Bumper Harvest

The next day, Gao Yuan gathered everyone to announce this decision.

The merger of West City and Menge would lead to the establishment of a temporary administrative unit: Nanzhou.

Princess Roujia, Zhao Xiyao, was appointed as the provincial inspector of Nanzhou, Zheng Wan as the Vice-Governor, and Song Yao as the chief clerk to assist Zhao Xiyao in handling government affairs.

Mu Sheng was appointed as the Nanzhou Marshal and City Defense Commandant. In addition to being responsible for city defense and public security, he was also in charge of day-to-day public-facing duties.

After all, it was fine for women to handle government affairs, but letting them appear in public might cause chaos.

Some scholars recruited along the way, along with several subordinate officials from the Pacification Commissioners Office, were also assigned positions.

Even Mu Qing was given the position of Guard Commander for the Princess's Mansion, becoming the leader of Zhao Xiyao's Personal Guards.

Gao Yuan, however, did not assign himself any official position.

He had only one task: to control the army and ensure that military power remained forever in his hands.

Although the victory ceremony had already been held, the campaign was not yet over.

There was still no news from Menge City, which inevitably left Gao Yuan feeling somewhat restless.

This unease even diluted the joy of his spear technique improving by a major grade to D-rank.

It wasn't until the fifth day, the second day of the eleventh month in the tenth year of the Taichu era of Great Qian.

Just after finishing his morning exercise, Mu Sheng walked in excitedly holding a roll of silk cloth.

“Seeing Marshal Mu looking so radiant, could it be that he's found a second spring and is preparing to take a concubine?”

Mu Sheng's face darkened. He pulled a staff from the weapon rack and made a move as if to strike Gao Yuan.

“I rushed here to deliver good news as soon as I got it, and here you are, actually teasing your elder.”

“Don't, don't, Uncle, I was just joking!”

Gao Yuan pleaded for mercy while dodging.

Finally, Mu Sheng managed to land a light blow on Gao Yuan before putting down the staff with satisfaction. He sat on a stone bench and waved the silk in his hand.

“The battle statistics are out. Do you want to hear them?”

To his surprise, Gao Yuan shook his head.

“No rush, no rush. Let's wait until there's news from Menge. It'll save us from announcing a victory twice and making it look like we've never seen the world.”

“But over at Menge...”

“Report!”

A personal guard appeared at the entrance of the small courtyard, cupping his fists in a salute.

“Reporting to the County Duke, a victory report from General Xia Luqi in Menge City!”

“Hahaha, it's finally here!”

Gao Yuan slapped his thigh in excitement and stood up.

“Come, let's go see Bang Jie's victory report together.”

The two arrived at the front hall to find the victory report already in the hands of the three women. Judging by the bright smiles on their faces, the harvest was surely immense.

Sure enough, seeing Gao Yuan and Mu Sheng enter, the most impatient Song Yao spoke up first.

“Husband, come quickly and look! We've struck it rich this time.”

Gao Yuan walked over to the three women, took the silk, and said with a grin,

“How rich can we be to make the three of you this happy? *Hiss...*”

Gao Yuan's words were cut short. He looked at the silk in his hand and took a sharp breath, contributing his part to global warming.

It was simply that those two old codgers, Lin Yang and Xian Zhen, had managed to rake in too much. Just the copper ingots alone amounted to over ten thousand catties. One must know that the Great Qian's national treasury only collected about eight hundred thousand catties of copper a year.

Unlike in movies and TV shows where silver is used for everything, the most common hard currency in feudal dynasties was actually copper. These ten thousand catties of copper were enough for Gao Yuan and the others to squander for quite some time.

Mu Sheng looked at the copper, the first item on the list, and realized,

“I had long heard that a copper mine was found near Menge, but I didn't expect it to be true.”

Hearing this news, the three women were shocked.

“A copper mine? There was never any mention of this in the imperial court!”

Since it was a hard currency, copper mines were strictly controlled by the government. Any discovery had to be reported, and the court would then send people to mine it.

Even in the Southwest, where the court had to entrust Local Chieftains with the mining, they still had to send supervisors and then levy heavy taxes or take most of the mining proceeds.

Gao Yuan, however, wasn't surprised at all and sneered.

“They were truly preparing to be local emperors in this little corner of the world.”

Continuing down the list, there were more good things: over five hundred sets of leather armor, a thousand broadswords, deeds for over a thousand acres of farmland, more than three hundred male servants, over five hundred maidservants, and countless other gold and silver treasures.

If they didn't consider expanding the army, this wealth would be enough for Gao Yuan's family to live luxuriously for ten or twenty years.

Looking at the dazzling numbers on the list, everyone involuntarily turned their gaze toward Gao Yuan.

Ever since Gao Yuan had easily suppressed Xian Zhen, everyone had subtly begun to treat him as their backbone.

Feeling their gazes, Gao Yuan pondered for a moment before stating his plan.

“My plan is simple. This money cannot be kept. Go to other places and exchange it for grain, oxen, horses, or pig iron.”

“With so much, you won't keep a single cent?”

Gao Yuan nodded decisively.

“Yes, not a single cent. Right now, we are like a child holding gold in a busy market; not only can we not keep it, but it's also easy to lose our lives.”

Mu Sheng roughly understood Gao Yuan's meaning.

“You want to expand the army?”

“Quality is more important than quantity in an army. What I want is an elite force that wins every battle. I will write a specific proposal for you all to review.”

“A proposal? What is that?”

It was the first time everyone had heard this term, and they were quite curious.

“A proposal is a transactional document that makes projections and arrangements for work and activities in the coming period. To avoid working blindly, there must be a plan beforehand and a summary afterward.”

Seeing everyone's curiosity, Gao Yuan briefly explained the concept of a proposal.

“You'll understand the specifics once I write it out.”

“Alright, then we shall wait and see.”

“Give me a few days. The current priority is to have the laborers captured last time return to Menge to prepare for next year's spring plowing.”

“I understand. I'll leave this matter to Marshal Mu.”

After briefly discussing the upcoming work with everyone, Gao Yuan returned to his small courtyard.

He pulled out the reclining chair he had just made, lay in the yard soaking up the sun, and opened the system panel. He immediately saw the notification for the completed event.

“B-rank Temporary Event: The End of the Ambitious Overlord:”

“Objective 1: Completely eradicate the forces of the Xian and Lin families (Completed)”

“Objective 2: Occupy the entire territory of Menge (Completed)”

“Congratulations to the Host for receiving the reward: Two b-rank lottery cards.”

Seeing the event completion, Gao Yuan couldn't help but pump his fist in excitement. Two B-rank cards—he should be able to get something useful no matter what.

“System, start the lottery!”

“Detected that the Host possesses two b-rank lottery cards. Would you like to perform a double draw?”

“Uh... what's the benefit of a double draw?”

“It saves more time.”

“Damn! Draw, draw, draw! Just do the double draw!”

“Host is using two b-rank lottery cards. Starting the lottery.”

Just like before, a giant wheel appeared on the system interface with numerous rewards on it. However, compared to the S-rank lottery, these prizes lacked that golden, glittering feel.

As the spinning wheel slowed down, the two pointers stopped on two separate rewards.

“Congratulations to the Host for winning a B-rank Random Talent Summoning Card.”

“Congratulations to the Host for winning a Special Card: Leaders Aura.”

He had already experienced an S-rank version of the first card, so there was no need to look at it. This second special card made Gao Yuan very curious, and he couldn't wait to click on it.

“Special Card: Leaders Aura. Allows the Host to permanently gain an aura effect that boosts the morale of soldiers within a certain range based on the aura's level.”

“Good stuff! System, use it quickly!”

“Host has used the Special Card: Leaders Aura. Gained Aura Skill: Leaders Aura (F). Upgradable.”

“Leaders Aura (F): Slightly boosts the morale of soldiers around the Host. Limit: 1,000 people.”