Chapter 423 Before the Gambling Table
The people of Liaodong County responded positively to the government's call for conscription. Almost all families with more than one son and of appropriate age came forward to apply.
I heard that soldiers can be given winter vests. This treatment is on the same level as that of the village chief.
With more people applying, the officers in charge of conscription will be able to select the best.
As a result, some young people were eliminated, and those who were eliminated were very disappointed.
But the recruiting officers encouraged them not to give up. They were not selected because the entire Liaodong County, and even the entire Pingzhou, had a limit on the number of soldiers. They could join the township militia next year, and there would be hope.
As soon as the new recruits entered the barracks, their winter vests were distributed.
Everyone was very happy and trained hard.
Liaodong County, government office
Early in the morning, Alice escorted Lu Songli to the government office.
At the door, I met Xue Xu.
"Good morning, Sixth Madam."
"Good morning, Mr. Xue."
Lu Songli said hello and went in.
"Second - Mr. Xue." Alice behind Lu Songli was so nervous that she almost called the wrong name.
Xue Xu glanced at Alice. Perhaps because she had eaten enough during this period, Alice had actually grown a little taller.
"Protect the Sixth Madam well, understand?" Xue Xu urged her. Since Qin Liuye had gone to Xuantu Commandery and was unable to pick up or drop off the Sixth Madam, Alice had completely taken over the responsibility of protecting her.
Alice nodded seriously and agreed.
…
"Sixth Madam Qin, if we do this, it will seem like we are doing favors to the people." Xue Xu had to remind Lu Songli.
Lu Songli smiled and said, "Mr. Xue, you worry too much. My father is an ambassador to a certain frontier. It is his duty to benefit the people of that area."
She knew he was talking about the huge number of winter jackets and vests they had distributed all at once. Over forty-six thousand of them, and they were almost all gone.
Nowadays, whether it is the soldiers in the military camp or the common people, they are all grateful to her father, the governor, and her father's prestige is unprecedentedly high.
"I'm just afraid of someone with ulterior motives—" Xue Xu felt mixed emotions about the current rapid development of Liaodong County.
"With so many soldiers, we can't just watch them starve and freeze, right?"
"Lord Lu is righteous, and the Sixth Madam is righteous."
Lu Songli certainly knew what Xue Xu was worried about. If she had to choose between developing herself and hiding her ambitions, she would choose developing herself.
As for the person with ulterior motives that Xue Xu mentioned, Lu Songli was not worried.
Xie Zhan is a smart man. They all covet the Song Dynasty of Dali. This is the golden period for them to strive to absorb nutrients from all sides to strengthen themselves. You can tell by looking at how busy he is running around recruiting talents during this period.
Once both sides reveal each other's ambitions in front of Song Mo, it will be the time for them and all the heroes who are qualified to compete for this territory to bring their chips to the table and gamble.
Before that, no matter who says they are doing good to the people, don't admit it. In short, don't feel guilty.
A new military camp was built in Jintai Village, northeast of Houcheng, next to Xuantu County.
A group of new recruits in military uniforms were running noisily in the snow.
Among them was a small group of people who were running and cursing.
"Chen Jinlong, don't run, you traitor!"
"Chen Jinlong, I told you not to run away, did you hear me? How could you collude with the government and deceive us? Where's your conscience?"
"That's right, we trusted you so much!"
“Beep—”
As a sharp whistle sounded, everyone stopped. Some sat directly on the snow, while others leaned against tree trunks, and so on.
Chen Jinlong was far away from Meng Jingfeng and others, but they still glared at him.
Chen Jinlong panted as he moved further away. "Don't keep blaming me. You're in this situation because you're dishonest."
Are they dishonest? Hearing Chen Jinlong's words, Meng Jingfeng and the others felt their hearts sink, but they still spoke stubbornly, so they asked, "Where did you get this from?"
"You don't think that the things you buried in the mountain village are still there, do you?" Chen Jinlong decided to reveal the secret to them so that they would not always think that they still had money.
“How do you know—”I buried something in the village?
"Wait, you buried it?"
"You buried it too?"
Meng Jingfeng, Feng Shuo and others looked at each other in surprise. All the treasures they buried were gone?
Lu Dayou looked at this one, then that one, and tutted his words, feeling rather gloating. Of all the people, he was the most honest, having found a place to hide some gold! These people, every one of them, had found several places to store their money.
"How did it disappear? Did the Liaodong Army dig it out by digging three feet underground?" He remembered that he had hidden it very secretly. Meng Jingfeng asked his question.
"You will know later." Chen Jinlong said this with an unfathomable look on his face.
That's too much. They took their belongings and didn't even tell them!
"I'll give you half a cup of tea to prepare for the next training. After crossing these obstacles, crawl two kilometers!" Qin Sheng announced expressionlessly.
Meng Jingfeng, Lu Dayou, Chen Jinlong, Gao Lei, Ding Han and others looked at each other in confusion at the various obstacles ahead.
"He's so young, how come he has so many ideas for messing with people?"
Running with weights, crawling in the snow, obstacle course exercises, archery at moving targets, archery on horseback, etc., each one is very tiring.
Zhu Dazhuang rolled his eyes. "What are you complaining about? Is it because the rice isn't fragrant or the meat isn't tasty?"
No one spoke. Although it was hard work, the food they had now was really good, ten times better than the original Houcheng military camp.
In addition, Chef Jiang, who is now cooking for their camp, is very skilled and even the meals in the big pot are delicious.
When it came to food, the discussion became even more heated.
"Nonsense, this Master Jiang is Master Chen's apprentice, and he's already graduated. He has inherited 70% of his true teachings."
"I see that Master Jiang is quite young, and Master Chen is a very nice person. He allows his apprentice to learn the skills so easily."
As the saying goes, "A skill is not easily passed on, nor is a way cheaply sold." Raising a family is a difficult task, and if one acquires a unique skill, passing it on easily could lead to the apprentice starving the master. Therefore, often, after becoming an apprentice, the apprentice spends three years, followed by two years of service. The first two years are spent serving the master, and only in the third year might one learn something. However, this is only the superficial; a master's most profound skills are not easily passed on.
"Nonsense, of course Master Chen has better skills." Zhu Dazhuang muttered.
"Da Zhuang, what do you know? Tell us, and the brothers will listen too."
Zhu Dazhuang is from Tianshui Village and is also a personal soldier of the Qin family.
He knew some inside information. Master Chef Chen was hired by their Sixth Madam and held three positions. He would only be the chef in three places: the former County Magistrate's Mansion, the Liaodong Restaurant, and traveling with the army.
Master Chen spent most of his time cooking at the Liaodong Restaurant. He would only go to the prefectural governor's mansion to try out new dishes when the Sixth Madam wanted them. Occasionally, he would come to the military camp to cook a meal or two to improve their diet, but that was when the Sixth Master was around.
"No need to ask around, all you need to know is that Liaodong Restaurant is going to launch new dishes." Their Sixth Madam is enjoying delicious new dishes, which are usually launched in Liaodong Restaurant.
Liaodong Restaurant is also opened by the Liaodong Chamber of Commerce.
"Liaodong Restaurant." Chen Jinlong and others smacked their lips.
Since its opening, Liaodong Restaurant has introduced many new dishes that have never been heard of before.
Everyone who had eaten it praised its deliciousness. When they were still the head of the village, they had longed to try it themselves. However, the Liaodong Restaurant was located in Houcheng, so they didn't dare go. They only dared to have their subordinates secretly pack up some food for them to take home. It was indeed delicious, and after trying it, they wanted to try it themselves even more. After all, the food they took home was bound to taste a bit worse than freshly baked food, and they had no idea how good fresh food would be.
"When we have a holiday, shall we go to Liaodong Restaurant for a meal together?" Chen Jinlong suggested.
"Stop dreaming. Do you have money? The food in Liaodong Restaurant is very expensive." Meng Jingfeng poured cold water on him.
Chen Jinlong: ...
"Chen Jinlong, does this feel like retribution? If our gold, silver, and jewelry were still there, we could have lived comfortably and taken you along. But now, we're all broke!"
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