The Republic of China: A Letter of Appointment Creates the Most Powerful Warlord

"Thank you, Marshal!" Fang Yu's voice trembled slightly, with a hint of uncontrollable sobs. His broad and powerful palms tightly grasped Zhang Ye's hands, as if he wanted to convey the gratitude and guilt in his heart in this way.

Ever since the thrilling train station bombing, Fang Yu has been lying alone in a hospital bed. Whenever it is late at night and everyone is asleep, he can't help but recall every detail of what happened before and after the incident.

He often wondered to himself that the Marshal had neither sent a stern telegram to hold him accountable nor inquired about his recovery from his injuries. Could it be that this incident had made the Marshal completely disappointed in him?

Whenever he thought of this, Fang Yu felt an endless wave of sadness and self-blame in his heart. He felt that he had failed the Marshal's trust and expectations, and was even more ashamed of the innocent people who were unfortunately injured or killed in the explosion.

If he had been more cautious and meticulous at the time, and assigned more manpower to carry out the safety inspection task seriously, perhaps such a serious and low-level mistake could have been completely avoided!

However, it was too late to say these things now, and Fang Yu could only regret it over and over again in his heart.

At this moment, Zhang Ye seemed to see through Fang Yu's thoughts. He laughed softly, and then comforted him in a gentle tone: "Don't think too much. I know what you are thinking about, but there is really no need to put so much psychological pressure on yourself. Since things have happened, what we have to do is to learn lessons from it, sum up the experience, and never make the same mistake again in the future!" After saying this, Zhang Ye patted Fang Yu's shoulder gently to show encouragement.

Hearing the Marshal's considerate words, Fang Yu's eyes instantly turned red.

But he quickly suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, nodded vigorously, and said, "Thank you, Marshal, for your magnanimity in not holding this mistake against me. Fang Yu swears here that I will do my utmost to assist you for the rest of my life! Even if it means sacrificing my life, I will have no regrets!"

"Haha, you're my right-hand man, not a beast of burden, much less a slave." Zhang Ye stood up and walked to the end of the bed, glancing at his pale face again. "Rest assured, and put work aside for now. I'll take care of the rest!"

After saying that, Zhang Ye turned around and left with a group of security personnel.

Fang Yu stared at his receding figure in a daze until the figure completely disappeared from his sight. Then the boy came to his senses, looked at the nutritional supplements piled in the corner, and laughed unconsciously.

The Marshal did not blame him, nor did he give up on him.

This may be the best news I have heard in the past month!

……

Zhang Ye left the hospital and walked slowly with heavy steps. He did not get on the special car as usual, but dismissed the security personnel around him and walked towards the office.

This protracted war has lasted for a long time, and innocent people have been dragged into it, suffering torture and turmoil.

Due to the tight situation on the front line, many factories had to temporarily change their production orders to meet wartime needs.

However, this change caused strong dissatisfaction among the workers.

They believe that this will significantly reduce their income and their quality of life.

Faced with such a situation, Zhang Ye was filled with guilt and often fell into deep self-blame.

Although he cares about the people, he is just a mortal after all, not an omnipotent god.

To him, it was simply a fantasy to create all kinds of supplies urgently needed by nearly one million people out of thin air.

What's more, at the same time, the severe floods in Zhijiang area are ruthlessly swallowing up a large amount of precious relief supplies every day.

The only public opinion points he has seem insignificant and almost negligible in the face of such huge demand.

Just the money spent on exchanging for rescue equipment had already used up most of his limited resources.

Next, there are a series of arduous tasks waiting for him to complete, including the proper resettlement of the affected people, drainage and dredging of the river, and repair and reconstruction of the damaged dam.

Each project required a huge investment of money, and the cost was astronomical, far beyond what he could afford personally.

In such a difficult situation, Zhang Ye had no choice but to mobilize the power of the people in the three provinces of East Shandong, hoping that through concerted efforts, they could fill this huge gap and maintain the current shaky situation.

"Pancakes, freshly-out-of-the-pan pancakes, so fragrant and crispy!"

When he walked to the street, the hawking sounds on the roadside attracted Zhang Ye's attention.

At this time, an old man was squatting in front of the stall, fiddling with the fire with great effort. Due to his age, he could hardly bend down, so he could only use the stove hook in his hand to clean the firewood residue in the stove bit by bit.

Seeing this, Zhang Ye stopped and stepped forward to ask.

"Old man, how much are the pancakes?"

"One big piece for ten." The old man, hunched over, wiped his hands on his apron and pointed at the green onions and corn porridge on the stall. "Prices have gone up now. Buy ten pancakes and you can have as much green onions and porridge as you want."

"Okay, let's have ten." Zhang Ye nodded slightly, turned around and sat down at the simple wooden table at the back.

To be honest, he still prefers to eat at street stalls, but he is too busy with work on weekdays, so it is not easy to find an opportunity.

"Please wait a moment, I'll serve you right away!" Seeing that the customers had come, the old man no longer bothered to fiddle with the stove. Instead, he walked to the table with heavy steps, lifted the white cloth, and counted the pancakes that had been made.

It was not an easy day for him. Although he was no longer bullied as often as before, there had been wars in other provinces recently, causing the price of food in Donglu Province to rise sharply. The people were short of money, and life was not easy for small vendors like them.

"Uncle, how much can you sell in a day now?"

Zhang Ye took the corn porridge brought by Lu Shan, looked at the clear soup in the bowl without a few floating particles, and his heart sank suddenly.

"No, no one's eating out now, and food is expensive. I can't make much money all day."

The old man moved closer with the plate, and brought over a dozen clean green onions, sighing.

"There are wars everywhere now, and life is hard for ordinary people. Just being alive is enough."

"Is there anyone else at home?" Zhang Ye picked up a scallion and imitated the way the locals eat it. He wiped the water droplets off the scallion under his armpit, then rolled it into the pancake very skillfully and started eating it in big mouthfuls.

pat...

The old man sat on the stone bench opposite, took out his pipe and kept striking the flint, interrupting to respond: "There is an old woman whose two sons died in the war a few years ago, leaving behind three children, only seven or eight years old."

pat...

Mentioning the sad things, the old man felt even more depressed. He struck the flint several times but there was no sign of lighting it.

Zhang Ye took out his cigarettes and matches and handed them over.

"Master, take mine."

"Oh, that won't do." The old man looked at his cigarettes and quickly waved his hand to refuse: "That box of cigarettes from you can buy all the cigarettes in my stall."

"Haha, cigarettes and alcohol go hand in hand. Take this and smoke." Zhang Ye stood up and stuffed the cigarette box into his hand.

Only when he got closer did he realize that the old man's hands were very rough, like a piece of dry bark, covered with grooves and cracks.