Hua Yuanyi was not very familiar with the layout of Dongcheng, but at the moment, he was more concerned with how the troops would be assigned.
“I wonder how you want our Sizhou Army to assist?”
Yao Ji seemed not to have caught the implication behind the word “assist.” He smiled with an air of exaggerated humility. “Your Sizhou troops are strong and well mounted. Naturally, you should take the vanguard position. Our repeating crossbows will support you.”
Hua Yuanyi: “…”
What shamelessness.
Still, he was genuinely curious about the divine weapon Lord Sheng had mentioned. This was the perfect chance to see the might of the Jinyang Army’s repeating crossbows.
When Mo Song saw that Hua Yuanyi had not refused, he grew anxious. How could their Sizhou troops be used to seize territory and storm cities for Princess Jinyang?
“General Hua?” he called out.
Hua Yuanyi coughed lightly and refused with righteous solemnity. “Ze’a Commandery is, after all, your home ground. We’ll be happy to provide support.”
Xie Nanxiao waved a hand. “Please, don’t be so modest. Everyone knows the reputation of the Sizhou Army. This is the perfect opportunity for our fresh recruits to learn from you and see how it’s done.”
Hua Yuanyi: “…”
Mo Song: “…”
Sure enough, they had no shame at all.
Hua Ruo followed some distance behind them, listening to the conversation ahead without the slightest disturbance in her heart.
Her father was her father, and the Sizhou Army was the Sizhou Army.
Of the soldiers her father had brought this time, aside from a few trusted subordinates, the rest were clearly troops directly dispatched by the First Prince. Some of them were naval forces as well.
So rather than have her own people die in battle, it was better to send the First Prince’s soldiers in first.
While Yao Ji and the others were receiving the Sizhou Army, the Quzhao Army, which had set out from Ze’a Commandery to reinforce Zhou County, was hurrying forward on a forced march.
Shuangjiang and Lu Ping had already led roughly five thousand Jinyang troops to lie in wait along their route, preparing to launch a thoroughly satisfying ambush.
Jiang Jin had no intention of allowing this group of reinforcements to reach Zhou County. Their only possible fate was to die along the road.
As Jiang Jin had predicted, the ambush went extremely smoothly.
As for Zhou County, Jiang Jin still had not made her move. She was waiting to see whether any more reinforcements would arrive from the surrounding areas, so she could wipe them out one by one.
Now that she commanded more than thirty thousand troops, she was no longer in the position of having to calculate every single move with painstaking care.
Her naval forces guarded the entrance to Donghu Commandery, making the commandery exceptionally safe. She had stationed only around five thousand soldiers there, most of them new recruits still undergoing training.
That left her with more than ten thousand troops she could mobilize at present. For Jiang Jin, who had always been “poor,” this was an abundance of wealth.
At this moment, Mo Susu was in the perfectly safe county office of Xianglu County, signing a contract with the local authorities to lease a barren mountain.
She had already been in Xianglu for several days. During that time, accompanied by a minor official, she had inspected several barren mountains available for lease. In the end, she selected one covering more than a hundred mu.
The only issue was the length of the lease.
Luo Qingci had previously ordered the authorities to allow leases of no more than ten years.
Jiang Jin was currently busy expanding her territory and could not attend to everything. Land that would otherwise lie unused might as well be leased out. It would bring in some rental income, give merchants another avenue for investment, and create more employment opportunities for the people.
However, based on Luo Qingci’s understanding of Jiang Jin, it might not take more than a few years for her to recover the entirety of the Yan Kingdom. By then, Jiang Jin might have other plans for the land.
That was why she did not want to lease it out for too long, lest Jiang Jin need it later and encounter difficulties reclaiming it.
Mo Susu’s thinking was simple as well. She wanted to lease the land for twenty years, because she planned to grow tea trees. They would not produce their first harvest until around three years later, and tea trees reached their peak production at roughly ten years.
After a round of negotiations, they finally settled on a fifteen-year lease. The contract also stipulated that if government policy changed, the authorities would have the right to reclaim the leased land, though they would of course provide the tenant with appropriate compensation.
The He, Mei, Sun, and Meng families were making similar moves. As wealthy households with keen judgment, they naturally recognized the enormous business opportunities around Xianglu and Fuchuan. They all came flocking in.
He Li and his father-in-law, Guan Bailing, even split up, with one remaining in Donghu Commandery and the other heading to Lin County.
Luo Qingci strongly encouraged merchants to develop Lin County. The place was simply too poor, with an extremely weak foundation.
So she had another notice published in the newspaper, announcing that people could go to Lin County to develop businesses. It also stated that for those who went, the authorities could provide ships to transport them and guarantee their safety along the way.
For now, however, Lin County was an isolated city. Many people had the foresight, but few possessed the courage. In the end, no more than a dozen households went.
Of course, there were also people who had both foresight and courage but lacked the means to pursue both opportunities, forcing them to choose only one.
Donghu Commandery was nearby and safe, so choosing it was the obvious decision.
In Feng’an County of Ze’a Commandery, Hua Yuanyi did not get a chance to see Hua Ruo until evening.
They had traveled by boat all the way there and naturally could not enter battle immediately. Thus, they had accepted Yao Ji’s invitation to rest for the night and attack the city the next day.
Several of Hua Yuanyi’s trusted aides had been mentally prepared, but even after confirming that the eldest miss held a position in the Jinyang Army, they still felt an absurd sense of unreality.
Could it be that Hua Yuanyi intended to betray them?
Had he made arrangements long ago, sending the eldest miss into the Jinyang Army to scout the way?
Or had the general discovered something suspicious about the Jinyang Army long ago and sent the eldest miss undercover to investigate the enemy’s situation?
The thoughts made the men tense. They gripped the sabers at their waists and warily scanned their surroundings, making sure no one was watching them.
Hua Yuanyi glanced back at them, his expression unreadable. They were old comrades who had worked together for many years, and he could still sense even the slightest change in their demeanor.
He simply could not understand why these men had suddenly become so nervous.
Hua Ruo had no idea what was going through their minds. She was somewhat excited herself. This was the longest she had ever been away from her father.
Yet both father and daughter were calm and reserved by nature, and they restrained themselves well.
“Father, are you well?”
Hua Yuanyi gave a brief hum. “You have quite a lot of female soldiers here?”
Hua Ruo nodded. “There are quite a few. We also have plenty of female officers.”
“Why did the First Prince send you to Ze’a Commandery?” she asked again.
By rights, Hua Yuanyi was responsible for defending a city. Under normal circumstances, he would not have been sent out.
Hua Yuanyi pressed his lips together. How was he supposed to explain that he had fought hard for this assignment?
He changed the subject cleverly. “Are you really attacking Dongcheng tomorrow?”
“Of course,” Hua Ruo replied firmly.
Hua Yuanyi sighed helplessly. “I studied the map. Dongcheng is easy to defend and difficult to attack. With only the troops you have, the odds of taking it aren’t very high.”
Hua Ruo remained noncommittal. “That’s what your troops are for, isn’t it?”
