Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 841

Chapter 841: Chapter 838: The Victorious King and the Vanquished Foe

Old Fang turned around, took his seat, nodded, and with a smile, took out some silver coins from his sleeve and placed them on the table to tip the shop assistant, inquiring in a low voice, "Is this Shuoyang Army... the very ones trained by the Princess of Zhen to attack bandits?"

The shop assistant, receiving the tip, beamed even more brightly, his tone increasingly fawning, "Oh my! Thank you for the tip! You mean the patrolling Shuoyang Army... they are indeed the troops trained by the Princess of Zhen to fight bandits for the people of Shuoyang. Now the Shuoyang soldiers patrol the city all day long. Not to mention those bandits... even the petty criminals within the city are too scared to show their faces!"

Old Fang nodded and asked again, "That young lady... is she the fifth daughter of the Bai family?"

"That’s right! Isn’t it said that the direct descendants of the Bai Clan have an ancestral law that the sons and daughters of the Bai family must join the army for training? Later on... when all the Bai men died on the battlefield, the training of the fifth and sixth daughters was delayed. Then... when the Shuoyang Army was established, the two young ladies trained with the Shuoyang Army. They started as ordinary soldiers and now... they’ve become centurions! After all, they are indeed the offspring of the Bai family, truly impressive! Look at our Princess of Zhen and Commandery Princess Gaoyi... they were invincible in the wars against the Liang Kingdom!"

The shop assistant, speaking of the Princess of Zhen and Commandery Princess Gaoyi, and the Bai family, couldn’t hide his admiration, smiling as he said, "Who says women are not as good as men! Don’t you agree?"

Old Fang’s heart sank continuously; he hadn’t expected the Princess of Zhen’s prestige in Shuoyang to be so high.

"I have been walking around the city for a long time, but I haven’t seen any beggar..." Old Fang again asked with a smile, "I remember that it was said that the refugees from Huayang City had all come to Shuoyang City. Have they all left?"

Talking about this, the shop assistant’s eyes grew even brighter, "Leave? Before, Shuoyang indeed received a large number of refugees from Huayang City. The Princess of Zhen thought about how they would be resettled in the future, and later on... those who were healthy and strong were healed and then joined the army. As for those who were weak, well... Shuoyang saved their lives, they couldn’t be saved for free! These people were settled inside or outside Shuoyang City, repaying the medicine and food originally spent to save them through their labor."

"Actually, the Princess of Zhen didn’t really want to collect any medicine fees, but she didn’t want those disaster victims to think that they could get something for nothing by coming to Shuoyang! They could repay the medicine and food with their labor and also earn some money to live on."

"Later, the Princess of Zhen introduced reward measures, and these people settled in Shuoyang steadily. Anyone who made remarkable achievements was rewarded! For example, two years ago, Wang Ren, who improved the method of irrigating farmland and increased the grain yield per mu, look... now Wang Ren not only has been employed by the government, but the Princess of Zhen also arranged for him to have a residence. His whole family has their own small yard! Life is really good for them!"

"The original beggars in Shuoyang have all been properly arranged. Those without household registration... were given new registrations. These people, after being registered, would have their household registration records separately archived. Every half a month, the Shuoyang Army would check on what these people were doing. Even if they wanted to sell themselves or do business, the local officials and the Shuoyang Army wouldn’t intervene! The only rule was that people in Shuoyang were not allowed to give money or food to beggars, not to encourage the habit of idle living! Naturally... if there were those too old to work and without children, the Shuoyang Army would also make proper arrangements for them."

The shop assistant, speaking more because of Old Fang’s tip, smiled and said, "Everyone in Shuoyang now lives well. As Lord Bai Qingping, in charge of the Shuoyang Army, said, as long as one is willing to work hard, everyone in Shuoyang can have a good life! Sir, enjoy your meal. Call me if you need anything! I’ll go get busy!"

Old Fang nodded, the more he listened, the more he felt fear. None of these things had been reported to the Imperial Court by the local governor of Shuoyang or Bai Qingyan. Bai Qingyan intended to make Shuoyang her Bai family’s private territory!