A sickly fellow ridiculed by the entire army? I'll be the most beautiful woman in the barracks!

The moment they met, the middle-aged clerk sprayed him in the face, and Li Erlong's face turned bright red.

He was good at using his fists, but Li Erlong couldn't do anything with these clerks who only talked, especially since they were from the Military Command.

The clerks around him, seeing this, all revealed a smug look, stood up and surrounded him, as if they were watching a joke.

Teasing the soldiers who came to handle their business was one of their daily pastimes.

Of course, they all have their reasons and evidence, and they would never fabricate any regulations or requirements out of thin air.

However, this reasoning is sound and can sometimes be circumvented in front of certain people.

Clearly, these two people are not among them.

Zhao Daxuan's face darkened, and he stepped forward, his voice steady yet carrying immense weight.

"I am Zhao Daxuan of the Wangbei Camp. My unit is an independent army, directly under the command of the city's commander. This recruitment is an expansion of the military approved by the general himself. Are you sure you want to stop it?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged clerk glanced sideways at Zhao Daxuan, never expecting that the burly young man before him was the newly promoted captain Zhao Daxuan who had risen to fame in the past two days.

He immediately suppressed a hint of disdain, but still remained seated in front of the document, offering a perfunctory bow.

"So it's Commandant Zhao! My apologies for not recognizing you sooner!"

Then the conversation shifted.

"Even with the general's personal approval, rules still apply! Want to be registered? Sure! Have someone come see me!"

Having said that, he chuckled and picked up a book from the side, pretending to read it while muttering, "Don't try to intimidate me with your generalship; this official only respects the rules!"

Zhao Daxuan remained silent, his face grim. He gave the middle-aged clerk a deep look before turning and leaving the tent.

He stood at the entrance of the tent and let out a loud shout.

"Where are the troops of the Northern Camp?"

As soon as he finished speaking, fifty fully armed swordsmen and shieldmen in front of the tent stepped forward in unison, slamming their heavy shields into the ground.

With a muffled thud, the ground trembled slightly.

Fifty swordsmen and shieldmen shouted in unison, "We are here!"

The voice was as loud as thunder, startling everyone around, whose expressions changed.

"Follow me inside to fetch the commander of the military affairs office to verify the new recruits' identities at the city gate!"

After saying this, he returned to his tent, followed by fifty elite soldiers who marched in perfect unison, their imposing presence causing the ground to tremble slightly.

After the fifty men entered the tent, they stood in a neat circle around the perimeter of the tent.

Holding a shield in one hand and the hilt of a sword at their waist in the other, they scanned the group of scribes in the tent with sharp eyes.

Instantly, the camp fell into a deathly silence, and all the clerks turned pale.

The middle-aged clerk's lips trembled, and his eyes revealed a look of anger and embarrassment. He never expected that someone would dare to act arrogantly in the Military Affairs Bureau!

He slammed his hand on the table and pointed a trembling finger at Zhao Daxuan.

"How dare you! Do you know where you are?"

Zhao Daxuan, his face cold, walked up to the middle-aged clerk and said in a chilling tone, "This is where new recruits are registered into the military! My brothers and I cordially invite you to go to the city gate to verify the recruits' identities!"

"If you do not go, you will be hindering my army's formation and delaying military operations! Now that the Tartar army is pressing in, and a formidable enemy is at hand, this crime deserves death!"

"I'm asking you one last time, are you going to the city wall to verify the person or not!"

Zhao Daxuan shouted the last sentence, startling the middle-aged clerk, whose already pale face turned ashen.

Looking at the dozens of pairs of menacing eyes before him, he realized that they were not ordinary soldiers whom he had bullied at will, but fierce soldiers who had fought bloody battles on the battlefield.

Zhao Daxuan looked at the middle-aged clerk with a sneer, his face ashen, and pointed to the dozens of his subordinates around him.

"If you don't want to go, that's fine too! My dozens of brothers will protect you and me right now, and we'll go together to confront the general."

"I'd like to see if you're truly determined to accept this accusation of delaying military operations!"

The mere words "confrontation before the general" caused the middle-aged clerk to break out in a cold sweat once more.

The general is not someone anyone can see at will, but looking at Zhao Daxuan's resolute eyes, he knew that the other party was capable of doing it.

The middle-aged clerk could no longer hold back. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat running down his face, his voice trembling.

"I...I'll go to the city wall to verify the identity!"

Zhao Daxuan waved his hand, pointing outside the tent, his eyes coldly fixed on the other side.

"Walk."

The middle-aged clerk walked out of the military camp with trembling legs.

The soldiers outside the camp widened their eyes in surprise, never expecting that the usually arrogant and domineering military command would actually yield.

Although they were shocked, none of them dared to speak out, for fear of incurring the wrath of the middle-aged clerk before them.

Although the soldiers watching around didn't say anything, their strange looks made the middle-aged clerk so ashamed that he couldn't lift his head and wished he could dig a hole and bury himself on the spot.

He quickened his pace and only breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of sight of everyone.

Zhao Daxuan and his entourage led the middle-aged clerk toward the south gate.

Upon ascending the south gate, Zhao Daxuan, accompanied by a middle-aged clerk, looked out of the city and saw two hundred new recruits arrayed in two formations: one of swordsmen and shieldmen, and the other of armored cavalry.

The two formations were perfectly aligned, clearly visible, with each soldier standing ramrod straight, obviously arranged by veterans from outside the city.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to stand so neatly after only one day of military service.

Zhao Daxuan looked at the middle-aged clerk who had regained some color in his face and gestured for him to look at the group of new recruits below the city.

"The person is right here! Make sure you count them carefully. If you're still worried, you can go outside the city to verify them."

The middle-aged clerk's lips moved, his voice trembling, "No...no need. We've already seen them. I'll register them now, and they can be issued military ranks tomorrow."

Zhao Daxuan's composed expression relaxed slightly, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"That's good! I'll have someone retrieve the military registration tomorrow. Hopefully, there won't be any further complications!"

The middle-aged man nodded hesitantly, "No...no, don't worry, sir, I'll go back and register now."

After saying that, he took two steps back and was about to turn around and leave when Zhao Daxuan's voice came from behind him again.

"Wait!"

The middle-aged man froze, then turned around with a mournful face.

"My lord, is there anything else you require?"

Zhao Daxuan pointed to Li Erlong, who looked refreshed and energetic.

"He is my capable lieutenant, Li Erlong!"

"Register him too. From today onwards, he's no longer some lowly squad leader, but a centurion of my Wangbei Camp!"

"Oh, and there's another one named Zhao Fubao, he's also registered as a centurion!"

The middle-aged clerk paused for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded stiffly, "Yes, sir."

After saying that, he turned around again and fled as if he were escaping.

Although the promotion to registrar was not within his responsibilities, how could he dare to say anything at this moment?

After the middle-aged clerk left, Li Erlong finally realized what had happened and pointed at himself with disbelief.

"Sir... you mean I've been promoted to centurion?"

Zhao Daxuan smiled and nodded. "What? You're not happy about it?"

Upon hearing this, Li Erlong grinned sheepishly, scratched his head, and hurriedly replied, "Would be happy! Of course I'd be happy!"

Seeing Li Erlong's ecstatic expression, Zhao Daxuan couldn't help but smile.

Just as he was about to continue joking, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he quickly turned his head to look in the southwest direction of Zhenbei City.

At this moment, a troop of several hundred unidentified cavalrymen appeared on the southwest horizon of Zhenbei City.