Sorry been super busy. Next week should be free
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Everyone agreed that the name was good and began praising Xi Zhicai for coming up with it.
Thus, the name "Wan Sheng Mountain Villa" was officially decided.
Yuan Lang, standing nearby, turned to Yuan Shu and said:
"Young Master, I came here this time to help you organize the villa.
Now that everything is settled, it is time for me to return to the Yuan residence.
I wonder to whom I should hand over the management duties?"
Yuan Shu nodded, indicating his understanding.
As Yuan Feng's trusted right-hand man, it was impossible for Yuan Lang to stay and assist Yuan Shu permanently.
The vast Yuan family still required his management.
For Yuan Feng to send him here for a few days already showed his deep care for Yuan Shu.
Now that Yuan Lang was leaving, it was only natural.
Yuan Shu spoke warmly to Yuan Lang:
"I know that my father cannot be without Uncle Lang for even a moment.
I am already deeply grateful that you helped me organize Wan Sheng Mountain Villa.
Mr. Xi is my trusted strategist. Uncle Lang can hand over the management of the villa to him."
Yuan Lang nodded in response:
"If that is the case, I will entrust everything to Mr. Xi."
Xi Zhicai, fanning himself at the side, thought to himself, "I knew this troublesome matter would end up on my shoulders. As expected."
Before coming, Yuan Lang had already arranged everyone's accommodations. After a satisfying meal and drinks, everyone retired to their rooms to rest.
Early the next morning, Yuan Lang left Wan Sheng Mountain Villa.
From that moment on, Wan Sheng Mountain Villa was officially under Yuan Shu's control and became the foundation for his military training.
Initially, Yuan Shu had only planned to establish a personal guard unit. However, as more talents joined him and the pool of available soldiers grew, he decided to form three military units instead.
Since there was no shortage of money or supplies, and he had capable generals to lead them, it was only logical to train as many elite soldiers as possible.
Yuan Shu allocated 1,000 soldiers to Ju Yi and another 1,000 to Xu Rong.
As for Wang Yue's special unit, since it was based on the concept of roaming swordsmen, only those with martial talent could be selected.
In addition to the original 100 swordsmen, Yuan Shu granted him an additional quota of 400 and allowed him to pick first.
Finding 400 individuals with martial talent among over 10,000 should not be too difficult, right?
Then, by using a mentorship system—each experienced swordsman training four talented recruits—it was expected that combat effectiveness could be developed in a relatively short time.
The generals took their task seriously and spent three days selecting 2,400 of the most outstanding young men from a pool of 15,000.
Inside Yuan Shu's study at Wan Sheng Mountain Villa—
At this moment, only Yuan Shu and Xi Zhicai were present, sipping tea and chatting.
"Sir, now that a few days have passed, has everything in the villa been arranged properly?"
Xi Zhicai put down his teacup and smiled at Yuan Shu:
"Rest assured, my lord. A small villa of just a few thousand people is completely under my control."
Yuan Shu nodded in satisfaction. He was merely asking as a formality.
He understood Xi Zhicai's capabilities well. Managing a small estate of this size was nothing—he could even serve as a prime minister on par with Zhuge Liang.
Yuan Shu then asked, "Has the training of the generals also settled into a routine?"
Xi Zhicai, skilled at reading people's thoughts, immediately understood that Yuan Shu was considering returning to Luoyang.
It made sense—since Yuan Shu had no role in training the troops, staying at the villa all day was rather boring.
With this in mind, Xi Zhicai smiled slightly and said:
"My lord, due to the high quality of the recruits, the generals' training has been proceeding exceptionally well.
I suggest that you return to Luoyang for now and come back in a month to officially assign designations to your personal guard unit. It will not be too late then."
Yuan Shu had initially wanted to give a speech to his personal guard to encourage them.
But after hearing Xi Zhicai's suggestion, he found it reasonable.
The soldiers had only just been selected and had not undergone even the most basic training.
Reviewing them in their current state would be meaningless.
It would be better to wait until they had some structure and discipline before returning to formally assign their unit designation and boost morale.
So Yuan Shu replied to Xi Zhicai:
"Sir, what you said makes sense. I will wait a few days before reviewing the new army."
Suddenly, he remembered something and said:
"Sir, besides the 2,400 new soldiers, we can also select 3,000 from the remaining 12,000 strong young men as a reserve force, just in case."
Xi Zhicai fanned himself and replied, "What the lord says is very reasonable. I will arrange this matter immediately."
...
After settling the affairs of Wan Sheng Manor, Yuan Shu returned to Luoyang early the next morning.
When he came, he had a grand escort of cavalry, but when he returned to Luoyang, he was accompanied by only a few people.
His trusted followers included only Shi A leading two youxia as guards, along with Zhang Cheng, Yuan An, and a few of Yuan Shu's close attendants—fewer than ten people in total.
Upon returning to the Yuan residence, Yuan Feng did not ask about Yuan Shu's military training, acting as if the matter did not exist. Everything continued as usual.
Yuan Shu also resumed his previous routine—studying under Cai Yong every day, teasing Cai Wenji in his free time, and occasionally visiting Wang Yun's residence to check on young Diao Chan.
A few days later, Yuan Shu was in his room reading a letter from Xi Zhicai.
Ever since Yuan Shu returned, Xi Zhicai had been sending a personally written letter every day to update him on the progress of Wan Sheng Manor.
As Yuan Shu was seriously reading, Yuan An suddenly entered the room and reported:
"Young master, a gentleman with the surname Zhou is here to see you.
It's your junior disciple. Would you like me to invite him in?"
Yuan Shu was quite surprised—Zhou Yi took the initiative to visit him?
It had always been him trying to pull Zhou Yi, his junior disciple with extraordinary military leadership, into his plans.
"No need. I will personally go welcome my junior brother." After speaking, Yuan Shu went straight outside.
Seeing Yuan Shu come out to greet him, Zhou Yi remained as polite and refined as ever and said:
"Greetings, senior brother. I did not expect you to personally welcome me. I hope I am not disturbing you."
Yuan Shu warmly put his arm around Zhou Yi's shoulder and said with a grin:
"Junior brother, there's no need to be so polite. My home is like your own. From now on, just come in directly—no need to announce yourself."
In truth, Zhou Yi was not very accustomed to this kind of close physical gesture from Yuan Shu.
However, with his senior brother being so enthusiastic, it was difficult for him to refuse.
He instinctively took half a step back and said to Yuan Shu:
"Senior brother, this time, Master asked me to come find you."
"Oh? Does Master have some business?" It seemed this was the first time Cai Yong had ever sent Zhou Yi to look for him.
Zhou Yi explained to Yuan Shu:
"Today, Master's old friend arrived at his residence, bringing along two of his disciples.
Master has been accompanying his old friend and also wants us to take his two disciples around Luoyang."
After hearing this, Yuan Shu immediately understood—it was just like how, in his past life, the boss would ask him to entertain clients.
The only question was, who were the 'clients' this time?
Anyone able to establish a relationship with his master, Cai Yong, was certainly not an ordinary person.
If not a high-ranking minister of the court, then they must be a renowned scholar of the world. And such a person's disciples were unlikely to be mere nobodies.