Chapter 31 Military Counsel

  Li Qing regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. At this moment, he should have been passionate and stirring, but instead, he came up with something so dull. He hastily spurred on his horse, and the tens of thousands of people first looked at each other in confusion, then burst out laughing, and finally erupted into thunderous cheers.

  "Follow the general and eat dry rations!" Someone shouted loudly, and immediately there was a chorus of responses.

  Behind Li Qing, Shang Haibo was the second to ride his horse through the gate. Whether it was Wang Qinyan or Jiang Kui Feng Guo, they all subconsciously reined in their horses, allowing Shang Haibo to follow closely behind Li Qing alone. As for Guo Shanfeng, he was still behind Wang Qinyan and the others!

  Lu Yi's heart skipped a beat as he noticed this detail, and suddenly realized that in the time he had been away, Shang Haibo had actually established such prestige under Li Qing. Looking at Li Qing's three generals' natural demeanor, his heart felt a little sour, but then he perked up again. Shang Haibo was just an unhappy scholar at the Hou Mansion, while he himself was a renowned figure with a name and surname. What Shang Haibo could do, he might not necessarily be unable to do as well. There's still plenty of time! Thinking this way, his chest surged with a fierce fighting spirit.

  "Brilliant, General!" Shang Haibo walked his horse to Li Qing's side, a smile in his eyes, and said in a low voice.

  "Oh dear, I'm so dead!" Li Qing's face turned slightly red. "I don't know how it happened, but the words just slipped out. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late to take them back."

  "It's precisely because the general spoke without thinking that it's good!" Shang Haibo said: "The common people are ignorant, and telling them about family, country, and the world is no different from playing a zither to a cow. But in their hearts, they are actually very clear-minded. Who treats them well, that's crystal clear. What do they want? Isn't it just to have full bellies, warm clothes, and a hot kang for their wives and children? Whoever can achieve this for them will be fiercely defended by them."

  Li Qing thought for a moment and had to admit that Shang Haibo made sense. The demands of the common people were not high, but it was undoubtedly difficult to achieve in this era. "Mr. Shang, it's easy to say, but hard to do. This winter is no problem, but what about afterwards? It's still uncertain. We've only taken the first step."

  "It's always difficult at the beginning! General, now that we've taken the first step, it will get easier and easier later on. Don't you have confidence, General?" Shang Haibo said with a smile.

  This rhetorical question, however, stirred up Li Qing's competitive spirit, and a surge of heroic ambition rose in his chest. "Of course I'm confident, I still firmly believe I can do even better."

  "Congratulations on your triumphant return, General!" Xu Yunfeng and Lu Yiming suddenly appeared in front of Li Qing.

  "Mr. Lu!" Li Qing's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Yiming, and he couldn't help but feel overjoyed. He jumped off his horse and grasped Lu Yiming's hands with both of his own, saying eagerly: "I've been looking forward to your return day and night, but I didn't expect to see you today! Was your journey smooth?"

  Li Qing's smile was heartfelt, and Lu Yi Ming felt a warmth in his heart. He said, "Don't worry, General. I didn't let you down. Everything went smoothly. Not only did we bring back all the grain needed for the entire winter, but we also prepared the seeds and farming tools needed for next spring."

  Li Qing shook hands with Lu Yi Ming and said, "Sir, you've had a hard journey. Let's have dinner tonight to welcome you."

  Xu Yunfeng smiled and said, "Mr. Lu arrived a few days ago, and I've already had a drink with him to wash the dust off his feet. However, today is indeed a grand feast to celebrate General's victory."

  Li Qing smiled and patted Xu Xian's shoulder, saying: "It's been a few days since we last met, County Magistrate. You seem to have lost some weight, these past few days must have been tiring for you."

  Xu Yunfeng waved his hand and said, "It's just a matter of duty, why bother with hard work. The generals and soldiers who are fighting outside are the ones who are truly working hard." The two walked side by side, chatting about old times in the camp, when Lu Yi called out from behind them, "Congratulations, Shang brother!" Shang Haibo smiled faintly and bowed his head, saying, "Thanks, Lu brother. You must be tired from your journey."

  Behind them, soldiers and young men transported goods in an endless stream through the Color Gate, entering the old camp. Every time a team of soldiers and young men passed by, they won a round of applause. Not to mention the soldiers who had fought bravely on the battlefield were proud and complacent, even those young men who followed the army were beaming with pride, this was indeed a face-saving matter.

  The mountain wind is most sentimental in my heart, thinking that not long ago I was a bandit who everyone shouted and beat, but in the blink of an eye, I became a hero admired by everyone. The strangeness of this world is truly beyond expectation. Looking back at Li Ermao, his pockmarked face is even more joyful, with shiny oil on each pimple, radiant enough to be seen by people. This kid was cut on the arm during the intense battle in the broken camp, and now he's still wearing a sling, but it has become a symbol of showing off bravery, only regretting that he can't lift his injured arm even higher.

  "Brother, it's still better to be an official and kill barbarians!" He said with some emotion to Guo Shanfeng.

  Receiving goods and storing them in the warehouse, arranging for the slaves to be settled, making preparations for the celebration, Xu Yunfeng and Lu Yiming had everything arranged in an orderly manner. In just half a day's time, they had already handled everything properly. Except that there were still many slaves who did not have houses to live in. At that time, the two of them had not expected Li Qing to bring back so many people. However, the tents plundered from the An Bone tribe were readily available. On one side of the row upon row of giant wooden houses built in the old camp, a patchwork of white tents was set up again.

  In the late afternoon, smoke began to rise from every corner of the old camp, and each camp was happily cooking rice and slaughtering pigs and sheep. For the people in the old camp who had not tasted meat for several months, this was a great temptation. Some little guys were already drooling and guarding the big pot where the meat was being cooked.

  The fragrance wafting everywhere made the old campers, who had been in a state of hunger and cold for a long time, swallow their saliva with a gurgling sound.

  Unlike other places in the old camp, Li Qing's place was much more elegant and quiet. After three rounds of wine, everyone had a slight drunkenness on their face. Li Qing smiled and put down his chopsticks, saying: "Everyone, our first difficult pass in Changsheng Camp has been safely passed under everyone's joint efforts, and we even have some remaining wealth. Here, Li Qing thanks you all first." He stood up and bowed to everyone with a fist.

  Everyone dared not to be slow, and stood up in unison to return the courtesy: "Thanks to General Tiger's prestige."

  "Everyone, please take a seat!" Li Qingxu pressed his hands together. "Although we've passed the first test, everyone is well aware of the predicament my Constant Victory Camp is in - our future is uncertain, with internal and external troubles; all of you still need to work together."

  After this battle, Shang Haibo has become the first person under Li Qing's command. Seeing Li Qing finish speaking, he said: "General, rest assured, with you in charge of the army, we will do our best and the revival of Changsheng Camp is just around the corner." Everyone nodded in agreement.

  Everyone in the house had an excited look on their face. Li Qing knew that he needed to lay out his plan clearly, so that everyone would have a clear goal.

  "Gentlemen, on the way back, I have already had a plan for the development of Changshengying in my mind. Today, I will share it with you all and hope that you can help me fill in the gaps."

  "Please enlighten me!" Lu Yiming said, unwilling to let Shang Haibo be the only one to look good.

  "Train the army to boost military morale, the army is our foundation, this is the top priority, restore internal affairs to support people's livelihoods, this is our survival root, in short, this winter we need to do two things, first is to train the army, second is civil governance."

  When Changsheng Camp entered Chong County, there were only over a thousand people. According to the Da Chu army system, a standard camp is three thousand people. At that time, Changsheng Camp even had problems eating meals, let alone expanding the army. However, it's different now. Not only are there tens of thousands of young and strong men among the remaining civilians in Chong County, but also several thousand slaves rescued this time can be used as soldiers. Expanding the army has become a top priority.

  "The general said that without a strong army, we are just fish on other people's chopping board." Shang Haibo said, "Now that winter has arrived, it is the best time for us to train our troops. I believe that with your ability to train troops, after this winter, our Changsheng Camp will have the strength of one battle."

  Li Qing nodded proudly, previously there were no people or weapons, now there are enough people and many weapons have been seized from the An Bone tribe. As for training a strong army, that is his forte.

  "Changsheng Camp's left, middle and right three wings will be fully expanded this time. The left wing is led by Wang Qiniang." Wang Qiniang stood up with a fist bump.

  "Zhong Wing, your wing is long, Jiang Kui. Your wing is the cavalry wing. This time we've captured enough war horses. You can prioritize selecting soldiers who can fight on horseback. Each department must not shirk responsibility!" Jiang Kui's face lit up with joy, a wish he had harbored for many days was finally fulfilled, how could he not be overjoyed?

  "Right wing, advance!" Feng Guo sprang up abruptly.

  "Guo Shan Feng!" Hearing his name being called, Guo Shan Feng sprang to his feet and shouted loudly: "Guo Shan Feng at your service!" The loudness of his own voice even startled himself.

  Li Qing smiled slightly, "This time we attacked the An Gu bone tribe, you should be the first to achieve success. I mentioned earlier that I would grant you the title of Zhenwu Colonel, now I order you to form a vanguard team, with three hundred people and horses. Report directly to me."

  "Yang Yidao, you will be the captain of my personal guard, Tang Hu, deputy captain. The two of you will select brave and loyal soldiers from the entire army to form my personal guard, with a total of one hundred men." Yang Yidao was chosen as the captain because he was more stable than Tang Hu.

  All the generals bowed their heads and accepted the order.

  "Mr. Shang!" Li Qing turned to Shang Haibo with a smile. Shang Haibo smiled and clasped his fists, "I'm honored to have Mr. Shang take on the role of chief historian in my camp, assisting me with military affairs and advising on military strategy, what do you think?"

  "General's orders, how dare I disobey!"