Chapter 313

This appointment was already very high.

After all, he had previously been a commoner.

No! Even worse than a commoner; he had been a bandit.

And he had been rescued by men sent by Su Xuan.

He had long heard that Su Xuan recruited talent without regard for background, not judging heroes by their origins, but only valuing talent and character.

Today, Xu Huang had finally witnessed it.

"Haha! Good!"

Su Xuan was very satisfied with Xu Huang's reaction. He then beckoned to the steward outside the hall and said to Xu Huang, "You should first go with the steward of my mansion to settle your family!"

"According to the customs of my subordinates, I have prepared a residence for you in Jiangling City as a gift! You need not decline; this is one of the standard benefits for the civil and military officials who join my ranks."

"It is not special treatment just for you!"

"Not just in Jiangling City; after I move the Provincial Governor's Mansion to Xiangyang City later, I have also reserved better residences there for you and my other civil and military officials."

"Work hard! I still have many good things in my hands! The steward will introduce them to you later! Go! Settle your family first!"

"Report to the Personal Guard Battalion in three days!"

"Understood! This subordinate takes his leave!"

Xu Huang bowed gratefully and left with the steward.

"Another great general gained! Very good! Haha!"

Once Xu Huang and the others were far away, Su Xuan could not help but smile triumphantly.

Xu Chu, who was on the side, was somewhat puzzled and asked, "My lord, I see this fellow is only at the mid-stage of Dan Energy, and he looks to be in his twenties or even nearly thirty? Can this talent be considered good?"

In Su Xuan's current ranks, who did not have Dan Energy cultivation?

In fact, Dan Energy was already considered weak.

"You do not understand!"

Su Xuan waved his hand with a laugh and said, "He is 'wild,' having not yet been cultivated by me or obtained the excellent resources I provide. To reach the mid-stage of Dan Energy at this age, his talent is already very strong!"

"Furthermore, Xu Huang's strength does not lie in his personal martial prowess, but in training and commanding troops."

"In these two aspects, Zhongkang, you are probably not his equal. Remember to ask him for advice in the future."

"My expectation for you in the future is not just to be a commander of the personal guards, but to hope that one day you can also become a great general capable of leading an army independently. Do you understand?"

In terms of personal martial prowess, with the many divine arts created by Su Xuan and the large amount of precious cultivation resources provided, one could pile up a lot of strength.

But the talent for training and commanding troops was not so simple.

Relying on postnatal cultivation without innate talent, it was difficult to achieve sufficient results.

"Uh..."

Xu Chu's face turned bitter, and he said, "My lord! After all these years, you know me—I am not the material to lead an army independently."

"It is fine for you to let me be the commander of your Personal Guard Battalion, but if you really want me to lead an army alone, I truly do not have that ability. Please do not force it!"

"Such things cannot be forced!"

A forced melon is not sweet!

Besides, learning to train and command troops was too taxing on the brain.

Well, training troops was actually fine; there was already a mature mechanism for training troops in the army, which he had already learned.

But to lead an army independently to participate in or even lead a war?

He had absolutely no such thoughts.

"You!"

Su Xuan pointed at Xu Chu and said, "I think you are just lazy!"

"I do not care what you think. In any case, Xu Huang is handed over to you for the next few months. You take him to familiarize himself with our army, and at the same time, you must take this opportunity to learn more!"

"When the time comes, I will check!"

"If you cannot satisfy me, humph humph! Then see how I deal with you!"

Wanting to be lazy and lie flat?

Not a chance.

Xu Chu's face became even more bitter, and in the end, he could only nod helplessly: "Alright! I will try my best!"

The Lord's order was absolute, and he could not resist.

The next morning, Su Xuan brought Su Yu to the Jiangling Shipyard.

"My lord!"

Huang Huang Chengyan happened to be there. Seeing Su Xuan, he bowed and asked, "My lord, how do you have time to come here today? You are here to see the seagoing ships, right?"

"Yes!"

Su Xuan nodded affirmatively and said, "Correct! Is there any problem with the construction of the seagoing ships? If there are any issues, remember to tell me, and I will solve them!"

"No problems!"

Huang Huang Chengyan shook his head and said, "The technology is mature! The seagoing ships currently being used are already of the third generation!"

"Of course, the current limit is the third generation!"

"For newer technology, many supporting infrastructure and industries have not kept up!"

"To build them, it is not only necessary to perfect the industrial chain, but even the shipyards need to be upgraded and renovated. It is too troublesome and requires too much time!"

"Rather than upgrading and renovating based on the existing shipyards, it is more cost-effective and faster to build new ones."

"Plus, the third-generation seagoing ships are already advanced enough to meet any current needs. After discussing with Zhongyu, we made this decision!"

"That is correct!"

Su Yu, who was on the side, also nodded and said, "Upgrading shipyards, building new industrial chains, and carrying out industrial upgrades require too much time. Currently, seagoing ships are needed urgently, and what we have is enough. What does Big Brother think?"

"Hmm!"

After reviewing the information on the third-generation seagoing ship technology, Su Xuan nodded in realization and said, "It is indeed enough! In fact, we do not even need third-generation technology; the second generation would suffice."

"However, let us use the third generation to avoid being phased out too early in the future."

"Using the third generation, we can at least use them for ten or eight years."

"How many third-generation seagoing ships can be produced per month currently?"

"How much time is needed to form a fleet sufficient to open up the north-south maritime trade routes, or even to form a naval fleet capable of taking Taking Jiaozhou?"

Su Xuan then asked.

If he could be faster, he hoped to be faster.

Taking Taking Jiaozhou and even the Indochina Peninsula earlier would allow for earlier development.

"Hmm..."

Huang Huang Chengyan pondered for a moment and said, "Because of your emphasis on the shipyards, my lord, we have not neglected the development of the shipyards and related industrial chains over the years. Therefore, currently, the entire Nanjun has five advanced shipyards built by ourselves, each with ten large dry docks."

"They can allow us to build 50 top-tier seagoing ships simultaneously."

"The construction time for a third-generation top-tier warship, using our advanced construction technology, also requires 5-6 months."

"The time for transport ships is much shorter, but one still requires 2 months."

"A qualified naval fleet would need at least thirty to fifty top-tier warships plus dozens of transport ships, right?"

"Therefore, calculated comprehensively, it will take one year to meet your requirements, my lord."

Su Xuan felt a bit ashamed and said, "There is no need for such high requirements at the beginning!"

"A naval fleet with more than ten warships and a dozen or twenty transport ships is enough to deal with current naval warfare, and even more than enough!"

"Therefore, I will give you half a year to build at least the ships needed for such a fleet."

"The rest can be used to build more maritime transport ships to be delivered to the Chamber of Commerce for maritime shipping."

"Currently, the only place where naval ships are truly needed is probably Taking Jiaozhou!"

"In the future, the wars in the north might also need them, but that is a problem to consider later."

"For now, regarding seagoing ships, besides forming the fleet to attack Taking Jiaozhou and the Indochina Peninsula, the main focus should be on maritime shipping!"

"This is also our main tone for the territories of other warlords in the next few years."

To target these warlords in the form of economic warfare.

While draining the wealth and foundation of these warlords, we will strengthen our own foundation, making Jingzhou more prosperous and flourishing.

"Understood!"

— Author's Notes —

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