This Country Is Doomed

Chen Zhiyuan looked at the 101 warhorses that had appeared on the grassland space. The smile on his face could not be stopped. It was as if someone had given him a pillow just as he was dozing off.

With these excellent warhorses, his plan to develop his power could be further improved. Now that he had a Ferghana Horse and a Lion Cong, he might be able to give one to Xiahou Yong and lure him over.

Now it was time for him to recruit soldiers and buy horses.

Chen Zhiyuan's first thought was, of course, his bailiff brothers. After all, they were also his proper subordinates.

But before that, he still wanted to meet someone, Wang Shan!

He was a constable who had descended from the sky, and Wang Shan was a county citizen and a tyrant in the county. In terms of understanding these bailiffs, no one was more suitable than him.

He did it right away!

Chen Zhiyuan immediately rode on his horse and rushed towards Wang Shan's residence in the city.

Today was not the day of duty for squad three, so the bailiffs could rest at home. They would only need to gather at the government office when there was an urgent matter.

"Chief Chen is here. Quick, this way, please. Woman, quickly take out my precious tea and brew a pot."

When Wang Shan opened the door and saw that it was Chen Zhiyuan, he immediately greeted him with a smile and told his wife to brew a cup of good tea to serve him.

"Old Wang, there's no need to go through so much trouble. I came here today because I have something to ask of you."

Chen Zhiyuan waved his hand and said.

"Hehe, Chief Chen, even if you want to exterminate the bandits, it won't take much time to brew a pot of tea. Let's drink some tea, and I'll explain it to you."

Wang Shan grinned and invited Chen Zhiyuan into the house as if he already knew his intention for this trip.

Chen Zhiyuan looked at Wang Shan and sighed in his heart that this local tyrant was indeed not to be trifled with. He felt relieved and sized up the small courtyard of Wang Shan's house. Although it was not big, it was still considered elegant, with all kinds of furniture and furnishings.

"Chief Chen, give me five hundred string of coins, and I can give you the exact same set in the city."

When Wang Shan saw the look in Chen Zhiyuan's eyes, he immediately patted his chest confidently to assure him.

"Don't worry about that for the time being. I'm not in the mood to think about this right now. Just tell me."

Chen Zhiyuan quickly refused. He wanted to develop his power.

Even if he wanted to change houses, he had to build them outside and develop himself.

If he bought a house in the city, his old nest would be destroyed as soon as he had any ideas. He would not do such a business.

The two of them came to the mat together and sat down cross-legged.

Wang Shan then slowly said, "Chief, you took on the task of suppressing the bandits, but the available people you have on hand are a few of our brothers in squad three. With only these people, you still don't know which ones are willing to risk their lives and which ones are just saying it. That's why you came to ask me today, right?"

"Old Wang, I really didn't misjudge you. Continue."

Chen Zhiyuan stared at Wang Shan for a while, then nodded, indicating for him to continue.

"Don't worry about the bailiffs from squad three. The two dogs and the others are still acceptable. However, we can dream if we want to annihilate Black Wind Mountain with only these people. If we want to destroy Black Wind Mountain, we definitely won't be able to do it without 500 people. Right now, it's a severe drought. Lives are cheap, but money and food are expensive. As long as we're willing to fork out money and food, 500 lives won't be a problem."

Wang Shan said a few words, then looked at Chen Zhiyuan and said seriously, "Chief, do you have enough?"

"200 catties of food per person. Can you find 500 people who dare to use weapons and risk their lives?"

Chen Zhiyuan looked at Wang Shan's expression and tentatively stretched out two fingers.

"200 catties?"

"If 200 catties is not enough, I can add more, but I have to take it slow..."

"No, cough cough! Chief, is what you said true? 200 catties of food per person is available right away, not including the rations used in the process of exterminating the bandits!"

Wang Shan stood up with a whoosh and stared at Chen Zhiyuan in disbelief.

In this era, a few catties of rations were enough to trigger a bloody case. It was just that most of the incidents in the city had been suppressed, so most people didn't know about it.

The moment Chief Chen opened his mouth, it was 200 catties. How could it not shock him?

"Of course. My brothers are working so hard, so I can't possibly make them bring their own food. It's just that many people may not have seen this food before..."

Chen Zhiyuan said with some hesitation. He had calculated this figure before.

The current stock was about 20,000 catties of potatoes, 200 catties for each person, and 500 people need 10,000 catties. During the process of exterminating the bandits, each person will have two catties of food every day. In wartime, three catties of food per day, plus all sorts of losses, 20,000 catties would be enough for at least a week, and the spirit fields were still producing an endless stream. This number was enough for him to maintain.

"This isn't a problem. There are some places outside the city where the bark and grass roots have been eaten. 200 catties of edible food that is not poisonous will be enough."

Wang Shan waved his hand, not caring at all. After a while, he looked at Chen Zhiyuan suspiciously. "Chief, you aren't someone sent from the higher-ups to secretly pay a visit, are you?"

There were tens of thousands of catties of grain stored in the house. Other than wealthy merchants like the Xu family, there were not many households in Qingshui County that could do it. Chief Chen was not well-known, so it was hard not to suspect him.

"F*ck off, if I were to pay a private visit in disguise, I would first punish you for corruption and dereliction of duty!"

Chen Zhiyuan glanced at Wang Shan. Why didn't he notice that this fellow was so suspicious earlier? He said unhappily, "Continue. What else do you need?"

"Hehe, Chief, with those words of yours, that's enough. Now, there's only one problem."

Wang Shan pretended to be mysterious but with a hint of seriousness.

"What?"

Chen Zhiyuan was puzzled.

"Armor and weapons! Chief Chen, you've gathered people. You can't let them go to war empty-handed, right?"

Wang Shan sighed and shook his body.

"I was ordered by the county magistrate to suppress the bandits. I can recruit people even if the county treasury doesn't give me money and food, but I can't possibly let them fight without any weapons and armor, right?"

This time, it was Chen Zhiyuan's turn to be shocked. Every county had an armory, and he had specially learned about it.

In order to prevent unexpected situations, when there were not enough bailiffs, it was inevitable that they would summon the militia and the local garrison to assist them. The armory in the county was used to deal with unexpected situations for them to use.

Although it was not much, and there was no iron armor, the leather armor, long hair, waist knife, and other equipment should be more than enough for 500 people.

"Hehe! The county magistrate wants to give them, but these things are in the hands of Military Governor Zhao, who's in charge of forging weapons and armor for the armory. From his position, the county magistrate couldn't control him. Now that the county magistrate had the support of the county governor, he could control him. However, he had already sold everything. The county magistrate might have taken all the benefits, so where would he go to get these 500 people's armor and weapons."

Wang Shan said with a cold smile.

When Chen Zhiyuan heard this, he only had one thought in his mind. The imperial court might really be hopeless.

From top to bottom, it was either flattery or bribery. They even dared to sell the military's heavy weapons. What else would they not dare to sell?

Before long, the world would be in chaos.

He had to take this opportunity to develop and at least have the ability to protect himself.

"However, Chief, it's not impossible to make Military Governor Zhao spit it out. Military Governor Zhao has a habit. He likes to gamble! As long as he gambles to his heart's content, he could even use his wife and children as bets! If you can beat him, even if you can't get all the weapons and armor, you can still extort a sum of money and make him give the order to forge weapons and armor. Then you'll have everything."

Wang Shan whispered into Chen Zhiyuan's ear and said mysteriously.