In the front yard, Gao Yanei was basking in the sun with his hands behind his back, chatting casually with a middle-aged man.
Seeing Zhang Shixun coming out of the backyard, he complained, "Brother, you left me here without caring about me. You're so neglectful."
"Yanei, you also know what kind of character my cousin is. It's none of my business."
Zhang Shixun blamed everything on Wang Dong.
Gao Yanei pointed at the middle-aged man and said, "This is the accountant sent by my family."
"Oh! Has the glass workshop started?" Zhang Shixun nodded at the man and asked, "Have the accountants from Prince Yun and General He's family arrived as well?"
The accountant bowed and said respectfully, "Your Excellency, we are all here. The glass workshop will take another half month to complete. We, the accountants, are following Manor Master Wang's instructions to make the preliminary preparations, setting up accounts, purchasing goods, and preparing various raw materials. Now everything is ready, and we are just waiting for the workshop to be completed before we can begin work."
"Work hard, once the glass workshop is built and put into production, there will definitely be a lot of money rolling in."
Gao Yanei asked, "Brother, this colored glaze...what can the glass workshop produce?"
"Glasses, bowls, jewelry, vases... there are simply too many."
"Are they all transparent?"
"certainly."
"Can you make a mirror? The kind you gave He Ji."
"That depends on my cousin. Even though he has great powers, he can't do everything."
Gao Yanei glanced furtively towards the backyard, pulled Zhang Shixun, and asked, "What is your cousin doing in there?"
Zhang Shixun replied casually: "Help me receive the Heavenly Book."
"Is your cousin also a Heavenly Master?"
"I guess so." Zhang Shixun said vaguely. As he was speaking, he felt a chill on his cheek. He stretched out his finger to touch it, then looked up at the sky and smiled, "It's snowing. The first snow of this winter."
"When are we leaving?" Gao Yanei shrank his neck and said, "If we're any later, the road will be difficult to travel on."
"Yanei, please be patient. We need to wait a little longer. It will take time to receive the Heavenly Book."
Zhang Shixun stretched out his hands excitedly, watching the snowflakes fall on his hands and melt.
Gao Yanei looked at his excitement and said, "I never liked snow since I was a child, but now I kind of like it."
"Why?"
"Hey! No need to do drill tomorrow."
Zhang Shixun turned to look at him and sneered, "Yanei, you're overthinking it. Let alone snow, even if it rains knives, we'll still have to do drill tomorrow."
"Ah! We have to do drills even on a snowy day?" Gao Yanei asked with a sad face.
"That's right. Running, standing at attention, and marching drills are all essential."
Gao Yanei said angrily, "If you abuse the officers and soldiers like this, you will not last long."
"Really?" Zhang Shixun looked at his exasperated expression and suddenly laughed, "Yanei, you're mistaken. Perhaps I can do this for a very long time. Just wait and see if you don't believe me."
When he returned to the military camp that night, Zhang Shixun summoned all the officers to the barracks for a meeting and took out the so-called new heavenly book for everyone to see.
Due to screen limitations, only seven or eight people could watch at a time, so Zhang Shixun divided them into several groups.
These soldiers never dreamed that they would be able to see real war scenes in the heavenly book. Some timid ones even fainted on the spot after seeing the bloody and horrifying scenes.
In order to strengthen education, every time a group of people finished watching, Zhang Shixun asked them to express their thoughts, and then told them in the capacity of Heavenly Master that a severe war would befall the Song Dynasty in a few years, everyone would experience this ordeal, thousands of families would be separated and displaced, and millions of people would die in this war.
After watching it, the commanders of the first battalion, Li Fu and Lu Wan, turned pale and sat there for a long time without catching their breath.
Li Fu stood up and asked worriedly, "Military Commander, can you tell us if this war you just mentioned can be avoided?"
"You can't avoid it. It's going to rain, it's going to get married, whatever's going to happen will happen."
"You are a Heavenly Master, is there nothing you can do?"
"Although I am a Heavenly Master, I cannot go against the will of Heaven, but..."
"But what?"
"Although we cannot stop this war, we can change its outcome."
Li Fu perked up, "You mean we can avoid failure?"
"You're right. As long as we prepare early, we can completely change the course of the war and become the winner."
Li Fu and the others looked at each other, and their worries subsided a little.
Zhang Shixun, observing their expressions, knew what they were thinking. So he said, "Don't think it's easy to change the outcome of the war. Trying to defy fate is fraught with difficulty. Without paying a price and making sacrifices, you can't change your fate of failure."
Lu Wan glanced at the "Heavenly Book" on the table, looked at Zhang Shixun and said, "General, are you training in the First Army just to change fate?"
Zhang Shixun nodded solemnly: "You are right, this is my purpose."
Lu Wan pounded his chest hard and said in a rough voice, "Military Commander, I will follow you. I will do whatever you tell me to do."
Li Fu said without thinking, "Me too."
Everyone followed suit and said, "We are the same."
"Well! Very good! As citizens of the Great Song Dynasty, it is our duty to defend our country." Zhang Shixun nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Training with me may be hard and tiring, but I guarantee that it will not be in vain."
At this time, Gao Yanei pushed the door open and walked in. "General, the other commanders are standing in the snow waiting to read the heavenly book... I came to ask, when can they come in?"
"It's almost time for the next group." Zhang Shixun said to Li Fu and the others, "Alright! Go back to the barracks and rest. We have to do drills early tomorrow morning."
Li Fu and others bowed together and walked out of the room.
Gao Yanei called another group of people in. This time, there were a few old acquaintances: Bajin, Heibie, and the brothers Xiaobing and Xiaoyi.
The expressions of the few people looking at the heavenly book were exactly the same as Li Fu and the others, and they all turned pale after reading it.
As usual, Zhang Shixun told them about the war, using some subtle words to flatter them, which completely won them over and they all expressed their willingness to follow him and work hard.
After a few people leave, the next group will take over.
By the time they finished watching it all, it was already late at night.
Gao Yanei yawned and asked, "Brother, it's too late today, can we do it tomorrow..."
Zhang Shixun interrupted him and said, "No!"
Gao Yanei asked dissatisfiedly: "Do you know what I want to say?"
"As soon as you stick your butt out, I know what shit you've pulled." Zhang Shixun gave him a sidelong glance. "Tomorrow we'll have drills as usual. From now on, don't expect to sleep in."
Gao Yanei sighed, "It's so bitter!"
"Don't complain. Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best. Without suffering, how can there be happiness? Let's go, Yanei. It's at least two hours before dawn. Go back and get some sleep."
"All right!"
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