Military Strengthening Plan

"Therefore, for us to live peaceful lives, Xian Zhen must be eliminated."

As he spoke, Gao Yuan walked to Zhao Xiyao's side and quietly took her soft, delicate hand.

"I promise you here that I have absolutely no intention of changing the dynasty."

Zhao Xiyao still didn't quite believe his words and wanted to confirm once more.

"Almost everyone in the world yearns for that position; are you truly not tempted?"

"What's so good about being an Emperor? You wake up earlier than a rooster, sleep later than a dog, eat worse than a pig, and work harder than an ox."

"Exhausting your mind all day long, fearing you'll be cursed as a tyrant—think about it, how many emperors in history lived long lives?"

Gao Yuan spoke with high-sounding words, but the main reason was actually due to the System.

Emperor? In the future, he'd support Zhao Xiyao onto the throne as Empress and be the Executive Vice-Emperor himself. He'd work when he felt like it and lie flat when he didn't.

As for the Empress, wouldn't she still be pinned beneath him?

And wouldn't any future successor have to obediently call him 'Old Man'?

As for those female-oriented novels where the Empress changes her mind or cheats...

That's impossible. By then, all the world's troops would be under his control; if she ever had a change of heart, he could replace her at any time.

Seeing Gao Yuan's completely indifferent attitude toward the throne, the others believed him a little more.

That evening, upon returning home, Mu Qing recounted her conversation with Gao Yuan today to her Father in full detail.

"Father, do you think Gao Yuan is just putting on an act?"

Mu Sheng shook his head.

"It's hard to say. Perhaps he truly is the free-spirited person he claims to be, or perhaps he is simply good at disguising himself."

"Then Father, will you still give him the military power..."

Speaking of this, Mu Sheng sighed and said helplessly,

"Currently, Gao Yuan has over eighteen hundred troops in Dehong City, a strength far exceeding mine;"

"If I am unwilling to hand over power, I expect the Mu Family will soon follow in the footsteps of the Lin and Ye families."

"He wouldn't dare. Is he not afraid of the Princess..."

"Military power is in his hands; what can the Princess do?"

Mu Sheng suddenly thought of the task Gao Yuan had given him a few days ago and let out a long sigh.

"We are the fish on the chopping block. I hope those few don't do anything foolish!"

Returning to his study, Mu Sheng brought out ink, brush, and a roll of silk cloth, and began helping Gao Yuan write letters of persuasion to surrender.

Although a large portion of the Mu Family's troops were in the hands of branch families, not everyone was of one heart with Mu Sheng.

Upon hearing that Gao Yuan had used thunderous methods to destroy the Ye Family and execute the core members of the Lin Family, the reactions from various parties were mixed.

Some feared becoming Gao Yuan's next target and returned to Dehong with their direct subordinates.

Others were dissatisfied with Gao Yuan's actions and took their troops south to Menge to join forces with Xian Zhen.

As for Xian Zhen, he had his son take one of Lin Yang's concubine-born daughters as a mistress, and then raised the banner of avenging his in-law.

With several paths of troops combined, they had a total of over six thousand men.

Looking at Gao Yuan's side, even with a full count, there were only twenty-five hundred men, and they hadn't even been reorganized yet.

The core combat strength consisted of the Gao Family guards and the nine hundred-plus men possessed by the Beifu Army souls, totaling only about eleven hundred men.

He had great ambitions, but the key was to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Following ancient convention, Gao Yuan named these twenty-five hundred men the First Division, appointed Xia Luqi as the Division Commander, and began day and night training.

As for Mu Sheng, after handing over military power, Gao Yuan did not leave him idle but gave him two massive tasks:

First, to cultivate terraced fields. The Southwest was mountainous with little flat land for cultivation, so Gao Yuan thought of the terraced fields he had seen while traveling in his past life.

Compared to planting directly on hillsides, building terraces made it easier to conserve soil and water.

When the time came, he could even raise fish in the terraces. Having both fish and rice at harvest time—wouldn't that be wonderful?

Second was to open a school, recruiting literate people to teach the children Han culture.

Especially for homeless orphans, Gao Yuan took them all in.

As for the cost of running the school, that old geezer Ye Quan contributed his final bit of value.

A large amount of money and grain was seized from Ye Quan's home, which was not only enough to meet the school's needs but also enriched the treasury, ensuring they wouldn't have to worry about military supplies for at least a year.

The location for the school was even easier to handle; he directly chose Ye Quan's West City Pacification Commissioners Office, saving time and effort.

To attract the common people to send their children to study, Gao Yuan even resorted to the grand method of material incentives.

Any family that sent a child to the school would receive a ten percent reduction in land rent.

All children sent to the school, regardless of gender, would be provided with room and board and given three days of rest every month.

Furthermore, if a child performed excellently in their studies, they could receive a reward of fifty catties of rice.

One incentive after another finally stirred the enthusiasm of the people, and they sent their children to the school one after another.

In less than ten days, the school was filled with over three hundred children, and the sound of clear reading could be heard incessantly.

This made Zhao Xiyao, the talented Princess, very satisfied.

On the other side, after more than ten days of training, Xia Luqi's division of troops finally looked the part.

Gao Yuan also came to the military camp with his improved training plan.

"Lord, is... is training like this useful?"

"If it's not useful, I'll lose a jar of Sanle Wine to you."

Hearing there was good wine, Xia Luqi immediately made a decision.

"Good, then This humble general will take that bet."

Gao Yuan's method was actually very simple: it was to imitate modern training methods.

Formation drills to enhance obedience, and physical conditioning featuring cross-country runs and weighted cross-country runs.

The Southwest region was full of mountains and jungles with rugged roads, so cavalry had no room to operate.

Thus, infantry combat became the mainstream. In such cases, the side with better physical fitness and obedience would naturally hold the advantage.

As for weapons, Gao Yuan currently had no shortage of armor, but in jungle and mountain warfare, iron armor had more disadvantages than advantages compared to leather armor.

So Gao Yuan's focus was on swords and shields.

It was undeniable that the broadsword was a powerful weapon, but it was too difficult to forge.

A broadsword required complex processes like 'steel wrapping' and 'steel sandwiching,' which demanded extremely high skill and experience from craftsmen.

It was simply unrealistic to equip them on a large scale, so Gao Yuan settled for the next best thing and chose to replicate the waist sabers of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

With Mu Sheng's help, Gao Yuan recruited over a dozen craftsmen and opened an ordnance foundry.

Besides casting some waist sabers for future army expansion, they also made shields.

He didn't pursue wooden or iron shields with multiple layers of lacquer; Gao Yuan chose the lowest-cost rattan shields.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, and Gao Yuan's strong army plan was gradually getting on the right track.

On the other side, after nearly a month of preparation, Xian Zhen finally decided to take the initiative to attack.

He had long been salivating over the prosperous Dehong City.

Moreover, he heard that Gao Yuan had a large amount of military funds, money, and grain, which he urgently needed to grow his strength.

And then there was Zhao Xiyao. Since seeing her once in Dehong, he had been lusting after this stunningly beautiful Princess.

"If I can take this Princess into my chambers, hehehe, I can not only possess a beauty but also showcase my strength and take our relationship with Great Qian a step further. It's truly wonderful!"

Thinking of the triple benefits of obtaining Zhao Xiyao, Xian Zhen felt a surge of heat in his lower body.

Recently, after accepting several of Lin Yang's concubines, Xian Zhen had been living in a dreamlike world of pleasure, forgetting everything else.

His desires in that area were now even more vigorous, though unfortunately, while the frequency was high, the duration was getting shorter and shorter.

After a night of indulgence, Xian Zhen led five thousand troops and set out on the road for the northern expedition.

To avoid trouble at home, he brought along Lin Yang's second son, Lin Chen, and the group of traitors who had surrendered from the Mu Family.

The opportunity Gao Yuan had been waiting for had finally arrived.