Yun Zhe and Andrew did not wait for the Lunlang family to come and exchange the prisoners and corpses. This was very unusual. If it weren't for Gosa, everything would be clear, but couldn't they just give up the body of someone as important as Gosa?

Until the sun began to set, the Lunlang family did not send anyone over, not even a messenger to negotiate.

What's even more puzzling is that the Lunlang family's camp was eerily quiet. Apart from wisps of smoke rising at mealtimes, there was no other sound to be heard.

Something unusual must be going on. Yun Zhe teased Andrew with no small amount of malice, "They didn't slink away like that, did they?"

Andrew wished they would just run away with their tails between their legs, but the Donic family had no word on the situation. However, dragging it out was better for them; if they could hold out for another two or three days, reinforcements would arrive, and then they would be even less afraid of the enemy's attack.

At that moment, the scroll Andrew carried lit up, which made him even happier. The communication scroll lighting up meant that the main force was less than 150 kilometers away. At this speed, reinforcements would arrive in three days at the latest.

Andrew explained the situation and hoped they could arrive as quickly as possible. However, Andrew did not mention that a son of the Lunlang family had died. He only spoke of a great victory, in which over five hundred enemy soldiers were annihilated.

Yun Zhe was somewhat puzzled, "Why don't you mention our losses?"

Andrew closed the scroll and looked thoughtfully at a forest in the distance. "It's the same reason she didn't tell me that there are actually fewer than five hundred soldiers here."

Yun Zhe had to admit that his thinking differed somewhat from these people's. He was still more accustomed to the transparent environment of the battlefield. Whether it was playing war games in his previous life or the military training he later underwent to prepare for actual war, he always placed great importance on information transparency. Exaggerating or downplaying one's own allies was extremely fatal and irresponsible.

However, Yun Zhe could understand this. After all, real war is far more complex, and often the exaggeration or understatement of information is merely for so-called political or other reasons. In short, because war is no longer so pure, it naturally becomes less transparent.

Yun Zhe shrugged. "You won't blame Countess Serena, will you?"

Andrew looked at Yun Zhe strangely. "You actually asked me this question?" Then his strange gaze turned interested. "To be honest, I've always felt that you're not one of us, but you also seem to have no reason to be one of the Earl's men. So, what exactly are you here for? Don't say it's for those thousand gold coins. From what I've observed, you're not a greedy person, so don't try to fob me off with that kind of excuse."

Yun Zhe also found Andrew's words interesting, "How do you know I'm not a greedy person?"

"Your troops aren't at full strength, and I always thought you were just trying to collect salaries without actually serving. I was furious when I first found out, but I still paid your troops the full amount. And from what I understand, you gave all the money to the soldiers, and used the extra to buy supplies, keeping nothing for yourself. This has made me look at you in a completely different light. Even someone as naive as Luke has two men in his unit who aren't actually paid. So, I simply don't believe your claims that you're a greedy person."

Yun Zhe suddenly realized why his team was being paid the full complement of soldiers even though they weren't at full strength. It turned out this old guy was secretly testing him. However, Yun Zhe didn't intend to continue the conversation with Andrew. Yun Zhe frowned deeply, "Two people receiving salaries for doing nothing is still salaries for doing nothing. Since you knew that, why didn't you stop it?"

Andrew was taken aback. "You actually care about this?"

"Is this a convention?" Yun Zhe continued to ask.

Andrew felt a little uncomfortable under Yun Zhe's gaze. "War is an expensive job for me or the Earl, but for the officers below, it's a job that requires them to risk their lives. Do you think two silver coins a month can make these captains risk their lives for you?"

Yun Zhe nodded. "So it seems to be a tacit agreement. But how can we guarantee combat effectiveness then?"

Andrew looked at Yun Zhe strangely, "Among the troops that came this time, you found some units that are the same as yours?"

Yun Zhe shook his head. What do you mean?

Andrew hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should explain the trick to Yun Zhe in detail.

However, Yun Zhe had already fully understood how this "ghost salary" was obtained; simply put, it involved reporting more of his adjutants than his actual rank.

The army here didn't have the concept of platoon leaders or squad leaders. While a hundred men charging together was fine, when these soldiers needed to split up, they required commanders. This is where a brilliant system came in. Each centurion commander could request two to four adjutants. This was the key to the "ghost pay." These adjutants were independent of the centurion, but for the money, the commander would usually place them directly within the unit. Thus, a unit nominally having a maximum of 104 men actually only had 100. The money for the four adjutants ended up in the officers' hands. Adjutants received 15 more copper coins per month than ordinary soldiers. The commander would give these extra copper coins to the adjutants, keeping only one silver coin for himself—his extra income.

Yun Zhe couldn't help but admire the person who first came up with this method; they were simply a genius.

As long as the relationship between superiors and subordinates remains acceptable, this kind of thing will never be exposed. The best part is that while the number of adjutants increases with rank, the number is controllable and traceable. Therefore, the numbers are actually semi-public and transparent. In short, this approach neither affects combat effectiveness nor causes any negative impact, and it also expresses the superior's desire to win over subordinates—a perfect three-in-one solution.

Andrew refrained from revealing the secret, but judging from Yun Zhe's expression, he seemed to have guessed something. Although he didn't know exactly what Yun Zhe had guessed, it probably wasn't what Andrew was thinking. Besides, given Yun Zhe's intelligence, even if Andrew didn't say anything, he could find out from someone else. Thinking this, Andrew became even more determined not to be the bad guy and had even less interest in saying anything.

"Did I make my men earn less money?" Yun Zhe stared at Andrew and suddenly blurted out this question.

Andrew was both amused and exasperated. "Aren't your soldiers unhappy with you for doing this?"

Yun Zhe shook his head, then waved his hand as if to erase something, "Forget it, let's not worry about that. As long as they give me a lot of money, it's their business how they divide it."