Chapter 46

He Xuan agreed to Mo Yin’s request.

Since he saw the green sprouts in the tent, he had decided to trust without suspicion. Such a good method, if Mo Yin were to offer it to the barbarians, their power would grow to unimaginable levels.

Mo Yin was a rare talent, and he shouldn’t be doubted when he was willing to serve his country. As for who Mo Yin really was and where he had learned his skills, He Xuan was confident that he would gradually find out in the future.

He Xuan lifted his wine pouch and lightly tapped Mo Yin’s wine pouch. “I’ll assign you a thousand soldiers.”

“Thank you, General.”

Mo Yin smiled, revealing a hint of his teeth. Suddenly, He Xuan asked, “What year were you born?”

Mo Yin replied with a question, “And you, General?”

He Xuan answered, “In the third year of Tianyuan.”

Mo Yin was surprised, “General, you’re twenty-one this year?”

He Xuan asked, “Doesn’t it seem like it?”

“Not quite,” Mo Yin glanced at the man with a dusty face and stubbled beard, “You appear mature, like a man in his thirties.”

He Xuan laughed heartily, “And you?”

“What do you think, General?”

The conversation gradually became more relaxed. He Xuan also relaxed, propping up one leg and looking Mo Yin up and down. Even when relaxed, his gaze was as sharp as a knife, scrutinizing Mo Yin from his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and lips stained with wine…

He Xuan cleared his throat and turned his face away to take a sip of wine. “About the same as me.”

“If the general says so, then it must be so.”

The tent suddenly fell silent. Mo Yin didn’t care why He Xuan suddenly stopped talking. Leaders liked to be capricious, and he wasn’t interested in deciphering He Xuan’s thoughts. After finishing his wine, he bid farewell.

Upon learning that the strategist intended to train the troops, there was some unrest in the camp. Most of them were conscripted from the local areas and could return home after serving their terms. They didn’t aspire to make military achievements; they just wanted to preserve their lives, reunite with their families, and return home someday. The soldiers respected the strategist’s skills, but if he were to train them, it would undoubtedly be rigorous, and many feared it.

Mo Yin didn’t mind. He obtained a new order from He Xuan, preparing to allocate two thousand soldiers to various cities farming. Since not everyone wanted to fight, those who didn’t could go farming.

There was unrest in various camps as a result. Each camp had its set number of soldiers and a specific training regimen, but suddenly withdrawing troops made it difficult for them to adapt.

After taking over the army, He Xuan quickly realized the problems with the original structure. Chang Sansi was too old and no longer effective. Despite the yearly military allocations from the court, he struggled to maintain the current situation. This led to a surplus of idle troops within the army. Most of them were old subordinates of Chang Sansi, acting as a group, and He Xuan, as the general, not only had to deal with them but also had to contend for control of the army with these old subordinates. The more they resisted, the more He Xuan exerted his authority.

Two months later, many elderly and infirm soldiers were removed from the various camps. They were assigned to various cities to farm under the leadership of He Xuan’s personal guards. Reluctantly, they were informed by He Xuan’s guards that they were to farm in the cities and could receive grain and silver in proportion to the harvest at the end of summer, along with double credit for their military service, enabling them to return home sooner. Under extreme reluctance, they received the news with joy, almost unable to contain their excitement.

The guards cautioned them, “You must be careful and diligent in the city, work hard, and do not disturb the people. Do not disgrace the name of General He.”

These soldiers dared not disobey, and they bowed and thanked General He one after another. From then on, they settled in the city to farm. Many small abandoned houses in the border towns were repaired according to He Xuan’s instructions, and the soldiers temporarily settled in them. The desolate small towns suddenly became lively, showing signs of new vitality.

On the other hand, Mo Yin was carefully selecting personnel within the army.

He Xuan assigned him a thousand soldiers, and he was to choose them himself. He Xuan agreed that, apart from the personal guards of the He family, Mo Yin could freely select soldiers. Naturally, Mo Yin would choose those who were brave and martial. The leaders of each camp were unwilling to release their soldiers easily, leading to conflicts with Mo Yin. The camp became quite lively. He Xuan returned from outside, kicked off his boots, and saw Mo Yin arguing with the old subordinates of Chang Sansi, who were red-faced with anger. Mo Yin remained calm, and He Xuan couldn’t help but smile, curling his lips slightly. He asked the guard, “Is the robe ready?”

The guard said, “Alright, it’s already been delivered to the strategist’s tent.”

He Xuan put on his boots. It was already April, but Mo Yin still looked like he was afraid of the cold, always wearing a large cloak, wandering around the military camp with his hands in his sleeves, stirring up the fires of those old subordinates.

Returning to his tent, He Xuan drank some water and couldn’t help but smile.

The guard asked, “General, what are you laughing at?”

“Nothing,” He Xuan sat down and said, “All the camps have been stirred up enough, haven’t they?”

The guard also smiled and said, “Yes, the strategist is recruiting everywhere.”

“How many has he recruited?”

“Seven hundred.”

“Not bad, after another month of stirring, he’ll be able to train his thousand soldiers.”

The guard sensed the sarcasm in He Xuan’s tone and smiled, “And what about you, General?”

“Me?” He Xuan threw down his water pouch, bent one leg, and furrowed his brow before picking up some documents, “After he’s done stirring, I’ll go clean up the mess.”

The guard thought he must be taking advantage of the situation.

Chang Jun had been stationed here for several years, and the relationships and interests between the various camps were complex. Although the general was sent by the court to lead the troops, the other generals and soldiers paid no heed to how the court-appointed them. With the sky high and the emperor far away, they did as they pleased. He Xuan had been inactive since his arrival, waiting for the right opportunity to completely separate this mess.

And then, Mo Yin appeared.

An external force intervened in this mess, causing them to struggle and fight each other. He Xuan’s only task was to stay above it all, not favoring either side, be it the old troops of Chang Jun or Mo Yin.

“Sowing seeds in the sand, what a great achievement. If he wants a thousand soldiers, how can I not give them to him?”

Whenever the old troops of Chang Jun came to complain, He Xuan had only this to say. Those old troops could only grit their teeth and continue to go out and compete with Mo Yin for recruits, while He Xuan in his tent just smiled faintly.

The guard thought their general looked honorable on the surface but was actually very cunning. Warfare was full of deceit. To be able to capture the rebels within a month, their general didn’t rely solely on bravery.

Mo Yin had recruited seven satisfactory recruits again.

He didn’t look at their physical stature but at their eyes, or rather used his spiritual power to perceive whether the person’s temperament was suitable.

Zhou Yong was about to come, and Zhou Yong agreed immediately.

Zhou Yong was very nervous, “Thanks to the master’s grace, I will bravely kill the enemy.”

The wind tousled Mo Yin’s hair as he said, “You’ve read books, right?”

Zhou Yong’s eyes lit up, “How did the master know?”

Mo Yin didn’t answer his question, “Your family is poor, you’ve studied hard for many years, but you still fail the imperial examinations year after year. You’re over thirty and still just a student.”

Zhou Yong’s expression froze, and Mo Yin turned his head, not looking at him as he did on the archery field that day, “You harbor resentment, believing it’s not because of your lack of talent but because the world is unfair. If you could bribe like your classmates, at the very least you would be a scholar and exempt from military service and taxes. You wouldn’t even be so destitute as to not have silver to bury your mother.”

Mo Yin turned to look at Zhou Yong. His gaze was light, “Most of this information was told to me by your fellow villagers, some I guessed. When I was recuperating in the army for many days, passing by the archery field, there were so many people there, although they despised it, they didn’t dare to speak. Only you dared to provoke. Zhou Yong, you’re overestimating yourself.”

Zhou Yong involuntarily clenched his fists, and his entire hand creaked. His face turned purple with anger and shame.

“I chose you precisely because of this overestimation,” Mo Yin said lightly.

Zhou Yong’s heavy breathing paused.

“You have grievances, you feel the world is unfair, the higher-ups are unkind, you have too much resentment and nowhere to vent it, but you’re powerless to change it,” Mo Yin’s gaze slowly moved, and Zhou Yong felt as if invisible threads were wrapping around him, suffocating him, “I will help you. From the moment you come under my command, I will make you remember only one thing.”

In May, Mo Yin finally assembled a thousand soldiers and offended all the other generals in the camp. The originally orderly camp structure became chaotic. When they came to He Xuan to see what he would do, to their surprise, He Xuan simply waved his hand and said, “Then let’s reorganize.”

“If any of the generals feel unable to reorganize, you can follow General Chang into retirement, and someone will take over your duties,” He Xuan sat at his desk with weapons gleaming behind him, showing his determination.

The reorganization of the army was another grand event, but Mo Yin paid no attention to it, focusing solely on training his troops in the area designated by He Xuan.

For several days in a row, visitors kept coming to the camp, leading horses to Li Yuan, who then led each horse back into the camp.

The number of horses in the army was not abundant. During Chang Sansi’s time, there was a major oversight: the person in charge of the horses had sold a large number of warhorses. Upon learning of this, Chang Sansi immediately executed the responsible parties, but the warhorses were difficult to retrieve. He didn’t dare to report it, as the cavalry in the camp was already scarce. One of the missing warhorses was the black warhorse belonging to Mo Yin. He wrote a letter to Cheng Wu, asking him to buy horses on his behalf, with Mo Yin covering all the expenses.

“Buy horses, no cash, on credit.”

When Cheng Wu received the letter, he was at a loss for whether to laugh or cry, and Zhang Zhi beside him chuckled, “The master has no money? Should I go steal some for him?”

Cheng Wu glared at him, “How many times do I have to tell you, no more sneaking around!”

Zhang Zhi chuckled, “Just kidding. If the master wants credit, it wouldn’t be right for us to stand by. He defended Yongcheng, avenged our grievances, and left without taking anything. It’s time for us to repay him. You go talk to Liao Si about the price of horses, and I’ll go talk to the clan leader to raise some silver.”

Cheng Wu said, “Alright, Liao Si and the others are busy planting crops around the city, right? Who taught them farming? I doubt he would dare to demand high prices now.”

Things were set in motion. Mo Yin distributed the horses in the camp and bought back the lost warhorses, ensuring that each of his thousand men had a horse.

A thousand men led horses, lined up neatly, presenting a spectacular scene. Mo Yin stood in front of them, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet somehow every person’s ears could hear him clearly.

“Everyone, you are the thousand men I have carefully selected from tens of thousands. From today onwards, you must forget the past and firmly remember your new identity—cavalrymen of my camp.”

“Each of you harbors grievances and hatred. I can see it in your eyes; you will not show mercy to the enemy.”

“In the coming months, I will train you. Those who cannot pass the training,” Mo Yin lowered his eyes slightly, his lips moving lightly, “will be executed.”

“If anyone wants to leave, you still have a chance now.”

The army of a thousand stood silent, no one questioned, opposed, or left. Each pair of eyes was filled with suppressed tension as they quietly watched their pale-faced commander on the platform.

“Very well, since there are no objections, you can enjoy the last moments of peace tonight.”

Mo Yin nodded slightly and left.

“Do you want to train an elite cavalry?”

The fire flickered in the tent, and Mo Yin took a sip of wine. The wine here in He Xuan’s camp was still the strongest, he wondered how much He Xuan had brought.

“Strategies can only win for a moment,” Mo Yin said, “The element of surprise is only useful when the opponent is unprepared. A battle with the barbarians is inevitable, sooner or later we will have a direct confrontation. We cannot be without cavalry. A thousand men are not enough. If this training proves effective, I’ll ask the general to allocate another two thousand men.”

He Xuan pondered for a moment and said, “Alright.”

Mo Yin looked up at him and reached out to touch the wine pouch and He Xuan’s fingers lightly, “The general is straightforward.”

He Xuan didn’t drink, he was only discussing matters with Mo Yin. As they spoke, Mo Yin licked his lips and asked if he could undo the wine pouch. He Xuan shook his head but still undid the pouch for him, earning him the praise of being “straightforward.”

He Xuan smiled. His smile was sharp, with a glint in his eyes. No wonder he was called “Concealed Blade.” Such a person, if he could temper his sharpness, would be truly terrifying.

“Do these cavalry have a name?”

“They do.”

The strong liquor warmed the limbs, Mo Yin lazily leaned against the edge of the tent and said, “Yingfu.”

“Glow?”

He Xuan frowned slightly. Mars, the flickering and confusing fire, says, “The name of an ominous star doesn’t sound good.”

“Does it not?”

Mo Yin smiled. He turned his face to the side, his hair slightly disheveled after a busy day, and a glint of fire seemed to flicker in his cold eyes, “I want this cavalry to bring death wherever they go.”