In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 397 Great Chaos is Approaching

Chen Dao was even more speechless.

It's not so hard to understand why an army composed entirely of privileged sons who only know how to enjoy themselves would be defeated.

"If these sons of powerful and wealthy families were merely lustful, the government troops would not have been defeated."

Xu Zhiwen continued, "However, the sons of powerful families in the Three Great Camps are not only lustful, but also greedy! The Three Great Camps have a total of 60 troops on paper, but do you know how many there are in reality?"

Before Chen Dao could answer, Xu Zhiwen said, "In reality, the three major camps don't even have 20 troops. A full 40 troops have disappeared from the paper!"

"Receiving a salary without working?"

Chen Dao said subconsciously.

"That's right, they're receiving salaries without working!"

Xu Zhiwen nodded: "The authorized number was 60, but in reality there were only 20. The remaining 40 were naturally paid by the generals in the army. It is said that before the expedition, when the Marquis of Zhongyong entered the three camps to draw troops, he could not even gather the originally planned 25 troops. In the end, he conscripted some civilian laborers to barely gather 25 troops."

Besides receiving salaries without working, the training of the three battalions was practically nonexistent. Military law stipulated that the battalions must conduct drills every five days, but in reality, the three battalions might not even conduct drills once a year.

The soldiers in the entire three battalions were practically beggars; they were all emaciated and pale, some unable to even bear the weight of their armor. During the march, many soldiers collapsed from exhaustion.

"..."

Chen Dao opened his mouth, but really didn't know where to start complaining. Corrupt officers, soldiers who were not well-fed and had no training at all—was this really the Xia Kingdom's three most elite battalions?

"How can corrupt, cowardly officers and emaciated, untrained soldiers fight a war?"

Xu Zhiwen concluded, “In the early stages of the battle, when the rebels were unaware of this, things were alright, and the government troops were able to barely achieve a few minor victories. But once the rebels realized what was happening, the situation quickly turned around! The rebels in Liangzhou lacked food, weapons, and armor, but under Yang Zheng's leadership, they had no shortage of courage and fighting spirit!”

Their fighting spirit was extremely tenacious. Under Yang Zheng's leadership, they engaged in a major battle with the government army outside Liangzhou Prefecture, decisively defeating the government forces and completely crushing their 25-strong army within Liangzhou territory. Seeing their own crushing defeat, perhaps knowing that even if they fled back to the capital they would not escape punishment, or perhaps feeling ashamed to face His Majesty, the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, who originally had the opportunity to escape under the cover of his personal guards, ultimately chose to commit suicide for his country.

Xu Zhiwen sighed softly at this point. The Marquis of Loyalty and Valor was a rare and excellent general, it's a pity…

Even the most skillful cook can't cook without rice. Leading a group of cowardly and uncontrollable military commanders and a group of weak and powerless soldiers, even the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, with his brilliant military strategy, could hardly fight against the high-spirited rebel army.

"With this defeat of the government troops, chaos is likely imminent throughout the land!"

Chen Dao said in a deep voice that the people of Xia Kingdom had long been overburdened by the oppression of the Xia court, aristocratic families, and landlords. The reason why there were relatively few people who rebelled was because they still feared the court and the government army.

However, with the annihilation of 25 government troops, the situation changed.

The news of the government army's crushing defeat will soon spread throughout the land. At that time, people will surely see the weakness of the Xia Kingdom, and those ambitious people like the White Lotus Sect will surely take action!

It is foreseeable that widespread chaos is imminent!

"Yes!"

Xu Zhiwen's gaze was deep. He was a smart man and could naturally see the impact of the government army's defeat. This defeat showed the world the weakness of the court and greatly reduced their fear of it. When the news of the government army's defeat spread throughout the country, it was likely that not only the three upper prefectures would rebel, but also the ambitious people in other prefectures would be eager to make their move.

In addition, Xu Zhiwen was also worried about one thing, that is... the court, which had suffered heavy losses and lost 25 troops, was very likely to raise taxes again!

The people are already burdened enough. If taxes are increased again now, it will truly be a case of officials forcing the people to rebel!

Based on Xu Zhiwen's understanding of the people in the imperial court, the probability of tax increases is very high.

We need the strength to protect ourselves!

Chen Dao suddenly spoke up, and chaos in the world was almost a foregone conclusion. Under these circumstances, both Chenjia Village and Taiping County must have the power to protect themselves!

Because once the world is engulfed in war, the flames of war will inevitably reach Taiping County. If there is no power to protect itself, then it will be at the mercy of others.

"Not bad!"

Xu Zhiwen nodded solemnly: "I plan to increase the number of city guards and train them vigorously, at least to ensure the safety of the people in the county!"

"I had the same thought."

Chen Dao nodded slowly, having made up his mind to expand the guard team.

…………

…………

The following day, at noon.

After unloading the last bag of salt, Fang Hao wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he was a little tired, he had a happy smile on his face.

Fang Hao was not a worker who lived in Chenjia Village, but a laborer in the county town.

Fang Hao, who came from a village outside the city to make a living in the county town, was lucky enough to meet his current employer: Qi Cheng, a salt smuggler.

Qi Cheng was not the wealthy salt smuggler people imagined. Instead, he was more like a street vendor. His main way of making money was to buy salt from higher-level salt merchants and then sell it to ordinary people, earning a meager profit.

Because privately produced salt was often cheaper and of better quality than official salt, it sold extremely well in Qicheng and was very popular among ordinary people.

However, this was still smuggled salt, which was illegal, so Qi Cheng didn't dare to sell it openly. He could only go from street to street and try to keep the transactions secret with the people.

Fang Hao's job was to transport and deliver salt for Qi Cheng. Because Fang Hao was Qi Cheng's only worker and was extremely reliable, Qi Cheng treated him very well, paying him about 500 coins a month.

Recently, the resourceful Qi Cheng also made contact with Chenjia Village and obtained the opportunity to supply salt to the Chenjia Village grocery store.

This surprised Qi Cheng for quite a while, because supplying salt to Chenjia Village was a stable way to make money, and unlike selling it in the county town, he didn't need to hide it. He just needed to transport the salt to Chenjia Village and hand it over to the Chenjia Village grocery store.

Chenjia Village was also very quick to settle accounts. As soon as the salt arrived, they would settle the payment immediately without ever delaying. This made Qi Cheng value the business with Chenjia Village very much, and he even sent his capable assistant Fang Hao to deliver a fixed amount of salt to Chenjia Village every now and then.

This is why Fang Hao appeared in Chenjia Village, and he was very satisfied with being able to work there.