At 100 years old, he joined the army in place of his granddaughter, and became a national war god.

At dusk.

The drill ground in the eastern suburbs of Jinling.

The setting sun bathed the entire open space in a dim yellow light, and dust was kicked up by countless feet.

Extremely restless.

Dozens of large Qianlong blue dragon flags were planted around the drill ground, their fluttering in the evening breeze.

The area beneath the flagpole was packed with people, the crowd stretching from the entrance to the drill ground all the way to the distant official road.

The long tables at the registration area were packed with people.

A soldier from the Great Qian Dynasty sat behind a table, the roster in front of him already on its third page, the ink not yet dry before being covered by new names.

His pen tip moved swiftly across the paper.

"Next, name, age, place of origin, and whether you can swim."

"Zhang Daniu! Nineteen! A local from Nanjing! He can swim! He grew up swimming in the river!"

After listening, the soldier lowered his head and wrote it down, his pen pausing for a moment on the paper: "What did you do before?"

The young man opposite him straightened his back.

"I've helped people row boats for three years! I've traveled from Henghe River to Taihu Lake!"

The soldier nodded, added a note to the remarks column, and looked at the next person.

"Next!"

As a soldier, Xiao Yunchuan also volunteered to join the new recruit registration work during this conscription.

Get along well with everyone!

When he looked up, his eyes met those of the young man opposite him.

Then he realized that the other person was only a few years older than him.

"Who else is in your family?" The other person paused for a moment, then replied, "My parents are still alive, and I have two younger sisters."

"My father told me to join the army and fight the Dongyi people with General Su. It would be a great honor for our ancestors."

Xiao Yunchuan laughed and said, "Good, you have ambition."

"Take the token and go report for duty."

As the sun set, the line continued to grow.

Someone came running along the official road, his coat not yet fastened, shouting as he ran:

"Wait for me! Is it still not too late?"

Someone squeezed into the middle of the line and was pulled out by the people behind them.

"Queue up! First come, first served!"

The atmosphere was incredibly lively.

……

Behind the drill ground, on the command platform.

Su Mu and Xiao Jingyu stood side by side, looking down at the ever-expanding crowd below.

Xiao Jingyu was extremely excited, his excitement overflowing.

"Elder Su, I have lived for so many years and have never seen such a scene before."

"On the first day, 50,000 people were registered. It was as if all the young people in Jiangnan had made an appointment to rush to Nanjing."

"In the past, when we recruited soldiers, we couldn't even gather enough people even by knocking on every door. Now it's like they're afraid of not being able to get enough people to sign up..."

Xiao Jingyu looked at Su Mu, his tone excited.

"Your influence is something I've never seen before, not even since the founding of our Great Qian Dynasty."

"This is truly unprecedented."

Su Mu's face also showed a surprised expression.

This scene was indeed beyond his expectations.

"Jiangnan is prosperous, and the people can make a living, so there is no need for them to become soldiers."

"Unexpectedly, it was exceptionally enthusiastic."

"Elder Su, this is the charm of a centenarian war god like you," Xiao Jingyu said, cupping his hands in reverence. "The eyes of the people are discerning."

"They all know that what Elder Su is protecting is the people's world."

Su Mu was silent for a moment, about to reply, when a series of hurried footsteps came from below the steps.

Zhou Wenjin, the Prefect of Jinling, jogged up to the reviewing stand and, upon arriving before Su Mu and Xiao Jingyu, immediately cupped his hands in greeting:

"General Su! Your Highness! It's broken! Utterly broken!"

"This is insane! I've served as an official in Nanjing for over a decade, and I've never seen anything like it!"

Xiao Jingyu asked curiously, "Lord Zhou, what's broken?"

Zhou Wenjin took a breath, a broad smile on her face.

"In just three days! In just three days, the number of new recruits registered has reached 100,000! And it is still increasing rapidly."

"The county officials of the surrounding counties all sent people to report that the local people could not find the registration office and had gathered in front of the county government office on their own, and the county officials led them to come to Jinling."

"At this rate, we won't be able to reach 200,000 in less than half a month!"

"Two hundred thousand?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingyu gasped, his eyes wide with shock.

He originally thought that it would be difficult to recruit 70,000 to 80,000 people in Jiangnan, but the current situation far exceeded his expectations.

His gaze returned to the still-growing queue below, and he spoke after a long while:

"These young people from Jiangnan... they're going to raze the entire Dongyi Kingdom to the ground!"

Su Mu remained calm and composed, cupping his hands in greeting to Zhou Wenjin and saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Lord Zhou. You've all worked hard these past three days."

Zhou Wenjin repeatedly cupped his hands in greeting.

"Mr. Su, you're being too polite!"

"It is my honor to witness such a grand occasion of the Great Qian Dynasty."

"I'll go and get back to work now; the roster still needs to be organized and filed tonight."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and quickly walked down from the command platform.

Xiao Jingyu turned his gaze from below to Su Mu and said with a smile, "Elder Su, if the news of the 200,000-strong army crossing the sea to the east reaches the Eastern Barbarians, the Emperor of that time will probably not be able to sleep peacefully."

Su Mu gazed at the Azure Dragon Banner slowly unfurling in the evening breeze in the distance and sighed, "To be honest, Your Highness, I have always felt that the Great Qian Dynasty has a vast territory and abundant resources, and should have sufficient military strength to guard the four directions."

"It is only because the court has become weak and military generals have been depleted in recent years that the Northern Di and Eastern Yi have been able to invade one after another."

"Now that the northern border is secured and the East Sea has been reclaimed, this is the perfect opportunity to let our neighboring countries know that the Great Qian Dynasty is a formidable military force and not to be trifled with."

Xiao Jingyu nodded, agreeing with Su Mu's statement.

"Yes, take this East China Sea conflict for example."

"A tiny Dongyi country dares to cross the East Sea and invade the territory of my Great Qian."

"Why!"

Su Mu looked at Xiao Jingyu, waved his hand and smiled, "Your Highness, there's no need to sigh. The Great Qian Dynasty is no longer what it used to be."

"It's getting late, let's head back to the government office."

"The conscription process has only just begun; there's still a lot to come, so we can't rush it."

After speaking, Su Mu stepped down from the command platform.

Su Mu's back was slightly hunched in the twilight, but his steps were steady.

It's like a tree that has been bent by the wind for too long, yet it can still maintain its direction in the wind.

Xiao Jingyu stood on the command platform, watching the figure disappear around the corner of the steps.

His gaze darkened slightly in the twilight.

Two hundred thousand!

Su Mu's appeal has exceeded the boundaries expected of a military general.

The conscription of 100,000 soldiers took three days. People from Jiangnan spontaneously gathered, the governor of Jinling personally supervised the process, and officials from various prefectures and counties actively cooperated.

If these things fell into the eyes of the current emperor, would they be something that could be easily dismissed with just the words "loyal and virtuous"?

He thought of the treacherous officials in the court who were still watching from the shadows, and of the Crown Prince's cronies.

Will they use this as an excuse to make trouble?

The phrase "merits so great they threaten the ruler" will never disappear in any dynasty.

He stood there for a moment, then withdrew his gaze, turned and walked down from the command platform, thinking to himself, "From now on, I must pay more attention to the movements in the court, and not let those treacherous officials take advantage of the situation to frame Elder Su."

"Even if it costs me my life, I will not hesitate."

……

On the other side of the training ground, Zhou Wenjin had not yet left.

He was standing next to the registration desk, looking at the young people still queuing up, and he was filled with joy.

At this moment, an official quickly walked to his side and said in a low voice, "Lord Zhou, people have arrived from outside the city."

"Minister of War Wang and General Han You's escort team have arrived and are waiting outside the city to enter."

Zhou Wenjin's eyes suddenly lit up. He closed the roster in his hand and waved to his subordinates.

"Let's go, follow me out of the city to greet them! This matter cannot be delayed!"

He straightened his clothes and strode towards the city gate, with several officials following closely behind.