Late Ming Dynasty: Summoning players from Liaodong to support the Ming Dynasty

Su Qingying's body stiffened.

The list, covered in scribbles, handed to her made her feel more helpless than a cold blade.

She took the rough-looking document in a daze, and her fingertips touched a world she had never imagined.

Accounting?

Help the general with the accounts?

She was just a refugee who had survived by sheer luck, an ant that could be crushed at any moment. What right did she have?

"I..." Su Qingying's throat was dry, and she couldn't utter a single word.

Chu Ze did not give her a chance to refuse.

He picked up the list, turned, and walked out of the study.

"Come with me."

His tone carried no command, yet it possessed an irresistible force that propelled people forward.

Almost instinctively, Su Qingying took a step and followed behind him.

As you walk through the silent corridor, a strange smell, a mixture of sweat, dust, and noise, hits you.

The supply warehouse in Guangning City is now a chaotic inferno.

The shouts and curses of the laborers, the strange cries of the players, and the loud noises from the transport of supplies all mingled together, making people dizzy and disoriented.

Wang Erniu was shirtless, sweat beading on his bronze muscles. He kicked a laborer who was trying to steal something in the backside, roaring like thunder.

"Damn it! You better watch your hands and feet! If you dare steal again, I'll chop you up and feed you to the dogs!"

In another corner of the warehouse, Li Xunyi, an elderly scholar with gray hair and beard, was holding an account book, trembling with anger.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Seven-tenths of the income goes into the accounts, and three-tenths goes out—the accounts are a complete mess! You...you are all parasites on the nation!"

A quartermaster in charge of recording looked aggrieved and mournful.

"Mr. Li, it's not that we don't remember! Those heavenly soldiers never say a word before taking the goods; they just grab them and run, and we can't stop them!"

Chu Ze's arrival brought the chaos to a temporary halt.

"General!"

Wang Erniu and Li Xunyi came forward at the same time.

Chu Ze ignored them and simply turned to the side, making way for Su Qingying behind him.

In front of everyone, he handed Su Qingying a newly carved boxwood plaque, representing power.

"Effective immediately, Su Qingying shall serve as the Chief Recorder of the Logistics Department of the Guangning Garrison."

"During the [Epic Preparation] mission, she was in charge of all the distribution, statistics, and allocation of resources."

After he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

Wang Erniu's eyes, as big as copper bells, widened instantly.

He looked at Chu Ze, then at the frail woman who seemed to him like she could be blown away by a gust of wind, his face full of disbelief.

"General! This...this is absolutely unacceptable!" He was the first to jump out in opposition, his voice deafening. "Matters of national importance cannot be entrusted to a woman! What...what does she know!"

Li Xunyi also recovered from his shock. He adjusted the crystal lenses on his nose and bowed deeply in grief.

"General, please reconsider! There's an old saying: 'A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent!' To put her in charge of the lifeline of logistics is tantamount to child's play! If word gets out, won't the whole world laugh at us!"

Questions and objections poured in from all directions.

Su Qingying clutched the still-warm wooden plaque, her palms drenched in cold sweat. She felt as if she had been stripped naked and thrown into a crowd, subjected to endless, scornful, and suspicious gazes, a form of torture.

She instinctively wanted to step back, wanting to return the hot wooden plaque to Chu Ze.

Just then, Chu Ze stepped forward and stood in front of her.

His not particularly imposing physique was like a mountain, shielding him from all the wind and rain.

"When the nation is in peril, only the talented should be promoted."

Chu Ze's tone was steady, yet carried a resolute and authoritative air that struck everyone's heart with force.

"You will soon see her talent."

He offered no further explanation.

He used his unquestionable prestige to forcefully suppress all other voices.

Wang Erniu opened his mouth, wanting to persuade him further, but when he met Chu Ze's deep and calm gaze, he swallowed all his words.

Li Xunyi sighed deeply, clutching his chest, looking sorrowful as if he lamented the decline of morality and the loss of traditional values.

Chu Ze ignored them and turned to look at the woman hiding behind him, trembling slightly.

"Go do it."

Su Qingying raised her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

This was the first time since she fled that she was treated as a "person" instead of a "woman," a "vagrant," or a piece of merchandise that could be discarded at will.

This trust is heavier than a mountain.

She gripped the wooden plaque bearing the inscription "Master" tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.

She bowed deeply and heavily to Chu Ze.

When she straightened up again, the tears in her eyes had faded, replaced by a resolute determination.

Su Qingying took office.

Faced with the chaotic warehouse and hundreds of players and laborers eyeing her with predatory intent, she remained calm.

The first thing she did was not to take stock of the mountains of supplies.

She found several carpenters who had been brought in by the players to work.

"I need a lot of bamboo slips, which need to be shaved flat and smooth."

"We also need many small wooden signs, one finger wide and three fingers long."

Half an hour later, when a pile of processed bamboo slips and wooden plaques were presented to her, everyone was puzzled.

Su Qingying did not explain.

She picked up a bamboo slip and drew crisscrossing lines on it with a charcoal pencil.

Then, on the top line, she wrote a few clear headings.

[Material Name], [Quantity Received], [Recipient], [Purpose], [Date].

A most basic, yet most effective, form was born.

She nailed the bamboo slip to the most conspicuous pillar in the warehouse.

"From now on, all supplies entering the warehouse must be registered here."

"All supplies must be collected with a valid token before leaving the warehouse."

She distributed the small wooden plaques to the squad leaders of various units and the heads of the player guilds.

"Each plaque represents your identity. To receive anything, you must present the wooden plaque, and the clerk will register and sign it here."

"No one without a license may take even a grain of rice or a nail out of the warehouse!"

Her voice was still soft, but it carried an undeniable sense of order and determination.

A player team that had just returned from the South Gate construction site stormed into the warehouse, cursing and swearing, and picked up a bag of lime to leave.

"Make way! Make way! We're running out of cement again! Coco's urging us to move!"

Su Qingying blocked their way.

"Show me your wooden signs."

The player in the lead was taken aback, looked the beautiful NPC who had suddenly appeared up and down, and chuckled.

"Little sister, are you new here? Could you please make an exception for us? We're in a hurry."

Su Qingying ignored his teasing and simply repeated it.

"Show the wooden tag, register, and then you can take it."

"Hey, you little slut, you're getting cocky, aren't you?" The player's face darkened, and he reached out to push her.

Before his hand could even touch Su Qingying, a dark shadow flashed by.

Wang Erniu appeared beside Su Qingying at some point, and with his large, fan-like hand, he grabbed the player's wrist.

"What do you want to do?" Wang Erniu's tone was full of chilling murderous intent.

Although he did not agree with Chu Ze's appointment, the general's orders were military law.

The player winced in pain and immediately begged for mercy.

"Brother Niu! Brother Niu! It's a misunderstanding! I was just joking with this NPC girl!"

Upon hearing the news, Wang Han rushed over and was immediately bewildered by the scene. He quickly stepped forward, putting on a fawning smile.

"Brother Niu, please calm down. My man doesn't know the rules. I'll have him register right away!"

He glared at the troublemaker, who sheepishly took the guild plaque given to him by Wang Han and lined up to register in front of Su Qingying.

With this incident of making an example of someone to scare others, the scene instantly quieted down.

Players discovered that this new NPC, despite her gentle and delicate appearance, possessed an iron-fisted and decisive style.

What surprised them even more was that after implementing this "strange" rule, the efficiency of receiving supplies actually increased significantly.

No more cutting in line, no more fraudulent claims. Everything became orderly.

Zhou Keke personally came to the warehouse to collect a new batch of iron ore powder. After experiencing the process, she pushed up her non-existent glasses on her nose and exclaimed in surprise in the guild channel.

"Holy crap! What kind of amazing NPC is Su Qingying?! Her management system is basically a human version of Excel! It's incredible!"

Li Xunyi originally stood in the corner, watching coldly with the intention of gloating.

But as he watched, the disdain on his face gradually turned into astonishment, and finally, into deep shock.

He saw that Su Qingying had not only established an inbound and outbound inventory system.

She also categorized and labeled all the supplies. The food section, the ironware section, the lumber section, and even the strange "gold juice" handed in by the players were separated and marked conspicuously.

Within just one hour, the entire warehouse was transformed from a garbage dump into a well-organized warehouse.

When Su Qingying delivered the first completed daily report to Li Xunyi.

The old Confucian scholar, who had been stubborn all his life, held the bamboo slip filled with clear entries and numbers, his hands trembling slightly.

Today, 300 dan of limestone and 500 dan of clay were delivered to the warehouse.

One hundred jin of iron nails were taken out of the warehouse to reinforce the south gate barbican.

Thirty cans of kerosene were released from the warehouse and collected by the player team "Baqiang Durou" to be used to make "Zhentianlei".

……

Every single account is clear and verifiable.

The city's resource consumption and remaining inventory are clearly displayed on this small bamboo slip!

Li Xunyi held the bamboo slip as if it were a priceless treasure.

He looked at the woman who was standing quietly to the side, waiting for his approval, and for the first time, a look of amazement and approval appeared on her old face.

He muttered to himself, his tone filled with a shocking and mind-blowing message.

"This is not an account book...this is...this is 'the art of strategic planning'! It uses simplicity to manage complexity, offering unparalleled insight! Comparable to the strategies of Shang Yang!"

With efficient logistical support, Zhou Keke's cement research progressed rapidly.

The improved cement began to be produced in a continuous stream and sent to every section of the city wall in Guangning.

Guangning City is becoming impregnable at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Three days later, at night.

Inside the study of the garrison commander's residence.

Su Qingying was standing in front of the huge three-dimensional sand table, reporting to Chu Ze on the consumption of supplies for the city's defenses.

"...The repair of the East Gate Arrow Tower has been completed, consuming three cartloads of timber and fifty catties of iron nails."

"The north gate ramp has been reinforced with new cement, and the effect is excellent."

Her voice was soft and clear, and she explained a lot of complicated data in a very clear way.

Chu Ze listened quietly, his appreciation for the woman growing even stronger.

When Su Qingying's finger moved to the west side of the sand table, she paused for a moment.

She looked at that area on the sand table and said something unintentionally.

"General, the west gate is the lowest point in terms of terrain, and it has the fewest defensive weapons. When my hometown was besieged before, the Tartars loved to launch surprise attacks from this kind of place..."