Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Forty miles away from Jingshang Village, in a quarry, thousands of convicts wearing shackles and handcuffs are working hard on heavy tasks.

"Hurry up and get to work, you bunch of idiots who only know how to waste food."

Sitting under the eaves of a low building, the one-eyed overseer, holding a paper fan, cursed the group of convicts.

The foreman's name was Yagyu Maru, who claimed to be a servant of the cousin of the sword saint Yagyu Samurai, and thus came from an extremely noble background.

Class disparities also exist within Yunshang State, and the situation is far more severe than in Chu State.

The powerful families of Chu held sway over the government, but during the eight hundred years of the state's existence, there were a total of 124 local uprisings, twelve of which involved more than 10,000 people.

Although these uprisings were eventually suppressed, each suppression meant that powerful families had to make certain concessions on some "principled" issues.

Essentially, it was because the peasants refused to accept endless exploitation and had no choice but to rise up in resistance.

However, the situation in the Cloud Kingdom is different. The status of aristocratic families has even led to class stratification. People at the bottom believe that being exploited and oppressed by the upper class is a matter of course. Resistance is destined to have no good outcome. If they really can't accept it, they can just find a more human-like upper class to continue to be exploited.

The common people of Yunshang Kingdom have a deep-seated reverence for power and strength. Even a servant from a prestigious family is not someone these miners can look down upon.

Moreover, these miners are warriors from various defeated vassal states of the Cloud Kingdom. The victorious side can easily take them as their spoils of war and then wait for their families to redeem them.

If a samurai's family goes bankrupt or cannot pay the exorbitant ransom, he can only work as a laborer in the mines or on the estates of landowners until he dies.

In any case, the only thing the Cloud Kingdom has in abundance besides volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis is people.

Especially the poor.

"Get to work! Don't slack off! If you don't do a good job today, don't even think about eating!"

Yagyu Maru swaggered around, shouting insults at the busy crowd.

Just then, a servant with bare legs, dressed in coarse linen clothes, approached Yagyu Maru.

"Lord Yagyu, Ryuji Inoue has something to discuss with you."

Upon hearing this, Yagyu Maru poured the half-finished cold water from his bowl onto the ground, saying with a look of disgust, "What is this idiot doing here again?"

He's definitely planning to ask me for money again. I told him he still owes me two taels and seven mace of silver, and there's absolutely no way he'd lend me any more.

The servant hurriedly took out a paper fan and fanned Yagyu Maru while saying, "Lord Yagyu, you should go and see for yourself."

Ryuji was accompanied by several brightly dressed people; judging from their appearance, they seemed to be important figures from Edo. It wouldn't be good to offend them.

"What, a big shot from Edo?"

Upon hearing this, Yagyu Maru immediately stood up.

"Take me to see it quickly."

"Hi Yi!"

……

Outside the quarry, Inoue Ryuji, along with Shen Lang, Jin Zizai, and twenty soldiers, walked for nearly two hours before arriving at the location.

“Duke Zhenguo, we can definitely recruit enough people here, as long as you can afford the money.”

Shen Lang ignored Inoue Ryuji and instead looked at the group of ragged, foul-smelling mine thugs in front of him, who were squatting on the ground with knives on their shoulders, looking at him and his group with fearful eyes.

Before long, Yagyu Maru rushed out of the mine in a great hurry.

Upon seeing Shen Lang and his group, his heart tightened, and he quickly approached Inoue Ryuji and whispered, "What are these adults doing here?"

Inoue Ryuji tried his best to explain using his understanding: "This gentleman comes from a country overseas called Da Chu, and is a prominent nobleman."

Now that they're planning to hire a group of men to fight in the Great Chu, I remembered you have many men under your command. So I brought him here to see you.”

Upon hearing this, Yagyu Maru immediately walked timidly to Shen Lang's side and bowed 90 degrees to him.

"Sir, are you looking to buy someone?"

Shen Lang cut to the chase: "Are the people here all afraid of dying?"

Upon hearing this, Yagyu Maru immediately replied, "Reporting to my lord, those who work here are not human, but slaves. Slaves have no right to utter the word 'fear.' If their master wants them to die, then they have no choice but to die."

"It is indeed a fine tradition."

After feigning a sigh, Shen Lang said seriously, "Your name is Yagyu Maru, right?"

Hi.

Yagyu Maru immediately responded.

"Reporting to your lord, I am Yagyu Maru, and I am from the Yagyu family..."

How much do you sell your slaves for?

Before Yagyu Maru could finish speaking, Shen Lang interrupted him.

"May I ask how many slaves you wish to purchase, sir?"

"The more the better, they must be healthy and able-bodied, and they must all be young and strong."

"Sir, you are joking. The people working here are all young and strong. As long as they are over fifty and can no longer work, we will send them to the mountains to pass away peacefully."

"Sitting in meditation?"

Shen Lang frowned slightly.

Jin Zizai, standing to the side, immediately explained, "Please forgive us, Duke Zhenguo; the so-called 'passing away in meditation' is just their rhetoric."

Actually, they were afraid the elderly would waste food, so they sent them to the mountains to fend for themselves. This was the common practice among poor families in the Cloud Kingdom.

Shen Lang nodded thoughtfully, then said to Yagyu Maru, "Take me to see those slaves."

“Sir, you are such a precious person, how could you set foot in such a filthy place? Please come and rest at my humble abode. I will personally select two hundred strong and healthy men for you later.”

"Two hundred people?"

Jin Zizai mocked Shen Lang before he could speak.

"Our Duke Zhenguo needs two thousand men!"

"What? Two thousand people!"

When Yagyu Maru heard this number, he was immediately stunned.

Seeing his surprised expression, Jin Zizai immediately seized the opportunity to intimidate him, launching into a barrage of sarcastic remarks: "A remote and impoverished place..."

"You've clearly never seen anything like this. Two thousand men are nothing in the eyes of our Duke Zhenguo; in other countries, a single war involves at least one hundred thousand people!"

Upon hearing this, Yagyu Maru was greatly alarmed.

A war involving 100,000 people?

I doubt even the General has this many men under his command!

At this moment, Shen Lang spoke up: "Alright, let's do it your way. Let's pick two hundred people to take a look first. Since we've come all this way, we can't leave empty-handed."

Yagyu Maru: "Yes, sir! Please come to my humble abode to rest for a while. I will have someone prepare a meal..."

"No need, we brought our own food, so you don't need to worry about it. Just provide us with some firewood so we can cook for ourselves."

"Yes, sir, I will do so immediately."

Yagyu Maru couldn't help but sigh inwardly: This lord is truly wealthy and powerful, even bringing his own cook and meals when he goes out. Is this the spirit of nobility? It's unimaginable.

Therefore, he decided to put in his best effort to satisfy this great man from the superior country, hoping that his future life trajectory would be changed because of him.