Longzang

Chapter 66 Helping in times of need
Fang Hetong led Wei Yuan to a small ancestral hall in the village. The hall had been renovated, and a square table was placed in the center with a map on it.

Wei Yuan glanced at the map and immediately recognized it as a hand-drawn map depicting the terrain surrounding Quyang County. The map was meticulously drawn, clearly marking even small rivers and hills, with excellent brushwork; every stroke was pleasing to the eye.

Fang Hetong invited Wei Yuan to sit down and exchanged names.

Fang Hetong comes from a small sect called Baifeng Academy in this prefecture. He is thirty-eight years old this year and has spent more than twenty years of hard work to finally establish his Dao Foundation. Only the headmaster of Baifeng Academy has barely managed to cultivate to the Dharma Aspect stage, and the remaining seven or eight Dao Foundation cultivators have no hope of advancing further. It is a typical small and insignificant sect. If Bianning Prefecture were not located on the frontier and constantly harassed by foreign tribes, with a sparse population and no one willing to come, Baifeng Academy would not have been relegated to a fourth-rate sect.

Seeing Fang Hetong, Wei Yuan truly felt the profound foundation of the Taichu Palace. The Taichu Palace had almost no human-level Dao foundations left, and even earth-level Dao foundations were considered trash. Only heaven-level Dao foundations could earn the sect's attention, and to gain the sect's respect, one had to be at least a rare heaven-level Dao foundation like Yan Ming.

Only the academy's headmaster is at the Earth Rank Dao Foundation stage; the rest are all at the Human Rank. Seeing the unworthy descendants, they will be kicked out of the fourth-tier sect once the headmaster passes away.

Wei Yuan, despite ten years of arduous cultivation, failed to establish a Dao Foundation, firmly placing him at the bottom of the Tai Chu Palace. Fang He, on the other hand, spent over twenty years building a Human-level Dao Foundation, surprisingly ranking in the upper-middle tier within the Bai Feng Academy. However, in terms of combat strength, Wei Yuan, having achieved great physical prowess, once defeated Xu Du, a Earth-level cultivator, and after blood fusion and refinement, could easily defeat a Human-level Dao Foundation cultivator wielding a weapon. At this moment, unless Xu Du could don Bao Yun's full set of equipment, Wei Yuan wouldn't survive a single exchange.

After exchanging names, someone brought over a cup and a bowl. Fang He said, "Junior Brother Wei has come from afar, you must be hungry. We really don't have anything worthwhile to offer, please make do with this."

The cup contained water, which wasn't clear; there was sediment at the bottom, and the water had a yellowish tinge. The bowl contained brown rice, topped with a few pieces of wild vegetables, which had been steamed together with the rice.

Just then, a shout rang out from outside: "We've walked dozens of miles, hoping to get a decent meal after we got off here, and this is what we get? Even a dog wouldn't eat this!"

Wei Yuan's figure flashed and he was already outside the ancestral hall. He saw a soldier in his early twenties with him, who had a reckless attitude, raise a wooden bowl and was about to smash it on the ground.

Before Wei Yuan could even make a move, an elderly soldier with graying hair grabbed the man's wrist. The young soldier felt as if his hand was bound by iron; his bones cracked with every movement. He cried out in pain, "Ouch! What are you doing? My bones are broken!"

The old soldier snorted and said, "This is Mr. Fang's land. All the food in your bowl is what he saved from his own mouth! If even a single grain of rice falls, you have to pick it up and eat it!"

The young soldier didn't dare say anything more, and sat back down on the steps, muttering to himself, "I'm new here, I didn't even know Mr. Fang was here..."

Fang Hetong also came out of the ancestral hall and greeted several veteran soldiers. These veterans, who usually looked like scoundrels, stood ramrod straight in his presence, exuding a somewhat menacing aura. Wei Yuan hadn't expected Fang Hetong to have such high prestige among these scoundrel-like soldiers.

The two returned to the ancestral hall, and Fang Hetong said with a wry smile, "To be honest, we should have run out of food several days ago. These past few days, we've only been able to get half the normal amount of food, which is how we've managed to get by until now."

Wei Yuan had already seen the hardship here, but he hadn't expected it to have reached the point of running out of food. The Western Jin Dynasty hadn't suffered any disaster, so how could the front lines be running out of supplies?
Fang Hetong asked hopefully, "Junior Brother Wei, did you bring any news about military supplies?"

"Military pay?" Wei Yuan was taken aback again.

Prior to this trip, the palace had given instructions that the Western Jin Dynasty would be responsible for the soldiers' pay and provisions. Of course, those who brought their own personal guards and servants would have to pay for it themselves. Therefore, Wei Yuan did not ask about it when he went to lead the troops, and Wang Delu did not mention the matter of military pay at all.

"Haven't you been paid yet? Aren't those people outside militia?" Wei Yuan asked curiously. When he entered the village, Wei Yuan noticed that most of the inhabitants of Shayang Village were men, with only a few strong women and elderly people doing logistical work. According to the Western Jin military system, men aged twelve to fifty-five were eligible for conscription, and only those over sixty were considered old. Furthermore, these people all showed some signs of cultivation, although their cultivation time was short; even the best among them had only tempered their muscles to about twenty percent, but they were already different from ordinary people. Ordinary farmers wouldn't have such a body-forging ability.

The militia usually farmed, but after being conscripted, they received half a pay according to the standards for border troops. Under the Da Tang military system, the border troops were all regular soldiers, different from the local militia. Therefore, the half pay received by the militia was roughly equivalent to 80% of that of the local militia.

Wang Delu said he would allocate extra militia to Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan thought it would be the three hundred or so people in the village. He was quite satisfied because they all showed signs of body tempering. However, according to Fang Hetong, they had not yet received their military pay.

This is wartime, and this place is on the front line of defense. Logically, the imperial court should have allocated military pay and provisions long ago. To dare to go without pay and provisions during wartime is, at best, a mutiny, and at worst, an attempt to overthrow the dynasty.

Seeing Wei Yuan's expression, Fang Hetong understood and sighed, "Actually, I heard that the imperial court's military pay has been allocated to the county, amounting to 200,000 taels. I thought that when Junior Brother Wei arrived, he could bring the military pay with him, but I didn't expect... Alas! It's pitiful that these brothers outside have followed me for three months, risking their lives in seven or eight battles, with more than thirty people dying in battle, yet they haven't received a single penny of military pay, and who knows when they will receive their compensation."

"Mr. Fang, please don't worry. I brought some military supplies with me this time."

Wei Yuan then remembered the three boxes of military supplies he had brought with him, which could solve his immediate problem. He moved the three boxes to the center of the room and opened them one by one.

Each supply crate was a square iron box, about a foot in size. They didn't look large, but each weighed over a hundred pounds. Inside, neatly stacked pieces of dried meat were visible. This dried meat was a special military ration from the Taichu Palace; each piece was only the size of a finger. Soaking it in water turned it into a broth, enough to keep one full for a day. Even a strong man with a fully developed physique only needed two pieces of dried meat to last a day.

The other box contained purification pills and various medicines for warding off plagues and treating external injuries. A large vat of water could be drunk without hindrance with just one purification pill. If it was a well, only three purification pills were needed to provide clean water for a day.

Two boxes of military rations and one box of medicine—a fairly reasonable arrangement, enough to support a hundred-man army for half a month. However, Wei Yuan suddenly thought of a problem: while Taichu Palace claimed that all military rations and pay would be provided by the local government, they had simultaneously issued each person three boxes of supplies, stipulating that they must carry them to their designated defense zone and not abandon them en route. It seemed the higher-ups had foreseen what they would encounter.

When Fang Hetong saw the three boxes of military supplies, his hands trembled. He grabbed Wei Yuan's arms and exclaimed repeatedly, "A timely help! A timely help!"

As he spoke, the man in his fifties' eyes reddened, and a few tears involuntarily fell.

Wei Yuan quickly comforted him and then helped Fang Hetong sit down. Fang Hetong wiped away his tears with his sleeve and sighed, "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Junior Brother. These past few months have been too difficult."

After calming himself down a bit, Fang Hetong asked hesitantly, "I know these are all military rations and shouldn't be used for other purposes. But these brothers outside have been fighting for months without receiving a single penny of rations or pay, and some of their families have already lost elderly members to starvation. If possible, could we share some with their families?"

"Of course!" Wei Yuan agreed without hesitation.

Fang Hetong suddenly stood up, bowed deeply to Wei Yuan, and said, "On behalf of the villagers, I thank Brother Wei!" His body trembled, and he wanted to kneel down.

Wei Yuan quickly helped him up and comforted him repeatedly, finally managing to calm the man in his late thirties down.

(End of this chapter)