Chapter 325

Chapter 325: Choosing Men

The soldiers of the Southern Army were originally descendants of hereditary meritorious generals, whose ancestors carried great honors, but who all perished in one battle, their bones buried in Qingzhou.

More than forty years have passed, and many of the bodies have yet to be recovered.

All 30,000 Southern Army soldiers died without survivors, causing many noble families to lose their heirs.

At that time, the tragic news from Qingzhou cast the entire capital into a storm of grief.

Falling in their prime serving the country could be said to be a full buff. No wonder the Imperial Court felt deeply guilty toward the Southern Army.

The Former Emperor, along with the current Emperor Wei, both felt ashamed toward the Southern Army soldiers. Even though they had rewarded the meritorious ones previously, they still maintained a measure of leniency toward the descendants of those later joining the Southern Army.

And this leniency has lasted for so many years.

“Nowadays, most of the Southern Army soldiers are descendants of those early heroic martyrs…”

Du Xing sighed deeply and then turned to Wei Yu, “Therefore, Your Highness, you should also understand the present situation, right?”

Wei Yu crossed his arms, gazing thoughtfully into the distance without speaking.

Bai Feiyu, the slender young man, calmly nodded and recited, “For the country, giving up one’s family life is acceptable; bidding farewell to wives and mothers, we all meet the same fate in death. The pioneers’ blood paved the path of peace; their names will be forever preserved in history.”

Upon hearing that, Du Xing sighed again.

Heroic spirits live eternally, their fame lasting through the ages, but if one could live, who would willingly die?

The few of them stood there for a while.

After a long moment, Du Xing asked Wei Yu, “Your Highness, what are you thinking about?”

Wei Yu took a deep breath and pondered, “I’m thinking about… what caused the epidemic in Qingzhou.”

Huh?

Du Xing and Bai Feiyu were both momentarily stunned.

Du Xing silently inhaled.

Turns out His Highness had been thinking for a while, not about mourning the fallen heroes or lamenting the Southern Army’s heroic sacrifices, but about how the epidemic originated?

Isn’t that focus a bit off?!

After a moment of surprise, Bai Feiyu caught up with Wei Yu’s train of thought and calmly replied, “Qingzhou is full of snakes, insects, rats, and ants. The locals often fall ill because of this. Doctors are few there, and many believe in ghosts and spirits, so they frequently hold rituals. As a result, when people get sick, they mostly die without medicine, their bodies thrown away in the mountains and forests.”

“Thrown away in the mountains and forests!”

Du Xing gasped and said in astonishment, “There’s an old saying, that the dead should be buried properly, but you people in Qingzhou don’t even prepare coffins for the deceased?”

Wei Yu glanced sideways.

Bai Feiyu gave a faint smile and reminded again, “Qingzhou’s people believe in ghosts and spirits.”

Since they believe in ghosts and spirits, it’s all about dedicating both body and soul to them. So what’s wrong with letting the body return to nature? Shouldn’t the soul return to heaven and earth? Is there a problem with that?

Wei Yu twitched the corner of his mouth, understanding Bai Feiyu’s point.

With corpses tossed around everywhere, especially untreated disease-ridden bodies, no wonder there was that major epidemic before.

Sanitation!

So hygiene must be improved!

Superstitions are useless, we must develop science and expand medical services!

Du Xing finally understood. “Bodies left unattended, piling together, isn’t that just like an unmanaged battlefield? No wonder an epidemic broke out!”

He clapped his hands, turning to Wei Yu with burning eyes, “Your Highness, this idea about ghosts is pure nonsense. When people fall ill, praying to gods is useless. In Qingzhou’s case, doctors should have been sent to diagnose! Your Highness, you are talented and wise; you should speak to His Majesty about this. The Emperor would surely agree.”

Wei Yu thought, “Wow.”

This Lord Du really didn’t treat him as an outsider, now directly giving him a task to handle.

Of course, Wei Yu had also thought about it, but that would have to wait until the Medical Academy trained more people.

Wei Yu smiled, “Lord Du, calm down. I know what to do. We’ll arrange it in the future. For now, let’s talk about the Southern Army first, shall we?”

He came to select men; this group of well-connected Southern Army soldiers were somewhat like the spoiled descendants of Chang Ning and his literary officials.

Both are spoiled, just one military and one literary.

Literary types need to be gathered with persuasion, but military ones just need a command!

After all, they are soldiers, paid by the state and must obey orders, right?

—

The process of selecting men was quite rough.

Du Xing, as the Grand Marshal, the highest military commander, entered the Southern Army camp and directly met with the generals to explain their purpose.

The Wise King came along with the Grand Marshal, aiming to select two hundred men, all for military exercises!

To be honest, the Southern Army generals were a bit dumbfounded upon hearing this.

They wanted to ask what those two hundred were to be used for, but with a prince and the Grand Marshal standing right there, they were truly intimidated.

So they just gave up and didn’t ask.

Anyway, the men were being taken away; they wouldn’t disappear without a trace afterward.

The Wise King was to select people, so the entire Southern Army, except for those stationed on duty or patrol, were all lined up on the parade ground.

More than 20,000 men stood densely packed on the parade ground.

From the high platform, Wei Yu looked out and only saw a sea of heads.

He stared at the crowd in silence for a moment.

Lord Du said many Southern Army soldiers were not only good-looking but also well-educated, but looking at them now, they all looked sun-darkened and he couldn’t see faces clearly.

Wei Yu thought.

Gray Guards were quite fair-skinned, so he would select two hundred dark-skinned handsome guys to come back with him?

Those who could come all had arrived.

Seeing His Highness still silent, Du Xing came close and asked, “Your Highness, shall we select men?”

Wei Yu snapped back to reality, “Yes, first pick out those handsome and dignified ones.”

Forget education for now; appearance had to be good!

After all, these men would be working directly in front of him later; looking good might even help them get meals, right?

Selecting from over twenty thousand was no small task, so Wei Yu sent the bodyguards around him to help.

Since the bodyguards had been with Wei Yu a long time, they understood His Highness’s tastes well. Once told to select the handsome, they immediately could tell who qualified with just a glance.

It was almost like selecting concubines.

Seeing those handsome men being picked out one by one, Bai Feiyu smiled happily.

“Your Highness has unique tastes.”

Wei Yu gave a sidelong glance, “Are you implying something about me?”

Bai Feiyu looked innocently puzzled, “Implying? I am ignorant and unlearned, I do not understand Your Highness’s meaning.”

Tch.

Wei Yu didn’t argue and continued observing those picked men.

Hmm, not bad. Each one looked eligible, obviously suitable for service!

About four or five hundred men were initially screened.

After the candidates were selected, Wei Yu dismissed the rest.

Only those four or five hundred remained on the parade ground. Wei Yu looked toward Fang Sheng and signaled him to convey instructions.

“Ask them three questions: can you read, are you determined, are you loyal? Ask one by one. Those who can firmly answer ‘yes’ take a step forward.”

The three questions were extremely simple, and Fang Sheng immediately shouted loudly to the hundreds gathered.

“Your Highness asks three questions. Those who answer ‘yes’ step forward—

First question, can you read?!”