Chapter 457 - Developed Ye

Zhang He and everyone returned to Xiangyang a few days later, along with the extra men. Upon returning to Xiangyang, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Cheng Pu, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and 2,000 mercenaries left the city by disguising as merchants, traveling via Henei-Xiangyang trade route.

Huang Zu caught wind about the escape a day later during a morning assembly. After a thorough investigation, he got so angry to the point that he punched his subordinates.

"Useless bastards! How did you allow them to leave!?"

"W-We didn't! We guarded the resident, but we didn't see anyone left the buildings!"

"THEN HOW THE FUCK DID THEY LEAVE!?"

"I-I don't know!"

*POEK*

Huang Zu punched his soldier again, knocking him out cold.

He turned to the other subordinates, "Dispatch a messenger! Send them to Jianye and inform Sun Ce that his family ran away!"

Because of the panicked, Huang Zu's voice was so loud that all officials in the assembly hall could hear it. They questioned Huang Zu's relation with Sun Ce's forces and whispered among themselves.

Then, one of them stepped forward.

"My lord, what is your connection with Sun Ce? Why do we have to inform them about the Sun Clan's movements?"

This was what everyone wanted to know. They looked at Huang Zu in doubt.

"Moron! They are our friendly neighbors! If we don't inform them now, what will happen if Wu Guotai or Sun Quan's dead body is found in our territory!? Do you want to instigate a war between our lord Liu Biao and the Sun Clan!? GO AND TELL THEM THAT THEY HAVE ESCAPED FROM THIS CITY, NOW!!"

It was a prepared excuse for this scenario in the case that he messed up. Huang Zu used it to cover his deep mole status.

The officials in the room believed in Huang Zu. They followed his instructions and dispatched a messenger to Sun Ce. Unfortunately, their action was unnecessary as Sun Ce had already learned about it via Zhu Zhi.

.

.

A month later,

On the outskirt of Ye City, the surroundings had transformed from empty lots into trading hubs, which was filled with stores, warehouses, inns, and stables of merchants.

Farmlands were also affected as Te Langpu converted the farms into commercial districts. Stone roads separated buildings into blocks while wooden buildings faced the streets, which was similar to a city arrangement of a metropolitan city in the modern world.

There were downsides on this arrangement as trees and greeneries became scarce, and it might suffocate a portion of local citizens. Fortunately, there was nothing that could create air pollution aside from bonfires.

A hundred meters away from the main road, a man-made canal with almost 200 meters wide directed flesh water from nearby rivers to Ye City and its surroundings, giving citizens a new source of water instead of gathering it from a well.

Rowboats carrying vegetables, fruits, and goods traveled along the transparent river. Some had a hard time traveling upstream, but they did not complain as it was their choice. Besides, rowing boats upstream was still more comfortable than going on the main road as too many merchant caravans occupied the road space. Traffic jams were frequent in most intersections.

People were like ants, squeezing through the crowd to move around. Some stood still and bartered with local vendors, becoming obstacles for the roadsides.

Averagely, 2 people filled one square meter on the main road, which was 20 meters wide.

*Piii*

A garrison soldier, Ye City's police officer, blew a wooden whistle as he waved his hands.

"Please stop and let the wagons go first! Watch the signboards!"

He pointed at another officer, who was waving a red flag, telling the crowd not to cross the main road at the moment.

The pedestrians stopped and watched the wooden wagons of a merchant company went by. After all of them crossed the intersection, the flag officer put down his red flag and waved a green flag.

*PiiPiiPii*

The whistle policeman waved his hands again.

"All wagons, stop and let the people cross the road! Watch the flag color!"

The wave of pedestrians moved along with the officer's signs. As citizens moved around on the outskirt of Ye City, they ran into this set of policemen controlling the traffic on every intersection.

.

Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu watched the chaotic outskirt with a bright smile.

"Ah, we're finally back," Huang Gai heaved a sigh of relief and laughed.

"I think the town has expanded again. Last time we were here, the road wasn't this packed."

"Right. See the canal? The water level wasn't this high, and that bridge wasn't even there. They must have constructed it recently," Han Dang pointed at a stone bridge, which formed another road, leading to the other side of the long canal. On the opposite side of the river, lines of wooden buildings could be seen.

Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and the 2,000 private soldiers gawked at the scene as they had never seen as a buzzing city before. Moreover, they had not seen Ye City wall yet!

"Is this Ye City? Where are the city walls? Have we passed through the city gate?"

Huang Gai laughed again, "The gate should be further away. We need two or three more days of traveling if we're going there via the merchant road or one day by the river. Well, we are soldiers, and we have the emperor's token. We can use the army road."

"Army road?"

"A road specially made for armies. They blocked all civilians from using it since it's for government's usage."

"Oh!"

Huang Gai led them through the crowd and reached another side of the district, west of the merchant hub district. Upon getting out of the zone, they were greeted with another wide stone road, but they were no one using it but patrolling police horsemen.

When the policemen noticed Huang Gai and others, they rode toward the crews.

"This road is reserved for military usage! Please go back and use the merchant route!"

Huang Gai fished out a golden token with Tong's name on it.

"I have permission from the emperor to use this road. Can you guide us to the city?"

"!!!"

The officers widened their eyes. They got down from their horses and saluted at Huang Gai's men.

"Forgive us for our rudeness, sir! We'll guide you to the city! Please follow us!"

"Thank you, soldier."

"You're welcome, sir!"

One of the patrol officers jumped on his horse and galloped back toward the city to inform Tong about the visitors. As for the rest, they escorted everyone toward the town, using the empty military road.

Zhang Zhao was still shocked by the development and the weird custom of Ye City. He looked at Huang Gai and began questioning non-stop.

"Why aren't there any farmland around the city?"

"Where do they procure food for the citizens?"

"How can they self-sustain with these many populations?"

"What is this city's income? Household taxes? Merchant tolls?"

"What attracts them to this city?"

"Why aren't there any slave or peasant? Are they all scholars or merchants?"

"If there is no slave, how do they get around with labor jobs?"

Han Dang and Cheng Pu laughed as they enjoyed seeing the troubled look of Huang Gai.

Seeing that Huang Gai did not understand or know the answers, Zhang Zhao turned to the leading policeman, "Can you answer my questions?"

"Err… Sure. Well, first … His Majesty declared that we will use the unique local product policy, so each city has a different layout and specialties. For example, Ye City is a commercial city, so this region will focus on developing warehouses, merchant districts, medium class residential areas, inns, and so on."

"But what about food? How do they procure food?"

"We just import them from agriculture cities, like Julu, Nanpi, or Ganling. These major cities are specialized in farmlands and agriculture, so all food production comes from here."

"But there won't be enough to sustain all these people! What about those cities' supply?"

"Ahaha, you don't have to worry about that. Every month, Henei will transport them here to restock our granary. Even if the granary is depleted, the prime consort will fill the granary with her immortal power. There is nothing to worry about."

"Huh?"

"Any more questions?"

"I do! Well…"

Zhang Zhao kept asking. Surprisingly, the policeman was patient enough to answer all Zhang Zhao questions one by one. Even Zhang Hong and the questioner was shocked that a lowly officer knew so much.

"Why do you know so much? Are you actually a scholar?"

"Ahaha, no. I'm just another ordinary policeman captain in this city. See my rank?"

He pointed at his shoulders, which had a star symbol attached to both of them, a sub-lieutenant rank, an advanced class of a graduated police officer from Ye Police Academy.

"Among most garrison soldiers, the patrols here are mostly my peers. All lower ranks are sent to manage the traffic in the merchant hub to gather experience dealing with people. For graduates like us, we are tasked to handle military affairs or official works like this, so we are knowledgeable somewhat."

"T-Then, how many people are there among your peers. I meant people that have the same ranks or higher ranks?"

"Eh… Every year, we have at least 10,000 to 20,000 graduated from our city, so averagely, there should be about 15,000 people with my rank a year if you count from only Ye City."

"Wait! There are more!?"

"Ah, yes. Julu also has academies, so there are also graduated officers from there. The number is a bit on the lower side since it's an agricultural city."

"…"

Zhang Zhao had goosebumps.

Normally, soldiers and scholars did not mix. Most scholars were bad at athletic activities, martial arts, or physical strength, unless they were born in a noble family. Vice versa, martial artists, strong men, laborers, or militias usually did not have educational backgrounds, so they were not suited to be a commander or a captain of an organization.

However, this young policeman showed that two of Tong's cities produced this kind of hybrid officers, who excelled in both fields annually. Moreover, there were not a hundred or a thousand, but over 15,000!

"I-I thought his Majesty's affiliate cities recruit 50,000 militias a year. S-So, there are only 15,000 elites like you a year. Am I right?"

The police laughed, "Ahaha, if you combined other academies in other cities, we indeed have over 50,000 graduates a year, but most of them chose not to pursue a military career since they just want to be able to read and write. For me, though, I had been studying for 2 years before I was sent to Red Hare Legion. Well, I got an arrow in the knee in a battle against Xiongnu in Liang Province, and I was sent back here to guard the city."

"…"

The face of Zhang Zhao twitched. This patrol soldier was a war veteran!

Had it been in Sun Ce's forces, this man would have been promoted as a 1,000-man officer at the very least! Yet, Tong put him as a 5-man captain of a city guard!

Zhang Zhao wanted to meet Tong now and scold him for misusing his subordinates, but he stopped himself.

Zhang Hong, who was listening to the conversation, also had a question.

"Are all guards here veterans like you?"

The police nodded, "Aye. Most legionnaire soldiers sometimes rotate to work as garrison soldiers because of their health issues or injuries. All rookies that get promoted from those hubs are sent to legions and replace the returned soldiers. Well, none of those legion soldiers want to come back here because of the pay, though. I still want to go back there if I could, but the competition is fierce these days. Unless I'm in the top shape, I won't stand a chance against the other soldiers."

"…"

Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao shut their mouths. From the tone, it seemed that more monsters lurked in Tong's forces to the point that this elite could not get a room for promotion.

"I'm getting scared, Zibu. What kind of soldiers Zhang Tong is rearing?" Zhang Hong muttered.

"I want to know, too," Zhang Zhao glanced at Huang Gai and the company, who was enjoying the culture shock reaction from the two Zhangs.

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