The Longwater Army's Military Garrison City was newly built, large enough to accommodate eight thousand soldiers and several thousand support personnel, with drill grounds, storehouses, stables, and other facilities besides. It was essentially a small city.
In fact, within mere months of its completion, several small markets had already sprung up nearby, with no shortage of taverns, brothels, and the like. Even the area around Eastern Capital City's eastern outer walls had been profoundly stimulated and undergone many changes.
But all of this had been overshadowed by the arrival of hundreds of thousands of corvée laborers.
In the early morning, Zhang Xing calmly arrived beneath the walls of Military Garrison City with the other five members of his squad, then began settling in to rest. The Jing'an Directorate's government servants, who had arrived after them, were already making breakfast, and hot water, horse fodder, and everything else stood ready... There was no helping it: Intendant Cao's name carried considerable weight here. Indeed, many of their generals and officers had been personally appointed by that imperial uncle, and they dared not neglect his people.
Zhang Xing mentioned nothing of the previous night to anyone. Even Qin Bao had merely seen him approach leaning on his saber around midnight. The other four had noticed nothing unusual at all, simply returning quietly with White Ribbon Zhang and then quietly resting.
"Little Gu."
The previous night's events had long since stirred Zhang Xing's thoughts into a restless listlessness. Now, after breakfast, he was even in the mood to lie in a hammock and chat desultorily with a government servant he knew. "How did you become a government servant?"
"To tell you the truth, Third Brother Zhang..." Little Gu, who was adding firewood nearby, turned back with an embarrassed expression. "I used to be a