I worked myself to the bone to become a saint, and survived on a deserted island with a stunning pri

After a long drought, the rain brought immense relief to southern Hunan.

The next morning, Chu Nan was reluctant to leave the comfort of his home and finally managed to get out of bed. Once outside, he instructed Xiao Zhu to prepare some nourishing food and meat soup.

The two women had traveled for so long, and they were much thinner than before, looking somewhat haggard, which made Chu Nan feel sorry for them.

After breakfast, Chu Nan went to the outer hall, where many people were already seated.

"How did yesterday go?" Chu Nan asked.

The scholar hurriedly came out with the account book: "Boss, yesterday we wiped out the Fierce Tiger Stronghold. A total of 153 people were killed and 25 were captured alive. The Fierce Tiger Stronghold's chief leader died, the second leader died, and the third leader was captured alive."

"Where are our brothers?" Chu Nan raised an eyebrow.

"Reporting to the chief, one of our brothers was killed by a bandit from Tiger Stronghold who was feigning death, three others are seriously injured, and five are slightly injured..."

Swish!

Chu Nan's face immediately darkened!

"How could there be so many casualties! Minor injuries are one thing, given the advantage gained from the grenades! Yet there are still three seriously wounded and one dead!"

Chu Nan looked around at everyone: "Starting today, training will be doubled! I don't want there to be any more losses next time!"

"Yes!" The bandits trembled, becoming even more fearful of Chu Nan.

"Anything else?"

The scholar quickly replied, "Reporting to the chief, there are also money, grain, and other items. I have counted them, and their value is approximately 4000 taels."

"Not bad. The families of the deceased brothers will receive compensation, and the three seriously injured brothers will be treated by a physician and rewarded with 50 taels of silver."

"Yes, Boss!" the scholar quickly bowed.

Chu Nan looked around at everyone and said in a low voice, "From today onwards, my two wives will also be involved. Their orders are my orders."

As they spoke, Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue came out and sat down next to Chu Nan.

"My first wife is in charge of all internal affairs in the mountain stronghold."

"My second wife will be in charge of the brothers' training."

The reason Chu Nan brought up both Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue was because although Chu Nan knew a little about both, he wasn't an expert in any of them.

Ji Menghan used to handle state affairs and even participate in matters within the inner palace.

Ling Hanxue was born into a family of military geniuses and was skilled in military training. She even held a position in the Imperial Guard.

"Your subordinates obey."

……

With Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue's involvement, Chu Nan was finally freed up.

In the mountain stronghold, most decisions, big and small, were made by Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue. Chu Nan himself locked himself in his room and began researching gunpowder and weapons.

Three months later, Chu Nan used newly developed homemade cannons to lead Qinglong Village to capture Huoyun Village.

Huoyun Village surrendered immediately, and all 300-plus people were placed under the command of Qinglong Village.

The strength of Qinglong Village has increased to 500 people.

The strength of 500 people is considerable, and Chu Nan instructed Ling Hanxue to intensify her training.

As for the armor and weapons, Ji Menghan was in charge, and she even used some official connections for this purpose.

After preparing armor, weapons, and bows and arrows, Chu Nan led the Qinglong Village to deal with all the bandits in the surrounding area.

In two months, Chu Nan's forces had grown to more than 2000 men, and he had eliminated or annexed all the bandits within a hundred miles.

On that very day, the people Chu Nan had sent to the capital to keep watch sent back news.

With the rebellion of Chancellor Zhao Wanzhi, Emperor Ji Che secretly seized considerable power.

In a desperate counterattack, Zhao Wanzhi's plot to rebel failed, and the entire Zhao family, totaling more than 1000 people, was exterminated.

Of those who joined Zhao Wanzhi's rebellion, nearly 2000 were executed, and several thousand were exiled. Only a few, whose ties to Zhao Wanzhi were not so close, were demoted or dismissed from office.

"It seems that Father Emperor has his reasons for doing this." Upon hearing this news, Ji Menghan seemed to have a weight lifted off her shoulders.

"Now that Zhao Wanzhi's rebellion has been resolved, let's go home quickly," Ling Hanxue said.

Chu Nan paused for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

"It's probably not a good time to go back now."

He now commands over 2000 bandits, whom he has trained to be highly elite, which inevitably arouses the emperor's suspicion.

Ji Menghan frowned slightly; she knew Chu Nan's concerns.

"In that case, let's send someone to His Majesty first, and then we'll talk."

Chu Nan decided to confront Ji Che first. In any case, Ji Menghan had already consummated her marriage with him, so he definitely couldn't give up on her, nor could he give up on Ling Hanxue.

If Ji Che insists on breaking ties with him, Chu Nan wouldn't mind taking Ji Menghan and Ling Hanxue and becoming king in the mountains.

"If all else fails, we can go back to the deserted island. I think that deserted island is quite nice. If it's properly developed, it could resemble a paradise." Chu Nan reminisced about the time spent on the deserted island.

Of course, without Zhao Xingyu and his group, Chu Nan believed that with his abilities, building something on the deserted island wouldn't be difficult at all.

Time flies, and a year has passed since Chu Nan arrived in the mountains.

In the past few months, Chu Nan's power has expanded again, growing from more than 2000 people to more than 5000.

These extra 3000 people were not from the bandit suppression campaign in Chu Nan, but rather from impoverished people from within a radius of two or three hundred miles who had not been able to get enough to eat and came to join them.

Some even brought their families to the foot of the mountain stronghold, requesting to join, even if it meant doing odd jobs, it was better than starving to death outside.

In some areas where life was particularly difficult, people even wanted to marry their daughters off to the mountain stronghold. Although the people there were bandits, at least they had enough to eat and wear, and they also received a considerable amount of silver.

This credit should go to Ji Menghan.

After Chu Nan produced the design drawings and manufacturing process of some gadgets from his previous life, Ji Menghan immediately arranged for them to be manufactured and then sold through commercial means.

Ji Menghan is, after all, a princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and her title still holds. The entire Great Zhou court will give her some face to some extent.

Moreover, Ji Menghan never kept all the profits for herself, but instead shared them with others. As a result, all the officials, from top to bottom, benefited and received a share, and they were all beaming with joy, even eager to give Ji Menghan money.

The entire Qinglong Village—oh no, it shouldn't be called Qinglong Village anymore.

Chu Nan abolished the name of Qinglong Village and changed it directly to Qinglong Army.

Chu Nan even moved the entire mountain outwards.

Find a relatively flat and easily defensible location nearby and directly claim it as your own territory.

Upon hearing this, the local magistrate came to the Qinglong Army to request an audience with Chu Nan and Ji Menghan.

The county magistrate wept bitterly in front of Chu Nan and Ji Menghan, wiping away his tears and exclaiming about how difficult things had been for him.

"Your Highness, please have pity on this humble servant! How can I explain what Young Master Chu has done to His Majesty?" the magistrate pleaded, sobbing.

"Magistrate Wang, I have the authority to make this decision. If Father asks, just say so."

"But..." Magistrate Wang stammered.

Chu Nan stroked his chin: "I think Magistrate Wang is quite talented. Why don't you stay here, Magistrate Wang? I, Chu Nan, assure you, your life will definitely be better than it is now."

Upon hearing Chu Nan's words, Magistrate Wang did not agree but turned and left.