Lv Hua felt that Yang Zhenshan was shameless.
His skill in speaking nonsense with eyes wide open definitely belonged to the first class.
"Let’s go, tomorrow morning I will arrange for someone to come over, and you just wait for further instructions!"
Yang Zhenshan left these words then departed.
And Lv Hua, watching his retreating figure, had a profound look in his eyes, with unknown thoughts within his heart.
A carriage arrived at the front gate of the small courtyard.
Ding Qiu got off the carriage and knocked on the courtyard gate, Wei Cen opened it.
"Marquis ordered me to escort you out of the city!" Ding Qiu said.
Wei Cen nodded, then he and Lv Hua quickly loaded the still unconscious Wang Zhongzhi into the carriage.
At this moment, besides Wang Zhongzhi, Lv Hua, and Wei Cen, there were no other people here.
Once the three of them were all in the carriage, Ding Qiu adjusted his felt hat and then drove the carriage towards the west city gate.
And after they left the city, they switched to an ox cart.
They also changed all their clothing into tattered garments.
"This is your new identity, refugees from Huai’an City, who encountered robbers on the road and got some injuries!"
"He is your dad, and you two are brothers!"
Ding Qiu handed the three identity tokens to them.
"Liu Ergou?" Lv Hua looked at the name on the wooden token, a hint of gloom flashing in his eyes.
"A lowly name should arouse no suspicion!" Ding Qiu explained.
Wei Cen took Liu Dagou’s wooden token, yes, he was the older brother, and Lv Hua was the younger brother.
The two brothers, one Dagou and the other Ergou!
"Is it appropriate for us to disguise as refugees?" Lv Hua asked.
"What’s inappropriate about it?" Ding Qiu was a bit puzzled.
Now in Chongshan Town, the most suitable identity for hiding is that of a refugee.
Eight hundred thousand refugees, scattered across thousands of villages, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack to find three people in this freezing winter without precise clues.
Compared to hiding in the bustling Chongshan Pass City, it’s obviously less exposed to stay in the villages of the Northern region.
And it’s simpler to operate.
Although after the winter started, the number of refugees who fled to Chongshan Town had decreased a lot, there would still be some, a hundred and ten today, a dozen tomorrow, continuously, anyway there are refugees every day.
Ding Qiu just needed to deliver Lv Hua and the others to the reception point, and the government officer there will naturally arrange a place for them to stay, without needing Yang Zhenshan to make special arrangements.
The only certainty was that they would suffer a bit.
But compared to saving their lives, what was this little suffering?
"Also, here’s a jug of wine, you all can drink first!"
"Once you have a place to live, I’ll send the herbs over to you!"
Ding Qiu handed an old water bag to Lv Hua.
"Hundred Herbs Brew?" Lv Hua opened it and sniffed.
The arrival of Wang Zhongzhi and Lv Hua made Yang Zhenshan worried, but he did not show it and let Ding Qiu escort them out of the city as usual, then he went to the General Mansion as usual.
"Marquis, this is the account book sent from the glass workshop!"
In the study of the General Mansion, Lu Wenhua placed a pile of account books in front of Yang Zhenshan.
Taking his tea leisurely, Yang Zhenshan then began to flip through the account books.
The income from the glass workshop this year was very substantial, the accounted silver amounted to four million taels.
Unfortunately, all the money has been used to purchase food, and currently, the General Mansion only has about several hundred thousand taels of silver left, and it still owes the moneylenders close to six million taels of silver.
That is to say, this year’s expenditures for Chongshan Town are a total of more than ten million taels of silver, precisely around thirteen million taels.
Besides purchasing food, there are a lot of other expenses, such as road construction, city building, military training, forging weapons, and so on, all of which require a substantial amount of silver.
"How is the construction of the new workshops going?" Yang Zhenshan casually asked as he flipped through the account book.
The glass workshop is still expanding its capacity, but the previous location inside North City couldn’t meet the needs for expansion, so Yang Zhenshan built a larger glass workshop outside the city.
The specific location is at Linguan Castle, roughly ten or so miles from Chongshan Pass.
The land at Linguan Castle is barren and really unsuitable for farming; initially, it was the sewing workshop built by Yang Zhenshan that allowed the military households there to survive.
Remembering past sentiments, Yang Zhenshan didn’t want the military households at Linguan Castle to continue suffering there, so he took the opportunity during the resettlement of refugees to relocate the military households from Linguan Castle to the Northern land.
They are still not far from Chongshan Pass, just about ten miles north of it, where the soil is much more fertile and closer to the dock of Chongshan Pass.
Their life there, at Linguan Castle, would be somewhat better.
"They have been built, and these days, craftsmen are busy firing kilns!" Lu Wenhua said.
Yang Zhenshan put away the account book and asked, "Has Ming Wu sent any messages back?"
"Not yet, but I expect he should be back in two or three days!" Lu Wenhua said.
Yang Mingwu is the Guerrilla General of the Five Camps’ Rear Camp, and a few months ago, he led the soldiers of the Rear Camp to Guanshan Pass to replace those from the Front Camp.
Now it’s the turn of the Left Camp’s soldiers to defend Guanshan Pass, so Yang Mingwu led the Rear Camp back to Chongshan Pass.
"You must be prepared, the journey is tough with ice and snow, don’t let the soldiers suffer upon their return!" Yang Zhenshan said.
The distance from Chongshan Pass to Guanshan Pass is over five hundred miles, and how much the soldiers suffer during winter marches goes without saying.
"Marquis, rest assured, this officer has managed everything well!" Lu Wenhua said with a smile.
As the steward of the General Mansion, Lu Wenhua’s ability to handle affairs goes without saying.
While Yang Zhenshan was handling official duties, on the official road south of Chongshan Pass, over a hundred cavalry were galloping.
This squadron of riders, all dressed in black outfits and draped in red-gold embroidered capes, rode fiercely, with a grand aura.
Leading them was a tall, thin man in a blue long robe with dragon embroidery.
They sped along the official road, continuously shouting at the pedestrians, even occasionally swinging horse whips at the people on the road.
The originally orderly queue at the city gate became chaotic due to their arrival.
Inside the city gate, the soldiers on duty immediately became vigilant.
Without needing any commands, the soldiers moved the barricades to the front of the gate and assumed a defensive posture.
"Halt, who goes there?"
A flag officer in iron armor stepped forward to ask, blocking the city gate.
Chongshan Pass serves as a frontier fortress town, and although its importance has declined, it remains the ultimate border fortress of Chongshan Town.
However, to develop the economy of Chongshan Pass, Yang Zhenshan has relaxed the inspections at the entrance to South City. Generally, pedestrians can enter the city without inspection, while carts carrying goods need to have their cargo checked before entry.
The city gate’s inspection is not strict, but a troop of fierce cavalry required the soldiers on duty to verify the riders’ identities.
The sound of horse hooves stopped in front of the gate, and the lean tall leader looked down at the flag officer blocking his path.
"We are on official duty for the Imperial Guard Department, stand aside!"
"Imperial Guard Department?" The flag officer was startled; as a mere flag officer, how could he know what the Imperial Guard Department was.
However, hearing the name, he also understood that this department was not trivial, especially since it included the word ’Imperial’.
"Sir, please wait a moment while I report this!"
Seeing the tall thin man before him and the formidable cavalry, the flag officer felt it was better to report the situation first, so he spoke very politely.
"No need, I will go directly to the General Mansion!" the tall thin man said displeasingly.
"Please understand, sir, without an order from the City Guard Bureau, even if you enter South City, you cannot enter North City!" the flag officer politely said.
The City Guard Bureau is responsible for the city’s defense, patrolling, and public security within Chongshan Pass City, managed by Song Dashan who also serves as the Commander of the City Guard Bureau, coordinating the rotation of the Five Camps into the city for duty.
Simply put, the City Guard Bureau is an office under the Five Camps.
Between South City and North City, apart from officials and soldiers who can pass through the city gate with an identity token, outsiders need an order from the City Guard Bureau to pass through.