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

Originally, Chu Hanchuan and the others looked quite grim when they heard that Zhao Daxuan would have priority in making their choices.

But when they saw that Zhao Daxuan didn't specifically choose strong and capable soldiers, but instead wanted even some oddballs, their expressions gradually improved, and they even found it somewhat amusing.

Chu Hanchuan looked at Zhao Daxuan with a strange expression. He had also heard of the scarred man from earlier.

He was a soldier who had just enlisted this year, but thanks to his bravery, he killed two bandits during a bandit suppression operation, which led to his promotion to platoon leader.

The fact that Zhao Daxuan didn't want such an excellent soldier made him wonder if he had placed too much importance on Zhao Daxuan when he first listed him as a competitor!

Chu Hanchuan turned around and whispered instructions to the two captains behind him.

"Remember this, you guys, bring that scarred guy over first. We can't let such a good prospect slip away!"

Seeing his two subordinate captains nod repeatedly, Chu Hanchuan turned to Zhao Daxuan to select soldiers with satisfaction, as if watching a play.

Zhao Daxuan has relaxed the requirements as much as possible. Even if you are not strong now, as long as you have a good character and potential, you will definitely succeed in the future with the help of the skill [Extreme Refinement and Life Breathing].

After all, how could someone with poor physical fitness be worse than the Han Chinese from the North he brought back from the North?

You should know that for the past ten years, they have been starving and freezing, and their bodies have suffered from countless hidden ailments.

However, those who could join the city guard were mostly soldiers who were physically fit, even if they were not particularly strong.

Perhaps Zhao Daxuan was an exception among the city guards.

That's why his name became widely known in the city guards, and he was ridiculed from the day he enlisted.

Although Zhao Daxuan had tried his best to lower the requirements, after going around the room, he could only barely select a thousand people. He just couldn't bring himself to do anything about the rest.

His bottom line is "better to have none than to have bad ones," otherwise bringing these people back would only spoil the whole pot.

After completing the lap, Zhao Daxuan returned to Yue Zhenyuan and sighed softly.

"General, I have finished selecting, barely enough for a thousand men. I don't need the rest."

Yue Zhenyuan looked at Zhao Daxuan with a strange expression. Although he didn't understand, he didn't choose to stop him.

He believed that Zhao Daxuan must have his reasons for making this choice.

Nodding slightly, Yue Zhenyuan looked at the captains on the other side.

"You should thank Commandant Zhao properly; he gave you five hundred soldiers."

The captains pursed their lips, offering no thanks, but simply cupped their hands in a respectful gesture towards Zhao Daxuan.

Yue Zhenyuan didn't mind; he had just said it casually.

"Alright, alright, it's your turn to choose. The rest of you will have to rely on your own abilities. Whether you can find good soldiers depends on your own skills."

With a wave of their hands, several captains sent their men scattering, pulling the soldiers they had their eyes on behind them.

Chu Hanchuan's two captains rushed to the scarred soldier, grabbed his hand, and were about to take him away.

Unexpectedly, Scarface's other hand was grabbed by the other captains' men, and in an instant, several captains' men argued heatedly because of Scarface.

Zhao Daxuan looked at the scene before him with a look of relief.

Fortunately, he recently acquired the skill "Insight," otherwise he probably would have taken that scarred man away.

It may not seem like a big deal normally, but in a critical moment it could become a knife stuck in your back.

Zhao Daxuan didn't want to watch how the other captains chose their men anymore. Instead, he walked to Yue Zhenyuan's side. He had another matter that he needed Yue Zhenyuan's support for.

"General, there is one more thing that requires your support."

Yue Zhenyuan looked at Zhao Daxuan with a puzzled expression.

"What is it?"

"That's right. There are tens of thousands of refugees outside the city. If we send them back to their hometowns directly, they will definitely not be able to survive. But staying around Zhenbei City is even worse; they will become a hidden danger sooner or later."

"Could the government of Zhenbei City and wealthy households in the city contribute some money and grain to help these refugees? This would be a good opportunity to use work relief to allow them to build some military facilities around Zhenbei City."

Yue Zhenyuan smiled and looked at Zhao Daxuan.

"They're all setting their sights on me now. Looks like they'll have to make me bleed a little, right?"

Zhao Daxuan chuckled and waved his hands repeatedly.

"No, no, it's mainly because the general is compassionate and kind to the people. How could we simply send them back to where they were in this situation? Wouldn't that be harming them? I believe you wouldn't do such a thing, General!"

Zhao Daxuan's words placed Yue Zhenyuan on a moral high ground. Yue Zhenyuan smiled and nodded, but then gave a soft snort.

Although he knew Zhao Daxuan was flattering him, Yue Zhenyuan still appreciated it.

"Stop flattering us. The Zhenbei City government can provide food, but not much. At most, it will only prevent a large number of refugees outside the city from dying."

"The bulk of the funding still needs to come from the city's wealthy merchants, but let me make this clear: if you want to deal with this mess, you'll have to come up with the funding yourself."

Yue Zhenyuan said in a calm tone, "Those who can establish themselves in Zhenbei City and become wealthy merchants are all cunning and shrewd, with complicated backgrounds."

Yue Zhenyuan had considered taking action against them before, but each time he went to their door, he was met with a cold shoulder and they always managed to fob him off in different ways.

With his straightforward mind, he's only good at leading troops; he's not good at scheming against those unscrupulous merchants.

Zhao Daxuan smiled and nodded upon hearing this. How could a few wealthy businessmen with some background possibly withstand the attacks of his men?

So what if the background is complicated? He doesn't buy into that, and he's not afraid of any demons or monsters.

"General, if you agree, I'll take care of the rest!"

Yue Zhenyuan looked at Zhao Daxuan with amusement, preparing to see how he would handle the situation.

Zhao Daxuan bid farewell to Yue Zhenyuan without a care and left. He was going to take his thousand men to the camp outside the city, which was now his main base.

He first led his men to the quartermaster camp to collect a month's worth of rations and other supplies for the thousand men, and then left the city in a grand procession.

The thousand men followed Zhao Daxuan out of the city, their faces filled with anticipation. They were looking forward to joining the Wangbei Camp, as if they could see themselves fighting on the battlefield, making meritorious contributions, and being promoted and ennobled.

They had already heard yesterday that the men of Wangbei Camp had brought back two thousand heads and registered a large number of battle merits, enough to promote hundreds of people.

In the past, having them stationed outside the city would have filled them with fear, but following Zhao Daxuan out of the city filled them with anticipation.

When they arrived at the camp outside the city, they found it in complete chaos.

At a porridge distribution tent outside the camp, a group of refugees crowded together, constantly pushing forward.

Amidst the crowd, someone kept shouting, "Hurry up and grab it, or there won't be anything left!"