Yu Sheng's eyes almost popped out. Li Jun's gentle actions were already beyond his expectations, and he was also so obedient to Mo Rong's advice. Could it be that Commander Li had fallen for this woman? She was a woman from Dongyue!
No matter how uneasy he felt, Yu Sheng knew this wasn't the time for anyone else to stay. He could only take a moment to discuss with Li Jun the question of whether intermarriage between different races was permissible. Although some mixed-race offspring might be born due to rape during times of war, it was extremely rare for two people of completely different races to fall in love and marry. If Li Tong were to marry this Yue girl, it would inevitably lead to the hatred and opposition of conservatives, which would be quite detrimental to the development of the Peace Army.
While lost in thought and filled with worry, Yu Sheng also created an opportunity for Li Jun and Mo Rong. He pulled Jiang Tang aside and said, "Finance Officer, let's go check the accounts. You haven't seen the income and expenditure situation while you were away."
"Yes, yes, the money we got from the serpent spirit hasn't been deposited into our accounts yet. Let's hurry and get this deal done." At the mention of money, Jiang Tang immediately forgot everything, grabbed Yu Sheng, and ran off. Yu Sheng glanced back at Chen Ying and Song Yun; the couple should know better than to be so rude.
Sure enough, not long after Yu Sheng and the others left, Chen Ying and Song Yun also quietly went to the side and whispered to each other. However, the reason they went away was completely different from what Yu Sheng had thought.
"What should we do? We can't keep staying here. We should leave," Song Yun asked.
"You're a man, shouldn't you be the one to make the decision?" Chen Ying muttered irritably. This guy was honest, kind-hearted, and good in every way, except he was a little bit shrewd.
“But you’re always the one who makes the decisions. As soon as I come up with an idea, you can find fault with it,” Song Yun muttered.
Thinking about it, it really is true. When the two of them are together, whenever Song Yun says to go west, I have to argue with him until he goes east. This silly brother is incredibly strong, but he's helpless when it comes to words. If he can't win the argument, he'll even say, "The old man in the mountains said I should do this or that." And every time I say, "That old man did what he was told, and he died," he shuts him up for a long time...
"What are you laughing at?" Song Yun asked curiously, looking at the gentle smile on her lips.
"Ah," Chen Ying said, feeling a little embarrassed that she had been daydreaming. "It's nothing. I'll let you make the decision this time."
"Great!" Song Yun's eyes lit up as he asked, "What do you think of these Peace Army soldiers?"
"It's alright, they don't have the typical thuggishness and roguishness of mercenary groups," Chen Ying replied casually, but quickly became alert. "You don't mean you want to join the Peace Army, do you?"
"Why not? We don't have any money, so we have to find something to do. And as for me, I like these people."
Many things don't need any formal reason. Lan Qiao, using the alias Song Yun, found the most appropriate reason to persuade Chen Ying, and it was because of this reason that the Peace Army gained another brave general. Years later, when talking about this, Mo Rong would laugh and say, "That person fell from the sky and I picked him up."
The crowds flocked to see the dragon spirit; it seemed that all forty thousand households in Tonghai City wanted to come and see it.
Li Jun was tired of this atmosphere. He took Mo Rong's hand and the two walked slowly along the street. Mo Rong started by chattering about how she returned to Yue Ren Ling, how she used the Gongshu Hammer to make the Yue people admit that she was the most ingenious craftsman in the world, how she designed so many interesting and fun things, and how she tricked those stubborn old people in Yue Ren Ling.
The long street seemed to shorten under her clear voice. Li Jun had never felt this warmth before. His childhood memories had long faded, and his early years as a mercenary left him with only memories of killing and bloodshed. Under Lu Xiang's command, although he regarded Lu Xiang as a father, and Lu Xiang treated him like a son, it was never quite like this before. He would confide in her about even the most trivial matters of daily life. Therefore, he didn't find Mo Rong's words tedious at all; on the contrary, he listened with great interest. Before he knew it, the two had arrived at the city gate.
"And you? Why is it all me talking? And you?" Mo Rong asked, looking up at Li Jun, who was more than two heads taller than her. It looked like an adult leading a child, but Mo Rong didn't care. If someone mentioned this feeling to her, she would definitely argue that the adult was her and the child was Li Jun.
Her question left Li Jun momentarily speechless. Although he had risked his life on the battlefield for the past three or four years and had achieved numerous feats, including taking down enemy generals amidst thousands of soldiers, Li Jun felt ashamed to talk about these things in front of Mo Rong.
So he only briefly talked about the battlefield, and told Mo Rong in detail about his interactions with Lu Xiang and Meng Yuan. When he talked about Lu Xiang's death, he couldn't help but feel tears welling up in his eyes again. When he talked about how Meng Yuan almost lost his life to save him when he was fighting the dragon in the sea, the desolate feeling of loneliness and helplessness at that time surged into Li Jun's heart again.
Mo Rong turned her face away, pretending not to see Li Jun secretly wiping away the tears from the corners of his eyes. This cold little brother seemed much warmer than when they first met three or four years ago. Mo Rong was extremely happy about this change in Li Jun. She really hoped that every friend of hers was a warm and sincere person.
Throughout Li Jun's development, Lu Xiang and Mo Rong played a significant role in transforming him from a cold-blooded young mercenary whose specialty was killing into a genuine person with human emotions. If Lu Xiang played the role of an upright and noble father figure in Li Jun's growth, then Mo Rong, with her unique feminine warmth and the sincerity characteristic of the Yue people, consistently guided Li Jun's continued development.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Divine Continent, in the southern Heng Kingdom, Ling Qi, who had once saved Li Jun and Meng Yuan, was walking the exact opposite path from Li Jun. He gradually transformed from a sentimental, refined, and innocent scion of a noble family into a cold-blooded and ruthless person, something neither Li Jun nor Mo Rong knew.
“Look at your city,” Mo Rong said to Li Jun, pointing to the city wall. “This city is poorly built and hasn’t been repaired in many years. It can’t withstand any major impacts.”
“Exactly.” Li Jun was secretly grateful to Mo Rong for changing the subject. “That’s why Tangjiang and I invited you here to help us reinforce this city.”
“I see. That’s easy. As long as you have enough funds and materials, I can build any size city for you.” Mo Rong looked into the distance and said, “However, this city is a bit small. If it’s just for 100,000 households, it’s about enough. But if you want it to become a large city, that will be a bit troublesome.”
Li Jun turned his attention entirely to this matter and asked, "What do you mean?"
"It depends on how many people you plan to house in this city. Generally speaking, 100,000 households are a good starting point. The current city is a bit cramped, but if you plan the streets and waterways, it should be fine."
Li Jun turned back and looked into the city through the city gate. After thinking for a moment, he said, "What if I wanted this city to house 500,000 households?"
Mo Rong's eyes widened: "Five hundred thousand households?"
“Exactly,” Li Jun nodded. “Within three years, I want this city to have 500,000 households. Ten years from now, I want this city to become the most prosperous city in the Divine Continent!”
Li Jun had his reasons for making this plan. If he wanted to make a significant impact on the Divine Continent, a Peace Army of only one or two thousand men was clearly unrealistic. While quality is more important than quantity, Li Jun calculated that at least thirty thousand elite troops, plus hundreds of thousands of auxiliary troops, were needed for the Peace Army to truly become a significant force in the Divine Continent. Otherwise, at best, they would only be able to control one or two cities in Yuzhou.
Thirty thousand elite troops must be trained in actual combat, which means that several times that number of troops must be lost before these troops can be acquired. This is clearly impossible without sufficient manpower and resources. Therefore, Tonghai City, as his initial base, must play a crucial role. It must not only provide material support but also serve as a base for replenishing personnel.
"Is that so? This is a bit troublesome." Mo Rong thought for a moment and said, "Let's go up to the city wall and take a look. I can't see very far from here."
The two arrived at the top of the city wall. Mo Rong looked around and saw that the northwest side of the city was a vast plain, with only a few small hills about ten miles away, while the east and south sides were the vast ocean.
"I really don't know how much it will cost." After calculating repeatedly in her mind, Mo Rong sighed.
"What, is there no way?" Li Jun asked nervously.
"Hmph!" Mo Rong rolled her eyes at him. "What could possibly be difficult for me, the world's greatest craftsman? I was just thinking about how to save you some money!"
"Ah, haha, so what should we do?" Li Jun asked.
Mo Rong turned her head and glanced at Li Jun, then smiled slyly: "I helped you build this city, so you should at least show your appreciation by calling me 'sister.' I've never heard you call me that before."
Li Jun was speechless for a moment. In terms of age, Mo Rong was indeed old enough to be his sister, but he had never had any brothers or sisters. How could he possibly call her "sister"?
Seeing his face turn red from holding back laughter, Mo Rong couldn't help but laugh again. Her silvery laughter carried on the wind above the city walls. Li Jun finally gave in and called out in a low, urgent voice, "Sister Mo..."
“Hmm, hehe. If we want to build a big city, then we’ll use the current city walls as the inner city, and build a ring of walls along the outer side of that distant hill. First, we can dig a moat, let the seawater fill it in, and take the excavated soil to make bricks for the walls. Since the moat is connected to the sea, we can use rafts to transport the building materials there. This way, we can shorten the time by at least a quarter and save a third of the money.” Mo Rong pointed to the distant hill to avoid embarrassing him.
"I know absolutely nothing about this, so I'll leave it all to Sister Mo." After calling her name the first time, the second time came naturally as Li Jun handed over the task of building the city to Mo Rong.
"Of course, it's been a long time since we Yue people have built a city of this scale. I can invite my fellow tribesmen to help you. With their help, the city you need can be built in ten months at most. However, you must guarantee our supply of funds and materials during these ten months. We will discuss the specific expenses and tell you. You should start saving money now."
After discussing for a while, the two returned to the city lord's mansion. When Yu Sheng saw the two return side by side, Li Jun had a smile on his face, but his eyes were red, and Mo Rong looked absent-minded, Yu Sheng became even more worried.
"Given Commander Li's talent, he is very likely to one day cede territory and become king. At that time, the empress of the country will actually be a Yue woman?" He dared not think further, much less speak of this matter. He secretly made up his mind to quickly find an ordinary woman suitable to match Li Jun.
That evening, Li Jun suddenly realized his weakness during the day, especially when he thought about how he had held Mo Rong's hand and walked down the street for so long, a strange feeling welled up in his heart.
"What's wrong with me?" he asked himself.