Flying Clouds in Another World

Chapter 292 Small gains

He Chaogui was born into a wealthy merchant family in Changluo City. His ancestor was the leader of a tribe of the Donglin barbarians.

He Chaogui's grandfather gave up his status as the heir to the tribal leader in order to become a citizen of the Chen Dynasty.

After becoming commoners of the Chen Dynasty, the He family, father and son, started doing business one after another. Relying on their natural business acumen and connections with the Donglin barbarians, the He family soon became a wealthy businessman.

However, when it came to He Chaogui's generation, the He family used a lot of connections and money to send He Chaogui to officialdom.

He first studied literature under a well-known old Confucian scholar, and later studied martial arts under a human-level master.

But whether studying literature or martial arts, He Chaogui had only achieved some success, not as good as the best but better than the worst. He only passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. He practiced martial arts for nearly twenty years and has only just reached the level of a cultivator.

Seeing that he had no hope of becoming an official through the imperial examination, He Chaogui joined the army, started out as a clerk and slowly worked his way up to become a military officer in the battalion.

However, he had only been in the military for a few years before he was kicked out of the army because he accidentally offended someone he could not afford to offend.

Last year, when Liu Feiyun was recruiting soldiers, he was idle at home and had nothing to do, so he decided to try his luck. Unexpectedly, Liu Feiyun felt that he was in need of a scholar who was familiar with military affairs, so he hired him and let him return to his post as a battalion commander.

He Chaogui saw that Liu Feiyun did not approve of the battle report he drafted, so he hurriedly explained:

"Sir! Don't be too realistic in this battle report! The number of beheadings, especially the number of beheadings of soldiers, can be appropriately written more, so that the brigade commander and the division commander can both save face."

"Besides, if you write more here, then those Northern Wilderness armored soldiers and combatants who escaped, and other units that participated in the interception, can also write more! This is the credit! It will be enough to share some!"

"Write less about money, firstly to show that these barbarian tribes have more warriors and fewer ordinary people. Secondly, the money that is not written can also be used by you to buy people's hearts!"

"Sir! The soldiers came to the Northern Wilderness to fight against the barbarians. Besides wanting to gain some military merit, they also wanted to make a small fortune! And if they rely on the little reward money distributed by the higher-ups, I'm afraid they won't even be able to drink a glass of wine happily."

"Sir, your family is very wealthy, so you naturally don't care about these few taels of silver! But for those soldiers under you, a few taels of silver is equivalent to their monthly military salary! It's not a small amount!"

Liu Feiyun listened to He Chaogui's explanation quietly, and his expression gradually softened. Finally, after He Chaogui finished speaking, Liu Feiyun asked again: "Are the battle reports of other camps written in this way?"

"The battle reports from other camps will probably be even more exaggerated! It's not uncommon for the number of beheadings to double or triple, and those who report half of the seized property to their superiors are the real deal!"

"So are there many cases of people eating empty salaries and sucking the blood of soldiers?"

"A lot? Haha! The imperial army today, whether it's the imperial guards, the state divisions, or the county brigades! I'm afraid that except for the five armies in the capital under the emperor's feet, there are almost no soldiers who don't eat empty salaries and drink the blood of the soldiers. As for the local soldiers of the county government, except for some county governments in the border areas, most of them are also in name only! Moreover, these situations are getting worse every year!"

"That is to say, except for our Beijing Army which is fully staffed, all other armies are seriously short of manpower!"

"That's not a serious shortage, but there will definitely be a lot of people brought in to make up the numbers!"

Liu Feiyun sighed deeply and said, "Alas...! No wonder the emperor is so anxious to march north!... In this case, just report the military report you wrote!"

"Yes! Your lord!"

"However, the military reports you submit to me in the future must be truthful! They cannot be like the military reports you submitted here!"

"Yes!"

Early the next morning, a caravan from the rear was brought over.

These caravans were mainly responsible for transporting some military supplies and fodder, purchasing some of the prisoners and supplies captured by the army. In addition, they would also bring letters, news and property to their families in the rear for the soldiers of the Northern Expedition.

Generally speaking, as long as the army can win the battle, the merchant caravans accompanying the army will make a profit, or even several times the profit.

Of course, not just anyone can form a military caravan. Usually, they have some military connections.

For example, the caravans that arrived at Yunliu Camp had close ties with the officers of several brigades within hundreds of miles, and each had their own backers. What surprised Liu Feiyun was that the largest caravan was actually from his own Green Willow Chamber of Commerce.

"Report to the young master! This time, in addition to bringing you twenty carts of the latest dry food and liquor produced in Huanming Valley, I also brought you a copy of the latest situation map of the Northern Wasteland! It is more detailed and practical than the one from the imperial court!"

The leader of the caravan was a spy of Liu Xu. After asking Liu Feiyun to clear the tent, he took out a map drawn on cloth from his arms.

Liu Feiyun took it and unfolded it. He found that it was indeed much more detailed than the Northern Wilderness map he had seen from the division commander and the brigade commander. He could not help but exclaimed in delight: "This map was sent at the right time! With this map, I will have a greater chance of returning home after this Northern Wilderness expedition!"

After looking at the map for a few seconds, Liu Feiyun asked again, "Are those dry food and liquors paid for by the government or donated privately?"

"Of course it's an official account. After all, this is a legitimate business, and we can't afford to lose money! The Earl and his wife both said that they are short of people at home! They mainly want to exchange for some Northern Wilderness prisoners of war that they can control!"

"Oh! Shortage of people? Okay, I see! Then choose those with families. We can use any kind of people anyway. The rest can be distributed to other caravans! We can't eat alone! Also, when buying spoils from those big soldiers, the price should be fair, don't let them suffer too much. As for the business of those officers, leave it to other caravans!"

"Yes! Young Master."

On that day, Liu Feiyun sent a group of people to continue searching northward, while the rest of the people stopped in a depression called Tugouwa to rest.

Soon, this small tribe, whose name Liu Feiyun didn't even bother to know, was divided up by the merchant caravans accompanying the army, both its people and supplies.

After deducting the portion that should be handed over to the imperial court, Liu Feiyun's Yunliu Camp and its people made a fortune.

In the evening, the military report from Marshal Pan's men was also sent over.

"My goodness, there were only a hundred barbarians who escaped from our place, but in their mouths, the number became five or six hundred, and they were all armored soldiers! This is really... really... speechless!"

Liu Feiyun held the battle report with mixed feelings in his heart and could only smile bitterly.

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