Sweet Potato froze. She hadn't expected Wang Yue to have made arrangements long ago. She was delighted, but still said with some concern, "But a single secret manual only buys us one day. What if the Northern Mang Empress prepares three or five hundred of them?"
Wang Yue couldn't help laughing at the thought. He reminded her, "Did you forget that we've stockpiled food on the river island in Xiangfan City too? I'd already transported some there back then. That's why we've been able to store so much grain in Dunhuang City over the past three years.
"Besides, we have plenty of granaries in Southern Zhao, and every one of them is full. I can transport provisions over whenever I want."
Thinking of Wang Yue's ability to travel without distance, Sweet Potato was relieved. She quickly nodded. "It seems I worried too much, Your Majesty."
After reassuring Sweet Potato, Wang Yue deployed his seven hundred thousand troops in successive waves across Orange Isle. Apart from two or three hundred thousand elite soldiers defending the north, he assigned the remaining nearly five hundred thousand men to build cities on the isle.
An endless supply of building materials came from Northern Liang, and numerous brick kilns turned out large green bricks. In just over half a month, more than a dozen cities had sprung up on Orange Isle.
They had only put up the walls, but even that offered some protection. All that remained was to build houses inside the cities, one by one.
These cities connected with Dunhuang City, fortifying the entire isle. From then on, no more horse thieves could run rampant there, and the common people could settle down and live in peace.
Northern Mang had spent a great deal of effort preparing just over thirty secret manuals. They