From when His Majesty Emperor Tianyou formally issued the edict and plague-infected starving refugees began gathering at Taowu Market, the Marquis of Xinchang’s household had dispatched a group of personnel to come here and, in the name of the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu, set up a gruel station at the Qiuhu Mountain Villa to provide relief to the starving refugees. But this was the first time Han Qian had returned to the estate since the refugees had gathered.

Fan Xicheng, Lin Haizheng, and Han Laoshan, leading over ten household troops and Guo Nu’er, Lin Zongjing and nearly fifty other household troop children, had already been dispatched by Han Qian and his father to come to the estate. Now approaching dusk, the gruel station set up on the southern wing of the estate was opening its simple barrier gates to let the starving refugees enter to eat.

However, they had only set up one gruel station at the mountain pass on the southern side of the estate. The location was cramped, and thirty to forty thousand starving refugees surging toward here created chaotic disorder. Han Qian, accompanying Shen Yang, had great difficulty squeezing into the gruel station.

That Feng Yi and Kong Xirong could abandon the boat and come ashore already demonstrated tremendous courage. At this moment they dared not follow Han Qian and Shen Yang directly into the crowds of plague-infected starving refugees. They would rather climb up the eastern mountain ridge and pass through the woods to climb over into the estate.

Most of the starving refugees, even if not terminally ill, were starved to skin and bones, extremely weak. Otherwise, looking at the eagerness and greed they showed toward food, relying solely on this small number of personnel at the estate to maintain order—disorder would inevitably occur.

Moreover, most of the household troops still dared not make contact with the plague-infected starving refugees.

Inside the gruel station, wooden barrier walls additionally separated the space. On the inner side, over a dozen iron pots were set up, with household troops from the Han residence and the Marquis of Xinchang’s household, or servants from the estate, cooking bags of rice mixed with wild vegetables whose roots and stems still carried soil into gruel, then pouring it across the wooden barrier wall into large vats outside the wall for the starving refugees to share and eat.

Most of the household troops, including the personnel dispatched by the Marquis of Xinchang’s household, were all behind the barrier wall. Only Guo Nu’er and over twenty other starving refugee youths who had followed their mothers in remarriage and been adopted into the Han family registry, along with Fan Xicheng, Fan Dahei, and Lin Haizheng, stood outside the wooden barrier wall, barely maintaining order with their thin bodies.

The chaos of the scene was truly not difficult to imagine.

And the hundred-plus Dragon Sparrow Army old soldiers who had been dispatched—not one of them was at the gruel station here. Han Qian estimated they were just responsible for establishing gates on both flanks of the lake shore.

Han Qian walked over with a darkened face, lifted his foot and kicked over a row of wooden barrier walls to the ground, then stared at the stunned Fan Xicheng and questioned: “The gruel station is in complete chaos. What’s the meaning of so many people shrinking inside?”

Fan Xicheng hadn’t expected that as soon as Han Qian arrived, he would fly into such a rage. He explained:

“The gu poison is menacing. The household troops are fearful. Helping to cook gruel before the barrier wall can still barely maintain things.”

Fan Xicheng, Fan Dahei, Lin Haizheng, as well as Zhao Kuo and Zhao Wuji knew the contents of the “Treatise on Plague Water.” Han Qian had also repeatedly instructed them on the key points of isolating the source of water gu plague infection and their own preventive measures. But even so, their hearts were still pounding, completely uncertain whether they would be infected by the plague, much less the other household troops who were completely in the dark and merely passively accepting orders—they feared the plague like tigers.

Another thing—in Fan Xicheng’s and the others’ view, the Han family doing this much for these starving refugees had already exhausted their benevolence and righteousness. So they hadn’t forced those household troops who feared the plague poison to stand outside the wooden barrier wall and directly contact the plague-infected starving refugees.

“Fool! Have you lived your years as a dog? They are all troops and soldiers of my Han family. Could it be that in the future on the battlefield, facing menacing blades and weapons, they should also shrink their heads and hide behind wooden barrier walls, relying on these thin youths to block arrows and swords for them?” Han Qian unceremoniously cursed at Fan Xicheng, berating him thoroughly.

Fan Xicheng’s old face flushed bright red, yet he had no way to defend himself.

Han Qian removed the sword from his waist and gripped it in his hand, turned his head to glare fiercely at the household troops behind the wooden barrier wall for a moment, then said to Fan Xicheng: “Fighting plague is like killing enemies. If on the battlefield of killing enemies, someone dares to fear the enemy and not advance, dares to resist orders and not comply—Fan Xicheng, how should you deal with this?”

“Should execute them,” Fan Xicheng said in a muffled voice.

“Good. Chief of Staff Master Shen Yang is present here. Other people I cannot and will not manage. But Fan Xicheng, you keep your eyes wide open. These Han family household troops temporarily borrowed to serve under Master Shen Yang’s command—whoever dares to fear and not advance, whoever dares to resist orders and not comply, you damn well stab them dead with one blade each. My Han family does not raise such worthless people!” Han Qian stared at the many household troops and children shrinking behind the wooden barrier wall and rebuked them angrily.

The method of isolating plague water sounded simple, but with thirty to forty thousand plague-infected starving refugees weakened to the extreme, they had completely lost the ability to self-organize. If the household troops dared not deeply interact and contact these plague-infected starving refugees, how could they watch to prevent them from contacting plague water? How could they make them strictly restrain themselves to only drink well water? And how could they make them change their previous unsanitary habits, concentrate for toilet use, and further process excrement and urine and other waste? And how could they organize them to rush before the spring water rose, to build a mud embankment along the lake shore?

If these things weren’t done, the epidemic couldn’t be controlled, the plague-infected starving refugees would always remain on the verge of death, and there would be no hope whatsoever for subsequent garrison field cultivation and military training.

Han Qian still hoped that before Anning Palace came to their senses, they could see the Dragon Sparrow Army initially taking shape. This way, at least it could make Anning Palace and the Crown Prince’s side somewhat wary and restrained. Only then would he and his father have a better chance of escaping Anning Palace’s retaliatory strikes.

And more importantly, Han Qian still felt his father had been too lenient with these household troops before, letting them live too comfortably. Now was just the right opportunity to re-establish some rules.

If each and every one was pampered and raised like a master, when the Han family encountered some crisis, the notion that they would have even a bit of loyalty—that would truly be seeing ghosts.

Having said this, Han Qian again cupped his hands toward the two stewards representing the Marquis of Xinchang’s household, saying: “On the Marquis of Xinchang’s household side, I cannot interfere. I ask both stewards to consider and handle accordingly.”

That Han Qian and Shen Yang and others dared to squeeze into the gruel station from the crowds of plague-infected starving refugees—their doing this was more effective than saying it a hundred times.

Moreover, everyone understood that the young master was far less easy to serve than the family head, and the young master’s words carried increasingly more weight in the Han family. Seeing Han Qian throw this fit of temper, immediately the household troops at the estate dared not hesitate further. They removed the wooden barrier walls and came out one after another, maintaining order.

Han Qian also knew that once matters here showed even slight improvement, the Marquis of Xinchang Li Pu might very well drive out his personnel, ensuring that those responsible for training and commanding troops were all under his and Wanhong Pavilion’s control. But Han Qian wouldn’t choose to stand by idly because of this.

Han Qian having the household troops and various children deeply contact the plague-infected starving refugees, even taking on the most chaotic situation in the early stage—this wasn’t to say he shared the same compassion for heaven and pity for mankind as his father and Shen Yang.

He was still thinking by every possible means about how to successfully survive past the seventeenth year of Emperor Tianyou’s reign. If compassion was needed, others should be showing compassion for him instead.

In fact, in Han Qian’s view, the more chaotic the early situation, the more fully the household troops and various children who intervened in it could be trained.

Shen Yang was a renowned Confucian scholar with practical learning for governing the world. Even if Han Qian himself slacked off a bit, having Fan Xicheng, Fan Dahei, Lin Haizheng, Zhao Wuji, as well as Guo Nu’er, Lin Zongjing and these youths follow Shen Yang to work, they could still learn how to painstakingly untangle and gradually sort out the chaotic situation bit by bit.

This was something very difficult for them to comprehend through studying behind closed doors.

With two or three hundred personnel dispersed, the scene finally didn’t look as terrible as before. Han Qian invited Shen Yang into the estate to talk.

Although Fan Xicheng had been publicly rebuked by Han Qian, there were still many matters to report. Seeing that Lin Haizheng and Fan Dahei cooperating with the Marquis of Xinchang household’s stewards to preside over the gruel station was sufficient, he brought along Han Laoshan and steeled himself to follow Han Qian and Shen Yang to the eastern courtyard.

“How much grain has the estate consumed?” Han Qian invited Shen Yang to sit in the hall, then called Fan Xicheng and Han Laoshan over to question.

Fan Xicheng was slightly stunned, then seeing Han Qian’s expression indicating he wanted the truth, said: “The one hundred twenty thousand catties of grain stored at the estate have been consumed almost completely in three days. At most it can support one more meal before noon tomorrow.”

Han Qian had previously given Fan Xicheng over a hundred ingots of gold to come here and prepare relief matters. But with thirty to forty thousand starving refugees gathered here, one hundred ingots of gold could be said to be a drop in the bucket. Not to mention other supplies—just the grain purchased could only barely support three or four days of consumption.

The court said it would allocate twenty million cash in military funds annually, but even if Anning Palace didn’t obstruct from within, even if the corresponding money and goods could be smoothly allocated down quickly, it could only support two or three months at most.

Very obviously, without the Marquis of Xinchang’s household and Wanhong Pavilion’s abundant financial resources as support, even if Han Qian’s bones were dismantled and sold, it couldn’t support things for more than a few days.

Han Qian said to Fan Xicheng: “How much grain the estate consumes, how many personnel are invested daily, calculated into how much labor costs—Fan Xicheng, you make a detailed accounting, report it to Master Shen Yang every ten days, cannot confuse public and private matters…”

Han Qian had not reached such great selflessness as to use his own private funds to raise troops for the Third Prince Yang Yuanpu and Li Pu and others. Not only must the grain and other supplies invested in the early stage be clearly accounted for, but all the personnel the Han family invested before and after must also be calculated into labor costs.

Shen Yang didn’t mind this. The court originally strictly prohibited private families from large-scale relief of starving refugees, to prevent local powerful clans from buying people’s hearts with intentions of harboring rebellious ambitions.

Even if other prefectures and counties couldn’t manage so much, in the capital Jinling, Shen Yang absolutely didn’t hope anyone would blur this bottom line. And even if the Marquis of Xinchang’s household brought out money and grain, it must also be allocated down in the name of the Third Prince, the Marquis of Linjiang.

After all, the starving refugees recruited by the garrison camp were theoretically all military households under the name of the Third Prince, the Marquis of Linjiang Yang Yuanpu. In the future, the Dragon Sparrow Army’s soldiers and generals would all be conscripted from the military households under the garrison camp’s jurisdiction.

That Han Qian could proactively raise this, Shen Yang instead believed he understood propriety and wanted even more to keep him at his side to serve. He didn’t realize that Han Qian actually was reluctant in his heart to part with this money and goods.