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

Chapter 888 The Famous Zhang He

However, although Xiao Mingwang was anxious, he also knew that too many White Lotus Army veterans had died in the previous war with the Qiongzhou warlords. Although the White Lotus Army had more troops than before due to large-scale conscription, these newly recruited soldiers had not received training and had never been on the battlefield, so they were almost powerless.

Therefore, the overall combat strength of the White Lotus Army is actually somewhat weaker than before.

Taking this into consideration, King Xiaoming had to suppress his impatience and wait for the new recruits to complete their training and become combat-ready before launching an attack on Haizhou.

"As ordered!"

The White Lotus Sect leaders below all agreed and then left Xiao Mingwang's residence to train soldiers in the military camp and prepare for the expedition to Haizhou.

…………

…………

"Zhang, this Youzhou seems different from what I've heard from other merchants."

Just as Bai Lian was training his troops to prepare for war, a caravan crossed Liangzhou and entered Youzhou territory.

This caravan was none other than Zhang He's caravan, which set off from Taiping County, passed through Liangzhou, and entered Youzhou.

Zhang He's business is booming. His caravan has over a hundred people and more than a hundred vehicles, including donkey carts and oxcarts. It's no exaggeration to call it a large caravan.

The person speaking at this moment was one of the accompanying personnel, named Zhang Ping, who was Zhang He's fellow townsman from Liangzhou.

At this moment, Zhang Ping looked at the busy farmers in the fields and said in surprise, "I heard other merchants say that Youzhou is lifeless, but look at the smiles on the faces of those farmers. Where is the lifelessness?"

In his spare time, Zhang Ping would occasionally come into contact with other businessmen. These businessmen had traveled all over the country and were considered a group with extensive experience in Kyushu.

According to information Zhang Ping gathered from other merchants, the people of Youzhou were listless and lifeless because the Lu family controlled the vast majority of the land and most of the grain produced in the fields had to be handed over to the Lu family. Even when they were farming, the people looked numb and listless.

But what he saw was completely different from the merchants' descriptions. The farmers and peasant women working on both sides of the official road had joyful and hopeful smiles on their faces, which had nothing to do with the numbness and lifelessness described by the other merchants.

"There are indeed some differences."

Zhang He nodded slightly and explained to Zhang Ping, "The reason why what we see is different from what those merchants said is because the Lu family has been destroyed! After destroying the Lu family, Commander Yang overturned all the Lu family's previous policies in Youzhou, freed all the people of Youzhou from their status as tenant farmers and serfs, and also distributed land to the people of Youzhou."

Having their own land naturally brought a different feeling. In the past, the grain grown by the people of Youzhou belonged to the Lu family, which was equivalent to working for others and only receiving a small share of the money and grain earned.

Now that they have land, it's like working for themselves, so their motivation is naturally different!

"That's it!"

Zhang Ping nodded in realization. He had also worked the land and naturally understood the mentality of the people of Youzhou.

Being a tenant farmer for someone else and cultivating their land is indeed a different mindset than cultivating your own. The former tends to be more passive, while the latter is more proactive.

"Yang Shuai is truly compassionate!"

The skinny monkey next to Zhang He sighed and said, "If there had been someone like Yang Shuai to give me land when I was farming, I wouldn't have become a refugee and almost died on the way to escape famine."

"Yes! Life was really tough in Liangzhou before. It wasn't until General Yang rebelled and drove out the imperial court that our lives got a little better."

"With General Yang around, the people of Youzhou are going to have a good life!"

"Yes! I've heard that in Youzhou, one person can get five mu of land, a family of two can get eight mu, and a family of three can get eleven mu, which is more than enough to support a family."

"That's right! If I had 11 mu of land at home, I wouldn't want to follow Brother Zhang on this business!"

"Ha ha!"

"..."

The crowd burst into laughter, attracting the attention of many farmers in the fields, but they quickly looked away and continued with their work.

"All right!"

Zhang He interrupted the laughter, saying, "It's getting late. Let's hurry and get to the next city to rest for the night."

"okay!"

The group agreed in unison, then quickened their pace and arrived in Lingshui County before sunset. They planned to find a restaurant in Lingshui County to rest for the night and then set off north the next day to the military town behind the Great Wall.

Yes, Zhang He's destination on this trip was the Great Wall.

The reason for going to the Great Wall was that Zhang He was entrusted by Chenjia Village to transport 10,000 chickens and ducks to the Great Wall and hand them over to the Great Wall Army.

There was no risk involved in this mission, and Chenjia Village had already paid for it, so Zhang He was quite happy to take the trip. After loading the goods in Chenjia Village, he set off for Youzhou and arrived in Lingshui County today.

"stop!"

As they approached the city gate, a soldier noticed Zhang He's group of over a hundred burly men. With a wary expression, he reached out and stopped Zhang He, saying in a deep voice, "You need to be checked before you can enter the city!"

Although Youzhou has largely stabilized now, the war has just ended, and the soldiers guarding the city remain vigilant. They will be extra careful in checking unfamiliar faces, not to mention...

Zhang He's group consisted of over a hundred unfamiliar faces, and all of them were middle-aged men.

As for why the soldier didn't ask Zhang He and the others to show their travel permits...

This is because Youzhou is currently in a post-war state. Although order has been restored, the government is not fully functional due to the many vacant official positions. Many people in Youzhou cannot even find a place to issue a travel permit, let alone a travel permit.

Under such circumstances, it is natural for cities not to use road permits as passes.

Zhang He wasn't surprised to be stopped by the soldier. He had a lot of confidence in the discipline of the Yang family army and didn't think the soldier was deliberately making things difficult for them.

Therefore, Zhang He said with a smile, "Sir! We are merchants from Taiping County, and the trucks are loaded with poultry such as chickens and ducks. If you don't believe me, you can check it yourself."

The soldier squinted at Zhang He for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Aren't you called Zhang He?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang He was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Sir, do you know me?"

"No need to call me 'General'!"

The soldier waved his hand, grinned, and said, "Of course I know you! In our Yang family army, you, Zhang He, are quite famous!"

"..."

Zhang He opened his mouth, feeling even more confused.

To be fair, although he was from Liangzhou, he didn't have much interaction with the Yang family army, so how could he be so famous in the Yang family army?