Chapter 531 – Clouds of War
“Li Yun reporting to the Lord!”
“My name is Nong Qin, and I pay my respects to the Lord!”
After cleaning up the battlefield and capturing a few prisoners, Li Yun and Nong Qin led their horses to Jiang Pengji, kneeling partially in salute.
Jiang Pengji leaned against a dead tree in the open field, a piece of grass sticking out of her mouth, saying, “Get up, sit and take a rest.”
Li Yun paused for a moment, while Nong Qin coldly sat down beside Jiang Pengji.
“Indeed, Nong Qin is much cuter. Han Mei, you seem so stiff; it doesn’t feel like the usual you.” The daily adorable little angel and the battlefield’s aloof male god—now that’s the kind of contrast that attracts people! No need to be so uptight; she doesn’t mind these things.
Li Yun’s face turned slightly awkward, so he found a place to sit down, putting his Silver Spear beside him.
He asked, “How did the Lord end up here?”
Jiang Pengji replied, “If you’re here, I must be here too. Can the situation in Jiao County possibly stymie me?”
Li Yun scratched his head, feeling shy, “The Lord’s presence is awe-inspiring, and the Green Garment Army naturally doesn’t stand a chance.”
Nong Qin was usually quiet, just listening unless she had something important to say, so she stayed out of the conversation.
Jiang Pengji turned to Nong Qin and asked, “How did the attack on Maolin County go?”
Nong Qin was briefly stunned, then after a moment, she replied, “Maolin County’s defenses were weak. Meng Xiaowei is experienced in combat, and Xu Ke is quite resourceful, so we didn’t take long to capture Maolin County. The soldiers fought bravely; aside from over twenty minor injuries, six serious injuries, and eight deaths, the others are safe…”
Those six seriously wounded soldiers were somewhat of an accident. If they hadn’t let their guard down, it would have only been light injuries at most.
As for those eight dead, they were hit mortally by enemy arrows during the initial surprise attack on the city and didn’t survive.
In a surprise attack, having such results is already quite remarkable.
Not to mention that many among them were inexperienced recruits and female soldiers who others thought just dragged them down.
Of course, whether they really held them back could only be judged by the soldiers who participated; outsiders have no right or qualification to comment.
“Make sure the wounded soldiers are well taken care of, and the fallen warriors must return home. Have their bodies been properly handled?”
Even though the casualties were minimal, they still existed. Death cannot be reversed, but she could provide some comfort and compensation to the families of the living and the dead.
Jiang Nongqin glanced at Li Yun, who looked perfectly okay and wasn’t displeased by Jiang Pengji’s “coldness.”
She felt relieved and continued, “Don’t worry, my Lord. All the bodies have been collected, and those that could be buried have been buried properly.”
The audience in the live stream mostly consisted of Li Yun’s fans or true love supporters, and seeing their angel seemingly “cold-shouldered” was inexplicably upsetting.
【Desperate for Monthly Tickets】: Sigh, did you see the look of longing in our angel Han Mei’s eyes? Just look at him.
【Or Else Let’s Cause a Scene】: Poor little angel, don’t panic! Come here for a hug from your big sister!
【Rolling and Wailing】: Is this the post-battle report? My angel Han Mei can do that too! The host can’t favor one over the other.
【Crying Over the Microphone】: Don’t worry, Han Mei’s not that narrow-minded; he wouldn’t feel wronged over this.
Jiang Pengji accidentally glanced at these bullet comments and found them amusing. She continued to ask Nong Qin about the arrangements for Maolin County while sending a bullet comment to clarify things, lest “Han Mei’s fan club” keep criticizing her for bullying their husband.
【Host V】: Han Mei is the Deputy Camp Commander, and Nong Qin is the female camp commander. Naturally, I shouldn’t skip over Nong Qin when asking for the situation.
Jiang Pengji liked to do things her own way, but that didn’t mean she took some matters lightly.
The military camp is a place where hierarchy is strictly adhered to, and her attitude would affect the standing of both individuals among the soldiers.
If she continuously cold-shouldered Nong Qin, it might create the impression that her rank as commander was inferior to that of the deputy commander among the soldiers, inadvertently undermining Nong Qin’s prestige, even if the effect was very slight. Jiang Pengji didn’t want that to happen.
Well, since the host explained, the audience seemed to understand and immediately began showering her with gifts, with all the accompanying messages being praises like “Pet my dear little angel,” “Little angel isn’t sad,” and “Come here and let auntie give you some rubs,” which left Jiang Pengji helpless.
Jiang Pengji asked for the general situation in Maolin County again; after all, they needed to rebuild after being ravaged by the locusts known as the Green Garment Army. Could it be prosperous again? Jiang Pengji still considered Xiangyang County her base, but her influence had now spread across the entire Fengyi County.
Nong Qin was meticulous; she hadn’t expected Jiang Pengji to inquire about her, but she was well-prepared for this moment.
Since the Lord valued her, she would share everything without holding back, leaving no detail out.
After listening, Jiang Pengji’s brows knitted imperceptibly.
If she ranked the financial condition of the three counties, Cheng County was the poorest, followed by Maolin County, and Jiao County was actually in the best shape.
However, the population loss in all three counties was about the same. It wouldn’t be said that nine out of ten houses stood empty, but it was certainly sparse.
“…Forget it, reconstruction doesn’t happen overnight. Though the population is diminished, this isn’t a ghost town. The captured Green Garment Army can take on labor duties, which will relieve some of the pressure. I’ll have Xiaoyu put up notices to recruit laborers and gradually rebuild the three counties.”
Having fewer people can have its advantages; many houses and lands had become ownerless, and she could use them to her advantage for profit.
The larger Jiang Pengji’s territory grew, the stronger her forces became, and in the eyes of outsiders, her place was like a paradise amid chaos.
By then, who knows how many common people and wealthy merchants would come seeking refuge?
Hmm, just think of the properties in Xiangyang County; their prices have surged from worthless to increasing by the day.
Recently, more wealthy merchants had been sending house servants to inquire, with land deeds and property contracts all held in Jiang Pengji’s hands, and she was not yet willing to part with them.
Selling now would be too regretful; she’d have to wait until Fengyi County stabilized completely for them to fetch their true value.
But her military force, just around ten thousand troops, was too spread thin across four counties, making it quite strained.
Recruiting more soldiers and expanding her forces was imperative.
At the beginning of reconstruction, it would probably be Jiang Pengji’s most dangerous time.
With territory too vast and forces too dispersed, if the enemy took advantage, it would spell disaster.
However, she believed her strategists were all clever people; even if she didn’t send orders, they’d know what to do during this period.
As it turned out, whether it was Qi Guanrang from Jiao County, Wei Ci from Cheng County, or Xu Ke from Maolin County, they all turned out to be fantastic allies.
Just after conquering the three counties, all three of them set out to recruit usable laborers while also thinking of ways to create the illusion of having ten thousand troops from one or two thousand soldiers, increasing patrols in every region, dispersing smoke bombs to confuse any potential enemies lurking around, making them too afraid to act recklessly.
With Xiangyang County having just secured two major victories, it would also somewhat deter those enemies with ulterior motives.
Though, this equally meant that the strategists were about to face even scarier overtime work.
