such a short time, could he?

However, Wen Gu, standing in the hall, did not say much after finishing his salute.

Nor was he subtle.

How could one be subtle when asking for funding?!

It was just that the seniors before him had already performed with such passion, so he, the junior, would not act.

Let's be direct.

Thus, Wen Gu calmly and composedly took out a manuscript.

The bigwigs of the three armies felt their hearts relax.

It seemed he was just following the normal procedure; relatively speaking, it was indeed subtle.

But considering the things Wen Gu had done before, they remained vigilant and began to speculate in their hearts.

What exactly was written in the manuscript?

Could it be the Jingxing Fang Wanfu Garden that had caused such heated discussion?

But how could the affairs of a single ward compare to the important matters of their three armies?

Or perhaps it was about Glass and Coal? Or something else?

But the Telescope and Microscope were not suitable to be discussed here.

Besides these, what else could it be?

Amidst the speculation of all parties, Fusheng, at the signal of the Head of the Zhao Family, walked over quickly to take the manuscript and handed it to the Head of the Zhao Family. He did not look at it much, avoided the area, and waited quietly for orders.

The Head of the Zhao Family opened the manuscript; he had originally thought it was about ward affairs, but when he saw the drawing on the first page clearly, his face immediately turned solemn, and he sat up straight, becoming serious.

Seeing this reaction from the Head of the Zhao Family, the group below could no longer pretend and stared at the Head of the Zhao Family.

Boss, give us a word! This reaction is making people anxious!

Beside him, Zhao Shaozhu was curious; after hesitating slightly, he tried to get closer, and seeing that his old man did not explicitly refuse, he stretched his neck to look at the manuscript in his father's hand.

With this look, he did not see clearly what was drawn, but only saw the four characters "Defense Post," and he could no longer take his eyes off it; he left his seat directly to lean in and look closely!

In that manuscript, Wen Gu proposed the suggestion of "constructing Defense Posts near the border of Xinzhou."

He also drew several conceptual sketches, as well as some of the detailed facilities within them.

He was not a professional in architectural drawing, but drawn like this, it was already detailed enough for people to understand, and there was no need for Wen Gu to say anything more.

At the very least, the father and son of the Zhao Family understood.

The people sitting below were restless and anxious, secretly thinking: Wen Gu wrote something inside, shouldn't Zhao Laoda at least take it out and talk about it?

Who would have thought, the Head of the Family Zhao finished reading that manuscript.

Slap!

He closed it again.

The Head of the Family Zhao skipped this topic entirely, let Wen Gu return to his seat, and looked at the others: "Do you all have any other important matters?"

The others present: Huh???

Is he not planning to let them know for the time being?

The more this was the case, the more certain they were that the manuscript had grand designs!

"Head of the Family, won't you tell us?" someone asked, staring at the manuscript.

The Head of the Family Zhao waved his hand distractedly: "If you have matters, state them."

The Council Hall fell silent for a moment.

They had wanted to continue wailing and crying about their hardships, but everyone's attention had already shifted, and they could see that the Head of the Family Zhao's mind was no longer here.

The Head of the Family Zhao was in no mood to drag things out with this group, so he quickly ended the meeting, "That's all for today. It's cold and windy, put on more clothes before you head back."

He added: "Wen Gu, stay."

Soon, only the Zhao father and son and Wen Gu remained in the Council Hall, while Fusheng stood guard at the door.

The others who had already left the Council Hall looked back at Fusheng standing guard there.

"Guess how much we can get this time?"

"Very likely less than expected!"

Zhao Laoda's account balance had increased, but they might not necessarily get the expected amount this time.

Zhao Laoda had never skimped on the expenses for raising the army, but in this day and age, having more in one's pocket provided a sense of security!

The rice jar must always have rice; if it's filled with less, there will be anxiety, from the generals down to the Soldier, everyone will be anxious!

"This is not good!" someone said.

"Really didn't expect that kid Wen Gu to be quite capable; a few sheets of paper were enough to achieve his goal!"

"We can only see how big his appetite is and how much he can swallow."

The more Zhao Laoda refused to speak, the more it proved how much he valued it.

The extra things in the Zhao Family warehouse were generally distributed according to their level of importance.

The City Defense Army, the Xianshou Army, and the Patrol Guard Division—actually, everyone's situation was about the same; the basic military budget wouldn't be cut, but who wouldn't want more? So, they all coincidentally cried about their hardships at today's meeting.

They hadn't expected Wen Gu to suddenly get involved in this!

The cake placed in front of them would likely have a bite taken out of it by Wen Gu first this time!

"The Head of the Family is not someone who would practice favoritism in such matters," another person said calmly.

Therefore, what Wen Gu wrote, which caused the Zhao father and son to change their attitude, was definitely not the affairs of a small workshop!

Thinking of the previous Telescope and Microscope, the crowd became even more curious about what exactly Wen Gu had written.

"Could it be some kind of divine artifact again?" someone guessed.

Even if it didn't reach that level, it must have an important use!

They hadn't missed the change in the Head of the Family Zhao's eyes the moment he saw the manuscript!

"It's a pity Wen Gu was kept behind!"

If Wen Gu had come out with them, they could have shamelessly asked.

The garrison general of Shuo City, Wu Yang, was walking out while talking in low voices with several colleagues.

"We'll have to change our tactics next year."

The others agreed very much.

Everyone knew the truth of the situation; times were difficult now, and Zhao Laoda was just giving them an occasion to liven things up and ask for a bit more extra support.

It was fine to clown around once or twice, but if they acted like this every time, Zhao Laoda would get annoyed, and they wouldn't achieve their goals either.

They had a deep realization this time; they had struggled to act for so long, yet Wen Gu was able to gain importance without saying a word.

Therefore...

"We still have to bring out something useful!"

After leaving the small courtyard, they each went their separate ways.

Wu Yang took the outer robe handed over by his attendant and put it on, covering his old clothes, which were covered in patches.

No matter how they acted in Zhao Laoda's courtyard, they were all his own people, so they weren't afraid of losing face. Once outside, they still had to maintain appearances, otherwise, it would be a slap to Zhao Laoda's face!

Those who didn't know might think that following Zhao Laoda meant one could only wear rags.

As Wu Yang walked out, he recalled the matter of Wen Gu in his mind.

When winter had just begun, Wen Gu had led a group of refugees fleeing north through Shuo City, but he had a mission to attend to and hadn't encountered him, though he had heard of this cousin's deeds.

At the time, he had just casually praised him: "He is a capable person."

Who could have expected that, after only this much time, this cousin would be able to eat at the same table as them! Fighting for food in the same basin!

The personal attendant beside him looked at his general. General Wu's face was full of emotion.

As a personal attendant, he knew what should be asked and what shouldn't be said, so during the chat on the way back, the attendant beside General Wu didn't ask about the specifics of the meeting, but asked like gossip:

"Master, before we came, you mentioned that cousin of the Zhao Family, that he was even allowed to go and broaden his horizons; you think highly of him, did you take care of him? How did that cousin perform today?"

General Wu gave a scoff with a sarcastic tone.

It wasn't to mock Wen Gu, but self-mockery:

"Take care?"

Is it needed?

Who is taking care of whom?!

That pup dared to snatch food from the same basin as them the very first time he showed his face at a meeting!

They wailed and performed for so long, yet Zhao Laoda didn't show any reaction. That kid Wen Gu didn't make a sound and didn't say half a sentence, yet the Head of the Family and the Young Master reacted the most strongly!

General Wu was suddenly filled with deep emotion:

"The old saying goes well, a biting... cough! Better to remain silent than to startle everyone with a single cry!"