First life mentor

After reviewing his attribute improvements, Gao Yuan clicked on another system notification.

"Exclusive event for the Life Mentor section completed. Congratulations, Host, on obtaining one random S-Rank Life Mentor."

"It's finally here! System, draw it now, draw it now!"

"Drawing for the Host..."

The same visuals as drawing a Talent Card appeared; a massive number of warlord images began to flicker rapidly.

It soon stopped on a man who was just as handsome as Gao Yuan and the esteemed readers.

"Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the exclusive Life Mentor, Gao Su. Selectable mentoring skills: Horsemanship S, Spearmanship S-, Charisma S+."

"Gao Su? Who is that?"

Forgive Gao Yuan; his history knowledge was average at best, and he had forgotten it all after starting work.

Fortunately, his system was quite considerate, and an introduction soon followed.

"Gao Su, courtesy name Changgong, was a famous general of the Northern Qi imperial family during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. He was the grandson of Emperor Shenwu, Gao Huan, and the son of Emperor Wenxiang, Gao Cheng. He is known as one of the four most handsome men in ancient China."

Lacking culture and relying on a single 'Holy crap' to navigate the world, Gao Yuan could only blurt out 'Holy crap' at this moment.

"Wait, that's not right. System, can one Life Mentor only teach one thing?"

"That is correct, Host."

"I remember First Life Mentor was a famous general who used a spear, right? His Spearmanship is only S-?"

"This ranking is based on the historical figure's battle records. In terms of Spearmanship, First Life Mentor was indeed not at the very top."

Gao Yuan thought back carefully; he indeed wasn't as famous as people like Zhao Yun or Yue Fei.

"However, an S- rank still placed him among the elite few in the long river of history."

"The Host need not worry; new Life Mentors can be used as replacements later on."

Hearing the system say this, Gao Yuan felt relieved. Just as he was about to choose Spearmanship, he saw another attribute: S+ rank Charisma.

He didn't even care how Charisma would be taught; he really wanted to pick it.

Setting everything else aside, being handsome is a lifelong matter!

With S+ Charisma, wouldn't picking up girls be as easy as it was for the 'Perfect Emperor' played by a certain Mr. Zheng?

Gritting his teeth, Gao Yuan selected Spearmanship. Watching the other attribute options disappear, his nose felt sore—he was so sad he could cry!

"Host has selected the Life Mentor's guidance direction: Spearmanship. Mentor's Spearmanship rating: S-. Bonus ratio: 50%."

"Host: Gao Yuan. Character Attributes: Gentle Appearance but Strong Heart, Ruthless and Merciless. Comprehensive Evaluation: B."

"Strength B, Agility B-, Endurance B, Horsemanship C-, Intelligence B+, Leadership C+, Internal Affairs D, Charisma A+."

"Martial Arts: Saber Technique B-, Spearmanship C."

"Skills: Leaders Aura (F)."

"First Life Mentor: First Life Mentor. Spearmanship training effect bonus: 50%."

"Items: S-Rank Random Warlord Experience Card x1."

Having collected the rewards, Gao Yuan felt a sense of emptiness, wishing he could do it again.

After resting for two days, Liu Rengui brought the final statistical results:

Over six hundred were killed or seriously wounded, with the First Division accounting for more than four hundred of those losses.

Over a thousand suffered minor injuries; they could regain their combat effectiveness after treatment.

Over three thousand were beheaded, and more than six thousand were taken prisoner, some of the seriously wounded among them having already been put out of their misery.

Most of these prisoners were laborers with no combat capability, so they could only be taken back to serve as a workforce.

As for the remaining two thousand surrendered soldiers, Gao Yuan and Liu Rengui were greatly disappointed after inspecting them; they were barely fit for the City Defense Forces, let alone the First Division.

"My Lord, what... what should we do with these surrendered soldiers? Take them back as slaves?"

"Zhengze, do you think Yang Zhao would want these surrendered soldiers back if I offered them?"

"Give... give them back to Yang Zhao? My Lord..."

Liu Rengui wanted to persuade Gao Yuan further, but he was directly interrupted.

"Don't be in a hurry. Of course, I'm not giving them for free; I want to make a deal with Yang Zhao."

Gao Yuan's idea was simple: the families of those laborers were still under Yang Zhao's control, so the likelihood of them becoming loyal was low.

After all, they were his own compatriots, unlike those Lan Xang aliens; he couldn't just work them all to death as laborers.

Thus, the simplest way was to trade the surrendered soldiers for the families of these laborers.

This way, the likelihood of these laborers becoming loyal would increase significantly.

Behind these few thousand young and strong laborers were thousands of families, totaling nearly twenty thousand people.

Although he was very reluctant, Yang Zhao wanted those two thousand surrendered soldiers even more.

So, even if he was unwilling in his heart, he could only hold his nose and agree to Gao Yuan's deal.

With the agreement reached, there was no longer any need for Gao Yuan to stay; he began preparing to lead the army back.

Having been away for over a month and not even being able to celebrate the New Year properly, Gao Yuan felt very exhausted.

Leaving behind some elites for Liu Rengui to serve as a backbone and core, Gao Yuan set off on the return journey with his troops.

Speaking of which, the First Division was truly ill-fated; it had finally managed to recover to over one thousand seven hundred men.

After one major battle, only over one thousand three hundred remained, not counting the backbone left for Liu Rengui.

The First Division elites returning to Dehong with Gao Yuan numbered only one thousand two hundred.

He really didn't know when the First Division would ever reach its full complement of two thousand five hundred men.

The only silver lining was that there wasn't much consumption of military supplies and grain in this battle; instead, a large amount had been captured.

Not to mention over seven hundred sets of leather armor, they had captured more than a thousand broadswords alone.

There were also pack horses and warhorses, too many to count.

Two thousand dan of grain were left for Liu Rengui, while the remaining thirty thousand plus dan were all brought back to Dehong.

With Gao Yuan away on a campaign, how could the women be in the mood for the New Year? This holiday season, the entire Princess's Residence was cold and cheerless.

Seeing the three women looking visibly haggard, Gao Yuan felt a pang of heartache. He dismounted and ran up quickly.

Forgoing any formalities, he pulled the three women into his embrace.

"Why have you all lost weight? Did you not eat well while your husband was away?"

The three girls' faces turned bright red with embarrassment. In the end, it was Zhao Xiyao who first regained her composure, struggling to pull herself out of Gao Yuan's embrace.

"It's just that there have been many affairs recently; my two sisters and I have been a bit overworked."

"Sigh..."

Gao Yuan let out a sigh and kissed the smooth foreheads of the two girls in his arms.

"Let's go home."

"Yes, let's go home. Uncle Fu has already prepared a meal; husband, you should nourish yourself well."

Gao Yuan didn't need to worry about the resettlement of the population; Mu Sheng would naturally lead a group of people to arrange it.

This work they were doing wasn't their first time, so they were very familiar with it; everything was allocated in less than five days.

The City Defense Forces were dispatched to escort these commoners to various places to settle down.

Local government offices would allocate land and housing to them.

In the first year, considering they were newcomers, it was estimated they wouldn't have time to cultivate terraced fields.

Therefore, the government office would provide three hundred catties of grain per person, regardless of gender or age.

This way, as long as these commoners found some work for themselves, they at least wouldn't starve in the first year.

However, because of this, the thirty thousand plus dan of grain Gao Yuan captured this time was not only insufficient, but the treasury also had to contribute an additional twenty thousand plus dan.

All at once, more than half of the Nanzhou treasury's grain reserves were gone, which effectively cut off Gao Yuan's ability to launch a major war this year.

On the other side, Liu Lin returned to Luoyang with his family without stopping. He knelt before the Emperor and wailed, repeatedly begging the Emperor to send troops so he could fight his way back.

Zhao Che looked at the subordinate before him and really wanted to cut him down with a sword.

Did this fool really think he knew nothing?

But considering this guy was a protégé of the Former Crown Prince, and that he had promoted two of The Emperor's subordinates in one go last time...

Now that the Former Crown Prince's influence in the court was gradually waning and The Emperor was getting a bit arrogant, Zhao Che suppressed his urge to kill Liu Lin.

After some thought, Zhao Che spoke.

"Enough, enough. I will send someone else to Puer; you stop meddling and go to the Ministry of Rites first."

In the Great Qian, a Pacification Commissioner was of the same rank as a standard lower-prefecture provincial inspector, belonging to the lower fourth rank, equivalent to a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

However, the Ministry of Rites was part of the central government after all, so this was definitely a promotion, which made Liu Lin overjoyed.

That night, he displayed his prowess in the bedroom, thoroughly ravishing Zuo Long's daughter.