He pointed to a pile of small earthenware jars next to him, "The mouths of the jars are plugged with oil-soaked cloth strips. If you light them and throw them out, they will shatter upon landing, scattering fire in all directions."

He then picked up the "oil": "This can be applied to arrowheads to make rockets. Or... to make walls of fire."

"firewall?"

Zhao Muyun had someone bring a hollow bamboo tube, sealed one end, filled it with ointment, and then stuffed it with oil-soaked cloth strips.

"When defending the city, light a strip of cloth, throw down a bamboo tube, and it will break upon landing, splattering oil everywhere. The cloth will then ignite, creating a wall of fire. It should be quite effective when the enemy tries to scale the city walls."

Jiao Laohei's eyes lit up: "I'll try it right away!"

"No rush." ​​Zhao Muyun waved his hand. "First, ensure production. I want you to produce 100 catties of clear oil and 50 catties of ointment daily within three months. If you don't have enough manpower, hire more; if you don't have enough money, just apply."

"yes!"

When we left the oil field, it was already close to dusk.

Yinji and the others waited outside the door. When Zhao Muyun came out, he handed her a document:

"Master, Yang Chao's first draft of 'The Strategy of Taking the Sword in the South' has arrived."

Zhao Muyun took it and flipped through it in the afterglow of the setting sun.

The book, spanning over ten thousand words, details everything from the terrain, passes, garrisons, and grain reserves of each prefecture in Jiannan, to the personalities, abilities, and relationships of the main generals, and even the prominent families and powerful clans in each county.

At the end, Yang Chao added a sentence: "The morale of the Jiannan army has collapsed, and Yang Yan is suspicious and kills people on his own. If we advance in the autumn, we can first take Lizhou to cut off its northern reinforcements, and then divide the generals. This will be twice as effective with half the effort."

Zhao Muyun closed the document and looked towards the southern sky.

The silhouette of Qishan Mountain in the twilight resembles a giant beast lying in wait. Further away, the majestic Longji Mountain Range rises, and to the south of the mountain range lies Jiannan.

"Master, is Yang Chao trustworthy?" Yinji asked.

"He mixes truth and lies, but his stories are generally credible."

Zhao Muyun handed the document back, saying, "Have the Night Watchman send someone to Jiannan to verify this intelligence. Focus on investigating Zhang Zun, the garrison commander of Lizhou—Yang Chao said he was greedy and lustful."

"yes."

The master and apprentice walked side by side on the road back to the city.

Along the way, farmers were busy making the most of the last rays of daylight along the field ridges.

In the distance, wisps of smoke rise from the village chimneys.

"Master, can we win?" Yinji suddenly asked.

Zhao Muyun stopped and looked at the increasingly composed young man: "Scared?"

“It’s not that I’m afraid,” Yinji shook his head. “It’s just that I feel… the burden is too heavy. Reorganizing the army, encouraging agriculture, manufacturing weapons, planning for Jiannan, and also guarding against Li Jingang, Zhang Tao, Yang Yan… Sometimes I wake up at night and feel like I can’t breathe.”

Zhao Muyun patted his shoulder: "If it feels heavy, that's right. This world has never been something that can be taken back lightly."

He pointed to the farmers in the fields: "Look at them, planting in spring and harvesting in autumn, year after year, all they ask for is enough to eat and wear."

"All that we did—strengthening the army to prevent them from being harmed by war, encouraging agriculture to ensure they have enough to eat, and manufacturing equipment to reduce the number of our soldiers who die."

"This is a heavy burden, but it's worth it."

Yinji took a deep breath and nodded emphatically.