Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 333 - 12: Xia Jing Arrived, Everyone... Has Arrived! (Additional Update 2)_2

Chapter 333: Chapter 12: Xia Jing Arrived, Everyone... Has Arrived! (Additional Update 2)_2

Zhao Xing and Long Xiao, after the arrival of the men above, immediately identified themselves and were then allowed to leave.

As for how to deal with Shao Wanjie and his remaining followers, Zhao Xing didn’t care. He didn’t even ask a single question, behaving as if he was completely uninvolved.

"We need to replenish the personnel quickly." Zhao Xing looked at the list of officials in Cloud City. Another group was missing, and he couldn’t help but frown.

If no one comes, there was no way he could complete the governance on his own. During the training in the Ten Suns Cave Heaven, manpower was sufficient. Each department had adequate staff and tools, without any shortages.

However, the reality was entirely different; his preparations had barely started up until now.

Ling Yuan led his men to shift the focus of their work, cooperating with Minister of Agriculture Supervision Zhang Zhong, Bao Wenshan, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian to carry out the internal projects of dike and dam construction in Yun County.

But this was far from enough.

"Why the troubled expression, my lord? Now that Shao Wanjie, the malignant tumor, is gone, the government branches are gradually restoring their expected efficiency." Ling Yuan looked at the young man before him, filled with respect.

To bring down Shao Wanjie as he said he would, his strength was truly terrifying.

You don’t understand... Zhao Xing had no desire to explain to Ling Yuan.

This third-ring task he had was crucial to his future plans.

Zhao Xing had no intentions of putting down roots in Cloud City, so he had to see results quickly.

How did the natural disasters come about? It must have been caused by the Southern Barbarians.

Due to their control of the upper reaches of the Canglan River, the water witches above only needed to slightly manipulate the water veins, and those below would be exhaustingly busy.

Zhao Xing didn’t need to think twice to know that by now, the various tribes of the Southern Barbarians had already dispatched a large number of people to approach the Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion front line.

There was no other way. Any movement by Great Zhou necessitated a response from the Southern Barbarians.

Whether Great Zhou was conducting military drills or truly intending to fight, as soon as one side made a move, the other had to prepare accordingly.

Was Great Zhou conducting exercises or truly intending to fight? The Southern Barbarians were uncertain. After all, over the past two centuries, Great Zhou would occasionally make small maneuvers, and the tribes of the Southern Barbarians behaved the same way.

Zhao Xing estimated that many military fortresses had already appeared in the Fengming Mountain Range and the upper reaches of the Canglan River to the south. He suspected that squads of water witches had already targeted Cloud City, making it a target for their disaster strikes.

Zhao Xing had never been one to passively take hits and focus solely on defense.

He needed to swiftly complete Cloud City’s defensive work and lead a team to counterattack.

Only then could he earn sufficient military merits.

Zhao Xing was well-versed in the maps of the Southern Barbarian terrain and power distribution during the Emperor Jing period, since this great war during the Jingxin Calendar had been repeatedly reenacted by players in his past life.

Even the military exercises during the Emperor Wu period were based on this battle, played out over and over again, making it hard for any Military Minister of Agriculture Officer to forget.

"Come quickly! I need people! People!" Zhao Xing shouted in his heart.

The prime period for earning merits in the campaign against the Barbarians was short for someone at his level.

Because it wouldn’t be long before the war escalated.

At a certain level of involvement, the danger would outweigh the opportunities. Zhao Xing would avoid participating at that point and would even look for ways to extricate himself.

Taking advantage of Emperor Jing’s halfway celebratory awarding of honors, he would earn his merits quickly and leave. Otherwise, the merits earned earlier would be lost due to later defeats.

"For the last large-scale drill in the Ten Suns Cave Heaven, I only needed to equip seventy percent of the new recruits to start gaining momentum."

"I don’t hope for talents of Xia Jing’s caliber; a few dozen of the next tier in various professions would suffice." Zhao Xing thought silently to himself. "I hope the Qi Fortune of this iteration can be realized."

...

On the fifth day after Shao Wanjie’s case, at Mao Hour, Zhao Xing finally saw personnel reinforcement.

He immediately received a notice from his official seal that the list of Cloud City officials had been refreshed.

Zhao Xing promptly took out the Earth Mirror to have a look.

The first batch supplemented the three military departments, totaling 513 people, including the reinstatement of the seventh-rank Yun County Captain!

To Zhao Xing’s surprise, among the first batch were the names Xia Jing, Zhang Jie, Chen Fang, and Hu Bing!

"Hahaha, an explosion of good fortune, Xia Jing has been reassigned here! The four military departments have sent seventy-five people, incredible!"

Zhao Xing was so excited that he jumped out of bed.

"Meow?" Aotian Cat woke from its slumber, yawned, and looked at the jumping Zhao Xing with confusion. What was he so excited about in the early morning?

Humans are truly incomprehensible.

Zhao Xing quickly got dressed.

He brought Zhang Zhong, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian, the three eighth-rank staff of the Minister of Agriculture Supervision, onto the Arrowfish Flying Boat.

He immediately flew outside Cloud City.

To show respect, he even went three miles out of the city to meet them.

After landing, the signal tower and the array on the Arrowfish Flying Boat continued to shine brightly.

Zhao Xing cleared the overcast sky, making the weather warm and spring-like.

If conditions allowed, he would have even called a group of musicians and Dance Masters to form an honor guard!

"Whew~"

Soon, a medium-sized Tiger Flood Dragon Flying Boat descended from the sky.

Xia Jing quickly jumped down from it.

As soon as he entered Cloud City’s territory, he also checked the list of officials.

Discovering Zhao Xing’s name, Xia Jing was quite pleased.

The Doushui Order was actually Zhao Xing’s; it was an explosion of good fortune!

With Zhao Xing as the Military Minister of Agriculture Officer, what challenge could impede Xia Jing’s path to merit in this internship trial?

"Mr. Zhao!" Xia Jing jogged over. Seeing that it was indeed Zhao Xing and not someone with the same name, the Marquis’s Heir also became excited, "I never expected it to really be you!"

"Brother Xia!" Zhao Xing also ran over, grasping Xia Jing’s arm, "One day apart feels like three years!"

The words were a bit mushy, but this was the norm at that time. It was common for people to embrace and call each other brothers when they were happy.

"With you as the Doushui Order, I have no worries about the calamity!" Xia Jing laughed.

"With you as the County Magistrate, I can finally breathe easy." Zhao Xing laughed.

At that moment, a teasing voice came:

"It seems Mr. Zhao only has eyes for Mr. Xia. Looks like you don’t need us. Brothers, let’s leave."

"Brother Chen!" Zhao Xing immediately let go of Xia Jing’s hand, "How could that be? It is I, Zhao, who has been negligent. I apologize, apologize."

"How will you make it up to us?" Zhang Jie laughed, "You can’t possibly treat us with numbing fish fruit, can you? The Young Master wouldn’t be able to handle it."

"Eugh~" Xia Jing seemed to trigger a memory, and his body reacted. He immediately grabbed Zhang Jie’s neck: "You scoundrel, who told you to bring that up!"

"Brother Zhang still has the nerve to mention it?" Chen Fang laughed, "Back then, you were the one hugging Commander Liu’s leg, crying for your granny!"

"Hahahaha." Everyone burst into laughter.

"How can you compare the food here to what we had during training? Of course, we’ll have something good!" Zhao Xing said generously, "Luckily, I acquired some good stuff a few days ago. Follow me into the city, and you won’t be disappointed!"

"Let’s go, into the city!"

"Hahaha, please, no more fish."

"Eugh~ you scoundrel!"

...

The arrival of Xia Jing and his group was like a shot in the arm for Zhao Xing. This group not only had exceptional skills but also considerable resources. For instance, Xia Jing’s Tiger Flood Dragon Flying Boat was more advanced than his own Arrowfish Flying Boat. Moreover, they had connections, allowing access to high-level intel, which Zhao Xing deeply valued.

But the surprises didn’t end there.

The next day, a second batch arrived, primarily consisting of Mechanical Masters and Ministers of Agriculture.

Among them, Zhao Xing recognized familiar faces: Wang Ji, Han Bing, Che Shihai, and Cao Shuang.

On the third day, a third batch arrived, mainly Doctors and Priests.

When Zhao Xing checked the list, there were Yuan Yang and Zhang Yi!

"They’re back. I can feel it, everyone is back!"

"The Qi Fortune of this iteration lives up to its name!"

Zhao Xing grinned foolishly. What could be more joyous than reuniting with old comrades?

Dantai Ming had another piece of good news.

Since Yun City was a county at the prefectural level but had not received full supplies for many years, the Prefecture City had decided to make a one-time provision of the materials that had been overdue for the past ten years to all departments of Yun City.

Past accounts were not the responsibility of officials in the current term. Everything would be based on the end of March of the 17th year of the Jingxin Calendar!