Chapter 376
Strength and courage. Guan Hai and Zhou Cang have proven themselves to have these things. Huang Zhong kept his sword feeling satisfied and voiced his approval.
“General. Do you still have any objections?” Liu Mang smiled as he looked at the three men.
“I can relax if you two are around. I will leave Milord to you!” Huang Zhong said to the two men before cupping his fist at Liu Mang.
“Haha. Of course. Although these two came from the wilderness, they have good enough skills to sell to the King!” Liu Mang praised Guan Hai and Zhou Cang generously. These two would become his guards like Cao Cao’s Dian Wei and Xu Zhu who were also strong and powerful men.
It was unfortunate for Cao Cao that one of them had already died. On the other hand, Liu Mang obtained two tigers. Although Guan Hai and Zhou Cang may not be as strong as Dian Wei or Xu Zhu, Liu Mang himself was also just a second grade warrior.
Meanwhile, the three strategists narrowed their eyes. They did not care about Liu Mang’s exaggerated compliments but the words ‘sell to the Emperor.’ As a modern person, Liu Mang used words such as King or Emperor freely. After all, he was pampered an only child1. However, in ancient times, the people were very sensitive towards such words.
Guan Hai and Zhou Cang could sell their skills but who is the ‘King’? Right now, that person is Liu Mang as this was Zhou Cang and Guan Hai’s current Lord. It was also possible for Liu Mang to have even grander ambitions. If Liu Mang manages to conquer the world, they too would enter the historical records. The eyes of the three strategists glinted in excitement. Jia Xu was even prepared to work properly.
Liu Mang could not understand why the three strategist suddenly became so excited. On the other hand, Guan Hai and Zhou Cang could not understand what Liu Mang and Huang Zhong were talking about. Initially, Huang Zhong had been antagonistic towards them and even fought them. However, he was now welcoming them with a smiling expression. It was still acceptable for Guan Hai but Zhou Cang was an idiot.
Liu Mang then laughed and explained to the two that Huang Zhong was testing their valor. As the two of them were to be Liu Mang’s bodyguards, they would naturally be carrying weapons in the hall. They would also only be allowed to listen to Liu Mang’s orders. Even if someone like Huang Zhong were to give them an order, they must not pay any heed to it unless Liu Mang were to order them to. They must also not throw away their weapons. In other words, these two had passed the test.
Besides courage, they also needed strength. If they had been too weak, Huang Zhong would have simply killed them. He truly had every intention to kill them at that moment.
As Shouchun’s hall was large, the three of them had enough space to fight. Huang Zhong only kept his sword after several dozen rounds. Although he did not show off all of his skills, he was able to learn how powerful the two warriors were. Guan Hai was good enough to become a top quality general. On the other hand, Zhou Cang was also very strong also he was not smart. After all, Zhou Cang was Guan Yu’s weapon bearer in the original timeline.
As the two warrior’s strength and courage had already been tested, Huang Zhong could feel at ease leaving Liu Mang with them.
“We would definitely be no worse than you in protecting Milord!” Guan Hai understood that Huang Zhong was testing him after listening to Liu Mang’s explanation but still felt uncomfortable from it and snorted at Huang Zhong as though it was a provocation.
“That’s right! As long as this Zhou is here, nobody would be able to touch a single hair on Brother Liu!” Zhou Cang declared.
“Haha. General! Looks like you have met your match!” Liu Mang laughed contentedly while Huang Zhong shook his head and laughed bitterly.
“Guan Hai and Zhou Cang! I have orders!” Liu Mang suddenly shouted with a serious expression.
“Guan Hai present!” Guan Hai immediately knelt. On the other hand, Zhou Cang was distracted. Fortunately, Guan Hai immediately pulled Zhou Cang down into a kneeling position.
“Guan Hai and Zhou Cang will be given positions. Guan Hai will be Huben military officer. He will be the commander of my bodyguards. Zhou Cang will be Fenwu military officer. He will assist Guan Hai.2 Although they were once bandits, the common people had no other way to make a living during these chaotic times. That is why this King will not pursue that issue. From now on, you two will be part of the Liu Mang’s Army. Listen to commands and obey the law or be executed!” Liu Mang spoke as he stared at them, giving off the imposing manner befitting of one who sits at the top. Liu Mang also did not know when he started being so cold blooded to the soldiers and the people. If it was in the past, he would not have been so daring to fight against thousands with hundreds. He would also not be so excited in seeing these Three Kingdoms celebrities. After all, they were only human and not Gods. In fact, if Liu Mang’s traits were taken from even further back, he would have had them executed.
“This one will obey!” Guan Hai lowered his head and replied. He knew that the only way he could obtain revenge on Guan Yu was to follow Liu Mang.
“Whatever Brother Liu says!” Zhou Cang tried to say this but he was stopped by Guan Hai before he gave the same reply. “This one will obey!”
“Alright. The two of you can return to your duties.” Liu Mang waved his hands. As the two were supposed to guard Liu Mang, they went to Liu Mang’s side.
“There are men and there are women. It has been a fact all this while that men would tend to the land while the women would sew.” Liu Mang said as he looked at his subordinates. Out of seven hundred thousand people, two hundred thousand were women. Liu Mang may have selected three hundred thousand of the remaining five hundred thousand to do engineering work. This does not mean that the remaining two hundred thousand men could remain unemployed. After all, the three hundred thousand men needed to train which meant that they needed to depend on others for their livelihood. Liu Mang also intended to group the women up to sewing. War could be left to men.3
Liu Mang intended to give supporting jobs to the women. That was why he gave the order, “Pick two thousand gentle and considerate women that are good at handicraft to enter the barracks.”
“What?” Liu Mang’s words shocked everyone. They had already been extremely frightened by Liu Mang when they heard about recruiting three hundred thousand soldiers. Now, Liu Mang even asked for two thousand women.
“Milord. What do you mean?” Xu Shu was confused and also disappointed. Women are people that were not allowed to enter military camps. Otherwise, stories like Hua Mulan substituting her father wouldn’t become popular. This is because women had weaker bodies and had to deal with menstruation. They were not fit to enter the battlefield. A women that really entered a barracks would be an army prostitute.
If the army has prostitutes, it would not be righteous. If that is the case, Xu Shu would no longer need to remain in the Liu Mang’s Army. After all, Xu Shu took fancy of Liu Mang because of the man’s motto of working for the common people. This was also in accordance with Zhuge Liang’s motto. However, if the army has prostitutes, Liu Mang would be the same as Dong Zhuo, Li Jue and Guo Si.
On the other hand, Jia Xu’s eyes glinted. To him, it was only a few thousand women. Even if they were prostitutes, they could raise morale. So it was also a beneficial thing. There were a lot of young energetic men in the military. The reason they served in the army was for money so that they could find a wife.
People who had too much desire but nowhere to vent it out would become rash. Dong Zhuo had even indulged the Xiliang Cavalry to make them more warlike. One needed military service for there to be an army. In other words, prostitution was a good way to raise morale.
“How many doctors do we have in the army?” Liu Mang did not immediately give Xu Shu a reply and instead asked a question.
“Doctors?” Xu Shu never bothered counting how many doctors there were but each army should have about ten doctors.
“Ten?” Liu Mang frowned. Liu Mang had already considered this before. As he had thought the Urban Army basic first aid skills, they did not have an urgent need for doctors. However, this would be different for the other armies. The Black Flag Army for example had five thousand men. Only having ten doctors meant that each officer needed to take care of five hundred people. Even super humans cannot handle such workload. This is also one of the reasons why there was a high casualty rate on the battlefield.
“Gather all of these doctors and then get the two thousand women to learn how to treat the wounded from them!” Liu Mang gave this order without any hesitation. Adding up all of Liu Mang’s current available soldiers and he would have a total of thirty thousand troops. For this amount, two thousand doctors would be enough. However, that would no longer be the case once Liu Mang expands the army.
“Medics?4” Xu Shu felt as though he had a headache. What kind of soldiers were that? Weren’t they supposed to be prostitutes for the soldiers to play with? How did they end up being medics?