Chapter 225: A Promising Future and a New General

"Whoa! Is this Jiangling City? It was nowhere near as magnificent or prosperous as it is now!"

Looking at Jiangling City with its towering walls, bustling traffic, and wide, smooth streets, Huang Gai could not help but exclaim in wonder.

He had also visited Jiangling City last year.

At that time, Jiangling City was far inferior to what it was now.

"Haha! That goes without saying!"

Hearing this, Zhao Yun could not help but smile with a mix of pride and reverence: "These are all the fruits of my Lord's labor over the past few months;"

"And this is just the beginning! If you look again in a few years, you will realize that the current Jiangling City is actually nothing special!"

"My Lord is a Lord who can create miracles."

The longer he spent in contact with Su Xuan, and the more he saw of what Su Xuan had accomplished and the changes he had brought to Nanjun,

the more firmly Zhao Yun believed that Su Xuan was the wise Lord who could change this decaying Great Han and end the suffering of the people.

At the same time, in this process, his own persistence regarding the Great Han had long since been diluted step by step.

Now, he only wanted to serve his Lord well and assist him in achieving his goals.

Thereby changing the entire world.

"I am actually starting to believe it now!"

Huang Gai also nodded with a look of deep emotion.

Indeed, to bring such great changes to Jiangling in just a few months.

It seems that the General who Guards the South is not only full of martial virtue and skilled in leading troops in battle;

he is also extremely adept at local governance.

This is truly a wise Lord!

For a moment, Huang Gai's heart became even more determined to defect to Su Xuan.

Soon, Zhao Yun brought Huang Gai to the Mansion of the General who Guards the South, and after being announced, they met Su Xuan.

"Huang Gai, courtesy name Gongfu, from Lingling, pays respects to the General who Guards the South!"

The moment he saw Su Xuan, although Huang Gai was shocked by Su Xuan's youth and heroic bearing, he still bowed to Su Xuan first.

"Haha! Gongfu has arrived! Please, rise quickly!"

Seeing this, Su Xuan hurriedly stood up and stepped forward to help Huang Gai up, then reached out to pat his shoulder and said: "Speaking of which, the Huang clan of Lingling, where you are from, is of the same lineage as the Huang clan of Mianyang, where my mother is from. You and I can be considered relatives!"

"I believe Zilong has already explained to you the purpose of summoning you here this time!"

"Therefore, I will ask you directly: are you willing to join my ranks and assist me?"

At a time like this, there was no need to beat around the bush; he would just make the offer directly.

Hearing this, although Huang Gai was somewhat happy about the kinship Su Xuan mentioned, he still bowed to Su Xuan again at the first opportunity: "Thanks to the Lord for not abandoning me, Huang Gai is willing to serve until death."

"Haha! Good!"

Seeing this, Su Xuan hurriedly helped Huang Gai up again and said happily: "To have Gongfu's assistance is a joy beyond words;"

"I hear you are proficient in naval warfare. Is this true?"

Hearing this, Huang Gai hurriedly bowed modestly: "I wouldn't call it proficient. I have read a few military treatises on naval warfare and understand some of the essentials of naval scheduling and training;"

"I have also led hundreds of naval troops in Lingling to suppress bandits, so I suppose I know a little!"

After all, he was not yet the great general of Eastern Wu he would become, and he lacked the opportunity to lead large-scale naval forces, so he naturally lacked experience in that regard.

But he was still much stronger than the average person.

At the very least, that was what the intelligence sent by the Secret Guards indicated.

"Gongfu is being modest!"

Su Xuan immediately patted his shoulder and said: "Our army is currently forming the Jiangling Navy, and the main general leading the troops is Wen Pin, courtesy name Zhongye, who is from Nanyang;"

"Although he understands some matters regarding naval training, he is not a professional after all, and lacks experience and knowledge in this area;"

"However, Cai Mao of the Xiangyang Cai clan, who later joined my ranks, has read some military treatises on naval forces and possesses a heritage in this area;"

"With his addition, the naval training has gradually gotten on the right track;"

"But he himself is too young, and his insight and methods are insufficient;"

"Therefore, I hope you, Gongfu, will serve as the deputy general of my Jiangling Navy, assisting Wen Pin in training and leading the Jiangling Navy. As for your position, you shall temporarily serve as a Military Sima. When you have established sufficient merit, that will be the time for your official appointment. How does that sound?"

Of course, there was currently another deputy general in the navy, Xu Ding.

But Xu Ding could not even swim, let alone train naval troops.

Su Xuan planned to transfer him to the Nanjun Commandant's Office to assist Huang Zhong in managing and commanding the commandery troops.

Xu Ding was steady and reliable, and although he was not outstanding in any particular area, he basically had no major weaknesses.

He was very suitable for commanding the commandery troops and helping to maintain the stability of Nanjun.

Although there were currently other armies suppressing Nanjun.

But in the future, when his territory expanded, it would be impossible for these troops to remain in Nanjun.

At that time, the Nanjun commandery troops would truly be able to play their role.

"Understood!"

What more could Huang Gai be dissatisfied with? This was a position of heavy responsibility!

He was overjoyed and bowed to Su Xuan in gratitude: "Thanks to the Lord for holding me in high esteem, Huang Gai will certainly not fail the Lord's heavy trust, and will surely exhaust all my learning and ability to assist General Wen Pin in training our Jiangling Navy well."

"Haha! Good!"

Hearing his statement, Su Xuan smiled happily: "Then it is settled! I look forward to your performance."

Afterwards, Su Xuan ordered the steward of the General's Mansion to take Huang Gai to get settled.

As was customary, he gifted Huang Gai a residence in Jiangling City and provided him with all the necessary living supplies.

This made Huang Gai feel a warmth in his heart.

A wise Lord indeed!

Even such details were considered and taken care of; how could he fail to live up to the Lord's trust and deep affection?

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed.

Whether it was the Beast-Taming Pavilion or the Jiangling Navy, both had gotten on the right track during this period.

During this time, Su Xuan had performed spiritual enlightenment on thousands of birds, golden eagles, mice, wild cats, and other beasts collected by the Secret Guards.

Making these little creatures become intelligent.

Then, after preliminary training and cultivation by the beast tamers, these tamed beasts were distributed to Secret Guard members in various locations.

Allowing them to learn beast-taming contracts and beast-taming strengthening techniques, and to select suitable beasts to contract and cultivate.

A new communication system was also rapidly being built under these circumstances.

At the same time, the Secret Guards also greatly improved their speed and ability to investigate information by utilizing the advantages of these tamed beasts.

For a time, the difficulty of obtaining intelligence for the Secret Guards was greatly reduced, and the amount of important information obtained increased significantly.

This made Jia Er and the others overjoyed.

On this day, Jiangling City was once again decorated with lanterns and streamers, plunged into an ocean of joy.

Because today was the day the General who Guards the South, Su Xuan, was taking his concubines.

"Tsk tsk! The General who Guards the South is amazing! Taking four concubines at once, this is unprecedented!"

"Isn't this to be expected? This is Lord Su Xuan, the General who Guards the South. With his appearance and ability, taking even more would be reasonable. If I were a woman, I would also be willing to become the General's woman!"

"Yuck... are you disgusting or what? Get lost!"

"Exactly! How many young maidens want to become the General's concubine but can't! What kind of thing are you?"

"Damn! No personal attacks! I was just making a comparison, do you understand?"

"....."

Countless people were discussing it.

Under these circumstances, Su Xuan successfully welcomed Zou Qian, Zhen Jiang, Bian Yu'er, and Cai Yuan into his home.

Several nights of revelry followed.

With the help of the Dragon-Phoenix Technique, Su Xuan's physical aptitude was once again significantly improved.

And the women themselves directly underwent a transformation, changing from having ordinary aptitude to becoming little geniuses in martial arts.

Then, under Su Xuan's inducement, they all began to join the ranks of those practicing martial arts.

Because Su Xuan's ability was too powerful, the inner-household unrest that had been imagined did not appear at all.

On the contrary, the women all got along very harmoniously.

Within just a few days, they were all calling each other sisters, acting like good best friends.

Seeing this, Su Xuan was also very happy in his heart.