Chapter 37: Surprised to Hear

On a summer morning, the sunlight is always blinding.

It is difficult for Zhao Xu to even sleep in.

After lying in bed with his eyes open for a while, he got up anyway.

Feng'er and Luan'er heard the movement and came in to help him wash and dress.

A faint layer of ease and contentment floated on both of their faces.

This was something that had not been there for months.

After breakfast, he strolled around the Prince's residence.

The faces of the servants and maids he encountered were all brimming with smiles rather than a faint layer of worry.

The looks they cast toward Zhao Xu were also filled with reverence and eagerness.

Indeed.

The Prince's residence is no longer what it used to be.

Since their Highness recovered from his illness, he achieved control over Yan Commandery in a very short time.

They are one with the Prince's residence; the glory of the Yan Wang is their glory.

He walked all the way to the gatehouse.

Liu Fu and the officials of the Prince's residence administrative office were busy at work.

Seeing Zhao Xu, Liu Fu brought over a ledger.

"Your Highness, the Huang and Du families are gone, and there are over thirty vacancies in the Government Office. This subordinate has drafted a list of people to fill them; I hope Your Highness will look it over." Liu Fu had dark circles under his eyes; he had basically not slept last night.

The Huang and Du families were finished, but they had left him with quite a few matters to handle.

"Are these all children of humble families?" Zhao Xu scanned the names on the first page.

"Not all of them. The first page are, but the ones following include some selected from other Rich Clans. This subordinate has checked; although these people are children of Rich Clans, they are quite capable in their posts." Liu Fu was cautious.

"Don't you hate children of Rich Clans the most?" Zhao Xu laughed while reading.

Sighing, Liu Fu said, "Although this subordinate has personal feelings, I cannot sit by and ignore Your Highness's interests. When employing people, one must naturally use the virtuous."

Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction; he had originally worried that Liu Fu would act recklessly.

But now, it seemed he still had his wits about him.

In the current situation, the Prince's residence needs to unite all forces that can be united.

There is no need to beat the Rich Clans who have leaned toward the Prince's residence to death with a stick.

Otherwise, this would be equivalent to pushing the Rich Clans of Yan Commandery and even Yanzhou to the opposite side.

When that time comes, he would face endless strife with the Rich Clans.

Therefore, his current strategy is to use both officials from humble backgrounds and officials from the Rich Clans.

In this way, due to the antagonistic relationship between the two, whether it is the Rich Clans or the humble families, they will inevitably rely on him to avoid being suppressed by the other side.

In this way, he can prevent his subordinates from forming private cliques to deceive him.

After finishing the names and positions of this batch of officials, Zhao Xu looked at the introductions for these officials.

This was what Zhao Xu had required of Liu Fu.

Every official must provide their resume, and if they had served as an official before, they also had to write down their political achievements.

Afterward, the Prince's residence would also verify this information.

After all, he did not know these officials and could only understand whether they were competent through these things.

"Mm, once the verification is correct, let them take office." Zhao Xu returned the ledger to Liu Fu.

"Your Highness, this subordinate put some thought into it. Some officials from the Zhang Family who occupied important positions have been promoted in name but demoted in reality by this subordinate, sent to positions without real power, while the positions with real power have all been taken by this subordinate." Liu Fu was triumphant. "After this round of appointments and promotions, the Prince's residence has basically taken control of the Government Office and can issue orders from now on."

"I'm just afraid Zhang Kang's expression won't look good." Zhao Xu laughed.

Liu Fu's devious ideas were quite wicked, but he liked them very much.

Just as they were chatting, a gatekeeper from the Prince's residence walked over.

"Your Highness, quite a few Rich Clans have come outside the gate, prepared many gifts, and wish to pay their respects to Your Highness."

Zhao Xu and Liu Fu exchanged a glance.

These Rich Clans are all experts at seeing which way the wind blows.

Now that the Prince's residence has suppressed the local bullies, they are busy currying favor.

However, just like his established strategy, it is not a bad thing for these Rich Clans to lean toward the Prince's residence.

He straightened his clothes.

He had the gatekeeper lead them in.

Throughout the morning, over ten Rich Clans came to the door one after another.

These Rich Clans were all firm sycophants of the Zhang, Huang, and Du families in the past.

After midday, another ten or so came.

Thus, basically all the Rich Clans of Yan Commandery within Yancheng had used this to show their attitude to the Prince's residence.

That is, to follow the lead of the Prince's residence in everything.

"Your Highness, the Prince's Personal Army has been reorganized, and the number of troops in the Personal Army is now at full capacity."

After the last Rich Clan left, Chang Wei entered the Prince's residence covered in sweat.

"So fast." Zhao Xu was surprised and happy.

Adding the three thousand County Soldiers in Yancheng, the number of soldiers he could directly command reached twenty-three thousand.

If they are trained strictly and equipped with fine gear at the same time.

Let's see who dares to act presumptuously with him in Yan Commandery from now on!

"After taking in the private soldiers of the two families and dissolving their indentures, quite a few young, strong men have come to enlist." A smile appeared on Chang Wei's rugged facial features.

Right now, the Prince's Personal Army is his prized possession.

Now that it is at full strength, he is so happy he cannot close his mouth.

Remembering something, he added, "By the way, Your Highness, the Personal Army's weapons and armor are all accounted for; this general searched the storehouses of two families and found quite a few swords, blades, and sets of armor."

"Just wear those pieces of junk for now; in a while, this Prince will give you more refined armor and weapons." Zhao Xu gave Chang Wei a look of confidence.

He had already learned from Xu Lie what the armor and weapons of these Rich Clan private soldiers were like.

Aside from what the Rich Clan descendants wore themselves, the other armor and weapons could only be described as scrap metal.

They were nothing more than a few rusted iron plates sewn onto a piece of tattered cloth.

Using these things to fight the Rich Clans of Yan Commandery is fine.

But they won't do against the well-equipped armies of Xiliang and Beidi.

After all, from the Ninth Prince's memories, he understood that Xiliang's Iron Pagoda and Beidi's Heavy Cavalry were nothing to trifle with.

Otherwise, the Great Song would not have suffered repeated defeats in recent years.

In the west, they almost lost Jinzhou.

And the Ningjin Dusi, which originally governed the northeast region north of Yanguan, was also plundered by the Beidi people.

This has caused the Appeasement Faction of the current Imperial Court to rise, strongly advocating for using Silver to trade for the Great Song's peace.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei's eyes lit up.

In his heart, this Yan Wang could make ice and brew Wine.

Perhaps this time he would give him a surprise.

Zhao Xu continued, "Also, as long as the soldiers of the Prince's Personal Army aren't trained to death, train them to death; to ensure the soldiers can maintain high-intensity training, their meals must be good—make sure they can eat their fill and try to add some meat."

"Meat?" Chang Wei licked his lips, "Your Highness, I'm afraid that's difficult to manage; how much Silver would that take? And given the situation in Yan Commandery, it's hard to buy even if you have the money."

Zhao Xu smiled, "That's simple, just have the Personal Army's cooks raise some chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, and sheep in their spare time."

The cooks of the Prince's Personal Army serve the same purpose as a modern mess squad.

There is plenty of experience he can draw from the knowledge in his mind.

When military supplies are abundant, there is naturally no need for the army to engage in production.

But in difficult times, it is necessary to establish production units within the army.

After all, this allows the soldiers to eat well.

And only by eating well do they have the strength to train.

Otherwise, if they collapse after running a single lap in Armor, what kind of battle can they fight?

Chang Wei was dumbfounded upon hearing this, but Zhao Xu's subsequent words convinced him that the Yan Wang was not joking.

"The Prince's Mansion will allocate some land to you all; just build some chicken coops and duck sheds on it. Work hard, and in two days, this Prince will come to inspect. For now, just buy food to eat."

"Yes... yes..." Chang Wei's mind had not yet turned the corner, and he could not immediately grasp the significance of doing this.

Just as he was thinking, a servant suddenly ran over in a hurry.

He even tripped and fell before reaching Zhao Xu.

"Yo... Your Highness... a soldier from Wuan County collapsed in front of the Prince's Mansion gate; he... he said a Beidi scout team has entered." The servant's face was terrified, and he was stuttering in fear.

"Beidi scouts." Zhao Xu and Chang Wei's expressions immediately turned grave.