As the accompanying clerks were counting the grain supplies, pieces of good news reached Chen Mo's ears.

Xia Lin is a city that can be compared to Nanyang, and its "industrial measures" are far more advanced than those in Pingting and Qingtian counties.

In Xia Lin City, there are two weapon workshops, one crossbow institute, and one crossbow and arrow making institute.

These workshops are built according to the court's requirements and standards and are one of the places for crafting weapons for the Qingzhou Army. The craftsmen there live on the royal family's provision, and their skills are impeccable.

Before the Celestial Master Army breached Xia Lin City, the Defense Army only had time to burn down the crossbow institute and the crossbow and arrow making institute; the two weapon workshops were not yet destroyed.

After occupying Xia Lin City, naturally, Yang Minggui took over these two weapon workshops.

However, Yang Minggui invested heavily in the Celestial King Hall, so much so that the two weapon workshops were not well developed.

The Divine Brave Guard also discovered a large amount of pig iron in the warehouses of the two weapon workshops.

In addition, Yang Minggui's Celestial Master Army possesses over 800 warhorses and dozens of carts including ox carts, mule carts, and donkey carts for logistics support.

What Chen Mo is most interested in is the red copper mine in the back mountain of Xia Lin City.

Previously, Chen Mo intended to transport all the city's resources to Pingting County.

But now, he has changed his mind.

He wants to develop Xia Lin City into an armament city, specifically to forge weapons for his army.

He concealed this plan in his heart, intending to discuss it thoroughly with Geng Songfu after returning to Pingting County.

Meanwhile, Zhang River had already dispatched a small team from the Divine Brave Guard, organizing the newly incorporated Celestial Master Army into five battalions, combined with the previous eight battalions of Xianzhen Guard, restructuring them into the Thirteenth Xianzhen Guard Battalion, each battalion consisting of about a thousand men.

The 5,000 Xianzhen Battalion he brought before were respectively the first to the fifth battalions.

The five battalions incorporated this time are the ninth to the thirteenth battalions.

They are led by Li Yunzhang, Wei Qing, and Shao Jinneng.

Chen Mo is considering adding Cui Shuang and Zheng Guozhu.

Of course, this is something for later; for now, it's certainly not feasible.

With the addition of 800 warhorses, Chen Mo's plan for heavy cavalry can now begin to be drafted.

That afternoon, the counting of the grain in the warehouse was completed, totaling 370,000 stone.

The jerky hasn't been counted in yet.

After regrouping and counting were completed, Chen Mo summoned Zhang River and Li Yunzhang, instructing them to have the Divine Martial Guard transport all the city's catapults, siege vehicles, crossbow carriages, and 200,000 stone of grain back to Pingting.

Xia Lin was left with only 170,000 stone for the upcoming construction of Xia Lin City.

While Chen Mo was busy with affairs in Xia Lin, the followers of the Celestial Master Sect sent by Luo Guang had already crossed the river, rushing towards Pingting County at full speed.

...

On March 1st, Chen Mo and Li Yunzhang concluded the training of the newly restructured Xianzhen Guard.

That afternoon, he left the Divine Brave Guard in Xia Lin, taking his personal guard team, as well as the Ninth to Thirteenth Xianzhen Guard Battalions, along with Cui Shuang and Zheng Guozhu, back to Pingting County.

Cui Shuang is a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist; Chen Mo is not comfortable leaving him in Xia Lin.

Until Chen Mo can trust Cui Shuang, he will keep Cui Shuang by his side, just as he did with Sun Meng before.

Only when he feels Cui Shuang is genuinely loyal will he delegate him elsewhere.

...

On March 6th, Chen Mo arrived at Qingtian County, leaving the Ninth to Thirteenth Xianzhen Guard Battalions along with Zheng Guozhu in Qingtian County to continue training. He, along with his personal guard team and Cui Shuang, returned to Pingting County that same evening.

Chen Mo wasted no time and immediately found Geng Songfu and Zhao Daoxian that night to propose the construction of Xia Lin.

"Two weapon workshops!" Upon hearing this, Geng Songfu became visibly spirited and quickly asked, "Are the molds still intact?"

Chen Mo nodded: "These two weapon workshops still maintain intact craftsmanship; only the Bow and Crossbow Two Schools were burned down."

"That's great, we can use them as soon as we take over." Geng Songfu clapped his left hand with his right, then said, "Marshal Chen, your idea is right. If we move the workshops to Pingting County, it would be too troublesome. Since the two weapon workshops remain intact, along with the craftsmen and the red copper mine all in Xia Lin, we can source locally and cast Bright Armor directly in Xia Lin, which will be much faster than now."

"It can also solve a lot of employment issues for the people." Zhao Daoxian added.

Currently, the two counties of Pingting and Qingtian are densely populated, and the available jobs have reached saturation, leaving many of the poorer populace, although living better than before, still unable to make ends meet.

Now, building Xia Lin can provide a vast number of jobs, improving the people's lives, stabilizing order, and accelerating military development, achieving a threefold benefit.

Geng Songfu nodded, stroking his beard and said: "We can issue a recruitment announcement in both counties, using generous rewards to attract them to work in Xia Lin, promising that those who go to work in Xia Lin will have food and accommodation covered by the government office, receive wages, and even be allotted land."

"Good." Chen Mo agreed that Geng Songfu's method was indeed effective.

Afterwards, Geng Songfu approached Chen Mo alone.

"By the way, Marshal Chen, what exactly happened in the Celestial King Hall?" Geng Songfu asked curiously.

Chen Mo frowned and said: "County Magistrate Geng, what do you mean by this?"

He has sealed the information regarding the Celestial King Hall, fabricating an excuse that Xu Mu poisoned the alcohol to kill Yang Minggui, attempting to seize power, only to be killed by him in the end.

This way, Xu Mu remains outwardly a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist.

Thus, killing him himself wouldn't expose him as a Fourth-Grade Martial Artist.

Chen Mo doesn't want to expose his abilities so soon, especially as war is imminent, concealing strength can provide an advantage.

Only Li Yunzhang, Su Wen, Cui Shuang, Zheng Guozhu, and two Eighth-Grade Martial Artists know the details; those who knew more were all eliminated by him the next day.

"Marshal Chen, your fabricated excuse is too crude. It might deceive the common people, but anyone with a bit of knowledge can tell there's something fishy." Geng Songfu said.

Seeing it wasn't mentioned by others, Chen Mo relaxed and said: "I never intended for everyone to believe it; I just need the truth about the Celestial King Hall to stay unknown to the outside for a while, to confuse them temporarily."

He only needs the enemy to think he's still a Sixth-Grade Martial Artist by the time he goes to war again.

After all, truth cannot be hidden forever; one day, it will be known by the world.

Geng Songfu: "..."

"In time, you will understand. For now, I can only tell you that Yang Minggui indeed died at Xu Mu's hands, and Xu Mu was killed by me." Chen Mo said.

At least from his perspective, this fabricated reason seems quite plausible.

After all, Xu Mu is of the Sixth Grade, without relying on poison; how could he have killed Yang Minggui?

And he is just seventeen years old; it's not like he could kill a Fourth-Grade Martial Artist.

Therefore, this reasoning still holds quite a bit of deception.

ps: There's one more chapter.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.