Although they have taken over Prince Rui's power, the situation they will face next is that Prince Duan and Prince Jing will join forces to deal with them.
Given their personalities, they'll likely not only join forces but also cooperate with the Western Rong. As for whether the Western Rong are ambitious and that cooperation might result in losing half their territory, they probably won't care.
To quickly quell this chaos, they would need a very strong military force.
However, given their current troop strength, Lu Shiyan believes that the only way to defeat them quickly and decisively is to accelerate the development of weapons and start with weaponry.
Therefore, after calming the people in the valley, he found Jiang Tangtang and talked about the weapons.
Actually, Jiang Tangtang had already made arrangements even before Lu Shiyan said anything.
Now that materials, manpower, technology... are all in place, producing weapons is not a difficult task.
Jiang Tangtang led a group of people to conduct experiments in the mountains.
After repeated failures, the first bomb in this timeline was born.
The deafening explosion and its power startled the people in the valley.
However, after the initial shock, everyone became excited again.
"Has the Valley Master successfully developed this bomb?"
"It definitely succeeded. Didn't you see? That hilltop was almost razed to the ground by the bombs."
"If they're so powerful, does that mean we don't have to be afraid of the Western Rong people anymore?"
"Of course! I heard that last time General Lu only brought explosives, which weren't even this powerful, and they still scared Prince Rui half to death. This bomb is ten thousand times stronger than the explosives before. Wouldn't that Western Rong general be begging for mercy on his knees?"
...
The villagers in the valley fantasized about using explosives to scare the Western Rong people so badly they would run away from the Great Zhou.
Just as Lu Shiyan had guessed, Prince Duan and Prince Jing sought cooperation with the Western Rong people, intending to deal with Lu Shiyan together.
When the first snow fell, the three groups organized a commando team, planning to take advantage of the snowfall and Lu Shiyan and his group being caught off guard to launch a surprise attack, capture Lu Shiyan in one fell swoop, and seize the territory.
However, each of these three groups had its own agenda, wanting the other to charge ahead so they could preserve their own forces. The plan was to kill Lu Shiyan and then, while the enemy's forces were weakened, devour them.
All three sides thought the same way, so in the end, no one really put in any effort. Meanwhile, Lu Shiyan didn't let his guard down at all because of Xiaoxue.
On the contrary, Lu Shiyan took advantage of the snowfall to train the soldiers.
Although he believed that improving their weapons would help them quickly defeat the Western Rong and the two kings, he didn't place all his hopes on Jiang Tangtang. He became even stricter with his troops than before.
Although the training was tough and tiring, the soldiers' morale and spirit underwent a significant transformation.
Especially the batch of soldiers received from Prince Rui.
At first, many of these soldiers were unconvinced by Lu Shiyan. Especially those who had never seen Lu Shiyan's skills, they thought he looked like a pretty boy and yet he called himself a general.
But after witnessing Lu Shiyan's skills, their initial dissatisfaction turned into admiration. No soldier dared to challenge the training anymore. They only hoped that once they had mastered the skills, Lu Shiyan would personally instruct them on a few moves.
To boost the soldiers' morale, Lu Shiyan would select a group of people every few days to personally instruct them in martial arts.
If they encounter someone with exceptional talent, they will be taught breathing techniques.
Although Lu Shiyan denied taking these people as his apprentices, saying he only gave them some pointers, the soldiers who received his guidance all regarded him as their master.
Those who weren't selected but received guidance from Lu Shiyan trained even harder, hoping to be chosen next time.
Driven by this, the soldiers who had previously been taken over from Prince Rui underwent a complete transformation.
So much so that when the soldiers under Prince Duan and Prince Jing, who originally knew the soldiers under Prince Rui, faced them, they all looked as if they had seen a ghost.
"How is that possible? I know that young general; he used to serve Prince Rui. How could he be so capable in such a short time?"
"We've fought that young guy before, and he couldn't beat me back then. How come he's so powerful now, like a divine warrior descended from heaven?"
...
The generals and soldiers under Prince Duan and Prince Jing were discussing it amongst themselves.
They had been ordered by their superiors to preserve their strength. Now that they'd encountered a formidable opponent, they were even less likely to make a move.
The soldiers of the Western Rong did not know what kind of soldiers King Rui's troops were or what their specific abilities were.
However, it is clear that these people are all highly skilled, far more capable than the soldiers under the two princes who are cooperating with them.
They fought desperately, but in the end, they were the only ones who lost.
With the three forces scheming against each other, they not only failed to defeat Lu Shiyan, but also suffered heavy losses in their own forces.
Because Lu Shiyan had already learned of the three parties' plans to attack Puzhou when they first organized their forces. He left a portion of his troops to deal with the three-way attack, while taking another group to raid the enemy's main camp.
After careful consideration, he decided to launch a surprise attack on King Jing.
When Jiang Tangtang learned that Lu Shiyan was going to lead a group to ambush Prince Jing, she became excited and hugged his arm, saying, "Husband, I want to go too."
She has visited the private treasuries of Prince Duan and Prince Rui, but she has not yet visited the private treasury of Prince Jing!
These kings were all very good at accumulating wealth; I wonder what kind of good things were in King Jing's warehouse.
Seeing her greedy look, Lu Shiyan found it amusing. "Why are you going on this adventure now? Once we capture Prince Jing, everything in the secret vault will be yours."
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Jiang Tangtang shook his arm and then snuggled against his chest affectionately. "I want to go now, my husband, let me go with you!"
Lu Shiyan felt as if he had been electrocuted, a tingling, numb sensation running through his body. How could he possibly refuse?
He pulled her head off his chest. "Alright, stand still. What will it look like if someone comes and sees you like this?"
"What's wrong with me?" Jiang Tangtang persisted, changing her action of shaking his arm to hugging his waist.
She clung tightly to his waist, threatening fiercely, "Just let me come with you. I won't let go until you agree, and I'll make sure you lose all your authority in front of your men."
Her feigned fierceness, like a child pretending to be an adult, not only didn't make Lu Shiyan feel threatened, but instead made him feel so cute that his heart ached.
He reached out and held her tightly in his arms, then leaned down and bit her little mouth that kept chattering away.
Her lips were as fresh and juicy as he had imagined.
The delicious juice shattered his pride in self-control. What started as a mere sip became an addiction, a craving for more.
At that moment, Jiang Tangtang's head exploded with a bang.
In that instant, she seemed to think of many things, yet also of nothing at all. When Lu Shiyan finally released her, she was completely exhausted, clinging limply to him.
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