A wooden tablet is essentially just a wooden board for writing. Although paper appeared in the Eastern Han dynasty, it wasn’t until the Song dynasties that it became widespread; even the so-called flourishing Tang era failed to popularize paper.

The original purpose of issuing number plates has already become clear: a strict registration system allows Henry Clark to know exactly how many Jin people are under his command. It’s important to understand that just because he gathered those refugees doesn’t mean the refugees belong to him.

A look at the map on Henry Clark’s system interface makes it clear: all the activity in the valley is shown as green dots, and although there are some green dots at the resettlement site, the majority are white dots representing neutrality. Those white dots are Jin people who, though taken in, do not consider themselves part of Henry Clark’s faction.

With green and white dots, there are also red dots present. Those red dots clearly represent people harboring hostility or enmity. If it weren’t for the fact that dragging them out and killing them without cause would cause panic, Henry Clark would have long since wanted to get rid of those red dots.

Is it unbelievable that people would still harbor hostility after being taken in? If you think so, you’re seeing the world as too simple. Refugees also come in categories. For example, that 47-year-old “elderly” man was once a person of some prestige in his village, but after being taken in by Henry Clark, he lost all authority. Others may have once held considerable power; with Henry Clark’s forceful takeover, they dare not resist, but it’s impossible to say they don’t harbor resentment.

Henry Clark’s approach is to disperse those red dots during resettlement, then assign already-submitted Jin people to monitor them.

Time passed quickly. The resources Henry Clark had accumulated were consumed rapidly, but they also accumulated quickly. Food was consumed the fastest—after all, every extra mouth means more grain consumed, and the more people there are, the more they eat. Wood and stone increased quickly; Jin people collected resources at least five times slower than system farmers, but they couldn’t just be fed for nothing, so letting them recuperate and then work was always possible.

Two meals were provided, morning and evening. Although it was just thin porridge, for the Jin people, in a Central Plains full of hostility, having a safe place to stay, something to eat, and not being beaten or abused for no reason—this was a paradise unimaginable to those who had never experienced war or long-term abuse.

As a result, the number of green dots on Henry Clark’s map increased steadily, much to his satisfaction.

About half a month after returning to his territory, the people Henry Clark had sent out brought back news: the world was still in chaos everywhere. The Hu people were killing Jin people, the Jin people were fleeing for their lives, and in the entire Later Zhao, there seemed to be nothing but chaos.

Amidst this chaos, what Henry Clark was most concerned about was a major event in Buqi City. The Jie people there had indeed taken action, joining forces with the Hu people in the city to capture large numbers of Jin people, killing some to make human jerky, and keeping others as “two-legged sheep.” Then, the Jie people called on their friends everywhere, gathering military supplies. Everything indicated preparations for a military campaign.

“What? They captured over two thousand Jin girls, raping them day and night, and whenever they wanted to eat, they’d kill a few and cook them?”

Henry Clark’s eyes instantly turned red when he heard this, grief surging like a river, and rage nearly bursting into flames!

In fact, the killing of one’s own people brings anger and the feeling of “when the rabbit dies, the fox grieves,” but the murder of one’s own girls stirs even deeper compassion and boundless fury in men. Truly, there is nothing more maddening than hearing or knowing that the women of your own people are being raped and murdered by outsiders!!!

Chapter 9: Unexpected Complications

【Mass conscription! We must mass conscript!】

The women of the nation are being raped day and night, and often killed and cooked for food. Anyone with a shred of blood in their veins would naturally be filled with the urge to kill the enemy. But when Henry Clark saw the system page showing a population of 321/500, he couldn’t help but frown, instantly feeling a sorrowful sense of “the will to kill the enemy, but powerless to turn the tide.”

The system requires building houses to increase population. The houses Henry Clark built could definitely accommodate more than 500 people, but the displayed population cap for production was stuck at 500. Precisely because of this, Henry Clark believed the golden finger had a flaw—a very serious flaw!

The number of Jin people who had submitted looked good: a row of 16,879 in green was pleasing to the eye. Those were the people who had become Henry Clark’s subjects—the green dots on the map—but there were still 12,322 who had not yet become subjects.

So, it’s not enough for Henry Clark to simply bring people back; he also needs to make them truly accept his rule in their hearts.

From the flat map, Buqi City is only about 70 kilometers from Henry Clark’s territory, but that’s a straight line—actually traveling would be much farther than 70 li. The nearest county to Henry Clark is called Gui County, 30 kilometers away, and the largest family there is the Xǔ family of the Di people.

The Jie people are already preparing for war. Considering the slower pace of life now, it will take them at least two to three months to mobilize, so real action will likely come in the summer.

“Lord, it was so hard for us to establish a base. If we just wait for them to come, even if we repel the invaders, there will inevitably be destruction!” Edward Blake looked anxious, holding back but finally suggesting, “Why don’t we take the initiative and strike first, catching them off guard? Even if we fail, we can buy time, and once the new recruits are trained, we can still fight a defensive battle.”