Early February.

The ice and snow slightly melted, behind Daze Mountain, dozens of people shuttled through the forest. One of them wore a long blue robe, equipped with an emerald green belt, hung a folded crossbow, and held a forty-two stone bow crafted over several months.

His hair was tied into a knot, under his slanted sword-like eyebrows were eyes deep as the sea, beneath the high nose bridge were tightly closed thin lips, paired with a tall and strong physique, he exuded a brave and mighty aura.

He took out a feathered arrow from the quiver on his back, nocked it on the bowstring, pulled it to full draw, aimed at the distant wild deer, and his power gradually transferred onto the bow and arrow.

Two fingers loosened, an arrow shot out, piercing the air with a sharp whistle, precisely hitting the distant wild deer, which let out a tragic howl and fell to the ground.

"Marshal Chen's divine shot!"

A cheer erupted behind the man, and then two armored personal guards rushed forward to bind the still alive wild deer's four hooves and shouldered it.

Chen Mo turned back to see, Sun Meng and several dozen personal soldiers holding their prey, showing that today's hunt was quite fruitful.

As February arrived, although the ice and snow melted, the temperature did not rise much, and ice lances were still seen everywhere.

However, precisely because of this reason, Fu Ze Restaurant's honeycomb coal was selling like hot cakes.

Although one honeycomb coal was only sold for three cents, the cost was less than one cent per coal when divided down, thus making thin profits but selling more, accumulating more than twenty thousand coins in just a month.

If it were not for insufficient production, they could have sold even more.

This honeycomb coal business had its explosive period lasting more than half a month.

"Alright, it's getting late, let's head down the mountain." Chen Mo casually said, each word coming with a puff of white mist.

"Good news, good news..." At this moment, a figure hurried over, his face excited and jubilant.

The newcomer was Zhang River.

The personal soldiers made way, allowing Zhang River to come forward.

Chen Mo handed the strong bow to Sun Meng beside him and smiled lightly: "Shui, what's the good news?"

"Marshal Chen, you've been appointed with an official rank, it seems it's called... General Xuanwei." After Zhang River finished speaking, he was somewhat out of breath, bent over, with hands on his knees.

The personal soldiers handed Zhang River a water bag.

"Sanctioned by Luo Guang?" Chen Mo didn't take it seriously.

"Thank you." Zhang River drank a few gulps of water, returned the water bag to the personal soldier, and then continued: "It wasn't sanctioned by Luo Guang, it was the Court, it was the Emperor, Marshal Chen, we are no longer rebels from now on, but the official army."

Zhang River was extremely excited.

The Great Song Dynasty has been established for nearly four hundred years, although there have been rebellions during the period, none succeeded; if given a choice, Zhang River certainly wouldn't want to be a rebel.

Once these words were spoken, the personal soldiers around Chen Mo had mixed expressions, even Chen Mo raised his eyebrows and said: "Who told you this?"

"This was a proclamation issued by the Court half a month ago, known to everyone under heaven. Not only you, Marshal Chen, but also other Commanders of the Celestial Master Army, including Celestial Master Luo Guang, have been appointed to official positions, and the documents have already been sent to the government office, County Magistrate Geng is reviewing them." Zhang River said.

"Let's go, head back." Hearing Zhang River's words, Chen Mo knew something big had happened ahead, immediately heading towards the government office.

...

When Chen Mo returned to the government office.

All the leaders, big and small, were gathered circling around Geng Songfu.

As Chen Mo walked in, each greeted him with awe.

"Marshal Chen, you're back, this is the document, Your Majesty has appointed you as Fifth-Grade General of Xuanwei." Geng Songfu handed the document to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo took it, then frowned: "Why is there no seal on this?"

He had seen County Magistrate Chang Yuan's appointment document.

"Because it's not a court document, it was issued by the Celestial Master Army in Fengzhou." Geng Songfu said.

Chen Mo was taken aback: "What's the connection to the Court?"

"Because this was the Court's announcement that pardoned everyone in the Celestial Master Army, it's just that the Loyalist Army has blocked Hedong and threatened the Heaven-Suppressing Gate, so the appointment documents couldn't be sent over, some were intercepted. But the document appointing Luo Guang, however, was delivered to him, appointing him as Grand General of Pinghuai, conferring the An Country Pavilion Marquis title, leading the army to fight against Prince Huai." Geng Songfu said.

Chen Mo understood and said: "It seems this is Xu Guozhong's strategy of driving the tiger to swallow the wolf, his pseudo-court army can't hold on any longer, and he wants to unite with the Celestial Master Army, to buy some time.

In this way, this so-called Imperial Decree is likely issued under Xu Guozhong forcing the Emperor."

"That's right, this is good news for us, from now on we are no longer the so-called rebel army, regardless of whether the Emperor was coerced, at least we stand in righteousness, whereas Prince Huai and his people are now the traitors, making things easier for us." Geng Songfu said.

This point, Chen Mo also agreed, it represented that they could gain widespread recognition and support morally and ethically.

But Hu Qiang, Han Wu, and others didn't understand these, seeing Chen Mo and Geng Songfu stop discussing, hurriedly asked what kind of official General Xuanwei was?

Su Wen, half-knowing, said: "Fifth grade, should be a high-ranking official, much higher than a County Magistrate?"

"Not so." Geng Songfu said, "General Xuanwei, along with Brave and Mighty, Zhuang Wei, Ming Wei, and Dingyuan, have become miscellaneous generals of the Military Scattered Officials. Although their official positions are higher than the County Magistrate, their actual power is far from that of the County Magistrate.

And from the current situation, the salary they are supposed to receive amounts to nothing, it just sounds better in name."

Hearing Geng Songfu's explanation, Han Wu, Hu Qiang, and others lost much of their enthusiasm, though they were still quite pleased that they would soon be part of the official army.

"Dispatching us to campaign against the Loyalist Army, it looks like it won't be long before we're at war again." Chen Mo frowned, considering how little time they had rested.

"No later than April, from the current information, Xu Guozhong is unable to hold on for much longer. Luo Guang won't just stand by and watch Xu Guozhong be destroyed by the Loyalist Army, otherwise, it will soon be the Celestial Master Army's turn. So, if things move quickly, actions will start by the end of this month." Geng Songfu speculated.

Chen Mo's gaze shifted to Li Yunzhang, Wei Qing, and the others, "How has the Xianzhen Battalion's training been going?"

Currently, the Xianzhen Battalion has over eight thousand soldiers, and Chen Mo had entrusted their training to Li Yunzhang and the others.

"Not so well." Li Yunzhang shook his head, "Less than two thousand are qualified, and those barely meeting the standard are under one thousand."

"Divide the qualified and barely qualified into different battalions, and reassign the unqualified to another battalion." Chen Mo was somewhat disappointed with these numbers.

"Understood." Li Yunzhang already predicted the fate of these five thousand unqualified soldiers.

"Chief Clerk Zhao, urge the arsenal to accelerate. Before the deployment, I want each member of the Divine Brave Guard and the Divine Martial Guard to have a horizontal saber, a round shield, a bow, and no less than thirty arrows." Chen Mo instructed Zhao Daoxian.

"Understood." Zhao Daoxian wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling a bit pressured.

...

Xia Lin.

As of February 1st, out of more than thirty thousand laborers, over five thousand had frozen to death since the onset of winter.

This doesn't even include those crushed by the Yang Minggui army during the suppression of riots.

Of those still alive, excluding the old, weak, sick, and disabled, only a little over ten thousand were actually involved in the construction of the Celestial King Hall.

Yang Minggui's soldiers under his banner could no longer forcibly recruit new laborers. To avoid delays, Yang Minggui even began conscripting women.

On the construction site of the Celestial King Hall, everyone moved like lifeless zombies.

It's unclear whether Yang Minggui had a change of heart or something else, but the treatment of laborers was slightly better than before.

Under his oppression, the Celestial King Hall was expected to be completed by the end of February.

In the hall, Yang Minggui received appointment papers sent from Fengzhou.

Yang Minggui was appointed as a Fourth-Grade General of Guangwei.

"Commander, the war is imminent. Xu Guozhong's side is nearly at its breaking point. At the latest by March, the Celestial Master Army will definitely push us to deploy. Although the Celestial King Hall is expected to be completed by the end of February, unexpected occurrences can always happen. We need to shorten the construction period." Xu Mu read the documents with a frown.

"What do you mean, Military Advisor?"

"Consider letting soldiers fill in the gaps." Xu Mu pondered before speaking.

Yang Minggui, a bandit by origin, was ruthless. He didn't care how many lives were lost as long as his own interests were protected. Now lacking manpower, to shorten the construction period, he had no choice but to have his banner men of the Celestial Master Army serve as laborers partly.

Yang Minggui thought it over and agreed.

"To prevent unnecessary incidents, Commander, you can improve the living conditions and meals. Additionally, soldiers volunteering to join the Celestial King Hall construction can receive a reward of one thousand coins. This might reduce dissatisfaction among the people," Xu Mu suggested.

"This..." Yang Minggui hesitated, considering the cost.

"Commander, this cannot be skimped on. Currently, we are short on soldiers. If meals improve, the laborers will work harder. Once the Celestial King Hall is completed, we can consolidate them into the Celestial Master Army, achieving two goals with one move," Xu Mu hurriedly explained.

"Then let's proceed as per the Military Advisor's suggestions."

Only then did Yang Minggui agree.

Xu Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to take his leave, Yang Minggui said, "I plan to invite Chen Mo to attend the inauguration of the Celestial King Hall and see if he might bestow some praise on us."

Upon hearing this, Xu Mu furrowed his brow and said, "Commander, wouldn't that be inappropriate? What if something goes awry..."

Yang Minggui, however, waved his hand dismissively and said confidently, "Such an inspiring event cannot go unwitnessed. Besides, Xia Lin is under my domain. A mere Sixth Grade can't stir any waves. If he dares act rashly, I'll crush him like an ant."

The gap between Sixth Grade and Fourth Grade is indeed vast.

Xu Mu thought about it and nodded.

...

Evening of February 2nd.

Chen Mo achieved another personal success.

Through persistence and shameless tactics, he managed to bring Yi Shiyin into the bed of the Xia Sisters. Moreover, due to Xia Zhining's private competitiveness, Chen Mo experienced the serenity described in Tao Yuanming's poem—before the scene of Nanshan.

This was quite tormenting for Xia Zhining, who spent a full fifteen minutes threatening to die, followed by half an hour of vowing to kill Chen Mo.

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