With the rise of my family, I can summon the Daoist Soldiers' Nest.

Three days later.

Lin Ye stood on the city wall of the fortified village, looking at the open area in front of the fortified village gate.

Today is the last day for the guard team recruitment. Most of the applicants had already registered in the first two days. At this moment, only a dozen or so young men who came to register were scattered around the field, but the area around them was now completely surrounded.

The relocated residents, the ethnic minorities outside the fortified village, and even some people who came from the county town after hearing the news all crowded on the outer edge of the crowd, standing on tiptoe and craning their necks to look inside.

As everyone knows, according to the proclamation, from now on, the safety of the territory, the smooth flow of trade routes, the stability of the region, and even the future defense against the Northern Xiongnu will all depend on this guard force.

Therefore, everyone took this selection process seriously and was reluctant to leave.

In the center of the training ground, a steward of the Lin family was holding a roster. Those whose names were called would step forward and spar with the designated Lin family martial artist for a move or two.

"Zhao Daniu, you're second-rate, come on!"

The burly man whose name was called stepped forward. Opposite him was a guard from the Lin family, holding a wooden spear and assuming a fighting stance.

After a few moves, Zhao Daniu's steps were steady. Although his offensive was unremarkable, his defense was solid, and he showed no panic while parrying with the wooden spear.

The manager immediately drew a circle on the roster, indicating that the person should be hired.

However, not everyone has such a smooth journey.

As soon as a lean man stepped onto the stage, before he even made a move, someone in the audience shouted, "He was collecting protection money in the West Market two years ago and even overturned Old Wang's stall! He's no pushover!"

The accusation caused a pause in the scene. The steward frowned, immediately stopped the sparring, and said to the man, "You may step down. This matter needs to be reported to the Lin family for review before a decision is made."

The man's expression changed, and he hurriedly explained, "That was a misunderstanding, I've already changed it..."

But the manager had already waved for him to leave the stage. Some people in the crowd sneered, while others shook their heads, clearly not having a good impression of him.

Lin Ye watched quietly from the city wall. Recruitment not only considers cultivation level, but also character and reputation.

The fact that some people were stopped because of past offenses proves to everyone that the Lin family is not just going through the motions, but truly wants to build a protective force that the people can trust.

The afterglow of the setting sun slanted across the bluestone slabs in the courtyard. Lin Ye was sitting under the eaves, looking at a map, when familiar footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.

Lin Qiang walked in carrying a thick register, looking somewhat tired but unable to hide his satisfaction.

"Young Master," he handed the booklet to Lin Ye, "after three days of selection, a total of fifteen third-rate martial artists and one hundred and eighty-five unranked martial artists have been recruited."

Lin Ye took the booklet and looked up at him: "The number of people is still a bit small."

Lin Qiang nodded, flipping through the booklet as he said, "Now, Linjiawu and the county town together have a population of about 100,000. Most of the martial artists who can come are here."

After all, each family still needs to guard their home; they can't just throw everything out.

The specific situation is as follows: eight members of our Lin family, who are not considered good enough to sign up, were among them Lin Hu and his group.

The Tian family and five other families each produced one third-rate martial artist and eight unranked martial artists;

Two third-rate constables and fifteen unranked constables also arrived from the county town;

What remained were members of small families and martial arts schools in the county town, as well as some lone martial artists.

Lin Ye pondered for a moment: "Since there are fifteen third-rate martial artists, let's divide them into fifteen teams, with each third-rate martial artist serving as a team leader."

If someone breaks through to the third tier, we'll add more squads.

"Yes," Lin Qiang replied.

Lin Ye added, "We'll recruit some other strong and healthy ordinary people to join the teams. This will make better use of numbers and they can also help with miscellaneous tasks. We won't be providing them with spirit plants anymore."

"Those martial artists who are alone must be subject to stricter, secret scrutiny," Lin Ye said, his tone turning cold. "I will discuss this with Sun Qian."

He closed the booklet and looked at Lin Qiang: "Uncle Lin Qiang, why don't you take charge of the guard team and manage these people?"

"Right now, besides me, you're the only one in the Lin family who can keep them in check. We still have too few people; we need to train harder."

Lin Qiang cupped his hands in greeting: "I will take care of it immediately."

"Go and tell Lin Tieshu to equip the martial artists with weapons according to their needs."

Especially the teamwork between squads needs to be practiced in advance. I will check on the results a week later before proceeding to the next step.

A week later, orderly footsteps and shouts echoed from the training ground outside the fort.

The twelve newly formed guard squads formed square formations, each led by a third-rate martial artist, who led unskilled members and ordinary errand boys, practicing marching, lining up, and turning.

Their movements were clumsy, their formation was sometimes loose, and their shouts were inconsistent, far from the military standards in Lin Ye's mind.

It was a tacit understanding where steps were precise and turns were swift. But these people, from different families, constables, martial arts schools, and even gangs, were strangers to each other. It was common for them to be a beat behind or miss instructions during training.

Lin Ye stood under the city gate tower's corridor. The gap was significant, but they were basically usable. They could understand commands and complete basic actions, and wouldn't scatter at the first charge. They were competent enough to patrol, escort, and drive away small groups of bandits.

Lin Qiang waved to the queue.

Two teams are now stepping forward.

The third-rate captain gave the order, and one team advanced in a triangular formation while the other team blocked them in a horizontal line. Swords and spears clashed, and shouts suddenly arose.

The advancing troops were a beat too slow, and the gaps between the intercepting formations were sometimes wide and sometimes narrow.

Some team members raised their shields to block their view, while others missed their target and lost their balance.

However, the basic framework of the coordinated attack can be seen: the main attacking team flanks the enemy, while the intercepting team splits up to engage the spearmen and force them back from the flanks.

During a defensive play, a mediocre player instinctively blocked a sweeping attack for his captain. Although he looked disheveled, it showed that he already had a sense of teamwork.

Lin Ye observed that each team was already showing signs of cooperation.

They can launch simple combined attacks and defend basic lines. Although they are still far from being elite troops, they have already shed their ragtag mentality.

With repeated practice, this framework should be able to safeguard the safety of Xiang County.

After everyone finished their practice, they all stood still and looked towards the forest on the city wall.

"Reporting to Baron Qi, the guards have completed their drills!"

Lin Qiang loudly reported to Lin Ye, who was watching from the city tower, his voice echoing throughout the training ground.

Lin Ye's gaze swept over the fifteen teams that had finished lining up in the arena.

"Very good. I didn't have high hopes for today. None of us are from the military, and we didn't even know each other a week ago. I'm quite surprised that we've been able to train to this extent."

His tone turned serious, "But we must not be complacent. We may have to fight the invading Northern Xiongnu in the future. That will be different from fighting in the martial world. Battle formations will be the most important thing. At that time, our cooperation will directly determine your life and death, and whether Xiang County can be at peace."

Lin Ye raised his hand to signal, and continued.

"To further hone teamwork and to expand our territory, we will connect the eighteen towns and the county seat by waterway."

The escort team will cooperate with the boatmen to clean the river channel starting today.

There may still be lingering monsters in the river. Form groups of three, coordinate your movements, clear the waterway, and eliminate any monsters blocking your path to ensure the waterway remains unobstructed.

The fifteen third-rate captains off the field responded in unison and stepped forward in formation.

From drills to actual combat missions, this newly formed guard team is about to take its first step in protecting Xiang County.