The God of War Who Protects the Nation: Starting with Saving a Mother and Daughter in Distress

Seeing that Han Quan was not there, Qin An asked directly, "Your Excellency, where is Constable Han?"

Magistrate He's smile froze for a moment, then he sighed, "Alas, Centurion Qin probably doesn't know yet, does he? Han Quan... he's also been conscripted into the recruit camp."

Qin An was taken aback, not understanding why this had happened.

As the chief constable, Han Quan has accumulated quite a bit of wealth over the years. If he were willing to spend money, he should be able to avoid being conscripted.

"Let's not talk about that!" Magistrate He quickly changed the subject. "The new recruits have all assembled, a total of eight hundred, and they're waiting at the drill ground outside the city. If it's convenient for Centurion Qin, shall we go and hand over the duties now?"

"Okay." Qin An nodded. He just wanted to finish his business quickly and then go home to visit his family.

Arriving at the drill ground outside the city, Qin An saw more than eight hundred new recruits standing there.

They were all emaciated and dressed in rags, holding either rusty knives or sharpened wooden sticks, looking utterly incapable of fighting.

"This is... a new recruit?" Wang Hu couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

Magistrate He wasn't embarrassed; he simply said, "Centurion Qin, there's really no other way. The county's able-bodied men are almost all gone, and many of them were drawn from the interior..."

Qin An frowned but didn't say anything more.

He had already learned some things about the situation before this.

Although the situation at the front is very good, there are too many casualties and desertions, and the front needs to be constantly replenished with troops.

The rear was constantly drawing soldiers to replenish the ranks of new recruits.

Xingye County, as a border county, is also responsible for receiving a lot of soldiers.

But Magistrate He certainly won't do his best.

It's already quite an achievement to be able to gather so many people.

He asked Wang Hu to count the number of people and complete the handover procedures, while he walked to the front of the new recruits and glanced at the fearful and uneasy faces.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on a familiar figure—it was Han Quan.

Qin An felt a pang of sadness and stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder: "Brother Han."

Han Quan suddenly looked up and saw that it was Qin An; his eyes instantly reddened.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he only sighed: "Brother Xian... Brother Qin, you've come."

Qin An simply nodded, not in a hurry to say anything more.

The handover procedures were completed quickly. Qin An had Wang Hu lead the cavalry squad and new recruits to camp outside the city, while he himself went home with Han Quan.

"I'm all alone at home. I sent my wife and the kids back to her parents' house. There's nothing to offer them!" Han Quan said, opening the door. His voice was a little hoarse.

As he spoke, he pulled a wine jar from under the bed and poured two bowls of wine: "Come on, Brother Qin, try this. This is old wine that I've been storing for several years. I originally planned to wait until the children grew up before drinking it, but now it seems I won't be able to wait that long."

Qin An picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

The liquor was very strong, and it made his throat hurt.

"Brother Han, why...?"

Qin An had many questions in his mind: How did Han Quan suddenly become one of the new recruits?

"Brother Qin, I'm suffering!" Han Quan didn't intend to hide it and took a big gulp of wine.

He explained with a wry smile, "I didn't want to join the army back then because I thought I wouldn't be drafted. But now it seems I was wrong, terribly wrong."

Qin An looked at him, puzzled.

He hadn't forgotten that Han Quan had once said that the practice of conscripting men could be avoided if one was willing to spend money to bribe officials.

The Han family was wealthy, and as the chief constable, it was relatively easy for him to smooth things over.

This kind of thing shouldn't happen to him at all.

How could Han Quan not understand what Qin An was thinking?

"Do you know how many times the county has conscripted men since you left home?"

Qin An shook his head; he really didn't know much about it!

"Including your group, that's five times! A full five times!" Han Quan gestured with his hand. "It's been less than half a year since the war started, and there have already been five times, that's about once a month!"

Upon hearing this, Qin An was also taken aback.

After five rounds of sedation, are there still any able-bodied men left in Xingye County?

Han Quan was clearly extremely aggrieved. Before Qin An could speak, he poured out his grievances: "I've seen through it all. If this great battle continues, it will only become more and more frequent in the future. No one can escape it!"

"I've spent a lot of money on bribes in the past few times, but what about now? I'll be drained dry sooner or later. I think there's no escaping it; I'll have to go to the battlefield sooner or later!"

"Since we're destined to go to the battlefield anyway, why waste money?"

Qin An listened quietly, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

He knew that Han Quan was not a coward who feared death; he just wanted to live a peaceful life.

In this chaotic world, the word "peace and stability" is such a luxury.

He didn't know what to say, so he simply comforted him, "Brother Han, the situation isn't as bad as you think. Unlike the previous two eastern expeditions, the situation on the front lines is much better this time. We might even win!"

This wasn't entirely a word of comfort.

Even though he was only in the logistics department, Qin An knew far more about the war than the average person.

The first two eastern expeditions were indeed unsuccessful for Daxing, resulting in heavy losses of soldiers and generals and a severe blow to its vitality.

But the same was true in Baekje.

The difference is that Daehung has a much richer cultural heritage than Baekje.

The third Eastern Expedition, which everyone was not optimistic about, actually had a chance of success.

However, Han Quan showed no joy upon hearing Qin An's words.

"Even if we win, so what?" Han Quan's voice lowered even further. "Do you know how outrageously the price of rice in the city has risen? Many people can't afford to eat, and countless have starved to death. A few days ago, it's said that some refugees from across the country rioted, and as a result, they were all slaughtered by the government troops..."

Perhaps it was the alcohol taking effect, or perhaps he simply had to get it off his chest, but Han Quan looked at Qin An and said, "Brother Qin, I have a feeling that things are about to get chaotic back home!"

"The emperor is focused on the eastern expedition, disregarding the lives of the people, and is also undertaking large-scale construction projects, which is exhausting and wasteful. If this continues, we will fall into chaos before the Baekje people even attack us."

When Han Quan saw that Qin An came to find him as soon as he returned, he knew that Qin An was a kind and loyal person who never forgot the source of his blessings.

He still trusted Qin An quite a bit, even uttering such treasonous words.

Qin An's heart sank.

He had also heard some rumors at the front lines, saying that there were many internal conflicts in the court, and that some ministers who opposed the eastern expedition were demoted by the emperor.

But he never expected that the situation in the rear would be so dire.

According to Han Quan, the world is probably really going to be in turmoil.

But it was too early for all that, and Qin An didn't want to talk about it anymore. He just patted Han Quan on the shoulder and said, "Brother Han, don't think about it too much. With your abilities, you'll definitely make something of yourself."

Despite Qin An's words of comfort, Han Quan was far from optimistic.

He took another sip of his drink, his eyes becoming somewhat unfocused, and said with deep regret, "To be honest, I really regret it now. If I had joined the army with you back then, I might be a squad leader now."

"Now, it's probably too late. Once the opportunity is missed, it's gone forever. Even if I went to the battlefield now, I would just be a greenhorn, and I might be gone any day."