Chapter 1079 - S-Class
More than two thousand rebels already occupied Huang County. With three thousand reinforcements and a large number of conscripted local able-bodied men added to their ranks, their military advantage was overwhelming. Mao Chenglu was a veteran general. No matter how powerful the enemy's firearms might be, they would struggle to resist such odds—particularly with artillery now attached to the force.
Having reached this decision, the assembled generals turned their attention to discussing the assault on Laizhou.
On Qimu Island, the atmosphere was jubilant. Several leading figures of the Shandong Office gathered around a brazier, all beaming with satisfaction.
Zhu Mingxia had returned to the Baimatang relay camp after recovering a large group of refugees. His "scattering beans to conjure soldiers" formation had not only frightened off the small pursuing force tailing them but had also gathered additional refugees along the way.
That night, he led the army to shelter at the Baimatang relay camp. Early the next morning, they were besieged by more than a thousand rebels who had chased them from Huang County. The result: over two hundred enemy dead and several hundred captured.
After returning to Qimu Island, a rough count revealed the stunning scale of their success. This single operation, counting both recovered refugees and prisoners, had brought in more than three thousand eight hundred people—their largest single harvest since arriving in Dengzhou.
Better still, the composition of the population was ideal. Because most of these refugees had fled in groups organized by clan and village, the ratio of men to women was relatively balanced, and there were also large numbers of children. This was precisely the demographic the Senate valued most. After a preliminary inspection of the group, they had found quite a few women whose height conformed to the original aesthetic preferences, which only further elevated morale among the Senators stationed at the Qimu Island Forward Command.
Though the women were presently disheveled and hunched with exhaustion, adequate food and rest would reveal that most were excellent stock.
Not only could the Ziming Tower in Lingao expect an influx of new technicians, but the life secretaries serving the Senate might soon see upgrades as well.
These considerations alone were enough to make the Senators of the Shandong Office proclaim that braving wind and snow to reach this remote island had been entirely worthwhile.
Beyond the not-so-noble goal of satisfying their own physiological needs, the credit for providing high-quality life secretaries to the majority of Senators would undoubtedly add considerable points to their prestige. This would profoundly affect their future standing within the Senate.
"It seems coming to Shandong was the right choice!" Lu Wenyuan wore a particularly lascivious grin. "I'll have to select carefully for myself first—the pavilion closest to the water enjoys the moonlight first..."
"That absolutely won't do." Zhu Mingxia shook his head vigorously. "If that lot in the Senate finds out, they'll eat you alive. There are plenty of fine women to be had. Let's not sit with our backsides crooked—it won't end well if people catch us by the pigtails."
Chen Sigen chuckled. "Little Lu, you're still too young, too simple..."
Just then, a bell rang outside.
"Ah, the card distribution bell. We're about to begin processing the new refugees. I should head over. Once we've finished with this batch, we need to send more ships to Jeju Island as soon as possible. There are too many people on this island—if we don't transport them out, management will become impossible."
Three thousand people had been shipped to Jeju just two days prior. Currently, counting those just recovered, nearly eight thousand refugees crowded the island, overflowing the refugee camp. Moreover, one or two thousand more were flooding in daily. Facilities were severely overtaxed. For now, they could only guarantee that women, children, and the elderly were housed indoors. Many others had no choice but to sleep in the open within the camp, surviving by huddling around fires. This placed enormous strain on the camp's safety, sanitation, and administration.
Zhu Mingxia departed the fortress, mounted a horse, and rode to the temporary relay station of the refugee camp, guards in tow. The continuous transfer of refugees had made the island dangerously overcrowded, and management increasingly difficult. Lu Wenyuan had cordoned off a separate area specifically for issuing refugee cards. Newcomers to Qimu Island assembled here first. There were no buildings—just a patch of ground enclosed by simple wooden fencing. They did not need to spend the night here, merely resting briefly while registering and collecting their refugee and meal cards before moving on.
The refugee card system had been Zhu Mingxia's proposal. Soldiers carried dog tags; refugees should have their own identification cards. This facilitated management, allowed them to track the refugee population at all times, and—most importantly—enabled accurate headcounts. Special groups received special card codes, making it easy to locate particular individuals. Maidservants, for example.
Most Senators showed considerable interest in the potential maidservant wave. The Executive Committee had also intended to use this opportunity to distribute benefits to everyone. Under informal authorization, Zhu Mingxia had taken on the task of identifying high-quality maidservant candidates. Finding young beauties among thousands of sallow, emaciated, dirt-smeared refugees was no simple matter. Most people's eyes glazed over after a while, and they ended up concluding there was nothing but a sea of potatoes. But in Zhu Mingxia's view, even with faces smeared with charcoal dust and bodies wasted by hunger, he could pick out the candidates one by one.
According to him, one had to evaluate beauty from the perspective of human anatomy—the height of the brow bone and nasal bridge, the distance between the eyes, the position of the hip bones, and so forth. Only through such methods could effective "quantitative management" be implemented. Otherwise, "beautiful appearance" remained a standard that varied too wildly from person to person.
But combing through thousands of refugees one by one was too inefficient. Hence the refugee card system. Only with a refugee card was one recognized as a refugee of Qimu Island. Only Qimu Island refugees qualified for meal cards. Only with a meal card was food provided.
Long queues had formed at the card distribution site. Refugees lined up according to age and sex, maintained by village braves wielding wooden sticks. First, refugees were divided into three groups by gender: men, women, and children under twelve. The men's and women's groups collected refugee cards separately and were then further subdivided by approximate age: twelve to twenty-five, twenty-five to forty, and over forty.
Each subgroup proceeded to designated locations to collect meal cards. After obtaining their cards, they moved to assembly points to reunite with relatives and friends, becoming formal refugees.
Distribution proceeded village by village. When one village finished, the next stepped forward. Scattered refugees without village affiliations were gathered by naturalized citizens before collecting cards. To maintain order, Zhu Mingxia deployed large numbers of Qimu Island village braves, supported by soldiers of the Northbound Detachment standing with fixed bayonets to project authority. He also assigned work team members with kind faces from among the naturalized citizens to help calm the people.
Zhu Mingxia stationed himself at the position where women aged twelve to twenty-five collected their meal cards. When he spotted a potentially suitable woman, he would give a nod, and the card distributor would issue a meal card beginning with the letter "Z." Behind him stood three naturalized citizens. He had explained the essentials of candidate selection to them in detail, using himself as a demonstration. While he remained on Qimu Island, he handled the task personally while the naturalized citizens observed and learned. Eventually, when he was too occupied for such duties, these men would take over the selection process entirely. The female refugees holding Z-cards underwent secondary screening and were classified into B, A, and S-class maidservant candidates. Those below B-class would be screened again after transport to Jeju.
The continuous screening of refugees was beginning to make Zhu Mingxia's eyes swim. He rubbed them vigorously. This was the final check; he would see it through. For the sake of the Senate's collective brotherhood, he could endure a bit more. After several dozen more women passed, a slender figure caught his attention. A thin young girl clutched a pipa taller than herself, the instrument's body obscuring most of her own. Her face pressed tightly against the pipa, hidden from view. Zhu Mingxia studied her. Judging by her frame, she was still quite young. The position of her hip bones, however, piqued his interest. He approached and rapped his knuckles against the pipa.
"Look up."
The girl timidly raised her small head, revealing eyes wide with terror. Her gaunt, sallow cheeks called to mind E.T. the Extraterrestrial—the standard refugee appearance. Zhu Mingxia examined her carefully and judged her promising, with potential yet to be developed. Moreover, her feet were unbound. The cheekbones were slightly high, which was unfortunate; otherwise, she would have been even better.
"How old are you? Can you play the pipa?"
"Y-yes. Fifteen, Master." The girl was clearly frightened, her words coming out in a slight stutter.
Through a few simple questions, Zhu Mingxia learned more about the girl. She belonged to a small street-singing opera troupe. Because their numbers were few, they had been grouped with other unaffiliated individuals for card collection. Other members of her troupe were behind her. Zhu Mingxia glanced back and indeed spotted a woman holding a bamboo flute. Unfortunately, her looks were unremarkable. No matter. He urgently needed people who could play instruments, and now he had found them.
Under the girl's guidance, Zhu Mingxia located the troupe leader. The woman was surnamed Liu, somewhere in her thirties. A lifetime of wandering had etched deep lines into her face, and her graying hair made her appear nearly fifty.
Zhu Mingxia was not wearing his Fubo Army uniform at present, only a fur coat manufactured in Lingao. Liu hesitated over how to address him and finally settled on "General." The title pleased Zhu Mingxia, and his gaze softened slightly. Liu's rich life experience allowed her to catch this momentary shift. She launched into an eloquent promotion of her opera troupe. She spoke with a heavy Southern accent, though fortunately Zhu Mingxia could understand her. From her narrative—a blend of truth and embellishment—he pieced together a general picture of these people.
Troupe Leader Liu had once been a courtesan in a Nanjing brothel. Sold into the establishment as a child, she had compensated for her unremarkable looks by devoting herself entirely to music. She became proficient in blowing, plucking, strumming, and singing, eventually becoming the brothel's signature performer. After years of selling her body, she had accumulated considerable savings. But her success bred envy. Rivals conspired with officials to seize the property by force. Logically, the change in ownership should have mattered little to her—the brothel would simply have a new master. But other courtesans who had always resented her seized the opportunity to maneuver against her through the new owner. She lost most of her savings and was disfigured by her enemies. Only her mastery of music saved her; she managed to scrape together a small street opera troupe. Otherwise, she would likely have starved to death.
Over the following decade, by adopting street urchins and purchasing daughters from impoverished families, the troupe had grown from a handful of performers to more than a dozen. Having heard that wealthy merchants congregated in the Dengzhou area and business was easy to find, she had taken a ship from Songjiang. Not long after settling in Dengzhou, Kong Youde's mutiny erupted. Troupe Leader Liu, understanding that cities offered no safety during such upheavals, had fled to a stockade with which she was acquainted.
(End of Chapter)