The Second Division was formed

The next day, the soldiers who had been tossed and turned all night widened their eyes, looking at the changes in themselves in disbelief.

"This—this—this... I just slept for a night, how did my arms get a whole circle thicker?"

"Me too! It's not just my arms; my whole body is a circle thicker. Look at this, look at this!"

"I can lift that small stone lock from yesterday a hundred times today!"

"I feel like if I went home now, I could plow two more acres of land a day."

"Have some ambition! You're about to be an elite under the County Duke, and you're still thinking about farming."

These men showed off their robust muscles one by one, their eyes filled with a hint of surprise and joy.

At that moment, someone slapped their head as if suddenly realizing something.

"I know! It must be because of the medicinal bath we soaked in yesterday."

"It must be. I heard the earliest batch of people in the First Division also soaked in it. It must be something extremely precious."

"No wonder the County Duke only wanted two thousand people; it turns out there were only two thousand portions of the medicinal bath!"

Gao Yuan had no idea that these men had collectively attributed a great merit to him through their own imagination, earning him the adoration of these sturdy fellows.

When he got up in the morning, Gao Yuan found that the way the soldiers looked at him had changed; it definitely wasn't as simple as the absolute loyalty brought by the Martial Soul Cards.

While it was true that Martial Soul Cards could make people unfailingly loyal, humans are emotional creatures after all; they wouldn't lose their feelings just because a martial soul was attached to them.

Therefore, this feeling of adoration and gratitude was definitely not without reason.

It wasn't until Xia Luqi mentioned the rumors circulating in the camp that Gao Yuan understood. He was somewhat between laughter and tears.

"So it's an assist from the imagination crowd. Oh well, this is fine too; it saves me the trouble of explaining why these people have changed so much."

Since they had become elites, they had to be equipped with elite gear.

After everyone was registered, they received their equipment: spears, broadswords, powerful bows, small shields, leather armor, iron helmets, leather boots, war robes, and so on.

In the City Defense Forces, Sword and Shield Soldiers were just Sword and Shield Soldiers, and Spearmen were just Spearmen, but the requirements for the First and Second Divisions were not that simple.

Gao Yuan's requirement for elites was like the historical Wei Wu Soldiers—they had to be capable of and excel at both long-range and close-quarters combat.

In this way, with the system's help, Gao Yuan formed the two-thousand-strong Second Division. Combined with the First Division, he now had a direct elite force of three thousand eight hundred men.

With this elite force in hand and his three great generals, he felt confident he could hold his ground even if Toungoo attacked now.

However, while he was making progress, Toungoo was not idle either.

On the last day of the year, New Year's Eve, Gao Yuan received intelligence sent by Huo Jun early in the morning.

Five days ago, Toungoo captured Chiang Mai, a major stronghold in northern Ayutthaya, annihilating over ten thousand defenders.

The situation was within expectations, but Gao Yuan was currently beyond reach.

Ayutthaya was considered a strong nation, but the gap between it and Toungoo was still significant.

"If only Khmer hadn't stood by and watched. With their combined strength, blocking Toungoo would have been no problem."

However, nothing ever goes exactly as planned.

Maha Thihathura was not just a reckless brute who only knew how to charge blindly.

At the very start of the campaign, he had sent people with heavy bribes to the five ministers of Khmer: Guluozhi, Gaoxiangping, Pohaduoling, Shemoling, and Rantuolou.

Through them, Maha Thihathura gained the opportunity to form an alliance with the Khmer King, Citrasena.

After receiving the promise that Rayong, Lopburi, and Khorat would be ceded after Maha Thihathura conquered Ayutthaya...

...the Khmer Funan Dynasty, whose strength was comparable to Ayutthaya, truly chose to stand by and watch.

"Utterly foolish. Engaging in such a 'dealing with a tiger for its skin' business—I really don't know if this king is an idiot!"

This intelligence made Gao Yuan's New Year's Eve dinner uneasy; even the wild chicken soup and roasted wild beef in front of him lost their flavor.

"It's the New Year, why get angry over such a fool?"

Zhao Xiyao picked up a slice of wild beef, dipped it in some spices, and fed it to Gao Yuan's lips, supporting it with her small hand.

"This wild beef was sent by the soldiers of the First Division this morning. Sister Wan'er spent the whole afternoon busy preparing it. Eat a few more pieces."

Gao Yuan also felt it wasn't worth getting angry over such a fool. He opened his mouth and took in the beef along with the girl's chopsticks.

"Delicious, truly delicious!"

Seeing the playful smile on his face, Zheng Wan couldn't help but tease him.

"Is it the beef I made that's delicious, or is it Sister Zhao Xiyaos informal address's saliva that's delicious?"

"Both are delicious. All three of you are very 'delicious'."

"Improper."

"Shameless, saying such seductive things."

The two women and Gao Yuan had long since shared everything with each other, so they weren't that shy, and their talk carried a bit more flirtatiousness.

Only Zhao Xiyao was still a maiden, and she felt quite embarrassed hearing Gao Yuan's words.

Seeing that she was truly too shy, Gao Yuan felt for his wife and immediately changed the subject.

"From the looks of it, time waits for no one. We must speed up our progress."

"After taking Cao Bang, we will directly border Yongzhou. I plan to organize a merchant caravan after the New Year to go through Guangzhou to the Central Plains to buy some craftsmen and supplies."

As soon as serious business was mentioned, Zhao Xiyao forgot her shyness.

"Then does the Consort-Husband have a candidate in mind for the head of this merchant caravan?"

"I plan to leave the overall management to Gao Zhong. As for the stretch from Dehong to Guangzhou, I don't have a good candidate yet;"

"I wonder if my three wives have any talents they can recommend?"

He had just asked casually, not expecting there to actually be one.

Just as Gao Yuan finished speaking, Song Yao raised her hand.

"I actually have a candidate here. He's the manager of the Son La ice shop named Wan Sanqian."

Gao Yuan almost spat out his wine. Was she sure this name wasn't Shen Wan San?

"System, System, come out. This Wan Sanqian couldn't be Shen Wan San, right?"

The system's response was quite fast this time.

"Rest assured, Host. This is a parallel space and has no relation to the original timeline."

"Since Yao'ao recommends him, he must be a talent. Bring him to see me after the New Year."

Seeing that everyone was drifting further and further into work talk, Zheng Wan quickly spoke up.

"Alright, alright. We've been busy all year; can't we have some downtime? Let's not talk about this during a rare family feast."

"It's my fault. Come, come, I'll penalize myself with three cups."

"Husband is playing foul. You clearly think this sweet rice wine is delicious and want more, yet you talk about penalizing yourself with three cups."

The atmosphere became joyful again. The family was in harmony, with constant laughter, marking a perfect end to this bountiful year.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the family of four went to the ancestral hall to offer incense to their ancestors.

Although women generally did not enter ancestral halls, Gao Yuan intentionally broke this rule.

In his words: 'If women can serve as officials, why can't they enter the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors?'

They worshipped the ancestors, as well as his cheap old man and lady and his two dead brothers.

The four of them sat together wrapped in blankets, listening to an enthusiastic Gao Yuan tell the story of 'Journey to the West'.

Originally, Gao Yuan wanted to tell the story of the Three Kingdoms, but then he thought that he might inevitably summon talents from the Three Kingdoms in the future.

If it was just one Huo Jun, it was fine, but if he summoned Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, or the Five Elite Generals, wouldn't that cause trouble?

It was also during this storytelling session that Gao Yuan realized with a start that he seemed to have stopped inventing things after making ice with saltpeter.

Now that the trade route was open, papermaking and movable type printing could be started.

He was sitting on these vast primitive forests and had never thought of making paper; it was truly a sin.

With the sleeping girl in his arms, Gao Yuan silently calculated the things he could do in the coming year.

Papermaking, movable type printing, the miraculous blood-stopping medicine Panax Notoginseng, sea salt production, crude salt purification, and sugar making.

Thinking about it, they were all ways to make money. He was truly begging for food while holding a golden bowl—a sin, a sin.