Yin Shuhuai also felt that, given the circumstances, it was probably best for Jiang Yang not to remain here. He waved his hand, signaling Jiang Yang to take his leave first.

Jiang Yang looked at the Emperor, hesitating to speak. He actually wanted to ask about the cavalry drill, but this was clearly not the right time. Right beside him, Shentu Yang was glaring at him with a murderous look in his eyes, a gaze as sharp as a steel blade tempered a hundred times over. It instantly made Jiang Yang recall the brutal moment he had been hacked off his horse by Shentu Yang in the past.

Looking at the wildly defiant Shentu Yang and the cowering Jiang Yang, Yin Shuhuai sighed rather helplessly.

Shentu Yang’s ears twitched sharply, his attention shifting instantly from the Emperor’s personal favorite to the Emperor himself. He pursed his lips with some displeasure, studying the Emperor’s face with a piercing gaze, trying to figure out why the Emperor was sighing.

Could it be because His Majesty dislikes that I am using my presence to suppress his personal general?

At this thought, Shentu Yang felt even more bitter. Even the useless Northern Army, which was like mud that couldn’t stick to a wall, could receive gifts from the Emperor, while his Yan Army got nothing. Yet His Majesty still had to rely on his Yan Army to win the war, and still expected him to train that good-for-nothing Northern Army!

Even though the Emperor relied on him this much, was he really unwilling to give the Yan Army and the Northern Army the same treatment?

Was the line between being favored and not favored truly this obvious?

A hint of tears began to well up in Shentu Yang’s bloodshot eyes. Sensing that things were going south, Jiang Yang immediately fled the scene. The invincible general completely ignored his defeated opponent who was slinking away, keeping his stubborn gaze fixed entirely on the Emperor. A surging wave of bitterness filled his heart. Shentu Yang felt that at this very moment, he was like a blown-up pig’s bladder—the kind that gets used by someone and then kicked away.

“Your Majesty…”

“Didn’t Yao Wenruo tell you?”

Shentu Yang’s mournful voice and Yin Shuhuai’s question rang out at the same time.

Shentu Yang froze for a moment, asking instinctively, “Tell me what?”

“Out of the fifty thousand sets of cantle saddles and double stirrups, ten thousand are for the Northern Army, and forty thousand are for the Yan Army,” Yin Shuhuai said calmly.

Shentu Yang: “…”

His guilt lasted for only a split second before the lines on his brain were instantly filled with an immense surge of wild joy.

His Majesty really loves me!

Even the Emperor’s personal Northern Army could only get a measly ten thousand sets of cantle saddles and double stirrups (whatever those things were), while his Yan Army got forty thousand. This meant the Emperor valued the Yan Army at least four times more than the Northern Army. The Yan Army belonged to him, while the Northern Army belonged to the Huo family, which meant the Emperor’s trust and reliance on him was at least four times greater than his trust in the Huo family.

The Huo family really amounts to nothing at all!

Shentu Yang quickly ran through various equations in his head, proudly confirming in the end that the Emperor truly loved and trusted him! He was the minister His Majesty relied on the most!

Yin Shuhuai watched coldly as Shentu Yang’s face rapidly shifted through a whole color palette, knowing exactly what was going on in his head without even having to ask.

Yin Shuhuai felt a bit of a headache coming on.

“Duke of Yan,” Yin Shuhuai decided to fight fire with fire, adopting a cold expression as he spoke. “Were you questioning me just now?”

“I was wrong. I underestimated Your Majesty’s deep affection for me. I shouldn’t have doubted your feelings toward me,” Shentu Yang admitted his mistake almost without thinking. “What does Jiang Yang even count as? He is just someone I defeated. If Your Majesty wants to win this war, you naturally have to rely on me and my Yan Army.”

As long as he could win battles for the Emperor, he would be the absolute, irreplaceable favorite minister in His Majesty’s heart! If anyone dared to try and take his place in the Emperor’s heart, they would have to ask his army of seven hundred thousand men if they agreed first!

Once he figured this out, the gloom on Shentu Yang’s face vanished like clouds parting to reveal the sun, and his entire demeanor brightened instantly. He looked as thrilled as a peacock spreading its feathers in the sun, with every single strand of his hair practically shining.

Yin Shuhuai’s gaze swept over Shentu Yang’s suddenly radiant face.

Very good. Not only was Shentu Yang excellent at logical self-justification, but he also never wasted energy on internal friction. The fact that he could comfort himself so easily saved Yin Shuhuai a lot of trouble.

“Since the Great General already understands my heart,” Yin Shuhuai smiled slightly, looking at Shentu Yang with anticipation in his eyes, “I will leave Jiang Yang and the ten thousand Northern Army troops in your hands. Though they are the imperial guards, their horsemanship is inferior to the Yan Army. I hope that on this trip to Xuantu Commandery, the Great General will not only win a sweeping victory, but also forge a true army for the court. I will remain here in Jixian, waiting to throw a victory feast for you.”

“Rest assured, Your Majesty!” Shentu Yang thumped his chest confidently, holding his head high as he strode away.

Looking at Shentu Yang’s lively and energetic back, Yin Shuhuai rubbed the space between his eyebrows with some exhaustion.

That afternoon, forty thousand Yan Army troops and ten thousand Northern Army troops held a military exercise on the drill grounds.

Equipped with the new gear, Great General Shentu Yang led twenty-eight of his personal guards and herded the ten thousand Northern Army troops who were also using the new gear like sheepdogs, beating them to a total pulp.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the twenty-nine men led by Shentu Yang acted like a sharp knife, riding freely and striking at will through the encirclement of the ten thousand Northern Army troops.

If one were to look down from directly above the exercising army, one would see a sharp knife tearing into the front of the army and cutting out from the flank; circling around to strike the left wing and breaking through the right wing; charging in from behind and bursting out from the front… The ten thousand Northern Army troops were like a flock of sheep driven by sheepdogs, scattering one moment and crowding together the next. Shouts of battle and the neighing of horses echoed across the drill grounds, amidst flying dust and fluttering banners.

This continued until Shentu Yang and his twenty-eight guards had cut a path back and forth through the army seven times, finally knocking Jiang Yang—whom he had always disliked—off his horse with a single strike, declaring an absolute victory for the Yan Army.

“Your Majesty, these cantle saddles and double stirrups are truly incredible. With these divine items, my men and I are like tigers that have grown wings,” Shentu Yang said joyfully, riding up to the Emperor in high spirits after a thoroughly satisfying battle.

It was no wonder Shentu Yang was so happy. The Yan Army cavalry, already an unstoppable force, became completely invincible after receiving the new equipment. The soldiers no longer had to expend massive amounts of energy trying to control their horses, allowing them to focus far more attention on cutting down enemies and dodging attacks. Meanwhile, the soldiers from the Central Plains, who were originally clumsy at mounted archery, could now engage the enemy on horseback with total ease, thanks to the protection offered by the cantle saddle and double stirrups.

Just as Yin Shuhuai had expected, the introduction of the cantle saddle and double stirrups vastly improved the combat capacity of the cavalry. Even the ten thousand Northern Army troops, who had been chased around in total chaos by Shentu Yang, rarely had anyone fall off their horses due to panic during the exercise. It was easy to imagine what a massive shock and nightmare it would be for the enemy when such a cavalry force appeared on the battlefield. However, the Emperor’s arrangements did not end there.

Before the army officially set out, Yin Shuhuai assigned a wartime emergency medical team made up of a thousand imperial physicians, palace maidservants, and young eunuchs. They brought all kinds of wound medicines and medical supplies, along with over a hundred jars of highly pungent liquor, following right behind the main army.

This time, even Shentu Yang was completely baffled.

The physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau were one thing; they possessed superb medical skills and rich treatment experience, and such healers could indeed play a massive role on the battlefield. However, no one could understand why the Emperor wanted a group of palace maids and eunuchs who had never fought a day in their lives to go to war, let alone bring a hundred jars of strong liquor with them.

“What is the meaning of this, Your Majesty?” Shentu Yang rushed into the palace, asking in total bewilderment. “If Your Majesty wishes to reward the army with fine wine, you only need to wait for my triumphant return. Why the rush?”

Even if the Emperor had immense confidence in his fighting ability, there was no need to send imperial envoys with rewards directly onto the battlefield with him, right?

Yin Shuhuai gave Shentu Yang a strange look. “That wine isn’t for you to drink. It’s prepared for the wounded soldiers.”

That was a batch of high-proof sorghum liquor that Yin Shuhuai had painstakingly obtained through distillation. There were only a hundred jars in total, and all of them were reserved for cleaning wounds and reducing inflammation for the injured soldiers. As for those palace maids and eunuchs, they weren’t imperial envoys either…

“Those are wartime emergency medical troops that I have painstakingly trained for over three years,” Yin Shuhuai explained briefly, adding, “As for what they do, you will find out once you hit the battlefield.”

Speaking up to this point, Yin Shuhuai couldn’t help but sigh quietly again.

No matter the era, technological innovation and passing down medical knowledge were incredibly difficult tasks. Even though the Palace Directorate was full of talent and had Yin Shuhuai’s full support, it had still taken them a full three years to develop “medical alcohol” that met his standards.

As for Yin Shuhuai personally teaching the imperial physicians, palace maids, and eunuchs about wartime first aid, and having the physicians teach them how to treat the most common battlefield trauma… that was even more troublesome.

There were over ten thousand palace maids and eunuchs in total, and most of them were poor, illiterate souls. Trying to get them to learn wartime first aid and relevant traditional medical knowledge was no different from asking a preschooler to learn calculus. Even with Yin Shuhuai racking his brains and having the imperial physicians take them to royal estates from time to time to provide free medical care to the common people, it had still taken a full three years to see a tiny bit of progress.

Fortunately, after the court moved its capital, Yin Shuhuai’s imperial decrees could finally be executed thoroughly within the territory of Yan. Using the pretext of providing free medical care to millions of displaced refugees, he integrated all the medical clinics within the state of Yan. This gave the first batch of wartime emergency medical team members plenty of opportunities to learn and practice, allowing him to barely scrape together a wartime medical force of over a thousand people.

Yin Shuhuai hoped that the presence of this team would minimize casualties and reduce the suffering of the wounded soldiers as much as possible.

He was even thinking that once the millions of refugees were fully settled, the war in Xuantu Commandery was won, and the army made its triumphant return, he would gather a group of highly skilled physicians and experienced medical soldiers to jointly compile a version of a Barefoot Doctor’s Manual and a Wartime Emergency First Aid Manual for the Yin Dynasty. This would ensure that the medical resources of the country became richer and more abundant over time.

Yin Shuhuai even wanted the physicians of the Imperial Medical Bureau to figure out how to manufacture the most common patent Chinese medicine pills. Although these mass-produced pills lacked the precision of traditional medicine—which tailored remedies to each individual—having pills ready for common illnesses like colds and influenza would at least ensure that the common people wouldn’t be neglected when they fell suddenly ill.

In a feudal era where productivity and technology were extremely low, abundant medical resources meant they could preserve a massive, healthy population. And as long as a country possessed a large, healthy population, there was no need to worry about the nation failing to prosper.

However, all of that was a matter for the future. The urgent task at hand was still to prepare sufficient provisions and logistics for the army that was about to set out.