River West County, within the barracks, on the training grounds!
"Hurry up and train harder! The more you sweat in practice, the less you bleed in battle, and your families won't have to shed tears," Oliver Sheng shouted loudly to his soldiers.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The heavily armored cavalry soldiers, clad in hundred-pound armor, were sprinting, undergoing weight training.
Other soldiers were engaged in combat drills with wooden weapons, practicing battle formations, mounted archery, and archery skills.
In short, Oliver's soldiers, except when eating and sleeping, were always training hard.
They had no worries about food; they ate meat, and there was an ample supply of pills and medicinal herbs. Oliver wasn't afraid of exhausting his soldiers. With the Flood Dragon Devouring Technique, as long as they had enough to eat, their vitality and energy would be abundant.
Continuous training also accelerated their cultivation speed, allowing the soldiers to grow stronger quickly.
There were very few who trained their soldiers like Oliver.
Three meals a day, all with meat, and plenty of it. In the entire Great Wei, there were hardly any armies that could meet such conditions.
The martial cultivators in the army were big eaters, and the daily consumption of food and meat was a huge expense.
Few army leaders could afford such consumption.
The military pay allocated by the court was only enough to maintain the army's basic expenses.
Oliver dared to train his soldiers without regard to cost because he had a distillery, a veritable gold mine, bringing in millions of silver taels every month.
With such wealth, Oliver could afford to train his soldiers without worrying about costs.
Moreover, Oliver had connections with Nolan Dan of the Pill Sect, exchanging wine for pills every month, ensuring his soldiers had pills for cultivation.
Under his command, the soldiers' strength was constantly increasing.
Watching his soldiers train and cultivate diligently, Oliver dreamed of the day when all his soldiers would be Martial Masters and Postnatal Martial Artists.
Just as Oliver was envisioning a future where he led an invincible army to sweep across the land, the voice of Magistrate Chen rang out.
"Haha, congratulations, General Sheng!" Magistrate Chen laughed loudly from a distance.
Oliver turned around to see Magistrate Chen, accompanied by several officials from River West County, and a eunuch walking beside them.
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The group approached Oliver.
Eunuch Xiaoxi smiled at Oliver and said, "General Sheng, we meet again."
Oliver recalled that this was the eunuch who had delivered the imperial edict last time.
"Sir! We meet again," Oliver greeted with a smile.
"Congratulations, General. General Sheng, please accept the edict," Xiaoxi announced loudly.
The soldiers stopped their training and gathered around.
"I accept the edict!" Oliver cupped his fists.
The soldiers behind him also cupped their fists in salute, showing respect for the Emperor.
"By the mandate of heaven, the Emperor decrees:..."
The content praised Oliver for his merits in defending the land and repelling the enemy.
"Oliver Sheng is hereby appointed as the Imperial General of the Conquest against the Barbarians, granted the rank of Fifth Rank General, with the authority to command thirty thousand troops..."
After reading the edict, Xiaoxi smiled at Oliver and said, "General Sheng, please accept the decree."
"I accept the decree. Long live His Majesty!"
"Long live His Majesty!" the soldiers behind Oliver echoed.
Cameron Guo and the others couldn't contain their smiles. The edict mentioned that Oliver had the authority to appoint Sixth Rank Assistant Generals, only needing to report to the Ministry of War.
This meant they could be promoted to Sixth Rank Assistant Generals with just Oliver's approval.
As Oliver received the edict, he pondered.
If it weren't for the Emperor's seal, Oliver would have thought someone was falsely delivering the edict.
The authority to appoint Sixth Rank Assistant Generals and command thirty thousand troops was far beyond the power of a Fifth Rank General.
A General of his rank could only command ten thousand troops.
"Thank you, Sir. Someone, bring three jars of Green Ant Wine to reward Sir for his hard journey," Oliver ordered, bringing three jars of Green Ant Wine and giving Xiaoxi a hundred taels of silver.
"General Sheng, you're too kind. I'm overwhelmed," Xiaoxi feigned surprise but accepted the wine and silver.
"Sir, if you have the chance, please put in a good word for me with His Majesty," Oliver said with a smile.
"Of course, of course!" Xiaoxi nodded, acting as if he had it all covered.
In reality, he rarely saw the Empress and was just a messenger.
After delivering the edict and receiving his reward, Xiaoxi took his leave.
"Congratulations on your promotion, General Sheng," Magistrate Chen congratulated happily.
"Congratulations, General."
"Congratulations, General!" Cameron Guo, Zane Wang, and the others also congratulated Oliver.
"Thank you, everyone!" Oliver replied with a smile.
"With General Sheng commanding thirty thousand soldiers, River West County will have nothing to fear from the Foreign Tribe," Magistrate Chen said with a smile.
It had been a wise decision to leave Oliver to guard River West County.
"Then I'll trouble Magistrate Chen to recruit thirty thousand soldiers for me," Oliver said directly.
"Well, our county can't recruit that many soldiers," Magistrate Chen said, a bit troubled.
River West County had a population of only ten to twenty thousand. Even if a third were young men, that would be only five to six thousand. Recruiting two thousand for the army would affect farming.
Even recruiting one in ten of the total population would be excessive.
Oliver's nine thousand soldiers were already the county's limit, thanks to Oliver funding the army himself. If they had to levy taxes to support the army, the county's finances would collapse.
"Then recruit soldiers from other counties. We offer high pay and good treatment, with plenty of food. I'm sure Magistrate Chen can complete this task," Oliver said.
"Alright, I'll help recruit soldiers from other counties and issue a recruitment order to fill the army quickly," Magistrate Chen agreed.
He would contact the magistrates of other counties. With Oliver's backing and high military pay, recruiting shouldn't be too difficult.
Soon, Magistrate Chen issued the recruitment order to neighboring counties.
In Fangyu County, people gathered around the notice posted by the county office.
"What does it say?" Some illiterate folks scratched their heads.
That's the disadvantage of not being able to read.
"Let me see," Zane Wang, with a long knife at his waist, squeezed into the crowd.
The crowd made way for Zane Wang.
"Hero, please tell us what it says!" a broad-shouldered, dark-skinned man asked.
"Don't rush!" Zane Wang said, holding his knife and looking at the notice.
"River West County Garrison is recruiting soldiers. Joining the army comes with a reward of five taels of silver, a monthly salary of five taels, and three meals a day with plenty of meat..." Zane Wang's eyes lit up as he read the conditions.
The River West Garrison was led by the general who produced Western Wind Blaze and Green Ant Wine, wasn't it?
Did this mean joining the River West Garrison would allow free access to Western Wind Blaze?
"What? Plenty of food, meat, and five taels of silver a month? What are we waiting for? Let's sign up!"
Attracted by the conditions, people rushed to sign up.
"Hero, is it true that there's plenty of food and meat?" Chi Tiansheng asked Zane Wang.
Zane Wang looked at the big man in front of him, over nine feet tall, with muscles and strong vitality but no True Essence fluctuation. It was strange.
His abundant vitality was similar to Zane Wang's.
"Yes, the notice is clear. Plenty of food and meat," Zane Wang confirmed.
"I'm going!" Chi Tiansheng said happily.
The promise of plenty of food and meat attracted him.
"Brother, are you going too? Let's go together," Zane Wang suggested with a smile.
"Sure, let's go together," Chi Tiansheng agreed happily.
Similar recruitment notices spread to neighboring counties, attracting many with the generous conditions.