Can I Become Emperor by Being This Lazy? - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The idea was beautiful, but Xu Mao soon encountered problems again.

First, how to screen and identify opportunistic villains? This wasn’t written on their foreheads, and she couldn’t possibly investigate the temperaments of so many people individually.

Xu Mao paced with her hands behind her back, pondering for a long time as various methods flashed rapidly through her mind.

The masses have sharp eyes. Since she couldn’t slowly screen them one by one, it would be better to put the choice in the soldiers’ own hands.

Relying on public selection, she would first send away the most outstanding group. The remaining people would be influenced by the strong atmosphere of pursuing wealth and clear self-interest orientation to transform their thinking, creating a gu-raising environment that would lead to internal strife until the force headed toward destruction.

After clarifying her direction and finalizing the strategy, Xu Mao decided to act immediately. She looked up at the soldiers with anticipation, only to find that for some reason, they seemed to have already calmed down, each attending to their own tasks with no extra expressions on their faces.

Such composure was impressive. Xu Mao felt slightly panicked, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down.

With more lice, one feels less itching. After the Jin Province incident, her forces had greatly increased. Combined with the defecting soldiers, the number of people belonging to the Loyal Army had suddenly grown. A few more rounds of voting would be enough to vote them out.

Xu Mao curled her lips into a smile, maintaining confidence and a positive mindset. She ordered the entire army to break camp, left personnel behind after passing through Jin Province, then immediately stationed in Jiang Province to see what her new territory looked like.

Traveling day and night, Xu Mao smoothly arrived in Jiang Province. None of the expected disturbances she had anticipated occurred. Bored, she tallied the number of new soldiers and the fields and deposits in her possession.

Besides the land deeds, gold, silver, silks, satins, and rare treasures previously delivered by wealthy families, the government itself held some public fields and ownerless wasteland. With officials either dead or fled, all these things fell into Xu Mao’s hands.

After carefully organizing and checking everything, Xu Mao was startled to realize she had become quite wealthy. Even without using the small treasury she stored in the System, the fields in her possession alone were more than enough to support an army.

Xu Mao packed away the land deeds and money, making plans to spend lavishly. After all, she currently had no other income sources and was no longer accepting gifts from wealthy families. She believed she could quickly spend it all—rebelling was quite expensive.

A day later, Xu Mao gathered everyone for a large meeting and announced: Our acquisition of Jin and Jiang provinces was achieved firstly through Tang Zhegui’s act of collecting corpses beneath the city walls, and secondly through the righteous defenders who understood the greater good, promptly abandoned the darkness for the light, killed the corrupt officials, and opened the city gates. I have witnessed all this. Here, I, Xu Mao, sincerely thank you all for your support. Without you, there would be no Loyal Army today.

Xu Mao began with formalities, thanking everyone present and welcoming the new soldiers. Then she motivated them: Our Loyal Army is a place where merits are rewarded and faults punished. To celebrate successfully obtaining Jin and Jiang provinces, first I must heavily reward our mess squad leader, Tang Zhegui.

Although she is responsible for cooking, she never looked down on herself. She worked diligently and earnestly, forged ahead with determination, and bravely took to the battlefield to crush the corrupt officials’ plot to cut off our army’s provisions and logistics. Even when injured, she never forgot her duties, tenaciously pursuing escaped prisoners. Upholding the Loyal Army’s original benevolent intention, she collected corpses for the deceased with utmost sincerity and emotion—unmatched in loyalty and courage, truly a model for all!

Being praised in front of everyone for the first time, and by Marshal Xu himself at that, Tang Zhegui felt her face burn as if on fire. She lowered her head deeply, eyes fixed on the ground, wishing she could vanish into a crack.

Yet she seemed to detect a hint of gritted teeth in his tone. Shaking her head, she secretly glanced up at Xu Mao, only to meet his encouraging gaze.

The Marshal wore a faint smile—no trace of resentment. Tang Zhegui decided she must have misheard. After all, his words were clearly all praise; she must have mistaken his tone.

Overjoyed, she immersed herself in the bliss of being lavishly praised by Xu Mao.

Xu Mao declared, In reward for Tang Zhegui’s merits, she is granted twenty mu of fertile land and thirty mu of wasteland in Huaining, ten strings of copper coins, relieved from her position as head of the cooking squad, and transferred to the newly established Experimental Class to lead agricultural research.

A collective gasp swept through the crowd. They were stunned that Xu Mao had casually bestowed fifty mu of land—twenty of it fertile—without so much as blinking.

An ordinary family of several might receive only ten mu, eight of which were barren. This meant Tang Zhegui would want for nothing in her later years—such extravagance!

Tang Zhegui’s eyes widened as if she had been struck by a pie falling from the sky. Grinning foolishly, she was lost in elation until, after a long daze, she realized something was amiss: why was she suddenly being transferred?

Puzzled, she asked, Thank you for your generous reward, Marshal, but… what is the Experimental Class?

Xu Mao smiled slightly. A magnet for mishaps like Tang Zhegui was too risky to keep in the cooking squad; better to move her out promptly.

Of course, he couldn’t reveal the real reason. He had prepared an excuse: With our army’s rapid growth, the previous structure no longer suits our needs. Hence, we are reforming the system and designations, establishing the Experimental Class and the Rocket Class.

The Experimental Class will focus on farming—tending crops during busy seasons, training during idle times, and fighting in battles. They must balance agriculture and warfare. Tang Zhegui, besides managing your own land, you will also help oversee the Loyal Army’s public fields. The food supply for the entire army rests on the Experimental Class.

As for the Rocket Class, as the name implies, it signifies arrows aflame—swift and fiercely aggressive. It is an elite force, open only to those who achieve first place in monthly evaluations.

The implication was clear: topping the evaluations was merely the entry threshold, underscoring how formidable Rocket Class members must be to live up to the name.

This was the public explanation. In truth, Xu Mao intended to design competitions emphasizing formality, selecting those fond of superficial displays to instill misguided values and foster a competitive atmosphere that undermined unity. Yet, fearing this might still attract genuinely capable individuals, he left a loophole for manual intervention when necessary.

The crowd was awed, sensing something impressive in his words.

Tang Zhegui, however, fixated on the fighting in battles part, flushed with excitement and nodded repeatedly. Rest assured, Marshal! I’ll tend the crops well and ensure no one goes hungry!

She had little interest in cooking anyway. If it meant she could charge into battle, she would gladly farm a hundred mu of land.

After rewarding Tang Zhegui, Xu Mao proceeded to distribute merits and awards in sequence. He transferred outstanding soldiers into the Experimental Class, allocating them farmland and monetary rewards. Those who had recently defected were not overlooked either—especially the soldiers who had actively advocated for switching sides and taken the Prefect’s head. These individuals became Xu Mao’s key focus, and all were sent to the Experimental Class to farm.

After one round of rewards, Xu Mao felt it was insufficient. He announced, “Next, each of you may recommend soldiers you consider exemplary, particularly in terms of moral character—those who endure hardship first and enjoy comforts later, who remain steadfast in adversity. Self-recommendations are also permitted. Squad leaders will compile the lists and submit them for consolidation. I will personally commend the soldier chosen by everyone.”

Xu Mao clearly defined the criteria and scope. By transferring these diligent and resilient soldiers, he believed subsequent tasks would become much easier.

Those willing to endure hardship would find endless hardships awaiting them.

For such individuals, Xu Mao decided to grant them comfortable and leisurely lives, using “sugar-coated bullets” to corrode their determination and wear down their endurance. Those who proved incorruptible would be handled separately.

Having roughly outlined his plans, Xu Mao delegated the tasks and dismissed the assembly.

Once Xu Mao departed, the soldiers gathered with familiar comrades, exclaiming excitedly, “I have land now—ten acres, ten acres!”

They were women, whom the imperial court had never granted land. Yet by joining the Loyal Army, they received ten acres—land that belonged to them, with deeds bearing their own names.

They felt both novelty and exhilaration, their hearts racing and blood boiling with fervor.

For the first time, they deeply sensed that they were no different from men—capable of achieving merits through their own efforts, rewarded with fertile land and wealth, no longer needing to look up to men.

In the past, they had relied entirely on their fathers and brothers, believing them exceptionally wise and capable. But now, with land and savings that their male relatives could never accumulate in a lifetime, they suddenly no longer saw men as superior. They realized that women, too, could achieve greatness and bring honor to their families—and do so just as well as men.

Nearby, the defected soldiers were even more astonished. They had never expected to receive land rewards.

Although the allotments were smaller than those given to Xu Mao’s personal troops, it was understandable that he would reward his own more generously. After all, their status was special.

Without even knowing them well, Xu Mao had granted them land and silver—such generosity and trust! Did he not fear they might remain loyal to their former master, feign submission, and rebel again?

Xu Mao seemed entirely unconcerned.

The soldiers had been pushed to their limits, patience exhausted, forced into rebellion as a last resort. Yet witnessing Xu Mao’s boldness and sincere trust moved them to tears.

A scholar dies for one who understands him. Though they were mere lowly soldiers, they understood the principle of loyalty to those who provided for them.

Xu Mao offered them favorable living conditions, sufficient land and silver, freeing them from worries and allowing them to focus wholly on the battlefield.

This life, though fraught with risks and instability, was far better than what they had known before.

The newly joined soldiers were completely won over, immensely grateful they had not clung to the court’s rigid rules but had instead chosen to join the Loyal Army in time.

After the excitement subsided, everyone began discussing the matter of nominating exemplary soldiers. This felt quite novel to them—they actually had the qualification to recommend others, which sounded somewhat similar to recommending filial and incorrupt candidates.

They weren’t unfamiliar with the concept of recommending filial and incorrupt individuals, but that had always been a privilege reserved for the nobility. Recommending others had never been remotely related to commoners like them.

Who should we recommend? None of us come from wealthy or noble backgrounds. We all share equally humble origins—who would be suitable?

Suddenly granted the right to choose, they felt at a loss, momentarily unsure whom to nominate.

Tang Zhegui said, Since we share the same background, the Marshal’s intention certainly isn’t to base the selection on family status. I believe it should be exactly as the Marshal stated—we ought to select those with upright character and diligent dedication. The key lies in virtuous conduct!