Hearing his words, everyone quickly sprang into action. Even the young and able-bodied men they had just bought that afternoon obediently followed Dong Si's commands.
Although they were nervous and afraid, seeing the imposing figures of Xie Nanxiao, Yun Yu, Qiu Wu, and others standing at the outermost perimeter eased their fears. Each of them picked up a blade and took their designated positions.
Feng Qingzhu, Sun Acao, and a few others began to light the bonfires. Since they had many horses, they had already lit three fires at their resting place.
They had gathered plenty of firewood that afternoon, so everyone moved swiftly. Some ran to the outer circle carrying large bundles of wood, while others followed closely behind with burning branches taken from the existing fires to use as torches.
As soon as the firewood was set down, the torches ignited it. Before long, seven or eight bonfires were blazing around the perimeter, brightly illuminating the entire area.
The crowd quickly retreated, stepping back behind the safety of the flames.
Enclosed within the circle, the herd of horses seemed to sense the threat of the wolves and began to grow restless.
Li Su and his son stepped forward to calm them. Over the past few days, they had grown familiar with the horses, and they soon managed to soothe the herd.
Soon, the wolf pack charged forward, stopping just a few dozen feet away from the bonfires, glaring at the people with predatory eyes.
Xie Nanxiao took a rough count. There were not too many of them, perhaps around twenty wolves in total. He raised his bow and arrow, his eyes turning ice-cold. Kill.
With that, he let his arrow fly, and a wolf standing at the front instantly collapsed to the ground.
Earlier, not knowing the pack's size, he had been somewhat worried that their group might not be able to handle it. Now that he knew there were not many, he was certain their team could easily wipe them out.
He knew very well how brutally cold the winters could be in Gefeng, where Jiang Jin was heading. These wolf pelts would make excellent winter gear. Since they had delivered themselves right to their doorstep, he might as well accept the gift.
Not to mention the wolf meat. Although it did not taste great, meat was still meat, and in these times of food scarcity, it was a precious resource.
Following his command, Dong Si, Yun Yu, and the others unleashed a volley of arrows, instantly claiming the lives of several more wolves.
The wolves had initially shown fear and hesitation at the sight of the fire. But upon seeing their companions fall, whether it was the scent of blood awakening their wild nature or the death of their kin sparking their fury, they snapped.
All the remaining wolves charged fiercely at the group.
Xie Nanxiao fired his second arrow, taking down another wolf. Seeing the wild beasts lunging right at him, he tossed his bow to the ground, pulled out the spear planted beside him, and thrust it forward.
Blood splattered as a wolf was impaled straight through.
Standing not far away, Shuangjiang gripped her blade tightly, her eyes resolute. As a wolf lunged at her, she raised her sword and slashed down with all her might.
Blood sprayed across her face as she cleaved the wolf clean in half.
Yun Yu and the others were no weaklings either. Even Yun Ce was a battlefield veteran, drawing blood with nearly every strike.
The newly bought young men teamed up to fend off two wolves. Armed with blades and working together, they fought the beasts to a standstill.
Dong Si was not skilled in close combat, but his archery was quite decent, so he stayed in the back, continuously firing arrows.
Yao Ji stood on top of a carriage, also holding a bow, but he did not make a move.
And indeed, there was no need for him to intervene. Before long, the entire wolf pack was annihilated.
Mu Zhuo and his large family sat inside their carriage. Madam Zhang patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. I never expected the young lady's group to have so many skilled fighters.
A smile also appeared on Mu Zhuo's face. He had not expected it either. It seemed the safety of himself and his family was now much more guaranteed.
By the time Jiang Jin returned to the dense forest, everyone was already bustling with activity.
The stream was not far from the campsite. A few people had lit bonfires by the water, where Yao Ji and Yun Yu were teaching the newly bought young men how to skin the wolves.
Meanwhile, others were busy cleaning up the blood. Since it was late at night, it was impractical to find a new place to camp, so they had to find a way to mask the scent of blood to avoid attracting other wild beasts.
Fortunately, Xie Nanxiao and his men were experienced in this. They scorched the bloodstains with fire or scattered burning embers over them.
Mu Zhuo also brought out a good amount of medicinal powder and sprinkled it around the camp, which not only neutralized the metallic scent of blood but also repelled mosquitoes and insects.
Seeing Jiang Jin return, everyone was delighted, especially Dong Si, who hurried forward to ask with concern, Are you alright, My Lady?
Jiang Jin gave a soft affirmative hum, then asked, What happened here?
Dong Si quickly recounted the events.
Jiang Jin nodded. Was anyone hurt?
Dong Si replied, No one.
He looked toward Yun Chengxuan, his tone hesitant. Is this... Eldest Master Yun?
As an old servant from the palace, he knew of Yun Chengxuan and had seen him a few times. However, seeing him again, things had drastically changed, and the man looked somewhat different now.
Jiang Jin did not hide the truth. Yes. Find him a place to rest.
She then pointed at Suo Qian, who was on the verge of fainting from the bumpy ride on Zhou Sui's horse. Get him something to eat.
Dong Si indicated his understanding. Rest assured, My Lady, I will arrange everything. Please get some rest soon.
Jiang Jin then handed Xia Chanyi over to Feng Qingzhu, asking her to make the necessary arrangements.
Afterward, she boarded her private carriage. She gave herself a simple wipe-down inside the carriage, lay down, and flipped open her pocket watch to check the time. It was almost midnight.
Her pocket watch had a luminous dial, making it easy to read clearly even in the dark.
With a thought, her consciousness entered her spatial dimension to organize the day's harvest.
There were 32 carriage compartments in total, all filled with salt and cooking oil.
There were 198 flatbed carts and 123 wheelbarrows. The grain tied to these two types of carts amounted to roughly 3,000 shi.
As for the gold, silver, and copper coins she had collected, she did not even bother to check them. She was simply too exhausted today, and before long, she drifted off into dreamland.
The next day, she woke up early and first went upstream to take a bath in the stream, feeling thoroughly refreshed afterward.
Returning to the campsite, she looked at everyone bustling about in an orderly manner and felt very satisfied.
Now, there were 9 carriages in her team, making it 10 including Mu Zhuo's family carriage.
Several more horses had been added, bringing the total to over 50.
She called Zhou Sui, Yao Ji, Xie Nanxiao, Dong Si, Feng Qingzhu, and Liu Mi over, preparing to hold a brief meeting.
The agenda of the meeting was simple: she planned to train the newly bought young men into soldiers.
Since they were going to start military training, it naturally involved the issue of troop formation. Jiang Jin intended to use the group army organizational structure from her own era.
The truth was, she was completely confused by all the various military titles of this era, such as Grand General, General of Chariots and Cavalry, General of the Guards, the Four Pacifying and Four Guarding Generals, Grand Commander, and Minor Commander.
Although she did not have many soldiers right now, it did not stop her from setting up the military framework first.
She looked at Zhou Sui and the others and spoke, Among the 15 people we bought yesterday, 9 are young and able-bodied men. I plan to train these 9 into soldiers.
Zhou Sui and the others had no objections to this. They knew what Jiang Jin aimed to achieve, and training an army was only a matter of time.
Jiang Jin continued, From now on, the soldiers will be organized into squads, platoons, companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, divisions, and group armies.
Zhou Sui and the others looked at her in utter confusion, not understanding what any of that meant. Besides, they only had a handful of people! Was it really time to talk about military formations?
Jiang Jin did not care what they were thinking and carefully explained the organizational structure of a group army to them in detail.
Although Zhou Sui and the others did not quite understand why Jiang Jin suddenly wanted to change the military structure, they listened very intently. Gradually, they also began to see the advantages of the group army framework and raised no objections.
Once everyone had fully understood the plan, Jiang Jin issued her orders. "Zhou Sui, you will be responsible for the group's safety and scouting the route ahead. Yun Yu and his men will follow your lead."
Although Yun Yu and his companions had followed her to Gefeng, they hadn't explicitly pledged their loyalty to her, making it difficult for her to assign them direct tasks. Nevertheless, as members of the traveling party, it was only right that they shoulder the responsibility of guarding the group on the road.
