Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1058: Chapter 968: Official of the First Rank 30

Mu Chang’an habitually shook the fan in his hand, his eyes radiating with brilliance, ”From this point on, the spirit of these people has been completely shattered and fallen to the bottom. And at this moment, General Murong tells them she can make them stronger. With the previous foundation laid, no one will consider her words false anymore.

General Murong has done all these things for a single purpose, and that is to destroy and then establish, to eliminate the soldiers’ discrimination against female generals, and thereby establish a new mindset. Such a bold idea, she not only achieved it but also did so with impressive speed, truly earning admiration.

Now, the ten thousand soldiers have been completely subdued by General Murong, who excels in training

troops. An Ke congratulates the master, having such an excellent general at your service, means you will definitely have a formidable army of elite soldiers in the future, ensuring the master’s grand undertaking will succeed.”

Wang Jingqi had a proud smile on his face too. After all, he was the one who discovered Murong Shuangshuang, this rare talent, so how could he not be proud? However, he still remembered not to be too conceited, so he waved his hand to Mu Chang’an and said, ”What grand undertaking are you talking about? Father is the head of the family. Any future success will also be credited to him because it was Father who laid down the foundations of the kingdom.”

Mu Chang’an gently shook his folding fan and smiled without a word. Although confident, he knew the kingdom was not yet secured. An occasional mention was fine, but saying too much would become meaningless.

Murong Shuangshuang’s grand military training was progressing smoothly. After experiencing a psychological process of destruction and re-establishment, the soldiers under her command were very obedient, doing whatever was asked of them. People of this era were naturally diligent, and in the Wang Family’s territory, joining the army was voluntary, not coercive. Thus, those who came to serve as soldiers were prepared to endure hardships.

The training regime set by Murong Shuangshuang was tough and exhausting, but the results were evident. In just a mere half year, these soldiers were capable of going up against the thoroughly trained villagers of Yu Family Village and not falling behind in hundreds of moves.

Currently, Murong Shuangshuang leads ten thousand soldiers along with three thousand private soldiers from Yu Family Village who voluntarily follow her—men and women alike. With the new addition of these three thousand strong fighters, Murong Shuangshuang now has thirteen thousand troops under her command. The three thousand private soldiers can hold their own against hundreds each, and the ten thousand elite soldiers are also exceedingly powerful.

While the aristocratic families and Dukes were still observing, another massive public rebellion broke out. The trigger was the reckless Emperor’s whimsical decision to construct a Crystal Palace, demanding that the entire nation’s people be tasked with mining crystal to fulfill his sudden fancy.

The common people were already leading a hard life, with doubled taxes, and the harvest of bumper years was still not enough to cover the taxes. Numerous commoners were demoted to slave status, with families torn apart and sold to far-flung corners of the land.

Labor was too burdensome, and only two days after completing one service, they were conscripted again. At the outset of compulsory military service, countless people cried and sobbed but were still forcibly taken away to become soldiers. Many common people, weakened by their hardships to the point of being gaunt as skeletons, had bodies so frail they served no purpose in battle except as cannon fodder to fill trenches.

Mining is a dangerous job, with the threat of death accompanying the extraction of any kind of ore. After buildings palaces and tombs for the Emperor, and constructing towers like the Heaven-Reaching Massacre, now there was the sudden demand to build the Emperor’s fanciful Crystal Palace.

Unable to endure such oppression, the people revolted. Those forcibly conscripted rebelled together, killed the escorting government officers, then gathered to seize the nearest county, launching a fierce rebellion under the leader’s command.

Meanwhile, commoners being escorted all over for enforced labor were also revolting, as uprisings spread like wildfire. Those who dared not oppose the government, those who had previously abided by the law, could no longer survive. Driven by the instinct to live, they rebelled.

The time was ripe, so the major aristocratic families, Dukes, and Princes erupted in rebellion as well. Murong Shuangshuang, leading her well-trained ten thousand soldiers, along with three thousand villagers from Yu Family Village, also embarked on the path of conquest.

Initially, when the villagers of Yu Family Village—regardless of age, gender, or status—heard that Murong Shuangshuang was going to lead troops to war, they all howled, rolling up their sleeves, eager to follow her into battle.

However, Murong Shuangshuang refused. One reason was that someone needed to cultivate the land in the village, and another was that the villagers needed to help teach those who came to Yu Family Village to learn methods of increasing crop yields.

Aside from increasing grain production, Murong Shuangshuang also discovered potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes—foods stemming from modern knowledge that the female protagonist used, and Murong Shuangshuang would naturally use as well.

In fact, Murong Shuangshuang did not need these increased-yield crops to bolster her reputation or achievements, and she was originally disinclined to compete with Fang Keixin for such fame. She did not need this to succeed as she had a thousand other methods to achieve fame and fortune.

The true reason Murong Shuangshuang changed her mind was a natural disaster. A suburban county under Wang Jingqi’s jurisdiction experienced a great drought, leaving it without a harvest, and even under Wang Jingqi’s rule, devoid of harsh taxes, the drought nearly drove the common people to the brink of survival.

The root cause was low grain yields; the government, aiming to provide sufficient provisions to the army, led to insufficient reserves for disaster relief. If Wang Jingqi hadn’t sent grain promptly, a desperate scenario of people eating the unthinkable might have emerged among the commoners.

It was after witnessing this that Murong Shuangshuang decided to set aside her disdain and pride in using the same methods as Fang Keixin to gain fame. She diligently sought out these three yield-increasing crops and gave them to Wang Jingqi for research.

Half a year before the war began, Murong Shuangshuang had already discovered these plants and had Wang Jingqi experiment with planting them. Now they were already being harvested with yields surprisingly high.

With these three treasures, it is imaginable that in future battles, there will no longer be worries about military provisions, and these achievements will solidify Wang Jingqi’s position, helping him garner substantial public support.

If previously, half of Wang Jingqi’s status depended on his own abilities and connections, and the other half on his father Wang Wei’s favor, if Wang Wei decided not to favor this son anymore, Wang Jingqi’s status would immediately be shaken.

But now, with these achievements and a few more victories from Murong Shuangshuang, Wang Jingqi’s position would be thoroughly consolidated—not depending on his father anymore, but firmly based on his own reputation and popular support, stable and unshakable.

Murong Shuangshuang’s first battle was against Luo Yunchuan, as Luo Zhongchen’s territory bordered the Wang Family’s territory. Whether for expanding territory or stabilizing the rear, an enemy like Luo Zhongchen could not be left unattended.

The main forces of the Wang Family clashed with Luo Zhongchen’s forces, while Murong Shuangshuang led ten thousand troops against Luo Yunchuan’s forty thousand men.

Even though Luo Yunchuan didn’t hold a high official rank in recent years, it wasn’t because he lacked capability. In fact, Luo Yunchuan was equally courageous and skilled in warfare, excelling in training troops. It was just that Luo Yunchuan had no interest in serving the court, both because he looked down on the foolish Emperor and because everyone wanted to rebel; who would still wish to work for someone destined to be overthrown?