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

Chapter 735 Merchants on the Official Road

As snow fell heavily, a vast, snow-covered world stretched out before them, and an army that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see was slowly advancing.

If you are lucky enough to see it from above, you will witness a breathtaking scene: an army of 8 people moving like countless ants in a pure white world, as if the only sound in the world is the echo of their footsteps.

As for why the army of 50,000 became 80,000, it is naturally because in addition to the combat soldiers, there were also auxiliary soldiers.

The 50,000 men that Yang Zheng brought out from the military camp were combat soldiers, while the remaining 30,000 men were auxiliary soldiers responsible for logistics, which were the civilians that Yang Zheng conscripted in Liangzhou Prefecture.

Thirty thousand auxiliary soldiers were assigned to provide logistics for fifty thousand combat soldiers. This ratio was undoubtedly too small. However, once they entered Taicang County, Taicang County would provide them with food and supplies, so the number was just right.

"Erlang."

Yang Zheng, riding ahead, glanced back at the soldiers behind him and said to Yang Erlang beside him, "Keep a close eye on them. Report to me immediately if any soldier suffers frostbite."

Marching in snowy weather is never an easy task. Although Yang Zheng believed in the willpower of the soldiers, many things cannot be solved by willpower alone. In such cold weather, non-combat casualties are inevitable.

"Don't worry, Yang Shuai."

Yang Erlang laughed and said, "The brothers in the army are all wearing down jackets from Chenjia Village, so this little bit of cold is nothing."

The Yang family army had made ample preparations for this deployment.

Not only were the army's meals improved in advance, but tens of thousands of down jackets were also specially purchased from Chenjia Village so that the soldiers could march normally in the cold weather.

"Ah."

Yang Zheng nodded slightly. The people of Liangzhou are naturally resistant to cold, and now with the down jackets from Chenjia Village to keep them warm, the number of non-combat casualties will definitely be greatly reduced.

On the snow-covered official road, the 8-strong army, lined up in a long, winding line, moved slowly forward. Although the Yang family army had made ample preparations, the biting cold wind inevitably caused casualties among the troops.

On the third day of the march, a small number of soldiers began to suffer from frostbite. Yang Zheng naturally did not abandon these frostbitten soldiers, but arranged for them to be sent to the nearest city to recuperate.

Fortunately, due to thorough preparation, only a minority of soldiers suffered frostbite, and there was no widespread frostbite, so as not to affect the army's combat effectiveness.

Three days later, the army entered Yongliang County. On the official road, Yang Zheng saw many caravans transporting goods.

Upon seeing the army, the caravans reacted remarkably in unison, all trembling with fear, lest they be plundered by the troops.

There's no way around it; the military has such a bad reputation in Kyushu. On the surface, they're soldiers, but in reality, they're not much better than bandits.

For many caravans, the worst thing was not encountering bandits in the wild, but rather an army!

Because bandits are usually small in number, caravans have no fear of bandits as long as they have enough guards.

But if they encounter the army... no matter how many guards they have, they can hardly escape the fate of losing both their lives and their wealth.

"These caravans must be from Taiping County, right?"

Yang Zheng was overjoyed to see the reaction of these caravans. After reaching a cooperation agreement with Chenjia Village, the market doors of Liangzhou naturally opened to Chenjia Village as well.

At Chen Dao's behest, a large number of merchants who cooperated with Chenjia Village flocked to Liangzhou, bringing a large amount of goods produced in Chenjia Village to the people of Liangzhou.

Yang Zheng was naturally happy to see this happen.

Liangzhou is a barren land with scarce resources. The goods brought by these merchants can greatly enrich the resources of Liangzhou, allowing the people of Liangzhou to buy more things.

Yang Zheng waved to a middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man was taken aback at first, then walked tremblingly to Yang Zheng and knelt down, saying, "Ma Dalong greets the general."

"Get up!"

Yang Zheng dismounted and helped the middle-aged man named Ma Dalong to his feet, then asked, "Are you merchants from Taiping County?"

"Yes, General, that is indeed the case."

"Did you bring goods from Chenjia Village?"

"Exactly."

A hint of surprise flashed in Ma Dalong's eyes, as if he hadn't expected the general in front of him to know about the existence of Chenjia Village. "This time, I mainly brought yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks from Chenjia Village. In addition, there are down jackets and other products produced in Chenjia Village."

"Not bad!"

Yang Zheng nodded in satisfaction. These goods were relatively scarce in Liangzhou. Yellow-feathered chickens and white-feathered ducks could provide the people of Liangzhou with inexpensive meat, and the low-priced down jackets could provide them with good quality and affordable warm clothing.

In short, the influx of merchants from Taiping County was entirely beneficial to Liangzhou.

"I am Yang Zheng from Liangzhou."

Yang Zheng looked up at the trembling merchants on the official road and said loudly, "Don't worry, as long as you behave yourselves in Liangzhou and don't commit any crimes, I can guarantee that neither the government nor the army in Liangzhou will make things difficult for you!"

These words were met with gasps of surprise along the official road.

"What?! He's Yang Zheng? The Heavenly King Yang of Liangzhou?"

"Is this King Yang really so approachable?"

"With King Yang's guarantee, we no longer need to worry about doing business in Liangzhou!"

"..."

The merchants immediately relaxed. The moment they encountered this army, they almost thought they were about to lose everything, and some even regretted coming to Liangzhou to do business.

Fortunately, they did not encounter those bandit-like armies, but the Yang family army personally led by Yang Tianwang.

Furthermore, King Yang promised them that as long as they conducted their business honestly, they would not be harassed by the Liangzhou authorities!

This was undoubtedly an exciting event for the caravan present.

What is the most feared thing in doing business?

It wasn't that no one wanted to buy their goods, but rather that they faced difficulties from the government. Now, with Yang Zheng's promise, they no longer needed to worry about government interference, especially since they possessed the magical goods of Chenjia Village...

Their business must be doing well!

"I was blind and did not recognize your greatness. I hope you will forgive me, Heavenly King Yang!"

Upon hearing Yang Zheng reveal his identity, Ma Dalong knelt on the ground again and kowtowed repeatedly to Yang Zheng.

For a small businessman like him, Yang Zheng was a truly important figure, someone whose word could decide his life or death, so he naturally dared not be negligent.

"No need to be polite!"

Yang Zheng helped Ma Dalong up and said with a smile, "I should thank you! Without the goods you brought, the people of Liangzhou would have had a very hard winter."

After saying this, Yang Zheng said no more, leading his army past the merchants and continuing their march south.