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

Chapter 472 Man in Black Robe

As an ambitious scholar with compassion for the poor, Xu Zhiwen's greatest wish was for the people under his rule to live in peace and prosperity, and Chenjia Village gave him hope of realizing this vision.

“What you say makes sense.”

Xu Zhiwen sighed softly and said, "But what should we do if the Green King finds out about this?"

"Just give it to Yang Zheng of Liangzhou."

Chen Dao said dismissively, "Taiping County is right next to Liangzhou. He can easily shift the blame for Huang Ting's death onto Yang Zheng of Liangzhou. Anyway, Yang Zheng has already rebelled, so he shouldn't mind taking the blame."

"The Azure King certainly won't believe it."

Xu Zhiwen shook his head.

Whether he believes it or not is not up to him.

Chen Dao said, "Chaos is coming, and we should prepare for it! Starting today, I plan to increase investment in the Chen family army, and Lord Xu should also increase the strength of the county!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhiwen gave Chen Dao a deep look. The Chen family army was already powerful enough; 300 men could defeat the imperial court's 3000 regular troops. Yet Chen Dao said he would continue to increase the investment in the Chen family army...

Clearly, Chen Dao intended to confront the Green King by force.

"In that case, I should recruit more city guards."

Xu Zhiwen pondered for a moment and said, "When Chenjia Village was conscripting soldiers a few days ago, I also symbolically recruited a few more city guards. The city guards, which previously numbered only about a hundred, have now expanded to about 200. However, it seems that..."

200 people are far from enough; we need to increase the number.

After all... the Qingzhou Army has 10 soldiers!

Not long after, Xu Zhiwen left.

Chen Dao immediately summoned Chen Da and instructed him: "Pass on my order that, starting tomorrow, the training volume of all soldiers in the Chen family army will be doubled, and the amount of blood feather chicken blood will be increased from one bowl per person per day to two bowls."

"Rice Brother".

Chen Da frowned and said, "Won't this cause the village to spend too much?"

Chen Da's concerns were justified. The Chen family army consisted of more than 300 people. If each person needed a bowl of chicken blood, they would need to consume more than 100 blood-feathered chickens a day. Based on the wholesale price of blood-feathered chickens, this would amount to more than 3000 taels of silver. If this were doubled, it would be more than 6000 taels of silver a day. Even for the wealthy Chen family village, spending more than 6000 taels of silver a day was not a small amount!

"It doesn't matter!"

Chen Dao waved his hand and said that with the current output of the farm, it would not be a problem to supply more than 300 Chen family soldiers with two bowls of chicken blood every day. The reason why it was previously stipulated that each person should have one bowl was just to save costs.

But now, facing the threat from the Qingwang Mansion, Chen Dao must increase its investment; otherwise, who will protect the property and personal safety of the villagers of Chenjia Village?

"You just need to do as instructed."

"I understand."

Chen Da accepted the order and left. Not long after, cheers rang out in the drill ground of Chenjia Village.

"Great! We can drink two bowls of chicken blood every day from now on."

"Haha! With the chicken blood increased from one bowl to two bowls, I'll definitely be able to advance to the eighth rank even faster."

"Hehe! Mr. Chen is so generous, he's actually willing to give us an extra bowl of this amazing chicken blood."

"With more motivation, our strength will definitely improve rapidly, and we'll be able to earn more military merits when war breaks out in the future!"

"..."

Upon learning that the training volume had doubled, the soldiers of Chen Family Army were not dissatisfied at all; on the contrary, they were overjoyed.

Although the training was tough, they enjoyed it. After all, the improvement in strength brought about by the training was real, and with the improvement in strength, they could obtain a higher position in the army and gain more military merits when they encountered battles. How could they not want to?

"Squad Leader."

Wu Gang nudged Fang Yong beside him with his index finger and said, "You're already at the peak of the ninth rank, right? With this surge of energy, you might just be advancing to the eighth rank soon!"

As he spoke, Wu Gang's eyes were full of envy. Fang Yong's talent was among the best in the Chen family army of about three hundred people. His cultivation speed was also extremely fast. He was already at the peak of the ninth rank and could advance to the eighth rank in no time!

Once promoted to the eighth rank, one can immediately obtain the position of squad leader, and the salary will also increase accordingly.

"hey-hey!"

Fang Yong smiled shyly and said, "If I drink two bowls of chicken blood every day, I'm confident I can advance to the eighth rank within three days."

As soon as he said this, envious glances were immediately cast at Fang Yong.

"Good heavens, reaching the eighth rank in just three days! Brother Yong has really gotten ahead of us this time."

"I'm only at the ninth rank, while Yong-ge'er is about to reach the eighth rank. It's really infuriating to compare yourself to others."

"Brother Yong is really amazing! He joined the Chen Family Army at the same time as us, but now his cultivation level is far ahead of ours!"

"I'll definitely catch up with Yong-ge in the future!"

…………

…………

Night falls.

While the men of Chen's army were excited by the increased energy from the chicken blood, in the Qingwang Mansion in Qingzhou Prefecture, the Qingwang, dressed in a python robe, sat alone in the banquet hall, his gaze frequently drifting towards the door, as if waiting for something.

"Your Highness, the person has been brought."

Before long, a eunuch walked in first, and behind him were three tall, mysterious figures shrouded in black robes.

Upon seeing the three, a barely perceptible hint of joy flashed in the eyes of the Prince of Qing, who said to the eunuch, "You may leave now."

"Yes."

The eunuch bowed, then turned and left.

After the eunuch left, the leader of the three men in black robes said, "Are you the Green King of Xia?"

If an outsider were to hear this person's voice, they would find it very strange, because the Xia language he speaks is very strange, as if a foreigner from Earth in a previous life were speaking Chinese.

"It is I, the king."

The Green King nodded and said, "There is no one else here. You may take off your robes."

Upon hearing this, the three men in black robes removed their robes, revealing three faces that were distinctly different from those of the Xia people.

Even males in the Xia Kingdom don't have excessive body hair, but these three men in black robes had thick hair covering their faces, making them look like uncivilized apes.

Their figures are incredibly tall, each over two meters high, with muscular bodies resembling robust black bears, and covered in tattoos that look like body paint, making them quite eerie.

"sit!"

The Azure King seemed unsurprised by the three's appearance, gesturing for them to sit down before asking, "Have you brought what I need?"

"Of course I brought it!"

The leader of the black-robed men nodded, then asked in return, "Has the Azure King prepared what my clan needs?"

"Of course!"

The Azure King nodded: "As long as you provide me with what I need, you may take the person away at any time!"

"Very good, King Qing is indeed a man of integrity."

The leader of the men in black robes nodded in satisfaction: "It's late. I wonder if the Prince of Qing would allow us to stay at the palace for the night?"