Yun Ce could tell that he was not lying. “Good. From now on, you are all subjects of my Lord.”
Everyone grew excited and delighted, yet for a moment, no one knew what to say.
Yun Ce pointed toward the wheat being harvested in the distance. “You all look young and strong. Why not help with the wheat harvest? You’ll receive five jin of grain for a day’s work.”
“Five jin of grain a day?” the swarthy man exclaimed.
The tall man even stepped forward and hurriedly asked, “Five jin a day?”
There were more than a hundred of them. That meant over five hundred jin of grain a day—enough to feed the people of their village for quite some time.
Yun Ce nodded. “If you want the work, move quickly and go over there now.”
The tall man was overjoyed. “Good, good! We’ll go right away.”
“Brothers, let’s go! Hurry and help!” He waved his large hand, leaped forward with delight, and charged down the mountain.
Rong Hei watched the Han men streaming down the mountain, his eyes flashing coldly. “What do you mean by this?”
Yun Ce walked leisurely to stand before Rong Hei. “What do I mean? Didn’t I say they’d get five jin of grain for a day’s work? They’re all young and strong, able-bodied laborers. Once the harvest is finished, you can withdraw from our territory as soon as possible.”
Rong Hei ground his teeth in anger. After a while, he said, “We don’t have enough farm tools. Surely they can’t pull up the wheat with their bare hands.”
Yun Ce smiled. “What a coincidence. We were worried you wouldn’t have enough tools, so we happened to bring a batch with us.”
He looked toward the bandits. “Everyone, come and collect your sickles. Quickly now. Work hard and don’t disgrace the name of us Han people. Help the Ji people finish harvesting their grain as soon as possible, so they can leave without worry.”
“Will do!” the tall man and the others shouted, their voices ringing out.
The sound was so loud that they themselves could hardly believe they were capable of making such a noise. In the past, they had to speak in low voices to avoid wasting too much energy.
Besides, it had been a long time since they had done farm work, and they were somewhat rusty at first. It took them a while to get the hang of it.
Soon, wheat was flying everywhere. Only two things remained in their minds:
Five jin of grain a day!
Drive the Ji army out of Shangjing Commandery!
Watching the Han men work so diligently that they did not need any urging, Rong Hei was so furious he nearly ground his back teeth to pieces.
With a cold snort, he turned and left with his personal guards.
They would be withdrawing tomorrow, and he still had far too much to arrange. There was no way he could remain in one place for long.
By the time they finally stopped working at dusk, the tall man was still somewhat dazed.
They had originally planned to go down the mountain and seize grain.
Instead, they had ended up working for someone else. No matter how he thought about it, the whole affair seemed bizarre.
But then he remembered that they were now the Princess’s subjects. In the future, they would no longer have to suffer oppression at the hands of the barbarians, and his mood lifted again.
The call signaling the end of the work rang out, and all the Han villagers gathered to line up.
Yun Ce led his people to a row of houses not far away. These were the Ji people’s temporary storehouses in the village.
A flat stretch of ground lay before the storehouses, covered with wheat harvested yesterday and today, which was being dried in the sun.
The wheat was threshed here as well.
Yun Ce unceremoniously ordered his men to gather up the wheat, then distributed the grain according to how long each person had worked.
The Ji soldiers watched from the side, grinding their teeth in frustration. Yet they could do nothing except nitpick over the details.
“Aren’t you giving them too much?” one of them asked.
Yun Ce shook his head. “This wheat hasn’t been completely dried yet. Isn’t it normal to give them a little extra? If you think that’s inappropriate, then bring out the fully dried wheat from your storehouse.”
The Ji soldier was rendered speechless. He could only silently watch as the Han people carried away their grain.
The tall man stared at the grain in his hands, trembling with excitement. The idea of obtaining food simply by working, without anyone having to die, was almost impossible for him to believe.
Since they had only joined in the afternoon, he had received just two and a half jin, but he was perfectly satisfied.
He looked up at Yun Ce and asked, “Will there be work tomorrow? We’d like to come again.”
Yun Ce glanced at the vast stretches of farmland that had yet to be harvested. “There will be. You can bring along any other able-bodied men. Women can come too. They’ll receive five jin of grain for a day’s work as well.”
“Women too?” the tall man exclaimed.
Yun Ce nodded. “Of course. Women are no worse than men. There are plenty of female soldiers in the Jinyang Army.”
The tall man was overjoyed. He quickly bowed to Yun Ce and thanked him.
Yun Ce waved his hand. “Go back for now. Once the Ji army leaves, you’ll be able to come down the mountain.”
Night fell, and the darkness was silent.
Xie Nanxiao wore night-vision binoculars as he gazed into the pitch-black sky, his face grave.
Jin Feng was filled with envy. “How about lending those to me for a look?”
Xie Nanxiao turned to him. Under the night vision, Jin Feng’s face glowed green. “In your dreams. These were specially bestowed on me by my Lord. They’re a symbol of my honor. You wouldn’t understand.”
Jin Feng: “…”
He truly did not understand, but he had thick skin. “If you let me wear them, wouldn’t I understand then?”
Xie Nanxiao gave a cold laugh. “I’m not saying you don’t understand the binoculars. I’m saying you don’t understand my honor.”
Jin Feng looked utterly bewildered and scratched his head. “What does that mean? Weren’t we talking about binoculars?”
Qiu Wu could not help laughing. “To you, they’re merely binoculars. To our commander, they represent honor. You really don’t understand.”
Forget Jin Feng, an “outsider”—even Qiu Wu, who had followed Xie Nanxiao for so long, had no hope of touching those binoculars.
Jin Feng refused to accept this. “I’m not you. I’m sure I’ll understand once I wear them, whether you mean honor or binoculars.”
Xie Nanxiao could not be bothered to respond. He promptly gave the order: “Move out.”
Jin Feng: “…”
On top of the city wall, Li Zan watched the departing troops. His heart was faintly worried, yet full of anticipation. He murmured, “I hope everything goes smoothly.”
Just as he had hoped, the night assault was a complete success.
By dawn, the four counties of Daqing Commandery that had been seized by the Jiao army had all been retaken.
Unfortunately, there were not many Han civilians in those four counties—only a little over thirty thousand.
Standing atop the city tower of Changhai County, Xie Nanxiao was covered in blood and grime, but his face shone with a brilliant smile as he gave the order loudly.
“Clear the city as quickly as possible. Throw the Jiao soldiers’ corpses outside.”
“Yes, sir!” the soldiers answered loudly.
Li Mai watched the soldiers bustling about and sighed. “I wonder whether the Jiao army knows by now that we’ve taken back all of Daqing.”
Xie Nanxiao smiled. “They must have discovered it. But most of their forces have been sent to Shishan River. Even if they want to retaliate, the earliest they can return is tomorrow.”
“These next few days will be difficult, so everyone will have to work harder. Be prepared in case the Jiao army counterattacks. We must hold the city.”
The soldiers answered in unison, their voices loud and resolute. “Yes, sir!”
Perhaps to celebrate Daqing’s victory, a general from Sizhou arrived at Daqing’s Xinge Wharf with two thousand troops and five hundred thousand in military funds.
Luo Qingci considered the matter highly important and directly sent Li Zan, Zhou Leng, and Yan Ke to receive them.
Wang Boshan and Lü Cheng accompanied them as well.
“General Gu, what brings you here?” Wang Boshan asked, delighted.
The newcomer was Gu Bi, one of Sizhou’s defending generals.
He gave Wang Boshan a slight nod. “Minister Wang, it has been a long time.”
Then he looked toward Li Zan. “And who is this?”
Wang Boshan hurriedly introduced them. “This is Advisor Li of the Daqing Army.”
He then introduced Gu Bi to the three men. “This is General Gu of Sizhou.”
Li Zan smiled and nodded warmly. “I’ve long heard of you.”
Gu Bi glanced at him, then looked at Zhou Leng and Yan Ke behind him, his expression seeming to hold a trace of amusement.
Yet he said nothing unfavorable, merely remarking, “Daqing truly is blessed with outstanding people and beautiful scenery—a fine place indeed. To have come here is my good fortune, haha.”
Li Zan raised an eyebrow slightly. Was he planning to stay here permanently?
It made sense. Sizhou had provided so much silver; naturally, they could not expect nothing in return.
He smiled and said, “Why don’t we get settled in the city first?”
Gu Bi nodded and glanced at the ships by the dock.
But before he could say anything, Li Zan spoke up. “Are these the military supplies the Emperor has sent us? Thank you for delivering them all this way, General Gu.”
With that, he quickly gave an order: “Hurry, unload all our supplies.”
