Two days later.

The sun set in the west.

South of the city.

Wu Mountain, leading a team of constables, placed a basket of copper coins and over a dozen buckets of gruel outside the armory.

Wu Mountain held a copper gong, striking it "dang dang dang" outside.

Inside the armory, there was a commotion.

"End of the workday, end of the workday."

The workers constructing the armory immediately put down their tasks, lining up to walk out one by one.

They looked at the steaming gruel buckets, and their stomachs, hungry for over two hours, rumbled along, swallowing hard one after another.

They first approached the governmental officials responsible for distributing wages and collected their pay for the day, ten cents.

Ten wen coins, though not much, could not even buy a jin of millet, yet it was enough to keep a family from starving. In these times, it was already decent, and if saved up, it could be three hundred wen a month.

Especially for those who came for work, the county also provided two meals, midday and evening. Although just gruel, it still attracted many refugees and impoverished people who couldn't get a meal.

Liu Er was one of them, but unlike others, he wasn't a homeless wanderer; he was from Qingtian County, a resident of the county town.

Because Qingtian County backed onto the Salt Lake, the lives of the townsfolk were relatively good, and people at the bottom could barely get a meal.

But ever since the Celestial Master Army came, everything changed.

After the city broke, these thieves burned, killed, and looted, and Liu Er's family was also thoroughly robbed.

For three consecutive days, Qingtian County was in devastating conditions.

Countless families broke down with bereavement, some left their lifelong homes with their families, becoming wanderers, while others were forced to join the Celestial Master Army.

The last part were completely "honest people," who couldn't bear to leave home. Even with anger in their hearts, facing the powerful Celestial Master Army, they could only endure silently, hoping the Celestial Master Army would leave quickly, so their lives could return to normal.

Only they were surprised to hear that the Celestial Master Army, usually shifting from city to city, had surprisingly stayed in Qingtian County and hadn't left.

Though large-scale pillaging ceased, unrest never stopped. Petty theft happened often, and even though the Celestial Master Army issued a peace decree, it was all bark and no bite, just not directly robbing face-to-face.

Every day a meal of gruel was given, but the gruel was like drinking water, with not even ten grains of rice visible in a bowl.

At this time, Liu Er heard that in the neighboring Pingting County, County Magistrate Chen Mo treated people with kindness, where citizens lived and worked in peace. Most importantly, the city helped refugees, as long as they worked, there would be wages.

Initially, Liu Er didn't believe it, after all, he heard that County Magistrate Chen was also with the Celestial Master Army, all part of the same group; how good could it be?

Well, due to the previous lockdowns of both Pingting and Qingtian counties, news was scarce, and the bottom layer of people had difficulty knowing what was happening outside. Additionally, the Qingtian County Magistrate intentionally blocked information about Chen Mo to prevent unrest, so besides those outside the city, people within knew little about Chen Mo.

But because life was unbearable, the constant unrest in the city never allowed Liu Er to have peace of mind.

So, he decided to come see for himself.

After arriving in Pingting County, everything in the city stunned him.

The city was bustling, with shops lining the streets and open, crowds coming and going on the streets, and constables patrolling back and forth. If anyone caused trouble, they would be arrested immediately. Even a quarrel leading to a fight was stopped by the constables.

Several stores put up recruitment notices, though unfortunately only accepting people from Pingting County.

Only the armory in the south of the city recruited without restrictions on where people were from, taking any man over ten and under sixty years old.

Thus, Liu Er became a worker building the armory.

"Hey, you there, why are you standing dazed, don't you want your wages?" Wu Mountain looked at Liu Er, who was standing dumbfounded and with the people behind urging, gave a loud shout.

Liu Er came to his senses, quickly apologizing several times.

He stepped forward, receiving his ten-cents wage from Wu Mountain's hand.

Looking at the ten copper coins in his hand, Liu Er felt like he was dreaming; it was real money indeed.

Subsequently, he queued up to receive a bowl of gruel and half a spoon of salted vegetables.

Though the gruel was thin, one bite contained at least a hundred grains of rice, and there were strips of meat in it.

The most crucial thing, however, was this half spoon of salted vegetables, making Liu Er feel as though he was tasting a delicacy.

He didn't put this half spoon of salted vegetables into the gruel but carefully wrapped it in cloth, intending to save it to take home.

Although Qingtian County had the Salt Lake, it didn't mean every household could afford salt, especially after the Celestial Master Army occupied Qingtian County, sealing off the whole Salt Lake. Previously they could still steal some, but now they couldn't even steal it.

Coming out of Pingting County, Liu Er's mind was still dizzy, feeling surreal until he touched the copper coins in his bosom again, and that cold touch told him everything was real.

"One two, one two three four."

"One two, one two three four."

At this moment, hundreds of shirtless men, chanting the same slogan, came running from the distance. People outside the city, hearing the commotion, all turned their eyes, full of envy.

And these hundreds of men, feeling the envious gazes from outside the city, straightened up, raised their heads even higher, and their movements became even more orderly.

Liu Er asked those around him who these people were.

From the people nearby, he learned that these were the Divine Brave Guard, an existence envied by everyone in Pingting County, because each Divine Brave Guard could earn eight hundred cents a month, with the leaders and captains earning even more.

Besides the monthly salary, they received three meals a day, one of which included meat.

The most crucial thing was that the first batch of Divine Brave Guards even had land at home.

A matchmaker told Liu Er that whoever had a relative in the Divine Brave Guard would have no trouble finding a marriage partner for their daughters or sons at home.

These Divine Brave Guards were prized catches in the eyes of matchmakers.

After learning this, Liu Er was full of envy and asked if the Divine Brave Guard was recruiting, but the answer was no, leaving him somewhat disappointed.

Upon returning home, the sky had already darkened.

At this time, a dozen men came to Liu Er's house, all of whom were Liu Er's friends and neighbors, to ask him if what was said about Pingting County was true.

When Liu Er took out ten copper coins from his pocket and described what he had seen and heard in Pingting County.

These dozen men were shocked, not expecting the rumors to be true.

Liu Er said, "I've decided to take my family and move to Pingting County tomorrow. I've found out that there are refugee camps in the county, and even if there's no place to stay, it's still better than staying here."

"Liu Er, I'm going with you."

"Together, together."

...

Three days later.

The sun set in the west, and Chen Mo stretched lazily. He decided not to return to the mountain village today and asked Chunhong to prepare hot water as he wanted to bathe.

After Chunhong left, Sun Meng came over and said Wang Ping and Wu Mountain requested a meeting.

Wu Mountain was currently the archivist in the government office, overseeing all the constables and responsible for maintaining law and order in the city as well as arrests and the jail.

Wang Ping was the clerk in the Household Department of the government office, managing all the clerks, including household figures, land and grain figures, warehouses, and taxes.

Both of them came to discuss the refugee situation.

The city was now overcrowded with refugees, especially in the last few days, many people from other counties had poured into the city, some even from under Yuan Youchun's command, now wishing to become residents under Chen Mo's rule.

With the increasing population, the refugee camps in the city were insufficient, causing these refugees to sleep on the streets with their families, affecting order and the city's appearance.

In addition, the armory already had enough workers and could not hire more.

Chen Mo rubbed his forehead, pondered for a while, and then said, "In this case, re-establish the Defense Army in the city, with a quota of three thousand, with treatment half that of the Divine Brave Guard.

Also, set up refugee camps outside the city, reinforce the city walls, build defensive fortifications, and recruit workers with the same treatment as the armory."

"Understood."

Just as the two were about to leave, Sun Meng came to report that Han Wu had arrived.

Chen Mo let Sun Meng bring Han Wu in.

Han Wu came in carrying a basket and said, "Immortal Master Chen, these are the fish caught by the people at Dadong Lake today, and these three fish have the same characteristics as what you mentioned."

Chen Mo went over to take a look; of the three fish, two were purple, with scales like a snake's and without fins, and one fish had three eyes, with an eye on its tail.

According to Yi Qianchi, these three fish correspond to the Three-eyed Bullfish and the Snake Scale Purple Fish.

"How much do these three fish weigh?" Chen Mo asked.

"These two odd purple fish, the one with the big belly weighs seven jin, the smaller one three jin, and the fish with an eye on its tail is less than one jin," Han Wu replied.

Chen Mo nodded, "First distribute the reward."

Even though it's his first time seeing this kind of fish and he can't confirm whether they're the Three-eyed Bullfish and Snake Scale Purple Fish mentioned by Yi Qianchi, the characteristics match, and since the city gate is known for trust, whether they are or not, Chen Mo will give the reward.

"Understood." Han Wu backed down.

Just as Chen Mo was about to take these three fish to visit the Yi Family, Chunhong came over and handed Chen Mo a booklet, saying, "County Magistrate, this is the melody composed by the madam, and she invites you to listen."

Hearing this, Chen Mo raised an eyebrow. Yes, as the daughters of the Magistrate, the Xia Sisters should know more than Yi Qianchi, so why should he go to the unnecessary trouble?

"I understand. You can go first. I'll visit in the evening," Chen Mo said.

"Understood," Chunhong replied, and then remembering something, added, "County Magistrate, the water is also ready."

Chen Mo nodded, and after Chunhong left, he called Sun Meng, giving him the sheet music and saying, "Send someone to deliver this sheet music to Miss Yi Shiyin, saying it is the poem I specifically wrote for her, and the music has been composed."

He hadn't figured out what gift to give Yi Shiyin, so this was a perfect gesture.

"Understood."

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