Staying indoors at the rear of the palace most of the time, Ning Shan was in the dark about what happened in the front. Not until Xu Wenchuan sent a servant to brief her about the news that Wu Daozi was taking Xu Yaoting as his disciple did Ning Shan come over pleasantly surprised and extend her gratitude in person.
Wu Daozi was widely recognized as a grand master in the Qingyun Empire as a whole. It had already become a national phenomenon that multitudes of aristocrats lined up for Wu Daozi respectfully, in the hope that their children could be accepted as his disciples. Nevertheless, most of them returned empty-handed. Seeing Wu Daozi call at their palace and express his will to take Yaoting as a disciple of his own accord, Ning Shan was inevitably thrilled to the brim. On meeting Wu Daozi, she even burst into tears out of jubilance beyond restraint.
"Shan, it appears that the care and attention we put into Yaoting's growth is hardly sufficient. You know, Yaoting conjured up a kind of awe-inspiring formation methods himself without letting anyone know. Even Mr. Wu Daozi found his methods rather commendable, " Xu Wenchuan said to Ning Shan, chuffed. He took three consecutive shots and wiped his mouth, letting out a string of laughter.
"Were the formation methods truly this formidable?"Tang Xinyi asked in an amazed tone and gazed at Wu Daozi on hearing Xu Wenchuan's remark. She was quite versed at warcraft, unlike Ning Shan, who knew little about military tactics and simply joined in the fun.
Wu Daozi asked in reply with sparkles popping across his eyes, "Xinyi, aren't you in charge of the Fengxiang Armed Escort? How many soldiers are there now?"
"Ten thousand in total, " Tang Xinyi answered.
"Merely ten thousand?" Wu Daozi questioned the scale of the escort in a daze. Though he paid little attention to issues like this, he assumed instinctively that the Fengxiang Armed Escort was outrageously short-staffed. It was worth noting that each of the three troops of the Capital Guard Force consisted of at least two hundred thousand soldiers. And Wu Jinhun, Wu Yang's father, was a general of a three-hundred-thousand-people armed force. And even the Imperial Taoist Qiu Wanli owned a fifty-thousand-people private escort. The Fengxiang Armed Escort led by Tang Xinyi, being the private escort of the Princess Baidie, was supposed to outnumber Qiu Wanli.
A number of thousand soldiers were hardly comparable to a million soldiers deployed adjacent to the Yunzhong City. The Fengxiang Armed Escort could exert little impact on the Yunzhong City, which was a vital satellite city of the capital.
Tang Xinyi gritted her teeth and said, "Qiu Wanli had been docking our military expenditure in every manner he saw fit. The annual amount of what we eventually received accounted for no more than ten percent of the proper lump sum. The expenses of the ten-thousand-soldier escort actually come from our princess's personal allowances."
Wu Daozi nodded and said,"Alright, there's no such thing in the world that costs more than military forces. But Qiu Wanli is getting exceedingly shameless and outrageous."
Xu Wenchuan echoed and said in agreement, "Qiu Wanli has been colluding all around. Now two-thirds of the Imperial Court were actually in his pocket. If it goes on like this, the empire is surely going to end up his."
Wu Daozi raised his eyebrows and said to Tang Xinyi, "Xinyi, being short staffed, the Fengxiang Armed Escort has to outstrip others in quality. As far as I'm concerned, its combat effectiveness will definitely soar ten times than its current state if it is equipped with the formation methods established by Yaoting. Then a soldier of them will be the equal of ten counterparts, and the Fengxiang Armed Force could at least fend against one-hundred-thousand-solider troops."
"His...his formation methods are truly that powerful?" Tang Xinyi said with a sense of suspicion in her tone. She remained doubtful of the statement that a set of formation methods could make a soldier ten times combative.
"Heh heh...Believe or not, the Fengxiang Armed Escort will see further improvement in its combat effectiveness, once it beefs up the military training with each soldier mastering Yaoting's formation methods to the full and utilizing them at ease. But it still comes down to Yaoting, as he is the creator. Whether you have access to the formation methods is entirely up to him, " Wu Daozi said with a faint smile and cast his eyes on Lin Xiao.