Chapter 25 Building a Fortress on the Mountain_1

Chapter 25

"Chief, what are we doing?"

Huang Sanyuan asked in confusion, he was awakened very early today by Cheng Dalei, accompanying him as he made rounds around Frog Ridge.

"Mountain viewing!" Cheng Dalei uttered with a pretentious air.

"Viewing... what mountain?" Huang Sanyuan was even more puzzled.

Cheng Dalei didn't answer his question, instead, he measured up the giant rock before him, thinking about climbing onto it.

"Steward Huang, you're experienced and worldly, if we want to increase the population of our Mountain Fortress, where do you think we can recruit?"

"That could be difficult..."

"How so? Tell me more." Cheng Dalei tried but still found no way to climb up onto the giant rock.

"The subjects of the Empire can generally be divided into four classes, have you heard of this, Chief?"

Cheng Dalei paused for a moment, "What four classes? How are they divided?"

"The first class is naturally the royal family, who have enjoyed supreme authority for a hundred and twenty years since the establishment of Great Wu; they don't need to labor and are supported by the Empire. The second class is the nobility, including the aristocratic families, city lords, and wealthy merchants. The third class is the commoners, including landlords, gentry, and merchants. The fourth class is the lower class, including farmers, migrants, and household slaves."

"Which class do mountain bandits belong to?" Cheng Dalei asked in confusion.

Huang Sanyuan appeared somewhat troubled, "Mountain bandits don't have a class, or you could say they're at the bottom. The Empire doesn't even acknowledge them as its subjects. They're considered even lower than the homeless, slaves, and beggars. Ordinary people, when faced with no way out, would rather die than become mountain bandits. If a family has a member who's a mountain bandit, it would be a shame to the whole family and even their ancestors."

Upon saying this, Huang Sanyuan shot a glance at Cheng Dalei, unsure of Cheng Dalei's temperament and fearing that his remarks may offend him.

Cheng Dalei didn't get angry though, he eventually managed to climb onto that giant rock, standing at its highest point, overlooking Frog Fort from an elevated vantage point.

"So being a mountain bandit is such a lowly existence, huh!"

Cheng Dalei suddenly chuckled, "Steward Huang, I plan to build a wall around Frog Fort, reinforcing our original defensive measures."

"It's a good idea, but we don't have the manpower."

"I've taken that into consideration and already thought of a solution. We can hire people. I'll give you a construction blueprint later." Cheng Dalei told Huang Sanyuan.

Huang Sanyuan's eyes widened, "Chief, you also know how to make construction blueprints?"

"Yep." Cheng Dalei admitted without hesitation.

No wonder Huang Sanyuan was shocked. In an era where less than 10% of people were literate, Cheng Dalei's capability was practically genius.

His gaze towards Cheng Dalei was somewhat admiring. Standing on the giant rock with his garment flapping, he looked almost omniscient.

Cheng Dalei was surveying the layout of Frog Fort from his high perch. From his viewpoint, Frog Ridge resembled a toad squatting on the ground. The "toad" faced the south, underneath a deep and unfathomable cliff, on either side were high mountains and ridges. The only path up the mountain was through the northern hillside filled with towering trees. Frog Fort was located on a flat terrain on the "toad's" head.

What Cheng Dalei was aiming to do was strengthen the precinct's initial defense, make use of mountains and tall trees to fill in gaps, and lastly, fortify the periphery of the precinct with traps.

Cheng Dalei took Huang Sanyuan around the fort. Today was his first time observing the architectural layout of Frog Fort. Honestly, there wasn't much of a layout. It seems whoever had built this fortress, they'd simply built whatever came to mind or whatever was needed.

All of this was about to be completely renovated in this reconstruction plan.

Beep, achievement of Explore Frog Fort reached.

Following the prompt message in his brain, a map slowly opened up in Cheng Dalei's mind. Every building of Frog Fort appeared on the map, incredibly clear.

After Cheng Dalei had looked over it once, the entire layout of Frog Fort was imprinted in his mind. At the same time, the blueprint rewarded by the system began to change according to Frog Fort's terrain. Areas with weak defense needed to be strengthened and gaps blocked.

Of course, because it's just a basic defensive blueprint, everything is still very crude. But Cheng Dalei believed that as the fortress developed, the materials given by the system would naturally improve.

He returned to his room and easily pulled out the blueprint. After handing it to Huang Sanyuan, Huang Sanyuan was so astonished that his mouth gaped.

"Chief, you really are..."

Cheng Dalei pursed his lips, "General Manager Huang, don't bring your flattery from Black Stone City here. We value capability and not formality."

The subtext was: Praise me, lavish praise upon me.

Huang Sanyuan nodded, "Chief is right."

...

"Good news, good news!"

Clang! Bang!

"Good news, good news!"

Clang! Bang!

At Flying Tiger Village, Gao Feihu was relaxing under a big tree when suddenly this noise came from the foot of the mountain. Gao Feihu sat up straight, from experience he had a bad feeling about this.

As expected, when he came out of the village, he saw that the big tree near the village was once again plastered with white paper... it's called a flyer or something? A group of people were gathering under the big tree, staring at the words on it.

"Chief, quickly read it for us, what does it say?"

Gao Feihu already had a bad feeling, he didn't want to read the content, much less read it out loud for others to hear.

"Come, everyone, don't rush, I'll read it for you."

Who is this, being so reckless. Gao Feihu turned his head and saw his brother sauntering over, full of smugness.

"Good news, good news!"

Gao Feibao cleared his throat and started reading out loud the text.

"Young hero, are you still enduring wild vegetables and coarse grains every day? Here, you can eat white pancakes every day.

Are you still troubled by the lack of weapons? Here, we have exquisite weapons for you to choose from.

Are you still confused about your future? Here, we give you prosperity and success beyond imagination.

Good news, good news!

Frog Fort is recruiting talents!

The journey to your dreams starts here; your life can be decided here!

Our motto is: ride the most spirited horses, sleep with the most beautiful women.

Join Frog Fort, and all this is not just a dream!"

At the bottom of the piece of paper, a portrait was drawn, with a large axe shoulder, one hand outstretched, his index finger pointing at the four large red cinnabar letters below.

We! Need! You!

Gao Feihu's face muscle spasms in anger, an irresistible fury welling up inside him.

"Ride the most spirited horses, sleep with the most beautiful women," Gao Feibao admired, "This sentence is written well, and the calligraphy isn't bad either."

"Scoundrel!" Gao Feihu was so angry that he rushed over to tear up the content, and roared in anger, "I have never seen someone so shameless."