Great Wilderness Demon Lord

It was already afternoon when they returned to the Xiao Clan Chamber of Commerce.

The autumn sun slanted down, casting a pale gold hue on the bluestone slabs in the courtyard, but it couldn't dispel the bone-chilling cold unique to the north.

Liu Heyang had been waiting in the east wing for a long time. When he saw Xiao Yunlan return, he personally poured him a cup of hot tea. The tea was piping hot, with wisps of steam rising, but Liu Heyang noticed that there was little joy in Xiao Yunlan's expression. He immediately understood what was going on.

"Has the Second Young Master met with Vice Commander Han?" he asked.

Xiao Yunlan placed the roster on the table and nodded: "Fifty able-bodied soldiers, one hundred recruited soldiers, and two hundred convicts, half a month's rations, and all necessary tools."

Liu Heyang carefully examined the roster, his brows gradually furrowing. He remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, "Young master, there are some things I'm unsure whether I should say."

"Please speak freely, sir."

Liu Heyang put down his teacup and tapped his finger lightly on the roster: "Fifty elite soldiers... Vice Commander Han's gift is not insignificant. But has the young master considered this: elite soldiers are the cream of the crop in the army, and the officers and soldiers of each battalion are already finding it difficult to keep them all. Why would he so easily allocate fifty men to you?"

Xiao Yunlan raised her eyes: "What does the person in charge mean?"

"Troublemakers." Liu Heyang uttered two words with a solemn expression. "They must be the most difficult to manage, the most unruly, or veterans who have violated military discipline but whose crimes do not warrant death."

These men may be skilled, but they are unruly and difficult for ordinary officers to control. That's why we gathered fifty of them and assigned them to you, the newly arrived captain.

He paused, then continued, "As for those two hundred convicts—you know, young master, the convict camp has no shortage of desperados. Among them are many vicious criminals who have killed people and have criminal records. If these people are used well, they are labor; if not used well… they are the root of trouble."

Xiao Yunlan remained calm, showing no surprise. He had anticipated this, even considering it when he was demanding the convicts from Han Zhong.

Seeing his composure, Liu Heyang felt somewhat relieved, but still continued, "There is something even more important—the timing."

He got up and walked to the window, pushed it open halfway, and the north wind immediately rushed in, carrying a biting chill. "Young master, do you know that it is already late autumn? In another month, the first snow will fall in Zhenhuang Pass."

The north wind blows from three hundred li north of the pass, where the snow season arrives earlier and the cold is more intense.

He turned to Xiao Yunlan, his tone heavy: "From Zhenhuang Pass to Shuofeng Plain, the caravan will need five days. Even if we set off tomorrow, we won't arrive until late in the month. Although the ground won't be completely frozen then, the winds of Shuofeng Plain..."

I experienced that firsthand three years ago; it was a knife that could blow right through a person's bones.

Once it snows, the ground freezes solid. Forget digging trenches and building walls; even with a pickaxe, you couldn't dig a single foot of soil in a day.

"Without walls and fortresses, how will we survive the winter?" Liu Heyang lowered his voice. "Not to mention the Lang Rong—those barbarians are as resistant to the cold as wolves. When food and fodder are scarce in winter, they come south in packs to plunder."

Last year, Wangbeibao was breached three days after the first snowfall. The fort walls were not yet frozen solid when the Rong barbarians launched a night attack, breaching the gates with fire…

He didn't say anything more, but the meaning was clear: without a strong camp, these 370 people would probably become food for the Lang Rong during the winter.

The room fell silent for a moment, with only the howling wind outside the window.

Xiao Yunlan remained silent for a moment, then picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip. The tea was slightly cool and bitter, but it made him even more focused.

"I understand everything the magistrate has said." He put down his teacup and looked at the roster. "The difficulty of the Shuofeng Plain lies in the timing, the location, and the people's hearts. The timing cannot be changed, the location requires human effort, and the people's hearts—" He paused, "are precisely the only place I can focus my efforts on."

Liu Heyang's expression shifted slightly: "Does Young Master already have a plan?"

"There's no real strategy, just 'countermeasures as they come'." Xiao Yunlan stood up, walked to the window and stood side by side with Liu Heyang, looking towards the northern horizon. "If there are troublemakers among the soldiers, then we'll deal with them using the same methods as troublemakers."

Criminals are vicious and unruly, so we use vicious methods to control them. As for construction in the dead of winter…”

He turned to look at Liu Heyang, his expression calm. "Though the timing is harsh, it's not a dead end. I have some plans in mind, and I'll find a way out eventually."

Liu Heyang raised an eyebrow and carefully examined the young man's profile.

The fading light of dusk outlined a clear silhouette, and those eyes were as calm as a deep pool, showing no trace of the restlessness and unease often found in young people.

"Does the young master already have a plan?" Liu Heyang asked slowly.

"It's not a sure thing," Xiao Yunlan said, turning his gaze to the swaying shadows of the trees in the courtyard. "But things can be accomplished by human effort. No matter how cold the north wind is, it can't freeze a person's determination; no matter how tight the deadline is, it can't be tighter than when a knife is held to one's throat."

These words, spoken calmly, sent a shiver down Liu Heyang's spine.

He suddenly realized that the young man in front of him probably understood what Shuofeng Plain meant better than he had imagined—it was not a simple assignment, but a real battlefield of life and death.

"Since you have considered everything so thoroughly, young master, I will not say any more." Liu Heyang cupped his hands in greeting. "I will do my best to assist the Chamber of Commerce. The thirty guards can be introduced in three days."

"Thank you for your help, sir."

Liu Heyang said no more, bowed, and left the room. The door closed softly, shutting out the sounds from outside.

The room fell silent as dusk seeped through the window paper, gradually blurring the outlines of the tables and chairs.

Xiao Yunlan did not light a lamp, but walked back to the desk and sat down in the dim light.

The roster lay open on the table, the ink on the paper slightly blurred in the dim light, but he no longer needed to look at it—fifty able-bodied soldiers, one hundred recruits, two hundred convicts—these numbers and their implications were already etched in his mind.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

Building a camp in the dead of winter is indeed a challenge.

People in this era viewed winter construction as a daunting task, as the freezing weather, compacted soil, and difficulty in accessing tools made it extremely inefficient.

But he was different—those scattered insights and groundbreaking knowledge from his past life slowly surfaced in his mind.

Construction in frozen soil is not unsolvable; it simply requires a change in approach, the use of methods not yet widely adopted in this era, and more efficient organization.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, his rhythm steady.

I started to think things through: material selection could be adjusted, process arrangement could be optimized, manpower allocation needed to be more precise... even heating, frost prevention, and maintaining morale all needed to be reconsidered.

This is not simply copying the past, but rather integrating those timeless insights into the technological conditions and material foundation of this era to develop a practical and feasible solution.

The daylight outside the window had completely faded.

The hustle and bustle of the night market in Zhenhuang Pass could be faintly heard, yet it seemed distant and unreal, as if separated by a layer of something.

Xiao Yunlan opened his eyes, sat quietly in complete darkness for a moment, then reached for a tinderbox and lit the oil lamp on the table.

A dim, yellowish light spread out, illuminating the ink-written characters on the register and his calm face. There was no excitement, no trepidation, only a chilling clarity.

He knew what to do.

I also know how arduous this path will be.

But the game has already begun, and there's no going back on a move.

He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and slowly wrote the first line on the blank paper:

"A Brief Outline of the Establishment of the Winter Camp at Shuofeng Plain..."

The flickering lamplight cast his long shadow on the wall. Outside the window, the north wind grew stronger, foreshadowing the approaching harsh winter beyond the Great Wall.