In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 713 Valiant Battalion

Yang Zheng guessed correctly; Zhang He's shop was indeed about to make a fortune.

After Yang Ming and his wife, many more people who noticed the shop came in one after another. After learning about the prices of the clothes in the shop, the people of Yongliang County, who were suffering from the cold, almost all took out their wallets without hesitation and bought either chicken feather clothes or duck down clothes.

In just half a day, almost all the clothes displayed in the shop were snapped up by the people of Yongliang County.

Fortunately, Zhang He brought enough down jackets this time, so even with a large number of people rushing to buy them, the store's inventory was still sufficient.

"These clothes are really good! They're so warm."

"Yes! The key is that the price is not expensive either. You can buy a chicken feather coat for 20 coins, which is much more cost-effective than buying cloth and making your own clothes."

"This shop owner is so kind! Such good clothes, and they're selling them for such a low price!"

"..."

The people of Yongliang County who bought the clothes were all smiles. For them, who lacked warm clothing, the chicken feather and duck down jackets sold in this store could undoubtedly help them resist the cold and make them feel a little warmth in this cold winter.

"Brother Zhang, let me toast you to thank you for bringing warm clothing to the people of Yongliang County."

Witnessing the scene of people in the store trying to buy down jackets, Tang Qing raised his teacup to toast Zhang He. As the magistrate of Yongliang County and the official in charge of the people of Yongliang County, Tang Qing naturally knew how hard the people under his jurisdiction had been during this winter. The cold was a constant source of trouble for the people of Yongliang County.

Tang Qing had also thought of some ways to change this situation, but even with his vast knowledge, he couldn't come up with any good solutions.

Because he had no resources to help the people keep warm, fortunately... now there was Zhang He. The down jackets that Zhang He brought from Chenjia Village solved the urgent problem for the people of Yongliang County.

With down jackets available, the number of people in Yongliang County who freeze to death this winter will certainly be reduced significantly.

"You're too kind, Lord Tang."

Zhang He raised his glass and clinked it with Tang Qing's, saying, "I'm just doing this for the money, there's no need for thanks."

Upon hearing this, Tang Qing and Yang Zheng remained silent, but they did not agree with Zhang He's statement. If Zhang He was only after money, he could have easily sold the down jackets at a higher price. However, he was selling them for only slightly above cost...

Clearly, Zhang Hehe was not as greedy as he claimed, and his mind was not only focused on making money.

"Brother Zhang, you'll be returning to Taiping County in the next few days, right?"

Yang Zheng asked after taking a sip of tea.

"Yes."

"Brother Zhang, don't forget what I entrusted to you when you get back."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I will never forget."

…………

…………

Outside Liangzhou Prefecture, in the military camp of the Yang family army.

Large, fluffy snowflakes drifted down slowly, enveloping the military camp in a blanket of snow.

However, despite the heavy snowfall, the training of Yang's army never stopped.

On the drill ground of the military camp, several thousand soldiers were training under the command of their instructors.

"kill!"

The voices of thousands of people converged, and even the snowflakes falling from the sky seemed to tremble. The snowflakes that landed on the soldiers were instantly melted by the heat rising from their bodies.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

The soldiers seemed tireless, constantly thrusting out their spears, their eyes filled with chilling killing intent!

These thousands of soldiers undergoing training are the true elite of the Yang family army, each one a standout among the 20 soldiers of the Yang family army!

This army, composed of elite troops from the Yang family army, was also known as the Brave Warriors Battalion and was the backbone of the Yang family army directly under Yang Zheng.

Ordinary soldiers of the Yang Family Army only need to train once every few days, or even once every ten days. However, the elite of the Brave Warriors Battalion are different. They need to train almost every day in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Brave Warriors Battalion.

Of course, the soldiers of the Brave Battalion were better off than the ordinary soldiers of the Yang Family Army. For example, the ordinary soldiers of the Yang Family Army ate unpalatable wheat porridge and could barely eat about 70% full at each meal.

The soldiers of the Brave Battalion ate fine rations at every meal, with plenty of white flour buns and rice, and occasionally they could even have a bite or two of meat.

As for military pay, soldiers in the Valiant Battalion often received about twice as much pay as ordinary soldiers.

It can be said that the treatment of the soldiers in the Brave Battalion was something that all the soldiers of the Yang Family Army envied.

The reason for this situation was not that Yang Zheng did not value ordinary soldiers, but that Liangzhou was poor and the resources he, as the King of Liangzhou, had were very limited. He could only allocate the limited resources reasonably, prioritizing the allocation of more resources to the more powerful elite troops in the army.

In fact, most of the soldiers in Yang Family Army had no complaints about Yang Zheng's actions. It was a fact that the brave soldiers were stronger than them, and it was also a fact that they charged ahead and killed more enemies in battle.

It is only natural that stronger and more meritorious soldiers would receive better treatment.

Instead of complaining, you should work hard and strive to join the Valiant Battalion and become a Valiant Battalion soldier.

This is the thought of the vast majority of Yang Family Army soldiers: they would admire their comrades in the Brave Warriors Battalion, but they would not be jealous. Instead, they would turn their envy into motivation, spurring themselves on to work hard and strive to enter the Brave Warriors Battalion.

"kill!"

The training of the Valiant Battalion was still underway. The thousands of Valiant Battalion soldiers roared like thunder, and their uniform thrusting movements made it seem as if thousands of people were integrated into one.

"very good!"

The instructor in charge of training the soldiers of the Valiant Battalion nodded in satisfaction. Although these soldiers, who came from humble backgrounds, were not in good physical condition, they had become quite respectable after such a long period of training.

Most importantly, these brave soldiers are incredibly hardworking. No matter how intense the training is, they grit their teeth and persevere without ever complaining.

Of course, while they were able to endure hardship, the instructor was also aware that these brave soldiers, due to their impoverished backgrounds and the fact that they generally didn't have enough to eat during their upbringing, had relatively poor physical constitutions. Forcing them into high-intensity training would inevitably cause physical depletion, so he didn't dare to subject them to too much training. He quickly shouted to dismiss them, ending their morning drills.

The soldiers, relieved to hear they were being dismissed, put down their weapons and walked wearily toward the kitchen.

"The morning drills are finally over."

Zhang Xiaoniu, a soldier from the Brave Warriors Battalion, exhaled a breath of white air, feeling utterly exhausted.

The morning training session was short, only one and a half hours, or about three hours.