Chapter 50: The Heavenly Material and Treasure Wood (Part 1)

  Zhou Deyan was the imperial envoy of the Later Tang Dynasty before his death, and he had gained the trust of Emperor Li Cunxu. Therefore, the five thousand personal soldiers under his command were stationed in the place closest to the capital city of Luoyang, just a few dozen miles southwest of the city, roughly within the boundaries of present-day Yiyang County, Luoyang City.

  The army camp was originally set up on a vast open space by the Luo River, where transportation is convenient and the terrain is flat. Later, some military dependents, merchants, etc. gathered nearby, and in these three years, a medium-sized market has also been formed, known as Junjiang Market.

  The good fields under the name of Zhao Guo Gong Fu are just north of Zhoujia Village, about 7 or 8 miles away. There are also several hundred households there, mostly tenant farmers of the Zhou family, naturally forming a large village called Zhoujiazhuang.

  The relatives of Zhao Guo Gong's personal army were scattered on the south bank of the Luo River, also cultivating tens of thousands of acres of land. The gathered villages were called Jun Hu Cun (Military Household Village).

  These three settlements are interdependent and rely on the Zhao State's public office for a living. Under the prestige of the Zhao State and the large army under its command, the local government does not dare to come and collect taxes, so in this chaotic world, it is also a pure land, and many refugees who have suffered from natural disasters and man-made disasters are also gathered in this area.

  Zhou Wenbo was no longer dressed as a scholar, but wore a suit of armor, with a Longquan sword hanging obliquely from his waist, carefully selected from the armory in the mansion. The blade was cold and sharp, unparalleled, and could be considered a treasure.

  Zhou Wenbo had originally planned to wear a suit of Bright Light Armor, but unfortunately the total weight of that suit of Bright Light Armor exceeded 100 jin and was far beyond his ability, so he could only change into a suit of Cotton Armor.

  Zhou Wenbo, although a scholar, was born into a family of military generals and had practiced horse riding from an early age. Although he couldn't be considered a skilled rider, he had no problem handling ordinary war horses.

  This era's three treasures of cavalry - saddles, stirrups and horseshoes - had already become widespread, leaving Zhou Wenbo without any space for "creation". However, in reality the progress of these military means widened the gap between cavalry and infantry to such an extent that later Central Plains dynasties were always invaded by remote minority ethnic groups.

  Zhou Wenbo had recently promoted Liu Meng as his personal bodyguard commander, and there were also several dozen guards escorting him wherever he went. In such a chaotic world, he held a high position and had great enemies before him, so he could not but be cautious in his actions.

  When Zhou Wenbo and his men arrived at Junjiang Village with dozens of horses, Zhou De and dozens of guards had already left the camp to welcome their commander.

  Zhou Wenbo deeply understood that these guards were the foundation of his future military achievements, so since he took control of the Zhao State's imperial authority, he rewarded them heavily. These guards also maintained a respectful attitude towards this young state duke on the surface.

  Although a small market has spontaneously gathered near the army's large camp, in fact it is still some distance from the large camp. Zhou Wenbo inspected the entire camp under the accompaniment of the officer in charge of guarding the camp, including the large drill ground, small drill ground, military barracks, armory, and military supplies management department, etc., and had a basic understanding of this place where he would be stationed for some time to come.

  In fact, Zhou Wenbo was still very satisfied. The Zhao State Army was indeed a powerful army that was good at fighting and conquering. The military camp was not only large in scale and fully equipped, but also had a well-organized structure. At least to say, Zhou Wenbo also had a pretty good place for recruiting and training soldiers, so he didn't have to start from scratch.

  The scouts sent to each county will take at least another day or two to return, and the righteous warriors or refugees from various counties will likely appear only after two days. Zhou Wenbo did not plan to waste this time and intended to observe the situation around him first.

  Then, after finding the main residence of the army's commander and settling down, Zhou Wenbo did not rest, but instead went to see the nearest military workshop with Liu Meng and several guards.

  In fact, Zhou Wenbo, who was originally in a sightseeing mood, soon became disappointed. The streets of the village were only two short streets, one horizontal and one vertical, with a layer of white snow on the shady side and mud on the sunny side.

  The streets were originally lined with uneven courtyards, each with large red lanterns hanging outside their walls. However, most of them were not lit up, and some were battered by the wind and rain, looking tattered. Judging from the tightly closed courtyard doors, it's likely that they haven't been in business for many days.

  Zhou Wenbo was very puzzled by this situation and didn't know what kind of business these courtyards were doing.

  Liu Meng was originally a soldier in the army and had lived in this large camp before, so he was naturally familiar with these places.

  "This place used to be a brothel, doing some shady business and serving food to entertain the resting soldiers. Now it's probably because of the war that they've lost their livelihood and closed down."

  Zhou Wenbo was momentarily stunned. As a modern person, he had never thought about this aspect before. It turned out that this was what they called "military prostitutes".

  Just looking at this street, there are probably thirty or forty houses with red lanterns hanging outside the doors on both sides, which already accounts for half of the storefronts in Junzhang Village. It's truly prosperous and flourishing.

  Zhou Wenbo was unwilling and unable to deal with this matter. To be honest, in this era, there were not many sexually transmitted diseases in the Chinese region. If soldiers without family used this method to vent their desires, it would be much better than running amok in the countryside.

  Zhou Wenbo carefully stepped over a muddy puddle, avoiding getting mud on his brand new military boots. When he arrived at the only intersection in Junjiang Village, he finally saw the few shops he had imagined before.

  On the left, a workshop was making a loud clanging sound as someone hammered away at hot metal. Above the door hung a large sign with the character for "iron" on it. A muscular man stood in the empty space outside the door, forging a crude knife. Several idle men leaned against the earthen wall, soaking up the sun and picking lice from their clothes as they watched the muscular man at work.

  Zhou Wenbo was very interested in this and wanted to see how the blacksmiths of this era forged weapons, so he walked forward casually.

  The sturdy man, however, did not notice at all that a group of soldiers had already stood still beside him, and he continued to swing the iron hammer in his thick and strong arm, striking the wooden knife and making a "ding-dong" sound.

  The idlers in the corner noticed that a group of iron-clad guards with sharp blades surrounded a handsome young man, and from his expression and attire, it was clear that he was not an ordinary person. So they quietly stopped their movements, fearing to provoke these uninvited guests.

  At this time, however, a middle-aged man emerged from the house. His temples were already gray, but his face was purple and red, and his small stature had several muscles, which made Zhou Wenbo very surprised.

  "Sir, this is our army's first craftsman - Zhao Tiejiang. Most of the weapons and armor in our army were made by Zhao Tiejiang and his apprentices."

  Liu Meng introduced this middle-aged man to Zhou Wenbo.