Chun Shisanniang had originally thought coming to Dragon Fang City would be quite boring. While it seemed Han Qian gave Zhang Ping and them great freedom, not restricting them from helping Zhang Ping with matters in Dragon Fang City, the problem was that everyone in Dragon Fang City from top to bottom was Han Qian’s direct confidants, and it was mainly stationed with officers and soldiers—what could they do?
However, Dragon Fang City was nearly a military camp. Aside from over a hundred women and children, most everyone else consisted of young able-bodied men with vigorous blood and energy. Seeing the gorgeously dressed and alluring Chun Shisanniang, their burning gazes could melt even an iceberg.
Chun Shisanniang very much enjoyed this feeling of being the center of attention. After tidying up the small courtyard where they were staying this day, she pulled Yao Xishui out to stroll around. Hearing bursts of cheering from the direction of the training ground in the distance, they walked over to watch the excitement.
The training ground was a full three to four hundred paces square, probably the most open space within Dragon Fang City. Teams of officers and soldiers had already begun training on the ground.
After Chun Shisanniang and Yao Xishui watched for quite a while, they didn’t see anything particularly remarkable. They thought that while Han Qian might excel at scheming, or at practical governance, or at creating formidable war machinery, in military management and command he still followed conventional patterns—they couldn’t see anything exceptional.
The conquest of Zhongfang City had mainly relied on strategy. In the earlier Xichuan bloody battle, Li Zhigao and others had been the commanding generals. It was Li Zhigao and the others who had worn down the Liang army’s patience to the extreme, causing the agitated Liang army to step into the death trap Han Qian had set.
Strictly speaking, Han Qian hadn’t yet shown outstanding performance in military management and command.
Perhaps this was why Han Qian didn’t appear even more terrifying.
A circle of people had gathered in the southeast corner, and bursts of cheering were coming from there. Chun Shisanniang and Yao Xishui squeezed over.
Ordinary officers and soldiers, seeing the beautiful and charming Yao Xishui and the gorgeously dressed Chun Shisanniang, had burning gazes but also knew their status was extraordinary. Not daring to slight them, they made space for them to move to the inner circle. Only then did Chun Shisanniang see that in the field, two mighty armored soldiers were engaged in paired combat using practice lancets without blades and iron shields.
Both wore face armor, so their faces couldn’t be seen clearly.
Chun Shisanniang saw that the slightly thinner one wearing fine steel scale armor appeared weaker. She could tell his breathing wasn’t as steady. At this moment he defended more than attacked, mostly using his iron shield to deflect the slashing attacks from the lamellar-armored soldier, and even his footwork was somewhat disorderly—clearly his strength was somewhat insufficient.
“This isn’t even a contest at the same level. What’s there to watch? Look at the one in scale armor—at most he can withstand three to five more blows, then he’ll likely be cut down,” Chun Shisanniang commented critically.
Chun Shisanniang’s voice wasn’t loud, and the surroundings were quite noisy, but the scale-armored soldier’s ears were extremely sharp. He turned his head to glance in this direction, then in the next moment shifted from defense to offense. The fine steel lance in his hands suddenly became fierce, slashing and hacking at the opposing soldier’s iron shield. For over a dozen strikes without pause, he forced the lamellar-armored soldier to retreat continuously until finally, strength failing, he sat on the ground and raised his lance to signal surrender.
Cheers erupted all around. Someone nearby praised admiringly: “What medicine did this Barbarian Kong take today? He’s defeated seven people in a row again. But after hacking so violently just now, I’m afraid he won’t make it to ten kills today.”
Chun Shisanniang listened in secret surprise. She had just seen this person’s strength was somewhat insufficient, but it turned out he had already consecutively defeated six people. In a military force of three to four thousand, such martial prowess must be among the top one or two, right?
The scale-armored soldier showed no intention of showing off to Chun Shisanniang and Yao Xishui. He threw the practice lance and shield on the ground, then turned and walked toward the other side, removing the face armor and helmet from his head as he walked.
When Chun Shisanniang and Yao Xishui looked over—who else could that person be but Kong Xirong?
Chun Shisanniang and Yao Xishui looked at each other, not expecting that Kong Xirong, whom she had previously looked down upon, was actually so exceptionally brave in martial arts.
“Hmph!” Chun Shisanniang heard a soft snort full of resentment behind her.
She turned around to see Feng Liao looking dusty from travel, as if he had just rushed back to Dragon Fang City from outside. Bowing slightly in courtesy, she said: “What about Shisanniang displeases Administrator Feng? Please instruct Shisanniang.”
The Feng family’s disaster was destined to be inescapable, but Chun Shisanniang, as the concubine of uncle-by-marriage Kong Zhou, shamelessly used her body to seduce Feng Yi and Xirong—how could this satisfy Feng Liao?
No matter how dissatisfied Feng Liao felt inside, he wouldn’t make things difficult for Chun Shisanniang now. That snort just now was merely to remind Chun Shisanniang not to provoke Kong Xirong.
“What could Shisanniang possibly do to dissatisfy me? Shisanniang is being too modest, isn’t she?” Feng Liao smiled, then waved his hand and walked toward the main building to the west.
The settlement hall within Dragon Fang City, or rather the Town Commander’s Residence, was a newly built stilted wooden building.
Feng Liao climbed the outer stairs into the settlement hall and saw Han Qian standing before the wooden railing gazing out at the training ground before the hall. He didn’t know if Han Qian had witnessed the scene just now. Walking over, he reported: “Following Your Excellency’s secret orders, Feng Liao has brought thirty-seven people from the Left Bureau to Dragon Fang City.”
Han Qian took the name list from Feng Liao’s hands, then said:
“I am currently only temporarily commanding troops. If we successfully reduce Tanzhou’s regional power, I’ll still just be an idle person in the Prince’s Residence. There’s no need for such formality in how you and I address each other.”
Feng Liao patiently waited for Han Qian to examine the list carefully, standing to one side without speaking.
The Left Bureau elite scouts had once grown to over one hundred twenty people, but after coming to Xuzhou, quite a portion of officers and soldiers had dependents remaining in Jinling. With their hearts difficult to attach, Han Qian could only use that portion of elite troops from among convict soldiers and mountain strongholds to serve as officers in the Field Army.
About seventy Left Bureau officers and soldiers had dependents remaining in Jinling. They were either incorporated into the Engineering and Transport Battalion or assigned to the Revenue Bureau, responsible for construction and land tax reform matters.
Counting from when they left Jinling, it had been nearly a year. Among these, there was still a portion who had developed some sense of belonging to Xuzhou. Feng Liao had spent these past few days selecting these people.
“Draft an order appointing thirty people as Deputy Squad Leaders, and assign the other seven to the Engineering and Transport Battalion.”
The troops currently gathered at Dragon Fang City had reached thirty-six hundred. On the basis of not continuing to add new hundred-man squads, each hundred-man squad would expand to one hundred twenty men—roughly the traditional organization of two and a half teams of armored soldiers. Three to four regular and deputy Squad Leader-level mid-level officers would be needed to better command affairs.
Besides the nearly four hundred master craftsmen and artisans at the iron smelting site and weapons workshops, for the coal mining site, iron ore site, and to ensure resources continuously entered Dragon Fang City, Han Qian also hired over twelve hundred porters.
Han Qian organized all these people into the Engineering and Transport Battalion. Due to lacking suitable candidates, he directly held the concurrent position of Transport Battalion Commander, but the actual work was handled by Feng Liao, Chen Jitang, Du Yijun, and others.
Chen Jitang was the son of a treasonous minister, demoted to official slave. Du Yijun was the son of a surrendered minister, demoted to official slave. Feng Liao was a person of a rebellious minister, demoted to commoner status.
Han Qian could take Feng Liao, Chen Jitang, and Du Yijun as household slaves or retainers, but while Emperor Tianyou lived, they shouldn’t expect to be formally granted official positions.
Even after Emperor Tianyou’s death, if they entered officialdom, it would require a special decree.
Feng Liao was completely unconcerned about these matters. Following Han Qian’s intentions, he drafted the appointment certificates for the thirty-seven people and brought them over for Han Qian to confirm: “Does Your Excellency want to meet with them?”
“There’s no need for that at present. Once they’re incorporated into the military, I can see them anytime.”
These people had initially been personally selected by Han Qian from plague-stricken famine refugees, and he had trained them for a full two years. There wasn’t a single person Han Qian wasn’t familiar with. There was no need to deliberately cultivate loyalty at this time—leaving them to Tian Cheng, Gao Shao, and Lin Haizheng to handle would be fine.
“Xiang Jianlong, Yang Zaili, and Xi Xunqiao also arrived at the river mouth today. When I came back this time, I happened to be on the same boat with them…” Feng Liao added.
With the active and willing cooperation of Xiang Jianlong, Yang Zaili, and Xi Xunqiao, not only had the settlement troops and dependents of the Three Surnames quickly all relocated to Linjiang County for settlement, but after Li Tang and Qin Wen took office in Tanyang and Langxi, the work of surveying land and population these past days had also proceeded quite smoothly.
Because the Xiang, Yang, and Xi surnames had undertaken the supplementary autumn grain payment of sixty thousand shi of grain and twenty thousand strings of cash that Tanyang and Langxi counties had owed last year, this also eliminated the greatest resistance to implementing the land tax reform new policy in these two counties.
In reciprocation, Han Daoxun now lifted the confinement of Xiang Jianlong, Yang Zaili, Xi Xunqiao, and other leaders of the Three Surnames, arranging estates for them concentrated in Linjiang County.
Of course, that Feng Liao left Qianyang City on the same boat as Yang Zaili and Xiang Jianlong, then disembarked together at the Sha River mouth—this obviously wasn’t by chance.
“Oh, now that they’ve regained their freedom, what sentiments do they have?” Han Qian asked.
“Yang Zaili and Xiang Jianlong perhaps think Your Excellency will one day suffer the consequences of your own actions. Xi Xunqiao, seeing the daily renewal and improvement along both banks of the Yuan River, actually admires Your Excellency’s capabilities,” Feng Liao said.
Currently the Three Surnames actively cooperated because the lives of the Three Surnames’ chieftains were all in the grasp of the Han father and son, and the Three Surnames also couldn’t gather sufficiently powerful forces to resist the Han father and son. But this didn’t mean they had no resentment in their hearts.
Currently Tanzhou showed no major movements, but after Provincial Governor Wang Liang’s sudden death in Chenzhou, the alliance among major surname forces grew stronger day by day. How could the Three Surnames of Xuzhou not harbor some expectations in their hearts?
If Xi Xunqiao, seeing the construction along both banks of the Yuan River, felt admiration—Han Qian was somewhat surprised by this.
Seeing Han Qian’s puzzled expression, Feng Liao said: “When Xi Zhen was alive, Xi Xunqiao’s relationship with his father was not harmonious. Xi Xunqiao liked reading poetry and books, often considering himself a scholar, and was frequently reprimanded by his father for this. In Xi Xunqiao’s youth there was a young woman he admired, but his father got there first and took her as a concubine. The relationship between father and son became even worse, and Xi Xunqiao never held office in province or county. Xi Xunqiao’s position as legitimate son in the Xi clan was always precarious, which also made Xi Zhen’s other sons’ relationships with Xi Xunqiao hostile. This time regarding the exchange of estates and the bestowal of merchant ships, quite a few incidents occurred within the Xi clan. Xi Xunqiao has become somewhat disheartened by these matters. These trivial matters probably haven’t reached Your Excellency’s ears yet…”
Han Qian was currently focusing his attention on Chenzhou to the north while extremely concerned with subtle changes within Tanzhou. He had thoughts of recruiting the Three Surnames, but hadn’t yet had the energy to pay attention to such details.
Hearing Feng Liao speak of so much old news about the Xi clan, Han Qian said: “I truly didn’t know about these matters. If you think it’s necessary for me to meet Xi Xunqiao, send someone to Sha River mouth tomorrow to bring Xi Xunqiao to Dragon Fang City…”