Shuangjiang nodded. “Naturally. We’re female soldiers under the Lord’s command.”
An Yun took an excited step forward. “Really? If we want to join the army, where should we sign up?”
Shuangjiang answered honestly, “Once the Ji army has completely withdrawn from Punan Commandery in a few days, you can enlist in any county. The exact recruitment date will depend on when the Lord gives the order.”
Seeing how thin and gaunt they all were, she pointed toward the farmland in the distance. “You can also go help out over there. The pay is five jin of grain per day.”
“What? Five jin of grain a day?” This time, it was the man standing beside An Yun who spoke. His eyes lit up astonishingly brightly.
Shuangjiang nodded. “If you want the work, I can have someone speak to them.”
“We’ll do it!” the man hurriedly declared. Anyone who turned down such work would have to be a fool.
This was five whole jin of grain—proper food they had not had in a very long time.
Shuangjiang nodded and said to Mu Chichi, “Take them over there. They can follow us when we leave later.”
Mu Chichi nodded. “Yes!”
Just as Shuangjiang was about to ride away, An Yun could not help asking, “Do you know Nan Wen?”
Shuangjiang paused. “You know Commander Nan?”
An Yun brightened. She had not expected the other woman to actually know Nan Wen. She had only just remembered the impression he had made on her before; these people bore some resemblance to him.
She hurriedly nodded. “Yes, we know each other. Where is he now?”
Shuangjiang shook her head. “He’s also in Punan Commandery, but he has other matters to attend to and isn’t in Yunmeng County.”
At dawn, while the morning light was still faint and the dew had yet to evaporate, Chu Qing and Nan Wen received the twenty thousand soldiers brought by Meng Chong in Qinglian County.
Nan Wen gave the two men a brief introduction, and the three of them immediately began discussing how to take over the region.
Holding a map, Chu Qing pointed toward the various counties. “We’ll split up and take over Qinglian County, Jiashan County…”
He had brought Li Feng and several others with him this time. Nan Wen had also brought a large number of former Northwestern soldiers, all of whom were familiar with Chongzhou’s terrain.
After two quarter-hours, the troops had been divided into dozens of forces of various sizes, each racing off in a different direction.
Before they departed, Nan Wen once again reminded all the units, “The Lord said that the common people who worked for the Ji army must be paid ten copper coins a day, or five jin of grain. Everyone must make sure the people receive their wages.”
“And make sure they’re paid for the work they did over the past two days as well. We mustn’t let the Ji army profit from their labor,” he added.
At the county office of Wenxia County, Jiang Jin was handling official business when Bailu hurried in.
“My Lady, a message from Daqing.”
Jiang Jin frowned, took the slip of paper, and read it carefully. Her expression gradually grew solemn.
Qiu Liao hurriedly asked, “My Lady, what happened?”
Jiang Jin sighed. “The floods in Sizhou have spread widely, submerging many areas. Tao Commandery and Shankang Commandery are the worst affected.”
Qiu Liao was startled. “Floods?”
Jiang Jin continued reading the message. “There’s good news as well. Xie Nanxiao and the others have recaptured the remaining four counties of Daqing.”
Qiu Liao’s eyes lit up, and he was overcome with excitement. “That’s wonderful!”
Jiang Jin was not particularly surprised. After all, the battle plan had been decided beforehand; they merely had to adjust it according to the actual circumstances.
Quzhao had originally been left for the Jiao Army. With their grain burned, raiding for supplies had naturally become inevitable.
She looked at the final piece of news, which concerned Gu Bi.
“Have you heard of Gu Bi?” She raised her head and looked at Qiu Liao.
Qiu Liao thought for a moment. “I know a little about him. He was probably the commandant of Lingfeng Commandery in Haijia Prefecture. Why have you suddenly asked about him?”
Jiang Jin raised the slip of paper in her hand. “The First Prince sent him to Daqing, intending to use five hundred thousand taels of silver in military funds to secure him an important post in the Daqing army.”
Qiu Liao smiled. “That’s quite an ambitious plan.”
“My Lady, what do you intend to do?” he asked curiously.
Jiang Jin was helpless. “Now that all of Daqing has been taken, Sizhou will find out soon enough. It seems we’ll only be able to make this money once.”
“Once is more than enough. That’s five hundred thousand taels!” Qiu Liao said with a smile.
It was also the first time he had realized that making money could be so easy.
Judging by Fengzhou’s grain prices, five hundred thousand taels would cover six or seven years of grain provisions for Jiang Jin’s army of more than one hundred thousand soldiers.
Jiang Jin smiled as well and quickly issued her orders. “Keep Gu Bi and the others waiting for now. If we can’t stall them any longer, take them into custody. General Hua’s soldiers are to join the training immediately.”
Indeed, Gu Bi had brought two thousand soldiers with him, and Hua Yuanyi had secretly arranged for eighteen hundred of them to be included.
Only she and Zhou Sui knew about it.
Everyone was stunned, then understood at once.
Qiu Liao’s feelings were complicated. In his Lady’s eyes, the First Prince’s scheme was probably nothing more than a joke.
Jiang Jin’s voice continued, “As for Sizhou, send people to provide disaster relief. Publish an emergency issue of the newspaper calling on the people of Fengzhou to donate to the victims in Sizhou, but every donation and expenditure must be recorded in clear detail.”
“Have Xie Nanxiao go provide relief as well. He may act at his own discretion,” she added.
A flicker passed through Qiu Liao’s eyes. There was something particularly meaningful about the words “act at his own discretion.”
Bailu quickly wrote down the instructions. Afraid she might have expressed anything incorrectly, she handed the completed note to Jiang Jin for review.
Jiang Jin nodded. “That will do. Send it through the fastest available courier channel.”
Bailu acknowledged the order and hurried out.
Qiu Liao hesitated for a moment before saying, “Will it be inappropriate for us to enter Sizhou so abruptly?”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “Jiang Chun has done nothing for the disaster victims.”
Qiu Liao was dumbfounded. “What?”
Jiang Jin sighed. “There aren’t many Han Chinese left, and we have the means to help. We should save as many as we can.”
Qiu Liao’s expression darkened. “Why? Why won’t the First Prince save the people under his rule?”
He could not understand why the First Prince would refuse to aid the people in his own territory. Sizhou was far wealthier than Fengzhou.
Jiang Jin sighed. “He probably intended to help, but his abilities were limited, and he was obstructed from every direction.”
That was also why she had refused to rely on any of the great clans when she first began her uprising.
Now, under her rule, whether it was military power, political authority, the economy, education, or anything else, she held absolute control.
Just as with the current disaster relief effort, all she needed to do was give the order, and every department would mobilize to carry out the plan.
Qiu Liao fell silent. He had been thinking too simply. He had only considered Sizhou’s wealth, without considering that the aristocratic clans and powerful nobles there might not be willing to spend money or resources to save anyone.
He sighed. In the past, he had followed Chu Xiong, and now he followed Jiang Jin. Both were people who cared about the common folk, yet he had forgotten that some people saw nothing but profit.
Dongzhi thought of another issue and asked in confusion, “Our people probably don’t have much spare money to donate.”
Jiang Jin shook her head. “Many people together can accomplish great things. Excluding Chongzhou and Daqing, Fengzhou alone has eight hundred thousand people. If each person contributes one copper coin, that’s eight hundred thousand copper coins. At our grain prices, that could buy more than three thousand dan of grain.”
Qiu Liao stroked his beard. “That isn’t your only aim, is it, My Lady?”
Jiang Jin smiled. “Indeed. When one place suffers, others come to its aid. This will greatly strengthen our people’s sense of national unity and solidarity.”
“If this is handled well, the government will also gain greater public trust. In the future, whatever we do, we’ll have the full support of the people.”
Yun Chengxuan’s eyes lit up. “I’ll donate too.”
Jiang Jin cast him a sidelong glance. “Do you have any money?”
