Yao Ji made no attempt to hide the truth. “That’s right. You’ve seen the cities occupied by Qu Zhao yourselves. The houses there are either abandoned or collapsed, and few are still habitable, so they all have to be rebuilt.”
He glanced at Lu You and Li Zan, a smile in his eyes.
“Our bricklayers and tile workers are highly experienced. If you want to build houses like ours in your cities, we can send our people to do the work. The wages are negotiable.”
Lu You’s smile froze. Of course he wanted to, but he was poor.
Li Zan also knew the state of his own finances, and his smile turned somewhat strained. “You’re rebuilding every city Princess Jinyang has taken?”
That was an astonishing display of wealth.
Yao Ji smiled. “It depends on the circumstances. But if the damage is severe, we’ll rebuild the entire city. We’ll also repair the roads. My lord says that capturing a city isn’t impressive—being able to support the people living there is what truly matters.”
Li Zan: “…”
I feel like you’re taking a shot at us, but I have no proof.
Capturing a city didn’t count as impressive?
But when he thought about the repeating crossbows used by the Jinyang Army, he had to admit that perhaps taking cities really wasn’t difficult for them.
Yao Ji’s cool voice continued, “Now that we’re connected, we hope to cooperate more closely in the future. Ideally, we can open trade between our territories.”
He had more or less seen through Jiang Jin’s purpose in opening a route into Daqing. Mutual assistance was only one aspect of it.
The real goal was probably that Jiang Jin had his eye on Daqing’s wealth.
Opening trade between the two sides would allow the Jinyang Army to spread its influence. Once the soldiers and civilians of Daqing learned how people lived under Jiang Jin’s rule, their hearts would naturally turn toward her.
Lu You became interested. “Of course. What sort of goods do you have for trade? Can we buy grain as well?”
A trace of disdain flashed through Yao Ji’s eyes, though his expression remained sincere.
“General of the Left, you must be joking. We don’t even have enough grain to feed ourselves. However, we do have glass, soap, iron pots, iron stoves, honeycomb briquettes, and so on.”
Lu You and the others listened, fascinated. Many of the things Yao Ji mentioned were completely unfamiliar to them.
They understood iron pots and iron stoves, though. They were made of iron!
Princess Jinyang really did have an iron mine.
Lu You felt a pang of envy, but showed nothing on his face. “Speaking of which, your weapons are remarkably powerful. Would it be possible to place an order for a batch of swords?”
Yao Ji smiled. “That can be arranged.”
Forging techniques couldn’t be judged simply by looking at a sword.
Besides, the Daqing Army had neither iron mines nor highly skilled blacksmiths.
The two sides were now partners. Jiang Jin also hoped that Lu You would help keep the nearby Jiao Army in check, and she didn’t want Daqing to suffer excessive casualties. Selling them a batch of swords was perfectly acceptable.
As they continued talking, a report came from outside.
Yao Ji frowned. “Come in.”
A Daqing soldier hurried inside. “The Jiao Army is attacking Nanjiao County!”
Jin Feng shot to his feet. “What?”
Lu You could no longer remain seated either. “How many men do they have?”
The soldier replied, “More than twenty thousand.”
Lu You let out a quiet breath of relief and rose to take his leave. “Then I’ll return first. As for your Jinyang Army…”
Yao Ji nodded with a smile. “There’s no need to rush. See whether you can hold them off first. If you truly can’t defend the county, we’ll step in. After all, it wouldn’t be wise for the Jinyang Army to confront the Jiao Army head-on right now.”
To the Jiao Army, Daqing was already as good as theirs, so they were attacking at a measured pace.
But if they learned the Jinyang Army’s true strength and began taking it seriously, the force they sent next might be far larger than this.
Lu You clearly understood that as well. He nodded and hurried away with his soldiers.
Watching them leave, Hua Ruo asked worriedly, “Can they hold the county?”
Yao Ji wasn’t particularly concerned. “Twenty thousand men shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. The Daqing Army may be weak, but they still have plenty of troops.”
He turned to Shuangjiang and Hua Ruo. “We’ve recruited quite a few more soldiers. From now on, the two of you will be responsible for training them. You must improve their abilities as quickly as possible.”
Several days later, Sheng Chi and the others finally reached Sizhou. With money to smooth the way, they quickly settled down there.
However, land in Sizhou was incredibly expensive, and they were all accustomed to living extravagantly. Their remaining money and possessions were soon stretched to the limit.
With no other choice, they prepared to sell their ship. Keeping it at the dock incurred mooring fees, after all.
But ordinary people couldn’t afford to buy or maintain a ship, while truly wealthy nobles and aristocratic families generally had their own connections and routes. Why would they need his ship?
In the end, Chen Xi stepped in and bought the ship at an extremely low price, along with its crew and a large number of servants—in total, more than a thousand people.
Sheng Chi had no idea that the person who bought his ship and slaves worked for Jiang Jin. Otherwise, he might have been furious enough to cough up blood.
Chen Xi personally led the group this time, taking them by ship to Keyuan Island.
When he saw Xie Nanxiao, whom he had not met in a long time, both men were overcome with emotion. They couldn’t help remembering the days when they had fled with Jiang Jin.
“You just arrived too?” Chen Xi asked, looking at the still-barren landing site.
Xie Nanxiao shrugged. “I got here the day before yesterday. I wandered around the area for ages before finally finding this good location for a dock.”
Chen Xi raised an eyebrow. “So the dock is going to be built here?”
Xie Nanxiao grinned. “Not bad, right?”
He looked at the people Chen Xi had brought and widened his grin. “Looks like our navy is about to gain quite a few new recruits.”
Chen Xi nodded. “Yes. These people were bought from the aristocratic families of Ze’a Commandery. Quite a few are sailors, so they can be put to work immediately. The rest are servants.”
He pointed to a small boat. “The people on that boat are shipwrights my lord asked me to find. I’ve only managed to locate a dozen or so so far.”
Then, as if recalling something, he added, “Among the people sold by Ze’a Commandery this time, there were also several experienced shipwrights. They’ll be useful.”
Xie Nanxiao was delighted. “That’s perfect. We’re short of workers for the dock, so they’ll come in handy.”
He had brought only Wang Liang this time. Xin San and the others were busy with the shipyard and couldn’t spare the time to come.
Fortunately, he had brought more than six months’ worth of naval experience with him, and he understood the basic requirements of a military dock well enough to help make decisions.
Now that so many experienced people had arrived, things would be much easier for him.
Chen Xi smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Look at you—you’ve really made something of yourself. You’re in charge of the navy now?”
Xie Nanxiao waved it off. “It’s only because my lord didn’t have anyone more suitable. If I had a choice, I’d still rather work on land.”
Chen Xi shook his head with a laugh. “Don’t the Cangming Guards often fight on land? I heard you made quite a few contributions this time.”
At that, a proud expression appeared on Xie Nanxiao’s face. “Of course we did. We recruited around two thousand more sailors this time. Later, we’ll recruit another batch of Cangming Guards.”
“What about you? Did you open another shop in Tao Commandery? Business must be doing well if you were able to buy so many ships and people on your own.”
Tao Commandery was the coastal commandery of Sizhou, which Chen Xi had selected after carefully considering his options.
Jiang Jin now had ships, and water transport would become an important trend in the future. Ships could transport goods—and if the day ever came when they needed to flee, they would also make that easier.
That was why coastal commanderies and counties had naturally become his first choice. If Ying Commandery hadn’t been locked in conflict, he would have opened a shop there as well.
Thinking of this, Chen Xi couldn’t help recalling the aristocratic families, and worry surfaced on his face. “I’m only afraid the aristocratic families won’t know when to stop and will expose the situation in Fengzhou.”
Xie Nanxiao scoffed. “And what if they do? We no longer fear any faction. Besides, what is the First Prince to us?”
