The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 123 I'm a blacksmith, not made of iron.

With the Han Dynasty's low productivity, there was no shortage of necessities for clothing, food, housing, and transportation, especially cloth, which was in such short supply that it was appalling.

Take the Jinqu Basin as an example. Many families share the same set of clothes. The whole family only has one set, and whoever goes out wears it.

Clothing was like this, not to mention shoes. Ordinary people mostly wore straw sandals, and many didn't even have straw sandals and had to walk barefoot. Can you imagine this in later generations?

To solve the cloth problem, Guan Xinggang drew up several blueprints for an advanced loom as soon as he returned to Wushang and asked Feng Tiezhu to find a carpenter to build it.

Feng Tiezhu stood up and bowed, saying, "It's already finished. We even had a woman skilled in weaving test it, and the speed of spinning and weaving is several times faster than before."

Guan Xing nodded and said, "Then let's build the factory. Guan Yan, you used to work in the brokerage business, so you can temporarily take over as the factory manager and recruit homeless women as soon as possible to build the factory."

"Director Feng, the demand for farm tools will definitely be particularly high during the land reclamation period. Your steel plant needs to expand its scale and speed up production. If you lack manpower or materials, just tell me."

Guan Yan and Feng Tiezhu bowed simultaneously and said, "Yes."

Guan Xing continued, "As for people's livelihood, Xie Chong will be fully responsible for two things: land reclamation and cloth weaving. You will also be responsible for resolving neighborhood disputes or other legal issues. If you don't understand something, consult County Lieutenant Ji Jie. Next, let's talk about the reorganization of the new army."

"We captured more than 40,000 prisoners of war in this battle. We can't include all of them in the army. We can select 20,000 of the best. The rest, those who are disabled, too old, or sick, will be selected and incorporated into military farms to reclaim wasteland."

“We originally had 20,000 troops. If we take in another 20,000 prisoners, we will have 40,000 troops, which is enough to deal with the current situation. Xia Tong, your assault team can also select another batch of people to try to increase the strength to 500 and expand it into an assault battalion.”

Xia Tong stood up and bowed, saying, "Yes, General, but I have something to say, though I'm not sure if I should?"

Guan Xing smiled and said, "Of course, go ahead and say it."

Xia Tong said, "Our commando team's mission is to raid, spy, and assassinate. These missions require us to be light and agile. However, General, you have equipped us with heavy armor, which is somewhat contrary to our mission."

"So, could this humble general request that the assault battalion be converted into a heavy armor battalion, turning us into heavy infantry? After all, heavy infantry are very formidable on the battlefield."

Guan Xing said, "I've also noticed the problem you mentioned. As you suggested, we'll change the assault team into a heavy armor battalion. As for the assault team's previous missions, Ning Huan's scout battalion will take over. Director Feng, you need to replenish the heavy armor battalion's equipment as soon as possible."

Xia Tong was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, General."

Feng Tiezhu's face fell, and his gaze toward Xia Tong was somewhat unfriendly. Did he know how difficult it was to fight with heavy armor? Each suit of heavy armor had more than 1,600 blades. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Besides, he doesn't just forge heavy armor; he also needs to forge light armor, weapons, and farm tools. Even if he swung his hammer until it smoked, he still wouldn't be able to handle such a heavy task.

I'm a blacksmith, not made of iron.

Feng Tiezhu wanted to refute, but he couldn't resist Guan Xing's expectant gaze, so he could only sigh and say, "I'll try my best."

After the meeting ended, the group did not disperse but followed Guan Xing to the camp outside the city.

Currently, apart from the garrison troops in the three cities of Damo, Zhuji, and Shanxian, the remaining army and prisoners are all in the camp, which has gathered fifty to sixty thousand people.

Moreover, a wooden platform had been erected in the center of the camp at some unknown time. When Guan Xing arrived at the camp, he ordered the army to assemble around the platform. Then he walked up to the platform, picked up a megaphone, and shouted: "Soldiers, we have annihilated the enemy and won a great victory in this battle. Since we have won, we should reward our merits."

"To accurately recognize everyone's contributions, I will divide the merits into four levels: A, B, C, and D. The C and D merits will be awarded by the captains on your behalf, while the B merits will be awarded by me personally. Those whose names are called, please come up to the stage to receive your awards."

The soldiers were all excited upon hearing this, and they all stared wide-eyed at the high platform. Those who thought they had done enough listened attentively and looked on with anticipation.

Amidst the anticipation of tens of thousands of soldiers, Guan Xing loudly announced, "Zhou Shan, Zhu Chao, Xia Tong, Tie Lin, Zheng Rui, and Su Zhe, the six of you, come up to the stage to receive your awards."

The latter two were meritorious officials who followed Meng Jun in defending Shan County and were particularly brave in battle. As for Meng Jun, he was a general and did not participate in the selection process; he was promoted as long as he was promoted.

Under the collective gaze of tens of thousands of people, the six people went up on stage and stood in a row.

Guan Xing walked to Xia Tong on the far left and, facing the army, recounted Xia Tong's heroic feat of charging into Wu's camp, scattering the enemy, and cutting off Zhang Ming's retreat.

After finishing his story, he took the wooden box from the tray Xie Chong brought, opened it, and took out the tiny gold medal, about the size of a baby's palm, which he personally hung around Xia Tong's neck. He patted Xia Tong's shoulder and encouraged him, "Do a good job."

This medal is made of pure gold. He has amassed too much wealth from Zhu Hongyan, Zhen and Qu Shuai Pan Lin, and he has no shortage of gold and silver. Naturally, he would not skimp on the quality of the medal.

Xia Tong picked up the gold medal and liked it more and more. After playing with it for a while, he suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "General, you are wise!"

The weather was sunny today, and the gold medals gleamed in the sunlight, making the crowd below the stage drool with envy.

The envious looks from his soldiers greatly satisfied Xia Tong's vanity. What more could one ask for in life?

Guan Xing walked to the next person, first recounting their merits before awarding them medals. After the medal presentation, he and the six others received congratulations from the army.

The six men holding gold medals on the stage were so dazzling that even the prisoners who had not yet been incorporated into the Han army looked on with envy.

Seeing the six men holding up their gold medals and remaining motionless, Guan Xing kicked them and said, "It's over. Get down. Are you planning to spend the night on the platform?"

The six men chuckled and ran down the platform. As soon as they reached the bottom of the steps, Xia Tong eagerly asked, "General, we've done so well and only got a second-class merit. What's a first-class merit like?"

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Have you heard of the Battle of Changban? General Zhao Yun charged in and out of Cao Cao's camp seven times, single-handedly striking fear into the hearts of a million Cao soldiers. That's the standard for a first-class merit."

The six men gasped in shock. "You really think too highly of us, comparing us to General Zhao Yun."

After learning the criteria for a Class A merit, the men lost all interest and obediently returned to the army to brag to their comrades.

Guan Xing took this opportunity to penetrate deep into the army and begin reforming the prisoners in preparation for the reorganization.

Meanwhile, after several days of trekking, Deng Hong finally arrived back at the city of Jianye.

However, in order to avoid Wu's army, he did not dare to enter the city immediately. Instead, he waited until midnight to swim across the moat and arrive at the city. After identifying himself to the guards on the city wall, he was pulled up in a basket.

The general stationed on this section of the city wall was named Han Lin. Like Deng Hong, he was a former personal guard of Guan Yu, so he was particularly familiar with the area.

As soon as Deng Hong climbed up the city wall and stood firmly, he said impatiently, "Brother Han, take me to see General Guan quickly. I have important military intelligence to report."

Han Lin knew he couldn't neglect his mission, so he immediately ordered his men to prepare horses and said, "Let's go. You don't know the code for the General's Mansion, so I'll personally take you there."

The codes were changed in real time, and Deng Hong, who had been gone for so long, really didn't know them. Therefore, he did not refuse Han Lin's suggestion and went to the General's Mansion with him.

On the way, Deng Hong asked curiously, "How's Jianye doing?"

Han Lin laughed and said, "That's how it is. The old general won't leave the city, and Lü Meng won't be able to break through it either. The two sides will just keep at a stalemate, just like before."

"We're fine in the city, we have food and drink, but the situation on Wu's side isn't so good. After the news of Quan Cong's defeat and capture came back, morale plummeted. I heard there have been desertions recently. Zhang Zhao and Lü Meng are so worried they've turned white-haired, hahaha..."