While construction was underway on this side, Xie Nanxiao on Xunfeng Island was feeling frustrated, his voice carrying a profound sense of disappointment: "Qu Zhao got cold feet? Why isn't he fighting?"
He had been waiting for news for the past few days. If Qu Zhao launched an attack on Shanguan County or Gefeng, he would lead his troops to strike Xianglu County.
Xunfeng Island wasn't far from Xianglu County—only about three hours away. If they moved, they could catch Donghu Commandery off guard on both ends, and maybe even capture another county in the process.
Wang Liang shook his head: "Didn't the lord say so? The chances of Qu Zhao making a move are very low. After all, it's too cold. They can't fight in this."
Xie Nanxiao sighed and pulled his military greatcoat tighter around himself: "If it gets any colder, our ships will freeze over too, and we won't be able to move."
Wang Liang glanced at the ships training in the nearby waters: "That's right, training will have to stop as well. When the ice forms along the coast, it'll be hard for the ships to move at all."
Xie Nanxiao laughed: "If we can't train at sea, we can always train in the mountains."
He pointed to the wide open space in front of the houses not far away: "We can do regular physical training there. No matter how cold it gets, the Jinyang Army's training never stops."
Wang Liang said nothing, but he'd noticed it too—the Jinyang Army's discipline was extremely strict, especially when it came to physical training. They really trained as if their lives depended on it.
Their motto was: "No sweat in training, no blood on the battlefield." So they trained themselves to the bone.
It wasn't that the soldiers of their Yan State had been lazy before—it was that they lacked the conditions. First, they couldn't eat their fill, and second, they didn't have enough warm clothing.
But the Jinyang Army had both. He'd never seen a military unit that fed its soldiers as much as they wanted—until they were full!
And it was a balanced diet too, with meat and vegetables, they said something about nutritional balance.
There was also a food called chili pepper that made you sweat all over after eating it.
He touched his military greatcoat. It was really warm. The cotton padding inside was so thick it made him want to cry.
This was cotton!
In the past, even the noble families couldn't necessarily afford cotton, and here it was being issued to every single soldier without a second thought.
And the barracks they'd built—they even had heated walls and heated brick beds. The moment you walked in, it was so warm you wanted to take your clothes off. The soldiers rested well, and when they trained, they were fierce as wolves and tigers.
It was so extravagantly wealthy it made you want to rob them!
He couldn't help but slap his forehead. Damn, wouldn't that be robbing his own people?
He suddenly wondered what Gefeng must look like now. A lord this "rich" and "whimsical"—her counties must be thriving, right?
When would he ever get the chance to see Gefeng?
Just as he was thinking this, he saw several ships flying the Jinyang Army banner approaching slowly in the distance: "Is that the ship bringing people back?"
The houses on the island had only been fully built two days ago. Time waited for no one, so Xie Nanxiao had arranged for Kang Sheng and the other construction workers to be sent back.
Xie Nanxiao very dramatically picked up the telescope hanging around his chest, raised it to his eye, and said with mock seriousness: "Yes, that's them. A bit slower than usual, but the weather's cold, so that's normal."
He smacked his lips: "The army banner is hung a little crooked. When they get back, I'm going to have to talk to them about that. How can the Jinyang Army banner be hung crooked?"
Wang Liang: "..."
Crooked or not crooked, with such exaggerated movements, I suspect you're just showing off.
This thing called a telescope was said to be able to see extremely far away. Unfortunately, he'd never had the chance to use one.
Xie Nanxiao treasured it dearly—he even slept with it in his bed, hugging it.
After he'd shown off enough, Xie Nanxiao finally put the telescope down and let out a heavy sigh: "Ugh, why didn't Qu Zhao make a move?"
He wasn't the only one feeling disappointed. Yao Ji was just as regretful. He was stationed across the three counties of Gefeng, ready to prevent Qu Zhao from striking back over the Lin County incident. But in the end, nothing happened at all.
Just to be safe, Jiang Jin had even left the formidable Shuangjiang with him.
Yun Ci couldn't help but laugh: "What are you sighing about? Just train your troops properly. When next year comes, are you afraid there won't be battles to fight?"
Yao Ji nodded: "Right. We recruited over two thousand new soldiers from the folks who came from Sizhou, and combined with the lord's naval forces, we now have seventeen thousand troops."
Then he shook his head again: "The lord's army is still too small."
Yun Ci disagreed: "The lord's army isn't exactly large, true, but they're all elite soldiers. Even the elite cavalry you used to lead might not measure up to the Jinyang Army's ordinary soldiers."
Yao Ji couldn't deny that.
Being able to eat their fill, and eat well—that alone put them far ahead of his former soldiers.
With full stomachs and good food, the soldiers had excellent physiques. They could withstand tougher training and harsher battlefield conditions.
Another thing was that Jiang Jin placed great emphasis on the soldiers' ideological education. She made them understand why they fought and who they fought for.
So her soldiers, whether on the training ground or on the battlefield, fought with a courage that came from within, with a spirit of pushing forward against all odds.
And finally, Jiang Jin's repeating crossbows, eight-ox crossbows, and side swords were practically unbeatable.
With such elite troops and such superior weapons, even with just over ten thousand soldiers, their combat power was enough to stand up to Qu Zhao's main army. They had a fighting chance in Fengzhou.
Remembering something, Yun Ci suggested: "Since Qu Zhao's army isn't attacking, how about we take care of the bandits on Xiaoqi Mountain while it's not too cold yet?"
Xiaoqi Mountain was one of the rugged peaks stretching south of Shanguan County, in a strategically dangerous location.
Previously, when Mu Ning had led people back, they'd passed by the foot of Xiaoqi Mountain and spotted bandits lurking in the mountains.
But since the bandits didn't make a move, Mu Ning didn't stir up trouble either. She pretended not to notice and led her people safely through, quietly pulling back the Dragon Shadow Guard who had surrounded the bandits.
After returning to Gefeng, Mu Ning reported the matter.
Yun Ci continued: "If they're good people, we can recruit them into the army. They're young—what are they doing being bandits? That's not productive work. If they're bad, kill them. That'll save some food."
Yao Ji: "..."
Famous words. How did being a bandit bother anyone? How was that not productive work?
Besides, they weren't eating your food. What's there to save?
It was strange, come to think of it. A bunch of bandits hiding in such a remote and steep mountain—what future did they have?
You had to know, that was a massive stretch of continuous mountain ranges, forming an extremely dangerous geographical environment.
That was also one of the main reasons Shanguan County was so important. Supplies from Donghu Commandery could almost never cross those mountains to reach other regions—either they went through Shanguan County, or they had to detour through Chunrong County.
In an environment like that, with barely a person around, what could they possibly rob to survive?
Yao Ji couldn't figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it: "Let's leave this to Mu Ning and Shuangjiang. They've been through that area once, so they're familiar with it."
By next year, Donghu Commandery and Liuxiang Commandery would both belong to the lord. On one's own turf, it really wasn't appropriate to have bandits hanging around. Since they had the time now, it was better to deal with them.
Mu Ning wasn't surprised by this assignment.
Shuangjiang had nothing to say either. The next day, she took a regiment of female soldiers straight to Xiaoqi Mountain.
On Xiaoqi Mountain, a few thin, scrawny figures hunched their necks as they patrolled outside.
"There's not even a ghost on this mountain. What's the point of patrolling?" grumbled a man with a bird's nest on his head.
An actual bird's nest. Who knows which bird mother he'd stolen it from? There were even a few dried clumps of bird droppings stuck to the straw.
Still, the bird’s nest wasn’t half bad—the straw it was made of was all soft, fine dried grass. It should block the wind a little, at least.
