Starting from his vigorous old age, he began to conquer Liaozhai.

After briefly handing over the affairs to Cao Xiong, Wei Qiang flicked his sleeves and left the Hundred Household Office with a flourish.

Cao Xiong gave a wry smile, bowed his head to the desk, and began to handle official business.

Over the past few days, Wei Qiang has kept detailed records of the progress of every single matter.

The first issue was the reward money and compensation after the bandit suppression. The compensation for all the officers and soldiers who died in battle had been distributed to their families.

Those who were seriously injured and needed to recover, or even those who could no longer serve in the military, were all properly taken care of.

Next, Cao Xiong needed to deal with the battle records of officers and soldiers, military households, the distribution of rewards, and how to reward the martial arts practitioners who participated in the bandit suppression.

Wei Qiang was unaware of Cao Xiong's arrangements, so he did not interfere.

Another matter concerns the replenishment of personnel for the various banner commanders and squad leaders, as well as the appointment of banner commanders and squad leaders.

According to the procedure, the appointment of the flag officer requires recommendation by the centurion, which is then reported to the thousand-household office, and the thousand-household office makes the final evaluation.

However, when the appointment letter was issued in the county seat, Cao Xiong was left to handle the matter himself.

Cao Xiong breathed a sigh of relief; otherwise, Liu Mingzi's path to becoming a commander would have been much more complicated.

If, in the end, the garrison is unwilling to appoint Liu Mingzi as their commander because of his bandit background, then Cao Xiong would truly have let Liu Mingzi down.

After all, they made a solemn promise back then.

This is a true talent; he is skilled in both literature and martial arts, and adept at calculations.

Finally, there is a tally of the large amount of gold, silver, grain, and valuables seized during this bandit suppression operation.

The total value, converted into silver, already exceeded 15,000 taels.

After reading Wei Qiang's notes, Cao Xiong felt a headache coming on and couldn't help but sigh, "The Hundred-Household Office is still too small; there are no civil officials to assist the Hundred-Household Officers in handling miscellaneous matters."

The most urgent task is to deal with the rewards for officers, soldiers, military households, and martial artists.

The imperial court had its own set of standards for this.

In cases like suppressing mountain bandits, ordinary soldiers and military households would receive no more than five taels of silver.

Cao Xiong did not intend to act according to that standard; it was too petty.

In the future, actions like this one, directly confronting demons, will become more and more frequent.

If the rewards aren't generous enough, who will risk their lives for you?

Moreover, these officers, soldiers, and military households need a large amount of medicinal herbs and meat to improve their strength; without money, how can they do that?

Therefore, Cao Xiong set a basic reward of twenty taels of silver for each of the officers, soldiers, and military households who participated in the bandit suppression.

Twenty taels of silver is not a small amount; it is enough to support a family of five for a year and a half.

Both the flag officer and the martial arts practitioners were considered to be martial artists who had entered the country, so each of them received fifty taels of silver.

Then, based on these achievements, additional rewards will be given.

……

After Cao Xiong finalized the rewards, he summoned all the banner officers to the barracks.

The next step is to handle the appointment of the chief and junior officers.

Before long, Wang Er arrived first, beaming with joy, "Congratulations, Uncle Cao, on your promotion to centurion."

"You brat, you're already a junior officer, and you're still so unreliable."

As Cao Xiong's official rank rose higher and higher, others unconsciously became more reserved when interacting with him. Only Wang Er remained the same as before when no one else was present.

"Uncle Cao, I'm just happy."

"Who would have thought that just a few months ago, we were being suppressed by that ingrate Fang Zheng, and now you've become a centurion."

"So, life is unpredictable. However, you should still focus more on your training. But you've only just entered the early stage of the Skin Tempering Realm, and it seems like you're already starting to slack off."

The changes over the past few months felt like a dream to Cao Xiong. He still valued Wang Er highly; he was clever, loyal, and reliable. Wang Er had been his soldier since Cao Xiong was a junior officer.

They have followed the Cao family for generations and belong to the most direct line of the direct line.

Wang Er's face fell. "Uncle Cao, I will definitely practice martial arts twice as hard and strive to break through to the mid-stage of the Skin Tempering Realm as soon as possible."

Just then, footsteps came from outside the room, and Wang Er quickly found a place to sit down.

Qiu Ming, Yu Tong, Li Cheng, Lin Liang, Sha Huizi and others arrived one after another.

Cao Xiong looked down at the group of warriors below, a total of nine people, all of whom were his flag officers; the rest had died in battle during the bandit suppression.

Although Cao Man was not a banner officer, he should have been summoned to the barracks, but his size was too large for the room to accommodate him, so he was not summoned.

"Gentlemen, the current Hundred-Household Office has three General Banners and fifteen Junior Banners, which is severely insufficient in terms of available Banner Officers, so we need to rearrange the positions."

The flag officers had already guessed this, so they did not show any doubt and quietly waited for Cao Xiong's next arrangements.

"From today onwards, I will continue to serve as the First Banner Commander. Whoever among you is the first to break through to the Bone Forging Realm will become the Banner Commander."

Upon hearing Cao Xiong's words, Qiu Ming, Yu Tong, and several other late-stage Tempering Realm martial artists showed some excitement in their eyes.

"Wang Er, Cao Man, and Li Cheng are appointed as junior officers of the First General Banner."

"Sha Huizi was appointed as the Second Banner Commander, and Qiu Ming, Yu Tong, and Lin Liang were appointed as Junior Banner Commanders."

"Liu Mingzi was appointed as the head of the Third Banner, and Qin Dan and Li Guai were appointed as junior officers."

"Anyone who has objections to the above appointments may contact me."

Cao Xiong then looked at Wang Er, "The Hundred-Household Office needs more muskets. Have Master Lu continue to make them, the more the better. This task is entrusted to you."

"Yes, sir!"

Wang Er stood up, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and looked solemn. The importance of muskets to the centurion's garrison was self-evident.

Ordinary soldiers are almost powerless against warriors or monsters. Only by equipping themselves with enough muskets can the centurions cope with the more severe challenges ahead.

"The matter of rewards after the bandit suppression will be handled by Commander Sha and Commander Liu."

Cao Xiong handed the compiled reward rules to Liu Mingzi.

After everyone had left, Wang Er took out a blueprint from his pocket and unfolded it on the table.

"Uncle Cao, what do you think of this?"

Cao Xiong looked over curiously and saw a unique musket drawn on the drawing, which was short in size.

Tell me about it.

Wang Er's eyes shone with fervor. "Uncle Cao, this is a short musket I designed. Compared to a regular musket, its firing range and accuracy may be slightly inferior, but it is easy to carry and can be used with one hand."

"If all our officers and soldiers were equipped with these short muskets, our combat effectiveness would definitely be raised to another level."

In fact, Cao Xiong thought the design was feasible when he saw it; this short musket was similar to a handgun on Earth.

"Very good, are you confident?"

Wang Er nodded, "Uncle Cao, I've already discussed this idea with Master Lu, and he also thinks it's worth a try. We're just waiting for your approval."

"Then let's do it, and we'll wait for your good news."

"Okay."

Cao Xiong suddenly felt that it was a waste of Wang Er's talents to make him a junior officer, and that he should be allowed to specialize in firearms research.

As evening approached, Cao Xiong left the Hundred Household Office and headed to the Wei residence.

He and Wei Qiang had a falling out before, but now they have somehow become friends.