When Wang Yun, Ji Zi 'ang, and the others headed north, Big Bluff did not follow them. This was because there was too much intelligence to gather once the war broke out in the North. A lot of the work of instigating defection could also be done during the chaos.
At this moment, the field intelligence agency in the Northwest quietly started preparations for a plan called "Revitalizing the Northwest." It was aimed at instigating more ambitious people to join the construction of the Northwest after the war ended.
Of course, they definitely could not really do anything now that they were facing a common enemy. Big Bluff was only making preparations for the future.
Therefore, after Wang Yun and the others headed north, they still had to find the person who would receive them, Zhang Xiaoman.
Wang Yun sized up Stronghold 144 in front of him. He saw the stronghold's gate was wide open, and many merchants were shuttling back and forth at the gate. Some of them had just arrived in the Northwest from the Central Plains, while others were in the Northwest preparing their goods to return to the Central Plains.
Outside the stronghold, the original town had been expanded countless times and had become a huge wholesale market. People were hawking their wares in the market, while the shops in the stronghold would come here to stock up on their goods.
The entire town was full of life and bustling with activity.
When Ji Zi 'ang saw this, he asked, "Have you been to the Northwest before?"
"I've been here before." Wang Yun nodded and said, "When I was still in the field a few years ago, I came to the Northwest to hunt down a traitor. At that time, this place was still managed by the Soong Clan."
"Then what was the Northwest like before?" Ji Zi 'ang asked.
"At that time, I didn't enter the stronghold and only stayed in town for a short period of time. At that time, the town was no different from the Central Plains. In fact, it was even more miserable than the refugees in the Central Plains. After all, there was a lack of resources here." Wang Yun recalled, "But it's completely different now. Even the town in Luoyang City is not as prosperous as the Northwest."
"That's right." Ji Zi 'ang nodded. "This is no longer the town we know. Perhaps we made the right choice."
Wang Yun walked to a hardware wholesale store and asked, "Bro, where are you from?"
"Me? I was born and raised in the Northwest. "The middle-aged wholesale hardware man smiled and said," Why do you ask? "
"We just came from the Central Plains and wanted to ask about the situation. Bro, were you in the stronghold before this?" Wang Yun asked. In his opinion, these people had probably come out of the stronghold to do business. How could refugees have the capital to start a business?
"No, I'm a refugee," the middle-aged man said with a smile.
"Then where did you get the capital?" Wang Yun asked curiously.
"The people from Dormitory 178 approved a small interest-free loan. They said it would help us with our business. I heard that refugees can also apply for it, so I applied for it," the middle-aged man explained with a smile.
Wang Yun was stunned for a moment. Every consortium bank had a loan business, but before a loan could be made, they had to verify the qualifications of the lender and also needed to have assets as collateral.
However, the refugee in front of him definitely did not have any assets that he could use as collateral. Moreover, he had never heard of any consortium or bank that would lend to refugees, let alone interest-free loans.
Although it was called a loan, it was actually more like a subsidy to help refugees turn their lives around.
The middle-aged man said with a smile, "But there's no distinction between refugees and stronghold residents in the Northwest anymore. Everyone is free to enter and leave the city, and the identity documents of refugees are no different from those of stronghold residents."
Wang Yun lamented, "Fortress 178 is really bold."
When the Wang Clan opened up a stronghold to refugees, the entire world felt that the Wang Clan had gone too far. But no one expected that the Northwest would completely eliminate the class distinction between refugees and stronghold residents.
Of course, the stronghold residents would definitely dislike the refugees. But over time, the refugees would look exactly the same as the stronghold residents, so no one could tell them apart anymore.
At this moment, Wang Yun and the others witnessed with their own eyes the earth-shattering changes that had taken place in the Northwest in just a few months. They were genuinely shocked, and for some reason, they felt a sense of encouragement. It was as though they were infected by this vibrant scene.
On the same afternoon, they found the garrison of Stronghold 144. At the entrance of the barracks, Wang Yun handed over a letter personally written by Big Bluff. "Please pass this letter to Regimental Commander Zhang Xiaoman."
The soldiers at the entrance were stunned for a moment. Then an officer ordered, "Go and deliver the letter to the brigade commander."
When he said that, Wang Yun was also stunned. Didn't Big Bluff say his son was only a regimental commander? It looked like he had been promoted.
However, Wang Yun could understand. After all, after Fortress 178 had taken over the entire Northwest, their territory had expanded by many times. Therefore, they needed more soldiers to protect this land. The mainstays of the troops from before would quickly be promoted to more important posts.
After more than ten minutes, a soldier said to Wang Yun, "Please come in. The brigade commander has invited you over."
When they entered the barracks, Wang Yun saw hundreds of military transport trucks parked on the road. There were even trucks transporting supplies. It was a spectacular sight to behold.
Wang Yun whispered, "The Northwest is preparing for war, right? Look at those trucks. There are even people constantly loading supplies into them. If it weren't for war, there wouldn't be a need to put on such a show."
"War? Against whom? "Ji Zi 'Ang frowned." Could it be against the Kyung Clan? "
At this moment, Zhang Xiaoman came out to welcome them. He looked at Wang Yun enthusiastically and said, "I've read the letter. Welcome to our Fortress 178 in the Northwest. I've already informed Wang Fengyuan of your arrival, and he'll send someone to escort you to Fortress 178. Does anyone have any objections to this?"
Wang Yun nodded. "No objections. Your father told us about the arrangements before we came here."
"My father?" Zhang Xiaoman was stunned. "My father told you all about it?"
When Wang Yun saw Zhang Xiaoman's reaction, he was also stunned!
Wang Yun looked at the letter Big Bluff had written in Zhang Xiaoman's hand. He probed, "Big Bluff told me about it. Isn't Big Bluff your father? Zhang Husheng? Do you know Zhang Husheng? "
However, Zhang Xiaoman flew into a rage and threw the letter to the ground. "That old bastard is fucking taking advantage of me again! My father works in a factory at Fortress 178!"
Wang Yun was speechless.
Ji Zi 'Ang was speechless.
To be honest, Wang Yun could not have expected Big Bluff to spout Nonsense about something like this. Moreover, looking at how angry Zhang Xiaoman was, it was probably not the first time Big Bluff had taken advantage of him!
For a moment, Wang Yun did not know how to criticize Big Bluff anymore. He really could not hear a single word of truth coming out of his mouth. Whether it was true or not depended entirely on one's own judgment.
Zhang Xiaoman adjusted his emotions and said, "Y 'all can stay in the camp for a day. Wang Fengyuan's people will arrive at Stronghold 144 tomorrow. I still have something important to do here, so I won't be accompanying you on the tour."
Wang Yun suddenly asked, "Is there going to be a war in the Northwest?"
"There's no need to hide it from y 'all." Zhang Xiaoman said, "My infantry brigade will also be heading north tomorrow to fight against the enemies from the north together with the Central Plains."
Wang Yun was stunned. "Are we going to help the Wang Clan and the Pyro Company?"
"No." Zhang Xiaoman shook his head. "We're not going to help the Wang Clan and the Pyro Company. We're going to help the people of the Central Plains."
Wang Yun and Ji Zi 'Ang looked at each other. There was really no benefit in going to the Northwest to support the Central Plains. However, Fortress 178 had made the decision to do so.
Suddenly, Wang Yun said firmly, "Then we'll go with you. You need someone who's familiar with the Central Plains for your trip to the Central Plains, and I already have a map of the Central Plains in my head."
Zhang Xiaoman thought for a moment. "I'll have to ask the higher-ups about this. But y 'all must be tired from the journey and have just arrived from the Central Plains, so there's actually no need for you to take the risk with us from the Northwest."
Wang Yun thought for a moment and said, "We're also from the Northwest now."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
