Chapter 375

Xiangyang Navy: 20,000 (naval troops), Commander: Wen Pin, Deputy Commanders: Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin

Jiangxia Navy: 10,000 (naval troops), Commander: Huang Gai, Deputy Commander: Huang Zu

Brave Cavalry Battalion: 10,000 (6,000 cavalry, 4,000 infantry), Commander: Zhang He, Deputy Commander: Su Yi

Personal Guard Battalion: 2,000 (cavalry), Commander: Xu Chu, Deputy Commander: Wei Yan

Azure Dragon Battalion: 15,000 (6,000 cavalry, 9,000 infantry), Commander: Zhao Yun, Deputy Commander: Xia Houlan

Trap-Breaking Battalion: 5,000 (heavy armored sword and shield infantry), Commander: Gao Shun

Nanjun Commandery Troops: 10,000, Commandery Commandant: Xu Ding

Remaining 5 commanderies' troops: 3,000 men each.

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

One army remained the Qilin Army, with 20,000 men, a mixed infantry and cavalry force, Commander: Taishi Ci, Deputy Commander: Sun Xia

The other army was the Vermilion Bird Army, also with 20,000 men, a mixed infantry and cavalry force, Commander: Zhang Liao, Deputy Commander: Han Zhong

The total troop strength reached 177,000.

It expanded several times over.

For a time, it increased Su Xuan's logistical pressure quite a bit.

Fortunately, he was well-prepared and soon recovered.

After the expansion of the armies, Su Xuan did not transfer them all to Nanjun.

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

At the same time, they cooperated with the local government of each commandery to begin cleansing the major gentry and powerful clans within Jingzhou based on the criminal evidence and intelligence provided by the Secret Guards.

But it was not a total extermination; it was selective, targeting those gentry clans that had committed many evils, were lawless, and were secretly trying to make small moves against Su Xuan.

In this way, within just two months, the atmosphere and public security of the entire Jingzhou were cleared.

The administration became incomparably clean.

The development of all commanderies in Jingzhou began to enter the fast lane and started to develop rapidly.

At the same time, the interior of Jingzhou was also rapidly governed by Su Xuan into a solid block.

Su Xuan even took advantage of the friendly relations from past trade with the barbarians to negotiate with some barbarian tribal leaders and successfully won them over.

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

Furthermore, Su Xuan recruited able-bodied men from the barbarians to form a mountain unit composed entirely of barbarians, named the Mountain Battalion, with 5,000 men, commanded by the newly surrendered Five Streams Barbarian fierce general Shamoke, with Wei Yan as the deputy commander.

Originally, he had transferred Wei Yan to the Personal Guard Battalion to serve as deputy commander, intending to have him follow 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 Shamoke and the other barbarian soldiers.

Of course, he dared to let Wei Yan go out because he 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 young, or perhaps it was due to his own character!

In short, Su Xuan did not see any "rebellious bones" in Wei Yan.

He felt that either this was just an excuse deliberately made by Zhuge Liang in his past life because he was worried about Wei Yan becoming too powerful;

Or, the Wei Yan in the history of his past life had grown crooked.

Anyway, it had nothing to do with this Wei Yan.

This day,

Jia Wu hurried in to report to Su Xuan: "Lord! Zhao Qian, the head of the Zhao clan of Guiyang, requests to see you and wants to present you with a generous gift, hoping to join your command and seek an official position."

"Oh? Zhao Qian of Guiyang?"

Su Xuan raised an eyebrow and looked at Jia Wu playfully: "Tell the truth, kid! What exactly is this guy planning to present to me? That could 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, Lord!"

Jia Wu smiled sheepishly and bowed: "Reporting to the Lord! That Zhao Qian is presenting 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 her name is Fan Xiu. The Secret Guards speculate that she 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 immediately remembered that the person presenting the beauty was named Zhao Qian.

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

"How did you know, Lord?"

Jia Wu was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "That's right! This Zhao Qian does indeed have a younger brother named Zhao Fan."

"Then that's it!"

Su Xuan nodded happily.

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

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

"Yes!"

Jia Wu was overjoyed; it seemed he was right. He accepted the order and walked away quickly.

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

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

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

"Commoners Zhao Qian (Fan Xiu) pay respects to the Governor!"

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

"No need for formalities!"

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

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

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

Her heart pounded as 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 good!"

"It's not at all as bad as I thought before;"

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

"No wonder Lord Zhao Qian 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 Qian was truly a good person.

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

Immediately after, Fan Xiu worried 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 strength was limited.

Originally, she had been eyed by Zhao Qian, 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 Zhao clan of Guiyang was very terrified, so they inquired about Su Xuan's hobbies and changed their minds.

They first persuaded Fan Xiu's parents and family, and then reported it to Zhao Yun, who was garrisoning Guiyang, and contacted the Secret Guards, only then bringing the person here.

At this time, Zhao Qian 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 Prefect?"

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

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

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

Zhao Qian was overjoyed and bowed to Su Xuan: "Reporting to the Governor, the commoner seeks the position of Guiyang Prefect. I wonder if you can agree?"

"Not enough!"

Su Xuan shook his head and denied it directly.

This made Zhao Qian's heart sink; sure enough, relying on a peerless beauty alone was not enough.