Deng Lang waved his hand, and seeing that the Huai Shuo border troops did not react, he coughed again. Everyone still stood there dumbfounded. Finally, he couldn't help but shout, "Let's go!"
The Huai Shuo border troops then realized what was happening and looked at the newly promoted squad leader Deng Lang in disbelief. He was the only Huai Shuo general who had escaped unscathed from the confrontation with Lü Tu.
It should be noted that after the previous two clashes, the Huai Shuo and Wu Chuan border armies had reached a point of irreconcilable conflict.
Once this achievement is made public, it will likely only boost his prestige, and Lu Tu even praised him in public.
Nie Yun and the others were also extremely shocked. They had never seen Lü Tu praise anyone like this before, and the other party was actually a squad leader in Huai Shuo. This was simply unbelievable to them.
Only Xiao Zhong, standing in the crowd, had a meaningful smile on his lips.
Lu Tu turned to look at everyone and said, "Alright, that's all. Let's get back to work. Have you all had breakfast?"
"Not yet, sir. The grain just arrived, and we haven't had time to prepare it yet."
Lu Tu waved his hand and said, "Everyone, rest for half an hour and eat first. I'll eat with you."
Such strenuous physical labor requires a lot of food to sustain, so Lu Tu was always curious about how those bastards who didn't feed the laborers managed to prevent them from rebelling.
Lu Tu climbed to the top of the hillside, found a rock to sit on, and gazed at the distant Huai Shuo territory. He took out a map of Huai Shuo from his pocket to compare it with the map.
Xiao Zhong came up behind him: "My lord!"
"What is it, Mr. Xiao?"
"Is Deng Lang a pawn placed by the master?"
Lu Tu put the terrain map into his pocket, turned around and laughed, "As expected, nothing can be hidden from you, you cunning old fox."
Xiao Zhong cupped his hands in greeting: "The person who would make you, sir, willingly sacrifice your reputation to create momentum for the other side must be a pawn you've placed. But sir, aren't you afraid that the other soldiers of Huai Shuo will see through this?"
Lu Tu shook his head: "So what if he figured it out? If Deng Lang, as a squad leader, can't even control these few people, then he deserves to be exposed."
"Your Excellency is wise!"
Looking at the large piles of clay that had been excavated below, Lü Tu asked, "Has the site for the brick kiln been chosen?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, the selection has been made, but a large number of stones are still needed for paving. We can probably start firing the bricks tomorrow."
Lu Tu stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said, "Mr. Xiao, do you think the Huai Shuo Army is stronger or our Wu Chuan Army?"
“Naturally, Huai Shuo Army is stronger.”
Lu Tu asked curiously, "Mr. Xiao, do you know a lot about the Huai Shuo border army?"
Xiao Zhong nodded: "Before I came to Wuchuan to become the head of the branch, I stayed in Huai Shuo for a few months and have a general understanding of it."
"Speaking."
"The Wuchuan border army has about 60,000 men, while the Huaishuo border army has more than 100,000 men. In particular, their Commandant Zhao is an old subordinate of the current Minister of War, Jiang Lingfeng, so they are naturally a strong and well-equipped force."
Lu Tu narrowed his eyes slightly: "But most of the Wuhuan people enter the Great Wall through Wuchuan, while Huai Shuo is located behind the Mulian Mountains. With such a large army, they still trade salt and iron with the Wuhuan people. Their intentions deserve to be punished!"
"What you say is true, sir, but I believe this is also our advantage."
Lu Tu smiled knowingly: "Tell me about it."
"My lord is incredibly brave against the Wuhuan people, yet he is kind and benevolent to the people under his jurisdiction. This is a stark contrast to the rampant corruption in Huai Shuo. Once we establish a model for this region, we need not worry about the Huai Shuo population not migrating here. After all, in the six northern towns, population is of paramount importance!"
Lu Tu praised, "Well said!"
Xiao Zhong truly lived up to his name, his thoughts coincided with Lü Tu's.
There's nothing new under the sun; at any stage, you can find the same things in the vast history books.
I still remember that Cao Mengde was able to rise to power quickly by using the garrison system to accept a large number of Yellow Turban troops stationed in Qingzhou.
This gave him the ability to occupy Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and other places, which was the foundation for his subsequent battle against Yuan Shao.
Lu Tu never thought he was great. He only had one head, and he needed to follow the path of the sages to complete his initial accumulation of knowledge and skills.
"Mr. Xiao, do you think someone like me can really achieve great things?"
Xiao Zhong stroked his beard and stood up: "Forgive my bluntness, but I have traveled all over the country for more than 20 years. Among those who can rival you in both literary and martial arts, there are only a handful in the world. If you add in your knowledge, talent, and magnanimity, no hero in the world can surpass you!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Zhong keenly sensed an aura of domineering arrogance emanating from Lü Tu, but it vanished in the blink of an eye.
Lu Tu chuckled and said, "Mr. Xiao, you're exaggerating. Let's eat first."
Xiao Zhong gazed intently at Lü Tu's departing figure, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. He then chuckled and jogged down the hillside to get his meal.
After finishing the meal, Lü Tu instructed Nie Yun, "Show me your battlefield spear techniques, and I'll see if you've gotten rusty lately."
Upon hearing this, Nie Yun quickly put down the ceramic bowl in his hand, grabbed the spear, and eagerly clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes, sir!"
He then demonstrated the ten moves of battlefield spear technique cleanly and efficiently in front of everyone; Lu Tu had only taught him ten moves that day.
After finishing the routine, Nie Yun stared at Lü Tu expectantly: "Please point out any shortcomings, elder brother!"
Lu Tu knew that Nie Yun was both arrogant and eager for affirmation, so he nodded in satisfaction: "Very good, but you still need to continue practicing, to integrate the spear technique into your bones, so that you can use it flexibly the moment you hold the spear!"
"From today onwards, you no longer need to stay here. Go back and continue training your soldiers. Even if the Wuhuan people hadn't launched a sneak attack today, you cannot slack off for even a single day!"
"Yes, sir!"
Lu Tu looked at Liu Hong: "From today onwards, you will lead 50 men to guard this place and help with odd jobs on weekdays."
"Yes, sir!"
Since Deng Lang is in charge of this area, there's no need for so many people here. These 50 people are just there to make a show of things and do some work here on the side.
Currently, he has a total of 1,800 people under his jurisdiction, but there are as many as 350 soldiers, which is a rather high ratio.
If we make them do more work, the burden will become too heavy, which is not conducive to development and will also make the soldiers idle.
To be honest, Lu Tu is still a little unaccustomed to the fact that the Wuhuan people haven't attacked for the past month.
A soldier is forged through countless battles; a qualified elite soldier is tempered through constant blood and flesh combat and through repeated brushes with death.
Now that the Wuhuan people weren't giving him a chance, it really troubled Lü Tu.
Right now, Lu Tu only regrets that he doesn't have enough warhorses. If he had three to five hundred, he could have built a cavalry force to serve as a sharp blade to penetrate the core area of the Wuhuan tribe and take advantage of their territory.
However, this is not realistic. The daily rations required for 30 warhorses are already quite high. Let's continue farming.
As soon as Lü Tu returned to the village, he saw that Liu Yang had already bought the dairy cows, and the village children were all squatting nearby curiously watching the excitement.
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