A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

Zhao Daxuan reached out and shrugged, and the noise in the arena gradually quieted down.

Zhao Daxuan then walked to the wooden box containing the silver ingots, picked up two of them, and tapped them together, producing a loud clanging sound.

"Grain isn't worth much, but this pile of silver is enough to get you through the winter, and might even allow you to settle down and build a home in Zhenbei City!"

"These silver ingots are my resettlement allowance for those who successfully registered. It's not much, but it's still fifty taels per person!"

As he spoke, he casually tossed aside the silver ingot in his hand, picked up a heavy long saber next to him, and swung it around casually, the sound of the long saber cutting through the air echoing through the sky.

"And this weapon is far superior to that of ordinary city guards, almost ten times more valuable! While it might not be able to cut through iron like mud, ordinary armor wouldn't withstand a single strike!"

"If you're my soldier, I'll make sure you have better weapons than others, and I'll never treat everyone's lives like a game. Plus, there's heavy chainmail; that will significantly increase your safety!"

Although they didn't understand what the safety factor was, they could guess that being Zhao Daxuan's soldier would definitely be safer.

The burly man and Old Chen were among the first to gather, so they stood in the first row.

Seeing that Zhao Daxuan actually showed them so much silver and grain, they immediately made up their minds.

Old Chen and the others exchanged glances, and were about to step forward to respond when a figure darted out from the corner of their eyes. They looked over and recognized it as A Liang, who had been busy with the southward migration team recently.

Ah Liang ran to the front of the group, knelt on one knee, and looked up at Zhao Daxuan with a serious expression.

"Sir, I'm willing to join the army! To be your soldier, even without all these perks, I'd be willing!"

Zhao Daxuan laughed and stepped forward to help A Liang up.

"Brother Liang, what courage you have! You've only been married a short time! Is your wife really willing to let you join the army?"

Ah Liang had a resolute expression on his face. After hearing Zhao Daxuan's question, he answered without hesitation, clearly having thought about it many times beforehand.

"Reporting to you, sir, I have already spoken to Juan. If I die in battle, she can remarry, or she can stay married. In any case, you will not mistreat her."

Zhao Daxuan's expression turned serious, and he spoke in a deep voice, "Although I cannot guarantee that all of you will survive, I can guarantee that you will have no worries about the future!"

After saying that, he looked up again at the dense crowd in front of him, and his voice once again resounded throughout the venue.

"I hereby promise everyone that I, Zhao Daxuan, will take care of the families of all those who died in battle!"

Upon hearing this, the entire audience fell silent at first, then erupted in loud cheers.

Although they had heard Ah Liang and the others mention it last night, hearing it from Zhao Daxuan's mouth now gave everyone a different feeling.

At this moment, those who had previously hesitated made their decisions in their hearts, turned around to find their families, and prepared to tell them their decisions.

Those who had already made arrangements with their families pushed their way forward one by one.

The burly man and Old Chen and the others did not hesitate any longer. They stepped forward, knelt on one knee like Ah Liang, and spoke in unison.

"Sir, we are also willing to join the army and serve as your soldiers!"

Zhao Daxuan was both amused and exasperated. He helped the group up one by one, then looked at everyone present and pointed to Li Erlong and the others standing to the side.

"You don't need to go through all that with me. If you want to sign up, just come over to these people and form five lines to register!"

"Anyone who meets the requirements for military service can be selected; I will recruit as many people as are eligible!"

"Those who successfully register will immediately receive their money, rations, and weapons on the spot!"

With a whoosh, dozens of men immediately squeezed out from the crowd and ran to Li Erlong and his companions, forming a long queue.

Zhao Daxuan approached Li Erlong and the others. "Erlong, you're in charge of registration. Also, find a few more people for simple medical checkups. Anyone who doesn't have any major problems can stay."

Zhao Daxuan wasn't afraid of those who signed up being physically weak; he was only afraid that no one would sign up. Most Han Chinese in the north suffered from long-term malnutrition and were not physically strong.

But with his skills, this problem should soon be solved.

Li Erlong and the others nodded in agreement, found a few people to help, then took out pen and ink, laid the paper directly on the wooden box, and began to register.

So Zhao Daxuan's team sprang into action, with some in charge of physical examinations, some of registration, and some of distributing money, food, and weapons.

Zhao Daxuan observed that each of the five teams had nearly thirty members, and new figures were constantly emerging from the crowd to join the ranks.

He couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. Most of the Han Chinese who migrated back from the north this time were children and young men and women in their prime.

Therefore, it is quite good that nearly two hundred people joined the army, which means that most of the eligible men signed up.

Afterwards, the person who successfully registered tightly clutched the five silver ingots in his arms with one hand, while carrying a large bag of white rice in the other.

Looking at the heavy horse-slaying sword and heavy shield in front of him, he tried to lift them, but found he was too weak to do so.

Zhao Daxuan smiled helplessly when he saw this.

"Go back and settle your belongings first, then come back to assemble. Time is of the essence; we must train quickly and develop combat capability."

After nodding awkwardly in agreement, the group quickly returned to their temporary homes, put down the food, but kept the silver ingots in their pockets before returning to the assembly point.

Nowadays, with so many people around, they dare not leave their belongings in such an unsecured place. If they lose them, they'll have nowhere to turn for help.

While Li Erlong and others were registering to join the army, Zhao Daxuan also arranged for a group to receive food.

The original villagers of Wangbei Village were all elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, and were unable to enlist in the army. Therefore, they could only receive three days' worth of food.

Fortunately, they did not leave in too much of a hurry and had relatively sufficient surplus food, so they were not as destitute as the Han people in the north.

Just as the military registration process at the Wangbei Village camp was proceeding smoothly, another team slowly arrived from Wangbei Town.

Looking up, Zhao Daxuan saw a colossal object growing larger and larger in his eyes. He smiled slightly and knew that Li Shishi and the others had arrived.

Sure enough, a moment later, the group stopped outside the Wangbei Village camp. At the head of the group were the Li Shishi sisters, and the enormous machine was a steam engine.

"My lord, we're here. This steam engine is huge. It took us a lot of effort to get it over here, and it's already this late."

Li Weiwei stepped forward and shook Zhao Daxuan's hand affectionately.

Zhao Daxuan smiled and said, "I know you've all worked hard. I'll treat you to a good meal tonight."

Li Weiwei blushed, bit her red lips, and glared at Zhao Daxuan.

Zhao Daxuan laughed and said, "Alright, it's getting late. You two sisters should hurry up and arrange the installation of the steam engine and the mechanical barricades."

"By the way, I plan to build the defensive perimeter of this camp to accommodate 5,000 people, so you need to plan the defensive line to be about 3,000 meters long."

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi frowned slightly. "Husband, we don't have enough materials for a 3,000-meter defensive line!"

"It's alright, let's arrange it this way for now. Have the Hundred Refinements Workshop expedite the forging of the remaining materials."

Upon hearing this, Li Shishi and her sister didn't say anything more, simply nodded in agreement, and began directing their men to arrange related matters.

After Li Shishi and her sister turned and left to arrange related matters, Zhao Daxuan looked around Zhenbei City with a solemn expression.

At this time, many local villagers carrying large and small bags gradually settled down around the town of Zhenbei.

If he wasn't mistaken, these villagers were relocated here by the city guards to prevent them from being defeated one by one by the Tartars and to obtain supplies.

They were scattered around Zhenbei City, with no protection whatsoever. When the Tartar army arrived, they would be the first to be attacked.

Therefore, Zhao Daxuan had just asked Li Shishi and the others to expand the defense line in preparation for accepting some refugees.

Of course, he would never accept it unconditionally; he was aware of that much.