Rebuilding the Army

Gao Yuan finally understood that the chain event actually had little to do with Zhao Xiyao; it was an event related to Lan Xang.

It was too late for regrets now. He could only watch helplessly as the system's progress bar filled, the unease in his heart growing heavier.

Soon, his unease was validated.

“S-rank Chain Event: 'This Woman is Mine'. Total stages: 5. Host completed: 2/5. Subsequent events default rating: B. Final rating: A;"

“Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the reward: one A-rank Random Talent Summoning Card.”

Gao Yuan clutched his chest and tilted his head back, barely managing to keep his tears from falling.

“System, what would have been the maximum reward for full completion?”

“Host, after completing all stages of an S-rank Chain Event, the maximum reward is one S-rank Specified-Type Gacha Card.”

Gao Yuan felt like spitting blood. He had thought he’d made a huge profit, but it turned out to be a devastating loss!

An S-rank Specified-Type Gacha Card meant he could have summoned an S-rank talent.

“My Mister Kongming! My Li Cunxiao!”

At lunch, the three women looked at Gao Yuan's listless appearance with faces full of concern.

“Husband, did you not rest well?”

“Are you sick? Should we find a physician to take a look?”

“It couldn't be an internal injury, could it? Better let my Imperial Physician check your pulse.”

Gao Yuan waved his hands repeatedly.

“No, no, I was just thinking about the heavy casualties of the First Division and felt a bit heartbroken.”

Hearing that it was a matter of the heart, the three women finally felt more at ease. Zheng Wan placed a piece of chicken into Gao Yuan's bowl with her chopsticks and comforted him softly.

“How can there be war without casualties? Compared to the results of the battle, this is already very good.”

Gao Yuan had initially just looked for an excuse to appease the women, but he hadn't expected it to actually stir up the gloom in his heart, and he let out a sigh.

“The logic is sound, but the First Division was the elite force we worked so hard to integrate; they are our backbone. Now that casualties have exceeded half, our combat effectiveness has dropped too much.”

Song Yao grasped Gao Yuan’s large hand, her watery eyes revealing her trust.

“We all believe that you will definitely rebuild the First Division as soon as possible, Husband.”

Gao Yuan was stunned for a moment, then slapped his chest and said with heroic spirit,

“Right, I will definitely rebuild the First Division as soon as possible.”

He said it, but it wasn't actually that easy. Previously, the formation of the First Division had relied mainly on two thousand Martial Soul Cards.

Now, he could only rely on the remaining elites as the backbone to recruit new soldiers and rebuild; this process would be anything but easy.

Thinking of some methods from the future, Gao Yuan changed the subject.

“However, if we want to rebuild the First Division, there is one more important task we need to do.”

“What is it?”

“Compensation. Only by letting the common people see the benefits of joining the army can we recruit more and better soldiers.”

Zhao Xiyao roughly understood Gao Yuan's meaning.

“You want to 'buy the bones of a thousand-gold horse'?”

“Exactly. As the saying goes, the world bustles for profit; the common people are the most practical. Without benefits, why should they risk their lives for us?”

“Good, then let’s come up with a set of regulations as soon as possible.”

The next day, Zhao Xiyao gathered everyone to discuss how to compensate the fallen and wounded soldiers.

Gao Yuan was not idle either. He gathered the remaining four hundred-plus elites, over a thousand City Defense Forces, and more than three hundred new recruits, breaking them down and reorganizing them into four hundred squads.

All officer positions were filled by the original elites of the First Division, using the method of the old leading the new in hopes of bringing the City Defense Forces and new recruits up to speed as quickly as possible.

The bustling work of transporting supplies into the warehouses continued until the end of June before it was completely finished. At the same time, the compensation plan was officially released.

For fallen soldiers, their families would enjoy compensation benefits: one plow ox per person, exemption for the entire family from corvée labor and the Zu-Yong-Diao system for ten years, twenty dan of grain, ten guan of cash, a medal of honor, and the privilege for their children not to bow when meeting officials.

For those without children or family, one would be selected from the captured infants to be adopted as their heir, with the prefecture responsible for raising them to adulthood.

At the same time, it was announced that a Shrine of Heroes would be built to enshrine the spirit tablets of all fallen soldiers and receive offerings.

For soldiers discharged due to injury, the prefecture would arrange duties within their capabilities. Those wishing to return home would receive a one-time compensation of one young female captive, ten dan of grain, ten guan of cash, a medal of honor, and the privilege of not bowing to officials.

The effect was obvious. As soon as the compensation policy was released, the number of commoners signing up for the army quickly increased, with nearly two thousand new recruits enlisted in less than a month.

Of course, only a minority of these soldiers had the ability and qualifications to enter the First Division, but at least the numbers of the City Defense Forces were replenished.

This allowed Gao Yuan to send troops to replace the thousand elites stationed in Luang Namtha and bring them back.

As a core fortress, Luang Namtha needed to face powerful enemies on three sides, so Gao Yuan dispatched a thousand soldiers for its defense.

The fortress and two mountain passes previously garrisoned were now held by eight hundred men, ready to reinforce Luang Namtha at any time.

Seven hundred men were stationed in Menge, and five hundred in Dehong.

As for the First Division, four hundred men were distributed to various units of the City Defense Forces to serve as grassroots officers and strengthen the City Defense Forces' power.

The remaining one thousand two hundred men were stationed in that camp outside Dehong City. Besides making it convenient to mobilize reinforcements for various locations, it was also convenient for daily training.

With his military strength somewhat restored, Gao Yuan finally felt a bit of confidence. However, he was also very clear that for a long time to come, they had lost the ability to take the initiative in external operations.

Since they lacked the ability to strike out, they would develop their internal strength. Gao Yuan prepared to do what a transmigrator must do—invent and create.

Brewing alcohol... definitely wouldn't work. Grain was currently in a state of deficit, entirely supported by the spoils from the last battle.

Soap... wouldn't work either. Everyone was short on oil and fat right now; he himself could only eat meat once every three days. Where would he get enough fat to make soap? Most importantly, who would he sell it to?

While he was having a headache, Song Yao walked in, her small hand fanning herself desperately as she complained with a pout,

“I didn't expect Dehong to be so hot in the summer. I really miss the days in Luoyang when we had ice to use.”

This one sentence made Gao Yuan see the light. How could he have forgotten the transmigrator's essential: saltpeter ice-making?

In the Southwest region, there was no place to harvest ice in winter, so naturally, there were no conditions for storing ice blocks. When summer came, they could only endure the heat.

The locals were fine; they would wear short sleeves and shorts in the summer. But for people from the Central Plains, these days were hard to bear.

He stood up excitedly and kissed Song Yao on the cheek.

“Yaoyao, you really are my lucky star!”

After saying that, he ignored the blushing and bewildered Song Yao and quickly ran out.

Over the next few days, the common people were surprised to find that the soldiers of the prefecture all had several layers of linen wrapped around their faces, squatting near the dry latrines, doing who knows what.

Soon, the uncle of a clerk working in the prefecture office spread definite news.

“The Princess's Consort is collecting the white frost from the walls of the dry latrines.”

Gao Yuan had released this news intentionally. He had no choice; he couldn't have his Personal Guards go out and scrape dry latrines every day. If they followed him around smelling like that, even an immortal couldn't stand it!

The effect was quite good. In less than half a month, he had purchased nearly twenty catties of saltpeter powder.

Although it couldn't support large-scale ice-making yet, it was enough to provide a stable daily supply for the officials to cool down.

But before that, of course, he had to show off in front of the girls.

Preparing one large and one small copper basin, Gao Yuan called the three girls over, closed the door, and said mysteriously,

“My three wives, are you interested in making a bet with me?”

“Not interested.”

“No point. I'm going to work.”

“A waste of time. Let's go, let's go.”