Jiang Jin looked at Xie Nanxiao again. "The soldiers will be temporarily managed and trained by Xie Nanxiao, who will serve as the acting squad leader."
"Chen Xi, you are responsible for feeding and securing the horses. Li Su and his son, as well as the newly bought carriage slaves, will be under your command."
"Feng Qingzhu, from now on you will be in charge of everyone's meals on the journey. In addition to the two newly bought cooks and the maidservant, Sun Acao and her daughter will also be under your supervision."
The group was quite large now. Excluding the Mu family who cooked their own meals, Jiang Jin's team had over thirty people.
Cooking for so many people was no easy task. The main issue was being out in the wilderness, which meant building a new stove and gathering firewood every time, all while needing to be quick.
"Liu Mi, whenever you have free time, make more wound medicine, as well as powders to repel mosquitoes and insects."
"Luo Qingci, you will be responsible for the soldiers' clothing from now on. It is best to make the uniforms standardized. You also need to make weight-bearing sandbags—make plenty of them, as the first squad of soldiers will need to use them very soon."
She pondered for a moment and said, "As for personnel, there is only Fifth Lady Chen left, but..."
Her gaze swept over the women, including Feng Qingzhu and Liu Mi. "When you have free time, you should also help make the clothes and sandbags."
The few of them replied in unison, "Understood."
Dong Si lowered his head, feeling somewhat disappointed. It seemed he could not help the young lady with anything.
Just as he was thinking this, Jiang Jin's voice rang out, "Dong Si, from now on, all logistics will be entirely under your management."
Dong Si suddenly looked up at Jiang Jin, seeing her looking at him with trusting eyes.
A wave of emotion washed over him; it turned out the young lady had been paying attention to him all along.
He secretly resolved to do his job well, to live up to her trust, and to ensure she had no worries about the rear.
A few days flew by. A refugee group of several dozen people stared blankly at the strange procession approaching them.
At the front of the procession were two men on horseback, followed by ten horse-drawn carriages.
After that were young men and women jogging in uniform clothing and synchronized movements. Their legs were tied with strange coarse cloth bags, bulging with unknown contents.
Finally, there was a massive herd of horses.
On both sides and at the rear of this procession were also guards on horseback, making them look like a force not to be trifled with.
The fleeing refugees hurriedly stepped aside to the edges of the road, lowering their heads and tightly guarding their meager supplies, terrified of being robbed.
Only after the procession passed did the refugees dare to look up and discuss in hushed tones.
"Who are these people? How strange. They have horses but choose not to ride them, insisting on running instead. Aren't they afraid of getting heatstroke?"
"Exactly. Sigh, if only I had a horse. Walking every day, when will it ever end?"
"Enough, didn't you see that the people running were all wearing uniforms? I feel like they are training troops."
"They were all wearing coarse cloth and linen. Do you think they were wearing armor? Training troops? It's probably just some nobles punishing their slaves for fun."
"True, we can't fathom the thoughts of the nobles. They don't even consider how quickly running makes you hungry..."
Jiang Jin sat in the carriage. Even though the cloth curtains were pulled open, she was still sweating profusely from the heat. The carriage felt like a small furnace.
The blazing sun outside was an even bigger furnace. In short, traveling in such hot weather was pure suffering no matter what.
She took out her water skin and gulped down a few mouthfuls of water. Just as she was about to order the group to find a place to rest, she saw a merchant caravan slowly approaching from the opposite direction.
Dong Si, who was driving the carriage, narrowed his eyes at the group ahead and turned his head. "My Lady, that seems to be a slave-trading caravan. Do you want to buy any?"
He knew what Jiang Jin was trying to accomplish, so he naturally knew that what she lacked most right now was manpower.
Although he felt it was very difficult for a woman to establish herself in such chaotic times, no matter what, he was willing to stay by her side and do his utmost to assist her.
Jiang Jin was indeed very interested in buying people, and she agreed without a second thought.
Over the past few days, the young and strong men she had bought previously had developed somewhat of a sense of belonging to her team. It was time to add more soldiers.
Being able to eat their fill and have clothes to wear was already the greatest extravagance for commoners in these troubled times. Now that they had achieved this, they naturally had no other lingering thoughts.
They also had no time or energy to overthink; they were trained like dogs every day, to the point where they could fall asleep the moment they hit the ground.
Although Xie Nanxiao was the one training them, it was Jiang Jin who formulated the training plan.
With tight time and heavy tasks, the training plan she created was naturally high-intensity. Long-distance running with weights was just the basics.
The training regimen also included sit-ups, pull-ups, squats, horseback archery, martial arts, swordsmanship, and more.
It was only because they were currently on the march and conditions didn't allow for it, otherwise, she would have come up with even more exercises.
Jiang Jin's carriage was already at the front of the convoy. Dong Si brought the carriage to a halt, and the procession behind them stopped as well.
The captain of the merchant caravan's guards walking in front was startled by the sudden halt of the convoy. He gripped his sword tightly. "Who are you people, and what do you want?"
Dong Si's attitude was mild. "Are you selling slaves? My lady wishes to buy some."
A head popped out from the carriage behind the guards. His face was covered in sweat, yet he had applied a thick layer of powder to his face, causing the sweat to form deep, streaky grooves, making him look rather comical.
Completely oblivious to this, he smiled in a slightly ingratiating manner. "Yes, may I ask how many slaves you wish to buy?"
Dong Si pointed to a nearby grove of trees. "Could we discuss the details in the shade over there? It really is too hot."
Standing in the shade, Jiang Jin fanned herself with her hand. Looking at the man's face before her, her expression was somewhat hard to describe.
The man was not old, looking to be in his twenties, and slightly chubby.
The man's inner thoughts were even harder to describe. He had just heard that a young lady wanted to buy slaves, but he never expected her to be this young. She probably hadn't even reached her coming-of-age ceremony yet; could she really call the shots?
The man didn't show it on his face, smiling as he introduced himself. "My surname is Mei, my given name is Sheng. I wonder how many slaves the young lady wishes to buy?"
Jiang Jin: "...Mei Sheng?" Like 'no sincerity'? Or 'no success'?
Seriously, with a name like that, implying neither sincerity nor success, how did he even manage to build a business?
Mei Sheng was unaware of Jiang Jin's inner slander and smiled until his eyes narrowed into slits. "That is indeed me. Take a look at my slaves; they are all young, strong, and in robust health."
Jiang Jin looked at the slaves, whose hands were bound and strung together in a line, and couldn't help but frown. "Did you forcibly kidnap these slaves?"
Mei Sheng hastily waved his hands. "Of course not. Although I am just a merchant, I wouldn't do something so wicked. These all came through legitimate channels, rest assured."
"Some sold themselves, some were sold by their families, and there are also official slaves. I only bound their hands to make it easier to manage them on the road."
