Chapter 2 Part 1 (Upper)

  Under the command of Zhe Yan Chong, the grain was transported in batches to an open area in the valley. It had not rained for several days, so there was no fear of it being damaged by rainwater.

  Yang Yingqi looked at the reactions of the crowd and thought to himself, "In a situation where there is no leader, the first person to stand up usually becomes the psychological leader in people's minds. It seems that my brother has temporarily gained leadership over this group - although this leadership position doesn't seem very stable yet. What I need to do next is figure out how to help him consolidate his leadership position."

  Yang Yingqi was very clear: at present, he only had "twelve years old", and in this weak-eat-strong world to survive, only rely on a strong man. Because only the wisdom of the "previous life" was preserved, Yang Yingqi's only way out now is to become Zhao Yan's "military advisor" - regardless of whether this leader is his "previous life" brother or not.

  Only to see Zhe Yan Chong let Yang Kaiyuan and Ouyang Shi publicly count the amount and type of grain, and then let the Jurchen Alu Man go to count the number of people. Alu Man heard this and shouted: "What? Let me go and count? What a joke!"

  Yang Yingqi jumped out and said: "I'll go!"

  Zhe Yan Chong looked at him for a while and said: "You?"

  Yang Yingqi said: "When it comes to arithmetic, no one can catch up with me!"

  Ouyang Shi couldn't help but sneer at this, but considering Yang Yingqi was just a child, he didn't say anything.

  Yang Yingqi said: "But I need someone to help me." He nodded at Aru. Aru followed him reluctantly under the indication of his teacher Di Yu.

  Yang Yingqi picked up a branch and drew four horizontal and vertical lines on the ground, dividing it into twenty-five squares. He had Aru barbarian hurry everyone to stand in the squares in batches. "Only those who have stood in the square once will get something to eat, and those who have stood twice or more than twice will not get anything to eat." Before long, he counted out the number of people, a total of 829.

  Di Yu sighed and said: "Eight hundred twenty-nine people, I remember when we came in the number of people exceeded three thousand."

  Yang Kaiyuan and Ouyang Shi were much slower on that side, by the time they calculated the result, Yang Yingqi whispered to Zhe Yan Chong: "Specifically what to do, it seems we still need to discuss it carefully among ourselves."

  Di Yu sat beside him, and upon hearing this sentence was greatly shocked. He suddenly looked at Yang Yingqi, the "twelve-year-old kid", in a new light. It's worth noting that Yang Yingqi's words were not as simple as they seemed on the surface. The phrase "the schemes of chaotic times are not to be shared with the masses" implies that under circumstances where people's hearts are in turmoil, there are some things that cannot be discussed openly in front of everyone.

  Zhe Yan Chong nodded after listening to Yang Yingqi's words and said loudly, "Everyone go back first, at dusk, gather here to receive rations! Everyone will get a share!"

  But most people were unwilling to leave, they didn't quite trust Zhe Yan Chong yet, and that pile of grain had to be kept an eye on personally before they could feel at ease.

  Yang Yingqi furrowed his brow and whispered two sentences in Di Yu's ear. Di Yu nodded, then loudly ordered Alu to keep a close eye on the grain pile, proclaiming: "Anyone who dares to approach the grain pile within five steps... will be killed!"

  Looking at Arumand's leopard-like muscles, many people unconsciously took a few steps back.

  Zhe Yan Chong finally felt at ease and, along with Yang Yingqi, Di Yu, Yang Kaiyuan, and Ouyang Shi, the five of them came to sit down beside the thatched hut built by Yang Kaiyuan.

  Ouyang Yi said to Zhe Yan Chong, "Those foolish men and women can be driven, but they cannot discuss important matters with them. Now there are only a few of us here, we are all intelligent people, so let's speak openly! I'm not in a hurry about the food, what I want to know now is, do you have any way to rescue everyone?"

  Zhe Yan shook his head and said, "I have no way."

  Yang Kaiyuan and Ouyang Shi were stunned. Di Yu burst out laughing. Yang Yingqi lowered his head and smiled secretly.

  "Those words were forced out of me by the circumstances at the time!"

  Di Yu sighed and said, "Actually, you're right. It's just that at the time, you... Heh heh! Even I was deceived by you, thinking you really had a way."

  Yang Yingqi smiled slightly and said: "In any case, it's finally settled down now. As long as the situation is under control, things will take a turn for the better."

  Ouyang Shi heard this and turned his head to glare at Yang Yingqi, saying: "You little devil! How old are you exactly? I'm starting to suspect that you're not a child, but a dwarf!"

  Yang Yingqi smiled slightly and said: "Having talent has nothing to do with age. Here, except for Mr. Di, everyone is not very old. I'm just a little younger than you all."

  Di Yu looked at him with interest, and even Yang Kaiyuan felt that this younger brother was not quite the same as before his illness. Yang Yingqi, however, ignored their gaze, picked up a branch and drew on the ground, saying: "Things are easy at first but difficult later. How to escape, we must make plans after grasping all aspects of information: for example, whether there are other exits in this valley, how the Khitan people intend to treat us, etc."

  Di Yu nodded, and even Ouyang Shi listened in.

  Yang Yingqi continued: "The most urgent task, the first is to stabilize people's minds. This matter, Da Ge has already taken the first step. Next, we need to make people organized. With over 800 people, it's impossible for us to convey our ideas and principles one by one, so we need to select some leaders. We'll choose around 20-30 people, each leading 30-40 people, and then we'll lead these 20-30 leaders, making it less likely for the situation to get out of control."

  Di Yu nodded and said: "I'm quite skilled in physiognomy, although I've been bedridden these days, I've also paid some attention to the situation around me. I can offer some opinions on this matter."

  Yang Yingqi said: "Next, it's the matter of the epidemic. I don't understand medicine, and I'm not clear what kind of plague this is, but this epidemic doesn't seem to be very severe, although deaths are inevitable. After two days, when everyone has stabilized and trusts us more, we will separate those who have contracted the disease from those who haven't and take care of them accordingly. The dead need to be buried - preferably cremated... Alas, in the end, the best outcome is just to let the strongest people survive."

  Ouyang Shidao said: "What can be done about it? It was originally supposed to be this way."

  "But as long as we can let one more person survive, it's worth our efforts."

  Di Yu praised: "Well said! These words are very much in line with the heart of a benevolent person!"

  Yang Yingqi said: "Looking at the weather, it's about to turn cool. If this is really a plague, the situation will also improve when the weather cools down..."

  Ouyang Yi inserted a remark: "Why does the plague get better as soon as the weather gets cold?"

  "This..." Yang Yingqi was at a loss for words, he wasn't a medical expert and only had a rough understanding of the principles related to the plague. He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he forced himself to continue: "I saw it in an old book."

  Fortunately, Ouyang Shi didn't ask further, and Yang Yingqi continued: "But once the weather turns cold, keeping warm will become a problem. The food we have is already barely enough, if we add freezing to that, I'm afraid there will be even more deaths! Finding something flammable is the second thing to do."

  Di Yu sighed: "What a pity that this mountain valley has few trees. Even if they were all cut down, they wouldn't burn for long."

  Yang Yingqi said: "The third thing is to find a way out. We don't know what the Khitan people want to do with us, but in any case, it's best if we can find a way out. This matter can be dealt with after things have settled down and someone can be secretly sent to do it, but under no circumstances should the Khitan people find out. As for the fourth thing, it is negotiating with the Khitan people."

  "Negotiate? They won't even bother with you! Get too close and they'll kill you with a single arrow!"