"In that case, should our army still attack Kuanglan City?"
"The Zhu family will not let our smooth takeover of Leiming City go unpunished. Our army must concentrate its forces to deal with them, and we can only let the Peace Army go for now. Go and pass on my order that our army that is attacking Kuanglan City should come to our aid immediately. As long as we control the silver mine in Leiming City, we will have both soldiers and generals. We can deal with the mere few thousand Peace Army soldiers whenever we want!"
"Marshal's insight is brilliant!" The advisors echoed in agreement. It seemed that while Li Jun's ingenious capture of Leiming City was remarkable, Tong Chang's cleverness in forcing Li Jun to relinquish the city was even more impressive. However, Tong Chang was somewhat suspicious of Li Jun. To prevent Li Jun from sending Yu Sheng to mislead them and actually setting up an ambush along the way, their advance slowed down significantly. Similarly, Zhu Wenyuan also slowed down his advance after receiving the message from Li Jun's messenger. This gave the Peace Army ample time to transport the supplies from Leiming City.
In Leiming City, Sima Hui ordered his men to move the treasury's silver reserves, but he personally led a group to the city's governor's mansion and swept away three cartloads of books and scrolls. Before leaving Leiming City, he strictly forbade his soldiers from destroying a single scroll. The soldiers couldn't understand why he valued these useless scrolls more than the mountains of silver and grain. Even Li Jun was surprised and asked, "Why did you move all this, Mr. Sima?"
"Commander, you may not know this, but Leiming City has long been the capital of Yuzhou. The mountains, rivers, geography, and resources of Yuzhou and its surrounding areas have all been compiled into a book and are kept in the Hua family's steward's mansion. The Hua family has always been the weakest of the three major powers in Yuzhou, so these things are of no use to them. But for my Peace Army, these things will be priceless sooner or later."
Sima Hui's explanation pleased Li Jun greatly. He said, "Most of the men in the Peace Army are rough and do not understand the importance of these books and illustrations. Mr. Yu is not here. If it weren't for Mr. Sima, I would have almost given up these priceless classics for some money. You have done a great service!"
Sima Hui smiled without speaking, his heart filled with gratitude. When he served the Zhu family before, no matter how much advice he offered, the gratitude of the Zhu father and son was merely superficial, unlike the heartfelt gratitude Li Jun showed. Moreover, if Zhu Wenyuan, with his temperament, knew that he had asked for these books instead of supplies, he would surely have given him a severe dressing-down. Although Li Jun opposed the high-ranking aristocratic families, he had always treated Sima Hui, a scion of a Yuzhou aristocratic family who had joined him halfway through his life, with exceptional courtesy. With such a lord, how could one not be utterly devoted and attentive?
An hour later, the Peace Army withdrew from Thunder City. Although much supplies could not be taken, Li Jun did not feel regret. The silver collected from the treasury was enough to exchange for more than 200,000 gold coins, which was a huge gain for the Peace Army, which desperately needed money. If Jiang Tang were present, he would surely be excited and shout that it was a great deal.
Soldiers from the Zhu and Tong families stormed into Leiming City almost simultaneously, one from the west gate and the other from the south gate. However, Leiming City was already an empty city. When the Peace Army withdrew, they also demolished the city gates, making it impossible for either side to close them and prevent the other from entering. Thus, an encounter battle unfolded in Leiming City.
The two sides fought back and forth, neither able to gain the upper hand. So, the Tong family was stationed in the north of the city, and the Zhu family in the south. The two sides were locked in a standoff in the city, negotiating while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
All of this was within Li Jun's expectations. Both sides were eager to seize Thunder City for themselves in order to gain an overwhelming advantage over the other. However, the two sides were evenly matched, and the fighting would inevitably lead to a mutually destructive situation sooner or later. In the past, the two sides had a tacit understanding to divide Thunder City equally, but firstly, a tacit understanding is one thing, and reality is another. Everyone wanted to take it all for themselves. Secondly, Zhu Mao, who had reached an agreement with the Tong family, was already dead at Li Jun's hands. If the two sides were to start over, there would inevitably be a period of contact. During this time, Li Jun had already led the Peace Army and flown far away.
The chaotic battle for Thunder City lasted for half a month. First, the Peace Army joined forces with the Zhu and Tong families to deal with Hua Palace. Then, the Zhu and Tong families drove Li Jun away. Finally, the remaining Zhu and Tong families inevitably clashed. With heavy casualties on both sides, they had to reconsider the value of Thunder City. Only then did Tong Chang realize that he had been tricked by Li Jun, but it was too late.
While Tong Chang was cursing Li Jun in Thunder City, Li Jun was already standing beneath a newly constructed section of the city wall in Raging Waves City, chatting and laughing with Mo Rong. The construction progress was unexpectedly fast, largely thanks to Mo Rong's talent in engineering command and design, as well as the efforts of the Yue craftsmen she had hired.
"I was so worried those few days. The trenches had just been dug and the water was flowing when I heard that the Tong family's army was only a day's journey away." Mo Rong had not forgotten her anxiety at the time. She said, "If they come to attack the city, we may be able to hold it with the city walls that connect to the sea port, but the construction outside the city will definitely be destroyed, and the supplies piled up here will be looted. If the construction is delayed, it will damage my reputation as the number one craftsman in the world."
"Haha, don't worry, since I promised you a period of peace, no enemy will attack Kuanglan City. Although the Tong family's army is very close to the city, it was still transferred away, wasn't it?" Li Jun smiled and reassured her, but he was a little scared. His withdrawal was another risky move. If the Tong or Zhu family's armies abandoned Leiming City and concentrated their forces to pursue them from behind, then the Peace Army, carrying a large amount of supplies, would only face a crushing defeat. Even without pursuit, if Tong Chang's troops, who were originally attacking Kuanglan City, ambushed the retreating Peace Army on the way, the losses would be irreparable. It seemed that fate had sided with Li Jun.
“At this rate, it seems that eight months will be enough to complete the outer city. As for the finishing touches on the inner city, we can take our time.” Mo Rong’s eyes shone like morning stars as she talked about her project. “Brother, you should thank me properly.”
Li Jun felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Although Mo Rong and he had shared life and death in the Dragon-Slaying War, she would never have built Kuanglan City for him if it weren't for their deep friendship. As a Yue woman, Mo Rong couldn't understand the frequent and chaotic wars among ordinary people, and Kuanglan City would be the starting point for him to incite a new round of slaughter in Yuzhou. But he really couldn't think of any way he could repay this Yue woman. Wealth and power were not what she loved.
"I'll thank you however you want, sister." That was all he could say. Mo Rong chuckled softly and said, "You said it yourself. I can't think of anything to ask you for right now, but when I do, you can't go back on your word!"
"How could that be?" Li Jun laughed too, and after a moment, his light laughter turned into loud laughter: "Sister, you talk like syrup."
Mo Rong, recalling that her tone had indeed resembled Jiang Tang negotiating with someone, let out another silvery laugh. The sight of the two so intimately together made Yu Sheng uneasy once more.
"Something's getting increasingly wrong," Yu Sheng thought. "Judging from the way Commander Li and Miss Mo are acting, they're already quite intimate. If we don't find a suitable, ordinary woman for Commander Li soon, it'll be too late..."
Leaving aside Yu Sheng's worries for the moment, Mo Rong sighed again and said, "Brother, you have already done a lot for me. On the day of the foundation laying ceremony, in the oath you made with the people of Kuanglan City, you said that the Yue people, ordinary people, Qiang people, Yi people and Rong people are all equal, and I was really grateful to hear that."
Li Jun remained silent. Although the Yue people were extremely arrogant and proud, in reality, in this world of Shenzhou where ordinary people held an absolute advantage, they were merely uncivilized people, regarded as uncultured barbarians. Even if they possessed extraordinary talent in mechanical design and architectural construction, ordinary people considered it mere "ingenious tricks," not worth mentioning. Publicly stating that the Yue people were equal in status to ordinary people would involve a certain risk and would inevitably bring some trouble. However, whenever Li Jun thought of how mercenaries, although mostly ordinary people, were also looked down upon by those of high status, he felt that anyone, whether ordinary or of other races, who could earn their own living was far superior to those spoiled brats.
"Reporting to the commander." The sentry rushed over, interrupting the two's private conversation.
"What's going on? Has the situation in Thunder City changed again?" Li Jun asked. Although the Peace Army had withdrawn from Thunder City, he still ordered his spies to closely observe the battle situation on both sides. If there was an opportunity, he was prepared to immediately rush back.
"No, it's that our fleet has returned from its voyage."
The sentry brought excellent news. For Li Jun, whether the construction of Kuanglan City at Tonghai Port would be beneficial or not would depend on the results of the first fleet's return voyage. Calculating the journey, this round trip took a full two months, and they must have sailed to many ports.
"Sister, would you like to go see the fleet together?" Li Jun asked Mo Rong.
"Go ahead, I have other things to do." Mo Rong wasn't particularly interested in the boat.
So Li Jun and Yu Sheng rushed to the dock, where it was already crowded with people. Although many foreign fleets and merchant ships had recently entered Tonghai, this was the first time their own ocean-going fleet had returned from trade. Therefore, ordinary people, as well as foreigners and Qiang people, all flocked to watch the excitement. Even Meng Yuan, who was recuperating from his injuries, came over after hearing the news.
"Wow!" Many children exclaimed in surprise. When the fleet left Tonghai Port, it used only old medium-sized ships, and there were only four of them. But when it returned, in addition to the four old ships, there were eight more large ships. It was unclear whether they were bought by the merchant fleet that went out to sea or came with them to do business.
"Looks like we've got some good business to do!" Jiang Tang, who had been eagerly waiting for Li Jun's arrival, chuckled, his eyes gleaming with the light of gold coins. Li Jun, seeing his expression, couldn't help but laugh as well, asking, "Why are there eight more large ships?"
"Just now, Jia Tong sent someone to say that they have bought four large ships in Risheng Port, and the other four are merchant ships from various countries that came to do business with them."
"How much did we earn from this deal?" Although Li Jun could tell from Jiang Tang's expression that this deal was profitable, he was still very concerned about the specific income. The Peace Army was no longer a small force that could be supported for a month with just over a thousand gold coins; expenses in all aspects were increasing day by day.
"It's not clear yet; we'll only know after we reconcile the accounts with Jia Tong. However, it's certain that we made a fortune on this deal!" Jiang Tang glanced at the crowded people around him but didn't reveal the specific figures.
"Oh." Li Jun quite appreciated Jiang Shang's caution, which stemmed from his merchant instincts. He looked out over the ships and saw sailors and porters working hard to unload cargo. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he pointed to the four large ships and asked, "Why are there soldiers on these four ships?"
Section 2
Jiang Tang was far less interested in the soldiers on board than in the cargo and gold coins. He simply said, "Those soldiers seem to be mercenaries hired by Jia Tongdai's Peace Army. I have no interest in this deal."
Li Jun was half surprised and half doubtful. If these four large ships were fully loaded with soldiers, there would be several thousand people. Even if not all of them were soldiers, there would still be more than a thousand people just by looking at them. Right now, Kuanglan City's defenses were strong on the outside but weak on the inside. If they were the enemy, the city would have been in chaos by now.
These successive military mistakes made Li Jun realize that he still lacked experience in overall planning. At present, although he is a rare military talent, he is not yet a top-notch commander-in-chief. The difference between a military talent and a commander-in-chief is far more than just a single word.
"Commander Li," Jia Tong saw Li Jun standing in the crowd on a large ship, waved frantically at him, and smiled broadly. When he saw Jiang Tang next to Li Jun, he even gave him a thumbs up.
Jiang Tang gave him a thumbs up, indicating that he had done a good job. Li Jun smiled back at him, then pushed through the crowd, intending to return to the military camp. He needed to immediately arrange for men to guard the port. Although other forces in Yuzhou couldn't launch a large-scale attack from the sea, who knew if they might launch a small but deadly sneak attack? Even just damaging Kuanglan City's harbor facilities would be enough to paralyze the city.
"Li Jun!"
Since the establishment of the Peace Army, Li Jun's name has rarely been called to his face. His subordinates and outsiders alike call him Commander Li, Zhao Xian and Wang Erlei occasionally call him Boss, and only Mo Rong calls him Brother. Now that someone is calling his name loudly, he can't help but feel very strange.
The shout came from the dock behind him. Li Jun turned around and saw a man who looked like a general waving at him from one of the four large ships. When he turned around, the man shouted again, "Li Jun, kid!"
"It's you!" Li Jun was both surprised and happy. He had been thinking about this person not long ago, but he never expected that he would actually come.
The man hurriedly ran down from the ship's deck and disappeared into the crowd in a moment. Li Jun anxiously searched for him in the crowd, and after a while, he squeezed out of the crowd and ran to Li Jun.
"Commander..." Li Jun called softly, a shy smile appearing on his face. Yu Sheng and Jiang Tang had never seen this expression before, and they couldn't help but feel very curious about the person Li Jun called "Commander."
"Good lad, you've made something of yourself, still remember me!" The man patted Li Jun's shoulder heavily and laughed heartily, like an elder seeing their junior achieve great things. Li Jun also smiled foolishly, even he, like everyone else, felt a little embarrassed in front of his mentor.
The man smiled for a moment, then stopped and gave Li Jun a mercenary salute: "Xiao Lin, commander of the Raging Waves Mercenary Group, reporting for duty to Commander Li!"