Chapter 219: How Great It Would Be to Be Blind

The Great King drew the pie for thirty thousand people and then stopped caring; the Great King only waited to see the result—who let him be the Great King?

Zhang Tu still thought that after the tense grand martial competition he could really rest, but after the actual training he realized that getting a long line of people to lift their feet in unison and hold their spears at the same height was absolutely not a simple matter.

This was also not any easier than daily drills and practicing martial arts with NPCs.

The Great King, whenever he had free time at night, would go to Baiyang to watch troop-review videos, drooling over their army. That seven-minute video was almost worn out from his repeated viewing, and the Great King also picked up some tricks; that day, having free time in the daytime, he went to the camp to see how his troops were training.

As a result… better not mention it.

He discovered that everyone was just as before, completely lacking the concept of military bearing.

Also, Zhang Tu and Zhao Chuan both came from the frontier troops; most of the Great Jin's soldiers were conscripted from civilians during wartime—what military bearing could an army formed this way have? That's just nonsense!

Some people, when they first stepped onto the battlefield, were also picking up a sword for the first time. In Chang'an, his father's imperial Tiger Guard and the like might still have a bit of that, after all, one must save face and maintain imperial decorum.

The Great King saw hunchbacks with sunken chests still mixed in the ranks practicing kicks, and people of all sizes jumbled together……

Heavens! The Great King felt a bit desperate.

Before there was no comparison, he really didn't think his troops had any bearing issues, but now that he compared them, he felt their bearing was like that of a sham army.

At this point Zhao Chuan, oblivious to danger, came over and asked, "How is it, Your Highness? Are we neat enough?"

The Great King stood with hands on hips: "I really admire your confidence; if I were as blind as you, how great that would be!"

Zhao Chuan: ……

Zhang Tu: ……Fortunately I don't like to talk.

The two commanders had lost their fire, standing silently to one side like chickens.

The Great King casually snapped off a small twig from the edge of the drill ground and charged into the ranks: "You, you, you, and you—come out! The rest, line up by size, tall ones in front, short ones behind, same height side by side—got it?"

That formation of a hundred or two hundred instantly fell into chaos, and the dozen or so people he singled out trembled.

The Great King had them stand in a line and began poking each person one by one with a small stick.

"You, lift your chest and raise your head, open your chest—hunching like that makes you look shorter, is that attractive? Keep your chest up, don't move!"

"You, you're even stranger—why are your shoulders slanted? Stand straight for This King; it's not a disability, you are the regular troops of Youzhou, have some bearing, understand? Hold it!"

"What's wrong with your neck? Why is your head still tilted? Turn it back, good—keep it like that! A soldier's bearing must be strict, posture must be upright, regardless of height or build, bearing must be present."

Afterwards, the Great King wandered about with a small stick, and wherever he saw a height discrepancy in the ranks, he adjusted their positions.

Adjusting them one by one was a bit tedious, so the Great King thought, "When I have free time I'll measure their heights—they have no idea how tall they are! After measuring, we'll line them up by height: this unit 1.8 meters, the next 1.7 meters, and so on, using the company as the unit."

Zhao Chuan thought these methods were too many, but he didn't dare say so.

The Great King left instructions before departing: "I'm not taking all thirty thousand out for a review—just… eight thousand will do. From the thirty thousand, pick the last eight thousand to participate in the review ceremony; that's not hard, right? The participating units, if they perform well, I'll reward them later—you need to motivate their enthusiasm, this is such an honorable, face‑boosting task, you clueless lot! The troops sent out represent This King's face, and later the Marquis of Dongdu will be invited to join; if you perform as messily as today, the two commanders might end up digging in Liaodong next year."

Zhao Chuan: ……

Zhang Tu: ……

"I will strive!"

"I will keep Your Highness's instructions in mind."

Perhaps because the Great King's Chidao was too well built, or perhaps because Prince Yu worked too hard, before the new year arrived the Great King happily discovered that his main task three—fifty thousand person‑times of fame spreading—was completed!

"How come I can't see any progress? I hope the south puts in a bit more effort—I don't even know how much of the one million person‑times is left, or how far along it is……"

The Great King opened the task panel and looked at the rewards he could already claim—how wonderful!

"As expected, fame doesn't distinguish between good and bad—looks like the bad fame is spreading faster!"

Bai Ze, whom he had dragged along for good luck, heard this and said: "In Youzhou, good deeds bring good names, and someone will help you cover them up. If you do something bad, there will definitely be more than one group eager to help you publicize it."

The Great King thought about it and realized it was indeed the case, just like that clam, and he felt heart‑broken.

But he quickly came around: "There's still one million person‑times left; I might still get a chance to do this! Relying solely on the Zhuti merchant caravan for publicity just won't cut it—among a crowd of literati you can't stir up much of a splash." The Great King had tasted the sweet‑and‑bitter rewards.

The world is truly in chaos; self‑preservation comes first. Does the Great King still care about offending those literati? With troops in his hand, his words carry weight—his mind is as clear as a mirror. Besides, isn't Xie Yuan still in his grasp? He hasn't offended everyone, after all.

Bai Ze: ……

Is this just learning to be bad in one go?

The Great King took the opportunity to rub Bai Ze's horn all over, then claimed the reward. Fifty thousand equals two level‑A turn‑tables; one hundred thousand is even better—doubled.

The two turn‑tables spun up quickly, and the main panel popped out two gift boxes.

One was sky‑blue with a ribbon bow, the other green, reminding the Great King of the original vegetable‑garden base.

That'll do; no gold‑tone series, looks like there's no ore this time.

The Great King first opened the sky‑blue box;

【Congratulations! Lord has won the top‑grade prize of the level‑A turn‑table: one set of six battleships (improved version), already placed in the warehouse—please check.】

Good news, congratulations again! Definitely good stuff!

But the ignorant Great King's soul asked, "What is a battleship? What is a formation? Is it one or six?"

Bai Ze: ……