Sun Zheng held his temper for as long as he could, but in the end he still had to correct him. “It’s ‘His Majesty.’ You must address him as ‘His Majesty.’”
Xie Nanxiao nodded. “Right, right. Tell His Majesty to hurry up and send the money over.”
Seeing that he showed not the slightest respect for the emperor, Sun Zheng secretly ground his teeth.
In the end, he had no choice but to compromise. He sent a letter to Sizhou, clearly detailing everything that had happened recently.
He knew there had to be something suspicious going on, but since they were on someone else’s territory, they could only swallow their anger.
Ji Wangfei asked, “When would it be convenient to go to Gefeng?”
He did not want to remain in Fengzhou for even a moment longer. He only wanted to see the princess as soon as possible and complete his mission.
The Jiang Jin he wished to see had arrived in Daqing County by then. Lu You had submitted a letter of allegiance to her just two days earlier.
Submitting a letter of allegiance at the very moment the First Prince was ascending the throne was quite intriguing.
After hesitating for a moment, Lu You solemnly knelt before Jiang Jin.
Li Zan, Jin Feng, and all the other civil and military officials of Daqing Commandery followed suit.
Lu You performed the grand prostrating ceremony between subject and sovereign. “Princess, this subject is ashamed. I grow old by the day and no longer possess the strength to manage these affairs. I beg you to take back the tiger tally.”
As he spoke, he tremblingly drew a bronze tiger tally from his robes and presented it with both hands. “This subject asks only to live long enough to witness you unify the realm and ascend the throne!”
The tiger tally had become little more than a meaningless token the moment he decided to abandon any attempt to rescue Emperor Yan.
Yet there was no denying that it had been personally bestowed upon him by the emperor, and represented the authority he had been granted. By solemnly returning it to Jiang Jin now, he made his intentions perfectly clear.
Jiang Jin’s expression remained calm as she simply looked at Lu You.
The hall fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Sunlight streamed in from outside, stretching the shadow of his prostrate body across the floor.
The invisible pressure caused beads of sweat to form on Lu You’s forehead, yet he did not dare move, maintaining his posture with both hands held out.
Even Jin Feng, that rough and straightforward man, could feel the imposing pressure of a superior. He prostrated himself perfectly straight, not daring to lift his head.
After a long while, the corners of Jiang Jin’s lips curved upward. “Approved.”
Dongzhi stepped forward and accepted the tiger tally with both hands.
Only then did Lu You secretly breathe a sigh of relief. He once again lowered himself until his forehead touched the cold floor tiles. “Thank you, my lord.”
Li Zan and the others followed him in calling out, “Greetings, my lord!”
Jiang Jin swept her gaze over them and wasted no time. “Li Zan will continue serving as military adviser of Daqing Commandery. Jin Feng…”
Most of the officials in Daqing Commandery kept their positions. Only Zhao Feng, Yun Ce, and Lin Yang were transferred there to defend the city and train its soldiers.
As for Lu You, Jiang Jin did not treat him poorly. She bestowed upon him a three-courtyard residence in Gefeng and granted him the salary of a Left General.
Gefeng had been Lu You’s own choice. Jiang Jin had no objection to where he wished to retire; he could choose anywhere within Fengzhou. He had chosen Gefeng.
After everyone from Daqing Commandery had withdrawn, Zhou Sui asked with a frown, “My lord, do you intend to make it appear to outsiders that Lu You is still in control of Daqing Commandery?”
Jiang Jin nodded. “That’s right. Now that we possess Fengzhou, it would be unwise to expand our sphere of influence any further. We could easily become the target of everyone’s hostility—at least not until the Daqing Army has finished training.”
The weapons and training methods used by the Daqing Army were vastly different from those of the Jinyang Army. On top of that, many of their soldiers were elderly or weak men hastily recruited as cannon fodder simply because they lacked enough personnel. All of these were problems that needed to be resolved as soon as possible.
Most importantly, she would soon be heading to Wenxia City. Fighting on two fronts would still put considerable pressure on her.
Zhou Sui sighed. “Daqing Commandery has more than seventy thousand soldiers in total, but I estimate that nearly twenty thousand of them are elderly or otherwise unfit for service. There are also some who do not want to be soldiers at all. If all of them retire, only thirty or forty thousand troops will remain, along with several thousand naval soldiers.”
Jiang Jin nodded. “They must still be dismissed. Not only that, they must be assessed again. I want elite troops.”
Jiang Jin did not have many soldiers, but she was not short of recruits.
For one thing, her soldiers received good treatment. For another, the regions under her rule had received thorough ideological education.
Therefore, she would not keep those who did not wish to serve, and the elderly and weak would be removed as well.
Even if the seventy thousand soldiers of Daqing were reduced to just over thirty thousand, her army would still expand to around one hundred thousand ground troops, with a navy of roughly fifteen thousand and more than a hundred additional ships.
She raised her eyes to Zhou Sui. “You’ll remain in Daqing during this period. First, dismiss the elderly and those with little combat ability from the Daqing Army as quickly as possible. Provide reasonable subsidies according to their circumstances.”
“As for the defensive arrangements, reorganize them using our own people. Once the assessments are complete, break up the remaining Daqing troops and train them together with the new recruits we have enlisted recently.”
Zhou Sui nodded. “Rest assured, my lord. The Jiao Army is currently attacking Nan Jiao City. Should we force them to retreat?”
Jiang Jin considered this for a moment before shaking her head. “Keep fighting them slowly. All we need is to tie down their forces. If necessary, use our repeating crossbows and trebuchets.”
Zhou Sui’s brows drew together slightly. “If we do that, the Jiao Army will realize that Daqing has fallen under our control.”
Jiang Jin smiled. “As long as we don’t admit it, the troops in Daqing are still the Daqing Army. As for the weapons, there are plenty of explanations. They could say the weapons were stolen from us, for example.”
Mu Ning suppressed a laugh. “For instance, our weapons were stolen?”
Jiang Jin shot her a sidelong glance. “That’s one possibility.”
“My goal is simple. Regardless of what the Jiao Army thinks, I want them to fear the Daqing Army and hesitate to act rashly.”
“If the Jiao Army wants to expand the battlefield…” Her gaze sharpened. “Then, when necessary, we can take back the other counties of Daqing Commandery.”
Zhou Sui felt his blood surge with excitement. “Understood!”
Jiang Jin picked up the tiger tally and idly turned it in her hand, the corners of her lips curling upward. “He certainly knows how to choose his timing.”
Zhou Sui’s expression was complicated. “Indeed.”
Lu You had returned his authority at such a critical moment for two reasons.
First, he was demonstrating that he intended to stand firmly on Jiang Jin’s side. Even though the First Prince had become emperor, Lu You had remained steadfast in choosing Jiang Jin, thereby displaying his loyalty.
Second, he knew that after ascending the throne, the First Prince would surely send an envoy to demand his allegiance. Yet Lu You understood Jiang Jin’s strength and believed that the person capable of unifying the realm would undoubtedly be Jiang Jin.
Under those circumstances, he naturally had no intention of submitting to the First Prince. However, he lacked the confidence to refuse outright, because he knew very well that his own strength could not compare with that of the First Prince.
By declaring his allegiance at this time, he could demonstrate his loyalty to Jiang Jin while also throwing the troublesome burden back into her hands—a move that accomplished two things at once.
Remembering something, Jiang Jin asked, “How many commoners are there in Daqing?”
Zhou Sui looked at the pile of documents and felt a headache coming on. “They claim there are three hundred thousand, but they haven’t conducted a proper census in a long time. The actual number is probably far lower. We’d be lucky if there are two hundred thousand.”
Jiang Jin pondered for a moment before saying, “Have Luo Qingci and Chen Xi come here.”
Luo Qingci had only just finished handling the affairs of Wu Qin and the surrounding counties when she received notice that she was to take over Daqing Commandery.
When it came to the hardships of having an immensely powerful lord, she felt she had a great deal of authority on the subject.
Chen Xi was every bit as helpless.
For Jiang Jin, this was the largest transfer of population and military forces she had undertaken all at once. Every policy needed to be implemented, while education and literacy campaigns also had to be launched.
Naturally, the two old hands had to step forward and take charge.
