Chapter 217

Great King looked at conscription for two days, found progress slow and surprisingly difficult; this was due to the population issue, and aside from sighing twice, Great King had no quick solution.

He had no choice but to turn back and fuss over the other 30,000 regular troops.

Great King first took all the delivered 10,000 small round shields and the large shields used for 500-rank formations, had them circle outside to be cleaned, and mightily hauled them off to East Grand Camp.

Besides the special existence Owl Riders, these 30,000 each were issued a set of armor and weapons.

The small round shield equipment was first given to the cavalry, who excelled at close combat with sabers.

Great King bustlingly distributed equipment, taking advantage of the lively atmosphere at East Grand Camp, Great King seized the opportunity to make promises.

As long as I have the ability, I will give everyone the best protection, using the best armor and weapons to raise survival chances, so that in the future on the battlefield everyone will have no worries behind them.

Great King endeavors to let everyone realize that serving as a professional soldier here, besides the honor of defending home and country, the treatment is actually not bad, not just scraping by.

The New Year is approaching, don't stay idle; Great King decided to hold a grand military competition to test this year's training results.

Although these 30,000 people are not as fierce as the Owl Cavalry Drill, they still farm in peacetime, but to improve their battlefield survival rate, the King also arranged for body-refining techniques and academy NPC instructors to specially teach them military knowledge and the most convenient killing techniques on the battlefield.

Every soldier here is precious to him; reducing personnel losses in war as much as possible is the King's ultimate goal, for which he spares no expense in spending huge sums of money to equip them.

The King's logistics are in place, but they also need to strive on their own.

The King felt it was time to put the tight-fillet spell on them.

Besides the Flying Eagle Guard recruited later, the others have been formally practicing body-refining techniques for about a year, right? This grand martial competition will let this king see your progress! I will give you the sturdiest armor, the sharpest weapons, and you must also train your martial arts well enough to be strong enough to survive to the end on the battlefield. Natural disasters are frequent; outside it's actually chaotic, everyone's days are hard, and we don't know when the iron hooves of the steppe will come south; we must always be prepared. Practicing martial arts is not for this king, but for you to be able to survive; you all understand this principle, right? Our Youzhou city's days have just begun to improve; we have city walls, we have high-yield grain, we have reclaimed much land; after two more years of planting we can obtain land deeds; even our impoverished wards have done housing renovations, allowing one to live in leak-proof, windproof houses without spending money; most importantly, you have your families behind you. All of this requires strength to protect; do you all have the determination to guard it well?

Yes~~!!!

Zhang Tu and Zhao Chuan took the lead, their voices echoing throughout the East Great Camp.

At least 20,000 here are natives of Youzhou, and their reaction was even stronger.

The King nodded, saying, "In five days, let me see everyone's strength. We will hold a grand army martial competition; those who rank in the top 3,000 will automatically enter the upper camp named the Flying Eagle Guard. Their mounts will be changed to Black Wind Horses, and their stipends will be doubled!"

The East Great Camp burst into cheers; the King withdrew, feeling pleased. "Chicken blood~," very effective.

After he left, Zhao Chuan was still clicking his tongue on the side, saying, "He's only that big, where does he get all this pep? Look at how much he does ideological work!" His agitational prowess is unmatched.

Zhang Tu also found this person's unrestrained speech after becoming familiar headache-inducing, saying, "Which sentence isn't true? It's just… this eloquence shouldn't be wasted on recruitment."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Chuan asked, "How many more are we short?"

Nine thousand.

Goodness, we've only managed to muster a thousand people!

You… just copy the Prince's speech verbatim.

Zhang Tu: ……

That evening, the King and Zhu Ti confirmed the progress of Liaodong Commandery-related matters; 5,000 people have already been gathered, though not all have been transported yet.

"Continue buying; in Liaodong we need to gather a total of 10,000. Build a military camp by the sea, using the construction funds from this project. Thereafter, these 10,000 will do nothing but train, harvest salt, and reclaim land. In this grand martial competition, this king will promote a few more generals, who will then be sent to Liaodong in two groups."

Speaking of this, the King felt pleased; he had plenty of candidates for the officer reserves.

There is a group that, in their spare time, listens to Lecturer Xu's lectures; there are also some young auditors at the Academy. If, at the time, their martial arts also stand out in the grand martial competition, the King does not mind promoting a batch exceptionally; he does not lack the stipends for officers, which are small change, whereas what he lacks are large sums of silver.

So after the meeting ended, the King hurried off to set up a stall at the homestead.

The ritual implements aren't ready yet, but fortunately the items he bulk-purchased in Chang'an haven't sold out yet.

Bai Yang was about to go home to sleep, noticing that this child, who should have been asleep already, was still staying up. "Why aren't you sleeping yet? Be careful, or you won't grow tall."

The King: "Hmph! We have no dwarfs in our family! Today there were so many people; I accidentally ended up selling until now. I have money, so I must earn~"

The two met and exchanged updates; Bai Yang said the sea cucumber brand had secured a factory site and would start hiring soon; the King said he was going to hold a grand army martial competition, the only downside being that he wanted to conscript 10,000, but progress was slow.

"Isn't it because your recruitment method is wrong? Elsewhere they just grab people randomly, but you're already a professional army—giving them pay and food yet still can't recruit? You've poured so much money into the military, your equipment is so good, so flashy—why don't you take it out to advertise?"

The King looked bewildered: "Would that work? How to advertise?"

Bai Yang educated him: "One person joins the army, the whole family gains honor. You must change the widespread belief in Great Jin that hearing of conscription makes people pale. Let the populace know the sacred duty of soldiers; in those times, everyone shrinks at home, which isn't safe either, and they might end up losing even more. Only by accepting training early can there be hope of victory and survival. Some things can be done to the ignorant masses, but this cannot, Your Majesty!"

His older brother Bai gave a heartfelt lecture; the King also watched the parade video Bai Yang had downloaded for him afterward, gaining a bit more insight—who could sleep after that!

It doesn't matter if the clothes or weapons differ; having the same bearing is enough.

The King successfully followed along with the marching parade from a thousand years later in the memory video, and his enthusiasm ignited.

Night had deepened; the King's eyes were still bright like an owl's. Seeing his state, Bai Yang could only advise him: "Go back and drink a bowl of milk every day; I really fear that overthinking will stunt your growth."

The King refused: "Recently the ranch has been producing milk, but it's not tasty. The ranch sent some over, but I don't like drinking it, and taking it to the city to sell isn't easy either." People of Great Jin have no habit of drinking milk; households without children basically never buy it, and milk is a backlog good for the ranch.

Upon hearing that, Bai Yang exclaimed, "How can milk not be considered a nutrient in Great Jin? What a waste!"

Besides, what about the little brats who don't like dairy products?!

"Drinking plain milk doesn't taste good; turn it into almond milk, add sugar, make it into pastries! Milk skin, milk fruit, milk egg custard—how could you not eat it? Your grassland neighbors grow tall and strong precisely because of their childhood dietary habits; consuming more dairy supplements high protein, understand? Your ranch isn't producing a lot, is it? You could supply the military, and only with a healthy body will the survival rate be great." Bai Yang also knew the ranch's details; the King had genuinely bought quite a few dairy cows from him, and for this he had even made a trip to Europe.

As the King left, he was still holding a baking book.

Only after making it out with trepidation did he breathe a sigh of relief; this book seems to have little technical content, Mengmeng didn't charge a fee!

The King lay in bed trying to shake off the exciting parade imagery, but it was hard.

He sat up, took out the baking book and began to look; the high-definition dessert pictures were one more tempting than the next!

Good news, he no longer wanted to watch the parade.

Bad news, the King was craving.

By the time he finally fell asleep, who knows when, delicate little pastries floated in his dream.

In the King's dream, moving his mouth made even Winnie want to get up and look; he suspected he was sneaking off to eat tasty things with the bear, but there was no evidence, making him anxiously scratch his head.

Bai Ze: ……

He took a deep breath, wanting to beat every single one.

The next day, the King rushed to the ranch, checked the milk output, and found it very promising.

The Great King ordered the garrison at the ranch to gather all the milk each day, sending part to the military camp and part to the royal residence.

In the afternoon, after Grand Tutor Xu finished his own business, he walked through the long outer corridor of Prince You's Mansion, intending to go to West Hua Gate to lecture the generals on war history. Just before reaching the end, he noticed that in the shady spot where sunlight couldn't reach, some ropes had been set up, drying sheets of white material—saying it was paper, it felt a bit too coarse; up close, a milky smell hit his nose—what is this stuff?

He hadn't been puzzled for long when he spotted a familiar red figure among the dense ropes…

"Your Highness? Shouldn't you be at the academy right now?"

The Great King belched out a milky burp, unable to eat another bite, unable to eat another bite!

Hearing the Grand Tutor's words, he felt too embarrassed to say he temporarily didn't want to see Xie Yuan.

He broke off a large piece of freshly dried milk skin and, without a word, shoved it into the Grand Tutor's hands: "Grand Tutor, try it quick—it's got almonds and white sugar, so fragrant!"

Not mentioning school, We can always respect teachers and value the Dao.