Chapter 56: Purification of the Soul

  "With the people's hearts stabilized, everything can be achieved. The common folk have done their best; what happens next depends on you two, Guan Yu and Zhou Qing. Don't disappoint me! And my most loyal guards, Imperial Guards, can you give me a surprise?"

  Zhang Xu's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness, but then he slightly closed them and began his daily cultivation. Every day, without fail, this was something that had to be done. Zhang Xu himself was also working hard, cultivating the great undertaking, seeking immortality and asking about the Tao, perfecting the power of incense and faith. This wasn't just for the sake of the people under his rule, stabilizing their hearts and firming up their beliefs, providing him with sufficient power from their incense and faith. His own efforts were also a necessary thing.

  Now he has such a rich condition, not working hard is naturally not possible. In the later stage of refining and purifying Qi, although he was already a myth in his previous life, in this world, it doesn't count as anything. The extraordinary magical power of Zhang Jiao, the great virtuous teacher, still lingers in Zhang Xu's mind.

  "Zhang Jiao's cultivation, should be the peak of refining Qi and transforming spirit, perhaps even reached the level of refining spirit and returning to emptiness. However, he was too arrogant and ended up like this, which is due to his unstable foundation. As for me, I will take it one step at a time to lay down my foundation, this is the right path. Of course, my cultivation also needs to be improved!"

  Zhang Xu nodded, slowly opening his eyes, feeling his own progress, a hint of a smile on his face. His foundation was extremely solid, but in Zhang Xu's heart, he still admired Zhang Jiao's unbeatable magical powers. If he had even half of Zhang Jiao's magical powers, he wouldn't have to worry about being a general anymore. With that kind of power, it would definitely reach the level of refining energy and transforming spirits, creating even more powerful auxiliary talismans, which should be no problem at all!

  Thinking of this, Zhang Xu still felt a slight sense of regret. Of course, he also had his own strong side, otherwise he would not have been able to recruit talents like Guan Hai. His strength was his foundation, as well as the prosperity and wealth of his territory!

  This is the foundation of a stable life and the greatest power, although it may not directly show anything or immediately make the army strong, but it can win by being continuous and flowing like a gentle stream.

  This is where Zhang Xu wins over Zhang Jiao, the great virtuous teacher, and it is also the foundation of his career. Now his foundation is flourishing, and he is really invincible.

  In just half a month, over 40,000 people participated, and the entire army of nearly one million mu of land was completely harvested, this is the most powerful force!

  To be precise, it was only fourteen days before the grain harvest was completed, and as expected, the total grain yield exceeded 500 million jin, reaching an astonishing 550 million jin, making Zhang Xu extremely excited. With a wave of his hand, after distributing 300 million jin according to contribution, there were still large surpluses. The distributed grain, after the people had stored enough for themselves, still had large surpluses, so the grain continuously flowed back into the warehouses. At the same time, money also flowed into the hands of the people like running water. For a time, the entire Chang County was extremely prosperous, and the commercial areas in the county town were bustling with people every day, presenting a scene of great prosperity, making the people of Chang County feel as if they were dreaming.

  When did they ever think that they would have the life they have now? Half a year ago, they were still refugees who couldn't even guarantee their next meal, or bankrupt households struggling to survive, with nothing but wild vegetables to eat and bodies as thin as twigs. But now, there's plenty of food to go around, all they need to do is work hard and make an effort, and they can eat until they're full, and sometimes they even get to eat meat! What a life this is!

  Now with sufficient surplus, after selling to the domain, they also got a lot of money, every family can be considered as having a relatively comfortable life, this kind of thing is like a dream.

  The granary is full and the people know the rituals, the hearts of the people are stable, this naturally shows a thriving vitality. At this time, the reaction in the clouds can be seen, originally only light white Chang County cloud gas, but there are signs of deepening, this is the state of being content with one's life. And so, Zhang Xu's seal is nourished by the cloud gas at all times, giving a sense of greater closeness, as if there is a feeling of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.

  At this time, Zhang Xu's mood was also extremely joyful. Although he had a bit of a dark heart, seeing the people under his rule so safe and happy, his mood improved a lot. Although they were not yet wealthy, at least the smiles on their faces were genuine, which was the greatest reward for him.

  "Just wait and see, within a year, the entire Donglai County will be like this. I'll gather all the refugees and let them live a stable life, and my incense faith will become even more prosperous!"

  Zhang Xu's heart was filled with an abundance of sincerity, thinking that this is a kind of true goodness and beauty that exists in everyone's heart. Seeing others happy also made him feel contented, as if his soul had been purified, calming his restless heart and reducing his mercenary thoughts, while increasing his sincerity.

  …………

  After the harvest was over, Guan Hai and Wu Qing immediately led the army to recruit soldiers. Thanks to the previous propaganda, the followers all knew that the soldiers were protecting their homes and the immortal masters. Although every household had surplus grain, almost all the militiamen came to participate in the recruitment, which made Guan Hai and Wu Qing very satisfied. Due to the sufficient preparation work before, it only took one day to select 5,000 soldiers and incorporate them into ten established camps.

  These five thousand people were all strong and healthy men, with a height of over 1.75 meters, standing out from the crowd. Although they couldn't be considered too tall compared to others, these men were all physically strong and had reached the physical quality of elite soldiers, no worse than the militia in Qinglin Town before. With just one and a half months of training, it wouldn't be a big problem for them to grow into seasoned veterans.

  The ten thousand troops that are better than him only need to go through three checkpoints, which is also the basic condition for entering Zhang Xu's military camp.

  First of all, endurance exercises, that is, long-distance running, running around the city walls, those who persist for more than half an hour are qualified!

  The second point is the strength assessment, which can lift 150 catties of stone lock, and it is considered successful. The third point is team training, with obedience to orders as the main goal. If these three points are qualified, you can enter the military camp.

  The last three points of qualified candidates were as high as 20,000, which was also astonishing to Di Tong and Wu Qing. However, they could only select 6,000 qualified candidates, after all, their limit in commanding troops was there, it's quite a pity.

  It can also be seen from here that the quality of these militiamen and the organizational power under Zhang Xuji's command. There are only a little over 26,000 militiamen in total, and those who failed to qualify are only over 1,000, which is undoubtedly a miracle...