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Cai Mao was feeling somewhat frustrated. He had just negotiated with the Zhi family from the front entrance of Caizhou to adopt their daughter into the main Cai family under Cai Feng's name, only to find out that Huang Chengyan of the Huang family had beaten him to it.
Now, he had an extra sister out of nowhere—one who couldn't be married off and had to be supported financially. Although there might be other opportunities in the future, this one was already lost to Fei Qian.
Given the Cai family's status, it was absolutely impossible for the daughter of the family head to become a concubine of someone from a branch family. After all, Fei Qian's current official position was only that of a Biejia (a high-ranking official), and the Cai family wouldn't stoop so low as to allow such a thing.
But Cai Mao couldn't help feeling a bit resentful. What a great opportunity it had been.
Just as Cai Mao was lamenting, a soldier came to report that Biejia Fei Qian, courtesy name Ziyuan, had arrived with 40,000 arrows to deliver!
"So fast?!" Cai Mao counted on his fingers. It had only been about ten days. How had they produced 40,000 arrows so quickly?
Fei Qian hadn't expected it to be completed so quickly either, but the craftsmen from the Huang family had indeed played a crucial role in this endeavor.
With their ample experience, many on-site issues were resolved spontaneously by the craftsmen without needing to report to Fei Qian for adjustments. This saved a lot of time. Additionally, with the use of water-powered saws, a significant amount of labor previously spent on sawing wood was freed up and redistributed to other tasks, which inadvertently sped up the overall process.
Therefore, what would have taken the Xiangyang military craftsmen at least a month to complete was finished in just over ten days thanks to the collective efforts of the Huang family's craftsmen.
Fei Qian had no intention of going above and beyond by producing extra arrows unnecessarily. Once the target number was reached, he immediately delivered the freshly made arrows to Cai Mao's camp outside the city to report the completion of his task.
Cai Mao's camp was located to the west of Xiangyang City, north of the Han River, nestled against the mountains and facing the water—a truly imposing sight.
Previously, the Xiangyang camp had also been set up here, but without a proper general in charge, it had been largely ineffective. Now that Cai Mao had taken over, he had made significant improvements to the camp. At least in Fei Qian's eyes, it had become a "strong camp," difficult to attack.
A "strong camp" referred to one with no obvious weaknesses, easy to defend but hard to attack, while the opposite was called a "weak camp."
To the north of the camp were mountains, and the trees near the camp had been cut down, leaving only stumps that served as natural obstacles for horses. To the south was the Han River, with a water gate and several tower ships and assault boats. Without a substantial naval force, it would be impossible to breach this side.
To the east, the camp wasn't far from the walls of Xiangyang City. Any attacking force would face attacks from two directions. The west was the only relatively accessible route for an attack, but it had a silted-up area formed by years of Han River erosion.
Moreover, Cai Mao had diverted water from the Han River to create two moats around the camp. The first moat was wide and deep, with sharp wooden stakes at the bottom. The second moat was filled with water from the Han River. Beyond the two moats were dense rows of wooden stakes embedded in the ground, followed by a wooden wall about three meters high, coated with river mud to make it fire-resistant. The wall had parapets and battlements, and at the junction of the parapet and the embankment, sharpened wooden stakes protruded outward.
Such a heavily fortified camp would instantly deter any commander from attempting a direct assault.
As Pang Tong had said, the Cai family's military teachings were indeed not just ordinary military strategies but rather profound tactics.
While Fei Qian was studying Cai Mao's camp and comparing it to the knowledge he had gained from the "Six Secret Teachings", the camp gates opened, and Cai Mao came out to greet him. With a hearty laugh, Cai Mao said, "Biejia, I apologize for not welcoming you sooner. Please forgive my negligence!"
This kind of treatment was only possible after Fei Qian had married Huang Yueying. Otherwise, Cai Mao would have remained seated in his camp, forcing Fei Qian to come and pay his respects.
Fei Qian also smiled, clasping his hands in salute and saying modestly, "I wouldn't dare."
Cai Mao laughed heartily, holding Fei Qian's arm to prevent him from bowing, while instructing the accompanying soldiers to bring the delivered arrows into the camp. He then invited Fei Qian inside for tea.
Since a marriage alliance was no longer possible, it was still important to establish goodwill. Cai Feng, the head of the Cai family, had previously instructed Cai Mao on this matter, so Cai Mao was extremely courteous to Fei Qian.
Once inside Cai Mao's tent, Fei Qian glanced around and noticed that the furnishings were all very exquisite. He guessed that Cai Mao had brought them from the Cai family.
Sure enough, a soldier soon brought in freshly brewed tea. Cai Mao invited Fei Qian to try it, saying, "This is a treasured tea from my family. Please, have a taste."
Fei Qian couldn't help but think to himself that this was why Cai Mao ultimately remained a second-rate general. Despite having access to military teachings, he had brought this aristocratic demeanor into the military camp. How inappropriate.
Of course, while Fei Qian was inwardly critical, he maintained a polite demeanor on the surface. He smiled and said, "I am but a crude man. How could I possibly appreciate such fine tea?"
"Ziyuan, you are too modest. Please, enjoy." Cai Mao urged Fei Qian to drink while calculating in his mind—currently, giving money would not only be vulgar but also unnecessary, as Fei Qian wasn't lacking in wealth. Offering singing girls would also be inappropriate, given that Fei Qian had just married. So, after some thought, the only thing Fei Qian didn't have yet was.
At that moment, a soldier entered the tent to report that the arrows had been counted, totaling 42,000, which was more than enough.
Cai Mao naturally didn't raise any objections. He signed the document handed to him by the soldier and then passed it to Fei Qian. With this "receipt," Fei Qian could go to the Governor's office to file the report, officially completing the arrow-making task.
Fei Qian naturally thanked Cai Mao, but Cai Mao waved his hand dismissively, as if it were nothing. "Ziyuan, there's no need to be so polite. By the way. I recently recruited some archers, but due to a clerical error, there are a hundred extra men. Sigh, these idiots. Now I'm at a loss as to what to do with them."
A clerical error in your military records? Don't joke around. Besides, couldn't you just send the extra men back to their original units?
Fei Qian pondered for a moment and quickly realized that this was the Cai family's way of extending an olive branch to him—if there were a hundred extra men, sending them back to their original units was one option, but sending them to Fei Qian as private soldiers was another. The Cai family was indeed bold, but this also indicated that their control over the camp might be stronger than Fei Qian had initially thought.
Private soldiers had been a tradition since the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States era, continuing into the Qin and Han dynasties. All major aristocratic families had private soldiers, some more, some less.
By mentioning this in front of Fei Qian, Cai Mao was clearly offering him a favor through his position. After all, archers were a specialized unit, and without proper training methods, it would be difficult to achieve quick results. Training alongside a larger force would naturally yield better results than starting from scratch.
Accepting these private soldiers would mean aligning with the Cai family to some extent, sharing information and acting in concert. If Fei Qian refused, he would have to spend extra time and effort training his own archers.
Moreover, private soldiers were indeed an area where the Pang and Huang families were relatively weak. The Cai family's "gift" was precisely targeted.
What should he do?
Should he accept or not?
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A/N; Private soldiers were quite famous in the Han Dynasty. Several renowned military units had initially started as private soldiers.
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