The chaos finally stopped as the silence echoed, making way for this atmosphere. Even in this silence, Zhong Yu’s eyes were stern as he scanned the people curiously. Anyone who met his sweeping gaze would immediately lower their head in respect and fear of their lord.
Zhong Yu looked at this sight pleased. ‘My dignity is damn good by the looks of it. No one dares defy me.’
“Ahe-hem!” Zhong Yu dressed his voice to remind the people who was speaking here, keeping their ears peeled for the lord’s noble words.
It worked like a charm as they were all shivering and looking solemn for Zhong Yu’s chastising.
Zhong Yu finally began as everyone caught his attention, “I will not mince words, only wishing to clarify something. I brought you here, and as for the method, I do not feel inclined to tell you.”
“Furthermore, this is my domain. I have brought you here and you better heed every word unless you want to face harsh consequences. Do your work right and I will give you land, for you to live in peace and harmony.”
As soon as he said this, everyone’s faces were filled with surprise as the rabble exploded in a cacophony of sounds. Zhong Yu waited for a moment for them to calm down.
“Silence, have you forgotten my words already? With so little discipline, you’re asking for punishment!” Zhong Yu yelled, seeing the clamor only growing louder.
His shout worked in calming them, ‘Chinese officials sure are held in fear by the people. It must be ingrained in their genes, being unchanged in five thousand years of history.’
“Now that you’re here, forget about ever returning. I will be frank. This is not your home world, but another.”
Zhong Yu ignored their reaction and walked to the official residence. He had Wang Daniu detain and split them into groups.
Reports had to be made of the number of men, women, able bodied, children and elderly.
…
In the bright and blue sky, the emitting light of the sun radiated,, spreading its warmth to its surroundings as it counteracted the chilly, spring breeze.
Two hours passed by until Wang Daniu came before Zhong Yu with the census of the refugees. As was standing in front of him, he started speaking about the reports. After he finished report, Zhong Yu dismissed him to sink back into his thoughts.
‘The refugees today are too damn many, altogether there are 271. 115 men are between 15 and 45 years, 100 women between 15 and 40 years, while the rest were elders and children which were of little use.They’re only good as a statistic and instilling a sense of belonging into those men and women.’
As he tallied up the population, Zhong Yu had Wang Daniu organize the refugees into families by blood relation. This was to make wooden houses in the next couple of days for each family to live in.
With the arrangements over, Zhong Yu finally had some quality time to himself in the study in peace and quiet to reflect on his gains.
‘The population has reached 602. 265 men, 231 women and the rest 100 or so made up of children elderly and feeble. Settling them into homes will total 190, of which 30 are made of slaves.(Of the conquered savages, some had earned great merit and have risen to the rank of citizen along with their families, while the rest are stuck as slaves.) ‘
‘My army is now composed of 39 Yellow Turban soldiers, 30 slaves and 50 service army. The service army is made of slaves having earned merit to be releases from slavery. As for the soldiers unfit for duty because of disabilities, old age or wounds, they were cut down due to having no further use.’
In simple terms, the fifty bravest men made up the service army. Although the barbarians outnumbered the soldiers in this team, its power grew and grew.
Next was food. A male adult eats 600 grams of food a day, women 500 grams, while elderly and children 400 grams. With this, a home with three mouths to feed will eat around 1.5 kg a day.
‘With the domain reaching close to 200 homes, the food expense will be 300 kg, or six shi. (50 kg = 1 shi.)
With so many days having gone by he had used up 30 shi, leaving him at 970. With the current population it would support it for 160 days.
‘And the population will only grow from here, all the way to a thousand homes, further straining the food stocks.’
‘A thousand homes translates into 30 shi of food a day, giving me only a short month before the stocks run out.’
‘It is the beginning of spring, the time for planting crops. But even the earliest harvest is four months away. How do I survive for another three months?’
‘What a headache. Where am I supposed to find so much food?’ Zhong Yu felt his head exploding.
Like a bolt out of the blue, it hit him. ‘That’s it! Fortune. I’ll exchange it for food.’
How to earn fortune? War. ‘Conquer lands and people and I’ll earn plenty of fortune.’
‘By the system’s rule, each month nets me 1 fortune per fifty people. That means 1 block or ten homes.’
A hundred homes or 500 people would bring in 10,a city, or 5000 people, would bring him a 100.
System could exchange one fortune for 10 shi.
‘With 5000 people, then each month I can use fortune for food and the problem is settled. I will only need it for three months too. Adding the month I have, I’ll survive till harvest.’
And with a city population, I earn another lottery ticket. I’m sure I’ll get the thing I need most to surmount this crisis.’
Zhong Yu relaxed, having come to a resolution, his face blooming into a smile as he took a stroll in the garden.
