Let’s not even mention that recruiting soldiers privately is a capital offense—punishable by death.

Even if the recruitment were successful, those commoners still wouldn’t be able to stand against the Northern Rong army.

“Your Highness, it’s not that this humble official refuses to cooperate, but this plan simply won’t work,” Zhao Zhuo said with a troubled expression.

Gu Qingwan spoke seriously, analyzing the pros and cons. “Governor, allow me to ask you a few questions first.”

“Please go ahead, Your Highness,” Zhao Zhuo replied, looking at her.

Gu Qingwan asked, “If the Zhenbei Army retreats to defend Suzhou City, what will happen to the villages and towns outside the city?”

“They will be massacred by the Northern Rong army. Corpses will cover the land,” Zhao Zhuo answered heavily.

“And if Suzhou City falls? What then becomes of the people inside the city?”

Zhao Zhuo was silent for a moment before speaking. “It’s highly likely they will be enslaved by the Northern Rong, with countless casualties.”

“And what about you, Governor? Do you think you’ll be spared?” Gu Qingwan pressed on.

Zhao Zhuo remained silent.

He now understood the intent behind her line of questioning but didn’t know how to respond except with silence.

“This humble official is the governor of Suzhou City. Naturally, I must live or die with the city. If Suzhou falls, then I shall… perish with it,” he finally declared.

Gu Qingwan looked at him, surprised he would speak such words with such solemn righteousness.

No wonder he was a man of Beichen Yuan—his loyalty and sense of duty were clearly inherited from him.

“If you are already prepared to die with the city, Governor, why would you fear leading the people in one final stand? You needn’t answer me today. Tomorrow, I will bring you something. After you’ve seen it, you can decide,” she said and then stood up to leave.

After leaving the government office, Gu Qingwan instructed Rong Yunfei to spend heavily to hire all the blacksmiths in the city, bringing their tools and heading for Dahe Village.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingwan herself drove straight back to Dahe Village.

She explained her plan to the village head.

Upon hearing that the Northern Rong army was indeed approaching, the Village head panicked.

They had only just settled down here, and now war was coming again.

Compared to fleeing Suzhou City, he would rather follow Gu Qingwan’s lead and fight to protect their homes.

Gu Qingwan’s plan was to forge weapons first, then begin basic training.

It would be difficult to train ordinary people to use conventional weapons well in a short time, and expecting them to fight professional soldiers was unrealistic.

But what if they were all equipped with repeating crossbows?

Even if they couldn’t take down ten foes, surely each could shoot down three, right?

They didn’t need to engage in close combat—just learn to use the repeating crossbows effectively, and killing the enemy wouldn’t be a problem.

The simplest material for making such crossbows was bamboo, which was abundant in the bamboo forest beside Dahe Village—plenty for their needs.

After consulting with the village head, Gu Qingwan ordered all the villagers to stop their current work and start making repeating crossbows.

Her authority in the village was great—once people heard it was at her request, they didn’t even ask why. They simply obeyed.

Chopping bamboo, splitting bamboo—everyone worked tirelessly under the sun.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingwan stayed home drawing up blueprints.

To her, Suzhou City was now her battlefield.

As long as she was here, no one would take a single step into Suzhou.

If pushed too far, she could even build red-cloaked cannons.

Hand grenades and thunderbombs were nothing.

But in this age of cold weapons, introducing such modern firepower would mean casualties in the tens of thousands.

In this era where power ruled, if she couldn’t protect and control these things, she would never allow them to exist here.

She didn’t want what she brought from the modern world to become tools of slaughter for the powerful.

But if forced, she would do whatever it took to survive—never mind the consequences. Even the emperor himself couldn’t stop her from staying alive.

At first, the blacksmiths were terrified when they heard they were expected to mass-produce weapons. Many tried to flee.

But after Gu Qingwan revealed her identity and explained her plan, they were fired up with passion, promising to call more colleagues—including carpenters.

Since iron was tightly controlled in Daxia, getting large quantities would be difficult.

Gu Qingwan planned to build a few prototypes to persuade Zhao Zhuo to join her cause.

Then, she would seek Beichen Yuan to acquire iron.

Others might struggle to procure it, but Beichen Yuan controlled the northern territory and the iron mines nearby—it would be easy for him.

All-bamboo weapons were easier to make, but without metal reinforcement, they lacked power.

If time allowed, Gu Qingwan preferred to incorporate iron, especially in the arrowheads.

Bamboo arrows could still kill, but they lacked penetration.

If the enemy was far away or armored, pure bamboo couldn’t pierce through. For battlefield use, iron-tipped arrows were essential.

In addition to handheld crossbows, Gu Qingwan planned to build large crossbow carts with extended range for defense.

At this point, the village carts became useful.

Once the villagers heard she needed them, they brought all their carts.

In no time, the open space at the village entrance was filled with dozens of them—the entire village’s supply.

“Wanwan, is this enough? If not, I’ll go buy more from the next village.”

“Yes, they sell carts in town too. If we need more, I’ll go right away.”

“Can you use carriages? I just bought one—I’ll bring it!”

Gu Qingwan quickly stopped them. “Uncle Zhang, no need. Carriages are harder to modify. These carts are much more suitable. But this still won’t be enough. Everyone, try to help me buy more of this kind of cart over the next few days. As long as they’re not outrageously priced, just get them. I’ll reimburse the silver.”

“And carpenters and blacksmiths—any within a ten-mile radius, invite them all. We must make a large batch of weapons in the shortest time possible. With these weapons, we can protect our home.”

“We don’t understand all this, but we believe in you. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll do it properly.”

“Exactly! We’ll do whatever you say.”

“Those Northern Rong dogs are almost at our doorstep. We can’t just wait to die. With weapons, we can fight back!”

“That’s right! If we villagers unite, I refuse to believe we can’t drive those Northerners out!”

Looking at the villagers full of fighting spirit, Gu Qingwan felt deeply moved.

Perhaps this was what it felt like to be trusted.

She kept reminding herself again and again not to let that trust down—not from the villagers, nor from the people of Suzhou City.