I can infinitely improve my spiritual attributes

Arrived at the county seat of Dacang County.

Zhou Shan did not rush to leave, but began to recruit soldiers.

Although the Juling Sect, the richest Liu family in Dacang County, and the Xia family where his third senior brother Xia Jiang was from all sent people to join him, there were only 1,500 people in total, which could only form a personal battalion.

Although the families behind Li Cheng and Wang Qing also sent people, they were under their own jurisdiction.

Therefore, Zhou Shan still needed to recruit other people.

Now it is wartime, he can recruit 50,000 troops. Even if he can't recruit all of them, he must recruit at least 20,000 people. The remaining 30,000 people can be recruited in Yizhou.

At this time, the martial arts imperial examination had just ended. There were many martial arts scholars in Dacang County who wanted to make merit and become officials, and joining the army was undoubtedly the fastest way to make merit.

In addition to fighting with the Nanman Kingdom, Daqian today is using troops against the overseas Dongying Kingdom.

Compared with the Nanman Kingdom, the strength of Dongying Kingdom is weaker.

The battle between Daqian and Nanman was almost evenly matched, with each side winning and losing. They still fought at the border of the two countries. Even if they entered the other side's country, they would be quickly counterattacked by the other side.

Even if they occupied a city or a place, it was only for a short period of time and it was difficult to occupy it permanently.

Therefore, it was difficult to make meritorious deeds on the battlefield against Nanman.

In other words, the degree of danger was relatively high.

However, Dongying was different. Its land area was only two prefectures of Daqian, and it was also divided into the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In terms of strength, it was far inferior to Daqian.

Daqian only dispatched the East China Sea Navy, and it took two months to occupy the two states of the Southern Dynasty. If the East China Sea Navy attacked with all its strength, without considering sending people to garrison in various counties, and only garrisoned in the state capital, then it would not be a big problem to directly capture the remaining two states of the Southern Dynasty.

Dongying's Southern Dynasty only occupied seven states.

Among them, two states were also captured by the Northern Dynasty.

The East China Sea Navy now occupies Toyama State, Yi State and Zuo State.

The reason why they did not continue the attack was that they were not prepared to fight with the Northern Dynasty of Dongying.

Once the other two states were captured, they would have to face the Northern Dynasty of Dongying directly. If they were in the process of capturing, they might be attacked by the Northern Dynasty of Dongying.

Therefore, Daqian Kingdom must first gain a foothold in the three captured states, recruit troops and expand its power. Any power that pays attention to the situation in Dongying knows that it will not be long before there will be another war.

This is a great opportunity to make meritorious deeds.

In Dacang County, martial arts scholars who want to be officials have signed up to join the Yizhou Army led by Zhou Shan.

These warriors with the title of martial arts scholars naturally cannot be soldiers when they come in, and Zhou Shan gave them positions of small flags.

There are no states in the administrative division of Daqian Kingdom, so some official positions are temporarily divided according to the Northern and Southern Dynasties of Dongying Kingdom. For example, Zhou Shan is the fifth-rank garrison commander of the military of a state, and if he is in Daqian Kingdom, he is a county garrison.

Below the fifth-rank garrison commander is the sixth-rank thousand-householder, the sixth-rank deputy thousand-householder, which is equivalent to the commander, the thousand-man general, then the seventh-rank centurion, the seventh-rank deputy centurion, and below that are the general flag, the small flag, etc.

Although Li Cheng and Wang Qing are only seventh-rank centurions, as long as they have made contributions, it is easy to be promoted to a thousand-householder. Even if there is no war, as long as they have made some contributions in the process of stabilizing the situation in Yizhou and report to the Ministry of War, they can be promoted to the seventh-rank deputy thousand-householder in a few months.

For these warriors with meritorious service, if they are only martial arts scholars, Zhou Shan will appoint them as small flags, and if they are martial arts scholars, he will appoint them as deputy general flags, and the rank is the eighth rank.

As the garrison commander of Yizhou, Zhou Shan has the power to directly appoint officials below the sixth rank.

However, if they reach the sixth rank, they must report to the Ministry of War.

Because, according to the laws of Daqian, officers who reach the sixth rank in the army basically hold concurrent positions as the military officials, so the promotion of officers who reach the sixth rank and above must be approved by the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of War needs to issue a document.

Temporary positions are not counted.

For example, when Zhou Shan participated in the military imperial examination, he was a general of 5,000 people, commanding 5,000 troops, which was a temporary position.

However, Zhou Shan's power is still very large, and he has the final say in the appointment of officers of the seventh, eighth and ninth ranks.

When recruiting soldiers, Zhou Shan's advantage as the top scorer of the current military examination was reflected.

Not only in Dacang County, when he came to Donghai Prefecture City, there were also some military candidates and military scholars who took the initiative to come to him, and more than 30 military scholars who were conferred to Yizhou also came to Donghai Prefecture City and brought gifts to pay homage to Zhou Shan, their superior.

Although everyone's official positions are similar, all of them are centurions and deputy centurions, but Zhou Shan has the final say on where to serve. Some centurions and deputy centurions can stay in Yizhou City, while others will be transferred to the county below.

Each county must establish a centurion office.

The centurion of the centurion office is equivalent to the county lieutenant, but the rank is higher than that of the county lieutenant.

There are thirteen counties under Yizhou.

Some of these counties are richer, while others are poorer. If they can be assigned to a rich county, it is naturally better than a poor county, and there will be more money.

But all this is decided by Zhou Shan's words.

Therefore, these military scholars came to visit Zhou Shan with gifts.

Zhou Shan knew the intentions of these military scholars who came to visit him, but he did not show up. Instead, he asked Li Cheng and Wang Qing to receive them. He also accepted some inexpensive gifts symbolically.

To be honest, with Zhou Shan's current cultivation level and the industries he owns, some ordinary gifts of money are dispensable to him, except for the fourth-level spiritual objects of heaven and earth.

Unless the fourth-level spiritual objects of heaven and earth are presented, everything is done according to the rules.

Within a few days, Zhou Shan recruited 20,000 soldiers.

This does not include the "retainers" brought by those military scholars, military candidates, and military scholars.

However, these retainers they brought were naturally not considered as part of the Yizhou army, and Zhou Shan would not pay them military salaries. Instead, these military scholars, military candidates, and military scholars would pay for their own support, and they were considered private soldiers.

When these retainers arrived in Yizhou and the counties below, they would definitely occupy some industries to accumulate wealth.

At this rate, even if he wanted to recruit 50,000 soldiers, there would not be much of a problem. However, since he wanted to completely govern Yizhou and make the forces in Yizhou obedient, he had to use some of the people from the major forces in Yizhou.

To win over some people, suppress some, and eliminate some people, this principle is applicable no matter where.

If he did not use the people from the major forces in Yizhou at all, it would be a lot of trouble to fully integrate into Yizhou and control Yizhou. Zhou Shan did not have time to immerse himself in intrigues and play tricks all day long.

What he had to do was to use the identity of the Yizhou garrison to quickly collect resources and gain more merits, and then exchange the spiritual objects of heaven and earth from the court, and cultivate the four realms of martial arts to the perfect realm.

Therefore, after recruiting 20,000 soldiers in Donghai Prefecture, Zhou Shan took the steel battleship of the Donghai Navy to Yizhou, and the 20,000 soldiers also went to Yizhou in batches on the steel battleship.

Dongying is an island country, so it is surrounded by the sea on all sides.

Toyama Prefecture has a port terminal, and Yizhou also has one.

After conquering Yizhou, this wharf is now occupied by the East China Sea Navy.

Although Zhou Shan is the garrison commander of Yizhou and is in charge of all military affairs in Yizhou, he is responsible for land affairs, which belongs to the army, and this port wharf is under the jurisdiction of the East China Sea Navy.

Daqian will continue to use troops against the Southern Dynasty of Dongying, and even the Northern Dynasty, and the East China Sea Navy will still be the main force.

In the center of Yicheng, there is a luxurious mansion with high walls. There are stone lions in front of the mansion gate. There is a copper nail vermilion lacquer door with a huge plaque hanging on it. On the plaque, there are four big characters "Zhen Shou Shi Fu".

This mansion is the mansion owned by the former garrison commander of Yizhou.

Now, this mansion belongs to Zhou Shan.

When Zhou Shan just arrived at the Yicheng mansion, some big and small forces in the city sent people to send gifts and visiting cards.

"This is the feeling of holding power!"

In the mansion, Zhou Shan looked at the gifts in the hall and the pile of visiting cards, and couldn't help but sigh.

Among this pile of invitations, even the weakest one is far stronger than the Baisha County Fishermen's Gang, and there are dozens of such invitations. He can decide the life and death of these forces with just one word.

In Yizhou, he can be said to be a local emperor. The only one with a higher rank than him is the governor, who is a fourth-rank official. However, the governor is more responsible for government affairs, and Zhou Shan still has the final say in military affairs.

Moreover, the governor has no right to remove Zhou Shan from his post, and can only do so by writing to the Ministry of War.

However, generally speaking, to reach the fourth-rank governor, one must reach the fifth-level master to be able to serve, just like Da Cang County, where the county governor is a fifth-level master, and the garrison is just a fourth-level blood exchange.

In the case of inferior official rank and strength, even if the other party cannot remove oneself, it is impossible to turn a deaf ear to the other party's words, and respect must be maintained on the surface.

Otherwise, it is asking for trouble.

But even if there is a governor above, Zhou Shan, as the garrison commander, is the second-ranked existence in Yizhou. It is almost the same to say that he is a local emperor.

However, Zhou Shan knows that all the power he has comes from his own strong strength.

Without strength, everything is empty.

As long as the strength is strong, such as the martial saints and heavenly masters who have reached the seventh level of cultivation, even if they do not have any positions in the court, they are supreme. What frontier officials, six ministers, cabinet ministers, and even princes, have to be respectful when they see them, and dare not have the slightest.

For such existences, the laws and regulations of secular countries are already difficult to restrain them.

In some small countries, there are not even martial saints and heavenly masters who have reached the seventh level.

For example, the country of Dongying has no existence that has reached the seventh level.

A country without a martial saint of the seventh level can only be regarded as a small country. The arrival of a martial saint of the seventh level can sweep across a country and make everyone in the country surrender.

There are many such small countries, not only Dongying, but also Baoyu, which is rich in jade, and the more distant Shenfeng, Yun, etc., are all small countries.

A country with a martial saint who has reached the seventh realm is a medium-sized country.

Above that, there are big countries.

To be promoted from a medium-sized country to a big country, at least ten martial saints who have reached the seventh realm must be in charge. Above the big country, there are dynasties, which have powerful people who have reached the eighth realm.

Among them, Daqian is a dynasty.

Whether it is the Daqian royal family or the Tiansheng Sect, there are powerful people who have reached the eighth realm.

The other Beiyuan is also a dynasty, with a great man who has reached the eighth realm.

The Nanman Kingdom is a big country.

Although the Nanman Kingdom has not reached the eighth realm, it is restrained by the Beiyuan Dynasty and is not afraid of Daqian. It often riots on the border. The Nanman Kingdom knows that as long as the Beiyuan Dynasty exists, the Daqian Dynasty will not be able to deal with them with all its strength.

It is not easy to destroy a big country without sending out the eighth and seventh realms, but it is not a big problem to destroy the small country of Dongying.

Therefore, to deal with the Dongying Kingdom, Daqian only sent out the East China Sea Navy, and even used it as an assessment of the martial arts imperial examination before, and did not take it seriously at all.

Daqian also fought with the Nanman Kingdom, but did not regard the war of the Nanman Kingdom as an assessment at all.

The reason is that the strength of the Nanman Kingdom is dozens or hundreds of times stronger than that of Dongying.

In short, status, power, wealth, and beauty are all false, only strength is real. As long as you have strength, then all kinds of status, power, wealth, and beauty will follow.

If you don't have status and power, others will give you status and power. If you don't have wealth and beauty, others will give you wealth and beauty.

Thinking of this, Zhou Shan didn't want to socialize, and threw all these visiting cards aside.

These forces are just some second-rate and third-rate forces. The first-rate forces and top families have long moved to the capital. Those with a far-sighted vision have already begun to sell their property and purchase industries in other countries before the East China Sea Navy attacked Fushanzhou, when they showed signs of defeat in the battle between the Southern Dynasty, the Central Dynasty, and the Northern Dynasty. They transferred their assets early.

However, although Zhou Shan did not attend the social gatherings, he also had to give these forces a reassurance pill, so that they could not let them have wild thoughts. After occupying Yizhou, the next step is to build and appease the people, and then train the army.

Therefore, he asked his master Lin Yuanxiong, Li Cheng, and Wang Qing to attend the banquet on his behalf to reassure some forces in Yicheng.

Zhou Shan's master Lin Yuanxiong also came with him to Yizhou as the garrison commander. This was a great opportunity to make meritorious service, so Zhou Shan would naturally not forget his master Lin Yuanxiong.

Although Lin Yuanxiong did not hold any position in the army, as Zhou Shan's master, he was enough to represent him at the banquet.