Chapter 113
Chapter 113
“Valley Master, the squads have been organized. There are ten squads of one hundred young and able-bodied men each, for a total of one thousand. Three hundred and eighty-three people remain.”
Ye Qi reported the results directly to Xiao Che.
Xiao Che nodded.
“Squads Nine and Ten will move every body in Blackwind Fort to the southeastern corner of the inn and burn them.”
Ye Shiwu and Ye Shiliu immediately led their men into action. Hundreds of bodies lay scattered everywhere, stretching from outside Blackwind Fort all the way to the western side courtyard.
Ye Shiwu’s men first carried every corpse out of the main hall and deposited them in the southeastern corner.
The hall finally opened up.
Xiao Che looked at the three hundred or so people standing by the back door. Like stray cats no one wanted, they appeared helpless. Most were women and children.
Xiao Che pointed at the first woman who had chosen to follow him.
“What is your name?”
The woman lowered her head and stepped forward. “This common woman is Li Chunhua.”
Xiao Che nodded. “Select fifty capable women and form a squad. You will serve as its captain. Go choose your people.”
The woman stared in surprise, then nodded excitedly. “Yes, Valley Master.”
She was merely a village woman. She had never imagined she might one day become an officer with fifty people under her command. Not even in her dreams had she expected such a day.
Li Chunhua was efficient. She had traveled with these refugees all the way here and knew them to some extent.
She quickly selected fifty single or capable people for her squad.
From those remaining, Xiao Che chose several women who appeared hardworking and honest and had them form smaller squads of their own.
These groups included both men and women. With fifty people to a squad, they formed seven in total, leaving just over thirty children.
All these children belonged to families among the refugees. Orphans with no parents could never have survived until now.
After asking who their parents were, Xiao Che placed the children under Ye Qi’s command so he could teach them skills and train them each day.
Whether boy or girl, every child would learn from Ye Qi.
Their parents could not thank Xiao Che enough.
They had never dared imagine that their children might one day learn from someone so powerful.
The snow disaster had destroyed their homes, killed their loved ones, and forced them into a life of wandering, but it had also brought them a new opportunity.
Once Xiao Che had assigned everyone a place, everything became orderly.
The squads led by women were also numbered: Auxiliary Squad One, Auxiliary Squad Two, and so on.
“Captain of Auxiliary Squad One, take your people and clean the main hall.”
Li Chunhua still felt as though she were dreaming. The moment Xiao Che assigned her a task, she sprang into action.
She was somewhat unaccustomed to the role at first, but after the entire squad worked together once, she began throwing herself into her duties as captain with growing enthusiasm.
Xiao Che sent Auxiliary Squad Two to the kitchen to clean it from top to bottom.
One orderly command after another passed from Xiao Che to the squad captains, who led their members in carrying them out.
By dawn, Blackwind Fort looked completely transformed.
The main hall was neat and clean, and the damaged stairway had been repaired. Between the second and third floors and the eastern and western side courtyards, there was enough room to house more than a thousand people.
Xiao Che placed a table in the center of the main hall to serve as a council chamber.
A mountain of supplies lay piled in the middle of the hall.
They were goods that had belonged to the traveling merchants and armed escorts who died unjustly at the inn, but merchandise was not all the group had acquired.
Ye Qi’s men had also searched the bodies thoroughly and collected more than ten thousand taels of silver in total.
Xiao Che ordered everything sorted into categories and moved to the western side courtyard where he lived.
Their greatest gain was the grain escorted by the government troops.
There were ten full wagonloads.
Xiao Che guessed that it had been destined for Jinshi Town. The town possessed a gold mine, after all. Even if the imperial court ignored it, the people of Bei’an City might not.
That was why grain and fodder still arrived on schedule.
Xiao Che had originally planned to raid Jinshi Town for grain. Now that someone had delivered it to his doorstep and allowed him to obtain ten wagonloads effortlessly, there was no need to risk traveling there for the moment. But he was determined to take Jinshi Town’s gold mine.
Since he had decided to help Jin Bao claim the throne, the more wealth they possessed, the better. War devoured money. Even two gold mines might not be enough.
The refugees had ruined some of the ten wagonloads of grain, but after gathering the remainder, they still had about nine.
Xiao Che ordered the auxiliary squad captains to lead people into the kitchen and cook. They were to make as much of the grain as possible into flatbreads or rice balls, which would be easy to carry and could satisfy hunger at any time.
But this grain was nowhere near enough, and he also needed a large supply of seeds.
Xiao Che turned his attention to the refugees, who came from every part of the Northern Frontier.
The region was vast, and Xiao Che knew little about it. To quickly understand its layout, he needed their descriptions so he could draw a simple map.
The moment he issued the order, many refugees from different places came forward.
Based on their accounts, Xiao Che sketched a rough map.
It depicted the land north of Bei’an City.
Xiao Che marked several county seats and towns as important locations.
According to the refugees, each place was heavily guarded by at least a thousand soldiers.
But these county seats and towns were neither strategic passes nor fortresses. Why station so many troops there?
The Northern Frontier had no vassal prince, and no one was likely to target it for the time being. Leaving so many soldiers in such places was a terrible waste.
The only explanation was that they were protecting something. The refugees’ accounts supported that theory.
Some had fled from villages governed by those towns. They said that during years of favorable weather, grain storehouses had been built with funding from local gentry.
Yet now, amid a snow disaster, no one had opened those storehouses to distribute grain.
Something unnatural always concealed a scheme. Someone was deliberately controlling the food supply.
Xiao Che tapped the map several times as a bold plan took shape in his mind.
He had originally intended to lead everyone in raiding official courier stations along their route. Now, it seemed he had better targets.
Picking up a brush, Xiao Che drew a circle around the nearest town.
“Ye Qi, Ye Ba, your two squads will take shifts on guard duty during the day. Everyone else will eat and then rest immediately. We act at dusk.”
Ye Qi’s and Ye Ba’s eyes lit up. The Valley Master was finally going to make a move. They immediately accepted the order and left to arrange the defenses.
The refugees had worn thin clothes when they fled their homes. Merely surviving the road without freezing to death had been a miracle.
Xiao Che distributed the clothing removed from the soldiers and armed escorts, along with some of the furs they had collected, to the people standing guard. Keeping them warm came first.
After receiving the clothes, the people became even more grateful and swore to follow Xiao Che to the death.
They would support whoever filled their stomachs and kept them warm.
The fires in the kitchen never went out. Pot after pot of flatbreads, steamed buns, coarse-grain buns, and rice balls was carried into the main hall.
Xiao Che first let everyone eat their fill. Each person received two white-flour buns with a bowl of mixed-grain porridge. Once the extra food cooled, it was packed into grain sacks and loaded onto the wagons.
When Xiao Che entered the western side courtyard, an older woman was sitting on the heated brick bed watching over Jin Bao.
Xiao Che had personally selected her from among the refugees to care for the girl.
The moment the woman saw him enter, she hurriedly rose and bowed. “Valley Master, the Young Miss is still asleep.”
Xiao Che nodded. “Aunt Ma, this is your share of the food. Go eat, then rest. No one needs to watch her for now.”
Aunt Ma received the food with both hands, tears shimmering in her eyes. Her entire family was gone, and she had believed she would soon die as well. She had never imagined receiving such good fortune.
“Thank you, Valley Master.”
Clutching the food, Aunt Ma slowly shuffled from the room.
The instant Aunt Ma left, Jin Bao rolled over and sat up.
“Daddy, people are coming. They brought seeds, including potatoes Baby likes. Can Daddy trade with them? Baby wants to eat potatoes.”
In her previous life, Jin Bao had loved rice mixed with mashed potatoes more than anything, as well as french fries. She had eaten french fries only once, but their flavor had lingered in her mind across two lifetimes.