Chapter 1 The General's Mansion

Inside Shengle City, the largest residence was the former mansion of a lieutenant general appointed by the Helian family, equivalent to a guerrilla general of the Yan Kingdom. However, this general had already taken most of his troops west before the Helian family prepared to go to war with the Yan Kingdom, never to return, never to be heard from again.

Most likely, he was gone. After all, so many Jin people died in those ten days of bloody battle. The battle lines stretched for thousands of miles, making it impossible to collect the corpses. No one knew how many bodies were fed to the vultures.

A dead man's residence was considered ominous, but Zheng Fan and his demon kings didn't care about that. In Hutou City, they had lived in the fresh haunted house of the Hyena Gang.

To put it another way, with zombies, vampires, and demon children on their side, even the best feng shui would be useless.

Inside the newly cleaned hall,

Zheng Fan leaned back on the cushion of the head seat, looking down slightly.

Below, six demon kings sat in a circle. There were no outsiders, not even someone to pour tea or refill cups; they did it themselves.

It wasn't that there was no one to trust in this world, but the matters to be discussed next would be easier to talk about without outsiders.

Zheng Fan rubbed his brow and reached for the teapot, taking a large gulp directly from the spout.

They had a territory, though it wasn't large, rich, or impressive, just a remote corner.

But at least things had finally started. Next, everyone could perform their duties. So, this wasn't a celebration, but more like a "division of spoils" meeting.

To Zheng Fan's surprise, the demon kings seemed to be suppressing their eagerness to "lick" him. They were like people who had been hungry for a long time, suddenly presented with a full banquet, yet acting reserved and refined.

After the last open and honest discussion, Zheng Fan felt that at least on these matters, they could be frank with each other. Last time, he offered a cup of tea to the demon kings, and they all leveled up together.

This time, Zheng Fan didn't plan any tricks. If he could smoothly improve everyone's strength, why not?

He even silently hypnotized himself, repeatedly saying "I trust him," "I have faith in him," but it didn't seem to work.

It was as if an invisible barrier blocked his progress in helping the demon kings recover their strength.

The demon kings present had also noticed this. Since entering Shengle City, they had been waiting for a day, but nothing happened.

According to the previous discussion, their lord wouldn't keep them in suspense. So, they figured that the problem wasn't the person, but the situation.

Could it be that the recovery of their strength was decoupled from their lord's advancement?

If that were the case, it would be a disaster.

But fortunately, they could still wait patiently because their lord hadn't slept last night.

Entering the city at night, clearing the city, garrisoning troops, reorganizing the army, and cleaning the houses. Although the entry was smooth, with the cooperation of both Shengle City and the Yan army, and the speed was fast, tidying up was still a necessary step.

So,

Tonight, it depended on Fourth Mother.

The specific results would be known tomorrow morning.

If Fourth Mother had a "breakthrough," then everyone could work hard together. At least the goal was in sight, and the road was clear.

But if even Fourth Mother couldn't…

Then they would have to look for the problem again.

However, one thing was separate from another. The matter of improving strength still depended on the wind, so what needed to be done tonight still had to be done.

This time, the theme was the five-year development plan for Shengle City.

The Blind Man presided over the meeting.

"Ali."

"I'm here."

Fan Li scratched the back of his head, seeming a little embarrassed that he was the first to be called.

"First, talk about the project you're responsible for."

"I'm first?"

Fan Li was a little flattered and touched.

"Yes, let's get rid of the useless people first, then slowly get down to business."

"........." Fan Li.

It was a good thing Fan Li had a good temper, or he would have picked up the axe next to him and killed that Blind Man.

"Ali, you're responsible for construction. The city needs to be widened, the moat needs to be re-dug, and the construction of the barracks is also under your control."

"Alright."

Fan Li's brain, when you said he was clever, he was often not clever. When you said he was stupid, you would be "shocked" by him sometimes!

It was safest to keep such a person on the construction site.

After all, he was the one who ate the most. If he didn't work hard, who would? They couldn't waste food for nothing.

In addition, Fan Li was actually very good at carpentry, and his skills were different from Xue San's. Xue San was good at making small objects, while Fan Li was good at making larger ones. In the comic plot, he even had his own private territory, a palace built of human sticks.

"Make sure to complete the work with quality and quantity, understand?"

"I know."

"Good, when the reconstruction is finished, you can set up a blacksmith's workshop to forge weapons."

No one objected to the arrangement for Fan Li, and it was happily passed.

Next, the Blind Man turned to Xue San and said,

"San'er, you personally train a group of scouts and spies. Remember, scouts and spies, not assassins."

Scouts and spies were widely used in future battles and were also Xue San's strength.

The reason for specifically stating not to train them as assassins was that it would take too long and cost too much, and at least for the time being, there wouldn't be many opportunities to use them.

If they really needed an assassin, they could just use Xue San.

"How many people do you give me?" Xue San immediately asked.

He was different from Fan Li. Fan Li could just use laborers for these things. Anyway, the demon kings didn't lack money now. With money in hand, construction work wasn't difficult.

Xue San knew that his manpower would definitely come from the army.

"How many do you want?"

Xue San raised his hand and said,

"Five hundred people."

A'ming chuckled beside him and said,

"Are you going to form the China Dragon Group?"

"Mind your own business!"

At this time, the Blind Man turned to Zheng Fan, signaling for Zheng Fan to make the decision.

When the demon kings discussed matters, they had to give Zheng Fan some sense of presence, otherwise, the lord would fall asleep, and that would be too disrespectful.

That was why even a speech that elementary school students could read had to be read by the leader.

However, this was not only to give the lord a little sense of presence, but also because Zheng Fan had been on expeditions for so long, experiencing many battles. He had been by Li Fusheng's side and also by Tian Wujing's side.

To put it bluntly, even a pig, under such treatment, should know a few of the Thirty-Six Stratagems.

"San'er, a hundred, just a hundred," Zheng Fan said.

"No, Lord, I……"

"The Man army, the Jin army, the Yan army, the Tufa tribe, even those one thousand Jingnan troops, whoever you like, just take them. We'll count them all together, regular army, puppet army, auxiliary army, it's almost five thousand. You pick, pick whatever you want.

As for the future, when our foundation is stronger, you can expand the formation, right? Make the pot as big as the rice, let's do it this way first."

"Yes, the Lord is wise," Xue San responded.

Zheng Fan looked at the Blind Man,

Tapping his finger on the coffee table,

Said,

"Continue."

The Blind Man nodded and said,

"A'ming, you are responsible for opening a few more small workshops, making soap, perfume, and other things. It used to be handled by the Sixth Prince, but now that the Sixth Prince's assets have been handed over to the national treasury, we don't have to worry about patents. We'll continue to do it."

A'ming said,

"Won't the court blame us?"

"The heavens are high and the emperor is far away. Besides, after the Yan Kingdom conquered half of the Jin Kingdom, the territory expanded too fast, and the troops' money and food had to be solved locally. We're self-sufficient here. As long as the Yan Emperor doesn't personally blame us, even if the Ministry of Revenue wants to say something, Marquis Jingnan will be there to bear the brunt."

"Okay."

A'ming agreed.

"A'cheng, you're in charge of leading the troops."

Liang Cheng nodded.

Right now, the army was a big mix. The original team of over a thousand people had ballooned to five thousand in an instant. If it wasn't sorted and organized well, there would be big problems.

However, if it was left to Liang Cheng, there wouldn't be much of a problem.

Zheng Fan had always felt that the reason why Liang Cheng seemed to be inferior to Marquis Jingnan was simply because their room for development was different, and the basic foundation was different. If they were truly on the same level, it was hard to say who would win.

"As for me, those dozens of Wen family members will first enter the yamen and start by registering the people, first in Shengle City, then in the surrounding areas, and finally, in the wild settlements in the Tianduan Mountains." (Mountains Severing the Sky)

This was a big task, equivalent to registering everyone.

"Fourth Mother, you're in charge of money and food."

"Okay," Fourth Mother took on the task.

"Lord, your subordinate has already arranged everything, please correct me."

The seven demon kings, except for Demon Pill who wasn't suitable for coming out to do things, all had their respective tasks.

"Alright, let's start like this. But I only have one request: build a bathhouse in the backyard first."

He had wanted to take a bath for a long time.

"That's what we should do," the Blind Man readily agreed.

"Well, let's leave it at that. Oh, right, I've advanced to the seventh rank. I won't hide it. I don't know why you haven't improved your strength."

This was a very open and honest attitude.

The Blind Man smiled,

Said,

"Lord, there's no rush. You rest first, we'll talk about it later."

The other demon kings, except for Fourth Mother, all said together,

"Lord, rest first, we'll talk about it later."

"Hey, I find it strange. You used to be more eager than anyone else. How come you've all turned vegetarian this time?"

The Blind Man responded,

"Lord, there's a priority to things, one step at a time. We were too impatient before. Your subordinates think that you should rest first and consolidate your realm.

It's getting late, Lord,

Let's discuss it another day."