27 Becoming a 100-man Commander?!

The news of the throne being empty made the entire nation shocked! Only a few people who were looking at the situation in the capital were instead smiling from ear to ear. The time has come for them to take the capital, was what everyone thought. Lords from each state took their weapons and shouted as they had their eyes on GongJin, the capital. Zhong Zhou's lord was of no exception, and he too had summoned every general and commander who owned land in Zhong Zhou to come to his palace for a feast! During this time a day had already past from when Charles had killed Er Hong. Now the army of Er Hong had no commander, and Commander Yue has lost one of the men under her.

In a room, Charles kneeled in front of Commander Yue and Lieutenant Liu Xuan. Charles had fainted after his duel with Er Hong, and when he woke up in the mansion he was pulled by Liu Xuan to meet Commander Yue! With Er Hong dead, Commander Yue had to find a replacement, she was planning to find a replacement in the barracks and strip Er Hong off his title, but Charles had already solved her problem of removing Er Hong from his position by beheading him. She had asked Liu Xuan to search through Er Hongs financial reports and found that he had purchased Charles from an arena from a neighboring empire. Funny how that purchase had caused him his death. So now Commander Yue looks at the Kneeling Charles with some interest and finally spoke: "Charles, how would like to become a 100-man commander and work directly under me and Liu Xuan?"

Both Charles and Liu Xuan looked at Commander Yue in shock! ' Liu Xuan replied "Commander Yue, please reconsider this! The boy is only ten years old and has never even participated in a war before! How could he be allowed to lead 100 men?!" Charles didn't dare to say anything but looked at Commander Yue to see what her response would be. "Then what do you think Liu Xuan? Who should lead this commanderless 100 men? Do you have anyone that can take over Er Hong? I remembered you talking about how there wasn't anyone that you could think of who could replace him." Commander Yue replied coldly. "But the kid is still 10! That should be a clear sign that he cannot lead an army! " Liu Xuan replied

"And how does age have to do with one's ability to wage war Liu Xuan? We are now in a period of war where every single state has become its nation. Liu Xuan, countless people will die so what use is age anymore? The earlier you start seeing war, the easier it is you will learn about military warfare, and since he has already beaten Er Hong, he should be strong enough to handle himself." Commander Yue replied. Liu Xuan gritted his teeth as he heard what Commander Yue said. Liu Xuan knew she was right, but he felt that having a child go into battle as a commander was wrong. Commander Yue, seeing how her lieutenant was struggling with understanding the situation sighed and spoke to Charles: "My decision is final. Charles, I've decided to give you the position of 100-man commander. You will be working under me from now on."

Charles immediately bowed "Thank you for this opportunity! I won't let you down!" Charles replied, "Now that you have become a 100-commander you are in charge of this border town as well, but before all of that you must first accompany with me to ZhongZhu." Commander Yue spoke. "ZhongZhu? Where is that?" Charles asked "The capital of Zhong Zhou." Liu Xuan replied. Charles looked at the 100 men in front of him. He was standing on the stage where Er Hong had made his speech about the wrongdoings of Charles, but now he was the one that is going to make a speech. Every soldier looked at him, waiting to see what he will say. They already had a good impression of Charles due to the duel between him and Er Hong.

"Men! Many of you may not have seen me before other than the time when I dueled Er Hong! Remember that duel?! When heaven tried to punish all of us with rain, wind, and lightning? And how you had managed to brave the strong winds as you watched on! Remember that time as that was the day that you had survived heaven's wrath! If you men can survive that then what can you not survive! We are in the period of war now! Our people need you more than ever before! Now men! Under my lead! Let us brave the rain, wind, and lightning once more! Let us run through our enemies and tear down their banners! Let us bring victory for our people!" Charles declared as he raised his fist high up.

"That was a decent speech, Charles. But it was too long and didn't have enough emotion to it." Liu Xuan commented as Charles stepped down the stage. "I hope you will teach me about this more Lieutenant. I have much to learn regarding leading an army." Charles replied as he wiped off the nervous sweat from his forehead. "Indeed, you have much to learn about warfare. Walk with me Charles; I want to talk to you for a bit before we set off to ZhongZhu." Liu Xuan said as he started walking to the town with Charles following beside him.

Now with them just leisurely walking the streets together, Charles could finally get a better look at Liu Xuan. The man was wearing pure white cloth robes with long hair tied up in a ponytail. His face was clean with a calm and cheerful look; his white robes covered his body, but the man did not look very strong. "Charles, what do you think about war?" Liu Xuan asked as they walked.

"War? I don't know much about it, but I've always heard is about people killing each other in a large scale battle." Charles replied as he remembered people talking about wars in the village he used to live. "Then you have a lot to learn. War isn't just a bunch of people fighting; it's a battle of strategies and power. Have you played military chess before?" Liu Xuan asked but as expected Charles said no. "Looks like we will be playing a lot of military chess on the way to ZhongZhu." Liu Xuan sighed. As they passed through the streets, Liu Xuan noticed that the townsfolk kept smiling at Charles and sometimes even greeted him happily.

"These people like you, Charles." Liu Xuan commented. "It must have been uncle Jian that made the townspeople like me. He told me about how bandits were running around the town, and they were under the orders of Er Hong. I said to him that I'd do my best to help them and he must have heard about me killing Er Hong and told everyone." Charles replied. "That's good, remember Charles even though you are an army commander you still own land. Without your people, there are no soldiers, and with no soldiers, there is no army for you to lead into battle. Take care of your people, governance is important." Liu Xuan said.

They walked around the town more as they talked about warfare before returning to the barracks. "It was good talking to you, Charles. Take what you need for your trip with Commander Yue and me to ZhongZhu and do not worry about your troops. Commander Yue already has a drill instructor arrive to help with taking care of your army in the meantime." Liu Xuan said as he walked away. Charles walked back into the barracks to pick up his katana and sees Andreas whose whole body had been bandaged up. "Looks like I won the bet, Andreas!" Charles said with a smile. "Won?! More like you chopped his head off! Let's leave it as a tie; he hated us both anyways!" Andreas replied. "So how are your injuries? You still able to fight after all those cuts?" Charles asked "Of course I will be able! I still need to beat your ass! Anyways how is being a commander now?" Andreas asked

Charles looked at the soldiers training as he heard what Andreas said. "It's a lot of responsibility, but I think I'll be alright if your still alive and kicking," Charles replied. "So you're kissing my ass now huh? Why don't you give me the commander role instead!" Andreas shouted, "I'm afraid you might order them to their deaths if you became a commander." Charles replied and laughed "And what makes you think that you wouldn't get us killed? The both of us haven't even stepped on a battlefield before." Andreas finally got to the point. "I just have a feeling, that maybe this is what I was meant to do," Charles replied, and he looked to the sky. "And I think you need to get your head checked out, should I call the medics?" Andreas commented.

Charles smiled as he heard Andreas: "I'll be going with commander Yue to the capital of ZhongZhu, want to follow me?" Charles asked. "No! I need to train myself beat you so I'll be staying here!" Andreas replied as he walked away. "Once you get back I'll have another duel with you!" Andreas shouted. Charles nodded as he sees Andreas walking away. He went into the barracks to pick his katana and headed out of the border town and saw a carriage. "Are you ready to head off, Charles?" Commander Yue asked. Charles immediately replied: "Yes! Let's head off!"