Words Strategize for the World

Yuan Kang, of course, had no idea what Fang Hao was thinking, and he found it perfectly normal that it seemed inexplicable.

"It's okay if you don't know, but do you know why they are all alone and helpless?"

Yuan Kang thought for a moment and said, "Their relatives were all killed by the treacherous dogs of the Ba Kingdom today."

"Yes, their relatives were all killed today. Six days ago, the relatives of your brothers were also drowned by the floods brought by the Hegemon army. Your fates are similar in some ways."

"Today you can take up arms and fight the enemy, but they cannot. Because they are women, they can only bear the pain of losing loved ones. Think about the 22 who died today, and the 34 who were wounded—how will they feel?"

"War inevitably leads to death, so I don't blame you. But I need to be responsible for our brothers. Every one of them needs revenge. Each of them is the last spark left in Liangjiang County, and I don't want them to die so easily."

Fang Hao's words were spoken in a deep and intense tone; he needed to awaken Yuan Kang's sense of responsibility.

After Fang Hao spoke, Yuan Kang slowly lowered his head, his heartache turning into guilt.

"My lord, I know it's my fault for not leading them well today..."

Yuan Kang was interrupted by Fang Hao as soon as he finished speaking.

Fang Hao didn't need Yuan Kang to feel completely guilty; he needed to teach Yuan Kang what responsibility meant. At the same time, he needed to reorganize this 300-strong team for his own use, and Yuan Kang was part of that plan.

These 300 people are all elites. To completely win them over, Fang Hao needs to use some strategies.

Yuan Kang was tall and brave, and had considerable prestige among the 300 people. Therefore, Fang Hao needed to rely on Yuan Kang.

The rectification is scheduled for tomorrow. If Yuan Kang is convinced, it will inevitably influence a group of people, and thus affect the entire team.

Fang Hao then said to Yuan Kang with great earnestness, "Yuan Kang, it's not that you didn't lead them well, but that I did. When you came down from the city walls of Liangjiang County, I didn't properly appease and rally you; when you rushed towards the Ba Kingdom's army in a swarm, I didn't make sure you were fully prepared for battle before charging; when you were fighting the Ba Kingdom, I shouldn't have left first, but should have killed more of those Ba Kingdom traitors to prevent so many of my brothers from being killed. This is my responsibility."

Fang Hao's words made Yuan Kang feel even more guilty, and he was speechless. His words were reasonable and logical, and he couldn't refute them, nor did he know what to say.

Fang Hao paused to consider his tone, then spoke with genuine emotion: "Yuan Kang, you should know that you were once the elite of the Chi Kingdom, but now you are nothing but a rabble. We are heading back to the capital, and on the way we will encounter even more Ba Kingdom troops. I don't want to lose more brothers while killing these Ba Kingdom traitors, so tomorrow I will reorganize our force. I hope you will think it over carefully. Of course, starting tomorrow, I expect you to listen to me in everything."

For some reason, Yuan Kang wanted to refute Fang Hao's words. But everything made perfect sense, and he didn't know how to refute or defend himself.

Moreover, he felt Fang Hao's sincerity; he was genuinely thinking about the more than 300 brothers.

"My lord, rest assured, I will ensure they are properly involved in the reorganization tomorrow. Furthermore, please punish them accordingly."

Yuan Kang's statement completely met Fang Hao's expectations. He was pleased, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "Good. But what will the punishment be?"

"So many brothers have died or been wounded today. Please punish me, my lord. I will never do it again."

Fang Hao waved his hand, saying that punishment was completely unnecessary.

"Yuan Kang, you need to know that there's no need for any punishment. I believe in you, and I believe you'll do better in the future. But you did make a mistake this time, and it wasn't just you; I made a mistake too. If there's to be punishment, I'll be punished with you during tomorrow's reorganization."

Yuan Kang was about to say something, but Fang Hao gestured for him to stop talking.

"Yuan Kang, my mind is made up. You must understand that from now on we are one entity, one team, understand?"

If Lai Fengwu were standing nearby, he would definitely think that Fang Hao, despite his young age, was truly exceptional.

Fang Hao's previous words were all sincere, but his last sentence was a summary, indirectly telling Yuan Kang: You should know that you are my subordinate, and from today onwards, you are my soldier.

That evening, Fang Hao saw Yuan Kang moving around in the crowd and calling a few men to go for a walk outside.

Fang Hao didn't care about any of that; he believed that his words that afternoon would still have an effect on Yuan Kang.

In addition, Fang Hao has his own affairs to attend to.

After resting for an afternoon, the seven women were less afraid than before. So Fang Hao talked to them.

It turns out they had already left Liangjiang County and were now in Hexia County. Hexia County was west of Taoshan Prefecture. To get to Taoshan Prefecture from here, one needed to go southeast, a straight-line distance of about 60 kilometers. However, the trails would have to avoid the depths of the mountains, making the journey even longer.

There are at least two routes from here to Liangjiang County and Taoshan Prefecture.

One was the official road built by the imperial court, another was a folk path, and the rest were traces of footsteps in the mountains and forests, also called trails. The folk paths were all straight distances, but the roads were particularly difficult to walk on, either rugged and uneven, or going up and down mountains, steep slopes and cliffs.

The time taken is about the same for both routes, regardless of where you go.

Fang Hao was overjoyed to have learned about local customs from the seven women. If they could reach Taoshan Prefecture as soon as possible, it might not have fallen yet, allowing them to enter and assist in the defense of the city.

This was just wishful thinking on Fang Hao's part; he had no idea about the situation outside.

At the same time, he once again realized the importance of intelligence. He wondered how Ding Sheng's plans were going in Kyoto.

If there are unpaved paths, then we should definitely take those unpaved paths, because even if they are difficult to walk, they are still safer than the official roads.

After deciding to take the back road, Fang Hao found Lai Fengwu and talked for a long time about the rectification.

The next day, Fang Hao prepared to begin reorganization early in the morning. The purpose of the reorganization was to subdue these unruly soldiers and bring them under his command.

Yuan Kang also arrived early and whispered something to Fang Hao.

After that, Yuan Kang followed Fang Hao's instructions and had everyone line up in several rows in order of height in the open space of the village.

When Fang Hao and Lai Fengwu arrived, everyone had already lined up. Looking at the relatively orderly line, Fang Hao felt a surge of respect for Yuan Kang; he hadn't expected Yuan Kang to perform better than he had imagined.

Fang Hao came to the front of the line and observed each person in the line repeatedly, first from left to right and then from right to left.

The constant patrolling was a psychological suggestion to everyone in the queue. In another sense, Fang Hao was indirectly telling everyone in the queue: I am your boss, your leader. You stand still, I'm patrolling, and from now on you all have to listen to me.

This kind of psychological suggestion is frequently seen in life. When your boss has nothing else to do, they often ask you to do small tasks, such as pouring a glass of water, making a cup of coffee, or printing a document… Your boss can do these simple things themselves, so why ask you to do them?

Because you are his subordinate, he needs you to listen to him, so he starts with small things that you can't easily refuse.

Humans are creatures of habit. Once a habit is formed, you will conform to it.

There's no hierarchy of position; it's all about habit. Do the people around you habitually listen to you? Do your decisions help everyone achieve their goals?

These are all important.

When it was almost time, Fang Hao stopped in the middle, paused for a moment, and then spoke.