Chapter 4 Situation

  On the second day, everyone bid farewell to the village and searched for it. After bidding farewell to the village, they received gifts from the villagers, which were all good intentions of the villagers, but Wu Zhong accepted them with difficulty.

  "General Wu Zhong, the army is actually so well-received by the villagers, it's really a testament to your excellent leadership!"

  Guan Hai knew that the only cavalry in Qinglin Town, which had camped overnight, had not committed any offense against the people. Now the villagers loved them so much, it made him extremely surprised. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that soldiers and civilians cannot be integrated, because soldiers have strong blood and power, and cannot integrate with villagers. However, Wu Zhong's military governance was surprisingly effective, which made Guan Hai look at him in a new light.

  "We are all disciples of the immortal master, our protection is the immortal's protection, and also the protection of all our disciples. How can we harm our own disciples? These disciples think that we are the messengers of the immortal master, this is how we treat them with such kindness! But I dare not take credit for it!"

  Wu Zhong hastily stopped his war horse, dismounted, and faced the direction of Qinglin Town with an extremely respectful expression, his eyes filled with a fervent color, clearly the most ardent believer.

  Wu Zhong did so, and the rest of the people naturally dismounted their horses. Guan Hai also didn't dare to sit on his horse, and naturally stopped in his tracks, watching Wu Zhong's performance with increasing fear in his eyes. He had a newfound respect for Zhang Xu's methods, which made him unknowingly feel that an invisible line in the air was even thicker than before.

  "Ah!"

  At this time, Zhang Xu also opened his eyes: "This person is truly surrendered now, but to be loyal to the master's death, it still needs to come day after tomorrow. However, for now, some people can also be entrusted, and there is no need to worry about betrayal!"

  Zhang Xu smiled slightly and felt the fragrance of incense and faith surrounding his head, and was slightly surprised.

  "These clouds are surging and seem to have grown stronger, with a tendency to transform, but I don't know what kind of reason it is. However, it seems that there's no harm to my cultivation!"

  A cultivator, already having a strong sense of intuition, this kind of intuition also exists in high-ranking martial generals, but it's not as powerful as Zhang Xu's. Although he is only in the middle stage of refining his essence and energy, his ability to sense fortune and misfortune is even more formidable than that of those top-notch great generals.

  At this time, the cloud of air on his head was rolling, although he didn't know what kind of reason it was. After all, this was a road he created himself, connecting the way of incense and the way of faith, which had never been done since ancient times. He was the only one who created it, so he was able to walk to this point by feeling the stones while crossing the river. This ability to sense good or bad fortune was a great achievement.

  The only thing that shook his confidence was the encounter with the great disaster that brought him to this late Han world. However, looking at it now, it may not be a bad thing after all. Although he had cultivated a unique incense faith in his previous life, where could he have such benefits as having 10,000 or 20,000 crazy believers, and such a foundation, as well as such a speed of cultivation? It seems that this is not necessarily a disaster, especially in the late law era of heaven and earth, where cultivation is an extremely difficult thing.

  The way of incense and fire worship may not necessarily go far in some places.

  "Since Guan Yu has submitted and there's no more problem, I now have a great general to launch a strong attack. It's time to expand the Imperial Guard!"

  Thinking so, Zhang Xu's mood became agitated. In this extremely cruel and war-torn world of the late Han Dynasty, the military was the best protective force. Now that he finally had a great general, Zhang Xu naturally couldn't wait any longer.

  "Boy!" he called out suddenly.

  "Master Xian!"

  Before long, it was Zhang Yao and another duty-bound child who walked in and came to the hall, where they knelt down on the ground, knocked their heads and responded with a "yes".

  "Yao'er, Liu'er, select ten children and send them to each of the large villages to notify them that each large village should prepare fifty militiamen, who will come to the town after the harvest."

  After some deliberation, Zhang Xu decided to expand his army by a thousand men. Although this would increase the burden on the civilians, he had worked diligently over the past two years to collect supplies and could afford it. With the harvest of grain, the gains would be substantial and could support the expansion.

  "Yes, Great Elder Xian!"

  The two children bowed respectfully and said.

  "Hmm, also notify all the officials, come tomorrow at this time for discussion!"

  After some thought, Zhang Xu said that this time Guan Hai's submission will mark the beginning of Zhang Xu's expansion. Although this Shangri-La is good, its development potential has been exhausted, and the arable land that can be opened up has reached its limit. Other matters also have limited development potential, so it's time to prepare for the next phase.

  "Immortal Master, we've been waiting for so long, let's go down now!"

  Two children waited for half a moment and saw that Zhang Xu had no further instructions, so they bowed their heads and said.

  "Go ahead!"

  With a slight wave of her sleeve, the children went down.

  "With 500 militiamen at my disposal, I now have a force of 1,000 men, enough to occupy a county town. Time is running out, and Cao Cao will sweep through Qingzhou in no more than a few years. Although this plan is somewhat risky, after so much planning and with General Guan Yu's assistance, it presents an opportunity for us to rise to greatness!"

  …………

  Can't help but say, Zhang Xu's ambition is extremely large, he not only wants to protect himself, in these two years, the acceleration of his cultivation speed, as well as the benefits brought by this incense faith, have given Zhang Xu, a self-taught genius, more ideas. He has a mind of his own, originally just for self-protection, but now it's different.

  Ten thousand two thousand followers, although it is not a big force in this era, gave Zhang Xu the confidence to grow his ambition, and gave him the capital to continue moving forward. These ten thousand two thousand people are Zhang Xu's followers, but also his courage. With these ten thousand two thousand people, he spent two years laying the foundation, fanatical and loyal followers. In his heart, it was no longer just about survival.

  This ancient world of the late Han Dynasty is even more magnificent than what Zhang Xu imagined. The dense heavenly energy makes the records in historical books not exaggerated statements by literati, but actual events. The power to defeat ten thousand enemies is not an empty boast, and the profound force borrowed from heaven and earth is not trivial.

  Zhang Xu, a cultivator of this level, yearns most for transcendence. He fervently studies the Taoist, Buddhist and other systems of faith, all in pursuit of becoming an immortal and seeking the Way. The title "Xian Shi" (Immortal Master) is a respectful term used by the common people; isn't it also his long-cherished wish?

  …………

  "With such grandeur, the immortal master is indeed no ordinary person!"

  On the second day, Guan Hai inspected ten large villages under Qinglin Town and after inspecting seven of them, he couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder. There were still three large villages that hadn't been inspected, but Guan Hai tactfully didn't mention them again. With his ability to lead an army on the scale of the Yellow Turbans, he could naturally see the layout of this place at a glance. The existence of these three villages must be extremely secretive and their importance was absolutely extraordinary, which was why Guan Hai was shocked in his heart. "Seven villages that cultivate 500,000 mu of land are still not as important as those remaining three villages. Just how powerful is Qinglin Town's true strength?"

  …………

  On the third day, early in the morning, ten village heads from the big villages and five town officials came. These fifteen people were the foundation of Zhang Xu's management of Qinglin Town. Cultivating these fifteen people had cost him a lot of thought, but fortunately, he had succeeded. Although they couldn't be considered great talents, they could handle the tasks assigned to them.

  "Master Xianshi invites everyone to enter!"

  Tongzi Zhang Yao and Zhang Liu walked out of the thatched cottage. Although they were just children, they did not fear the fifteen stewards who managed Qinglin Town's affairs, but instead stood tall with an air of authority, saying in clear voices.

  "Thank you, young man! Please lead the way!"

  Fifteen stewards, naturally did not dare to entrust greatly. These two young boys seemed to be just children, but they were actually close attendants of the immortal master and had received his teachings. Their future was bound to be extraordinary. At this moment, they spoke with smiling faces.

  "Please come in!"

  Although it was a thatched hut, after all, it was Zhang Xu's mansion, and it was built very spacious. The entire thatched hall could accommodate fifteen servants, plus two serving boys, and with Zhang Xu himself, it did not seem crowded at all, but rather gave people a sense of transparency.

  "Greetings, Master Xian!"

  Under the leadership of Tongzi, fifteen attendants, with respectful faces and eyes revealing a fanatical color.

  These fifteen men were not only assistants to Zhang Xu in managing the affairs of Qinglin Town, but also part of his most ardent followers, and naturally they worshipped Zhang Xu extremely.

  "Everyone, rise! The reason I've gathered you all here today is to discuss some important matters. This concerns the development of our followers and also relates to my own future prospects!"

  Zhang Xu didn't show any more miracles, these people's faith doesn't need to be said, Qinglin Town is now full of grain, even if this time there is no harvest, it is enough for the 12,000 people in Qinglin Town to eat for two years, all of which are his credit.

  "Whatever you command, Master Xianshi, we will carry out without fail, and dare not be even slightly remiss!"

  One of the three deputy managers in the town, Chen Gang, stood up and said.

  Qinglin Town has three deputy managers, who are also the leaders of the 15 managers. One is in charge of the town's affairs and has two assistant managers under him. One is in charge of managing seven grain-producing villages, while the other is in charge of three large villages. These three large villages were formed after Zhang Xuan's careful planning and can be said to be the foundation of Qinglin Town's current strength.

  One is a salt storage village, one is a workshop village, and the other is a smelting village. From the names of these three villages, it can be seen that they play different roles. It can be said that these three villages are the most important part of Qinglin Town, and the role of the three deputy directors is naturally very important.