C268

Chapter 268 - Recruitment 2

As the Mid-Autumn Festival passed, the weather gradually became colder.

It was already the time for Autumn Leaf to wither. Zhao Chen, Wang Shu, Yu Yunwen and the others left the Wu Gong County and headed towards the Fengxiang Residence.

Along the way, they saw countless youths who were building roads. Zhao Chen and the others inspected the road they were building. In this era, the only thing that could be built was a stone road. Zhao Chen could tell that these youths were very serious about their construction, and could predict that in the future, the successfully built road would be very sturdy.

This road connected the Wu Gong County s, Fu Feng County s, Fengxiang Residence s, Dazhang Pass s, and various other places in the Middle Han Area, this was the first road built. In the future, they would still need to build more roads, including the roads from Guan Shan to Western Xia, and from Middle Han Area to Chuan Shu, as well as the various roads within the Chuan Shu. The whole country will be connected by then.

These road builders, they had a lot of work to do.

The weather had turned cold and the weather was already starting to turn frosty. These young people were sleeping in the wilderness. Many youths had abnormally thin clothes. Along the way, Zhao Chen had even instructed the soldiers of the Managed to take off their clothes and give it to the youths who were repairing the road.

September 15, Zhao Chen and the rest arrived in front of Fengxiang Residence.

Here, countless youths had gathered!

These young men were not from Production and Construction Corps, they were from there, and were the young men that the imperial government had just recruited!

Their numbers reached one million and five hundred thousand. Out of the one million and five hundred thousand, seven hundred thousand would stay in Guan Shan, and five hundred thousand in the Northwest. The remaining three hundred thousand would head to Western Xia and enter Spirit State and Liang Zhou!

They had come here at the beginning of September and had already been waiting for Zhao Chen for ten days!

They were waiting for Zhao Chen to receive them, they wanted to see the leader in their hearts before going to different places, see the "red sun" that Advocacy Division had mentioned before, see the person they reported to every morning!

The sun was setting in the west when the sound of horses' hooves could be heard in the distance.

Managed's soldiers were heading towards them, and the one leading them was Zhao Chen.

The moment Zhao Chen appeared, the youths surrounding Fengxiang Residence immediately went into an uproar.

Then there was a buzz.

"That man, ride on the horse, he's His Majesty!"

"Oh my god!" That's right, he really is His Majesty! We worship his portrait every day, that's him! He is our leader, the reddest and reddest sun in our hearts, the great Emperor, the only saint, great man, and god in this world! "

"Your Majesty! It's really His Majesty! Oh my god! I have finally met His Majesty! "

"Long live Your Majesty! "Long live!"

"His Majesty has come among us!"

"Quick!" "Make way for His Majesty!"

Zhao Chen had already reached the middle of the youths. Compared to the soldiers of Production and Construction Corps, they looked extremely young and immature. However, their loyalty to Zhao Chen and their belief in sacrifice for their country were exactly the same as the soldiers of the Production and Construction Corps and the warriors of the various armies.

As Zhao Chen walked past the youths, countless of them were tearing up.

When they were in Chuan Shu, they had longed to see Zhao Chen everyday, but now, they had finally seen this person!

Countless people could not even describe how they were feeling at this moment, and in their hearts, other than Zhao Chen, there was nothing else.

"Your Majesty, I've finally met you!" Some of them could not help but kneel down towards Zhao Chen.

"Quickly rise!" You will soon enter the Production and Construction Corps and become soldiers as well! In the army, no need to kneel. " Zhao Chen helped the young man up as he smiled.

"Your Majesty, can I join the Imperial Guard?" A young man said loudly.

The surrounding voices were simply too loud, and even Zhao Chen was only able to clearly hear the youth's words after he concentrated his mind.

"If you perform outstandingly in the Production and Construction Corps, you can naturally enter the Forbidden Army in the future!" Zhao Chen laughed.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will definitely perform well! "I must enter the army, I must establish a meritorious service!" The youth excitedly said.

He walked through the young people, just like how he walked past the young people in Hanzhong City back then. Countless young men came to his side. Countless young men's eyes were brimming with tears, hoping to be together with him forever.

For the entire night, Zhao Chen was with the youths.

There were 1.5 million youths here. Tonight, none of the 1.5 million youths had fallen asleep.

Everyone was so excited that they couldn't fall asleep.

In the morning, when the sun had just risen, Zhao Chen had finally arrived at the walls of the Fengxiang Residence.

His gaze turned to the young man below and he sighed emotionally.

This time, they had recruited another 1.5 million youths. The pressure on the population of the Guan Shan and the Northwest region would be greatly reduced. Moreover, after these people entered the Production and Construction Corps, and were reeducated there, their thoughts would have a complete change. Just as he had told Yu Yunwen that day, even though the world belonged to the people of the world, in the end, it still belonged to the youths. Sooner or later the young will grow up, and sooner or later they will take over the country. Zhao Chen wanted these youths to completely accept his ideals and follow him closely, so that they could realize his political dreams.

"This time, there are still three hundred thousand people in the Guan Shan entering the army! Our military power in the Guan Shan will increase to 800,000 people! If we were to face the true female soldiers and the Emperor Kang soldiers head on, the number would reach 700 thousand. This is a huge power, so we no longer have to fear the true female soldiers and the Emperor Kang soldiers! " Zhao Chen clenched his fists and thought.

The staff officer headquarters had already decided to recruit 300,000 people from the Guan Shan. During this period of time, the various places were already in the process of mobilizing their troops, and the most talented people amongst the youths would join the army. The young men of the Production and Construction Corps were different from the ordinary people. They also had military training, so they could not be considered normal recruits anymore. They knew how to use all kinds of weapons, and they understood the principle of 'military discipline is like a mountain'. Soon, they would become warriors who could walk on the battlefield.

"A total of seven hundred thousand men, and this is only because the staff officers' headquarters considered the situation with regards to the economic development of the Guan Shan, so they only recruited three hundred thousand men!" The Military Command and Staff Council have to consider the balance between economic development and external expansion, so we cannot be militaristic. Otherwise, we can even expand the army to 1 or 2 million troops! Those youths are definitely willing to join the army! " Zhao Chen secretly thought.

The youths below were still cheering excitedly, and some of them were even bidding farewell to the people beside them. They would be rushing to various places in the Guan Shan, Northwest, and Western Xia. No one knew whether or not they would meet again in the future. It was only at this point that their excited moods finally calmed down, and their faces revealed the slightest hint of sadness. However, when they thought about how they could fight against the heavens and fight against the earth, build up their achievements, and achieve the grand goals that the Advocacy Division had mentioned, and how they could do even more things for their nation and nation, their sadness decreased by a lot.

Zhao Chen looked at the youth below. His mind no longer seemed to be here, as he flew off somewhere.

He suddenly felt that the country in front of him was similar to the Great Qin after the Martingale Transformation. Although the strength of this country could not be compared to the six countries, its development speed far exceeded that of the six countries. Sooner or later, it would annex the six countries and establish an unprecedented huge empire. He also felt that this country was similar to the grassland that Cheng Jisihan had just unified. Although there was still Western Xia, Jin, Song, Western China, and powerful Thorny Flower Demons, as well as the powerful Qinghan tribes in the north, this country would eventually wipe out all its enemies and dominate Europe and Asia unrivalled.

"No, the current Song Dynasty is not only strong in terms of force, our economy is also abnormally strong! After the Rent reduction order was promoted, the peasants' living standards had undergone a tremendous change. The country's economic strength had advanced by leaps and bounds! Since ancient times, there had never been a dynasty that had Rent reduction order s, and no dynasty that could restrict the exploitation of farmers by the gentry! No other dynasty had so much water conservancy to build a road like this! Right now, the Song Dynasty was like the Tang Dynasty during the era of chastity, the Ming Dynasty during the era of benevolence, and the Great Qing Dynasty during the golden age of kanggan! Regardless of whether it was the civil or martial arts, this country was still flourishing. It was as if a giant dragon had already soared into the sky! The rise of the Song Dynasty was already unstoppable, this was a necessity of history! The people and the military were united like a single person. No one in this world could be a match for him. The unity of countless young people in Song Dynasty was enough to defeat everything. The Western Xia is insignificant, the true lady and the Emperor Kang are also insignificant. Even the heavens and the earth are about to be conquered by us. Song Dynasty is a powerful nation that is slowly rising … " Zhao Chen muttered to himself.

He felt that his entire body was filled with power, this power did not come from him alone, but from this country, from the millions of youths below, from the Guan Shan, Middle Han Area, Chuan Shu, and the tens of millions of citizens in the Northwest region. As the one who held control of this country, he felt an endless amount of power. This was the power of a nation, and it was unmatched, thriving, and comparable to the power of a nation in the golden age of Han and Tang Dynasties. No one could resist this nation's power.

At this very moment, the distant Central Plains was filled with a withering scene.

A girl in white was riding a horse and slowly walking forward.

"It's another run-down village. There's no one inside." After passing by a village, the young girl let out a soft sigh as she walked around the village.

For an entire day, she walked the hundred li. However, all she saw was only dead silence.

In the Central Plains, Henan, bihuai and more than a thousand miles of land, there were almost no well-preserved villages or towns. In the past ten days, she had never seen a village with more than two hundred people.

In just a few short years, the difference between here and Guan Shan was like heaven and earth. The various parts of the Guan Shan were full of vitality and flourishing, but here, only decline was possible. Actually, it's not only here, even Jiang Nan is far from being comparable to the rest of Guan Shan. If the place that Zhao Chen ruled was equivalent to the rising Great Qin Empire and Mongolia, then the place that Zhao Gou ruled was similar to the bright future of Chong Zhen. One was constantly developing majestically, while the other was becoming more and more backward. Zhao Chen had already left Zhao Gou far behind.

"It will be Kaifeng tomorrow. I wonder what Kaifeng will look like now?" The girl whispered to herself.

She did not leave the village until the next morning.

Four hours later, she arrived at Song Dynasty's old capital.

Once upon a time, this was the most prosperous city in the world. The economy was extremely wealthy, and the population was over a million. The city wall here was magnificent, and the scenery here was extremely charming. From the Song Dynasty's ancestor, the capital, to the shame of Jing Kang, this place had a hundred and sixty-seven years of history. It was the center of the Central Plains, the place countless Chinese people yearned for.

On that day, before the entrance of Kaifeng City was even open, countless citizens and merchants were already gathered outside. The place was bustling with noise and excitement, and as for the city itself, it was even more lively. But today, there was no one at the entrance of the Kaifeng City. The doors of the Kaifeng City were already broken, the walls were also broken.

The white clad young lady frowned slightly and entered the Kaifeng City.

The city was very quiet. There were weeds everywhere, and in the middle of them, the corpses of dead people could be seen. Other than that, there was nothing else.

Occasionally, one could hear the cry of the old crow, giving one an abnormally desolate and terrifying feeling.

However, there was no fear on the young girl's face. She only furrowed her brows, feeling an abnormal sadness.

"My Song Dynasty's capital has actually turned into this! From the looks of it, there is not a single person in the city! " The young girl said softly.

What she didn't know was that two years ago, there had been a plethora of rebel soldiers who had gone to Chang'an. After that, a portion of the allied army returned to the Central Plains. However, most of those allied army went to the Luoyang and the Shang Qiu. This place was too dilapidated, and no one lived here anymore.

In fact, Kai Feng's fate was exceptionally tragic as well. In history, it was only after the elimination of the Mongol gold did the Southern Song Army team head north, with the history calling it even and even entering the river. After the Southern Song Army entered the Kaifeng City, there were only three hundred families found in the Kaifeng City, and half of them were from the Nvzhen and Qi Dan. One could imagine how dilapidated this once largest city was!

Although Kaifeng was broken, the scale was still very big. The young girl even came to the Song Dynasty Imperial Palace and stayed there for a long time. This was where she spent the night.