Jiang Jin shook her head. "No need. Chengxuan and Xie Nanxiao will come with me. You stay and guard Gofeng."
Xie Nanxiao was excited but forced himself to remain reserved, merely letting out a low chuckle.
Xia Chanyi fixed his gaze on Jiang Jin with burning intensity.
Jiang Jin smiled. "You’ll also come with me to Ze’e Prefecture this time. But you’ll stay at the dock to watch over our ships and have our soldiers study navigation knowledge."
Xia Chanyi nodded in acceptance. "Understood."
Remembering something, Jiang Jin turned to Yun Ci. "If we use an iron-and-wood structure, can we first build a simple dock? We have both iron and wood—it should be easy to construct."
She had iron mines. Aside from weapons, they had recently built arrow towers using many iron frames, combined with wood and cement, achieving excellent results.
Yun Ci understood her intention. After thinking for a moment, he nodded. "How much iron do you need, and what size?"
The group calculated the approximate length and quantity of iron frames based on the water depth required for giant ships.
Yun Ci jotted everything down. "I’ll go back and have them start making it immediately, and rush it out for you as soon as possible."
Jiang Jin nodded. "Appearance isn’t important. Durability is what matters."
Zhou Sui frowned. "Lord, transporting these won’t be easy."
Jiang Jin chuckled. "You forgot about my people. I’ll have them handle the transport. We’ll prepare not just iron, but also wood, bricks, and cement, so we can build quickly on site."
"We should also prepare honeycomb briquettes and coal. We don’t know what the island’s situation is, and we must ensure the garrison soldiers’ basic needs for warmth and food."
Xie Nanxiao drew a sharp breath. "Lord, your people—are they that capable? Do they have ships?"
Jiang Jin was speechless. So, one lie truly takes a thousand lies to sustain.
She gave Xie Nanxiao a cold, expressionless look.
Xie Nanxiao shrank his neck.
Zhou Sui and Yun Ci exchanged a brief glance.
By now, they were almost certain that these people were definitely not given to the Lord by the Emperor, because the Emperor truly didn’t have that kind of ability!
Jiang Jin had no idea how wild Zhou Sui and Yun Ci’s thoughts had become—spiraling out of control.
She sighed. "It’s a pity about the former navy."
Though the navy of the former Yan Kingdom was far from impressive, it was still better than having nothing now, starting from scratch with everything needing to be rebuilt.
Thinking of a question, Jiang Jin asked, "Where are the Yan Kingdom’s shipyards?"
"Ju Province, Feng Province, and Si Province all have them," Zhou Sui replied.
Jiang Jin’s eyes lit up. "Feng Province? Donghu County?"
Zhou Sui nodded. "It’s northwest of Xianglu County, quite far from the naval garrison."
Yun Ci sighed. "I wonder how badly Qu Zhao damaged the shipyards—and the shipbuilders..."
Jiang Jin also sighed. Skilled craftsmen were the hardest to come by. She wondered if any were still alive.
Zhou Sui shook his head. "Since Zhu Guan fled, he likely took those shipbuilders with him."
Zhu Guan was the highest-ranking general of Feng Province’s navy. If he planned to escape to Si Province, he would have taken the technical personnel along.
Jiang Jin agreed with that.
Speaking of Si Province, it was the most blessed region besides Ju Province—rich in manpower, resources, and infrastructure, with maritime transport even more convenient than Ju Province.
And she had to struggle tooth and nail to scrape by. Truly difficult.
Jiang Jin pointed to another location on the map, the Daqing Region. "Here, I’m preparing to send Dong Si by water to negotiate."
Zhou Sui and Yun Ci exchanged a glance. "By water? Do you intend to use the boats from Ze’e Prefecture directly?"
Jiang Jin nodded. "Even though the grain hasn’t been planted yet, since those ships are ours, taking them out shouldn’t be a problem."
Yun Ci sighed. "But the aristocratic families probably won’t agree."
Jiang Jin gave a light laugh. "That’s not up to them."
It was three days later when they arrived at Ze’e Prefecture.
Sheng Chi was utterly exasperated. I mean, you’re a proper princess—why wouldn’t you stay put in Gofeng and instead come to his Ze’e Prefecture? Weren’t you afraid of accidents?
And she brought so many people—anyone would think she was planning to attack his territory.
Jiang Jin acted as if she owned the place, riding tall on her horse and looking down at Sheng Chi and the others as they waited at the east city gate of Dongcheng County to greet her.
"Gentlemen, I’ve heard much about you all. No need to treat me to anything. I just want to go see my ships."
Sheng Chi was rendered speechless. As if he was planning to welcome her anyway.
He looked up at the young woman who hadn’t dismounted even upon seeing him.
So this was Princess Jinyang. Truly striking in appearance, fierce and proud.
Before, she was a princess; now, she was the Lord of the Jinyang Army. By any measure, she had every right to be proud—though a bit overbearing.
He made a dismissive bow and forced a fake smile. "You’ve brought too many people."
Jiang Jin looked back and said, "Not that many. Fewer than two thousand—how is that too many?"
She sized Sheng Chi up and down. "Don’t tell me you actually think I’d attack you with just these few people?"
Sheng Chi choked. He really couldn’t figure out what she was trying to do.
Who would make such a huge fuss just to look at some ships?
Jiang Jin laughed. "Don’t worry. I have no intention of entering your city. I’m just passing through and thought I’d let you know."
Sheng Chi was at a loss for words.
Did anyone say hello like this?
It forced him and several aristocratic families to come out of the city to greet—or rather, to "say hello"—as if they were welcoming an emperor.
Zhang Tinghan furrowed his brows. He looked up at Jiang Jin and was about to scold her when his gaze met hers as she looked down at him.
That face was strikingly beautiful and smiling, but in her eyes was nothing but cold ferocity, an unfathomable depth.
A chill rose in him, and he quickly lowered his head, not daring to meet her gaze again.
Jiang Jin smirked. She noticed many displeased faces, but they all suppressed their feelings and said nothing.
Looks like Dong Si had taught them some restraint.
She tugged on her reins. "Alright, go on back. I’m just passing through. We’re all Han Chinese and business partners—it would be rude not to say hello."
With that, she led her group past them in a grand manner, kicking up dust all around.
Sheng Chi quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, stepping back and cursing under his breath that she had no princess-like decorum.
Zhang Tinghan looked grim. He felt humiliated by his own cowardice in not meeting Jiang Jin’s gaze.
Only after the Jinyang Army had passed did he spit in disgust. "Not a trace of princess dignity. Such, such..."
He couldn’t find the words.
Huo Chun glanced at him but said nothing.
He had come to realize that the Princess Jinyang and her subordinates were anything but simple. He had underestimated the Jinyang Army.
Kong Yi sighed. Princess Jinyang was indeed no ordinary woman.
He said in a low voice, "Family Head, let’s return."
Sheng Chi nodded and quickly boarded his carriage back to the city.
Upon seeing Jiang Jin, Dong Si felt both joy and worry. "Lord, why have you come in person?"
Jiang Jin didn’t answer his question and instead asked, "How has your study been these past few days?"
Dong Si smiled. "It’s going well. Everyone’s very dedicated."
They entered the tent, with Yun Chengxuan, Xie Nanxiao, Xia Chanyi, and Shuangjiang following behind.
Since arriving at the dock, Dong Si hadn’t stayed in Ze’e Prefecture’s buildings but had set up tents nearby.
"How’s everything?" Jiang Jin asked.
Dong Si poured her a cup of water from the kettle on the stove. "These aristocratic families are really stingy. They have over a thousand people who know how to sail, and even after much negotiation, they only gave us a handful."
Jiang Jin smiled and said, "It's fine. It's more reassuring to have our own people do the training."
