55 Conscripted Soldier! (1)
Feeling bullied by the Stone Cornfruit, Mu Qing Lang give up. No matter how much he struggles, chipping the beloved copper knife that accompanied him for fifty consecutive day hurts him intensely.
"I'll leave this rock-made corn for Xiao Qing. I'm tired of playing with you." Mu Qing Lang tossed the Stone Cornfruit into the Storage Chest and tapped on the last option available.
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Yulan Maple Seed [Unranked]
Condition: Seed / one of the seven types of trees available in Yulan Mountain Sea
Maturity: 100 days in a natural condition (65 days if nourished by Spiritual Thread)
Harvest: One mature Maple Tree.
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Item Description: one of the best hardwood grew notably on the Yulan Mother Mountain. Durable and light, the Yulan Maple Wood made from them is loved by the ancient masse. Capable of producing Yulan Maple Seed once it grows above 5 meters. Various preparation options are available through the Material Preparation Shelf.
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"Alright. My first tree. But the time required to grow it cost me a hundred days of wait. Since that's the case, why not I get Han Xi to start planting them across the border into Yulan Eastern Sea?" Mu Qing Lang tried to remember the total of seeds given in the chest Yulan Zhang brought to him.
"As goodwill from the Mushan Village, I wonder did they think about the circumstances if I actually grow them? It seems that I'll have to return the goodwill to them for gifting me a chest of Yulan Maple Seeds."
Mu Qing Lang considered what can he repay them for the selfless effort. In between of his consideration, Mu Qing Lang did blame himself once or twice for not having a piece of proper knowledge about the Yulan Mountain Sea.
"Looks like I'll have to get Han Xi to help me on this matter!" Mu Qing Lang hammered his fist on another palm as he thought about using Han Xi to help him instead. Heading off to his bed, Mu Qing Lang falls asleep almost instantly.
If he actually knows that his concern about this actually what the Mushan Village Chief is worrying about, Mu Qing Lang won't even be bothered to sleep.
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Mushan Village, within the chief's manor.
"So? What do you think about the chief of Eastern Changzhou?" a skinny male with the appearance of a scholar walk up and down worrying about all matters around the village.
"Dear father, I think we should expect Chief Mu to repay our kindness. Based on what I've seen, I believe that Chief Mu is a wise leader that knows how to differentiate kindness from jealousy." Yulan Zhang answered the skinny male, who is actually his dear father.
"Will the chief take advantage on our weakness and attack us? Our situation is bad enough, and we do not have anything extra to trade with them for the sake of a few bottles of Recovery Ointment." his father Yulan Shenwen replied.
"I'm confident with my sight. Dear father, please be patient as we wait for his reply." Yulan Zhang calms his father worries with a convincing reply.
Yulan Shenwen nodded with worries. Having no mood to continue to talk about this matter, he dismissed his son and let him leave the discussion room.
Yulan Zhang returned to his room, but deep inside his heart, there's a hint of worries plastered on his face.
"Will Chief Mu chose to side with the Donghai-Orcs and not the Mushan Village? I wonder how accurate is my eyes this time towards a person like him." Yulan Zhang continued his way as he remains in his deep thought.
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Day Fifty-Three.
Right in the morning after Mu Qing Lang assigned Han Xi with another task, a few representatives came to deliver him some bad news.
Amongst the ten villages representative, three of them chose to not trade with Eastern Changzhou. The three are Jinjiang Village, Wuhan Village, and Ashen-Orc Village.
The Ashen-Orc Village gave the reason they will have a weaker advantage in the trade because of the limitation on products. As for the Jinjiang Village, they used Wuhan Village as their reason to have no need to trade with Eastern Changzhou.
Their reply is,
The Wuhan Village is one of the envoy settlement of Jinjiang, and responsible for producing a harvest similar to what Eastern Changzhou have. Hence they have no need for imported goods.
If they realized that the product was made out of WUYI Saint Carriage, how terrible would that feel? Its a wound made of pointless failure after all. Their reply made Mu Qing Lang feel sad for losing three potential clients, but deep inside, he's thinking about how he should reply them.
"All leather from the boars are made equal, but their artisan wasn't. You may have plenty, but the talented one is only here with me. You should keep dreaming, at least that would help you to regain a little hint of confidence back."
Although the bad news came a little too early, the positive one came consecutively after that. Seven villages sent their greetings back to the Fengbu Exchange Store, with those from Donghai-Orc Village and Kong Village as the earliest customers.
Nine hundred bottles of Recovery Ointment is sold today. Although the purchase rate for today is only at 90 bottles a pearl, the differences did not make them lost interest. Kong Village immediately purchased seven pearls worth of Recovery Ointment, and the Donghai-Orc Village bought two.
Later in the afternoon, the other villages came for a smaller exchange too, taking away one or two pearls from the Eastern Changzhou for their future purchases.
As for Mu Qing Lang, he summoned Han Yu and Ka-Ba to meet with him for an urgent matter.
"Master, what do you need us to do?" both gave Mu Qing Lang a bow before they ask the question.
"Our Eastern Changzhou had established itself within this prairie, but we're not saved from outsider threats. I believe it's time we start to train proper troops and not militias chosen from the settlement. Do both of you agree with me?"
Mu Qing Lang knows that it might be difficult for him to make them to enroll into the military immediately and decided to use persuasion tactics on two of his most hot-blooded members.
If he's capable of bringing them to his side in the Military Organization, then it will no longer be a problem to start recruiting people to become properly trained soldiers. All of this will be the next changes he's going to employ to his Eastern Changzhou.
"Ma... Master... What are proper troops means?" unable to understand what Mu Qing Lang trying to say, both cannot hold themselves but ask.
"I'll explain it slowly."
"If you're very skilled in fighting, you're a fighter. Correct?" Mu Qing Lang questioned them with the earliest designation, bruisers, and fighters. To reply to his question, they both nodded.
"And for people holding a tool to fight, they're known as militia. Then what if you're trained bruisers and fighters, and armed?" Mu Qing Lang continued with militia designation but making sure they understand what does that mean. They both revealed a puzzled expression.
"Unconscripted volunteers is the correct post for the militia. As for the conscripted individuals, they're known as a soldier." Mu Qing Lang's explanation entered the deeper part of the differences between each title.
"A soldier represents the power of the settlement. The more we have, the better we can protect Eastern Changzhou. The more skillful a soldier, the less is our death rate when fighting against outsiders."
"The position of a soldier is differentiated into four stages. Recruit Soldiers, Advance Soldiers, Veteran Soldiers, and Elite Soldiers. Recruit is for those just started, Advance is for those with experience in both war and training."
"As for veteran, only those that survived more than five battles and killed over fifty opponents can be counted as a veteran. And lastly, the Elites. These people are the best of the best, perhaps even stronger than me."
"Do you know what it takes to become an elite?" Mu Qing Lang explained and continue to make it interesting for them.
"Master, please! Continue!" the two hot-blooded individuals start to feel an itch they can't reach to scratch it.
"An elite Soldier can command everyone else below them, capable of winning each battle, slaying opponent strongest warrior and bruisers, remain alive and only become stronger, and capable of taking over my position when I am not around."
"If you become an elite like me, then I won't need to leave our Eastern Changzhou to fight a battle. The elites will replace me and wage war against two, no three, no... Ten villages! And come back in victory!"
"Do you think you both can do it?" Mu Qing Lang's bait finally came out from his mouth, trying to lure them to the hook.
"WE CAN!" the two hot-blooded individuals can be said to be idiots. If they discern Mu Qing Lang's act is trying to lure them into the military, what would they think instead?
"Are you sure?" he continued.
"You won't have your freedom anymore. If the Eastern Changzhou need you to die, you cannot retreat and leave. Are you sure?" Mu Qing Lang final question pops out.
"WE WILL LIVE FOR EASTERN CHANGZHOU, DIE FOR EASTERN CHANGZHOU!"
"Good!" Mu Qing Lang smiled.
