Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 412 The Dilemma of Two Towns, the Longyou Model, the Golden Order Prison Warden, Lin Kai's Reminder

Population is the cornerstone and foundation of all camps.

The number of experts at the logging, digging, cold-resistant, and even higher levels of the Manifestation Sun level is the core support for the camp's continuous development and growth.

This logic will always apply, no matter how large the camp grows.

Hunting and gathering, acquiring resources for survival and cultivation, maintaining one's own safety and development, competing with other camps, and resisting attacks from cold beasts and monsters—all of these things ultimately depend on people to accomplish.

These people are simply different in their roles: those at the Lumberjacking Realm can gather resources; those at the Digging Realm can mine and hunt; those at the Cold Resistance Realm can hunt mid- to high-level cold beasts; and those at the current top level of the Nine Towns, the Manifestation Realm, can hunt high-level or even beast king-level cold beasts, and can also venture into more dangerous places to obtain higher-level resources; while the seemingly most useless ordinary people are the cradle that continuously nurtures the first four.

If any one of these five aspects goes wrong, the camp will fall into a predicament of development or even survival.

Unfortunately, both Jiangxia and Muyin are now facing problems in every aspect.

Of course, the survival problems of the two towns had already been solved by the Great Xia Dynasty.

Given the current dominant position of Great Xia in the southern foothills of Mo'ao, coupled with the two towns' active support for Hongmen, unless the two towns take the initiative to commit suicide, the Six Towns will certainly not have the courage to take action against them.

The problem of survival has been solved, but the dilemma of development remains.

There's no need to say more about Jiangxia. After half a year of fighting with Dajue Temple, even the lord Jiang Yinglong was killed in battle. Not to mention the people at the Cold Resistance level and the Earth Digging Realm. The overall losses of these two cultivation stages are basically over 60%.

The Great Xia had actually done a rough calculation. In the entire town of Jiangxia, there were less than two thousand people at the Cold Resistance level, and the Earth Digging Realm was slightly better, with about 7 left.
As for the predicament of Muyin, it should have started four years ago after the death of the former lord Murong Ding. There was invasion and oppression from the three northern towns, and internal strife between the first and second branches of the family. Beset by internal and external troubles, the town was filled with anxiety. If it weren't for the intervention of the Great Xia at the end of April this year, Muyin would have become history on the southern slope of Mo'ao long ago.

Muyin Town has been saved, but an internal power struggle within the town has made the already weakened town, which has suffered losses for four consecutive years, even worse.

Not to mention Xianyang-level towns, they've been relying on Murong Chui alone since four years ago. The three northern towns don't even consider Muyin as a town of the same level.
With Murong Yan dead and Murong Chui in power, the main branch of the Murong clan, along with those loyal to it, suffered heavy losses, with some dying and others fleeing. The number of people at the Cold-Resistant level in the entire town plummeted to 1,500, and the number at the Earth-Digging level was only a little over 50,000. The situation was even more severe than in Jiangxia.

Thinking about it, it's understandable. After all, Muyin had been embroiled in internal strife for four years, and its situation was already dire. In addition, the three northern towns were right next door, so even if they did nothing, a large number of people from Muyin would still seek refuge there.

In short, given the current situation in the two towns, it would be very difficult to maintain the dignity of the towns, let alone ensure the normal supply of cultivation resources.

This can actually be seen from the conflict that broke out between Jiangxia and the hunting team of Daxia in Heyin Village in July.

At the Feast at the end of April, Xia Hongqian made a unilateral decision, directly transferring Baisong and Zouyang, which were originally allocated to the towns of Chuishan and Longgu, to Jiangxia. Then, he made Jiangxia cede Fengshan and Longzhou to Longgu as compensation.

Xia Hong's proposed redistribution plan at the Feast at Hongmen was successfully passed, partly due to his strength, but upon closer examination, there is actually a deeper logic behind it.

First and foremost, Chuishan Town suffered the greatest losses, losing both Bashang and Baisong; secondly, Beishuo, whose Jiuqu, which it had originally acquired, was snatched away by Daxia; Yangqu still received Qinggu, so it didn't lose anything; Longgu exchanged Zouyang for Fengshan and Longzhou, and even made a profit; Jiangxia was even worse off.

As for Jinshan and Wuchuan, they are too far from Bashang, and they are not interested in Bashang territory. Of course, the main reason is that the two towns are happy to see Beishuo suffer losses at the hands of Daxia.

This means that five out of the eight towns could benefit from this redistribution plan, while Yangqu neither benefited nor suffered any loss. Only Beishuo and Chuishan suffered losses. This was the source of Xia Hong's confidence in redistributing the Ba Shang territory.

Unfortunately, not many people could see it. Most people on the southern slope of Mo'ao believed that the Eight Towns were intimidated by the strength of the Great Xia and had no choice but to agree.

This was exactly what everyone wanted to hear. At that time, Xia Hong was already trying to boost the prestige of the Great Xia Dynasty and intimidate the Eight Towns.

However, the core reason why Xia Hong initially assigned Baisong to Jiangxia was that Baisong Camp was right next to Mo'ao Mountain, and the entrance to the mountain range, which was more than 60 kilometers from north to south, was located there. He had been planning since then to obtain the entrance to the Mo'ao Mountain range from Jiangxia, which led to the subsequent acquisition of Qiyueheyin Village.

Jiangxia originally had more than 70 kilometers of territory along the Mo'ao Mountain line. After acquiring Baisong Camp, it increased by more than 60 kilometers. Even after giving 20 kilometers of the Heyin Village line to Daxia, they still had 110 kilometers left. In terms of territory along the Mo'ao Mountain line alone, they were the largest of the nine towns.

Jiangxia currently has over 2000 people at the Cold Resistance level and over 70000 at the Earth Digging level. Compared to Daxia, the number of their hunting teams is pitifully small. Given that their territory spans 110 square kilometers and their hunting grounds are so abundant, they shouldn't need to hunt in the area south of Heyin Village. It would be even more inappropriate for them to clash with Daxia's hunting teams.

The only explanation is that Jiangxia is under immense hunting pressure right now, to the point that almost all of their low, medium, and high-level hunting teams have mobilized, utilizing the entire 110-kilometer stretch of the Mo'ao Mountain area, and hunting is extremely frequent. Otherwise, with Jiangxia's small hunting team in Baisong, they wouldn't be constantly running into Daxia's hunting teams in the snowy forest.

Many things in this world are interconnected.

A healthy and well-developed camp has its own fixed hunting frequency. For example, the Great Xia Hunting Department has set fixed monthly hunting quotas for all hunting teams under its jurisdiction, which are divided into low, medium and high levels.

These indicators were not set arbitrarily. Hunting involves losses and inevitably involves casualties, so the hunters' ability to withstand pressure must also be taken into account.

Hunting teams are made up of living, breathing people; you can't expect them to go out hunting endlessly and without any restrictions, can you?

Therefore, if the hunting and gathering pressure suddenly increases in any camp, there is basically only one reason: the camp's resource reserves are insufficient, in other words, the supply system is malfunctioning.

When a person goes out hunting and gathering normally, their daily and even monthly income is necessarily positively correlated with their personal strength. Therefore, the number of people that a person at the Digging Realm or the Cold Resistance Realm can support, and the cultivation resources that can be provided to the camp, are roughly quantifiable.

This is what is known as a supply system.

The Great Xia camp has been developing for nearly ten years. In addition, Lord Xia Hong pays close attention to the various macro data of the camp, so he had Zhu Yuan, the director of the Civil Affairs Department, take charge of studying and verifying this data early on.

Of course, there are many variables involved, such as the stability of the surrounding environment, the level of risk in the hunting area, the quality of life, the camp's production and conversion capacity, and the improvement of the ability of multiple people to gather and hunt together, etc.

Zhu Yuan had roughly considered these factors. Taking the Great Xia Dynasty as an example, the data currently available shows that, on average, a person at the Earth-Digging Realm can support between 5 and 20 people, depending on their strength. It would be difficult to support more than 30 people. The Cold-Resistant Realm, on the other hand, can support between 30 and 100 people.

This is a rough estimate based on the current stage of the Great Xia Dynasty. Of course, it cannot be directly applied to other camps, but it at least has some reference value.

According to the latest news from Daxia, in order to make up for the losses in last year's battle, Jiangxia has been relocating all the people from the surrounding village camps to the town since May of this year. The town's total population has now exceeded 90.

With less than 2000 Cold-resistant level creatures and over 7 Digging Realm creatures, yet having to support a total of over 90 people, this is the core reason for the dramatic increase in hunting pressure in Jiangxia.

Xia Hong even received a message from a spy saying that Xiahou Zhang, the lord, would go deep into the Mo'ao Mountains every night with a big sword to hunt high-level cold beasts. This alone proves how bad the situation in Jiangxia is.

Of course, Muyin is no less impressive.

Like Jiangxia, in order to restore the population, Murong Chui also began to relocate people from village camps within his territory to the town in May of this year. Currently, the total population of Muyin Town has exceeded 75.

With over 1500 cold-resistant units and over 4 digging units, the town of Muyin supports 75 people. The situation in Muyin is far worse than that in Jiangxia.

The "support" here does not mean to feed or keep alive. If it were just about giving these people a meal to keep them alive, it wouldn't be a difficult thing for the town.

The provision here refers to giving everyone the opportunity to cultivate and become stronger, to live a decent life, and to ensure the town's healthy and sustainable development. The natural population growth rate, if not rising, should at least be maintained and not decline.

If it even falls into negative territory, then the town is essentially dying a slow death!

Under such circumstances, are Jiangxia and Muyin anxious?
Of course I'm anxious, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

It was precisely because Xia Hong knew this pain point of the two towns that he dared to propose the integration of the three towns and the sharing of resources at this juncture.

If no conditions are added and integration is proposed directly, it is obvious that Great Xia is bullying the two towns. After all, given the current situation of Jiangxia and Muyin, it is impossible for them to send people to Great Xia's resource areas to gather and hunt.

But if you add the condition of taking a cut from the hunting team, then it's a completely different story.

From the perspective of the two towns, they don't need to do anything. They only need to open up the resource area at the entrance to the mountain pass to extract profits from the hunting teams of Da Xia. This is a highly profitable business.

As for Xia Hong's initial proposal that people from both towns could freely exchange and purchase supplies at the Great Xia Military Supply Office, the fact that the two immediately refused shows that they were well aware of Xia Hong's intentions.

This can be considered as the Great Xia openly trying to win over the people of the two towns. As expected, even if Xiahou Zhang and Murong Chui dare not refuse Xia Hong, they will definitely impose restrictions on their subordinates after returning. However, whether these restrictions will be effective in the end depends on the loyalty of the Cold-resistant Earth-digging Realm people in the two towns.

Murong Chui and Xiahou Zhang were well aware of how important this commission was to the two towns, so they argued with Xia Chuan and Qiu Peng for a long time and finally managed to raise Xia Hong's initial 10% to 20%.

The two originally wanted to raise the percentage to 25%, but Qiu Peng got angry and said he was going to find Xia Hong and ask him to withdraw the decision to merge the three towns. Although Xiahou Zhang and Murong Chui could see that Qiu Peng was acting, the two towns were more eager for this cooperation than the Great Xia, so they finally relented and agreed.

"I thought it would cost 30%, but I didn't expect to save some money, hahaha!"

After seeing Xiahou Zhang and Murong Chui off, Qiu Peng's anger vanished instantly. He turned and walked back into the hall, looking at Xia Chuan above with a smile on his face.

Of the more than 600 people in the main hall, only about 30 remained.

Upon hearing Qiu Peng's words, everyone realized that he had just been acting, and they couldn't help but smile.

"It's a highly profitable business. Even if they only make half a percent, they'll still profit. If it weren't for the smooth annexation of these two towns later, why would the lord give them such a huge benefit? Hopefully, these two will understand when they get back!"

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's words, Qiu Peng immediately nodded, his expression brightening slightly as he said, "According to the lord's plan, as long as these two towns agree to merge, it's only a matter of time before they are annexed by our Great Xia!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the hall immediately perked up.

The rather impatient Yuan Cheng, after a moment of excitement, immediately remembered something and looked at Xia Chuan, asking, "The annexation of Muyin and Jiangxia is no longer a problem, but what about the other six towns? Minister Si, the lord should also have plans for the six towns, right?"

Of course!
Upon hearing Yuan Cheng's question, Xia Chuan recalled his previous conversation with Xia Hong, turned to look at everyone in the hall, and replied in a low voice, "The Longyou model."

Longyou Model...

Upon hearing these four words, Yuwen Tao, Qiu Peng, Yuan Cheng, Li Tiancheng, and more than thirty others in the hall immediately lowered their heads and fell into deep thought.

Li Tiancheng was the first among everyone to react. He looked up at Xia Chuan and asked, "Does the lord mean to follow the example of the Longyou period and form an alliance with the Six Garrisons in the name of jointly resisting foreign enemies, so that Great Xia can become the common ruler of the southern foothills of Mo'ao, just like Longshan did back then?"

As someone from Longshan, and being an implementer of the Longyou model himself, Li Tiancheng instantly understood the meaning behind Xia Hong's name.

He started it, and the others immediately understood and realized what was going on.

Yuwen Tao nodded emphatically and continued, "The banner of jointly resisting foreign enemies is never outdated, especially in the current area of ​​the southern foothills of Mo'ao, which is even more applicable than in Longyou back then."

"Cough cough..."

Upon hearing this, Li Tiancheng looked somewhat embarrassed and coughed lightly twice.

He naturally understood what Yuwen Tao meant. Back when Longshan raised the banner of jointly resisting foreign enemies, Longyou had no powerful enemies at all. Even so, the eleven giant camps still obeyed his orders.
There are indeed powerful enemies from other regions eyeing the southern border of Mo'ao. As long as the Six Garrisons understand this, and the Great Xia raises this banner again, the problem shouldn't be too big.

Moreover, the six garrisons may well be aware of the affairs of the Caiqiu garrison.

The Great Xia had only been involved in the Nine Towns for five years, yet it was able to find out the true nature of the Caiqiu warlord through the slightest clues. The Six Towns had been here for decades, so how could they not know anything about Caiqiu?

“The Caiqiu vassal state is still hiding in the shadows and has not yet surfaced. If our Great Xia were to launch a major war now and annex the six vassal states, it would easily arouse their suspicion and vigilance. Even if we succeed, they would easily reap the benefits in the end. It is right for the lord to take the Longyou model and proceed gradually!”

Xu Ning thought even deeper. As soon as he spoke, everyone fell silent, and then a look of surprise appeared on their faces.

“That’s right. We’ve only managed to find Cai Qiu so far. Who knows if there are any other stronger ones in the shadows? We really can’t rush things. And if we rashly start a war, it could easily force the Six Garrisons to unite again. If they really start fighting amongst themselves, it could easily benefit others in the end.”

"Didn't the lord say that today's incident at Hongmen City was a setup, clearly intended to incite infighting among the nine towns of the Southern Foothills? Now I'm starting to suspect that it was this Caiqiu warlord who orchestrated it!"

Upon hearing Lin Kai's guess, a strange light flashed in Xia Chuan's eyes.

"This round of population migration in Ba Shang will end at the end of the month. At that time, the total population of Xia City will surge to more than 250 million. It will take a long time just to completely digest this group of people, not to mention the subsequent migration to Jiangxia and Muyin towns. There is no need to rush the migration to the six towns."

"The Caiqiu vassal state is in the north. Having the three northern vassal states hold the line is beneficial for us. Our next step is to find a way to forge an alliance among the nine vassal states, putting a tight rein on the other six and preventing them from defecting to Caiqiu or other foreign powers!"

"That's right!"

"This is the lord's true intention in proposing the Longyou model."

"That's it, I understand."

………………

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's last words, everyone finally understood the true meaning behind Xia Hong's proposed Longyou model.

"So next, we must make the matter of Caiqiu garrison public, arouse the fear and, preferably the resentment, of everyone on the southern slope of Mount Mo'ao. Only in this way can we legitimately propose to jointly resist foreign enemies. Whether we facilitate it or force it, we must first establish the Nine Garrisons Alliance and not allow any of them to switch sides to foreign forces!"

Yuwen Tao immediately revealed the next step.

Everyone's expressions brightened upon hearing this.

"Isn't there just happened to be something?"

Xu Ning suddenly spoke up. The others were initially puzzled, but when they saw him turn his gaze to Yuan Cheng, Yuwen Tao, and Qiu Peng, they immediately understood and their faces lit up with joy.

"Yup!"

"We can pin the deaths of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce members on Cai Qiu!"

“Yang Zun said it himself during the day, that he also suspected that someone was secretly sowing discord among the nine towns. It is most appropriate for Cai Qiu to take the blame.”

"What do you mean by 'taken over'? It was clearly done by the people of Caiqiu!"

"Yeah!"

Upon hearing Xu Ning's last words, everyone nodded repeatedly, their faces beaming with smiles. Even Xia Chuan, sitting at the head of the table, clearly showed a strong sense of interest.

Indeed, regardless of whether it was Caiqiu people who did it or not, it's perfectly appropriate to make them take the blame now.

By exposing Caiqiu's warlordism and his wolfish ambitions to the public, the people of the eight towns were made wary of foreign powers. This perfectly complemented Xia Hong's subsequent Longyou model plan, and the alliance of the nine towns was facilitated under the pretext of jointly resisting foreign enemies.

“Even if we really want to frame Cai Qiu, we must first find out what really happened in the deaths of the members of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce. Others can be confused, but we can’t be. The lord said in front of so many people from the Eight Towns that he would thoroughly investigate this matter. If we frame someone first, and then someone overturns the case later, wouldn’t that ruin the lord’s prestige? How can our Great Xia regain the trust of the people in the future?”

Although Li Tiancheng's voice was old, it was very strong. After he finished speaking, everyone present froze for a moment and then fell into deep thought.

Xia Chuan immediately realized what was happening, and the apprehension on his face vanished instantly. He looked at Li Tiancheng gratefully and said, "Thank you for reminding me, Elder Li. I almost made a mistake."

He wasn't against framing someone, but rather against framing Cai Qiu before the truth had been uncovered.

The difference here is quite significant.

It is far more prudent to frame someone after thoroughly investigating the truth than to frame them arbitrarily without knowing the facts. The former can lead to an ironclad case, while the latter is prone to problems. If someone were to come forward to overturn the case in the future, the bad things would be secondary. The real issue would be causing the lord to lose credibility and damaging the prestige of the Great Xia Dynasty.

"I admire Elder Li's words of wisdom on governing the country!"

“That’s right, we should investigate this thoroughly first. The lord’s dignity is of utmost importance.”

"Old Li has a long-term vision, which Xu Ning admires."

…………

The others also realized what was happening and nodded in agreement.

Faced with everyone's praise, Li Tiancheng naturally didn't react much. He simply waved his hand, bowed to Xia Chuan, and said, "Minister Si, I have brought my department's only Golden Token Prison Warden..."

After speaking, Li Tiancheng turned his head and gestured to the people behind him, and immediately someone stepped forward from the back.

"Your subordinate greets the Chief Justice and all the esteemed officials!"

The newcomer was no more than forty years old, dressed in a black and red summer outfit, wearing a black round crown with a diameter of half a meter, and a golden token hanging from his waist. On the side facing Xia Chuan, the three characters "Prison Warden" were engraved.

"Hou Ming, you've already reached level 25 in strength, not bad!"

Xia Chuan's eyes lit up immediately when he saw the man in black.

He had some impression of Hou Ming. When the Great Xia officially expanded into Longyou, the first battle fought in the Beehive was against Hou Ming. At that time, Hou Ming was at the late stage of the Cold Control Realm with the strength of 8 manes. Now he has the strength of 25 manes, which shows that he has made great progress in the past few years.

Hou Ming's expression clearly showed some surprise; he obviously hadn't expected Xia Chuan to call out his name so quickly.

Xia Chuan could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression, and laughed, "You're quite famous! I've heard about you many times from Old Li. He said you've solved many major cases in the prison department, and that you can solve any cold case. Is that true?"

Upon hearing this, Hou Ming immediately cupped his hands in apology, clearly intending to say a few words of modesty.

But before he could even speak, the others spoke first.

"I've heard that too. Of the more than two hundred prison wardens under Elder Li, only you, Hou Ming, have been promoted to the Gold Order level. That's quite remarkable!"

“I heard someone say in Longshan that any difficult murder case at any of the outposts could be solved by just asking Hou Ming. That’s too amazing.”

“I went to the prison department and they said you’ve solved more than 300 murder cases, which is almost double the number of the second-place person.”

………………

Although the Prison Department was established relatively late, it now carries considerable weight among the Eight Departments due to Xia Hong's special attention.

Li Tiancheng divided the prison department into three main parts:
The first area is the Heavenly Prison in Xia City, which is a special area used to imprison criminals and to provide labor services.
The second set consists of the subordinate departments directly under the headquarters, namely the chief executioners of each major station, who are specifically responsible for the laws and punishments of their respective stations.

The third set consists of prison wardens who are specifically responsible for investigating and handling cases. They are divided into three levels: Iron Order, Silver Order, and Gold Order. Currently, Iron Order prison wardens are assigned to work under the Chief Enforcer at various major outposts. After being promoted to Silver Order, they are qualified to serve as Chief Enforcer. At present, the Chief Enforcers at various major outposts in the Great Xia are basically Silver Order level prison wardens.

The only person at the Gold Token level above that is Hou Ming.

Li Tiancheng set extremely strict requirements for the promotion of prison wardens. In addition to the high number of cases solved, he also stipulated the upper limit for the overturning rate of cases for each level of prison warden. The gold order could not exceed one percent, the silver order could not exceed three percent, and the iron order could not exceed five percent. Once this limit was exceeded, the gold and silver orders would be automatically downgraded, and the iron order would have its token revoked and the warden would have to start over as a prison guard.

In this way, the value of the Golden Order Prison Warden would be extremely high.

Hou Ming was promoted at the beginning of this year, which caused quite a stir at the time. So, not only Xia Chuan, but also most of the senior executives present at the moment know him.

"My lords are too kind. Hou Ming has only stayed in the camp and handled a few cases. It is you lords who have fought for our Great Xia in all directions and expanded our territory. That is what you are truly capable of!"

Upon being praised by so many people, Hou Ming immediately bowed and humbly admitted his mistake.

Hearing his words, Xia Chuan frowned slightly and said, "Fighting in battles is a skill, but investigating cases, punishing evil, and protecting the peace of Xia City are equally skills. Your contributions are no less than theirs, so there's no need to be too modest."

Hou Ming's expression immediately changed upon hearing this.

He had last heard these words from Lord Xia Hong, which was why he was able to concentrate on his work in the prison department. Hearing these words from Xia Chuan again was undoubtedly a great encouragement to him.

"What are your plans regarding the case of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce? Is there any hope of solving it?"

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's question, Hou Ming immediately perked up, cupped his hands, and said in a deep voice, "Rest assured, Magistrate, the lord has ordered the three towns to send over all those bodies within ten days. As long as I can see the bodies, I'm fifty percent certain. With the cooperation of eyewitnesses from the three towns, I'll say it without hesitation, as long as it's really not..."

At this point, Hou Ming realized something was amiss, glanced at Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, and Qiu Peng, and didn't continue.

"Then we'll leave the matter of our innocence to you."

Yuwen Tao naturally understood why they had stopped, and immediately smiled and spoke.

Yuan Cheng retorted angrily, "Now I really wish I had killed him. Once we find out who the real culprit is, I'll make him pay."

Qiu Peng said nothing, only shook his head slightly. After thinking for a moment, he looked at him strangely and said, "I'm just curious, why did Yang Ning and the other two dare to swear an oath in front of so many people?"

Upon hearing this, everyone recalled the posture of Yang Ning and the other two when they made their oath, and their expressions froze. Even Yuan Cheng and Yuwen Tao's expressions stiffened slightly.

In the Ice Abyss, absolutely no one would casually swear an oath about their cultivation level.

This is certain, so what Yang Ning and the other two said must be true; at the very least, they themselves believe it 100%.

This is the strangest part.

Don't they know whether they've killed anyone or not?

"It's unlikely that three people who look just like us and are also very strong went and killed the members of the Three Towns Merchants Association, is it?"

Yuan Cheng suddenly spoke, and from his angry tone, it was clear that it was an unintentional remark.

But it was precisely this unintentional remark that caused Xia Chuan, Yuwen Tao, and everyone else present to suddenly change their expressions.

"You know what, it's actually possible!"

Yuan Cheng was taken aback and looked at Xia Chuan with confusion.

"Once you connect it to ghosts and monsters, you'll understand!"

Upon hearing Xia Chuan's words, Yuan Cheng immediately understood.

Yup!

Back in the Tupo era, that wooden puppet monster created thirteen people who looked exactly like the logging team, and then went into the cave and wreaked havoc.

Xia Chuan frowned slightly and instructed Hou Ming, "Investigate normally in your usual way first. If you still have no clue, you can think about it in this direction."

Hou Ming immediately bowed and said, "Your subordinate obeys!"

"Alright, everything has been discussed and agreed upon..."

Xia Chuan turned to look at everyone and ordered, "Yue Feng, Zhao Long, Meng Yi, and Hou Tong, you will lead the Shanhe, Lieying, Xiongwu, and Beizhao armies to return to Longshan immediately to garrison."

"Subordinates take orders!"

"Hou Quan, you will lead the Dragon Martial Army back to Ba Shang City to garrison. In addition, the Dragon Slayer, Tiger Leopard, and Black Arrow Armies will also be stationed in the Ba Shang area from now on."

"Subordinates take orders!"

"Shenwu is stationed at Jinggu; Longyuan is stationed at Zhaoyang; Xuanwu is stationed at Wuyuan; Dongyang Army continues to return to Hanqiong."

"Subordinates take orders!"

"The Yunjiao Army will remain stationed at Hongmen and will not need to move. The Feipeng and Qingjiao Armies will continue to cooperate with Bashang to complete the population migration."

"Subordinates take orders!"

The people remaining in the hall at this moment, besides the eight department heads, were the commanders of the fifteen armies of the Great Xia. Xia Chuan had dismissed everyone else and deliberately kept these people in order to arrange the garrison duties for the army.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, there should be no war in the Great Xia for the next few years. Longshan, Bashang, Jinggu, Zhaoyang, Wuyuan, and Hanqiong—these six places are either backed by resource-rich areas or, at the very least, nearby. They are all excellent training grounds. The reason for arranging the 15th Army to be stationed in these places is to ensure that you do not slacken your military preparedness. The commanders of the 15th Army are all here today. If there is any war in the future, we will know which of the 15th Army is stronger or weaker once we are on the battlefield. If the army with the weakest combat power is found, don't blame me for holding you accountable!"

Hearing the solemnity in Xia Chuan's tone, everyone's expressions immediately became more serious, and they all cupped their hands and said loudly, "Your subordinate understands!"

"Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, you stay at Hongmen. After the Six Towns send over those corpses, cooperate with Hou Ming to investigate the matter thoroughly."

"I obey my orders!"

"The rest of you, go back to Xia City. Alright, everyone disperse!"

"Subordinates resign!"

The group bowed to bid farewell to Xia Chuan and soon left the main hall.

As Lin Kai walked out of the main hall, he suddenly remembered something and went straight to Xu Ning's side, asking in a low voice, "Xu Ning, did you arrange a marriage for your younger brother Xu An? The girl's name is Zhao Yuanxiu, right?"

Xu Ning immediately nodded and smiled, "That's true, but it wasn't my arrangement. It was Zhao Long and his two brothers who came to my door to ask for my hand in marriage. Zhao Yuanxiu is Zhao Bao's eldest daughter. I met her when she was working in Wuyuan. She's beautiful and has a great personality. Xu An has really picked up a good wife!"

Lin Kai's expression froze for a moment, then he asked, "Did you ask Xu An about this? Did he agree to it himself?"

Xu Ning was taken aback upon hearing this, then said with a strange expression, "I mentioned it to him once last month, and he didn't say anything. Young people are shy..."

"Hey, you're really not paying enough attention to Xu An!"

Lin Kai interrupted Xu Ning directly, and seeing his confused expression, continued to ask, "Do you remember Ji Hong and Ji Jiang, the brother and sister?"

"Of course I remember him. He's an old man from the Tupo era. That Ji Hong is no ordinary man. He has top-notch combat physique and was just selected by Yuwen Sizheng and recruited into the Dragon Martial Army. His future is limitless!"

Lin Kai shook his head repeatedly and continued, "The person your brother Xu An likes is probably his sister Ji Jiang. When they were working in Wuyuan, the two of them were often together, and I caught them together several times."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ning's brows furrowed immediately. Recalling the hesitant look on Xu An's face when he discussed marriage last month, he suddenly realized that it wasn't shyness, but rather a desire to reject him.

"Why won't he be with me..."

Xu Ning stopped speaking before he could finish.

Having relied on each other for nearly ten years, Xu Ning knows her younger brother's personality very well.

He would never refuse anything from his older brother. Even though he had such a serious talk about marriage with him last month, he probably wouldn't have said it directly, even if he had his own thoughts.

"I'll go ask him myself later!"

Lin Kai nodded immediately and said, "Marriage is a serious matter, not a game. It's important to ask questions. I heard someone from the Zhao family mention this last night, which reminded me of when I saw Xu An and Ji Jiang together in Wuyuan. I came here specifically to remind you."

Xu Ning nodded. When he was the head of Wuyuan Shouzheng, Lin Kai, Xu An, and Zhao Bao were all his subordinates. They were very close, so it wasn't surprising that he knew about these things.

(End of this chapter)