MLMD -Chapter 209 I’m Here to Seek an Official Post

“Yes, it’s time to recruit soldiers!”

Yue Yang nodded. Looking at Hai Lanzhu, he said somewhat embarrassedly, “You know, now that I’ve been promoted, the territory under my control has expanded as well. But the troops I have on hand amount to just over eight thousand. On top of that, after the last mutiny I killed off a large number of unruly soldiers and never recruited replacements. As a result, we’re seriously short of manpower, so I figured we have to recruit again.”

Hai Lanzhu was not surprised by her husband’s intention to raise more troops. Instead, she asked calmly, “How many are you planning to recruit?”

Yue Yang pondered for a moment before saying, “I’ve done the math—at least five thousand, but eight thousand would be best.”

“Eight thousand?” Hai Lanzhu thought for a while, then said, “If we recruit another eight thousand, our army will be quite large. Won’t that arouse suspicion from the court?”

“There’s no way around that,” Yue Yang gave a bitter smile. “As the saying goes, ‘A man who is not envied is a mediocrity.’ But you can see the current situation clearly. That man—who is both your uncle by marriage and your brother-in-law—is now accumulating strength. He never stops coveting the splendid rivers and mountains of the Great Ming. If he were to lead his army south one day, what would we use to resist him? And then there are Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and those other bandit leaders. Don’t be fooled by how they’re being chased around by government troops like stray dogs right now. If the court can’t wipe them out quickly, I believe sooner or later they’ll become the grave-diggers of the Great Ming. When that time comes, if we don’t have a force we can truly rely on, all the foundations we’ve worked so hard to build will eventually be devoured until not even the bones are left!”

“Huang Taiji wants to swallow up the Great Ming? That’s impossible, right?” Hai Lanzhu stared at Yue Yang with wide eyes, clearly finding it hard to believe.

Yue Yang smiled bitterly. “Why would it be impossible? Look at everything Huang Taiji has done over the years—every step has been preparation for that very day.”

In fact, at this time very few people believed the Jurchens could enter and rule the Central Plains—not even most of the upper ranks of the Later Jin. In the eyes of the vast majority of Ming subjects, the Later Jin was merely a country of barbarians and illiterates, a group with no culture who only knew how to plunder and slaughter. That such people could rule the Central Plains was nothing but a joke.

But this “joke” was not funny at all to Yue Yang, who was familiar with history. Many later historians believed that without the help of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and others, the Later Jin would never have been able to enter the Central Plains. If not for Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, and those so-called “peasant rebel armies” tirelessly wreaking havoc deep within Ming territory for over a decade, even if Huang Taiji had been given another twenty years, he still would not have been able to take control of the Central Plains.

It was precisely because Li Zicheng and the others roamed everywhere, burning, killing, and looting, further weakening an already fragile Great Ming, that the dynasty collapsed only after expending its very last breath. From this perspective, it would not be an exaggeration to call Li Zicheng a sinner of the Chinese nation.

Seeing Hai Lanzhu fall silent, Yue Yang smiled and said, “Hai Lanzhu, if one day I were to kill your brother-in-law, would you hate me for it?”

“Hate you? Why would I hate you?” Hai Lanzhu said, her beautiful eyes wide. “Two male wolves fighting to claim the position of alpha is the most natural thing in the world. Only the strongest male is fit to lead the pack and ensure its survival. That’s a truth even children on the grasslands understand.”

“That’s good to hear.” Yue Yang chuckled. “Since that’s the case, my dear wife, shall we start recruiting?”

“Recruit—why not?” In that moment, Hai Lanzhu’s heroic, indomitable spirit was on full display. “Huang Taiji is nothing more than the khan of a small barbarian state. You, my husband, now govern hundreds of thousands of people—there’s no way you should be inferior to him. If he dares to provoke us, we’ll beat him to death!”

Listening to Hai Lanzhu’s domineering words, Yue Yang quietly wiped a bead of cold sweat from his brow. His wife was simply too fierce—if she were in later generations, she’d be a full-fledged strong woman.

“Then it’s settled—we recruit!”

With a sweep of Yue Yang’s hand, a vigorous and large-scale recruitment drive began.

Originally, Yue Yang thought that once he started recruiting, there would surely be people jumping out to point fingers and criticize him. Unexpectedly, once recruitment began, not a single person spoke ill of it. At first, Yue Yang found this strange, but later he understood—the reason was that his reputation in Hunyuan Prefecture was simply too intimidating. On top of that, he had just thoroughly “cleaned up” the local gentry and merchants. Those who remained had been scared stiff by his killings; who would dare stick their necks out to make trouble?

The recruitment proceeded very smoothly, thanks in large part to the excellent reputation of the Yingzhou Army. Although Yue Yang’s name was not well-regarded among the gentry and merchants of the northern route, his prestige among refugees and commoners was extraordinarily high. Distributing seeds and farm tools, allocating land—such an official was something ordinary people might not encounter even in eight lifetimes. Moreover, the Yingzhou Army was famous for its generous rewards. Soldiers not only received a substantial monthly stipend of grain, but even more enviable was the fact that their families were exempt from taxes during their service. If a soldier were injured or disabled, the general’s residence would arrange work for him; if he were killed in battle, his family would be exempt from taxes for twenty years, and the general’s residence would support the elders in his household until the end of their lives.

With all worries removed, why would refugees—people who, in these chaotic times, had long seen human life as cheap as grass—refuse such an opportunity?

Time quickly reached the second month of the eighth year of the Chongzhen reign. After two months of intensive recruitment, eight thousand new soldiers had been enlisted. Yue Yang appointed Hu Laosan as training officer, ordering him to conduct unified training for the recruits and to complete their initial training within three months.

Once recruitment was finished, spring plowing began immediately. “A year’s plan lies in spring”—spring farming was the most important task of the entire year and absolutely could not be handled carelessly. With over a hundred thousand refugees together with another hundred thousand or so original residents taking part, the scene was both grand and immensely complicated. Although Yue Yang had already recruited dozens of down-and-out scholars and young students to serve as assistants, the affairs he had to deal with each day were still overwhelmingly numerous. During this period, Yue Yang slept no more than three hours a day, growing visibly thinner. The old matron at home and his wives were heartbroken to see it.

One day, Yue Yang had just returned from inspecting the fields and arrived at the gates of the general’s residence when he saw two scholars standing there, arguing with two guards.

“Dayou, go see what’s going on,” Yue Yang said to his personal guard captain, Lu Dayou.

“Yes!”

Chen Dazhi responded and rode forward. After asking the two scholars a few questions, he rode back and reported, “My lord, those two scholars want to see you. The gate guards said you were out, but they didn’t believe it and insisted on seeing you, which led to the argument.”

“Oh?” Yue Yang’s interest was immediately piqued. Since his reputation as a killing god had spread, most people were visibly nervous when facing him. Now there were actually people daring to argue at the gates of his residence—this was quite rare. Curious, Yue Yang instructed Chen Dazhi, “Bring those two scholars to the side hall of the front courtyard. I want to see what gives them the nerve to cause trouble in front of the Zhen Guo General’s residence.”

Soon, Yue Yang met the two scholars who had dared to argue with the guards in the side hall of the front courtyard.

They were not very old, around twenty-three or twenty-four. Each carried a long sword at his side—clearly decorative, yet still unmistakably swords.

Both were of average build. One had a round face with a gentle expression, while the other had a square face and bore the look of someone weathered by travel.

As Yue Yang observed them, they too were sizing him up. After a moment, Yue Yang nodded, smiled faintly, and asked, “I am Yue Yang. Were you the ones looking for me just now?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the two scholars hurriedly bowed. “Students Chen Zhi and Wu Qing pay respects to the Zhen Guo General. May the General enjoy fortune and peace!”

“Speak,” Yue Yang said. “What business do you have with me?”

The round-faced scholar answered very directly, “General, this student has come to seek an official post!”

“What? Seek an official post?”

Yue Yang was instantly struck dumb by the scholar’s words…