The moment Cheng Xu finished speaking, Gao Chuwu's hand shot up. "I'll go!"
He and Xing Honglang were newlyweds. With his wife about to head off to Shanxi, it made perfect sense for a husband to want to tag along.
Cheng Xu nodded. "Go then. Take fifty grenadiers with you. I'll also assign a hundred and fifty musketeers and a hundred spearmen to go with you."
The moment this arrangement left his mouth, everyone present wore peculiar expressions.
Clearly, they'd all realized the same thing—who exactly would command these three hundred infantry? Gao Chuwu was definitely out of the running. Having him lead fifty grenadiers in mindlessly lobbing grenades was one thing, but put him in charge of an entire infantry battalion and he'd march everyone straight into a ditch.
Cheng Xu obviously couldn't go personally. He still had to command the rest of the militia and guard Gaojia Village headquarters. He couldn't just gallivant off to Shanxi on a whim.
Bai Yuan definitely couldn't go either. He was a refined gentleman—hardly the type to play a bandit! What kind of bandit wore flowing white robes all day and constantly quoted the Six Arts of a gentleman?
There was also Wang Er, but Wang Er was still catching up on his "thought reform classes." He and his hundred old villagers hadn't even finished learning the Three Main Rules and Eight Points for Attention yet. Sending them to Shanxi risked a relapse into their bandit ways.
Who else had the command capability to hold down a front independently?
Seeing their peculiar expressions, Cheng Xu smiled. "I know what you're all thinking. Hey, Tianzun already chose the person for this Shanxi mission long ago."
Everyone: "?"
Cheng Xu turned around and beckoned to Lao Nanfeng, who'd been sitting quietly behind him listening for quite some time. "Lao Nanfeng, say a few words."
Being called out, Lao Nanfeng immediately perked up. He stood and cupped his fists. "This humble general is willing to go."
His archaic phrase "this humble general is willing to go" stuck out jarringly among Gaojia Village's grassroots leadership who spoke in plain vernacular. But that very jarring quality snapped everyone's minds awake: Right! This guy was a proper imperial military officer! A fierce border army general, no less. Though they didn't know his former identity or exact position, he was clearly a military official just a rank or two below a Thousand-Household Commander. Not a small position at all.
Shansier grinned. "Hey! This is what they call making the best use of talent!"
Cheng Xu smiled at Lao Nanfeng. "Tianzun granted you a special pardon at precisely this moment, probably because he calculated you'd be perfect for this campaign. However, don't go thinking you'll be the boss right away. I won't mince words—I don't fully trust you yet. So for this Shanxi expedition, I'm appointing Gao Chuwu as team leader and you as deputy team leader. Understand?"
The moment this arrangement came out, everyone secretly applauded its brilliance.
Even Li Daoxuan gave it a mental thumbs-up. Obviously, making Gao Chuwu team leader was mostly symbolic. When it came to actual operations, that blockhead probably wouldn't know what to do and would have to consult his deputy, Nanfeng.
But if Nanfeng issued any orders that violated Gaojia Village's core values—including but not limited to burning, killing, and pillaging—Gao Chuwu could use his team leader authority to veto it with one vote.
The arrangement was truly proper.
Lao Nanfeng had also navigated the bureaucratic system, so he understood the arrangement immediately. He cupped his fists. "This humble general accepts the order."
"Good, make a trip to the barracks then." Cheng Xu smiled. "Get fitted with a set of our Gaojia Village equipment. Show us the same spirit you used fighting Mongols in the border army back in the day. Let us see how fierce the Guyuan border army really is."
Lao Nanfeng chuckled twice. "Can I first go to Gaojia Commercial District and have a couple good meals? I'd also like to catch tonight's Shaanbei Daoqing opera performance."
Everyone froze again. Cheng Xu fished out a few pieces of broken silver and placed them in his palm, smiling. "Go ahead! The official expedition doesn't start until tomorrow. Do whatever you want today—except drinking. Everything else is fair game."
Lao Nanfeng was overjoyed. "Hahaha! After all those years serving on the Guyuan border, then two more years locked in prison, I've been dreaming of worldly pleasures every single day! Hahaha! Gaojia Commercial District, here I come!"
He took off running.
At first everyone found it amusing, but thinking carefully about his last statement, they suddenly felt an inexplicable sadness.
That's right!
The Guyuan rebel army—before they rebelled, they were all good men serving the nation on the frontier! Without them, Mongols could have freely invaded the Central Plains and wreaked havoc. Every peaceful day the common people enjoyed was brought by the border army.
On the border, they had no comforts. Day after day in bitter cold, never eating their fill, never dressed warmly enough, they protected this realm while nobody acknowledged their suffering.
If they hadn't gone three years without receiving military pay, why would they have rebelled?
Shansier let out a long sigh. "These border soldiers are actually quite pitiful. How about we just release all the other border soldiers from prison?"
"There you go again! Third Steward is good in every way except being too soft-hearted." Bai Yuan snapped open his fan, revealing the characters for "gentleman." "Though their border service was hard, after rebelling they turned their blades on innocent civilians. From north to south, all the way down, looting and killing—how many families did they tear apart? Though the rebel leader North Water Wolf gave the orders, these followers also bear guilt that must be repaid. Labor reform is still necessary."
Shansier nodded. "Ah, true enough. This world..."
This world always forced good people to become villains!
Fortunately they had Tianzun, who kept finding ways to turn villains back into good people.
"All right, everyone to your positions."
Shansier shook himself alert. "Everyone give it everything you've got. Let's work to restore proper order to this world as soon as possible."
With that, he waved his hand and ordered: "Tan Liwen, arrange a grain transport team. Move grain from our village stores to Qiachuan Dock."
Li Daoxuan spoke up. "No need to touch the village stores this time."
Hearing Gao Yiye's relay, Shansier asked in surprise, "Not this time?"
Li Daoxuan explained, "Shanxi has millions of people. If we want to help all of Shanxi eat their fill, the grain requirements are enormous. Constantly transporting from Gaojia Village stores to Qiachuan Dock and then to Shanxi is too time-consuming and labor-intensive. With Gaojia Village's limited manpower, you'd be hauling grain all day with no time for anything else. This time I'll directly bestow grain at Qiachuan Dock."
Shansier bowed. "Tianzun is benevolent."
Without the hassle of grain transport, things would be much more efficient.
Li Daoxuan continued, "Also, another matter. We'll have more and more ships in the future. Every time I bestow a new ship, you need to equip it with cannons. Transporting cannons from Gaojia Village's Craftsman Wells to Qiachuan Dock is quite difficult. So... it's time to build a cannon factory near Qiachuan Dock."
Shansier had an epiphany. "Indeed! I'll make arrangements."
He suddenly thought further ahead. "In the future, as our territory expands, we can't keep shipping everything from Gaojia Village. The distances will keep growing. Looks like we'll need to develop operations in various locations."
Li Daoxuan smiled inwardly. Exactly! The main base is stable—time to start opening the second mining base, the third mining base...