Chapter 21: Establishing Prestige

  Zhang Han was also in a precarious situation at this time, and it was clear that the one who could defeat Sun Xiao so badly must be a formidable opponent. If Gao Yuan lost again, Zhang Han decided to take everyone with him to capture those few bandits and present them to County Magistrate to vent his anger.

  Sitting in the room, secretly worrying, even the stench in the house didn't seem unusual.

  The gate darkened, and Cao Tiancheng appeared at the door. "We won! We won!" Cao Tiancheng shouted loudly: "The brothers who followed him to report back have returned, Gao Bing Cao has won, one person has taken down several barbarians, bringing back both men and horses, and they are now on their way."

  "Really won!" Zhang Han jumped up suddenly, somewhat disbelieving: "Really won?"

  Cao Tiānchéng nodded repeatedly, "I also dare not believe it, but we won the fight. Several rounds didn't even last a round, and were knocked down by Gāo Bīng Cao."

  Zhang Huan keenly noticed that the little guy Cao Tiancheng had previously called himself in front of him had now become a high-ranking officer Cao. It seemed that Gao Yuan's first step was to establish himself firmly. In the military camp, the first thing is to be able to fight and hold one's ground. Today, Sun Xiao was defeated, and Gao Yuan won a great victory as soon as he came out. His prestige among the soldiers had been established. With the support of Lu Xianwei, it seemed that Gao Yuan no longer needed to establish himself here.

  Recalling the faint smile at the corner of his mouth when Gaogan left earlier, Zhang Han's heart moved, and he said to Cao Tiancheng: "Since we've won, it's all right. I'll leave first. When Gao Bing returns, tell him that I have something to attend to and will go ahead."

  "Zhang Fuwei, aren't you waiting for Sun Dou to come back?" Cao Tiancheng asked, he knew that Sun Xiao and Zhang Yan had a very good relationship.

  "No more, no more!" Zhang Yan shook his head repeatedly. As soon as Gao Yuan came back, he would probably use Sun Xiao to assert his authority. If he stayed here, it would be difficult for him to do anything later on. It was better to avoid trouble early on. Sun Xiao had a high reputation in the team, and if Gao Yuan wanted to use him to assert his authority, some conflicts would inevitably arise. He wanted to see whether Gao Yuan could handle the situation well. If he could handle the relationship with Sun Xiao properly, then he would truly have a foothold in this team.

  Zhang Heng's feet were greased and he ran away, while Cao Wencheng didn't have such thoughts, looking at the deputy running faster than a rabbit, disappearing from his sight in the blink of an eye.

  Zhang Heng had not walked for long when a group of people leading five or six horses appeared in Cao Tiancheng's line of sight on the road to the military camp. What excited him even more was that among the returning crowd, there were actually four or five bags of grain and a live sheep being carried, finally able to eat a few days of full meals.

  "Lao Cao, Lao Cao!" Yan Haibo ran the fastest, "Fire's lit, dinner's ready, sheep's slaughtered!"

  Cao Tiancheng ignored him and stood there, looking at Gao Yuan from afar. Behind him, dozens of emaciated men were also staring at Gao Yuan with a hint of reverence in their eyes. Meanwhile, the soldiers who had witnessed Gao Yuan defeat several bandits looked at him with even greater admiration.

  In the army, no one else, who is the strongest, they will obey whoever it is. In the past, it was Sun Xiao, when everyone had nothing to eat, he led them to go out and fight for food, and he was also very good at fighting, so everyone obeyed him. But after Gao Yuan arrived, it wasn't just about fighting for food anymore. Today's scene, they saw clearly that Gao Yuan easily and heavily taught a lesson to the several bandits who had been beaten by them until they were helpless, and with a flip of his hand, he also got a large sum of money from Huo Tianliang, over 10 guans of cash and over 80 guans of IOUs. These soldiers didn't doubt at all that their leader would be able to get this money back, it seems that this year's food supply is no longer a problem.

  Flour costs only five cents a catty, one yuan can buy two hundred catties, ten yuan can buy two thousand catties, and one hundred yuan is two million catties. With one hundred soldiers, eating carefully, each person grinds two catties of flour per day, two hundred catties per day, six thousand catties in a month. There are still three months before the new year, so only eighteen thousand catties are needed. After the new year, everyone will go to their hometowns and the county can pay full salary, and everyone's food and clothing problems will be solved. Moreover, following a battalion commander with a strong background, it is possible that the owed salaries also have a solution, even if not paid in full at once, getting some of it is still good, after all, even a small mosquito is meat, isn't it?

  "General Cao Tiancheng has arrived, General Gao Bing has been seen!" This time, Cao Tiancheng did not have a cheerful face, but instead very solemnly saluted General Gao with a military salute.

  "Behold, General Cao!" Everyone behind Cao Tiancheng bowed in unison to Gao Yuan.

  Gao Yuan smiled and nodded, "Alright, Cao Dou, hurry up and start the fire, slaughter the sheep, cook more food, let everyone eat their fill!"

  "Yes!" Cao Tiancheng replied brightly.

  "Lock these few people up in the house for me!" Gaoyuan pointed at He Lanxiong and the other two, saying: "As for this woman, don't lock her up, let her stand here instead. You'd better behave yourself, otherwise you'll have a hard time!"

  He Lan Yan was panting heavily, but couldn't do anything, her brother was tied up tightly, and she could only stand there helplessly, alone in front of the barracks gate, not knowing what this smiling tiger would do to her next, so angry that her chest heaved up and down, and it was as if these soldiers were all staring at her.

  "Understood, Gao Bing Cao!" Cao Tiancheng responded loudly, directing his subordinates to implement Gao Yuan's orders.

  Compared to Cao Tiancheng, Sun Xiaoke was a bit embarrassed. Because all the way up until now, Gao Yuan had not responded to him and left him aside.

  "High-ranking officer!" Hiding was no use, Sun Xiao finally came up anyway.

  "Bring someone over and tie Sun Xiao up for me, bind him to the flagpole!" Gao Yuan suddenly changed his expression, shouting sternly.

  Just now Gaoyuan was still smiling, but suddenly his face changed, a group of soldiers looked at each other in dismay, you look at me, I look at you, but no one dared to make a move.

  "So, you're planning on having me take matters into my own hands?" Gaoyuan's voice turned cold.

  Sun Xiao let out a sigh, the longer it dragged on, the deeper this superior's prejudice against him would become. Although it was their first encounter, this military officer not only had exceptional martial arts skills and was ruthless, but also had a very deep mind. If he fell under his suspicion, his future days would be difficult to get through. He quickly gave Cao Tiancheng a signal, the two having spent a lot of time together, had a tacit understanding. Cao Tiancheng immediately brought someone over with a rope, tied Sun Xiao up and dragged him to the flagpole, binding him to it.

  Gao Yuan walked away, looking at Sun Xiao and said coldly: "Sun Tou, do you know why I tied you up?"

  "I know, Lieutenant Sun Xiao, you disregarded military law and led people out to fight and brawl, violating military discipline!"

  "That's all?" Gaoyuan sneered.

  Sun Xiao was stunned and hadn't responded yet when Gao Yuan already punched him in the abdomen, instantly causing him to double over in pain.

  "It seems you haven't figured it out yet. Think about it first before talking!"

  A punch landed on Sun Xiao's body, and the soldiers behind him immediately fell into a ***, Gao Yuan turned his head back, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd, and the crowd involuntarily lowered their heads.

  Seeing Gao Yuan beat Sun Xiao without saying a word, Cao Tiancheng couldn't help but shrink his body, and a chill ran down his spine. He and Sun Xiao were the two leaders of this hundred-man team, but he was gentle in nature and didn't like to interfere with things. When there was no military officer around, it was usually just Sun Xiao who took charge, and Cao Tiancheng didn't fight for power, so he had an easy time. This team had never been assigned a military officer before, probably because the higher-ups knew that sending just anyone wouldn't be enough to control Sun Xiao. It seemed like today's new military officer was determined to take down Sun Xiao, and unfortunately, Sun Xiao had given him an opening. Thinking of this, Cao Tiancheng couldn't help but glance at Gao Yuan, who was less than twenty years old - how could he have such a deep understanding of human nature? He must have been coached by the county magistrate himself.

  Yan Haibo moved a wooden bench from the house and placed it behind Gao Yuan, saying "Sit down, Secretary!"

  Gaoyuan nodded slightly, sitting with a majestic aura, he didn't say disperse, so all the soldiers could only stand there, Gaoyuan also didn't look at them, raised his head to gaze at the sky, as if flowers had bloomed in the sky, today was a crucial day, if Sun Xiao wasn't suppressed and these soldier kids weren't subdued, he would have a headache later. Establishing prestige was just the first step, this step had already been taken halfway, these four little rascals were also interesting, while he was still sleepy, they sent over a pillow, which saved him some trouble.

  As he thought of this, his gaze shifted to He Lan Yan who was standing alone in a corner, but unexpectedly, the woman was also staring at him, and their eyes met in mid-air, He Lan Yan's anger was hard to suppress, while Gao Yuan's eyes lit up, this He Lan Yan was quite good-looking.

  The sound of horseshoes echoes on the road, and my mood is lifted by the distant view. The second move has arrived today. First, a stick is used to whip, of course, carrots will be given out too. Using both kindness and severity is the way to manage people.

  I've run naked for a week, and to have achieved the current results, I must specially thank all of you friends. Thank you for your votes, clicks, and rewards! Seeing familiar friends like You Jin from "Ma Ta Tian Xia" fills my heart with emotion. Thanks, thanks again! In the first week, we reached 15th place on the new book chart and 2nd place on the historical new book chart, making Gun Hand extremely grateful for your support. A new week has begun, if I can make it into the top ten of the new book chart, that would be even better. If all goes well, I'll run naked again! Please help me out!