“Hey, don’t shout nonsense! Do you think I’m that kind of person?” Oliver Sheng quickly defended himself.
His good reputation was at stake. How would he ever go out and flirt again if it got tarnished?
“If you’re not that kind of person, then how do you explain this? If you can’t explain it clearly, don’t blame me for reporting you to His Majesty,” Magistrate Chen said sternly, pointing at the women.
“Let me explain.”
“These women are unfortunate souls. I led my troops to raid a bandit camp and rescued them.”
Oliver Sheng recounted the events of the past few days to Magistrate Chen. Upon hearing the story, the stern look on Magistrate Chen’s face softened.
He was genuinely worried that Oliver might have made an unforgivable mistake.
“I’ve heard about that notorious bandit group in Tianlin County. I didn’t realize they had committed so many atrocities…”
Magistrate Chen sighed, feeling helpless. He knew that many aristocratic families and influential figures would secretly support bandits for their own use. Such things, while not common, were not rare either.
After all, the power of local aristocratic families was formidable.
“So, these women need a place to stay. Magistrate Chen, I need you to arrange accommodations for them. Don’t worry about food; I’ll handle that. Just provide them with temporary shelter,” Oliver Sheng said.
This matter had to be handled by Magistrate Chen.
“Alright, leave it to me,” Magistrate Chen agreed without hesitation.
As long as these women weren’t taken by force by Oliver, it was a minor issue for him to arrange housing for three to five hundred people.
Magistrate Chen arranged for the women to stay in some empty houses in the west of the city. The owners of these houses had fled upon hearing that the Barbarian army was approaching.
The border was too dangerous. If not for their livelihoods, many people wouldn’t choose to live there.
With frequent incursions by foreign tribes, no one lived in peace.
Oliver Sheng also assigned fifty soldiers to patrol and guard the women, ensuring their safety.
With so many women living together, without protection, the city’s thugs and hooligans might cause trouble.
“You left your post without permission these past few days just to raid bandits? You’re quite bold,” Magistrate Chen said, looking at Oliver Sheng.
As a border garrison commander, he should be guarding the border, not raiding bandits and taking the state soldiers’ job.
“Here, this is the five thousand silver notes I borrowed from you. I’m returning them now,” Oliver Sheng said, handing the money back to Magistrate Chen.
“How much did you seize?”
Magistrate Chen took the silver notes and realized why Oliver had led his troops to raid the bandits.
“Seize? Do you even know how to talk? It’s called confiscation, understand?” Oliver Sheng said righteously.
“Alright, alright, confiscation. How much did you confiscate?”
“Not telling you!” Oliver Sheng turned and walked away.
Watching Oliver leave, Magistrate Chen gritted his teeth.
“That damned guy, calling me out in the middle of the night to help, and now he doesn’t even say thank you.”
……
Early the next morning, Xiao Chuyi noticed that Oliver Sheng had returned and was training the soldiers, though some were missing.
“Where have you been these past few days?” Xiao Chuyi asked, standing in front of Oliver Sheng.
Oliver Sheng looked at the somewhat effeminate man and said indifferently, “Do I need to report to you wherever I go?”
“No, but remember, you are the garrison commander of River West County. You can’t leave the county easily. If the enemy invades and the garrison commander is absent, how dangerous would that be? The lives of everyone in the county would be in your hands.”
After saying this, Xiao Chuyi turned and left. Oliver Sheng smirked. Goodness, a mere colonel was lecturing him.
If it weren’t for Xiao Batian’s powerful background and the fact that Xiao Batian hadn’t caused him any trouble since arriving, Oliver would have given him a good beating to show him whose territory this was.
After returning, Oliver Sheng taught the Mandarin Duck Formation to Cameron Guo and Wesley Hu, instructing them to train their subordinates in its use.
Seeing the admiration in their eyes, Oliver Sheng’s vanity was greatly satisfied.
Creating a military formation was something many commanders couldn’t achieve.
Not only had Oliver created one, but it had also been tested in battle. Cameron and Wesley eagerly began training their troops.
The thousand soldiers personally led by Oliver were recovering from injuries, and Zane Wang hadn’t returned with his fifty men. Oliver had sent another fifty to guard the rescued women.
The remaining soldiers were left to train themselves.
With money and food temporarily secured, Oliver didn’t have to worry for now. But at his current rate of training, the thirty thousand silver taels and fifty thousand stones of grain wouldn’t last long.
To build a strong army, one word: money.
With enough money, he could even equip heavy cavalry and heavy infantry.
Then he could sweep across the northern grasslands, amassing enough Kill Points to become even stronger.
Everything was for the sake of becoming stronger.
Looking at the large amount of grain, Oliver couldn’t help but think of brewing alcohol.
Alcohol was a high-demand product. As long as it was brewed well, it would sell. Then the silver would roll in, allowing him to buy more grain, brew more alcohol, and make more money.
With money, he could start building heavy cavalry.
As soon as Zane Wang returned, Oliver grabbed him for a task.
“Brother Zane, I need you to do something for me,” Oliver said.
“Oliver, I just got back. Can’t you let me catch my breath? Even oxen and horses aren’t worked this hard,” Zane Wang complained. Why did he always get the dirty and tiring jobs?
“I’m not asking you to plow fields. Just help me find some people,” Oliver said.
“Alright, what do you need? I’m just a workhorse,” Zane Wang resigned himself.
“Don’t be like that. Once this is done, I’ll take you to Misty Willow House to see Fairy Isla Qin,” Oliver promised.
“Really?”
Zane Wang’s eyes lit up. “You better not be lying to me again. If you do, we’re done.”
“Really, I promise,” Oliver nodded.
“Alright, what do you need?”
“I need you to find everyone in River West County who knows how to brew alcohol. I want to start brewing,” Oliver said.
“What? You want to brew alcohol? Why?”
“Why buy alcohol when you can brew it yourself? I’m planning to brew a new kind of alcohol to sell and fund the army, to build heavy cavalry,” Oliver explained.
“Oh, I see.”
So Oliver was still determined to build heavy cavalry.
“Do you even know how to brew alcohol?” Zane Wang asked.
“Hurry up. Do you want to see Fairy Isla Qin or not?” Oliver urged.
“Leave it to me.” At the mention of Fairy Isla Qin, Zane Wang patted his chest and left.
Watching Zane Wang leave, Oliver couldn’t help but laugh.
Got him good!
See Fairy Isla Qin? He wouldn’t dare look at her too much.
Unless he became a Martial Saint right now.
After Zane Wang left, Oliver began thinking about where to build the distillery.
He planned to brew high-proof alcohol from the future. Once brewed, it would be a golden goose. The location of the distillery couldn’t be taken lightly.
After some thought, Oliver decided to build the distillery next to the barracks. With the army guarding it, he wouldn’t have to worry about thieves.
Then, Oliver led the soldiers to start building the distillery themselves.
There was plenty of empty land on both sides of the barracks, with no residents around.
With money in hand, he bought materials and had the soldiers build the distillery.
Seeing Oliver leading the soldiers to build a distillery next to the barracks, Xiao Chuyi was puzzled but didn’t ask. She continued training her troops while keeping a close watch.
The commotion naturally caught Magistrate Chen’s attention.
Magistrate Chen came over and asked, “General Sheng, what are you doing? Isn’t the barracks big enough?”
The River West County barracks were built to accommodate ten thousand soldiers. With only nine thousand soldiers currently, it was more than enough.
“I’m building a distillery to brew some alcohol,” Oliver Sheng said, watching the busy soldiers.
“What? Brew alcohol?” Magistrate Chen thought he had misheard.
A garrison commander, instead of training soldiers, wanted to build a distillery to brew alcohol?
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