Chapter 456: Jin Yang Established as a City: Allied Army Planning and Military Expansion Reforms

The tenth year of Does Does Da Xia, the tenth day of the eighth month.

Just as the Xia Martial Arts Tournament was in full swing.

At the westernmost edge of Jin Shan Town, within the jurisdiction of Yinhe Valley—or more precisely, at the extreme north of the Yinhe Valley jurisdiction, in Jin Yang Village, which is closest to the Bone-Eroding Path—a world-shaking, major transformation was underway.

Ding-ding... Clang-clang...

It was night, and the entire Jin Yang Village was ablaze with firelight.

A rough scan revealed at least a hundred giant coal furnaces scattered throughout the village, all operating at full capacity. For the few furnaces not yet fitted with smelting pots, the flames shot more than ten meters into the air, a testament to the intensity of the heat.

Around these giant furnaces, iron ore was piled high like mountains. Thousands of brawny men, stripped to the waist, moved among them—some forging, some smelting, some molding... They were busy and in high spirits. The entire village was filled with the sounds of pile-driving and iron-forging.

"The molten iron in Furnace No. 7 is ready! Quickly, bring the pile molds!"

"The iron plates for the barracks are ready! Someone come and carry them away, hurry!"

"For the northern city wall, we only need twenty more iron piles. Don't slack off, brothers, put in a little more effort; we can finish in five days at most."

About five kilometers north of Jin Yang Village, a giant city wall, constructed from twenty-meter-high iron piles and spanning fifteen kilometers from east to west, had basically taken shape. Only the two-hundred-meter section in the middle remained to be completely closed.

Thousands of craftsmen were scattered along the wall—some hauling giant stones to fill gaps, some pouring molten iron to shape structures, some operating machinery to reinforce sections, some wielding giant hammers to drive piles, and others pulling iron cables to set them upright. Under their concerted and highly skilled efforts, the city wall grew increasingly complete, already possessing a majestic and imposing appearance.

Not far from the southern side of the city wall, an old man accompanied by six middle-aged men and more than a dozen young men and women stood looking up at the towering wall before them, their eyes filled with shock and unfamiliarity.

"How long has it been? Not even two months, and the city wall is almost finished?"

"You don't see how many people are involved: 23 village-level camps from the entire Yinhe Valley, 72 large and medium-sized camps, over 40,000 laborers at the Earth-Digging Realm, plus more than 2,000 Cold-Resistant Realm craftsmen transferred from the Jiuzhen, and 15,000 allied soldiers assisting. Add to that the over 100,000 people from the Jiuzhen specifically responsible for transporting iron ore—the total manpower and resources mobilized are at least over 200,000. With so many people divided into two shifts, working day and night without stopping, building it in two months is really not an exaggeration!"

"Since the beginning of the sixth month, the number of Cold-Resistant Realm experts arriving in Jin Yang Village has totaled at least over 30,000. I've lived my whole life and never seen so many!"

"To build such a majestic city in such a short time—in the southern foothills, only the Jiuzhen united could achieve this."

"Has Jin Yang really been established as a city? I feel like I'm dreaming."

"It's true, it's true! Our Han family is really going to prosper, haha!"

The leading old man, dressed in yellow Xia-style clothing, was none other than Han Peng, the original leader of Jin Yang Village. Hearing the explanations from his eldest son, Han Qi, and his second son, Han Fu, he could no longer suppress the wild joy in his eyes and interrupted them with a loud laugh.

There was a clear difference in the family's attire: Han Qi and Han Fu were both wearing cyan cotton-padded jackets, clearly in the style of Jin Shan Town; while Han Peng and the others were wearing Xia-style clothing made of better fabric and craftsmanship.

The reason was simple: Han Qi and Han Fu had spent the previous two months in Jin Yang Village, while the family head, Han Peng, and the other second and third-generation descendants had just returned from Xia City.

The clothes they were wearing had clearly been bought in Xia City.

"Father, what do you mean when you say we are going to prosper?"

The six middle-aged men present were all second-generation descendants of the Han clan. Four were Han Peng's sons, and the other two were his nephews. Arranged from oldest to youngest, they were Han Qi, Han Fu, Han Chao, Han Yue, Han Gan, and Han Jiu.

Hearing Han Peng say the Han clan was going to prosper, Han Qi and Han Fu, who had remained in Jin Yang for two months, clearly understood immediately, their expressions brightening slightly.

However, Han Chao and the other Han clan descendants who had just returned from Xia City with Han Peng were a bit confused; the third son, Han Chao, couldn't help but ask.

A young man from the third generation of the Han clan, dressed in black Xia-style clothing with a handsome and refined face, immediately stepped forward. A strong sense of confidence shone between his brows as he smiled at Han Chao: "Father, Jin Yang is established as a city and managed by the Allied Army. From now on, it will be the public territory of the Jiuzhen. People from all the camps in Yinhe Valley will certainly move here one after another in the future."

"Our Jin Yang Village has 60,000 to 70,000 people, counting as the first batch of residents of this city. Moreover, the Han clan has long been people of Does Does Da Xia. When the Allied Army governs this place, they will surely rely on our Han clan. Perhaps in the future governance of Jin Yang City, our Han clan will be able to get a share. That is what Grandfather means by prospering, right?"

The young man in black was none other than the most outstanding third-generation descendant of the Han clan, the second disciple of Lu Yang, the Righteousness-Guard Envoy of Dongling: Han Li.

"Third son, at your age, you still don't see as clearly as Li'er..."

Hearing his grandson's words, Han Peng's face was full of admiration. He couldn't help but scold the third son, Han Chao, first, before nodding and continuing: "On the sixth day of the eighth month, just before leaving Xia City, Commander Liu summoned me alone. He personally guaranteed that the establishment of Jin Yang as a city would not touch anything in our village. No matter how the city changes in the future, our Han clan, including the existing land, houses, and other private property of everyone else in the village, will always be our own!"

"Commander Liu? Father, could it be the Commander of the Does Does Da Xia Cloud-Dragon Army, Liu Yuan, who is now one of the six great commanders of the Allied Army?"

The eldest son, Han Qi, who had remained in Jin Yang for two months, hurriedly asked his father for confirmation upon hearing the title "Commander Liu." Seeing his father nod, his expression shifted slightly.

The second son, Han Fu, who had also remained in Jin Yang, couldn't help but say excitedly upon learning it was indeed Liu Yuan: "Commander Liu is the commander-in-chief of Jin Yang's city construction this time. Since he guaranteed it to Father, it must be true..."

He paused, turned to look at the village behind him, and continued: "After Jin Yang expands, the total area will be 150 square kilometers. Our village occupies about 15 square kilometers, which means one-tenth of the entire city's area will belong to our 60,000-plus villagers from now on!"

The simple words "going to prosper" clearly didn't have the same impact as specific data. Once Han Fu described it as 15 square kilometers, one-tenth of the entire city, everyone in the Han clan reacted instantly, their faces filled with excitement.

"The entire Yinhe Valley has at least over 400,000 people, which is basically equivalent to the final total population of Jin Yang City. In such a giant city, our Han clan occupies one-tenth of the land. No matter what business we do, we can easily make a fortune. Too good, too good, haha..."

Han Peng's emotions were stirred as he spoke.

He was already 83 years old this year, with a strength of only 18 bristles. There was certainly no hope of reaching the Manifestation Realm. If he was lucky, he had at most ten years left to live.

For someone like him, with half a foot in the grave, being able to leave such a huge fortune to his descendants was definitely something he could wake up laughing from even in his dreams.

Of course, whether the family could survive and endure in the Frozen Abyss, wealth was only a means; the most critical thing was whether there were successors.

Thinking of this, he turned his head to look at his grandson, Han Li, his expression even more invigorated.

His grandson, Han Li, was not yet 25 this year, and his strength had already reached 17 bristles—far exceeding the second-generation descendants, whose average strength was only a little over 10 bristles, and almost catching up to him, his grandfather. Moreover, in this year's Jiuzhen Martial Arts Tournament, he had achieved a good result of 79th place in the youth group, rising 20 places from last year.

Such a virtuous grandson was already beyond the scope of having successors; even "the student surpassing the master" was not enough to describe him. Han Li's future potential was far higher than his own or that of the Han clan's second-generation descendants.

Precisely because of this, Han Peng had already foreseen that once his grandson Han Li successfully grew up and took over the position of family head, the Han clan would inevitably make its voice heard in the southern foothills and rank among the famous families of Does Does Da Xia.

"Grandfather, we still have things to do; we cannot delay too long."

Han Peng's reverie was interrupted by his grandson Han Li. He instantly came to his senses and nodded to everyone: "Alright, since we are all back, go and help in the village. I still need to take Li'er to the military camp to visit Commander Liu. Qi'er, lead the way; everyone else, disperse!"

They had just returned from Xia City. As soon as they returned, Han Qi informed them that Liu Yuan wanted to summon them. They had indeed spent too much time at the North City Wall.

The scale of Jin Yang's city expansion this time was too large, almost changing the entire terrain around the village. The grandfather and grandson couldn't even recognize the roads, let alone know where the military camp was located, so they could only let Han Qi lead them to find it.

Han Qi, who had remained in Jin Yang, was naturally familiar with the path. He led the two along the north side of the village, introducing it to his father as they walked:

"The Allied Army only arrived one after another at the end of the sixth month, totaling 15,000 people. Thanks to them helping out for a month in the seventh month, the efficiency of the city construction improved significantly. However, they were transferred away ten days ago and are now stationed in a temporary military camp next to the Bone-Eroding Path..."

Actually, there was no need for Han Qi to introduce it. Han Peng and his grandson Han Li had long known a lot about the Allied Army in Xia City. However, since Han Qi had actually been in contact with the Allied Army, the two didn't interrupt, thinking it wouldn't hurt to listen.

After the Chui Mountain Alliance, the Jiuzhen jointly contributed people to form an allied army with a total scale of 30,000, referred to as the Jiuzhen Allied Army.

The Allied Army was divided into six battalions, each with 5,000 people. Each battalion had one commander and two deputy commanders responsible for daily troop management and vigilance. The main objects of vigilance were naturally the two major feudal towns and all other people from outside the region.

The first to third battalions were stationed in Yinhe Valley, Jin Shan Town—that is, here.

The fourth to sixth battalions were stationed in the Dongchuan jurisdiction of Beishuo Town.

"Commander of the First Battalion of the Allied Army is Liu Yuan; deputy commanders are Hou Quan and Director Yu Wen Yong. Commander of the Second Battalion is Huang Lin of Beishuo; deputy commanders are Shangguan Yan of Jin Shan and Cao Tiansheng of Yangqu. Commander of the Third Battalion is Shangguan Ning of Jin Shan; deputy commanders are Ye Yiping of Wu Chuan and Long Wenyan of Longgu."

Hearing his eldest brother state the names of the commanders and deputy commanders of the three battalions, Han Li raised his eyebrows slightly, his face showing curiosity: "The commander and deputy commanders of the First Battalion are all from Does Does Da Xia, while the second and third battalions are mixed from various towns?"

Stating the native places of all the commanders and deputy commanders of the second and third battalions, Han Qi was clearly intentional. Seeing that his father, Han Peng, was also full of curiosity, he smiled and said: "To put it bluntly, it's because Does Does Da Xia's strength is strong enough..."

Before the nine towns sent their men to form the fixed allied army, Does Does Da Xia had established clear regulations: regardless of whether the troops provided by each town were regular soldiers, they were required to have at least the Frigid-level cultivation.

The nine towns were to provide a total of 30,000 men; if divided equally, this meant each town had to provide at least over 3,000 Frigid-level soldiers.

It is no exaggeration to say that for even the stronger Northern Three Towns, producing over 3,000 Frigid-level soldiers is not easy, let alone the Jiangxia and Muyin towns, whose vitality has yet to recover, and Chuishan, which just experienced a mutiny. These three towns currently have at most around 4,000 Frigid-level soldiers; if they were to pull 80% to 90% of them out to form the allied army, those three towns would have no room for development.

Therefore, dividing the number of men equally is simply unrealistic.

"Of the 30,000 allied soldiers, Does Does Da Xia provided 10,000 directly, the Northern Three Towns jointly bear 10,000, and the remaining 10,000 are shared among the five towns."

Han Qi's tone carried a deep sense of shock, but after finishing, he noticed that neither his father, Han Peng, nor his nephew, Han Li, showed any sign of surprise on their faces.

He lowered his head to ponder for a moment, and soon understood the reason, unable to help asking curiously: "Dad, you stayed in Xia City for so long; have you estimated how many Frigid-level cultivators Does Does Da Xia actually has?"

Hearing this question, Han Peng immediately fell into silence, then revealed a bitter smile: "Let's put it this way! The daytime in Xia City is just as lively as our Jin Yang Village at night."

"This..."

Han Peng's simple description made Han Qi's pupils shrink; after reacting slightly in his mind, his expression instantly went blank.

"Our Does Does Da Xia provided 10,000 men, so they directly divided their own people into two battalions, all commanded by their own people?"

Hearing Han Peng's question, Han Qi immediately came back to his senses and shook his head: "It's not like that. I was responsible for leading the team to deliver meals to the military camp in July. When I chatted with the soldiers, I learned that the six battalions of the allied army have a fixed number of people from each town, almost evenly distributed according to the nine towns."

All reorganized after being broken up, and evenly distributed according to the nine towns?

Han Peng fell into thought upon hearing this, seemingly sensing something faintly.

Han Li's reaction was actually a few shades faster than his. His eyes brightened slightly, and seeing his grandfather still thinking, he said softly: "The even distribution among the nine towns is correct, but Does Does Da Xia has 10,000 soldiers, the largest base. Even if dispersed into six battalions, each battalion still has over 1,600 people. In other words, Does Does Da Xia soldiers are the absolute majority in all six battalions."

"The three towns of Jiangxia, Muyin, and Chuishan now only follow Does Does Da Xia's lead. If you count the 1,000 people from those three towns dispersed into each battalion, it comes out to 5,000 people per battalion, and Does Does Da Xia actually accounts for more than half. This means..."

"Regardless of who the commanders and deputy commanders of the six allied battalions are, in reality, Does Does Da Xia is the one calling the shots!"

How could Han Peng not have realized it by now? Taking over his grandson's words, his expression shook violently. His understanding of the allied army instantly became clear, and he shook his head repeatedly: "It's not strange, not strange at all. Not to mention the three towns of Jiangxia, Muyin, and Chuishan, whether it's the Northern Three Towns or the Yangqu and Longgu towns, the reason the five families agreed to the alliance was that they all harbored the intention of relying on Does Does Da Xia to resist the two major vassal towns. Even if they saw through Does Does Da Xia's intention of splitting the troops, they would not, and would not dare to, refuse."

The problem is, with the allied army formed this way, once time passes, it will be hard to say who these soldiers will ultimately listen to.

Han Li immediately saw his grandfather's thoughts and shook his head: "The towns have many ways to restrain these soldiers—military supplies, salaries, cultivation resources, or even controlling their families as a last resort. If Does Does Da Xia really wanted to turn these soldiers against them, I'm afraid it wouldn't be that simple..."

After pondering for a moment, he continued: "Rather than saying Does Does Da Xia wants to turn the soldiers of the five towns, I feel that the greater intention is to improve the combat effectiveness of the allied army. Having one family in charge is conducive to uniting the military heart and getting the soldiers to pull in the same direction. Besides, Does Does Da Xia is the leader of the alliance; it is only natural for the allied army to be led by our Does Does Da Xia."

Hearing these insightful words from his grandson, Han Peng nodded repeatedly, his face full of admiration, while a slight sense of twilight rose in his heart.

Although he is old, in terms of insight, he really is not as good as his grandson, who can freely enter and exit Xia City.

"Dad, we're here; the military camp is right ahead!"

Although the three had been talking, their footsteps had not stopped. Following Han Qi's prompt, the grandfather and grandson looked up, their expressions turning slightly solemn.

Several hundred meters to the north, on the south side of the Bone-Eroding Path entrance, fifteen pitch-black military tents, each a hundred meters in diameter, stood quietly in the snow in a circular formation.

A wooden fence was built around the perimeter of the camp, and many soldiers on duty were constantly patrolling around the tents. The camp had only one entrance and exit, located on the south side, right in front of them.