Chapter 1031
Want to Stay
Lu Zhenyuan and Li Qingshi both agreed that today's accidental encounter made them realize that there is always a way out.
After seeing Lu Zhenyuan and Li Qingshi, Yan Shouyi and Yan Xiaojiu told the soldiers to practice on their own, while they walked over to Lu Zhenyuan and Li Qingshi and asked them, "How are you? Did you rest well?"
Lu Zhenyuan said with a smile, "With such warm hospitality from Brother Yan, I'm well-fed and well-rested!"
Li Qingshi, who was standing to the side, said, "We were originally sent out to suppress bandits and suffer, but we didn't expect to be treated so comfortably!"
Hearing Li Qingshi's words, the group laughed. Yan Shouyi said, "Your comfort shows that I have fulfilled my duty as host!"
Lu Zhenyuan said, "Qing Shi and I just took a look around here and found that you have a really complete set of equipment. Seeing these soldiers training, all of them are full of energy and high morale, it's really impressive. It makes me want to get my hands dirty!"
Yan Shouyi said, "All these supplies of mine were bestowed by the Mountain God. Without his help, how could I dare to do such a big thing?"
Lu Zhenyuan smiled and praised Yan Shouyi, "Grandpa Mountain God is a deity, so naturally he's the most powerful person. But the fact that you can manage such a large team so well shows that you are quite capable as well."
If this huge undertaking had been handed over to an incompetent person, things definitely wouldn't be as well-organized as they are now!
Yan Shouyi was quite pleased to hear the praise from his former commander-in-chief and his idol. He said to Lu Zhenyuan, "Thank you for the praise, Lord Lu. Didn't you say you were itching to get your hands dirty? Would you like to come down and practice a bit?"
After Yan Shouyi finished speaking, he handed the arrow in his hand to Lu Zhenyuan. After Lu Zhenyuan took the arrow from Yan Shouyi, he began to wield his longsword on the training ground.
After the sword dance was finished, Yan Shouyi, Yan Xiaojiu, Li Qingshi and others clapped and cheered.
They also sparred with each other. As a general with numerous military achievements, Lu Zhenyuan's title was well-deserved. Undoubtedly, among these people, Lu Zhenyuan's martial arts skills were the most superior.
The group humbly learned a set of the most powerful sword techniques from Lu Zhenyuan. Lu Zhenyuan was very pleased with the juniors' humble attitude and taught them swordsmanship until sunset!
After dinner, when Lu Zhenyuan, Li Qingshi, Yan Shouyi and others went to visit the soldiers who had come with them, before Lu Zhenyuan could even speak, the soldiers ran up to him and said, "Lord Lu, this place is so wonderful, we can eat our fill at every meal!"
"Yes, yes, and every meal includes meat and vegetables, top-quality wheat and rice, and many other dishes that we've never seen before. It's so delicious!"
"Yes, yes, I've never eaten anything so delicious in my entire life!"
Some of the soldiers were so moved that they burst into tears. One soldier cried, "We come from poor families, and after being conscripted, we were marginalized. We were always hungry and cold! Coming here, we've finally had a few full meals! And they're quite lavish!" "That's right," another soldier chimed in. "Don't even mention us marginalized soldiers. Even the ordinary soldiers on duty don't get enough to eat every day. The court originally provided the soldiers on duty with just the right amount of food, but it was cut back at each level. Not only was the food halved, but it was also downgraded several grades!"
"Yes, those in power are enjoying themselves, but they've made us suffer. When there's a battle, they force us to charge into battle, but they never imagined that we couldn't even get enough to eat, so where would we get the strength to charge into battle?"
"To put it bluntly, they don't treat us like human beings!"
"Yes, although we soldiers are at the very bottom of the court, we have still contributed a lot. It's really too much for them to treat us like this!" another soldier said angrily.
At this moment, one of the bolder soldiers said, "How about this? We're risking our lives no matter where we go. This trip gives us a chance to escape that hellhole. How about we seek refuge with Lord Yan?"
Today, Lu Zhenyuan brought them to Yan Shouyi's place. They knew that Lu Zhenyuan and Yan Shouyi must have a good relationship, otherwise, Yan Shouyi wouldn't have treated them so well.
Although they didn't know that Yan Shouyi was involved in an uprising, and only thought that Yan Shouyi was a big bandit leader in this area, after spending the whole day together, they felt that the management style here was very humane, and everyone got along very harmoniously. For the first time, they felt like they were human beings, and they received care and love from their colleagues. The generals here were not as harsh as the generals who had led them before.
In short, in this era of war, and given that these soldiers were already marginalized in their previous units and had suffered many inhumane treatments, they were in a precarious situation.
Moreover, the conditions here are indeed much better than where they stayed before, in every aspect.
Therefore, most soldiers are willing to stay here from the bottom of their hearts.
In the morning, Lu Zhenyuan and Yan Shouyi were discussing Lu Zhenyuan's plan to return and falsely report the success of the bandit suppression. They were worried that if any soldier let it slip, they would lose their heads. They were thinking about how to solve this problem.
Hearing the soldiers say this, Lu Zhenyuan had a new idea: to have the soldiers stay here and lie to their superiors that they had died in the bandit suppression.
This time, the imperial court sent Lu Zhenyuan to suppress the bandits, and the people he was assigned were all marginalized figures in the military. The mastermind behind this was to kill Lu Zhenyuan without a burial place. Needless to say, the soldiers that Lu Zhenyuan brought with him were not treated as human beings by the imperial court. They were sent to their deaths along with Lu Zhenyuan, so the imperial court did not care about their lives at all.
Now that these soldiers are willing to stay here, the matter is much easier to resolve.
Thinking of this, Lu Zhenyuan looked at the soldiers and said, "I know you're having a hard time in these marginalized military camps. I'll consider what you've said!"
Although some of the soldiers had heard of Lu Zhenyuan's great name and admired this loyal general, they were also very clear about what it meant that the court had sent such a great general to suppress the bandits, and that the soldiers the court had assigned to such a great general were people like them who were marginalized and unwelcome.
This is as obvious as a bald man's head; it's clear someone is looking for a plausible reason to kill Lu Zhenyuan. What better fate awaits his soldiers? Death is their only option. (End of Chapter)