Liu Mang rushed to the hall. He had already inford Xu Shu and the others that he needed to know the current circumstances at Yangzhou. Though Xu Shu had helped manage Yangzhou while he was gone, he could not let others do his work forever.
“Yuanzhi. Good morning!” Liu Mang greeted when he saw that Xu Shu was already at the hall before him.
Xu Shu and the others wanted to greet back. However, they ended up wanting to laugh before they could even say good morning.
“Hm?” Liu Mang noticed that all of them were trying to stifle their laughs.
Xu Shu stepped forward and said to Liu Mang. “Milord. You must have worked hard yesterday. I think you should rest a little more.”
Liu Mang was confused. Xu Shu clapped his hands and a servant girl brought water for Liu Mang to wash his face. Only when he looked at his reflection did he see all the hickies on his face. Liu Mang who had been busy escaping the won did not think of it.
“Haha.” Liu Mang could only laugh awkwardly. He washed his face and then sat on the Lord’s seat. He then said to the others unhappily. “If you want to laugh, just laugh! No need to restrain yourself!”
“Hahaha!” Liu Mang may have said that but soone actually laughed. The person who did was clearly the most simple minded person in the room. Liu Mang turned to see that the culprit was Zhou Cang.
“Zhou Cang. Stop laughing.” Guan Hai quickly tried to stop Zhou Cang but the man was unappreciative. “Brother Guan. Why are you not letting laugh? This is truly too funny!”
“Zhou Cang. It must be hard on you recently. Look at how much weight you have gained. I have decided to help you maintain your figure. From today onwards, you are only allowed to eat porridge for three days!” Liu Mang also laughed.
“Ah! Milord! I was wrong!” Zhou Cang imdiately realized the trouble he was in. This punishnt would be hell for a foodie like Zhou Cang.
Unfortunately it was too late for Zhou Cang. “If you say another word, I will add another day!” Liu Mang’s words imdiately shut Zhou Cang up. He then glanced at Guan Hai bitterly as though blaming Guan Hai for not stopping Zhou Cang earlier.
Guan Hai could only signal back that it was an impossible task.
“Yuanzhi. How much property do we have right now?” Liu Mang sat upright and asked Xu Shu. Xu Shu was the one managing everything while Liu Mang was absent.
Xu Shu then started by telling Liu Mang the number of elite soldiers they had in each group. So of the armies had less than its original number as Liu Mang had previously dispatched them elsewhere. One of them was Chen Deng, who was the Guangling Army’s commanding officer. He was sent to Jiang Huai to recruit people and gain control of the area, ensuring Yangzhou’s entrance to the sea, and allowing Yangzhou to make transactions with the Gongsun Family.
This was also to ensure that he doesn’t offend Cao Cao too much. He did not want to start a war right now.
In the end, the total number of elites Liu Mang has were about fifty eight thousand n.
“There is also Yangzhou’s New Army which has fifty thousand n. Altogether there are about a hundred thousand n ready for battle.” Xu Shu finished. Initially, there were three hundred thousand n being trained by Huang Zhong but at the end of the day, only a hundred and fifty thousand n could form an army. However, only fifty thousand of that were actually ready for battle. The others were still being assessed.
Liu Mang suddenly realized that Yangzhou could dispatch a hundred thousand soldiers for battle. On top of that, these troops were all for land battles. He recalled the ti when he escaped with Lu Bu from Xuzhou. At that ti, they only had a few thousand n with them.
“As for the navy, we have seven thousand of the Dong Hai Navy under General Gan and forty thousand of the Yangtze Navy under General Lu.”
“Forty thousand n?” Liu Mang was shocked. Since when did his Yangtze Navy grow so big? Were they all new troops? They had better be well trained since they need to learn about water, how to operate the ship and how to fight on the ship. After all, the soldiers that are seasick cannot fight. There is also the problem of being too exhausted to fight because they do not know how to manage when waves hit the hull of the ship.
“No. They are all trained troops.” Xu Shu replied. He did not say they were elites because he was not yet sure. “These are all Kongming’s contribution.”
Liu Mang had only thought that Zhuge Liang had burned down the enemy. He did not expect Zhuge Liang to cause the soldiers to defect as well.
“Kongming must be rewarded.” Liu Mang nodded as Zhuge Liang had helped Yangzhou to expand.
“What about the garrison?” Liu Mang continued to ask.
“This…” Xu Shu could not answer as he was not in charge of this. He may be talented but even he has his limits. After busying himself with so many other things, he really could not manage with minor things like this. Instead, it was the local governors that manage it.
“I am unable to accomplish my job. Please punish !” Xu Shu realized that he neglected his duty and knelt down imdiately.
“Milord. The Military Advisor was too busy dealing with so many matters. It was not his intention to neglect this. Please forgive him!” Huang Zhong stepped forward and spoke up for Xu Shu.
When Huang Zhong knelt down, the other generals behind him also knelt down. Even the civilian court officials knelt down. Liu Mang shook his head as he smiled bitterly. To see both sides speak for each other like this would normally raise suspicion amongst other rulers. It was like they did not place their ruler in front of their eyes at all. However, Liu Mang knew that Huang Zhong had no bad intentions. Xu Shu was also working wholeheartedly for Yangzhou.
“Yuanzhi, get up. I am not punishing you. I just wanted to remind you. I am the one neglecting my duties as one person cannot manage everything yet I made you work this hard!” Liu Mang ntioned the garrison as he learned that remote places are beyond the reach of the governnt at Xinye. He learned what a local tyrant is. Had he not go there personally, he would not have known that Guo Yi was exploiting his policy this way.
Xinye has Guo Yi but what about the other cities? Wouldn’t they have their own local tyrant as well? At the end of the day, their coordination of the matter was not good. If this continues, there would be more of this kind of incidents.
This ti Liu Mang managed to execute Guo Yi but it would be terrible if another one of such people appeared again. That was why it was a top priority to get the garrison troops coordinated. If they also enjoyed the benefits of the army, they would not try to steal the profits of the common people.
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