Chapter 2336 - 2071: Leading by Example

Huang Zhong left with Huang Xu, perhaps in a bit of a hurry, Huang Xu noticed something amiss.

"Dad, are you sure you’re okay now?" Huang Xu asked, somewhat conflicted.

"How could I be okay? The preliminary effect of Zhang Yide’s move was enough to severely injure my Inner Qi Manifestation, not to mention your dad took a direct hit," Huang Zhong said with some annoyance.

"Then why don’t you go find Physician Hua," Huang Xu asked worriedly.

"I’m currently recovering on my own, alas, a new generation surpasses the old, you troublesome son," Huang Zhong said, though unhappy, his eyes clearly showed affection while speaking, despite being troubled by Huang Xu for twenty years, he is still his son.

"How much longer do you need to render your Spiritual Will upon your body?" After a while, Huang Zhong returned to his youthful form and patted Huang Xu’s back as he asked.

"If I’m quick, I’d need another year," Huang Xu said, feeling exasperated. In truth, his aptitude wasn’t bad, but he was previously held back by illness. Huang Zhong self-damaged his cultivation for twenty years, not only hanging onto Huang Xu’s life but also helping him lay the foundation.

"Go, bring your younger brother over from Zhongkang. I’ll give you guys some special training. Look at Guan Yunchang’s son, and then look at you!" Huang Zhong said annoyed.

Huang Xu eagerly ran over to Xuu Chu to find Ma Zhong. As it turns out, after Ma Zhong was handed over by Xuu Chu to be educated by Huang Zhong, he should’ve been Huang Zhong’s disciple, but in reality, Ma Zhong often loitered around Xuu Chu, frequently chased and beaten by him.

After Huang Zhong left, the onlookers gradually dispersed as well. Zhao Yun took Ma Chao back to his house, as Ma Chao was there not only for Fa Zheng’s wedding but mainly as his sister’s family from the bride’s side.

"Xiaoo Zhi, are you heading to the barracks or somewhere else?" Seeing the others leaving, Jia Xu and Li Youu had disappeared without a trace, Chen Xi tilted his head and asked Fa Zheng.

"I’ll first go check on the training at the barracks, then make a trip to the academy, and then head home. But where’s Fengxiao and the others?" Fa Zheng asked puzzled.

"Probably ran off somewhere. Recently, there’s nothing major happening. Ziyang took Gong Yan to handle the Village Merging matter; Mann Chong engraved a phrase each on the Heaven-Man Dual Cauldrons before joining to handle this matter. This time, it should yield results," Chen Xi chuckled.

In fact, Chen Xi could tell with ease what was happening in Jizhou, Youzhou now. The Village Merging matters, despite countless benefits, faced enormous resistance from the ancient social environment. Fortunately, a bit of despotic means could still be used now.

Thinking about it, Chen Xi dispatched Liu Yan to create the Pure Stream Celebrities’ inspection group, this wave Liu Ye might need a breather.

"Forget it, let’s not bring this up. Let’s do a sweep of the barracks," Chen Xi said with a smile.

Fa Zheng didn’t have much going on, so he accompanied Chen Xi to the barracks outside the city. Before entering, the shocking changes in Cloud Qi in the sky indicated clearly what aspect was being trained in the barracks.

The barracks were guarded very tightly, patrolled by Elite Soldiers. Dressed in lamellar armor with plate armor on the chest, holding round shields, they patrolled back and forth in teams of twenty, in neat formations.

"Looks alright, and judging by their movements and expressions, they seem like seasoned veterans," Chen Xi remarked with satisfaction.

Walking forward two steps, they were blocked by the patrolling Elite Soldiers, but fortunately, on one hand, Chen Xi could provide identification; on the other hand, some of them knew Chen Xi.

Speaking of which, given the current flow of information, Liu Bei’s soldiers knew of Chen Xi, but it wasn’t surprising that many didn’t recognize Chen Xi. In fact, for soldiers from various legions to recognize their Legion Leader was quite something.

When it comes to someone all Liu Bei’s soldiers would know, it’s undoubtedly Liu Bei himself. Liu Bei, having nothing to do, would wander around the barracks, getting familiar enough to recognize every Team Leader. Naturally, the soldiers under those Team Leaders also recognized Liu Bei.

"Uh, Lord Xuande, you’re actually here?" After entering the barracks without seeing anyone else, Chen Xi saw Liu Bei standing on the side watching soldiers’ training.

"Lately, not much is going on, so I came to watch the soldiers train. Wen Ze is truly capable, he’s trained these soldiers to be well-organized, donned in armor, they live up to the title of Elite Troops," Liu Bei said with satisfaction.

"I thought you were here to put names to faces," Chen Xi casually remarked.

"Out of these five thousand people, I know four or five hundred. Although I can’t call all the soldiers by name, I can pretty much tell which legion they’re from now," Liu Bei said indifferently, having wandered the barracks so much, all soldiers seemed familiar to Liu Bei.

"You’re amazing..." Fa Zheng chuckled, unsure what to say, given his enhanced memory through Spiritual Capacity, he was approaching the level of a photographic memory, but asking him to remember over ten thousand people’s identities, residences, official positions, and living situations, would make him crumble.

"There’s nothing amazing about it," Liu Bei sighed. "After every war, there are warriors whose names I recall that I will never see again."

"There’s nothing that can be done; war is like that," Chen Xi tried to comfort Liu Bei as much as possible. "Some things just need someone to do them."

"Yeah, someone has to do them, so I’ve promised all of them, even if they die in battle, everything I, Liu Xuande, promised will not change. Recently, I’ve had Boning and Zhongyu checking on this matter," Liu Bei said slowly.

"Did you hear any rumors?" Chen Xi asked, things like draining military pay or getting paid without working have existed throughout history, depending on how severe it is. Given the current chaos, soldiers are extremely important, so such issues won’t be too severe.

The biggest difference between Liu Bei and the past emperors is that Liu Bei can freely move around, he doesn’t need others to investigate anything nor does he need protection.

As a lord recognized from the highest general to the lowest soldier, with a down-to-earth personality, Liu Bei could move about his domain without incident, thus gathering firsthand information directly.

"It was mentioned casually when chatting with some soldiers; some counties misappropriated parts of the subsidies meant for veteran soldiers," Liu Bei said, displeased. "Although they mentioned the problem wasn’t serious, and retired veteran soldiers were living fine, such incidents can’t become the norm."

Chen Xi nodded. After the veterans retired, they were settled county by county, a batch at a time. Though they couldn’t be bundled into legions during recruitment, occasionally facilitating communication among soldiers of different legions from the same county was still done.

Upon retirement, they were placed into the Tuntian Soldier system, thereafter deciding by batches whether to retire or continue in the Tuntian system, based on needs.

This was meant to foster familiarity among them, letting them rely on each other in times of need. Should issues emerge among them, before higher-ups take action, they’d be poised to assist each other.

After all, they have military experience, having retired together, having worked together at the same Tuntian location, and having had their sentiments facilitated, unless there’s existing enmity, after a couple rounds of this, these individuals develop a deep recognition of their identities.

Through this approach, should anything happen to a comrade’s family, they would spontaneously resolve it. If any issues arised, they’d band together in opposition. While higher-ups might have various underlying interests due to all sorts of reasons, the soldiers at the lower level aren’t greatly tied by such interests; their camaraderie leads them to help one another.

This is why Chen Xi doesn’t expect the situation to be very serious, having visited a portion of military families before; some were unscathed veterans, others died in foreign lands, but overall Chen Xi’s promises back then were mostly kept.

Given the strict oversight, Chen Xi couldn’t control aristocratic families back then, but it wasn’t so severe that local clans were overturned, those daring to act recklessly under the protection of military force were punished harshly.

Therefore, even though Liu Bei’s type of situation might exist, it definitely won’t be too severe, because from the start, Chen Xi cultivated the military as an independent class.

Now, this class, despite still being immature with many flaws, is backed by forty thousand active soldiers with armor and weapons, making it untouchable by ordinary status, especially after the upcoming large-scale military parade that would formalize the military, preventing covert rule and leading to its written establishment in law!

"It can be verified through official procedures, since you stepping in risks compromising the official system’s integrity. The whims of those at the top greatly affect lower-level official judgments; at this level, our actions greatly impact," Chen Xi said helplessly. "No need to turn a minor issue into a major affair."

"Zichuan, your view is almost identical to Wen Ru’s, though I only had them verify," Liu Bei smiled. "The official system’s integrity, the whims of those at the top, such issues, is there a solution?"

"Certainly not," Chen Xi said exasperatedly. "Effective oversight might suppress such matters, but as for complete resolution, that’s wishful thinking; we can’t pursue a saintly level of morality, only general societal norms."

"It’s unavoidable, which is why at our high position we must set an example, right?" Liu Bei asked with a relieved smile. "The top influences the bottom."

"Yes, in fact, those Pure Stream Celebrities found by Weishuo, with high moral standards who spot problems and maintain integrity, greatly curb such behaviors," Chen Xi said with a smile. "Their status provides significant advantages in oversight."