After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times-Chapter 949 - 934: The Grand Momentum, Part II

Those close to him also found it terrifying.

Tuoba Yilu felt the threat and pressure, which went against his plans, and he involuntarily looked at Liu Kun.

Thinking of the importance of Jinyang, Tuoba Yilu couldn’t help but sit beside Liu Kun.

After several days of indecision, Liu Kun had made up his mind not to go to Xuzhou, and naturally wouldn’t tell others about Zhao Hanzhang’s orders. Zhao Hanzhang would certainly not share such secrets with outsiders, so Tuoba Yilu still didn’t know his neighbor would be replaced in the future.

He sat beside the gloomy Liu Kun and asked with a smile, "We part ways tomorrow, why are you so unhappy?"

The army moved slowly, so Zhao Hanzhang decided that Tuoba Yilu would be the vanguard, attacking and seizing lands in the front, while she would take over from behind.

This made her move along the middle route towards the northeast, Tuoba Yilu to the north, and Shi Le to the east, with all three forces eventually converging in Yan Country to form a pincer movement against the Xiongnu along with Zhao Ju, Beigong Chun, and others.

Zhao Hanzhang’s two imperial edicts naturally couldn’t buy Tuoba Yilu’s help in capturing all of Youzhou. From the start, they had agreed to recover the lost ground in Jizhou and capture Changshan County in Youzhou. Anything beyond that required another price, so they discussed this morning in the carriage. Zhao Hanzhang promised him a batch of money, cloth, glass, and porcelain after the war, with a long list detailing them, and certainly, the quantities were not small.

The hiring period was three months.

During these three months, Tuoba Yilu would follow her orders, though he would command the specific operations, and Zhao Hanzhang could not interfere.

So for now, Tuoba Yilu was essentially her mercenary, and she naturally intended to use him to the fullest to avoid losses.

Liu Kun wanted to go along or independently lead a vanguard force.

However, Zhao Hanzhang did not trust his military capability and kept him by her side.

Indeed, Liu Kun was quite competent at handling miscellaneous tasks with good memory; when Fan Ying was overwhelmed, she liked to use him, and he always had an answer ready.

Liu Kun sensed Zhao Hanzhang’s satisfaction with him, feeling both proud and dissatisfied.

He was proud his abilities were recognized but unhappy because this meant Zhao Hanzhang was even less inclined to let him lead troops alone.

So when Tuoba Yilu asked, he shared his frustration, "I want to be on the battlefield myself, but military orders forbid it."

Tuoba Yilu laughed heartily, unconcerned, "Why worry about battles with Yueshi still around? Soon we’ll be face-to-face with Wang Jun’s two sons, and perhaps even encounter the Xiongnu army."

He casually asked, "Does Yueshi know where the Xiongnu army is at the moment?"

Liu Kun indeed knew, "I’ve heard they’re in the Yan Country area."

Tuoba Yilu became contemplative. Zhao Hanzhang asked him to go from Yanmen County to Shanggu County but didn’t mention Yan Country. Was it because she didn’t need him to attack Yan Country, or was there also a Xiongnu army in Shanggu County?

During this three-month hiring period, how did Zhao Hanzhang plan to use them?

For some reason, Tuoba Yilu felt vaguely uneasy.

Wang Jun had already been captured by Shi Le, and the remaining Youzhou army was not to be feared. Zhao Hanzhang also forbade him from massacring the refugee army, so why go to such great expense to hire him for three months?

Aside from Fu Tinghan, no one in the army knew what Zhao Hanzhang’s plan was, not even Shi Le on the front lines of battle.

Receiving Zhao Hanzhang’s orders, although a bit reluctant, he gave up continuing north, dragging Wang Jun with him to march east, capturing and seizing cities along the way.

At that time, Youzhou was in dire straits, with droughts and locust plagues starting there and hitting Youzhou the hardest.

Jizhou, Bingzhou, and other areas still had some income, but Youzhou was truly in a statewide drought, with no harvests, even riverbeds drying up, with countless dying of thirst, let alone hunger.

Wang Jun not only didn’t provide disaster relief but greatly exploited the people’s resources. He was also harsh with his subordinates, which was one reason why cities under Youzhou’s jurisdiction threw open their gates and surrendered upon seeing Wang Jun captured.

The resistance of the Youzhou army was also weak.

After Zhao Hanzhang entered the city, she consulted the County Magistrate and reviewed internal reports. There were countless peasant uprisings across various areas, but their scale was small, aiming to storm the county government and seize the granaries.

After reviewing, Zhao Hanzhang immediately ordered that people be sent along the line to notify every county to do their utmost to provide disaster relief, calm the people, and hoist the "Zhao" flag on every city wall.

Simultaneously, she instructed Fan Ying to notify Yu State to select five hundred excellent students from schools across the counties to be sent separately to Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Jizhou. She needed them urgently.

With three states and a total of two hundred one counties, even sending just two students to each county required four hundred two people, not to mention placing more in various garrisons, the Governor Mansion, and Inspector Mansion.

Five hundred people was already the minimum requirement, but it remained to be seen if they could select that many.

Zhao Hanzhang said, "We must strengthen education, especially re-education. Let Uncle Cheng start selecting students of suitable age from the gentry for tiered education. Since they are literate from a young age, they can graduate faster than those who’ve never studied."

Fu Tinghan said, "Officials might look down on these positions."

"Then find those who don’t," Zhao Hanzhang replied. "The responsibilities of a County Magistrate are numerous and important. They’re all inexperienced and expect to become County Magistrates upon entering service?"

Fu Tinghan nodded, "The military also has a large talent gap; logistics and the medical system need more personnel."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I’ll have Uncle Cheng add two more courses at the Imperial College and set up branches in Luoyang and Chen County, recruiting related talents nationwide."

When Zhao Hanzhang discussed matters with him, everything became much clearer. Sometimes, she just needed someone to listen, though not anyone could do so.

Zhao Hanzhang pulled out paper to write a letter to Zhao Cheng.

Fu Tinghan cleared the papers in his hands, tidied up the desk, and then folded and packed away the small low table.

He had it made by craftsmen because Zhao Hanzhang was always campaigning outside, with the bed built from the planks of a carriage. When needing a desk, they typically used a box as a table.

Several times he saw her sitting with cramped legs, writing bent over the box for over two hours, and when standing up, not only was her neck sore, but her lower half was numb.

So Fu Tinghan had someone make a small, foldable, portable table and paired it with a low, soft cushion, allowing them to work even in the wild without curling up.

He glanced at the crowd, saw Tuoba Yilu and Liu Kun sitting together by the fire, then turned to ask Zhao Hanzhang, "Why send Tuoba Yilu to Shanggu County? Wouldn’t going to Yan Country together to fight Liu Cong be more promising? Hasn’t Shanggu County already surrendered?"

Zhao Hanzhang replied, "Because the Duanbu Xianbei are there, and also because he may not put in full effort to help me eliminate Liu Cong."