Jiang Jin then went to the military camp. The camp was undergoing a major cleaning, as it would serve as the temporary residence for her soldiers.
The Quzhao people were extremely unhygienic. Worn-out clothes and all sorts of garbage were thrown everywhere, and the entire place reeked of a sour stench.
Since there were no other intact, spare houses in the city, the female servants Jiang Jin had bought were also temporarily staying here.
The military camp was quite large. After all, it used to house two to three thousand soldiers. It was divided into twelve rows, with twenty rooms in each row. Each room was spacious enough to sleep quite a few people.
The camp had several kitchens, as well as washrooms, latrines, and other complete facilities.
However, since there hadn't been many Quzhao soldiers, they had only used the front row of rooms. The other buildings had been neglected for a long time and were severely dilapidated, requiring repairs before they could be inhabited.
Jiang Jin instructed Lu Ping, the temporary person-in-charge of the place, "Clear out the buildings in the back as well and have people repair them. We should be able to put them to use very soon."
Lu Ping paused for a moment but quickly understood that Jiang Jin was referring to the villagers from Lihua Village and Xingnan Village. He hurriedly complied, "Understood."
Jiang Jin looked around. "It's best to divide this into zones: one area for male soldiers, one for female soldiers, and another for the rest of the servants."
Lu Ping noted everything down one by one.
Jiang Jin had no other choice. Gefeng was simply too poor and had absolutely nothing. This military camp was considered one of the better-preserved structures currently available.
If the people from Lihua Village and Xingnan Village arrived, she could only arrange for them to stay here temporarily.
Jiang Jin then headed over to the prison.
Those servants were quite obedient; they were so frightened that they didn't dare to speak, staying quietly in their places.
The Quzhao soldiers, however, lacked such good manners, cursing and shouting obscenities inside.
Yun Ce was temporarily in charge of the prisoners. Hearing the curses coming from inside, his expression was quite grim.
Jiang Jin couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you getting angry at them? Starve them for a few meals and see if they still have the energy for this."
Yun Ce calmed the frustration in his chest. "I've made a fool of myself in front of you, My Lady."
Jiang Jin waved her hand dismissively. "They will all be our slaves from now on, free labor. If there are any troublemakers, just kill them."
These barbarians were all executioners who had invaded the Yan Kingdom, and Jiang Jin had no intention of being polite to them. Right now, she was just short on manpower and needed this free labor.
Yun Ce's spirit lifted. "Understood!"
Qu Chi, having been stabbed by Xie Nanxiao and then severely beaten, was currently lying in a solitary cell with a bruised and swollen face. He looked up at Jiang Jin. "Who... who are you?"
He had seen it very clearly just now; that young man had treated this woman with utmost respect.
Jiang Jin glanced at him but didn't speak. There was nothing to say to a dying man.
Qu Chi seemed to read the meaning in Jiang Jin's eyes. Furious and vicious, he spat, "Are all the men of your Han people dead, that they have to listen to a woman?"
Before Jiang Jin could say anything, Yun Ce flew into a rage. He unlocked the cell door, stormed in, and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks on Qu Chi.
Jiang Jin shrugged. Truth be told, this Qu Chi really did seem to have a punchable face.
After taking a look around, Jiang Jin returned to the county office and began drawing a regional distribution map and a structural diagram of the city walls of Gefeng County.
However, she wasn't used to using a writing brush. After a moment's thought, she took out a black wooden pencil and a few sheets of vintage, yellowed drawing paper from her spatial dimension and began to draw.
In the city's residential area.
Xia Chanyi led a few female soldiers and knocked on the door of a household.
There was no movement from inside.
Xia Chanyi knocked again. "Open the door. We are conducting household registration."
After a long while, the door opened just a crack, revealing the pale face of an old woman. "We... we are law-abiding citizens of the city. We haven't done anything wrong."
Xia Chanyi recognized her; she was the old woman whose son had been eaten by a wild beast while up in the mountains.
Her attitude softened. "No one is saying you did anything wrong. We just need to register your household now."
She picked up her pen to start recording. "Name, age, and how many people are in your family?"
Seeing that she was a woman, the old woman looked a bit bewildered. In all her years, she had never seen a female official. This person must be a female official, right?
However, she didn't dare voice her thoughts. Seeing Xia Chanyi's gentle demeanor, she hesitated before answering, "Mrs. Li, née Zhang, 52 years old..."
Xia Chanyi interrupted her. "Your name, your full name."
The old woman was stunned. Her name?
She had almost forgotten what she was called. Before she was married, she was the Second Daughter of the Zhang family. After marrying, she took her husband's surname, and her own name was almost never used.
"Zhang Ye," the old woman mumbled softly.
Xia Chanyi nodded, writing down her name on the paper, and once again asked about the members of her household.
Zhang Ye pursed her lips and answered one by one, "My daughter-in-law Hu Ying is 25, and my grandson Li Yu is 7."
After finishing the registration, Xia Chanyi said, "The new household registers will be ready in a few days and will be distributed to you then. You will need to hand in the old ones at that time."
Zhang Ye bowed slightly and nodded awkwardly. "Alright, I... I understand."
Xia Chanyi continued, "If you have any strong laborers in your family, they can gather in front of the county office at a quarter past the hour of Si. We need people to help dig ditches. The pay is six copper coins per person for a day's work."
Zhang Ye paused for a moment, then hurriedly nodded. "Alright."
As Xia Chanyi finished registering this household, Luo Qingci, Chen Zi, Feng Qingzhu, and Mu Wanbai also just finished with another.
If it were in the past, they would have felt that women shouldn't show their faces in public and do the work of yamen runners.
But along this journey, their perspectives had changed significantly.
Following Jiang Jin, they had watched her decisively handle every unexpected incident, and watched her go from having nothing to conquering Gefeng.
Things they wouldn't have dared to imagine before, they dared to now, because Jiang Jin had done them!
As fellow women, if Jiang Jin could accomplish great things, they could certainly handle the small things!
There weren't many literate people in Jiang Jin's ranks, so now was the perfect time for them to showcase their abilities.
With the five of them working simultaneously and female soldiers assisting on the side, the pace was quite fast. The commoners were all very cooperative.
Jokes aside, would they dare not to cooperate? The agonizing screams from last night were still fresh in their minds, the blood on the city walls had only just been washed away, and the corpses of the Quzhao people were still piled up over there.
Jiang Jin sat in the meeting hall of the county office, with Zhou Sui and Yao Ji seated below her on either side.
Both men looked rather curiously at the bizarre pen in her hand. It was a pen, right?
Seeing Jiang Jin look his way, Zhou Sui quickly sat up straight. "I've inspected the entire outer wall. There are no major issues, but there are a few cracked spots that would be best repaired."
Early this morning, he and Yao Ji had separately inspected the condition of the inner and outer city walls.
For the Quzhao people, once they had conquered Gefeng, it became an inner city for them, so they didn't have high requirements for defending its walls.
Therefore, ever since the Quzhao people took Gefeng, they had hardly done any maintenance on the city walls.
But for Jiang Jin, Gefeng was not just a border town; it was an isolated city surrounded by a pack of wolves. The city walls were thus of paramount importance.
Especially since she had just conquered Gefeng. Once the Quzhao people found out, they would inevitably come to attack. This meant they would very likely face a fierce battle in the near future.
Therefore, the condition of the city walls had to be investigated thoroughly. Whatever needed fixing or patching must be done, lest the Quzhao people exploit any weak points when the time came.
Yao Ji had also discovered several problematic sections on the inner walls.
Jiang Jin nodded. "Arrange for people to repair them as soon as possible. By the way, have you sent anyone to check the water channels for the moat?"
Zhou Sui replied, "Qiu Wu has already taken people to dig the channels. They should break through very soon."
Jiang Jin nodded and slid the newly drawn blueprint of the city wall in front of the two of them. Pointing at the south gate, she said, "I would like to build a barbican at the south gate. What do you think?"
