In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"Brother Hei, come with me, and you'll understand everything!"

Shen An brought Hei Lao Liu home, picked up the crossbow from the corner of the wall, and fired two arrows at the wooden stake in the yard.

The crossbow bolt easily pierced the stake, and Blackie's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

He had seen the Western barbarians attack Beixian from behind the city wall, and thought he was worldly-wise. But this thing that could fire continuously was something he had never seen before.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Shen, you really have something more powerful than them! If everyone had one of these, wouldn't those bastards be riddled with bullets?"

Shen An put the crossbow back on the table and shook his head: "This alone is not enough."

The armor of the Western barbarians isn't so easily broken; we'll need to make larger ones to be truly effective.

Blackie squinted and looked Shen An up and down again.

Previously, in his eyes, Shen An was a young man who was somewhat intelligent but afraid of the government.

But the words he just spoke revealed a completely different side of him; his ambition was so strong that he couldn't suppress it, as if he had finally waited for the right moment to speak.

This person has been faking it all along.

He grinned: "Brother Shen, you've kept this from me for a long time."

Shen An smiled and said, "Brother Hei, I didn't mean to hide it from you. I didn't say anything before because the time wasn't right."

Now that the time has come, it's only natural to speak.

He paused for a moment, then looked directly at Blackie Liu: "I wonder if Brother Blackie is now willing to join me in fighting those Western barbarians in the future, and take control of Qingyang County as a result?"

Blackie lowered his eyes and looked at the crossbow on the table. His heart pounded harder and harder, and he wished he could make the decision on the spot.

Despite his rough exterior, he was shrewd at heart. Suppressing his impulse, he asked again, "Besides weapons, Brother Shen, do you have any other preparations? Fighting a war isn't just about equipment; what about money and provisions?"

"We have several thousand taels of money right now, and there will be more and more later. We don't have any food for the time being, but I do have a plan to get a lot of food." Shen An lowered his voice and whispered into Hei Lao Liu's ear.

After hearing this, Hei Laoliu's eyes lit up: "Brother Shen, you're really something. If this plan succeeds, we won't have to worry about food anymore."

Shen An took a half step back: "Then, Brother Hei, are you willing to cooperate?"

Old Hei stamped his foot: "You've planned everything so meticulously, what am I still thinking about! This time, I'm following Brother Shen!"

"Alright! I'll toast you."

Shen An poured two bowls of turbid wine, and the two clinked bowls together and drank them down.

Hei Lao Liu wiped his mouth and scratched the back of his head: "Brother Shen, the plan is good, but what use am I? I look no different from those corpse carriers."

Shen An patted him on the shoulder: "You can be a huge help. I need to make repeating crossbows, which will require a lot of wood, bones, and beef and deer tendons. You'll have to arrange all of that."

Brother Hei, you are the most crucial link in our team.

Blackie puffed out his chest, his confidence rising immediately: "Now that you mention it, I do think it's quite important."

Our Heishan Village is full of wood, bones, and we can even gather some beef and deer tendons.

However, since you're making weapons, why not try to get some iron?

Shen An shook his head: "Iron is a good thing, but the government is strictly controlling it now, and it's not available through ordinary channels. If you sharpen bones and use them as arrows, their power is not much less than that of iron."

Blackie Six suddenly realized and slapped his forehead: "No wonder you always talk about bones, so that's what they're used for!"

Brother Shen, you are truly learned.

"Wait a minute, do you have any bones ready at your mass grave? Get the brothers to dig them up!"

"It is indeed readily available," Shen An lowered his voice, "but there are quite a few people in the county government watching me, so I can't let them find out for now. We can only dig it up when the time is right. For now, I have to ask you, the most important person in the whole family, to handle this matter!"

Spurred on by these words, Blackie Six felt a surge of energy coursing through him, and he rubbed his hands together impatiently: "Then I'll go back and wait for my brother to return. We'll start fighting as soon as he gets here!"

"No rush, you've come all this way, I haven't even treated you to a welcome-back feast yet, let's drink until we drop!"

"Haha, good! Good!"

The drinking session lasted from noon until late afternoon, and Blackie couldn't take it anymore and snored as he lay on the table.

Shen An personally escorted him back to Heishan Village. When he saw that there were already people who had escaped back at the village entrance, he breathed a sigh of relief.

With these people around, we won't have to worry about materials.

He called a few people to help Hei Laoliu inside, then turned around and went back to the mass grave in Qingtian Village.

In the evening, Shen An gathered everyone under the shed and announced in public: "I will be going to the county tomorrow to take up my new post as head constable. From now on, Old Zhao will take over as the head of the mass grave."

As soon as he finished speaking, the corpse carriers all widened their eyes in surprise.

No one expected Shen An to become the head constable.

Just a month ago, he was huddled among the corpses like them, being bossed around by Wang, but in the blink of an eye, he has risen to the position of head constable.

But soon after, many people showed signs of worry.

Now that Shen An is gone, will he still be able to keep his wages and benefits?

Shen An immediately added, "Everything will remain the same. Now that I'm the head constable, I'll only make things better for you than before. I won't move you to the county seat; you'll stay here as always."

In fact, he knew very well that the position of constable that Magistrate Zhu Shigui had given him was just a figurehead position to make him take the fall, and he wouldn't be on duty at the county office for long.

After a few words, the gloom on the faces of the corpse carriers finally dissipated, and they went back to continue burying corpses and collecting hair from the dead.

As night fell, Shen An, as usual, counted the dead people's hair collected that day.

While the others were away, he told Shen Xiaoqi and Dugu Meng about the Western Barbarians' intention to attack and his decision to stay and defend Qingyang County to resist them.

Shen Xiaoqi was incredibly excited, practicing military boxing and shouting that he wanted to fight them.

Dugu Meng stood there stunned. When she heard that the Western Barbarians were going to attack, she thought Shen An was going to flee, but he chose to stay and fight back.

Shen An deeply shocked her.

She felt lucky that the Great Liang Kingdom had someone like Shen An, and that she could meet him.

Resisting the Western Barbarians is difficult, but she will join forces with Shen An and share life and death!

If she wins in the future, when she returns to the court, she will definitely give Shen An an important position and let him sweep away the chaos in the court for her.

"Shen An, whether you live or die, I will be with you," Dugu Meng said, each word distinct.

Shen An's reaction was indifferent: "That's enough."

"Let's take stock of the dead people's hair. Money is of paramount importance if we want to organize an army to fight against the Western Barbarians."

There are now more than 150 corpse carriers. Corpses are transported here from the county every day, and after counting, it was found that more than 800 jin (400 kg) are transported here every day.

Shen Xiaoqi was very excited. Dugu Meng knew that the situation was different now, and she needed to help Shen An as much as possible.

She carefully analyzed the current situation and then stepped forward to remind him: "Shen An, the corpses in the mass graves come from starving and infected civilians and soldiers who died in the warlord battles."

Now that the Western Barbarian Kingdom has pressed on to Yangnan Prefecture, the nearby warlords, feeling the pinch, have temporarily halted their operations.

Fewer and fewer people will die in the future, making it difficult to maintain the current profits.

Why don't you ask Liu Wenyuan if he has any connections in Qiangbei County to collect some hair from there? At the very least, you should try to collect hair from living people.

Shen An had already considered this matter yesterday: "Liu Wenyuan might have some connections in Qiangbei County. I'll go and ask him tomorrow."

Collecting hair from a living person is harder than climbing to heaven.

Within the territory of Daliang, people consider their bodies and hair to be gifts from their parents, and cutting off their hair is like taking their lives.

"If we want to make any moves in this area, we'll have to wait until we actually have control."

The next morning, Shen An entered the Qingyang County government office and met County Magistrate Zhu Shigui and Registrar Qian Guangzhi for the first time.

Just as he had expected, Zhu Shigui praised him on the surface for his handsome appearance and promising future, but then turned around and made him continue doing his old job, even giving him a three-month adaptation period so that he would be more competent once he was more familiar with the job.

That kind of talk wouldn't even fool a ghost.

Shen An was not annoyed.

The title of head constable carries weight; even without real power, it makes things much easier to get things done.

Instead of staying in the county to serve, they freed up their resources to develop manpower and build up their assets.

As for Liu Wenyuan's suggestion to confiscate Ma Tianming's property, Zhu Shigui readily approved it and ordered it to be done today.

After leaving the back room, Liu Wenyuan led Shen An toward the third shift's cell.

As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, a group of constables surrounded him, with Zhang Meng leading the way.

Shen An's heart instantly turned cold.

Before he was killed, Ma Tianming said that he was instigated by Zhang Meng. Since Ma Tianming was about to die, it seems that what he said was true.

That bastard Zhang Meng, he has to be killed too.

Unexpectedly, before he could even cause trouble for Zhang Meng, this guy took the initiative to attack him.

Zhang Meng bared his teeth and roared at Shen An, spitting as he yelled, "Damn it, you're the one who stole my head constable position?!"

He took a step forward, his nose almost touching Shen An's face, "You'd better get back to Grandfather right now and explain yourself, give up this position, or I'll make you crawl out of here today."