Chapter 183

Jiang Ze brought the group to the logistics department; because the main force had gone to Qingcheng, there weren't many people here.

Everyone was queuing up for food in an orderly fashion, and Jiang Ze didn't use his status as a Small Squad Leader to cut in line, continuing to talk to the men about how delicious the food at Yangguangzhai was while waiting in the crowd.

Soon it was Jiang Ze's turn; the men craned their necks to look into the large pots: one pot of stir-fried cabbage, another pot of twice-cooked pork, and a pot of soup at the very end.

He filled a bowl with white rice, covered it with the two dishes, and waited until he finished eating to use the empty bowl for soup.

The Vice General asked in disbelief: "Do you eat this every day?"

Jiang Ze waved his hand: "Of course not!"

Only then did the Vice General feel a bit better, thinking that it must be because they had come, so the hosts had deliberately made it more sumptuous.

Jiang Ze continued: "Eating the same dishes every day gets tiring, so the logistics team changes the variety for us; yesterday we had red-braised pork."

"Uh..."

The men were silent, but the envy in their eyes could not be hidden.

After eating and drinking their fill, Jiang Ze wanted to arrange sleeping quarters for them, but they indicated they still had to travel and left Jiangcheng in a hurry.

In reality, it was already late, and even if they reached Licheng, they wouldn't be able to enter, so they would have to make do outside the city for the night.

But the men's thoughts were surprisingly consistent: they were worried that if they stayed in Jiangcheng any longer, they wouldn't be able to bear leaving.

Afterward, they entered Licheng; this time, having learned from their previous experience, the Vice General removed his armor and brought only one person into the city, attracting no one's attention.

They observed quietly, recorded everything they saw and heard, and then slipped out of the city.

It wasn't until they reached Qingcheng that the Vice General saw the Big Boss of Yangguangzhai, Jiang Ze's Big Brother, Jiang Jinshi!

At this moment, Jiang Jinshi was at the city gate arranging matters, but he keenly sensed someone peeking at him.

The moment their gazes met, the Vice General felt unprecedented pressure; it was an intuition trained on the battlefield—this person was dangerous!

Jiang Jinshi didn't think much of it and turned his head to continue talking to others.

The Vice General chose not to step forward to greet him, but instead entered the city low-key to continue his work.

Qingcheng could not compare to the other two cities, as it had only been occupied by Yangguangzhai for a short time, but it was clearly developing rapidly; at the very least, one could already see commoners who had finished their household registration certificates buying cheap grain.

Compared to the other two cities, Jiang Jinshi was more attentive to Qingcheng; after all, this place would become one of Yangguangzhai's money bags in the future, so he couldn't afford to be careless.

The Vice General took all his findings and hurried back to the border.

Upon learning that the Vice General had brought back news, Wei Xikang felt even happier than the Prince of Zhenbei and hurriedly asked about the recent situation at Yangguangzhai.

Only then did the Vice General realize that the Crown Prince had some connection with Yangguangzhai, or at least, they knew each other.

So the Vice General told the Prince of Zhenbei and the Crown Prince everything he had seen.

Wei Xikang was more satisfied the more he heard; Big Boss Jiang wasn't just simply opening grain stores to save the commoners, he was even letting them live a good life where they were well-fed and clothed.

The Prince of Zhenbei was dumbfounded, having the feeling of listening to a storyteller in a teahouse.

If it weren't for the fact that his Vice General had followed him for many years, the Prince of Zhenbei would have suspected the man was lying to him.

Although it was absurd, the Prince of Zhenbei still believed the fact and said to Wei Xikang.

"Since that is the case, I will know how to handle this in the future."

"Hmm! If it weren't for the unstable front lines, I would think giving him the position of a commandery governor wouldn't be bad." Wei Xikang sighed; it was a pity for a talent like Big Boss Jiang to be a mere small bandit king.

"Indeed!" The Prince of Zhenbei nodded in agreement; although he had never met this person, how could someone who could achieve such feats in troubled times be an ordinary person?

"Old Feng! Recruit people for me with all your might!" Jiang Jinshi draped his arm over Feng Chunsheng's shoulder.

"Recruiting again?" Feng Chunsheng was surprised; the number of people in Yangguangzhai was already quite large, and one had to know that the garrison under the commandery governor was only ten thousand men.

Feng Chunsheng was afraid that if they kept recruiting like this, the number of bandits in Yangguangzhai would exceed the garrison of the Guangwu Jun governor.

Jiang Jinshi feigned dissatisfaction and said: "Old Feng! Your thinking is problematic!"

"I don't know... what does Big Boss Jiang mean?" Feng Chunsheng didn't know where his thinking was problematic and could only bow and ask for instruction.

Jiang Jinshi looked at him with a look of "I wish you were better": "You old man Feng, before we took Qingcheng, you were wishing on stars and moons, hoping for as many people as possible; now that we've taken Qingcheng, you're turning your back on us!"

"Big Boss, I didn't!" Feng Chunsheng looked aggrieved.

"There are still so many commoners in deep water and scorching fire, are you going to just turn a blind eye?" Jiang Jinshi put his hands on his hips, standing on the moral high ground to criticize Feng Chunsheng.

Feng Chunsheng said hesitantly: "But... if we keep recruiting like this... the governor's side..."

"I really misjudged you; it was a waste for you to read so many sage books, you're actually afraid of power!" Jiang Jinshi looked at him with a look of "I wish you were better," his spit flying onto Feng Chunsheng's face.

"Big Boss, don't tarnish my integrity, I am not afraid!" Feng Chunsheng finally hardened his resolve.

"Bullshit, you are afraid! The brothers aren't afraid to go to war, yet you're the first to cower while hiding in the back." Jiang Jinshi continued to provoke Feng Chunsheng with his words.

"I'll recruit! I'll recruit, is that enough?" Feng Chunsheng's face was flushed red, and this sentence was almost roared out.

Jiang Jinshi was satisfied now; after all, if Feng Chunsheng were to quit, he would have his hands full.

"Old man Feng, I believe in you! Keep it up!"

After saying this, Jiang Jinshi left, leaving the fuming Feng Chunsheng standing in place, gnashing his teeth.

Fine, fine, fine! Since that's the case, then I won't care anymore; I'll recruit until I'm dead, let's see how many people you need before you're satisfied.

Feng Chunsheng immediately thought of a good plan; currently, Yangguangzhai had only occupied three cities, and it was impossible for everyone to come and be bandits; this matter still required mutual consent.

Therefore, to recruit more people, limiting it to these three cities was impossible; he had to spread the news to achieve good results.

There were so many starving commoners in Beijiang right now; never mind the monthly pay, just the promise of a full meal would attract countless people, it was just that most commoners didn't know about Yangguangzhai's treatment.

So what Feng Chunsheng had to do was very simple: send out several teams to promote everywhere, praising how good the recruitment treatment at Yangguangzhai was to everyone they met; even if some people were skeptical, a small number would definitely choose to believe.

Temporarily setting the scope to the entire Guangwu Jun, that should be "enough" manpower, right?

Feng Chunsheng thought viciously, this time he would not stop until Jiang Jinshi came to him crying and saying there were enough people.