Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

Chapter 191 Deployment Arrangements

"Five thousand troops should be left in Wild Wolf Valley. After all, Shangyuan County already has a well-established system of security officers to maintain order. Moreover, Shangyuan County is now surrounded by Zhongyuan City, and any force that wants to attack Shangyuan County must pass through the area under the jurisdiction of Zhongyuan City."

Therefore, there is no need for too many troops to be stationed. Since the supply troops are not easy to move, they can be used for city defense. Send 5,000 supply troops back to Wolf Valley to stay, and transfer the 10,000 infantry currently stationed there for unified distribution.

The remaining 5,000 supply troops, along with 5,000 infantry, were stationed in Zhongyuan City. Fifty catapults were installed on the city walls and used in conjunction with magic crystal cannons. This served both to prevent internal strife within Zhongyuan City and to deter bandits from the outside.

This would be more effective than stationing 10,000 infantry. This would leave 35,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry available. That should be enough to handle the situation.

Mo Yuming said.

“The strength of each of the nine prefectures under the jurisdiction of Zhongyuan City is about the same as that of the original Shangyuan City, with a city defense force of about 20,000 to 30,000. We can divide our forces into two routes. One route, consisting of 10,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalrymen, will be used to capture the cities of each prefecture. The remaining 25,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalrymen will be used to block the passes leading to other cities.”

Originally, since Zhongyuan City and the other three neighboring cities all belonged to the Great Red Kingdom, each pass only had a small number of troops stationed there. Our soldiers went there mainly to defend against the armies from other cities that came to provoke us.

There are five passes connecting the three cities, and each pass can be manned by 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. Although the number of troops is not large, there is not much pressure as long as the enemy's forces are less than 20,000.

Wu Heng's military camp has ample weapons, equipment, and provisions, so logistical support is generally not a problem. Before going to war, bring as many ordinary arrows and magic-piercing arrows as possible for ranged attacks. Minimize close combat with the enemy.

Mo Yuming continued his analysis.

"Fortunately, we have already developed a lot of Shadow Guards in Zhongyuan City, which will make it much easier to establish departments such as the County Government, the Ministry of Justice, and the National Security Bureau in the future. I believe the transition period will not be too long."

The National Security Bureau arrived fastest; by evening, Su Ce had led ten thousand National Security Soldiers into Zhongyuan City. They immediately began assigning and taking over security patrols in various districts. Although the National Security Soldiers' martial arts skills were not as high as those of regular soldiers, under Su Ce's rigorous training, their adaptability was still very strong.

Many of the officials in the prefectural government and other government offices were civil servants with low levels of martial arts cultivation. As a result, they were dispatched to Zhongyuan City much slower than expected, and did not arrive in Zhongyuan City until the morning of the next day.

However, their efficiency was very high. By the afternoon, the temporary office space was already set up, and they immediately began working. Huang Xiaoxiao's team from the resources department had already started registering all of Wuheng's assets. The staff of the Sikou Prefecture were also working hard to post notices everywhere, promoting the superiority of the new government and reassuring the people.

Before the National Security Bureau entered Zhongyuan City, the army led by Jiang Yuheng had already set off in batches according to plan. Each army marched through the night towards its respective destination. For an army, time is life, and the earlier the deployment, the greater the inherent advantage. Therefore, Mo Yuming's order to Jiang Yuheng was simply 'fast'.

According to the plan, all troops must reach their destination by noon tomorrow. The furthest pass from Zhongyuan City is nearly 300 li away. Therefore, those dispatched there must proceed as quickly as possible.

So the team set off after noon. At their marching speed, the 300-li journey would take at least twelve hours. This tight schedule posed a huge challenge to the troops personally led by Qi Feng.

To alleviate the pressure on these soldiers, Mo Yuming also transferred Tiger Lord from Shangyuan City, along with Jin Lord, Da Lord, and Chen Jiahe, four Heavenly Rank experts, assigning one to each army. Mo Yuming's war philosophy was to defeat the enemy with the greatest possible advantage, and he would never risk his life unless under special circumstances.

After Su Ce's team arrived in Zhongyuan City, Mo Yuming and his group returned to the Wushuang Hotel. Jiang Yuheng, Su Yangyan, and other high-ranking personnel temporarily gathered on the sixth floor to continue working. Since some details no longer required Mo Yuming's involvement, he went to a private room on the seventh floor to rest.

Mo Yuming sat in the secret chamber cultivating the Witch Clan's mental cultivation method. He had been practicing it for almost two months and was now very familiar with it. The effects of his cultivation were getting better and better. In the past, it would take him two hours to eliminate his fatigue, but now he only needed less than an hour to restore his body and mind to their best state.

Moreover, after a cycle of cultivation, the amount of Five Elements spiritual power gathered in the body has more than doubled compared to before. The gray spiritual energy vortex is also rotating faster outside the Qi Sea, and the amount of transparent spiritual power that is ultimately transformed into it has also increased significantly. Previously, one could only vaguely feel a trace of transparent spiritual power entering the sea of ​​consciousness, but now one can clearly feel this trace of transparent spiritual power and can sense the meridians it passes through as it moves.

After cultivating for an hour, Mo Yuming left the secret room and went to the office on the sixth floor. Now that Zhongyuan City had just been occupied, there were many things to deal with. Mo Yuming could not let go and ignore everything.

He felt that the Great Xia Empire had only been established for less than half a year, its foundation was not yet solid, and many aspects had not been fully developed. Now it had suddenly expanded tenfold, and the pressure from all sides was enormous. In particular, Wu Ji had suffered two defeats in just over half a year, losing nearly 300,000 troops and two cities.

Although Shangyuan City is not large, it has a special geographical location and abundant resources. The amount of tribute it pays each year is no less than that of Zhongyuan City. This is why Shangyuan City has always been directly governed by Wu Ji and has not been incorporated into Zhongyuan City.

Now, in the process of plotting to recapture Shangyuan City, even Zhongyuan City, one of her ten major cities, has been lost. Given Wu Ji's personality, she certainly won't swallow this loss. Therefore, given the opportunity, she will undoubtedly try every means to strike at the Great Xia Empire.

It might escalate even further. Therefore, Mo Yuming felt it necessary to strengthen the management of Zhongyuan City as soon as possible, so that the vast majority of people in Zhongyuan City would feel a sense of belonging, willingly become citizens of the Great Xia Empire, and take pride in it.

"Little one, how are taxes collected in our Great Xia Empire now? What are the tax rates?"

"For farmers, the tax rate is 20% (tenths of the total tax). Merchants are divided into two categories: those who own shops and pay taxes monthly based on the rent of their shops, roughly equivalent to the rent; and itinerant merchants without shops and pay taxes daily. In addition, everyone must pay a certain entrance fee when entering each city," Huang Xiaoxiao replied.

"Is this tax too high or too low? Are there any complaints from the people?"

Mo Yuming asked.