Chen Ping's Sword

This person has an innate talent. After some experience, he has even absorbed his younger brother Little Stool’s cleverness, becoming shrewd and astute, appearing simple on the outside but wise within, almost capable of handling things independently.

Having him manage the internal affairs of hundreds of thousands of commoners, everything is organized methodically. Not only did he solve issues of food and camp establishment well, but he also had the energy to help Chen Ping extensively recruit talent. It’s hard to say how much persuasion he used or how many promises he made, but in any case, these literary and martial artists who came to serve were all immensely grateful, eager to pledge their lives to "His Highness King Ping."

With Little Table handling administrative affairs and Zhuo Yunfei comforting the people’s hearts, the natural resentment and gloom in the fleeing populace gradually faded away, and hope began to shine in their eyes.

Indeed, there are two kinds of refugees.

One kind is like a ghost in a chaotic world, the other is like the people of a prosperous era.

As long as they can see hope for survival and console themselves, the past seems like it died with yesterday.

Tomorrow will be even better.

They grit their teeth, and they can survive.

Moreover, they can live with zest, gradually forgetting their past pains.

This is the enormous significance of Chen Ping leading the great army.

Because, all the fleeing people saw that, unlike the armies they encountered in the past, this army from Xingqing Prefecture dared to kill Hu people, could kill Hu people.

If in doubt, as you travel along the road, the sight of twenty to thirty thousand wolf carcasses and the peculiarly-formed Beizhou Barbarians’ corpses lying in pools of blood can prove everything.

"Even if Hu people are evil ghosts, they are ordinary evil ghosts and can be killed."

"This is our army, protecting us...we can survive, and can kill or drive away these ferocious enemies."

In everyone’s hearts, there has never been a moment like now, believing in this great army.

Some even began to eat and talk about how, after driving away the Hu people’s army, they would apply to the Government for a plot of land or two. As for taking a wife, she didn’t have to be particularly beautiful; coarse-featured and hefty would do. As long as there was no government exploitation, and they could fill their bellies, life would be good.

Interacting with soldiers who came from Xingqing Prefecture, they quickly understood what kind of life the people led under Chen Ping’s governance.

It’s said, there was almost always enough grain, and they didn’t have to bow before officials.

As long as they didn’t break the law, even if they entered the Government Office, they could hold their heads high and engage with officials as equals.

Moreover, if children were born, when they reached the age for enlightenment, the Government would arrange locations to teach some basic reading and arithmetic. For the slightly older, arrangements would be made to learn a craft.

These were essentially free of charge.

The greatest benefit wasn’t this; the tax on fields had been significantly reduced compared to the previous times, and during years of disaster and poor harvests, the Government would distribute relief grain. Should anyone die of hunger, officials would be held accountable.

"Is this...is this the kind of life we peasants could ever live?"

Hundreds of thousands of commoners were instantly astounded, passing the message from ten to a hundred.

Almost no one wanted to return to the Wenyuan Three Prefectures; they all wanted to flock to Xingqing Prefecture.

Fortunately, there were still some clear-headed people remembering that they hadn’t completely driven away the Beizhou Barbarians yet and shouldn’t indulge in dreams for now.

"I have one thing unclear, if everyone is treated so generously, in the face of natural disasters and crop failures, how does His Highness King Ping ensure there’s enough grain for all these countless commoners?"

That’s why people shouldn’t read too many books.

Too much reading leads to too many ideas, and seeing too far makes it hard to deceive.

Newly-appointed staff officer Lin Chen and Lin Yuncheng raised this question.

Looking at the world today, not mentioning man-made disasters, even talking about natural ones.

The Northern Land suffers either snow disasters or droughts, with locust plagues breaking out from time to time.

The southern region is no more stable, often experiencing prolonged rainfall, collapsing riverbanks, leaving people displaced.

Everywhere, there are people unable to survive, selling their sons and daughters.

It’s not that the officials and the wealthy are blind, but trying to patch up a broken system is beyond rescue.

Moreover, some ill-intentioned people make a fortune amidst chaos, aggressively seizing land, hoarding, buying low and selling high, stripping the last trace of vitality from the poor.

Would they worry about these peasants rising in revolt?

Naturally, they wouldn’t.

Whether it’s a change of dynasty or an invasion by the Hu people, in the end, those with wealth and power find a way to live well, just with a different set of rulers above them.

The rabble at the bottom never manages to accomplish anything, drowning in the tide of the times, leading only the vanguard to their deaths.

"If someone isn’t ruthless, they can’t stand firm. Brother Lin, let me ask you one thing, even in times of natural disaster, is grain truly scarce in this land? Why do peaceful times follow so swiftly after a change of dynasty, with grain quantities exceeding enough for a decade?"

Chen Ping asked with a smile: "Let’s not talk about distant matters, just look at the East Wood Army and the Seven Fiends Army. They broke three granaries, plundering the land so that it was overflowing with wealth.

It’s said their grain could last ten years, they even burned it for fun. During battles with the Huwei Longxiang two armies, they burned millions of bushels of grain.

Yet they were never worried about supply shortages. So tell me, in these times of natural disasters, is it really a scarcity of grain, or not?"

"This..."

Lin Yuncheng was left speechless.