The boats from Yunzhou were among the first to depart, but the slowest to reach the meeting point. The reason was simple: Yunzhou was the most remote of the seven islands along the Jiangnan in Jiangnan.
The meeting point was in Nanyang City. When they arrived at the port, Yuchi Feihu stood at the bow of the ship, staring wide-eyed at the endless sails, looking as curious as a country bumpkin visiting the city.
It wasn't that he had never seen a navy before. Because of his father's doting, his wish to see a navy was fulfilled when he was very young. He remembered that his father took him to see the Black Dragon Guard, the strongest navy in the East Sea. At that time, the navy was conducting military exercises. There were thousands of Black Dragon sailing ships, plus helmsmen and miscellaneous soldiers, with more than 500,000 naval personnel participating in the exercises. The scale of the operation was enormous. The black sails stretched out and covered the sky, which greatly shocked him at that age!
But even memories from that time can't compare to the present!
The reason is the difference in the ships!
Ships in Jiangnan are larger, with keels as long as 24 meters. Most ships have three masts, but there are exceptions with four masts.
The towering bow and stern decks, viewed from a distance, resemble a castle floating on the water, giving off a great sense of awe. The key is that there are many such ships, and they seem to stretch as far as the eye can see!
"Why doesn't Yunzhou have such ships yet?" Yuchi Feihu asked.
He had seen it a few months ago; it was called the Water God. It was a prototype made by students from the Engineering Yellow Academy in Liuzhou, and had undergone several improvements. It was said that now every prefecture was building such shipyards, which led to a recent shortage and high value of air-dried timber.
"Our Yunzhou has shallow waters, unlike other prefectures. Moreover, our Yunzhou's export volume is not as high as that of other prefectures, and many merchants cannot afford such fine ships."
Di Yun sipped his drink while watching enviously, clicking his tongue and saying, "That's impressive! When I get to Liuzhou, I'll definitely get one for my men!"
"There seem to be a lot of people here," Yuchi Feihu, looking at the busy Human Dao on the large ship.
"That's quite a lot!" the soldier surnamed Yang beside him laughed. "This time, the number of fighters summoned from the seven states of Jiangnan exceeds two hundred thousand, not counting the shipwrights and helmsmen accompanying the merchant ships. This is a major operation; it's said that they're going to attack the West Sea. The Fighter Army participating in the battle, including those from Liuzhou, will probably exceed three hundred thousand. If you include the logistics troops and the sailors on the ships, this time, a million troops are participating!"
"Really?!" Yuchi Feihu immediately rubbed his hands together, eager to try!
He had never dared to imagine a war involving a million soldiers. Last time, he followed the Duke of Duke of Qin to gain military merit, but ended up fleeing in a sorry state. This time, he was certain that he would not suffer the same fate.
Di Yun was somewhat stunned and dazed.
A million soldiers?
He is an old man who has come all the way from Liuzhou. He still remembers when he joined the army, the Liuzhou Fighter Army numbered only 10,000.
Everyone also had to divide their forces to support other prefectures. At that time, each of our small teams could only get a thousand soldiers. We would often argue heatedly over getting an extra one or two hundred soldiers!
In just one year, have they grown to this size?
It's important to understand that Yunzhou has reserved half of its troops, and presumably the other prefectures have done the same. This means that Lord Chen Qing currently has a million soldiers available for battle, and can also reserve another million to guard the territories already conquered.
This kind of thing would be unlikely for any other force, right?
Looking at the magnificent fleet before him, Di Yun felt once again that his choice was right. Lord Chen Qing would surely spread all the beauty of Jiangnan throughout the Central Plains!
--
At this moment in Liuzhou City, Fatty Zhou Haitao was extremely busy. The matters he was compiling had kept him up for three days and three nights. Now he was dizzy and his vision was blurry. He felt that when he stood up, he could only see four or five pens in his hand.
The massive mobilization of troops from seven prefectures brought the number of combat-ready Fighter Army to over 200,000, not counting the civilian laborers who assisted the army. The preparation of provisions, the consumables for ships, and the various maintenance data left the hundreds of civil and administrative officials in Liuzhou dizzy with envy.
Even the civil and military judges of Wei Gongcheng Underworld conscripted to help with accounting in the prefecture.
Looking at the busy crowd, Wei Gongcheng smiled wryly. Ever since Master Shen San took City God in Nanyang, his closest conversationalist had been Zhou Haitao, that fat guy. Now that Zhou Haitao was being used like a beast of burden, even if Chen Qing hadn't ordered him, how could he refuse when his friend was in dire need of help?
But I also have a lot of things to do.
Things are different now. Before, Chen Qing's entire power only had one City God. Now, all seven prefectures along the Underworld River in Jiangnan have appointed new City God, and most of them are from the Shen Family. The Shen Family seems to be particularly interested in the position of City God of the Underworld. The tragically deceased Tenth Master Shen became the City God City God of Yunzhou, the Ninth Master Shen became the City God of Yangzhou, and the tall and brave Fourth Master Shen also volunteered to become the City God of Xiangzhou. It is said that the Second Master Shen has also reserved the position of City God of Nanming Prefecture.
It seems the Shen Family is trying to create a family of Underworld!
This is not a good thing for me.
Although he was the original City God, and Liuzhou was Chen Qing's birthplace, its population was far smaller than that of the other six continents. Moreover, the city was full of the Shen Family, and with various cooperative policies of mutual help, it would be difficult for him to compete for the position of City God in a higher-level city in the future.
My goal isn't Liuzhou. Chen Qing promised me that if I had the chance, I could choose a different location, the best one in Jiangnan for the construction of the Underworld.
Of course, he didn't want to stay in Jiangnan forever. He was hoping that one day he would become the City God of the capital and see the true faces of the Wei Household when they saw him in the Underworld.
So these days, he personally did a lot of work to build a good reputation and attract higher-quality people to Liuzhou. Only with more people will the Underworld in Liuzhou prosper.
Unfortunately, at this crucial moment to boost sales, this fat guy dragged me in as a draft soldier.
"My God, why does a shipyard in Yangzhou demand 800,000 taels of Incense Silver? Even a Nanyang City only costs 600,000!"
"Transportation costs are high," Wei Gongcheng rolled his eyes. "How can Yangzhou's location compare to Nanyang's? Nanyang is surrounded by countless mountains, with more than a dozen successor Mountain God. It produces twice as much good sacred wood as Liuzhou, so the construction costs are naturally different from those in Yangzhou's plains."
"Even so, that's still too many, and they keep urging us to send more people. The number of disciples from the Yellow Academy who can go out for internships each year is limited. Where am I supposed to find people to produce for them?"
Wei Gongcheng fell silent upon hearing this.
As various industrial products such as cannons, ships, and sewing machines are gradually being developed by the academy, there is now a scramble for the Yellow Academy disciples from all over the country. As a result, Yellow Academy's skilled craftsmen are now more sought after than the array masters and rune masters from the Earth Academy.
Officials from several localities were so eager to come to Liuzhou that they wanted to poach the people.
But Yellow Academy only recruits so many disciples a year, how can that be enough?
If this continues, it's only a matter of time before the other seven continents establish Yin-Yang Academy similar to those in Liuzhou.
This is not what Wei Gongcheng wanted.
The Yin-Yang Academy in Liuzhou produces only sorcerers, which will attract more and more students in the future. The stronger the education system, the more high-quality people it will attract. Teachers and successful businessmen will all relocate to Liuzhou because of the Liuzhou Academy.
Liuzhou is already at a disadvantage in terms of population size, so if he wants to surpass the City God of the Shen Family, he has to focus on quality.
Even though there was a shortage of people outside, and they were dying, Wei Gongcheng didn't plan to remind Chen Qing to open branch hospitals outside.
For things like this, we should delay as long as possible!
"So, what's the point of all this fuss, Laoda Chen?" Zhou Haitao complained as he looked at the various accounts. "Isn't it just that the Princess is withdrawing from Nanming Prefecture? Is such a big deal really necessary?"
"Putting aside the fact that the Princess will most likely take all the zombies from Nanming Prefecture with her, even if zombies are everywhere, wouldn't that require so many people?"
"You don't understand," Wei Gongcheng shook his head and laughed, " Nanming Prefecture is the gateway to Jiangnan. After the Princess left, we will have to bear the threat from the West Sea on our own. Moreover, Her Highness the Princess may also launch an attack against us in the future. At such a strategic location, deploying as many troops as we need is not excessive!"
"The terrain in Jiangnan is complex, and it's mostly waterways, so there's no need to worry about logistical support and supplies. Therefore, no matter how many soldiers are stationed there, we can afford to support them."
"Only we can afford to raise them." Zhou Haitao smirked.
With the Laoda's massive troop-building strategy, if it weren't for the diligent efforts of the Mountain God in various regions, who frequently produce high-quality food, the situation would have collapsed long ago.
"That's true." Wei Gongcheng nodded. Nowadays, the most popular students in the academy are the craftsmen from the Yellow Academy.
Secondly, there are the Agricultural Academy disciples of the Black Academy. Those who can cooperate with the immortal farmers to grow high-quality crops are the key to feeding the million-strong army in Jiangnan!
It should be noted that Chen Qing's million-strong army did not include the militia; they were all genuine Fighter Army. If the imperial court Central Plains 10 billion farmers, it could barely support an army of one million. Under normal circumstances, it would be excessive for the Jiangnan region alone to support 200,000 such high-quality young men.
Chen Qing's ability to rapidly build up an army is indeed only possible with his established methods.
But this made things difficult for Zhou Haitao and the other logistics staff responsible for recording.
After all, they need to record how much of each advanced crop can be consumed by a warrior of that level, how much can be produced, whether the yield is reliable, its cost-effectiveness, how much it enhances the nutrition of soldiers, and what the costs are. In the entire Jiangnan, there are now over a thousand mountain Mountain God and over a hundred thousand immortal farmers.
With the research of the Agricultural Academy students, new crops Heavenly Capital. Zhou Haitao and others are often so busy recording these booming agricultural products that they barely have time to rest.
"I've told the Laoda so many times to expand enrollment, but he just can't bear to!" Zhou Haitao shouted angrily.
"It's not that we're reluctant to part with them, it's that we don't have that many scholars and gentlemen." Wei Gongcheng looked outside and sneered, "Now, all those gentry from the past in Jiangnan are still waiting for the court to set things right!"
I'll be updating in bulk starting tomorrow. Thank you everyone for your monthly votes!