chsdbacks Chapter 716: The King of Troubled Times
Chapter 716: The King of Troubled Times
Yang Ming carefully studied the situation. During the rule of several warlords, their subordinates often massacred rebels in order to seize Pokémon, resulting in many Pokémon losing their trainers. Some trainers chose to flee to other islands because of persecution.
What's worse is that these Pokémon, used as tools by warlords to intimidate the people, have been in a state of malnutrition for a long time, and some have even become disabled.
Yang Ming discussed with the local Miss Joys and decided to treat these Pokémon first, and then spread the news on Akala Island and Melemele Island, calling on the exiled refugees from Ula'ula Island to come back and reunite with their Pokémon.
As for those Pokémon that no longer have trainers, Yang Ming plans to hand them over to his subordinates for adoption.
Under Yang Ming's series of policies, these towns and villages gradually regained their prosperity, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, the refugees in exile returned to their hometowns, and everything was developing in a good direction.
Yang Ming seized the opportunity to issue a conscription order, aggressively recruiting for the next phase of the Northern Expedition. Because Yang Ming's reputation among the people was excellent, some were secretly calling him the next King of the Island. A large number of refugees eagerly joined Yang Ming's forces, and in just a few days, Yang Ming had gained over 5000 men under his command.
Yang Ming also carefully selected these newly recruited personnel. For the refugees who did not have Pokémon, he would arrange Pokémon without owners for them as their initial partners. For those in particularly difficult conditions, he would give them Poké Balls and medicine.
However, Yang Ming also has very strict requirements for the military discipline of his subordinates, and strictly prohibits any behavior that disturbs the public. For those soldiers who abide by military discipline, he also treats them very generously. Not only does he provide higher wages, but for those who have made outstanding progress, Yang Ming will also give out items such as evolution stones as rewards.
"Damn Yang Paopao, how dare he pay those poor bastards their wages? It really pissed me off!"
In Maliejing City, the largest city in the north of Ula'ula Island, "David Dai" Liangzi was furious. When he heard that Yang Paopao had started to develop people's livelihood and govern the local area, he and the other four quasi-kings' faces suddenly became extremely ugly.
Although they still had 20,000 troops under their command at this time, these people were, after all, a mob who only bullied the common people on a daily basis and could not compete with Yang Ming's well-trained troops.
What’s even worse is that the people under them are actually starting to waver.
Warlords like "David Dai" never paid their men wages. They only relied on one trick to feed their armies - that is "robbing".
The big warlords robbed the rich, the small warlords robbed the small businessmen, and the ordinary soldiers could only rob the common people. In this disorderly environment, warlords such as Liangzi plundered a large amount of wealth in a short period of time, but it led to the decline of local people's livelihood. The economy of the ancient city of Malie was on the verge of collapse.
Naturally, the soldiers could not stand this kind of life. Although it was easy for them to seize wealth under Yoshiko's reign of terror, they could not see a future in the long run.
In contrast, although Yang Ming did not allow his men to rob, the town's economy was recovering steadily, and even ordinary people could see hope.
To be honest, if Liangzi and others had not been able to rely on violence to control the army, the entire city would have rebelled long ago.
Even so, Yoshiko and others still felt a huge sense of crisis.
Especially after Guzma and the Skull Team left Ula'ula Island, they now have no one to form an alliance with.
In desperation, Yoshiko could only invite the remaining four quasi-kings to come to the quiet city of Malie for a meeting.
"Recruit soldiers immediately and make sure to increase the military strength to more than 10!" suggested one of the quasi-kings. His name was Thomas Jr., and he was the representative of the Thomas family and one of the only five remaining quasi-kings.
"But all our soldiers who can fight are here, and the remaining civilians probably don't want to join us at all." Another quasi-king objected.
"Then we will forcibly requisition them from house to house, and not even women and children will be spared!" A fierce light flashed in little Thomas' eyes.
"I suggest adding another tax. To prevent unruly people from resisting taxes, we can do something ruthless like 'soaking people's hearts in wine'. That way, they should pay the money obediently, right?" suggested another warlord.
It must be said that these warlords have become addicted to their bloody rule. Under normal circumstances, they could continue to enslave the people, but Yang Ming was not afraid of them at this moment. This led to the civilians of Ula'ula Island becoming "hopeful" and hoping that the "royal army" would march north to drive out these humanoid groups.
Just as these people were arguing fiercely, bad news came from the front.
"Report! The King of Chaos... no, it's Yang Paopao leading his men in a military training exercise in the Huikalani Mountains. His men are well-organized and their momentum is immense. It's quite frightening!"
"King of Chaos" is Yang Ming's latest nickname. Due to his recent surge in popularity, the people of Ula'ula Island regard him as the next king of the island. "King of Chaos" has become his nickname, meaning "the king who ends the troubled times."
Of course, these public opinions were naturally the result of Yang Ming's secret manipulation. After learning that his reputation among the people had soared, Yang Ming realized that this was an opportunity, so he immediately struck while the iron was hot and sent his confidant Tokugawa to spread rumors everywhere, claiming that Yang Ming was the exiled descendant of the Alola royal family, and that Yang Ming came back this time to liberate Ula Ula Island.
Sure enough, under this kind of public opinion manipulation, the residents of Ula Ula Island, who have a low literacy rate and are generally superstitious, feel that Yang Ming is their savior.
Upon hearing this news, several quasi-kings instantly fell silent, their faces becoming extremely ugly.
"Yang Paopao suddenly started training troops. I'm afraid he will attack us soon." Liangzi said gritting his teeth.
"We have to think of a countermeasure quickly, otherwise we will be finished when he attacks us." Little Thomas was also a little panicked.
However, even if these guys racked their brains, they could only come up with the "method" of continuing to oppress the people and forcing them to serve as soldiers.
…………
"Hahahaha, brothers, practice hard and let the world know that we are the strongest!"
Yang Ming stood on the top of Mount Huiklani, observing the training of his newly recruited troops, with a look of pride on his face.
Since Hao returned to the team, he returned the stinging jellyfish to Yang Ming and took the initiative to assume the duties of an instructor. Together with Hao, Lillie's brother Gladion also became an instructor. Although he often speaks ill of Yang Ming on weekdays, he is actually very hardworking when he is working.
Looking at Gladion who was still working hard to train new recruits for him, Yang Ming couldn't suppress his smile any more.
"Even though you say no, your body is still quite obedient."