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

"By military order, effective immediately, Jiankang City is under military control. All residents within the city must abide by wartime control regulations. Those who disobey will be dealt with according to military law."

"Apart from the designated time, stay at home all other times unless there are special circumstances that need to be reported in advance."

"In addition, a curfew will be imposed throughout the city. After 8 p.m., all street activities will be prohibited except for public areas such as clinics."

As the great battle approached, the Chu army also issued wartime decrees within Jiankang City.

It was thought that the appointment of officers would cause panic among the city's residents, but to everyone's surprise, they cooperated very well.

"Sir, you must fight well, fight those Tartars hard!"

"Sir, we will do whatever you ask, but please, under no circumstances, let the Tartars invade again!"

"Sir, do you need any help? I'm strong enough to help you with chores. I may not know how to do other things, but I can still cook and do laundry for you."

Faced with this scene, Lü Meng was filled with mixed emotions.

In the past few months, the Chu State laws have been implemented in Jiankang City, and the atmosphere of the hundreds of thousands of people in the city has been completely renewed.

Even the military officials who were temporarily assigned to assist in managing the city's security had to admit that the Chu army was strict in its laws and regulations, unlike the barbaric garrison troops.

Meanwhile, the people in the city also felt a sense of relaxation they had never experienced before during Shen Lang's time in charge of Jiankang.

The sale of children is forbidden within the city, and the slave trade is strictly prohibited. Free military doctors are available to treat the people, and no one's private property is violated. In their spare time, they even teach the children in the city to read and write.

With the implementation of a series of measures, the people of Jiankang accepted the rule of the Chu army for the first time from the bottom of their hearts.

In truth, Shen Lang didn't feel that he was particularly good to the people of Jiankang City; it was only because of the contrast with the Wu Zhao government office that he felt he was so good.

If Shen Lang were to impose a curfew and military control in a city in the Chu Kingdom, the first thing he would probably have to do is use both carrot and stick tactics to calm down the impulsive civilians who might storm the military camp to demand an explanation.

After all, the national conditions are different. In the Chu Kingdom, the process of urbanization of the people had already reached a critical point since the previous few monarchs who went abroad. Shen Lang simply transformed it in time and successfully combined it with the citizen-military obligation.

The purpose of this was to prevent a situation where the atomized social structure within the Great Wall at the end of the Ming Dynasty was too high, but the central government completely lost control over the local grassroots due to various factors such as the political environment and natural disasters, and was unable to implement the transformation in time.

This led to the complete collapse of the Ming Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The Shun Dynasty also failed in its struggle against the horse demon, and the horse demon finally reaped the benefits, plunging the main ethnic group into a dark age of more than two hundred years of decline.

The current Jiankang City is actually a highly atomized civil society. However, Wu Zhaoguo's transformation of them was combined with slavery, which turned them into cattle and horses being kept in captivity, suffering unspeakable misery.

The arrival of the Chu army allowed them to regain their human dignity, and they were like saviors, winning the strong support of the people of Jiankang.

Shen Lang sat atop the city wall, watching the bustling scenes throughout the city, an apple in his hand, lost in thought.

"uncle."

Just then, a girl of about seven or eight years old walked up to him, opened her hand, and offered him a boiled egg.

Shen Lang smiled slightly and made a hugging gesture.

The little girl wasn't shy at all and sat directly in Shen Lang's lap.

"Little girl, what are you doing here? Aren't you afraid of falling from such a height? Why don't you go home?"

"My mother asked me to give Uncle an egg. Uncle, please eat it quickly. The chickens I raise at home have laid a lot of eggs these past few days. Before, the chickens at home couldn't even get bran to eat, but now life is getting better and better."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lang was deeply moved. He had been completely shocked when he first entered Health City.

Logically speaking, Jiankang is a major tax-collecting area in the south. The people there should at least be able to make a living, if not live a life of great wealth.

However, when Shen Lang entered the city, he couldn't find many healthy-looking people. He didn't need to look closely; just by looking at their expressions, he could tell that they were starving.

Since coming to this world, Shen Lang has witnessed many human tragedies, but those only occurred when natural disasters occurred and the central government lost its administrative control.

However, it can be confirmed that there have been no major natural disasters in the Southern Zhili region in recent years. Moreover, the area is crisscrossed by waterways, all of which are naturally formed, so it can be said that the water resources are very abundant. It is also the starting point of the Wuzhao Canal, so there is no way that there would be a shortage of food.

It was only after inquiring that I learned that the local officials had set up dozens of miscellaneous taxes and various levies, all of which were collected ninety-nine years later. It would be a miracle if the people didn't starve.

Therefore, after occupying Jiankang, Shen Lang did not follow his previous tactics of firing a shot and then moving on, but decided to stay and confront the Wu Zhao court.

During this period, he took advantage of the winter season to have the grain seed graduate students accompanying the army teach local farmers advanced farming techniques, create many farming tools, and collect all the official granaries in various parts of Southern Zhili and put them into the market according to a fixed quota every day.

After all that, the people of Jiankang City finally had the most abundant food they had ever eaten in their entire lives.

Following the Chu army meant having enough to eat and fewer rules. As long as you followed the law and didn't break the law, life would be good, so naturally everyone was willing to support the Chu army.

"Uncle, my dad said there's going to be another war here?"

"Who is your father?"

As soon as Shen Lang finished speaking, a county magistrate from Wuzhao Kingdom rushed to the city wall in a hurry.

Seeing her daughter being held in Shen Lang's arms, she was so startled that she slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Ying'er, what are you doing? Come here right now!"

Ying'er turned around and looked at Shen Lang, saying, "Uncle, this is my father."

"Qin Changhua?"

Shen Lang recognized the county magistrate at a glance.

Qin Changhua was a rigid and pedantic man, but he was also exceptionally upright and honest. He was an incorruptible official who lived a very frugal life, relying entirely on the annual salary of thirty-eight taels of silver from the imperial court.

It is worth mentioning that he was the first person to call on all the people in the city to commit suicide after the Chu army entered the city, forcing the Chu army to withdraw from the city.

Fortunately, the people weren't stupid and completely ignored the madman's words.

After the Chu army took over Jiankang, Qin Changhua initially tried every day to die in order to be loyal to the Wu Zhao Kingdom.

But as time went on, he discovered that the Chu army had good discipline, and his mind began to change. He became willing to respond to Shen Lang and others' call to assist in maintaining order.

However, he always claimed that it was for the safety of the people in the city, and that he was still an official of Wuzhao Kingdom, with only His Majesty in his eyes.

Neither Lü Meng nor Jiang Qin paid any attention to his actions.

Shen Lang wants a peaceful region. As long as you don't cause trouble or hinder the war with Wu Zhao, you can do whatever you want.

Qin Changhua snatched Ying'er away and said to Shen Lang, "Lord Duke, don't you know there's a difference between men and women? How can you..."

Shen Lang interrupted him directly: "Magistrate Qin, I advise you not to think of me as so despicable. If I were to really target you..."

Do you think Jiankang City will ever be as peaceful as it is now? She's so young, what are you worried about?

Qin Changhua was speechless for a moment, realizing that what he had just said had gone too far.

After all, Shen Lang's character is truly impeccable.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, I was too presumptuous. I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, he picked up his daughter and quickly left.

"His pedantry is beyond compare."

Watching his retreating figure, Shen Lang took a bite of the apple.