Chapter 113: Bestowing Names
Chapter 113: Bestowing Names
September 25th, 2017
Special thanks to 'Golden Egg' and 'One Two Three All Exist' for their generous support!
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The value of books was far greater than Lu HaiKong had initially thought.
When he saw how much Wang Fat loved them, he generously offered all 40 books to him.
But Wang Fat shook his head, "Books are truly valuable. The more you read, the more it can enhance your political, strategic, and leadership abilities. We should build a library with these books to cultivate officials and commanders within your ranks."
"Our mountain fort is still small, with only a few thousand people. I can manage this number, but as the fort grows and our population reaches tens of thousands, I won't be able to handle it alone. Although I'm currently training Zhang Wen and Li Feng, two people won't be enough."
"If we can acquire a large number of books and cultivate a group of grassroots officials, that would be ideal."
Wang Fat's idea already hinted at the concept of a school, but this vision was not something that could be realized in the short term. Lu HaiKong, having learned that reading books could increase leadership abilities, decided to keep the 20 military texts and let Wang Fat keep the 20 Confucian texts, which he seemed to adore.
Wang Fat, holding the books close to his heart, his eyes narrowing with joy, was about to return to savor them when Lu HaiKong called out to him.
"Is there anything else, Boss?" Lu HaiKong couldn't help but smirk at Wang Fat's half-literate, half-uneducated speech.
"Before, you were always calling me 'Wang Fat.' That was because our fort was small, and you didn't have many people under your command. But now that our fort has grown and is on the verge of becoming a town, isn't it inappropriate for the second-in-command, a powerful figure like you, to still be called 'Wang Fat'?"
Wang Fat paused, his heart warmed by Lu HaiKong's attention to such detail, clearly valuing him. He gently placed the books aside and bowed respectfully to Lu HaiKong, "Please, my lord, bestow upon me a name!"
Lu HaiKong couldn't help but grimace, "You want me to name you? You know I'm just a rough man; I can't come up with a decent name."
"Please, my lord, bestow upon me a name!" Wang Fat insisted, bowing again.
"Please, my lord, bestow upon me a name!" At that moment, the little girl who had been quietly following Lu HaiKong also bowed respectfully towards him.
Lu HaiKong felt like he had dug himself into a hole. Eventually, he bestowed names upon Wang Fat and the little girl, naming Wang Fat as Wang Jun, and the girl as Lu Ying.
The little girl didn't change much with her new name, but Wang Jun was different. After Lu HaiKong named him, his loyalty skyrocketed to 90. It seemed Lu HaiKong had found another way to increase loyalty, though he was hesitant to use this method given Wang Jun's apparent lack of talent in naming.
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Upon returning to their hideout, Lu HaiKong never had a moment's rest.
He was either leading the bandits in welcoming the refugees or personally dealing with the increasing presence of the Xianbei and Xiongnu tribes in Qiang Yin.
Lu HaiKong's efforts were highly successful, and in just three short days, over a thousand people joined his mountain fort.
After the mountain camp was upgraded to a medium-sized camp, Lu HaiKong completely eliminated one of the camps at the basin entrance and planned to build a fortified wall at the basin's entrance.
This was an enormous yet necessary undertaking. Once the wall was erected, Lu HaiKong's camp would be as solid as gold, and with sufficient defensive forces, a frontal assault would be nearly impossible.
Lu HaiKong was confident that no one could lead thousands of soldiers, bypass hundreds of kilometers of mountains, and then attack their camp's interior.
With over two thousand people working on the wall, everyone was motivated upon learning that the wall was to deter foreign tribes. However, the project was massive; the basin road was over five hundred meters long, and building a ten-meter-high wall of that length with two thousand people was no easy task.
Fortunately, the camp gained new members daily, ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred each day. At this rate, the camp's population would soon surpass ten thousand. With such a workforce, Lu HaiKong believed they could complete the wall within a month.
While Lu HaiKong was busy managing the camp and recruiting new members, Wang Ti was equally occupied.
Wang Ti's task was relatively straightforward: to fight. They battled against the Xianbei Tribe and the powerful Yin's camp.
In just three days, Wang Ti eliminated three Xianbei Tribe groups that were roaming in the Powerful Yin's territory. He rescued three villages and shared the camp's location and information with them. If these villages relocated, they could add over a thousand people to the camp.
Additionally, Wang Ti eradicated over ten small and large camps and refugee camps near the Blackwind Fort, earning over ten thousand gold in rewards and various food supplies totaling tens of thousands of pounds. Most importantly, due to Wang Ti's leadership and his active participation in battles, he managed to increase his strength points to 59 in just three days, just one point shy of reaching 60.
Both Lu HaiKong's camp and the Blackwind Fort seemed to thrive, with everything progressing positively. However, only Lu HaiKong and Wang Jun (Wang Fat) knew that the camp still faced several significant challenges and unresolved issues.
The first and foremost concern was the perennial food problem. Although Wang Fat had cultivated three hundred acres of land for crops, there were uncertainties about the harvest. With temperatures dropping below zero and heavy snowfall, the crops might fail.
Even if the harvest was successful, the yield would be around one hundred thousand pounds at most. With eight hundred bandits, three hundred archers, and two to three thousand villagers in Lu HaiKong's camp, this food supply would last only a few days to a couple of weeks.
Although Lu HaiKong had acquired two thousand tons of food from the Blackwind Fort, which seemed like an abundant supply, the increasing population would quickly deplete it within a month or two, especially with over a thousand horses to feed, each with an appetite rivaling ten strong men.
Of course, there was a solution: Lu HaiKong had money. With hundreds of thousands of gold in hand, finding food shouldn't be an issue. However, Lu HaiKong realized that spending this money might not be as easy as it seemed.
(End of Chapter)
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