Set Off in 15 Days

Inside the barracks.

More than a hundred strong and robust young men were practicing physical exercises on the training ground!

The body is the foundation of all skills, and even with incredibly powerful techniques and martial arts, they cannot be practiced if the body's strength does not meet the standard.

Therefore, when training his soldiers, Long Chen pays particular attention to the physical training of his subordinates; it's the foundation!

So, these villagers have already transformed from their initially weak and thin state when they were in Dragon Village, and now each of them has strong and robust bodies.

"What promising talents!"

Even Zhou Tai couldn't help but exclaim.

His own crew of bandits might be fierce, but they don't have bodies as robust and well-developed as these villagers. The reasons are simple: they have spent years traveling on rivers, surviving meal by meal, and their loot mainly came from robbing since they couldn't easily purchase food supplies in the city due to being wanted by the authorities.

And many of them still yearn for a normal life, although they enjoy being bandits. But the chance to lead a normal life is very appealing, especially as their identities will be cleared once they arrive at Dragon Village, and they can become legitimate commoners.

The majority of the bandits are willing to follow Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, and when they reach Dragon Village, their identities will be cleansed, and they will become proper citizens.

"Your Excellency, it seems that the soldiers under your command have been training for about a year!"

Long Chen was astonished when Zhou Tai mentioned a year of training.

"A year!?" Long Chen asked in surprise.

"Could it be two years?" Zhou Tai scratched his head.

"No, no, I've only trained for half a month," Long Chen replied, waving his hand.

Zhou Tai: ...

Jiang Qin: "Your Excellency, are you joking? How can they have reached this level in such a short time? Look at the determination in their faces; they have a hint of the will to fight to the death. I've only seen such determination in elite soldiers."

This... could it be the effect of the "Dragon and Phoenix Among Men" talent? But it's supposed to increase at most by 30%. Isn't this too exaggerated?

Long Chen contemplated in his heart.

The truth is that the current state of these soldiers is not only due to Long Chen's golden talent, but also because of Long Chen's genuine treatment of them.

For the first time, these previously homeless refugees have found a home.

Moreover, they are treated as people by their lord. How could they not give their all to serve Long Chen?

In ancient times, the thoughts of these refugees were simple.

Whoever treats them well, they will repay double.

Upon hearing Long Chen's words, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin felt even more admiration for him.

They hadn't expected their lord to be such a versatile individual, with unmatched benevolence, unparalleled strategic acumen, and even an extraordinary ability to lead armies.

In the future, they were determined to follow their lord wholeheartedly.

"Alright, for now, familiarize yourselves with the atmosphere here, and integrate your original subordinates into the camp for training."

"Fifteen days from now, we will head north to Ji Province to confront the Yellow Turban rebels!"

Long Chen, who was well-versed in history, knew that during this time, the Three Heroes of the late Han Dynasty would defeat the Yellow Turban rebels in Ji Province, particularly in Julu County.

This would be a golden opportunity for Long Chen to amass wealth through military achievements.

Originally, Long Chen had planned to head north a month later, but time waits for no one.

In history, the Yellow Turban Rebellion only lasted for nine months before being defeated by the Three Heroes of the late Han Dynasty. Moreover, many game players had joined the ranks, so Long Chen believed that the time for decisively defeating the Yellow Turbans would come sooner than expected, although not too soon.

The new game players were just getting started, and many of them hadn't even developed their territories, let alone formed armies to fight the Yellow Turbans.

It was likely that only a small number of lords, such as those who had reached the level of legendary (gold-tier) status, would have the ability to undertake this S-tier official mission.

"Whether we can eliminate the Yellow Turbans and gain recognition depends on you and these soldiers!" Long Chen stated solemnly.

"Understood! We will give it our all!" Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin replied in unison.

.....

In the village chief's room, Long Chen had finally managed to handle all the village matters and stretched out. It was already evening, and he decided to check his territory's attributes since the village had leveled up, and he hadn't had the chance to inspect its status thoroughly yet.

[Territory Name]: Dragon Village (Medium-sized Village)

[Territory Level]: Level 2 (Max Level: 9)

[Territory Resources]: Wood - 3200, Stone - 3100, Iron Ore - 1500

[Territory Population]: 1600/5000

[Territory Army]: 1200/1500

[Territory Food]: 8000

[Resources Needed for Territory Upgrade]: Wood - 10,000, Stone - 10,000, Iron Ore - 3000

...

Long Chen marveled at how he had become a small warlord with 1200 soldiers. In regular villages, there would typically be a little over 100 guards. Here, he had ten times that number.

In prosperous or peaceful times, Long Chen's actions would likely lead to the government confiscating his territory. He might even be exiled or executed for privately amassing such a large military force. But in the current chaotic era, the government was too preoccupied with its own problems to bother with local matters.

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, regional inspectors had begun building their own private armies, sitting on private military power. During the early stages of the rebellion, they had already organized secret militias and raised their private forces. At that time, Han Lingdi had taken the advice of Liu Yan, the Inspector of Yizhou, to empower regional inspectors and local officials with independent military authority.

This move was made out of necessity, as the Han Dynasty was in its decline.

Returning to Long Chen's situation, he realized that he needed to align his territory's population and military force. With only 1600 inhabitants and 1200 soldiers, it wouldn't be sustainable. Long Chen needed to attract more people to Dragon Village.

His next goal was clear: attract more inhabitants, especially women, as Dragon Village needed to balance its gender ratio for long-term sustainability.

The upgraded village could accommodate up to 5000 people. However, the current population wouldn't be enough to support the 1200 soldiers, so it was crucial to increase the population first.

Content with his plan, Long Chen went into a deep sleep.

.....

On the following day at 6 a.m., Long Chen got out of bed early. He had a lot to do, and there was no time for him to sleep in. He started by exercising in an open space, doing 500 push-ups, 500 sit-ups, and repeating each exercise five times.

By the time he completed his workout, he was drenched in sweat. He then continued by practicing a set of martial arts in the courtyard: the Eight Extremities Fist.

The movements of his body were a blend of grace and power, producing bursts of explosive sounds in the air. After more than an hour of training, Long Chen felt his body strengthening. He believed that the daily practice would keep him prepared for any situation on the battlefield.

As he rested, a voice with thunderous volume reached him from outside, and he knew it was coming from Zhou Tai.

"Enter," Long Chen replied, and Zhou Tai entered the room.

Long Chen noticed Zhou Tai was drenched and asked, "Why are you all wet? What happened?"

Zhou Tai grinned and said, "I was practicing Xuanwu Technique this morning. This technique requires me to be in fast-flowing river currents, so I got all wet."

Long Chen understood, and Zhou Tai proceeded to sit down as Long Chen offered him a cup of tea.

Zhou Tai then explained, "That's the issue. I was practicing the Xuanwu Technique near the Huangshui River, about several dozen kilometers away from Dragon Village. I found a large group of ragged refugees stopped outside Huangshui Village."

"How many of them are there?" Long Chen inquired, his heart filled with anticipation.

Zhou Tai replied, "I estimate there are about one to two thousand, but they've been blocked by the local militia at the outskirts of Huangshui Village."

Long Chen already had an idea of why Huangshui Village had rejected these refugees. The village had limited resources and couldn't accommodate such a large number of people. Allowing them in would create social unrest, especially since many of the refugees might have malicious intentions, stealing and causing trouble. Furthermore, diseases could spread if unchecked, posing a risk to the village.

Therefore, it wasn't surprising that the refugees were being denied entry. The situation was common throughout the Han Dynasty, as many small villages and towns faced similar issues with refugees.

Long Chen saw this as an opportunity to replenish Dragon Village's population. He couldn't take in all the refugees but intended to carefully select and filter those who could contribute positively.

He told Zhou Tai to lead the way and gather about a hundred militiamen from the camp to head to the scene.

Zhou Tai quickly left to carry out the order, and as he did, Long Chen left his room and crossed paths with Zhang Lao. They exchanged a few words before continuing with their respective tasks.