Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 125 Taking in
"Let them in." Liu Daogui ignored Liu Zun.

Since someone comes to you, they must be in trouble.

Meng Ganzhi led the man in. His hair was disheveled, his clothes were tattered, and his body was pitch black, with only four pairs of eyes that were white.

Even if Liu Daogui was a god, he wouldn't be able to recognize this look. "You two are..."

The two men lifted their hair and wiped the dirt off their faces. "Join the army, it's me, Wang Yi, Wang Zhongde!"

"It's you? How did you end up like this?" Liu Daogui felt helpless and amused. The two brothers had been so confident about going to Wang Gong, but after just a few months, they were reduced to beggars...

"We can discuss this later. Could you please get some... food? To be honest, my brother and I have been begging all the way from Jingkou and have been hungry for three days and two nights."

"Hurry, hurry, get some meat soup."

It was just dinner time, and Meng Ganzhi brought over two buckets of meat soup and rice. The two brothers' eyes lit up, and without caring about their appearance, they each held a bucket and started to wolf it down.

The way he ate looked like a starving ghost reincarnated.

But it is understandable. The two brothers are both tall and strong, and they have big appetites. They probably haven't had a full meal in the past few months.

"Go slower, be careful not to choke." Liu Daogui handed over two bowls of water.

The two brothers looked better after they had eaten their fill.

He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "In Bingzhou, if people of the same clan don't look after each other, they'll be laughed at by the world. I thought it was the same in Jiangzuo. Wang Gong and Wang Yu would take us in because of our clan ties, so we could have a family background and serve the court in the future. But we didn't expect that after we gave our names, we couldn't even get through the door and were kicked out..."

"Hahaha..." Liu Zun couldn't help but burst out laughing, "Those high-ranking people in Jiangzuo look down on others. They only care about family background, not clan!"

Liu Daogui glared at him and his smile stopped abruptly.

Laughing at other people's suffering is immoral.

In addition to the prejudice against family background, the bigger reason is that the Wang family of Taiyuan has been rich for so many years, how could they still recognize poor relatives from the north?
The two brothers are both from the north and warriors, and are at the bottom of the contempt chain.

Even if Wang Gong and Wang Yu accepted them, they would definitely be laughed at by other noble families.

"Alas, if I had known this would happen, I would have joined Zhai Wei. With my brother and I's abilities, we can carve out a niche for ourselves." Wang Yi looked depressed.

Wang Rui's face turned pale with rage. "How can a man like me risk our lives for the barbarians? I would rather starve to death!"

Wang Yi quickly bowed, "My words were out of place."

This kind of integrity is worthy of praise. Liu Daogui thought about it and realized that the two of them had no relatives or acquaintances in Jiangzuo, so he might as well help them.

"If you two have nowhere to go, why not stay at the Zhenglu Army Headquarters for a while? After some time, I will spend some money to buy you a place."

In fact, these two people are very much to Liu Daogui's liking.

He is a man of integrity and courage. His hometown is in the north. He has a blood feud with the Hu people. He fought all the way from Hebei to Huaibei. He is extremely brave and may become the emperor's right-hand man in the future.

In the past, my temple was too small to accommodate two people. Now that both of them are begging for food everywhere, I guess they don’t care about the size of the temple anymore...

The two men immediately stood up and knelt on one knee in front of Liu Daogui. "If you join the army and help us, you will be our benefactor. From now on, if you need us to do anything, we will go through fire and water without hesitation."

These two people were quite sensible and spoke passionately.

Liu Daogui quickly helped them up, "Why bother? I respect your integrity and loyalty. If you don't mind, we can be brothers from now on."

"Okay! We're brothers from now on!" The three pairs of hands clasped together tightly.

"And me." Liu Zun slapped him.

Liu Daogui asked Liu Zun to take them downstairs to wash, change into decent clothes, and rest for a few days to recover their health.

I felt a surge of emotion. These two brothers were truly outstanding heroes in the north, yet they dared to rebel against Murong Chui. Wang Gong and Wang Yu were truly short-sighted, letting such a person go...

As soon as he left the house, he was stopped by Zhao Liangzhi, Sun Zheng and several other old soldiers, who said hesitantly, "Join... join the army..."

Liu Daogui laughed and said, "Why, a grown man still being so timid?" "I'm ashamed... This year there have been continuous heavy rains and floods, and the fields have been completely destroyed..."

If he hadn't mentioned Liu Daogui, he would have almost forgotten about it.

Since the summer of this year, there have been continuous heavy rains, causing floods on both sides of the Yangtze River and destroying many fertile fields.

The soldiers' lives were already hard, as they relied on these fields to make a living all year round. If there was no harvest, the whole family would go hungry.

Guangling is not so bad. It is far away from the Yangtze River and Huai River, and the terrain is higher, so it is not greatly affected.

"No problem, I'll get some food over in a couple of days and distribute it to you all."

As a soldier in the middle class, I have direct contact with the soldiers and am responsible for their food and fodder logistics.

It is no small matter that the soldiers have no food, especially in this precarious time.

"I knew joining the army would be a solution!" Zhao Liangzhi burst into tears of gratitude.

"The general is a righteous man. Everyone in the military office knows this. He is the only one who cares about us." Sun Zheng also flattered him.

Liu Daogui hurried to find Yuan He.

Yuan He, however, was unconcerned. "Daozhe, you know that Lord Wang is gathering troops and hoarding food in Jingkou. The military headquarters has no more food. Besides, this matter is under the jurisdiction of Xun Changshi. You should go to him."

Liu Daogui felt uncomfortable when he thought of Xun Xinzhi's rolling eyes.

If you go to him, not only will you not get any food, but you will also be looked down upon by him.

Liu Daogui changed the subject, "Recently, two old friends of mine came to me. They are both loyal and courageous. I would like to find them a place to stay in the rear."

Yuan He simply stretched out a finger.

Last time, I got a Dubo for Mao Dezuo, which cost five hundred strings of cash, and Wang Rui and Wang Yi each spent one thousand strings of cash.

"One thousand is one thousand!" Liu Daogui admitted.

Unexpectedly, Yuan He shook his finger and said, "Daozhe misunderstood. It's one thousand strings per person!"

"What? Wasn't it 500 strings last time? How did it double?"

"The past was the past, the present is the present, and what is the present time? One thousand per person is definitely not a lot. If it weren't for the face of the Dao, who would dare to take this job?"

Yuan He’s explanation was very logical.

The war is about to begin. In recent days, many young men from poor families have joined the army, hoping to make a name for themselves and achieve success on the battlefield.

The price will naturally rise.

"Okay, two thousand is two thousand!" Liu Daogui looked depressed, but he knew that he was telling the truth. If it were someone else, they might not have this opportunity.

Yuan He's eyes flashed, "Now is the time to make great achievements. I have a vacancy for a deputy general. Is Dao Ze interested?"

Two divisions form a school, with 800 people, and a colonel is appointed. Two schools form a lieutenant, with 1,600 people, and a lieutenant general is appointed. Two lieutenants form an army, with 3,200 people, and a general is appointed.

Except for generals with titles like Liu Laozhi and Sun Wuzhong, the others were at the army level.

"How much money!" Liu Daogui's eyes immediately lit up. These days, military power is the real power.

If you can become a minor general, you are only one step away from becoming a general. If you make some achievements on the battlefield, you will get the title.

General Huncheng was considered to be the successor of the Liu family of Pengcheng and became a military family.

Yuan He stretched out his palm and shook his five fingers, "Fifty thousand strings of cash!"

Liu Daogui's smile froze on his face...

(End of this chapter)