Chapter 172 A Cloud of Surprises

Would the planned armies have a female general? It was hard to say. And since the competition between the third and fourth place teams hadn't taken place yet, if Tan Weishi's women's team defeated the Yicheng team, there might be an embarrassing situation where the heads of both experimental small armies were women. The Meng Xue Jun and Huo Qi Jun (Fierce Blood Army and Fire Qilin Army) already had complicated backgrounds and had to withstand various kinds of pressure from public opinion. Now, due to the unexpected results of the competition, this pressure might be amplified.

After all, the brilliant idea of letting the top-ranked individuals take charge of the two armies wasn't something that Ye Tao and Tan Weixin had come up with themselves.

If Ye Tao or Tan Weixin knew what Dai Yun did after leaving the Yi Zhan Lou (Chess Battle Tower), they would probably think that her actions were very modern. Dai Yun first ran to Maple Forest Lane to buy a bunch of miscellaneous trinkets, and even ordered a dressing table and a screen from IKEA. Then, she ran back to the courtyard she had rented for her temporary stay in Danyang, locked herself in her room, and slept. It wasn't until the afternoon of the next day that she opened the door and walked out of the courtyard, tormented by an abundance of energy and boredom.

Dai Shizong, the old steward of Yunhai Shanzhuang (Cloud Sea Manor), who followed Dai Yun around to handle various matters, seemed to have anticipated his young mistress's peculiar way of relieving her emotions. Anyway, Yunhai Shanzhuang had so much money that it had become a problem. They had been trying to figure out how to diversify their investments. Just transporting the funds withdrawn from Danyang for military horses back to the manor every year was a serious problem. So, his young mistress spending more money was not a problem at all. Instead, the things that his young mistress was causing in Danyang were giving the old steward Dai Shizong a headache.

"Miss, in the morning, someone from the Ye family came to invite you to a luncheon at Princess Xiu's residence, saying that there were many things they wanted to discuss with you. I replied that you were tired from the recent competition and were resting. If you felt better, you would go in the afternoon. What do you think, Miss? Should we go to this banquet or not?" Dai Shizong reported while Dai Yun was drinking the fragrant congee that had been simmering since morning in an extremely gentle manner.

Dai Yun shrugged. Such a movement wasn't considered elegant for a girl, but on her, it seemed very dashing. She said, "Ye Tao and the Eastern Peace royal family really have a good relationship. It's clearly a post-awards party, but they can even hold it at Princess Xiu's residence."

Dai Shizong laughed. "That's not surprising. Princess Xiu's residence is now the Xiu Yuan (Embroidery Garden). The original courtyard has been returned. The Xiu Yuan was designed and supervised by Ye Tao, and Princess Xiu is lively and hospitable. She probably took on this matter herself. The Xiu Yuan is exquisite and beautiful, but it lacks grandeur and is not a suitable place for banquets. Ye Tao probably couldn't refuse Princess Xiu's request."

Recalling Tan Weishi and her team's performance in the chess battles, Dai Yun couldn't help but smile. This young Princess Xiu was really quite lovable. "It's still early. If there really is a luncheon banquet, going now would be embarrassingly late. I'll sit here for a while, change my clothes, and then set off."

Wearing a lilac-colored riding outfit, Dai Yun arrived at the Xiu Yuan. Just as Dai Shizong had said, the Xiu Yuan was not a place suitable for a large number of people to dine together. But setting up long tables in the courtyard and grilling racks in the corners, allowing everyone to choose their own food according to their preferences, was quite unique. When Dai Yun arrived, Chi Yun, Ye Tao, Chi Lei, Chi Li, Zeng Zining, Li Mian, and others were gathered in a large room, studying chess battles with maps spread out, and the atmosphere was quite lively. And what they were studying was precisely Dai Yun's cavalry tactics from the few games she had played since the beginning of the competition. Dai Yun's arrival naturally made everyone even more interested, and Chi Yun even directly asked Dai Yun if she had served in the military.

Dai Yun smiled and replied, "Look at my age, and I'm a girl. Is it possible that I've served in the military? I wanted to be a female general, but they didn't want me."

"Now there's an opportunity," Tan Weishi interjected from the side. "That's exactly what we're looking for you to talk about." As she spoke, Tan Weishi looked at Ye Tao, signaling for him to explain.

Among the people present, only Dai Yun, who had arrived late, and Qiu Haohui, the actual commander of the Yicheng Joint Team, didn't know that the commanders of the two experimental armies would be selected from those who placed in the Yi Zhan Qi (Chess Battle) Grand Strategy Competition. It was precisely to wait for Dai Yun to arrive and explain this matter to the two of them.

"Here's the thing, the national lord has approved the establishment of two small-scale armies to give those who aspire to join the military a taste of army life. Ideally, we can discover some young military talents from among them. After all, military generals either come from military families who have served in the army for generations or are promoted from the ranks of soldiers. Regardless of whether it's from top to bottom or from bottom to top, there's still a gap in between. If they truly have talent and are selected by the Ministry of War or the Imperial Guards, they will naturally have a future. At the very least, it's an opportunity for those who aspire to join the military but can't do so for various reasons to experience army life. ... The two armies are named the Huo Qi Jun (Fire Qilin Army) and the Meng Xue Jun (Fierce Blood Army), respectively, and each has some preconceived characteristics. The first commander is personally appointed by the national lord from those who placed in this public competition," Ye Tao explained simply.

Judging from the results of the competition, although Chi Yun led the Imperial Guards to win the championship, in reality, after excluding Chi Yun and others who were certain not to be able to serve as commanders of the two armies for various reasons, there wasn't much room for choice. Dai Yun, Chi Lei, and Qiu Haohui were the first choices. If any of these three couldn't take the position, they would look for someone with a lower ranking. But if they had to do that, the authority of the commanders of these two armies and the seriousness with which others judged this matter would be greatly diminished.

After listening to Ye Tao's general introduction, Dai Yun thought for a moment, then looked at Chi Lei, who was sitting on the side, holding a cup of hot tea. In Dai Yun's opinion, it was no problem for them to approach her. If there was to be another commander, from the perspective of all these team leaders, Chi Lei was undoubtedly the one with the ability. As for Qiu Haohui, the rich young master from Yicheng, the gap in ability was still very obvious.

Chi Lei understood what Dai Yun's gaze was expressing. She said, "Although playing chess battles is indeed very fun, no matter how fun it is, I have to help my family manage things first. I won't compete with the two of you for the position of commander or supervisor. Besides, in any case, there's no reason for a widow like me to go out and do such a thing."

Chi Lei's face was full of melancholy. Obviously, for her, this was a very interesting thing, but because she had to consider the pressure from all sides, she had to give it up.

Qiu Haohui was so excited that he couldn't speak for a moment. The Qiu family was considered a major merchant in Yicheng, somewhere between first-rate and second-rate. They had shifted their main business from medicinal herbs to spices more than a decade ago. In particular, several mixed plant essential oils developed by the Qiu family had become quite popular among the upper classes in Eastern Peace and other countries. Tan Weixin had always had the habit of buying several essential oils to use for SPAs. Qiu Haohui had traveled with his family on ships and had encountered pirates, but was then rescued by the navy. Since then, he had always wanted to join the army. But a rich young man wanting to join the army was one thing, and making a name for himself in Eastern Peace, where the management and control of the army were quite strict, was another matter. His parents were worried that he wouldn't be able to endure the hardships in the army, and he himself had never been sure if he could become a general in his lifetime. When military chess appeared, and he constantly studied it to satisfy his imagined command of a large army, gradually showing his talent for tactical and strategic concepts in chess battles, he felt that perhaps he should really join the army. But at this time, he was already twenty-six years old, too late. And now, he could suddenly command an army, even if it wasn't an army that could be directly pulled onto the battlefield, and he couldn't obtain a military position recognized by the court, being able to become a general after this opportunity was over, at least, it was to fulfill his dream.

Dai Yun's expression was very calm. She looked indifferently at the excited Qiu Haohui and said, "Okay, why not? But there's one thing I want to say in advance. Since non-Eastern Peace people are not qualified to serve as commanders or supervisors, then I should only have half the qualification. I am the young master of Yunhai Shanzhuang (Cloud Sea Manor), and my household registration is in Eastern Peace, that's correct, but I am a member of the Dai family of Yunzhou. I don't know if you know about this."

The Dai family of Yunzhou? Chi Yun shuddered. Now, why Dai Yun was so outstanding in cavalry tactics could be fully explained.

Among the people present, Ye Tao and Qiu Haohui didn't know much about the Dai family of Yunzhou. At this time, Li Mian leaned into Ye Tao's ear and briefly explained the matter of the Dai family of Yunzhou.

In addition to the four countries of Eastern Peace, Chun Nan, Western Ridge, and Northern Liao, the only vassal states that still retained their own lands and people from the original unified era were in Yunzhou. Yunzhou was located at the northern end of Eastern Peace, precisely at the intersection of the three countries of Eastern Peace, Western Ridge, and Northern Liao. North of Yunzhou were only grasslands and deserts inhabited by nomadic and barbarian tribes. Although it was said to be in a place of constant warfare, Yunzhou rarely suffered from military disasters. Perhaps it was because although Western Ridge, Northern Liao, and Eastern Peace all wanted to devour this land that was rich in horses and fertile, they also needed a buffer zone between the countries. And the Dai family of Yunzhou, almost every generation of family heads were generals proficient in military strategy, and every generation would produce several counselors and capable officials with various strengths. As for prodigal sons, they were very, very rare. The Dai family's strict and effective training system for their children had always been valued by the royal families and major families of various countries, although even if they wanted to learn, they didn't know how to start.

If they were children of the Dai family, even if they were girls, they would definitely be members of the Dai family's complex and precise system. If the Dai family's children couldn't lead troops, didn't understand military affairs, and didn't understand politics, that would be unbelievable.

Although the Dai family was independent of the current four major countries of the Central Plains, there were still differences in their relationships. Because Tan Xiaopei's grandfather, Tan Shuzong, had nearly 300,000 troops when Yunzhou was invaded by barbarians, almost half of all the troops in Eastern Peace at the time, and separately pressed the borders of Western Ridge and Northern Liao, so that the two countries didn't dare to send troops to invade Yunzhou before the Dai family repelled the barbarians and stabilized the situation, thereby ultimately maintaining the independence of the Dai family and Yunzhou. Afterwards, Tan Shuzong didn't even offer any conditions to the Dai family or ask for anything. Perhaps in the eyes of other countries, Eastern Peace's thankless actions were somewhat foolish, but the various major families of Yunzhou, led by the Dai family, and the people of Yunzhou, felt much closer to Eastern Peace because of this. Over the decades, Yunzhou had been selling a considerable number of military horses to the Eastern Peace military, and had even created the Yunhai Shanzhuang (Cloud Sea Manor) in the northern border of Eastern Peace as a retreat for the Dai family in case of any changes. In general, Tan Shuzong's emotional investment back then had now yielded a complete return.

For Ye Tao, those two armies weren't being funded by him. Instead, it was these aristocratic children who entered the army for various reasons who were pooling their money together. Even the Huo Qi Jun (Fire Qilin Army) was using the dividends from the Yi Zhan Lou (Chess Battle Tower) obtained by the Inner Treasury. If these two armies were mainly a training institution for a youth officer echelon outside the system, it didn't matter who was the commander (supervisor). It would even be a good thing if those from Chun Nan were willing to join. The issue of military confidentiality wasn't something he needed to consider for the time being.

Dai Yun's identity was indeed a problem. Although it seemed that Dai Yun herself wasn't averse to serving in such a semi-playful, semi-serious army, whether Eastern Peace could accept her sensitive identity was the question. Regardless of whether such an army was serious or playful, it would involve more sensitive situations such as military law, equipment, organizational form, tactics, and personnel.

What Dai Yun didn't expect was that the first to respond was actually Ye Tao. Ye Tao said, "Why not? As long as the household registration is that of an Eastern Peace citizen, there's no problem in terms of law. Do we need to care about anything else? Not to mention that neither the Huo Qi Jun (Fire Qilin Army) nor the Meng Xue Jun (Fierce Blood Army) are armies that will really be pulled onto the battlefield to fight. Even if they were, so what? Loyalty and belief are both things deep within a person's heart. Household registration and identity can't constrain anything."

Ye Tao didn't fully understand what the Dai family of Yunzhou meant to Eastern Peace. But his slightly rash words sounded very comfortable to everyone's ears. Chi Yun nodded and said, "Miss Dai, if you have no objections and are willing to serve as commander or supervisor, then there's absolutely no problem." While Ye Tao was speaking, Chi Yun briefly recalled the order in which these recent events had occurred and understood that the national lord, Tan Xiaopei, was by no means unaware of Dai Yun's identity, nor was she unprepared for Dai Yun to possibly become the chief officer of such a unit. When Tan Xiaopei made this decision, there were actually only a few candidates who could possibly become commanders or supervisors. And even if others didn't know about the Dai family's Yunhai Shanzhuang (Cloud Sea Manor) in Eastern Peace, where they were concealing their identity, Tan Xiaopei and Tan Weixin, and others, definitely knew. However, these things were not easy to say out loud in a big way. After all, although the Dai family of Yunzhou had always been relatively close to Eastern Peace, it was still an independent country at least for now.

"Who said there's no problem?" Dai Yun smiled and asked, "What's the deal with this supervisor or commander? Does this nominal position have any real power? What are these two armies being established to do? What can I do in them? ... Hmm, anyway, it's the people who are entering the army who are donating funds as expenses, right? I understand that, no problem at all."

After explaining to Dai Yun, to everyone's surprise, Dai Yun, who was obviously very familiar with the formal military, chose the Meng Xue Jun (Fierce Blood Army) and became the first supervisor of the Meng Xue Jun (Fierce Blood Army). Correspondingly, Qiu Haohui became the commander of the Huo Qi Jun (Fire Qilin Army).

There were also differences in their powers. Compared to Dai Yun, who was proficient in military strategy, Qiu Haohui was completely a rookie when it came to actual army command. Dai Yun had great say in the army's recruitment, organizational construction, and so on. Qiu Haohui first needed to follow the officers sent by the Imperial Guards to learn and familiarize himself with the situation for a period of time.

After clarifying her powers, Dai Yun suddenly realized that there were so many things she could do. That afternoon, in the Xiu Yuan (Embroidery Garden), she expressed that she would select the first batch of officers from the Yi Zhan Qi (Chess Battle) enthusiasts who aspired to join the Meng Xue Jun (Fierce Blood Army), and immediately summoned Dai Shizong, who was waiting at the gatehouse, and asked Dai Shizong to order the immediate transfer of five thousand warhorses with suitable mouths. Dai Shizong was stunned at first, but when he understood why, his eyes flashed with a strange light, and he immediately gave the order. And Dai Yun's large donation also shocked everyone. Naturally, everyone was bound to contribute money and effort. Qiu Haohui frankly said that his family couldn't possibly have such financial resources to compare with, and he didn't want to use his family's money to boost his own reputation. He donated 50,000 taels of silver from his own savings as military funds, and also frankly said that he would treat it as tuition for him to enter the army to learn something. This attitude also aroused everyone's goodwill. If he put on a facade and pretended to be generous, everyone would worry about whether such a vain person was suitable to become the commander of the Huo Qi Jun (Fire Qilin Army).

Everyone had absolutely not expected that the news of the establishment of the two experimental armies would cause such a huge reaction. Although the military chess public competition had just ended, those children from various families who were very interested in the military, and even tried many times to enter the army but couldn't find a way in, were somewhat crazy. Although it had been stated that the amount of funding contributed to the army was not among the criteria for selecting those to enter these two armies as apprentice officers and sergeants, the children of various families still donated generously. Because no institution had been designated to handle these donations when the news came out, the guys who didn't dare to approach the Princess's residence tried every means to make appointments with Ye Tao, so they could discuss whether they had any chance of entering the Huo Qi Jun (Fire Qilin Army) or the Meng Xue Jun (Fierce Blood Army), and what kind of position they could hold in the army. Ye Tao was also a little helpless and had to ask the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue to send officials to supervise, and asked Suo Zheng to come forward to receive guests from all sides, register the money received, and give an objective and fair, perhaps slightly exaggerated, assessment of the contributors' performance in the competition.

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