Yang Chao closed his eyes.

The sights and sounds of the past three days swirled in my mind—the grain prices in the West Market, the military training, the tears of the surrendered soldiers, and Yang Yan's seemingly kind but actually cold face…

He knelt on one knee: "The guilty general Yang Chao is willing to surrender."

Zhao Muyun did not immediately tell him to get up, but instead asked, "Why did you surrender?"

"I surrendered so that the three thousand lads of Jiannan wouldn't be seen as pawns to be sacrificed," Yang Chao looked up, his eyes bloodshot, "and so that I myself no longer want to be someone else's pawn!"

"Good!" Zhao Muyun stepped forward to help him up. "From today onwards, you will serve as our military advisor and temporarily lead the training of the Jiannan Battalion."

"But let me make one thing clear—training troops is acceptable, but troop deployment is not. Command of the Jiannan Camp rests with General Wu."

“The sin will be clear.”

“Furthermore,” Zhao Muyun picked up a bronze token from the table, “this is the council token. With this token, you can enter and leave the armory, granary, and arsenal to check the records, and you can also request training methods for soldiers from various battalions.”

"I want you to write a 'Strategy for Taking Jiannan' within a month, writing down everything you know about Jiannan's terrain, passes, garrisons, grain reserves, and personnel."

Yang Chao took the bronze talisman, its cold and heavy texture striking his hand: "Isn't the Grand Commander afraid I'll forge it?"

“You can try,” Zhao Muyun said calmly, “but if this causes our army to suffer losses in Jiannan in the future, even if it is just one more person who dies, I will tie you to the front line and cut you into a thousand pieces.”

Yang Chao's heart tightened, and he solemnly put away the talisman: "I will certainly not dare to fail you."

After Yang Chao left, the atmosphere in the hall relaxed.

Yinji couldn't help but ask, "Master, is this person really capable?"

“It can be used, but we must be wary.” Zhao Muyun sat back in the main seat. “Give him a title, but not real power; give him hope, but not promises.”

“He hates Yang Yan the most right now, and he fears us killing surrendered soldiers the most. If we make good use of these two points, he will be the sharpest dagger we can use to strike Jiannan.”

Wu Shangzhi frowned: "But after all, his surname is Yang..."

“It’s precisely because his surname is Yang that Yang Yan is even more upset,” Zhao Muyun said meaningfully. “Just think about it, what will the Jiannan Army think when they discover that their former military governor is advising us on training troops?”

Everyone suddenly realized.

"This is a risky move; success would bring great benefits, failure would be harmless," Zhao Muyun concluded. "But right now, we have more important matters to attend to."

He looked at the sand table: "Over there in Wannian, Lin Feng is doing a good job. Zhang Tao and Gao Min don't dare to make a move for the time being. This is a rare chance for us to catch our breath—but it won't last long. Before spring planting, we must complete three things."

"First, organize the army. Second, stockpile provisions. Third," he pointed to the city of Xijing on the sand table, "...cast swords!"

Sword forging?

Everyone immediately looked thoughtful.

......

For the next ten days, the Grand Commander's Mansion remained brightly lit.

First, rewards were given based on merit, but Zhao Muyun's method of bestowing rewards was different from others.

It wasn't just about promotions and titles; it was about establishing a complete system of military meritocracy.

The system consisted of nine ranks, from "soldier" to "colonel," with each rank corresponding to different privileges such as pay, land, and the right to refuse to bow to officials.

Merits can be earned through battles, training, inventions, and strategic contributions; once these merits accumulate to a certain level, promotions are automatic.

“In the past, military merits were mostly reported by generals, which easily led to unfairness,” Zhao Muyun explained at the military and political meeting. “From now on, a merit recorder will be appointed for each battle, independent of each battalion, to be in charge of recording battle merits.”

"A summary and public announcement will be made every five days, and soldiers can appeal if they have any questions."

Wu Shangzhi raised a concern: "In this way, the authority of the generals..."

"A general's authority should come from enabling his soldiers to win battles and suffer fewer deaths, rather than from the power of life and death."

Zhao Muyun interrupted him, "What I want is an army that knows why it fights and that will be rewarded for its fighting, not a private army that only obeys the orders of its generals."

He looked around at his generals and said, "Gentlemen, we are fighting for the world, not just a city or a place. If we rely solely on loyalty and righteousness, can we gather thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people? Can we gather the people of the world?"

The generals stood in solemn silence.

The reorganization and adjustment of the army took several days to finalize:

The Five Military Commands system from the Hedong period was abandoned and reorganized.

Wu Shangzhi was promoted to General of the Left Guard and put in charge of the defense of the capital region.

His cavalry was expanded into the "Dragon Cavalry Army," with a full complement of 8,000 light cavalry.

Murong Chunhua, Namtso, and Huanwu were promoted to the rank of General of the Central Army and placed under the command of Guiwu Shangzhi.

Xiao Cheyun was promoted to Right Martial Guard General, in charge of all military logistics.

Tang Yanhai was promoted to Guerrilla General, and the scout battalion was expanded to five hundred men, divided into three teams: scout cavalry, infiltration, and assassination, to carry out special operations missions, directly under the command of Zhao Muyun.

The positions of the Night Watchers, presided over by Wang Tiezhu, Shen Qian, and Fan Bingbing, remain unchanged, with their ranks corresponding to the general's level.

Guo Luo's Heavy Cavalry Battalion, Xi Sheng's Mo Dao Battalion, and Liu Yi's Shenji Battalion were each expanded to between 1,500 and 3,000 men, and were collectively known as the Tiger Guard Army!

As the main combat force directly under the Grand General's Office, stationed in the camp outside Xijing City, all three were promoted to generals!

Lin Feng was appointed as the military governor of Guannei Circuit, Han Zhong as the military governor of Hedong Circuit, and Zhang Zan as the military governor of Longyou Circuit. They were all generals with important titles and were responsible for the daily military defense of the three provinces.

Tian Qing, Shi Yong, and others were appointed as commanders-in-chief, while Zhong Meng, Du Heng (son of Du Wei), He Yunsheng, Xu Yunlong, and others were appointed as lieutenant generals.

Yang Chao was appointed as a councilor and temporarily led the training of the Jiannan Camp. His monthly salary was the same as that of a colonel, but he did not have military power.

The Jiannan Camp was temporarily composed of 3,000 men, consisting of surrendered soldiers and refugees from Jiannan, and was stationed in the southern camp of Xijing City.

In addition, Tong Gu, Cao Jun, Liu Pan, Wang Ben, Li Mao, Zhang Huan and others from Hedong were promoted to generals and stationed in key passes and strategic locations throughout Hedong, under the command of Han Zhong.

With Xijing as the base, the permanent garrison was set at 30,000.

Among them, the Longxiang Army had 8,000 cavalry, the Tiger Guard Army had 6,000 men, and the rest, led by Zhong Meng and Du Heng, consisted of 16,000 infantrymen, who were assigned to guard the four gates and key points within the city.

Wu Shangzhi was in charge of the overall command, with one captain for each of the four gates.

On the east bank of the river, Han Zhong's six generals, Tian Qing, Tong Gu, Cao Jun, Liu Pan, Wang Ben, Li Mao, and Zhang Huan, commanded a total of 53,000 troops.

In the Guannei region, Lin Feng's actual troop strength will increase to 30,000, under the command of He Yunsheng and Xu Yunlong.

In Longyou, Zhang Zan's troops numbered 14,000, and Shi Yong's troops numbered 10,000, for a total of 24,000.

At this point, Zhao Muyun possessed a regular armed force of approximately 130,000 men.

While the army was being reorganized, the Da Yin court also underwent organizational restructuring.

Pei Lun was appointed Minister of War, Fan Nan was appointed Minister of Personnel, Zhou Hong was appointed Minister of Rites, Huang Chang was appointed Minister of Works, Zhao Wen was appointed Minister of Civil Affairs, and Ma Dao was appointed Minister of Justice.

The chief officials of the two academies, three ministries, and nine ministers, as well as the provincial governors, finance commissioners, and judicial commissioners of the three provinces, were established and perfected through consultation among Yinji, Pei Lun, Fan Nan, Zhou Hong, and others.

The small court of Dayin has also become fully functional.

Routine government affairs are carried out by the Prince of Jin in charge of the Six Ministries, but major national policies require Zhao Muyun's approval.

“Delay it for another month. If Zhang Tao and Gao Min still don’t back down after a month, I will go and meet with them in person.”

Regarding Zhang Tao and Gao Min's forces in the south of Wannian, Zhao Muyun gave Lin Feng these instructions.