Chapter 241

Xiangyang Naval Force: 20, 00 (naval), Commander: Wen Pin, Deputy Commanders: Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin

Jiangxia Naval Force: 10, 00 (naval), Commander: Huang Gai, Deputy Commander: Huang Zu

Brave Cavalry Battalion: 10, 00 (6, 00 cavalry, 4, 00 infantry), Commander: Zhang He, Deputy Commander: Su Yi

Personal Guard Battalion: 2, 00 (cavalry), Commander: Xu Chu, Deputy Commander: Wei Yan

Green Dragon Battalion: 15, 00 (6, 00 cavalry, 9, 00 infantry), Commander: Zhao Yun, Deputy Commander: Xia Xia Houlan

Trap Battalion: 5, 00 (heavy armored sword and shield infantry), Commander: Gao Shun

Nan Commandery Garrison: 10, 00, Commandery Commandant: Xu Ding

Garrison of the remaining 5 commanderies: 3, 00 men each.

In addition, the Qilin Battalion located at Mount Mount Tongbai was also split into two.

One army remained the Qilin Army, with 20, 00 men, a mixed infantry and cavalry force, Commander: Taishi Ci, Deputy Commander: Sun Xia

The other army was the Vermilion Bird Army, also with 20, 00 men, a mixed infantry and cavalry force, Commander: Zhang Liao, Deputy Commander: Han Zhong

The total force reached 177, 00 men.

It expanded several times over directly.

For a time, this increased Su Xuan's logistical pressure significantly.

Fortunately, he was well-prepared and soon recovered.

After the expansion of the various armies, Su Xuan did not transfer them all to Nan Commandery.

Instead, he stationed them in various commanderies of Jingzhou, letting them train while clearing out mountain bandits, barbarian disturbances, and the chaos caused by clan bandit forces in each commandery.

At the same time, he cooperated with the local governments of each commandery to begin a purge of the major gentry and powerful clans within Jingzhou based on the evidence and intelligence provided by the Secret Guards.

But it was not a total extermination; it was selective, purging those gentry who had committed heinous crimes, were evil to the core, and were secretly trying to scheme against Su Xuan.

Thus, in just two months, the atmosphere and public order of the entire Jingzhou were cleared.

The administration of officials became incomparably clear.

The development of each commandery in Jingzhou also entered the fast lane and began to develop rapidly.

At the same time, the interior of Jingzhou was also quickly governed by Su Xuan into an iron-clad whole.

Su Xuan even took advantage of the friendly relations from past trade with the barbarians to consult with some barbarian tribal leaders, successfully winning them over.

These barbarian tribes also surrendered one after another, and under Su Xuan's arrangement, they began to walk out of the mountains and start a new life of farming in newly built villages.

Furthermore, Su Xuan recruited young and strong men from the barbarians to form a mountain unit composed entirely of barbarians, named the Mountain Battalion, with 5, 00 men, commanded by the newly surrendered Five Streams Barbarian fierce general Shamoke, with Wei Yan as deputy commander.

Originally, he had transferred Wei Yan to the Personal Guard Battalion to serve as deputy commander, intending to have him stay with him for a year or so before sending him out to the lower-level armies.

But now that there were not enough people, Su Xuan could only send Wei Yan to the Mountain Battalion.

He believed that with Wei Yan's ability and temper, he should be able to get along well with barbarian soldiers like Shamoke.

Of course, he dared to let Wei Yan go out because he had discovered that Wei Yan was full of reverence and loyalty toward him.

Perhaps it was because he had received Su Xuan's support since he was a child, or perhaps it was his own personality!

In short, Su Xuan did not see any signs of a rebellious nature in Wei Yan.

He felt that either this was just an excuse Zhuge Liang made up in the previous life because he was worried about Wei Yan becoming too powerful,

or the Wei Yan in the history of the previous life had simply gone astray.

In any case, it had nothing to do with this Wei Yan.

This day,

Jia Wu walked in hurriedly and reported to Su Xuan: "My Lord! The head of the Guiyang Zhao clan, Zhao Gan, requests to see you and wants to offer you a generous gift, hoping to defect to you and seek an official position under your command."

"Oh? Guiyang's Zhao Gan?"

Su Xuan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, looked at Jia Wu playfully, and asked: "Tell the truth, kid! What exactly is this guy preparing to offer me? To make you take it so seriously?"

"I don't believe there is no inside story here; otherwise, you would absolutely not have brought him to see me, right?"

Su Xuan was not stupid; how could he not see the trickery inside?

"Hehe! I knew I couldn't hide it from you, My Lord!"

Jia Wu smiled sheepishly and hurriedly bowed: "Reporting to My Lord! That Zhao Gan is offering a beautiful woman!"

"A beautiful woman?"

Su Xuan frowned slightly: "What kind of beautiful woman have I not seen?"

Jia Wu continued: "This woman's appearance is no less than Lady Zou's, and she is named Fan Xiu. The Secret Guards speculate that this woman is very likely the Fan clan of Guiyang on the beauty list you compiled."

"The Fan clan?"

Su Xuan was surprised; it was actually her.

He then remembered that the person offering the beauty was named Zhao Gan.

He immediately asked Jia Wu: "You said the person requesting to see me is named Zhao Gan? Does he have a younger brother named Zhao Fan?"

"How did you know, My Lord?"

Jia Wu was stunned and nodded: "That's right! This Zhao Gan does indeed have a younger brother named Zhao Fan."

"Then that's it!"

Su Xuan nodded happily.

Since Zhao Gan's brother was named Zhao Fan and was also from Guiyang, and the Fan clan was also from Guiyang, everything matched up.

Su Xuan waved his hand immediately: "Bring them in!"

"Yes!"

Jia Wu was delighted; it seemed he was right. He agreed immediately and walked away quickly.

Before long, Jia Wu brought in a middle-aged man and a young girl.

From afar, Su Xuan could see clearly that the girl's face and figure were indeed stunning, no less than Zou Zou Qian's, both in figure and appearance.

Only, her temperament was different from Zou Zou Qian's; this Fan clan woman leaned more toward the pitiful and lovable type.

"Commoner Zhao Gan (Fan Xiu) pays respects to the Governor!"

As soon as the two entered and saw Su Xuan, they hurriedly bowed deeply to him.

"No need for formalities!"

Su Xuan waved his hand and looked at Fan Xiu carefully for a moment.

Fan Xiu noticed Su Xuan's gaze and couldn't help but sneak a few glances at him.

At this look, she was stunned, then hurriedly blushed and withdrew her gaze.

Her heart pounding, she thought: "Is this the Governor? I didn't expect him to be so young and heroic! If I were to marry him as a concubine, it would seem quite nice!"

"It's completely not as bad as I thought before."

"In fact, it can be said to be my good fortune!"

"No wonder Lord Zhao Gan said that before!"

"I thought he was exaggerating and deliberately comforting me!"

"Now it seems I misunderstood him!"

She just wanted to say that Zhao Gan was truly a good person.

"However, can the Governor really take a fancy to me?"

Then, Fan Xiu thought worriedly in her heart.

Because her background was actually not high; her family was just a small, powerful clan in Guiyang.

Although they had not been purged this time, their own strength was limited.

Originally, she had been eyed by Zhao Gan, who intended to take her as his wife as a successor.

But because of Su Xuan's purge of evil in Jingzhou over the past two months, the Guiyang Zhao clan was very terrified, so they inquired about Su Xuan's hobbies and changed their minds.

They first persuaded Fan Xiu's parents and family, then reported it to Zhao Yun, who was stationed in Guiyang, and contacted the Secret Guards, which was how they brought her here.

At this moment, Zhao Gan thought in his heart: "I wonder if the Governor will be satisfied with this Fan Xiu?"

"If he is satisfied, is it possible for my Zhao clan to take the position of Guiyang Administrator?"

"If we can, then our Zhao clan will not only be able to easily recover from the previous purge, but perhaps even go a step further!"

Su Xuan used mind-reading to understand the thoughts of both of them clearly.

A smile appeared on his face as he looked at Zhao Gan first: "Zhao Gan, what do you seek? Tell me! As long as it is not excessive, I can satisfy you!"

Zhao Gan was delighted and immediately bowed to Su Xuan: "Reporting to the Governor, this commoner seeks the position of Guiyang Administrator. I wonder if you can agree?"

"Not enough!"

Su Xuan shook his head and denied it directly.

This made Zhao Gan's heart sink; sure enough, a beautiful woman alone was not enough.