Before he could even receive the sixty blows of the military stick, Yang Fei nearly died while running. When he finally took a break and went to the kitchen, he was stopped outside.
"Why are you stopping me?" Yang Fei was puzzled and almost burst into curse.
"You have been expelled from the barracks, so of course you can't enter." One of the people who stopped him answered as a representative.
"Then why can others get in?" Yang Fei happened to see two people who had just said they were leaving the reserve team walking out of the kitchen after dinner.
"They haven't lost their military status yet, so of course they can join. What if they decide they don't want to leave?" Although the reserve troops aren't part of the regular army and are registered as military personnel for easier management, their status is still somewhat different from that of the regular troops. It's like holding a temporary military household registration. Before leaving, they must cancel their military registration, return home with their cancelled military registration and a travel permit, and then change to civilian status.
"I didn't revoke my military status either?" Yang Fei retorted. Why were they targeting him?
The man who stopped him smiled and said, "You were expelled from the barracks. How could you be the same as those people?" People who were expelled from the barracks would have the reasons for their expulsion noted on their military records, which was equivalent to leaving a criminal record. Yang Fei didn't need to handle it himself.
"Okay, all of you wait for me. I'm going to find General Li right away."
Yang Fei uttered these harsh words and hurried off to find Li Yongqing. He didn't want to leave a stain on his military record, as that would make it difficult for him to return to his village. But Li Yongqing wouldn't see him. He simply told him to wait patiently after returning to the village, and that he would find a way to get him back once he arrived at Dingbei Camp.
How could Yang Fei not understand such perfunctory words? He could only return to the barracks to rest with an empty stomach.
Except for Lei Yun and a few people who were going to leave with him and came forward to say a few words of concern, the rest of the people tried to stay away from him as much as possible. In just half a day, he saw the fickleness of the world.
This was just the beginning. The gong for the afternoon training had just sounded. Shen Yu nodded with satisfaction when he saw that no one was late. The first thing he did was to send someone to bring Yang Fei for execution.
Shen Yu gave Yang Fei the last bit of dignity and did not ask anyone to take off his pants during the execution, which inevitably attracted a crowd of onlookers.
After all, they were comrades, and the executioner showed mercy, otherwise Yang Fei might have been killed. A person of no importance, even though Shen Yu saw the executioner's unprofessional behavior, he didn't point it out. Yang Fei was ultimately carried off the training grounds. Shortly after returning to the barracks, he was thrown out with his tainted military record and pass, and his name was never seen again.
Shen Yu didn't care about Yang Fei's fate. He continued running laps with his men that afternoon amidst the murmurs of complaints. There was nothing they could do. The old training grounds were empty, and a new batch of people had left. Before they could figure out a new formation, they could only work hard to improve everyone's endurance.
He had barely arrived when more than a dozen people had already left, making him a natural target for Li Yongqing's criticism. Shen Yu replied with a cold smile, "Isn't it true that by doing this, I can save some food for the reserve battalion? If you don't like it, just take over the reserve battalion. I don't want to be in charge anymore."
Li Yongqing didn't want to care, so he could only shut up.
Shen Yu added: "If anyone wants to interfere in the affairs of the reserve team in the future, I will fight them back at any time." You little brat, do you think you can stump him like this?
Li Yongqing was so frustrated that he had to put some of his plans aside and wait until the end of the year to see how Shen Yu would raise the necessary supplies.
Shen Yu faced numerous difficulties at the beginning, and Wan Xueying faced many as well. The biggest difficulty was that their money was dwindling, and their food supply was running low. Even though they had several shops, it was impossible to start business immediately.
When ordinary people can't even eat, who would go to a restaurant? Who would buy something they don't need? Even if they're sick, ordinary people will try to endure it if they can, and if they can't, they'll just buy some cheap medicine to make do.
She wanted to stock up on more food, but the price of food was ridiculously high. Even if she invested all her remaining money, she couldn't buy much food.
However, she has never been idle. After learning that she helped Yushu and Liushu villages find water sources, several surrounding villages came to her.
It was just like when she helped Willow Village before. If people from the surrounding villages fled from famine, their Elm Village would not be able to remain beautiful on its own, and there would be endless troubles.
So she and Gu Ming would rather work harder and make more trips, without asking for any reward, and do their best to help the surrounding villages find water sources.
However, not all villages were as lucky as Elm and Willow. Even with the combined efforts of Wan Xueying and Gu Ming, they were only able to find a limited source of water for two of them. Fortunately, the villages helped each other, and were able to resolve the water problem for everyone.
Even though Wan Xueying stated she didn't want any compensation, she still received a lot of mountain products from villagers. After her successful breeding, many villagers from her own village and other villages helped her open up wasteland for planting.
Everyone helped clear the wasteland from Gu Ming's family. With everyone's joint efforts, the new house for the An family was quickly built. This was the most simple way for the villagers to show their gratitude.
Just when Wan Xueying was worried about money, she received some furs that Nan Ying brought back from Shen Yu.
These furs were a pleasant surprise to Wan Xueying. Although they were not whole furs, there were still a lot of large pieces of fur that could be used to make clothes.
"Do your parents have a lot of them?" Wan Xueying asked.
"They say there are quite a lot, enough to pile up into a mountain," Nan Ying replied.
"So many! Then wait until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, you and Qiu Shi will bring people to transport all those furs back. I will use them very well." In surprise, Wan Xueying seemed to see silver bills flying one after another.
Nan Ying agreed with a smile, adding, "My master guessed you might need it, so he didn't ask anyone to clean it up."
"Thank goodness your master told you to tell me, otherwise it would have been a waste." Wan Xueying then asked, "Did your master encounter any difficulties when he first arrived at the military camp?"
"My master said he is fine, so you don't have to worry." Nan Ying followed Shen Yu's instructions and only reported good news.
"Really?" Wan Xueying didn't believe it.
"I don't know about this either. But I feel that my parents have become darker and thinner." Nan Ying gained sympathy for Shen Yu at the right time.
"Are you tired from training?"
"I heard from Beiwu that besides the exhausting training, the Master also encountered many difficulties."
"Alright, if you have something to say, just say it." Shen Yu likely didn't say anything, but Bei Wu complained to Nan Ying constantly. Wan Xueying wanted to hear the truth, not be brushed off.
Nan Ying told Wan Xueying the news she had heard from Bei Wu.
"The matter of the reserve troops is actually a small matter, and my master can handle it. The key is that the military settlement will not be able to collect grain for a while. By the end of the year, there will be no way to supply the reserve camp and the Ningjiang County garrison, which has more than 10,000 officers and soldiers. I'm afraid that my master will be in even greater trouble then."
"Does your family have any ideas?" Wan Xueying did not answer in a hurry.
"My master originally wanted to take the reserve soldiers of the reserve corps out for some training and to get some food and fodder. But the reserve corps is so poor. The reserve soldiers are not well fed or well clothed, and most importantly, they have no weapons and have not received any formal training. Taking them out, let alone earning military merit or getting food and fodder, would be lucky if they didn't risk their lives."
Shen Yu's initial plan was to lead his troops to suppress the bandits, which would allow him to gain military merit and quickly obtain food. However, given the situation of the reserve soldiers, he was worried that taking them out would only lead to their deaths.
"Weapons? Are there any weapons that haven't been eliminated from the reserve battalion or the Dingbei main camp, or that have been confiscated from the enemy?"
"My master actually asked, and there are some in the reserve camp, but most of them are scrap metal and cannot be used. Moreover, the quantity is extremely small. Even if we rebuild the weapons, there is not enough to equip everyone."
"Wait," Wan Xueying asked, "What kind of weapon does your master want to create?"
"Sword. Every soldier in the regular formation is equipped with a long sword."
Wan Xueying shook her head. "It's not just a knife, it's a long knife. How much iron would that take?"
"I wonder if the young lady has any good ideas?" Nan Ying asked humbly.
"You can replace it with a gun! Good gun barrels are hard to come by, but ordinary gun barrels can be made from trees all over the mountains. How much iron can be used to make a gun head, especially a hollow one? It's better than having no weapon at all, right?"
Nan Ying's eyes lit up after hearing this, and she wanted to run to the reserve camp immediately to tell Shen Yu the news.
"I know you're anxious, but there's no time to waste. It's not too late to go tomorrow." Wan Xueying guessed Nan Ying's thoughts and calmed him down. Then she asked, "Have you adults visited the military settlement?"
Nan Ying shook her head and said, "He said he hasn't had time to go there yet." Shen Yu has been busy training the reserve soldiers of the reserve team during this period and has not yet visited the military settlement.
"I'll take Gu Ming with you guys tomorrow, and help the military settlement check if there's any water source." If the legion fails to collect food, it will not only be the military households in the military settlement who will suffer, but also the surrounding farmers.
According to convention, if the grain produced by military settlements was insufficient, the imperial court would collect it from surrounding farmers at extremely low prices.
Although there is a severe drought in the north and the surrounding farmers cannot pay their grain, there is still the issue of taxation, which will make the situation even worse for the surrounding people.
Even though it's a little late to help the military settlement find a water source, it's better to mend the situation than to do nothing. Besides, the military settlement has a lot of land, so if we help them find a water source and plant some cabbage and radishes, the harvest will definitely be substantial.
Shen Yu never expected that before he could go back to see Wan Xueying, Wan Xueying arrived at the reserve camp first.
After these days of training, the physical fitness of the reserve soldiers has improved significantly, and more and more people can keep up with him, Beiwu and Wan Hesu. Everyone stopped complaining and gradually recognized Shen Yu's abilities.
Shen Yu felt relieved to leave the reserve team to Bei Wu for training for the time being, so that he could find time to go to the military settlement with Wan Xueying.
They say a short separation makes a new marriage better. Wan Xueying was fine, but Shen Yu was overjoyed. As soon as they met, they started talking a lot, and casually said, "Pei Xuanqing brought me news yesterday about the Wan family."
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