After taking down Chengde County, Jiang Pengji didn’t immediately set off to rescue the Emperor according to the imperial order. Instead, she dawdled for nearly half a month and stabilized her forces.

She had very generously given An Cui his 8,000 captives and 10 percent of the riches from those defeated in battle, embarrassing him a little

An Cui had no shortage of methods or tricks. He meted out justice but tempered it with mercy. He also made a clear distinction between reward and punishment. The way he dealt with the 8,000 captives was very fitting and satisfactory.

He stayed in Chengde County for two days before bringing his people and money along as he set off for Huangshui.

On her side, Jiang Pengji was busy as a bee. She had no extra attention or energy to spend on her personal feelings. On the contrary, Wei Ci breathed a long sigh of relief.

The biggest benefit of the attack on Chengde County was not collecting all the domains of Wanzhou, but taking control of the Red Lotus’s men.

The tens of thousands of prisoners didn’t mean much if they were to be put to use in other large-scale battles. However, they were still very beneficial to Jiang Pengji.

After a year of rest, regrouping, and construction, Fengyi County was the most affluent and developed place in Wanzhou, followed by Shangyang County. Chengde County was at the bottom. Chengde County had been repeatedly exploited by the Red Lotus Group, and the resulting mass exodus of its population was severe. Jiang Pengji wanted to attract more refugees and develop the local economy, so development and construction became the top priorities. Jiang Pengji thought hard about it for half a night. She planned to assign the people under her to various places.

“Still too short of manpower… I hope that we can poach some talents at the Alliance Meeting…”

Even though Jiang Pengji had great vigor and an abundance of physical strength, when faced with such a huge mess, she was also so exhausted that her eyes became bloodshot.

Fortunately, she had the experience of starting from scratch. She had accumulated rich experience in the construction of a county. Some areas could be slightly modified and she could repeat the rest as she had done before. Fengyi County had iron ores. Chengde County also had natural advantages. It was rich in coal and there were a few uses for it.

However, the most important thing was selecting recruits and assigning the captives to open up the wasteland for agriculture and build roads and houses …

She might have captured Chengde County, but it had not been that easy. The entire army had been moving nonstop and the soldiers were extremely tired.

She had a lot to do after capturing Chengde County.

Settling the captives and squeezing them for their labor was only a trivial matter. Jiang Pengji had more frustrating matters to deal with, such as the posthumous affairs of the soldiers who had died in battle, financial support for their families, and arrangements for the injured and disabled soldiers. It would be spring in a month or two, and while she could temporarily halt the progress of other matters, plowing the fields in spring could not. There was also the selection and training of recruits, staffing arrangements for the various counties…

She might seem rather impressive as the governor of Wanzhou, but she felt like she was skating on thin ice on the inside.

To get to the root of the matter, she did not have enough soldiers. If something went wrong, she would be in a very difficult position.

A force of 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers could watch over a county, but it would be difficult to intimidate or overwhelm a province with such small numbers.

Therefore, recruiting new soldiers and expanding their troops was currently her number one priority.

The heavy work weighed heavily on the staff. Some counselors were so tired that they could faint. They really wanted to move into the Government Office. Jiang Pengji could hardly find any leisure time either.

In addition to all this, Jiang Pengji also had to integrate the military forces from various places and mobilize the troops in preparation for rescuing the Emperor.

“…Dear God… give me an all-powerful shovel…”

Jiang Pengji had no patience for the official business. She would rather fight someone than deal with paperwork all day.

“What does my lord want a shovel for?” Yang Si was surprised.

When Yang Si learned Jiang Pengji’s real gender, he thought he would feel awkward or uncomfortable around her. It turned out that he had been overthinking things.

As long as she didn’t deliberately remind him of it, Yang Si subconsciously regarded her as a man.

When he occasionally recalled the event, he still felt that the whole thing was surreal.

Such a soldierly and brave lord who could fight a hundred men, one who charged ahead to break through enemy lines and seize cities… How could such a powerful master be a girl?

Every time he had such doubts, he couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Pengji’s chest. There were no curves at all.

He looked at her face again. Her facial features were regular, her eyebrows valiant and noble. She did not have the air of masculinity that a man should have, but nowadays men liked to put flowers in their hair and wear garish clothes. According to this standard, Jiang Pengji could be considered man enough.

So, was this girl fake?

Jiang Pengji said, “So I can use the shovel to dig at the foundations of the wall. Jing Rong… Don’t you think we are too short on manpower? This doesn’t make sense… No matter what, I’m the master of a province. Ignoring how I’m going to make something of myself, even though I may fall short of the best, I’m still better than the worst. So, why are there no talents who want to come to us for shelter? ”

She did not need the person coming to her to be the best counselor, but surely she could get a third-class talent to come to her!

In the end?

The top talents that others sought but failed to get… she had nearly all of them here. However, she had no middling talents.

Yang Si did not know what was the “sense” she spoke of was, but by linking the word to the context, he could just about understand it.

He said, “Perhaps you’ve forgotten that your father has not resigned yet.”

Jiang Pengji stopped talking.

Liu She was the governor of Chongzhou. He was in his prime. In the words of the livestream viewers, he had cars, houses, and a successful career. His character was mature and stable. He also knew how to dote on someone. A proper rich husband. Jiang Pengji was indeed young and promising, but how could she be more attractive than a ready-made success like Liu She? Anyone who really wanted to seek shelter and join the Liu family would have Liu She as their first choice.

Yang Si thought that he had delivered a blow to her and eased his tone.

“My lord, don’t be worried, this matter still needs further consideration.”

Compared to the shortage of talents, Yang Si was more worried that they did not have enough time.

They needed sufficient time to buffer and develop. By relying on Wei Ci’s network and the talents they cultivated, would there even be a need to worry about a shortage of manpower?

Jiang Pengji nodded and frowned slightly.

“That’s true.”

Haste would ruin everything. She had the time to slowly run this business.

The state of the world was becoming grimmer. Only by laying a solid foundation could they be invincible.

After a discussion with everyone, Jiang Pengji planned to start the journey to rescue the Emperor in half a month. In the meantime, she would be busy as a bee traveling back and forth to all parts of Wanzhou.

At this time, an unexpected visitor slowly crossed the borders of Wanzhou near Xiangyang County.

“Father, I’ve just heard the news. The battle at Chengde County is over. Liu Xi is really good. It was only half a month from beginning to end…” The youth in his early twenties bent forward to enter the carriage. He looked a little surprised and exclaimed with admiration, “If I had known it would be over so quickly, I wouldn’t have changed our course.”

Their entire family was refugees seeking asylum. As soon as they arrived at Wanzhou borders, they heard that there was a war in Chengde County. The two sides were fully engaged in fighting each other and, to prevent any accidental injuries, the family had to change their course and take a longer detour. They were now only half a day’s journey from Xiangyang County and the battle was over.

A middle-aged man sat upright in the carriage. He looked about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. Next to him was his wife who had appeared to have maintained herself very well. At a glance, one could tell that she lived like a princess in her daily life – pampered and with servants to do her chores. She looked a lot younger than her actual age, which was in the early thirties.

The wife carried herself in an extremely beautiful and fine manner. She was elegantly reserved. When she saw that the young man’s head and shoulders were spattered with snow, she could not help but raise her hand to wipe them off with a handkerchief.

The middle-aged man stroked his beard and smiled lightly. “Heh heh, Liu Zhongqing is so blessed to have such a child.”

The young man felt a little humiliated. He was jealous that his dad was boasting about other people’s children in front of him.