222: Chapter 0222 My brother-in-law is so smart

Faces filled with shock stared at the frozen river, dumbstruck.

"Sister, I'm afraid brother-in-law has gone mad, hasn't he?"

Zhao Cailing, driven by curiosity, had also come to the riverbank and couldn't help but remark upon hearing this.

"What brother-in-law... don't talk nonsense!"

Zhao Caiwei's face flushed red, but fortunately, since she was facing away from the soldiers, no one noticed.

Lin Xiao pointed at the river surface and said, "You all are probably wondering what to do about this two-to-three-foot-thick ice cover, right?"

The soldiers nodded awkwardly, wondering if there was no water, they couldn't exactly scrub themselves with ice, could they?

But the next moment, they saw Lin Xiao leap onto the frozen river and directly unleash two strikes of the Great Mercy Hand!

"Boom! Boom!"

The surging internal energy directly shattered the ice cover over a range of several dozen feet!

Lin Xiao flew along the surface, striking seven or eight times, and the river that had been frozen solid was now filled with broken floating ice!

This terrifying cultivation left the entire army trembling in silence! Was he even human!?

When Lin Xiao returned to the rock, he said loudly:

"Starting now, within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everyone except the injured and the women is to strip naked and get in to bathe!!"

"From officers down to the lowest soldiers! Anyone who dares to keep their clothes on and doesn't go in will receive twenty lashes with the military rod directly!!"

"As long as you can walk to the other side of the river, you pass! You will be rewarded with one string of cash! Those who can't make it will get ten lashes!!"

Upon hearing this, over thirty thousand men wailed and cried out to their parents!

On one side was twenty lashes, and on the other was bathing in a frozen river; why was being a soldier so difficult!?

Is this how the Zhenbei Army trains!?

The Zhao sisters breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, Lin Xiao hadn't completely "gone mad" and still remembered that it was inconvenient for them.

Yet they were also curious, what kind of training method was this?

Not long after, the first group of brave souls rushed into the frozen river.

It's just a bath, right? A string of cash is not a small amount!

In fact, many soldiers were from the north and had plenty of experience entering rivers in winter; a river of a few dozen meters was nothing to wade across.

However, this was the first time for everyone to cross a river on such a large scale with over thirty thousand people!

As more and more people went in, those who were afraid also gritted their teeth and stripped naked to jump in for the sake of their pride.

For a time, sounds of "hissing and gasping" rose one after another!

All sorts of wailing, howling, and unrestrained laughter made the scene incredibly lively!

"Mother of god!! My privates have frozen up!!"

"Haha! I've already got two sons, what is there to be afraid of!!"

"Look at you lot, so spineless. I started going into frozen rivers with my dad to catch fish when I was ten; what's this compared to that?"

"Eh? Listening to your accent, are you from Liao Commandery?"

"Yeah... are you too?"

"We're fellow countrymen! Strange, then how did you end up in the White Kings Army?"

"It was that year of the locust plague; there was a famine in the county, and I ended up in E Prefecture along the way..."

"Sigh, speaking of that famine, it was truly miserable. I was fine in the army, but a whole swath of people starved to death back in my home village."

"If anyone had a cow or two acres of land, they wouldn't have come here to eat military rations; none of us have it easy!"

"That's true... Ouch!! My leg is cramping!!"

"Brother, don't panic, hold onto me, I'll take you across... if you stop, you'll get the military rod!!"

"Thank you, brother!!"

"We're all brothers here, no need for formalities! Once we get that string of cash, just treat me to a pot of Old Burning Knife liquor!!"

"Haha..."

On the riverbank.

Zhao Caiwei and Zhao Cailing hid behind a large rock, not daring to look at that shocking, naked army.

However, upon hearing the soldiers' idle chatter, a strange light flickered in Zhao Caiwei's bright eyes.

"So that's how it is..."

"What is it, sister?" Zhao Cailing asked curiously.

Zhao Caiwei smiled knowingly: "I had overlooked it; this army of thirty thousand is a mix of the White Kings Army and the Yan Kings Army."

"They were fighting to the death yesterday, and today they are asked to march together; they must have some resentment in their hearts."

"Lin Xiao is using this method of 'sharing hardships' and 'meeting with utter honesty' to help them integrate as quickly as possible."

"In this way, when they attack Tai Prefecture together, the soldiers won't be too unfamiliar with each other."

Zhao Cailing's starry eyes widened, "Brother-in-law is so smart!!"

This time, Zhao Caiwei did not interrupt her; listening to it, she felt strangely happy.

The massive river bathing session concluded.

The soldiers were very happy because Lin Xiao truly kept his promise and gave everyone a string of cash.

Of course, there were a few unlucky ones who received the military rod.

However, Lin Xiao still sent physicians to treat them and had people boil ginger soup to help the soldiers ward off the cold.

Night fell.

Inside the military camp in Jingmen, bonfires were lit.

Large pots were filled with various kinds of meat stewing.

The soldiers newly incorporated into the Zhenbei Army were all intoxicated by the delicious aroma!

When they heard that it was Lin Xiao who had personally sent people to purchase the supplies to nourish everyone, the soldiers were even more moved.

During the day, they had complained quite a bit about the river bathing, but now, that resentment had vanished completely!

They little knew that the one who was truly "throwing money around" was the former Prefect Xu Meng.

A total of eighty thousand taels of silver were confiscated from his home, and Lin Xiao spent it all in one go, converting it into supplies!

Taken from the people, used for the people; nothing wrong with that!

Inside the temporary Generals Mansion.

Lin Xiao in the study listened as several officers discussed their ideas for attacking the Yan Region.

These men had different military ranks; the highest was a fifth-rank garrison general, and the lowest was merely a seventh-rank captain.

But they had one thing in common: they all possessed special 'military' traits.

Lin Xiao let them speak freely, promising direct promotion for good ideas, which made the captains especially enthusiastic, racking their brains!

After the officers left, Lin Xiao summarized their points one by one and mapped out the subsequent march on the terrain map of the Yan Region.

Zhao Caiwei had been by his side the whole time, silently, but throughout the process, the surprise and confusion in her eyes were practically overflowing.

"Miss Caiwei, you haven't said a word just now; do you have any other thoughts?"

Zhao Caiwei couldn't help but ask: "Lin Xiao, how did you discern that those men were talented generals?"

"Heh... your brother General Zhao Kuan has the ability to discern talent, and I possess some of that ability as well; that's not strange, is it?"

Zhao Caiwei's beautiful eyes shifted; she felt it wasn't that simple, but Lin Xiao had too many unfathomable aspects, so perhaps his discernment was indeed extraordinary.

"Lin Xiao, you asked me just now if I had anything to say; I do indeed have a suggestion."

"Speak freely!"

Zhao Caiwei then walked to Lin Xiao's side, and with her slender, jade-like finger, pointed at a spot in Tai Prefecture.

"I believe that with this army of thirty thousand, it is not advisable to take the entire Tai Prefecture, let alone consider attacking the remaining Qizhou and Tong Province."

"We only need to take the two commanderies of Sanhe and Songyuan within five days, which is half of Tai Prefecture."

Lin Xiao frowned; the previous officers had also mentioned not to rush to take the entire Yan Region.

Not to mention the very realistic shortages of troops and provisions.

Taking a territory requires dealing with prisoners, pacifying the public, and sending trusted people to manage it.

Taking three provinces in one go is not finished just by conquering them; the subsequent troubles are countless.

But Zhao Caiwei's proposal was even more extreme; she wouldn't even take the adjacent Tai Prefecture, only two commanderies?

"Why?"