Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Huaduo walked in front with a lantern, his ears pricked up secretly, eavesdropping on the two people's conversation.

The commander was heard saying to her master, "You finally remembered that you still have soldiers under your command. You don't miss them, but they miss you every day."

Hua Duo's mouth twitched slightly when he heard this.

The master is so busy all day that it is understandable that he forgets about those people.

She can protect her master by herself, and the county soldiers are just icing on the cake.

As he was thinking, he heard his master's voice: "You told me not to worry about it at the beginning and just check the results. Now it's been over a month, I wonder how the results are?"

Yiqun paused slightly and shook his head when he thought of those guys.

"Not yet. They have both the strength and the brains, but they're just too aggressive. The male and female soldiers don't like each other, so they'll just start fighting if they're put together. Bloodshed is common."

Shen Zheng's eyes were filled with surprise. "How can we see blood?"

This wasn't a battlefield, so how could they fight with real weapons? If they couldn't control a group of people, how could they control her?

After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Why do they dislike each other? And where did you recruit those female soldiers?"

The three of them turned a corner and walked slowly along the edge of the pond. The lotus leaves formed a dark green silhouette in the night, and the bitter lotus fragrance spread in the night.

Yiqun paused for a moment and motioned Shen Zheng to walk on the inside while he walked along the edge of the pond.

After the two of them changed positions, he said, "Those female soldiers have a close relationship with the Yulin Guard."

"Yulin Guards...?"

Shen Zheng lowered her head to avoid the drooping branches, her expression complicated.

As far as she knew, the Yulin Guards were the imperial guards, and the selection requirements were extremely strict. Their "family background" and "family tradition" were both hard standards for selection.

To sum it up in one sentence, it is "family background first, ability second, loyalty as the bottom line."

The earliest group of Yulin Guards of the Great Zhou were called "Yulin Orphans".

The term "orphan" was not meant to be derogatory. Rather, these soldiers were selected from the sons of military officers who died in battle, raised and trained by the imperial court, and inherently carried the gene of loyalty that "father's death is followed by son's inheritance."

In Shen Zheng's view, the imperial court's actions were like plundering the sheep of a tribe. However, the "sheep" themselves were probably also happy about this, after all, they and their tribe had made a qualitative leap in their food and clothing.

Later, as the Zhou Dynasty had fewer wars, the number of orphans of military officers naturally decreased.

As the Yulin orphans lacked follow-up strength, the Yulin Guard gradually evolved into a training ground for children of aristocrats, commonly known as "gilding."

The identities of the children of nobles and the orphans of soldiers were somewhat separated, so the Yulin Army had two commanders, the left and the right. The left guard of the Yulin Army was in charge of the group, and most of the soldiers under his command were orphans of soldiers, or people with good family backgrounds and superior martial arts.

Shen Zheng had a guess in his mind.

"So the female soldiers you selected...are the orphans of previous warriors, or the descendants of orphans?"

"That's right." Yi Qun's face showed regret. "They come from similar backgrounds to You Fu and the others. Their fathers died on the battlefield, but because they are girls, they can't be selected into the Imperial Guard. I felt long ago that the court was unfair to them. Their fathers also sacrificed their lives for the country, but the boys can obtain official positions and serve the court, but the girls can only take a sum of money and go home to live a secluded life. This is unfair."

This is indeed very unfair.

Not to mention the imperial court, this kind of atmosphere is even worse among the people.

If a father dies and leaves behind a son, the neighbors will feel bad: "The burden of the family has been handed over to this boy. This cruel father just left without saying goodbye and didn't even stay to help!"

If a girl is left behind, the neighbors will say bad things: "Oh my, there is no one to carry on the family line. There is no one to carry on the family line. The family line will end in this generation! If there are any relatives who can adopt a boy, please adopt a boy and continue the family line!"

Bah, what's the deal with incense or not? Is a baby born by a son called incense, and a baby born by a daughter called fragrance?

That doesn't make sense, but that's how the girl was disliked.

Shen Zheng admired Yi Qun's broad-mindedness, but at the same time, she was afraid that she could not shoulder the heavy responsibility.

"Soldier orphans, both men and women, are worthy of respect. I'm afraid they'll follow me... and suffer injustice."

"Feeling wronged?" Walking around the Chuihua Gate, Yi Qun suddenly laughed in the darkness. "You don't know how they jumped up and down when I showed up. They couldn't wait to pack their bags and head to Tong'an County."

The scene he described appeared in front of Shen Zheng's eyes, and she couldn't help but squint her eyes.

Yi Qun added, "Some of them have brothers who died on the battlefield alongside their fathers, while others are left with only daughters in this generation. They are all strong-willed. Some have been practicing martial arts openly since childhood, while others have been practicing secretly. In their words, 'If the Emperor allows women to become civil servants, then there must be military commanders too. I'll just practice and wait.'"

Shen Zheng's eyes were slightly hot.

The war took away their fathers, but they still wanted to join the army, for themselves, for their families, and for the Great Zhou.

Who says women are inferior to men?

She had never met them before, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of closeness.

She would give them the sharpest weapons and the strongest armor.

Before they knew it, the three of them had reached the gate of the mansion. The gatekeeper brought a group of mounts. Shen Zheng suddenly realized, "You haven't explained why male and female soldiers dislike each other."

Yi Qun took the reins and said with a smile, "The reason is simple. The male soldiers feel that they have been in the army for many years and are superior to the female soldiers in terms of both ability and military discipline. They feel that having them guard you is enough."

"Where are the female soldiers?" Shen Zheng asked.

"Female soldiers don't want those stinky men around them." Yi Qun also felt that the male soldiers were a bit stinky. "They think they're strong enough to protect you. So if there's a disagreement, they'll fight. Some will win, some will lose, it's hard to say."

Shen Zheng started to worry before she even met the person.

"You need to teach them a lesson," she said seriously. "Men and women can disagree for many reasons, but it can't be just because of gender. The men in Tong'an County never discriminate against women. No, there may be some who look down on them, but no one dares to say it publicly. Please help me tell everyone that they can dislike each other for other reasons, whether it's competition or victory, I can tolerate it, but if anyone uses gender as an excuse, Tong'an County will not tolerate it."

The light flickered, and half of her face was hidden in the darkness. This was the first time that Yi Qun directly felt her sharpness.

He mounted his horse and straightened the reins. "I've got that in mind. I'll pass it on. Give me another month, and I'll make sure they're completely obedient."

The horse galloped away until it was swallowed by darkness.

Hua Duo stood there, still thinking about what Shen Zheng had just said, when she heard Shen Zheng ask her: "Hua Duo, is it difficult to learn horse riding?"

"Master, do you want to learn horseback riding?" She came back to her senses and thought, "It's not difficult to learn, but some horses are very aggressive and have bad tempers, and they like to take advantage of others."