In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

Those desperados who were shouting earlier all shut their mouths now.

A true expert's skill is immediately apparent.

Pei Zhao's strike just now displayed speed and power that were definitely the killing skills of someone who had been through many battles.

Yang Xuan looked at the intimidated stray dogs below the stage, and his cold smile grew deeper.

"You can't even withstand a single move from one of my men, and you dare call yourself a fighter?" Yang Xuan's voice was as icy as ice. "In Yaozhou, being able to kill is nothing special. Because the Tian family, the Hu family, and the caravans and bandits outside—their assassins are ten times more ruthless than yours!"

Yang Xuan paced back and forth on the stage, his gaze sharp and intense.

"Did you think I spent a fortune to bring you here so you could enjoy yourself at the county government office?"

"wrong!"

"I brought you here to risk your lives!"

Yang Xuan suddenly raised his voice, which was like a resounding bell echoing across the training ground.

"The Tian family has cut off my food supply, the Hu family has cut off my medicine, and there are even people outside who want to use my head for a reward! This Yaozhou is a quagmire that devours people! I, Yang Xuan, will lead you all to carve a bloody path out of this quagmire!"

"but!"

Yang Xuan slammed his hand on the wooden railing in front of him, making it vibrate loudly.

"I don't want useless cowards who only know how to fight and be fierce, I don't want cowards who run away at the first sign of danger, and I especially don't want troublemakers who disobey orders and act recklessly!"

"Those who joined Wang Wu in the commotion and drew their swords, step forward. Those who received the resettlement allowance, leave the money behind. Pei Zhao, give each of them two taels of silver for travel expenses and tell them to get out of the county government office. If they dare to leak even a single word about the county government office, they will be killed without mercy!"

Yang Xuan's words carried an undeniable air of ruthlessness.

A commotion broke out in the crowd.

Those men who had been shouting the loudest just moments before now looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they were unwilling, under the intimidation of Pei Zhao and Lu Cheng, they eventually obediently handed over the settlement fee, took their travel expenses, and slunk out of the county government office.

A simple screening process resulted in over sixty people being eliminated, with nearly half of them leaving immediately.

The remaining forty people looked at the seemingly weak but actually ruthless new county magistrate on the stage, and finally a hint of awe appeared in their eyes.

Yang Xuan looked at the remaining group of people and nodded in satisfaction.

"Those who stayed, listen up."

"From this day forward, you are no longer vagrants, no longer bandits, no longer scattered soldiers. You are the flag bearers of my Yanjing County government, the swords in my hands, Yang Xuan's sword!"

"Pei Zhao!"

"exist!"

"From now on, these forty men are yours. Train them to the bone, according to the rules of the Fengxiang Army! I want them to understand within ten days what it means to obey orders without question and to live and die together!"

"Those who train well will be rewarded with meat and wine, and their full monthly pay will be provided! Those who don't train well will be sent directly to repair the city walls!"

"Your subordinate obeys!" Pei Zhao replied loudly, his eyes burning with fanatical flames.

"Cui Shen." Yang Xuan called out to Cui Shen again.

"The students are here."

"Go to town immediately and find me the best leatherworkers and blacksmiths. Use the money from the secret stash to equip each of them with a sword, leather armor, and a repeating crossbow. I want to use the toughest equipment to turn these wild dogs into real wolves!"

"yes!"

After arranging everything, Yang Xuan turned and stepped down from the command platform, leaving behind a group of men who had been completely stunned.

Although these people were still unruly at heart, they knew that from this moment on, they were bound to Yang Xuan's warship.

Either follow this mad magistrate and fight your way to a bright future, or perish together in this quagmire of Yaozhou.

……

That night, a bonfire was lit in the backyard of the county government office.

Pei Zhao did not start training immediately, but instead had several large vats of strong liquor and several roasted fat sheep brought in.

"Brothers, our lord said, today is the first day, let's drink and eat meat first!" Pei Zhao raised a large bowl of wine and shouted, "After you finish this bowl, starting tomorrow, anyone who dares to slack off during training will face consequences from my blade!"

"Dry!"

The forty men roared in unison, picked up their wine bowls, and drank them down in one gulp.

The strong liquor went down my throat, and the aroma of roasted meat filled the air.

These people, who spend their lives on the edge of a knife, haven't had such a satisfying meal in a long time.

Under the influence of alcohol, their wildness and yearning for the future were fully unleashed.

Meanwhile, in the study behind the county government office, Yang Xuan was looking at a list of names sent by Cui Shen by candlelight.

This is the result of Cui Shen and A Fu's undercover investigation in the city over the past few days.

"My lord, the dozen or so people on this roster are all veteran craftsmen who used to work at Qing'ao Well," Cui Shen reported in detail, pointing to the names on the roster. "Some know how to read the well veins, some know how to repair winches, and some know how to control the temperature for boiling salt. However, most of them were suppressed by the Tian family and are now living a very unsatisfactory life."

"Alright." Yang Xuan closed the roster. "Now that we have the knife, we should go and dig up these real 'skeletons.' Without them, even if we take back Qing'ao Well, it will be a dead well."

"Tomorrow, you and I will visit this craftsman called 'Old Huang' together." Yang Xuan pointed heavily at the first name on the roster.

......

West of Yanjing County, there is a low-rise and dilapidated shantytown.

This place has a perennial sour, musty smell that permeates the air.

Along the muddy, narrow alley, makeshift shacks made of thatched roofs and wooden planks were haphazardly erected, dark and damp.

Most of the people living here were salt workers who had been injured or disabled at the well and driven out, or craftsmen who had offended powerful families and had their livelihoods cut off.

Yang Xuan, dressed in an inconspicuous coarse cloth robe and wearing a bamboo hat that covered most of his face, walked into the dark alley with unsteady steps, accompanied by Cui Shen and Afu.

In the shadows, Chen Ye, accompanied by two newly recruited skilled men, lagged far behind, vigilantly watching the surrounding movements.

"My lord, it's just over there." Cui Shen pointed to a dilapidated thatched hut at the end of the alley, where half of the roof had collapsed, and said in a low voice.

Yang Xuan nodded and slowed his pace.

The reason he came to this place in person was because he knew very well that in Yaozhou, a place where people relied on the mountains and wells for sustenance, skilled swordsmen were important, but what truly allowed him to settle down and make money in Yaozhou were the craftsmen who mastered the core production technologies.

A knife can save your life and seize territory.

But only skilled craftsmen can turn land into a continuous source of wealth.

The three of them walked to the dilapidated thatched hut.

The thatched hut didn't even have a proper door; it only had half a tattered straw mat hanging on it.

A muffled cough and a faint clanging of metal could be heard coming from inside.

Afu stepped forward and gently lifted the straw mat.

Inside the dimly lit shed, an old man with white hair and beard and one blind eye sat on a rock, holding a rusty iron hammer and hammering a bent iron bar on an anvil.

His movements were slow, and each hammer strike seemed to exhaust all his strength, accompanied by violent coughing, as if he were about to cough up his lungs.

In the corner behind the old man, a sallow-faced, emaciated child lay curled up in a tattered quilt, shivering.