bestfiction Chapter 451 Heartbreaking Truth
Chapter 451 Heartbreaking Truth
"A bowl of blood-feathered chicken blood every day?"
The other three martial artists all turned to look at Liu Yi. Nowadays, the name of the Blood Feather Chicken is known to everyone in Ding'an County. This kind of chicken can help martial artists cultivate and its effect is far superior to that of medicinal herbs of the same grade. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the dream chicken of most martial artists in Ding'an County.
In fact, the three of them only served Li Qingyun in order to obtain the Blood Feather Chicken, so they were shocked when they heard that the soldiers of the Chen Family Army could get a bowl of Blood Feather Chicken blood every day!
"The Chen family army has about three hundred people. Each person gets a bowl of blood from a blood-feathered chicken every day. How much does that cost?"
A martial artist named Ma Changming asked incredulously. As an eighth-rank martial artist, he served Li Qingyun and earned only two Blood Feather Chickens a month, while the soldiers of the Chen family army...
One bowl of blood from a blood-feathered chicken a day, that's more than 300 bowls for about 300 people. Even if one blood-feathered chicken can produce two bowls of blood, it would still require more than 150 blood-feathered chickens a day.
The price of blood-feathered chickens in Ding'an County has dropped slightly, averaging around 30 taels each. 150 chickens would cost 4500 taels of silver...
An army of about 300 men costs 4500 taels of silver a day, which amounts to 130,000 taels of silver a month.
This doesn't even include the rations and pay that Chenjia Village provided to the army...
If you take all of that into account, the Chen family army of about 300 men would cost at least 150,000 taels of silver a month.
What a terrifying number!
Even supporting an army of 20,000 wouldn't require such a huge expense each month, right?
"This is why the Chen family army is so powerful, and why each member is so disciplined and fearless."
Liu Yi said, "The good treatment guarantees the lives of the soldiers of the Chen Family Army, so they are willing to abide by the military discipline of the Chen Family Army. To put it bluntly, ordinary people are so poor that they can hardly afford to eat. Only the beggar soldiers of the imperial court can covet the wealth of ordinary people. Soldiers like the Chen Family Army do not care about the money and food of ordinary people."
Li Qingyun: “…”
Ma Changming: "..."
The other two martial artists: "..."
Although what Liu Yi said was somewhat harsh, it was indeed the truth.
The people of Qingzhou weren't so poor they had to sell their pants, but they really didn't have much surplus grain. Given the generous treatment of the Chen family army soldiers, they didn't need to plunder the people for wealth, and they didn't even care about the meager money and grain in the people's homes.
"No wonder the Chen family army is so powerful; they're all made of gold!"
Li Qingyun sighed softly. Having witnessed the Chen family army in battle, he knew how formidable they were. An army composed entirely of martial artists was like a dimensional reduction attack against ordinary armies. Three hundred men dared to charge into the enemy's three thousand-strong formation and utterly crush them, making them an invincible force.
however……
Such an army is impossible to replicate because the cost of building it is too high!
An army of three hundred men would require a monthly expenditure of 15 taels of silver, a cost that even the Xia Dynasty court could not afford.
Of course, this does not mean that the imperial court could not afford 15 taels of silver, but rather that it was simply impossible for the imperial court to build such an army.
Because the imperial court needed too many troops, the vast territory of the Nine Provinces required the imperial army to guard every place, and a large number of troops were needed to resist the barbarians outside the Great Wall. The total number of Xia Kingdom troops exceeded one million. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for the imperial court to spend such a high cost to build a warrior army of a few hundred people.
Only a small and extremely wealthy place like the Chen Family Army would spare no expense to build an army composed entirely of martial artists.
…………
…………
The next day at noon, because all of them were martial artists and their speed was extremely fast, the Chen family army returned to Chen family village in just one day.
Many villagers, observing the soldiers who had undergone a significant change in demeanor since their departure, couldn't help but start discussing among themselves.
"Where did these guards go? I feel like they're acting a little different."
"I feel the same way."
"Did they go to suppress bandits?"
"There seemed to be a murderous glint in their eyes."
"..."
After the great battle, the soldiers of the Chen family army changed dramatically, especially in their temperament. Although the original soldiers of the Chen family army gave people a feeling of bravery, they had lost some of their murderous aura.
The returning Chen family army members had sharp eyes, as if carrying an invisible killing intent that sent chills down one's spine.
A moment later, Chen Da led everyone to the training ground.
Looking at the crowd who had lined up on their own initiative, he smiled and said, "You all did a great job on this mission. I will personally report to Brother Dao and recommend you for commendation."
After he finished speaking, everyone remained silent, but a hint of joy flashed deep in their eyes.
The reason they risked their lives to fight was not only to repay Chen Dao's kindness, but also to gain merit and exchange it for more benefits.
Therefore, when they heard that Chen Da was going to personally recommend them for merit, everyone was overjoyed and began to think about what they could exchange their military merits for.
"Alright, you must be tired too."
Chen Da continued, "Today's training will be canceled. Everyone, please disperse."
"Wuhu!"
Upon hearing Chen Da's words, the crowd cheered and quickly dispersed, heading towards their dormitory.
After a quick shower to wash away their fatigue, Fang Yong and his three roommates lay comfortably on their beds, relieving their exhaustion.
To be honest, the battles in Taiping County didn't take a huge toll on Fang Yong and the others' bodies. After all, martial artists are as strong as livestock, and a few days of fighting wouldn't be enough to break them.
What truly exhausted them was... killing!
Murder sounds simple, just a matter of raising a knife and striking, but in reality, for men like Fang Yong who came from farming families and were originally honest and simple farmers, the psychological pressure of killing is enormous.
The psychological pressure of watching vibrant lives die before your very eyes is something only those who have truly experienced it can understand.
"to be honest……"
With his hands behind his head, Wu Gang said in a low voice, "I never imagined that I would kill so many people with my own hands."
During the several days of fighting in Ding'an County, Wu Gang personally killed no fewer than ten fleeing soldiers. The loss of more than a dozen fresh lives under his blade had a tremendous psychological impact on Wu Gang.
Having worked on the farm since childhood, he never imagined that one day he would join the army, and even... kill so many people with his own hands.
"Me too."
Guo Tai and Song Zhihua said in unison that they had killed fewer people than Wu Gang, only three and four respectively, but they were under just as much pressure.