Chapter 273: Organize, the Ten‑Thousand‑Year Army!

Gu Lie rushed in, blurting out this sentence, and the room instantly fell silent.

Lu Yuan stared blankly at his wife and said:

"What? During the month I was away, there were rumors that I died?"

Gu Qingwan quickly looked at Lu Yuan and said:

"No, it's..."

Having said that, Gu Qingwan immediately glared at Gu Lie, somewhat annoyed.

However, Gu Lie didn't look at his sister; instead, he excitedly ran up to Lu Yuan and said:

"Bro... uh... brother-in-law, you've been gone for such a long time without sending any word back—I thought you were dead."

Lu Yuan: "????"

"There's no communication with the Great Zhou Dynasty there—how could I just send a letter for no reason?"

Gu Lie stared for a moment, then hehe-laughed and said:

"I forgot, I forgot."

Having said that, Gu Lie again looked at Lu Yuan with great excitement and said:

"Brother-in-law, I heard that you were bullied by the Southern Exchange Dynasty?!"

"Should we send troops against the Southern Exchange again? Leave this to me—now the Great Zhou can take on ten such dynasties at once, and I'll unify command!"

Gu Lie said this with great excitement.

Meanwhile, the people in the room looked at each other.

Ah?

Going to war again?

Lu Yuan glanced at the expressions of everyone in the room, then immediately raised his eyebrows at Gu Lie and said:

"We'll talk about this later."

Gu Lie was a bit anxious, afraid this task wouldn't fall to him, and just as he was about to say something...

Gu Qingwan beside him slammed the table angrily and shouted:

"Gu Lie!!"

After being scolded by Gu Qingwan, Gu Lie immediately became honest, shrinking his neck and staying silent.

At the same time, a voice came from the doorway:

"Brother-in-law."

At that moment, Chang Liang came in carrying two bags of stuff.

This Chang Liang kid is still very well-behaved.

However, Lu Yuan glanced at Chang Liang's clothes and couldn't help but blink.

Wow, Chang Liang now has blue cuffs.

His promotion isn't ordinary fast.

Blue cuffs—what does that mean? Is he a section chief of a district office?

Or a section chief of the Huangcheng area.

That's different from a local post—those are two different concepts.

Now Chang Liang's rank is even higher than Wang Ping's.

Why has Chang Liang been promoted so quickly...

What else could it be? It's because of my wife, of course.

Seeing Chang Liang's cuffs, the people in the household were also somewhat startled.

Chang Liang's promotion is too fast.

Of course, judging by Chang Liang's character and sense of responsibility, he is still quite qualified to be a section chief.

However, having said that...

There are plenty of people qualified to be a section chief.

The older ones are even more qualified—why haven't those people become section chiefs?

Isn't it just because those people didn't have such a good brother-in-law?

Looking at Chang Liang, Director Xu and Lin Fusheng in the room thought, "Isn't this not a good thing?"

You say the emperor nowadays most dislikes this kind of nepotism.

Back then, the Great Zhou Dynasty was corrupt and chaotic—wasn't it because of all these messy things?

Which someone from the Ministry of Personnel did this to curry favor with Lu Yuan?

Of course, it doesn't matter who curries favor with Lu Yuan, but if there's too much of this favor‑currying, don't let the emperor grow disgusted...

The two of them felt that after the meal later, they needed to have a proper talk with Lu Yuan.

After all, the two of them are old hands in the bureaucracy, and they still have the qualifications to pass on some experience to their great-grandson.

Lu Yuan saw that Chang Liang had also come; the room wasn't lacking people, and he also looked at Chang Liang and smiled, saying:

"Perfect timing—your sister brought you quite a few things."

Not only did she bring things for Chang Liang, but everyone in the room who's related also got something.

It's nothing especially good—just some little gifts and such.

After all, when Lu Yuan said he was leaving, the time between saying it and actually leaving was only two or three hours.

He left in too much of a hurry, and his big wife didn't have much time to pick out gifts properly or anything.

He could only grab whatever was at hand.

However, although they're small gifts, a cultivator's little things are a huge benefit for ordinary people.

Just like this wine—when cultivators drink it, it's still just wine, only more fragrant and potent than ordinary good wine, with a few extra effects.

But for mortals, a single cup of this wine will cure even cancer.

These little gifts are just fruits, pastries, and such.

Of course, though they look like fruit and pastries, to the people inside the house they are essentially divine medicines.

After drinking here, these people won't fall ill, but they take the wine home to give to their seriously ill relatives—or whoever—to consume.

This stuff is absolutely good; upon receiving it, everyone immediately tucks it carefully into their bags or pockets, afraid they'll forget to bring it after finishing their meal later.

This is practically like giving an extra life.

While Lu Yuan was distributing the gifts, Lin Fusheng kept slipping them into his pocket and, somewhat oddly, said:

"Yuan'er, you say my granddaughter-in-law has gone off to cultivate immortality—this matter shouldn't be spoken of above, but even what we know here is not little, after all, our entire Huangcheng only has this one, and it's famous

You say the heavenly lord never summoned you to ask for anything?"

This thing is literally a life.

The heavenly lord didn't want any of this?

After Lin Fusheng finished speaking, before Lu Yuan could explain anything, Director Xu beside him couldn't help but give Lin Fusheng a punch, saying:

"You think the heavenly lord lacks anything?"

After Director Xu said that, there was no need for Lu Yuan to explain; he immediately grinned and said:

"Exactly, the heavenly lord has everything."

Having said that, nobody brought it up again; at that moment, dishes were already being served in the kitchen.

This lively family feast truly made Lu Yuan sigh—such a life is interesting, full of mortal warmth.

Or perhaps this sort of life suits me best.

If I had to live like those mountain immortals, I might as well kill myself.

That really hurts my wife.

I don't know whether my wife prefers the life of the Great Zhou Dynasty or that of the immortals.

This time going to find my wife, Lu Yuan felt her character had changed somewhat, as if she had taken on a bit of the immortals' temperament.

Who knows, maybe my wife now prefers the immortals' way of life.

But regardless of whether my wife likes the mortal life of the Great Zhou Dynasty or the immortals' life, Lu Yuan believes she still likes being with me most of all.

Hmm…

So Lu Yuan needs to step up his efforts.

Hurry up and materialize those ideas I've cooked up in my head; that way, the Great Zhou Dynasty won't have to rely on my wife's immortal status, nor on the Linglan Sword Sect.

That way, my wife could come home two years earlier.

After three rounds of wine, the men at the table were already struggling to hold their liquor.

The wine Lu Yuan brought back is too strong, its kick too big; for older folks like Lin Fusheng, Director Xu, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and Wang Ping, it's a bit much to handle.

They were already getting flushed, talking drunken nonsense.

Take Gu Lie, Changyu, and Changliang—these younger fellows are holding up better, drinking less, mainly because they aren't that fond of alcohol.

As for Kou Yang, he's a pure lush—he passed out halfway through and was dragged back by Sister Yulan.

Now, in this lively household, those elders like Lin Fusheng, after drinking too much, start rambling off-topic and spouting nonsense.

Meanwhile, the women gathered together, chatting about trivial matters.

The kids were already hopping about in the courtyard, laughing and roughhousing.

Lu Yuan stepped out midway to use the privy, came back and washed his hands, and felt the weather had indeed turned cool.

It's almost time to fire up the Kang heating ducts.

Tomorrow I'll buy some coal to fill the house and the manor.

Back home, Lu Yuan beckoned Gu Lie over and said:

"Come here, I have something to tell you."

Having said that, Lu Yuan immediately took Gu Lie toward the kitchen.

In the meantime, Mother-in-Law saw Lu Yuan heading for the kitchen, assumed he wanted something, and quickly said:

"Yuan'er, what do you need? Mother will get it for you."

Lu Yuan laughed and waved his hand, saying:

"Nothing, I just need to talk with Gu Lie."

Hearing that, Mother-in-Law nodded, sat down, and chatted with Lin Fusheng, Director Xu, and the others.

The other women in the house, seeing Mother-in-Law so caring, all blinked.

But after thinking it over, they pondered.

If their own son-in-law were also Lu Yuan, everyone would act the same way.

Lu Yuan led Gu Lie to the kitchen, closed the door, and Gu Lie immediately asked excitedly:

"Brother-in-law, are you going to hand over the affairs of the Jiao'nan Dynasty to me?"

Lu Yuan didn't take that bait; instead, he looked at Gu Lie curiously and asked:

"How many troops does the Great Zhou Dynasty have in total, and how many armies are they divided into?"

Huh?

Hearing Lu Yuan's words, Gu Lie blinked and then immediately replied:

"In total there are four theaters—east, south, west, north; the northern theater has the most troops, 320,000, divided into fourteen armies."

"The northern and western theaters together total 100,000 troops, each with three armies."

"The southern theater has 100,000 troops, four armies."

Speaking of this, Gu Lie thought for a moment, then said again:

"Besides, there are two central armies; one is the garrison, the other is the Feather Forest Army, that is, the Imperial Guard."

After saying that, Gu Lie immediately looked at Lu Yuan and said:

"Brother, what's up?"

Lu Yuan raised his eyebrows, looked at Gu Lie, and said again:

"Among these units, which one is the strongest?"

Gu Lie stared for a moment, then the next second he spoke with a proud face:

"No need to say, of course it's my 39th Army, which is called the Ten-Thousand-Year Army, the elite of the elite."

"Ten-Thousand-Year Army?"

Lu Yuan slightly raised his eyebrows, somewhat amused; there's also such a thing on Earth, indeed formidable.

"I just don't know whether this Great Zhou Dynasty's version is about the same as the one from my hometown."

However, seeing Gu Lie so proud, the Ten-Thousand-Year Army here is surely not lacking.

Gu Lie, seeing that Lu Yuan hadn't spoken after asking, but was instead pondering, looked anxious and said:

"Brother, what exactly is it? What do you want to do? Speak up, or else I'm dying of anxiety inside."

After lighting a cigarette, Lu Yuan looked at Gu Lie and said:

"It's like this……"

About twenty minutes later, Lu Yuan finished telling Gu Lie.

This matter is actually simple.

"That is, for now, the Great Zhou Dynasty's productive capacity has basically reached its limit."

One could say that everyone who can work is already working.

Not mentioning other places, just talking about my own family's courtyard.

Before, being able to enter the factory was a superb job; ordinary people couldn't get in even if they wanted.

But now it's different.

Now, as long as you want to enter the factory, as long as you're not disabled, as long as you're not blind or deaf, as long as you want to go, you just go to the neighborhood office and they'll take you there the next day.

Why?

It's simply because factories are being built far too many nowadays.

Not only here in the Imperial City, but basically all major cities are like this.

Now the entire Great Zhou Dynasty is frantically expanding productive capacity, resulting in, basically speaking, it's nearing the limit.

Even now, many people from the villages have come out to work.

If we keep doing this, we might end up with no one left to farm the land.

Fortunately, with the appearance of internal combustion engines, each village now has two tractors; with machinery, we can save a lot of labor.

So under these circumstances, for Lu Yuan to work on new materials and such, it's really hard to do anything else.

We can't just halt the nation's development, can we?

Moreover, the materials Lu Yuan works with are also quite special; it's not a case of 'produce as much as you want'.

After saying all that, in short, the Great Zhou Dynasty's army of five or six hundred thousand cannot possibly be fully equipped with the black technology Lu Yuan will develop later.

At most, the most we can do is turn those five or six hundred thousand troops who wield swords and spears into gun-bearing troops, tank operators.

Of course, that would be enough to deal with the Liujin Dynasty and the Jiaonan Dynasty.

But Lu Yuan's imagined enemy is not the Liujin Dynasty, nor the Jiaonan Dynasty.

Even…… not the Jingpu Dynasty.

But rather the entire cultivation world!

Therefore, the things Lu Yuan wants to develop are not the kind that can be mass-produced for equipment.

Just like an aircraft carrier of a country on Earth—there are only a few of them.

These cutting-edge technologies can only be gathered together, concentrated into a single army.

In short, all the good stuff and the corrupt stuff go to this army, all closely tied to it.

Whenever something better comes out, after this generation is phased out, we give those obsoleted items to other units; this strongest unit is the one wielding the latest generation.

And this army's future opponents will be cultivators!

After chatting with Gu Lie for a while longer.

Lu Yuan made his decision.

He would take Gu Lie's 39th Army as this unit.

Lu Yuan originally also wanted to change this army's designation.

But upon reflection, it wasn't necessary.

Changing it to something like "dragon cavalry," "knights," etc., just feels weird, a bit chuunibyou.

Moreover, coming up with all those messy titles is useless.

This thing mainly depends on strength—being strong is being powerful; even if you were called 'shit egg,' just hearing it would scare people into wetting their pants.

So we won't change it.

It's just this 39th Army.

Ten-Thousand-Year Army!

Of course, just listening to Gu Lie's talk isn't enough.

We need to let Lu Yuan see the real deal!

We'll see it right away.

Lu Yuan decided; starting tomorrow, he will begin arranging military operations against the Gilded Dynasty!

(End of chapter)