Chapter 116 Arsenal
Nangong Min: I don’t believe you at all, otherwise you would guess it right at once, are you really a god?
"Believe it or not."
Bai Li shrugged and spread his hands.
"I need no men, no money, how can I recruit soldiers?"
"The Emperor ordered me to assist you."
"Um?"
"Yes, the Emperor originally intended for me to obey you."
"That's more like it. From now on, you can do odd jobs for me. I will be responsible for recruiting and training soldiers, and you can take care of other chores for me."
Nangong Min was helpless and found it funny to see the little woman looking so smug.
"Okay, as long as you do what the emperor asks you to do, I'll do whatever you want."
It has to be done even if it is impossible. She has a golden medal in her hand that is like my personal presence.
Anyone holding this gold medal could be charged with deceiving the emperor if he is unhappy, and his property could be confiscated and his family could be exterminated at any time.
Of course, not everyone can get this gold medal. Since the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, only two people have won it. One was the Duke of Protector of the Country when his wife was the emperor, and the other was the little girl in front of him.
The emperor trusts her so much, she should, probably, possibly, not do anything wrong, right?
"That's fine, let's get started tomorrow without further ado!"
"Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the border of western Guizhou is sparsely populated, with a population of less than 10,000, and less than 3,000 young and strong men. If we want to recruit soldiers, it's better to go south."
"How many soldiers does the emperor require?"
"Of course the more the better, ideally one hundred thousand."
"One hundred thousand!"
"Am I right? The Great Zhou only has a population of over 200,000, right?"
"Well, this is a bit difficult. Isn't this setting a maximum goal?"
"It's not just a little bit difficult, it's simply too much to ask. It's possible that we won't even be able to reach half of it."
"But Simon is sending out 100,000 troops this time, and there are also a large number of reinforcements from home. Our country has no troops and can only be beaten?"
Bai Li paced back and forth, stroking his chin. After a while, he stopped and said, "Our military strength is not as great as theirs, but I can train my soldiers to be able to fight ten or a hundred at a time, thus improving their combat effectiveness."
"Really? That's great! Our Great Zhou is saved!"
Nangong Min was so excited that he grabbed her arm and laughed like a fool.
If someone else said this, he might think it was bragging, but he believed it as soon as Bai Li said it.
Bai Li: Thank you for your trust, but can you let go of my arm first?
"Don't get excited yet. Soldiers need weapons. Otherwise, how can we fight with others?"
"Anything you need, ask the Arsenal to make it immediately."
"Wait, where is the Arsenal?"
"Coincidentally, there is one in Qianxi, but due to insufficient funds, the materials may not be sufficient."
"Let's go check it out tomorrow."
The next day, Bai Li had breakfast, said goodbye to his family and went out.
When she and Nangong Min arrived at the Jincheng Arsenal, more than fifty miles away from the military camp, Bai Li was dumbfounded.
If there weren't two soldiers guarding the door, Bai Li would never have believed that the row of dilapidated houses in front of him was the important arsenal where weapons were manufactured in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
"Well, probably because it's New Year, the craftsmen are on holiday, so there are only a few soldiers on duty here."
"What's going on with this house?"
"It was fine before, I don't know what's wrong now?"
The soldier who brought them in said, "The roof was damaged by the heavy snow last year, and it hasn't been repaired yet, so this is the case."
"I want the entire Arsenal to obey me, okay?"
Bai Li was a little disappointed when she first saw this place, but since she had accepted the job, she had to do it well. Giving up halfway was not her style.
Seeing that she was not scared, Nangong Min felt more favorable towards her.
"Okay, Wu Xi will be in charge of the Arsenal. I'll give him a warrant later, and he won't dare disobey."
"Well, let's get someone to fix the roof first!"
"But...it's New Year's Day..."
"Major General, it's Chinese New Year and all the brothers have gone home for the holiday. Where can we find people to do the repairs?"
The soldier came over and said this just when he heard this.
The Chinese New Year is more important than anything else. It’s the only day off in the year. Who would want to work?
"Do you think the enemy will not attack us because of the New Year?"
"No, that's impossible. With only a few days off a year, who would…"
When the soldier said this, he thought of the year before last. Laos took advantage of the Zhou Dynasty's New Year celebrations and attacked on the first day of the Lunar New Year. They fought all the way to Jincheng, killing and injuring many civilians and soldiers, and also robbed them of a lot of food and cloth.
By the time reinforcements arrived from other places, they had already run away.
"What's your name? How many days are you on duty?"
Seeing that he stopped talking, Bai Li probably realized the crisis.
"Replying to the general, my name is Wu Daniu, and I live in Jincheng. I have only one sister, who got married last year.
It doesn't matter where I spend the New Year, so I might as well take over for my brothers and let them go home to reunite with their families."
Wu Daniu said this naively, with an honest look on his face, without the sharpness and targeting from before.
Bai Li nodded and said affirmatively, "Yes, you are a very enthusiastic person. While fulfilling your duties, you also consider your brothers."
"What's the big deal? I'm not as good as you say."
Wu Daniu rubbed his head sheepishly, remembering the previous topic, and quickly said, "If we really need to repair the roof, it's not hard to find people. As long as we give them some money and food, there are plenty of people in the city who are willing to come and work."
Bai Li looked up at Nangong Min. If people were asked to work during the New Year, they must be paid, and the money would of course come from the national treasury.
"Well, that's no problem, but hiring people to work requires supervision..."
"Please give this to me. I'll keep an eye on them every day and make sure none of them slack off."
"Okay, I wonder how long it will take to repair these houses?"
"I'm not sure about this either. Why don't you two wait a moment while I go ask?"
"Go ahead."
Bai Li waved his hand, but Wu Daniu looked at Nangong Min, waiting for his instructions.
"Um, well, from now on, you will obey orders directly from Bai... Captain Bai. She is close to the Emperor and holds the golden medal of personal presence. Everything she does represents the Emperor."
Nangong Min almost didn't know how to introduce Bai Li. The emperor didn't mention her military position, and being a small captain was really not good enough, so he had to take out the gold medal.
"I was so frightened that I didn't know Captain Bai's background. Please forgive me if I offended you just now."
"Okay, I just want to see the actual actions, not the empty talk."
"yes."
Wu Daniu left. Before leaving, he went to the fire room and personally made a pot of hot tea.
"There's nothing good to offer in this barren land. These are the wild chrysanthemums I picked on the mountain. They're quite fragrant when dried and used to make tea. Please don't dislike them."
"It smells good, just right for cooling down."
"As long as Captain Bai likes it."
Wu Daniu left, and Bai Li said, "Let's go see how much raw materials we have."
The houses in the arsenal were built like a large courtyard. When you entered the courtyard from the gate, there were small courtyards on the left and right, and the main courtyard was inside.
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