Starting Today, I’ll Work as a City Lord - CH 23

It was six o’clock in the morning. A sharp whistle sounded, accompanied by the Niu brothers’ yelling, and after a while of chaos…¹

“One two one, one two one, one two three four!”

“One two three four!”

The sound of messy footsteps paired with loud shouts. That was what the residents of Xi Yang City saw in the morning. They were in a loss, standing on the side of the streets, looking at the team of people running while carrying sandbags and shouting numbers in rhythm.

“What are these people doing in the morning? Didn’t they join the army?”

“They’re probably training. It just that their training method is a bit weird; they actually came out to run in the morning.”

“I heard that knights train by practicing charging, dueling, and fighting with spears…”

“However, they wear pretty good clothes. They all have new clothes. I heard that there are large pieces of meat to eat in the military camp. I don’t know if it’s true though.”

“I wonder when the army will start recruiting again. I also want to join the army.”

This was the first time the residents of Xi Yang City had seen an army morning run.

The Niu brothers ran at the side, holding a wooden stick. They would harshly whip whoever slowed down a little.²

“All of you, run. Or else I’ll whip you to death.” Niu Da yelled.

100 people quickly ran out of Xi Yang City, and ran around Xi Yang City under the morning light.

Xin Ke was a powerful hunter. In the beginning, he didn’t realize the point of running, but when he started panting and saw the Niu brothers still breathing steadily, he realized that they were making them run to train their endurance.

When the team returned to Xi Yang City, they saw Liu Feng standing outside of the military camp, yawning.

“We pay our respects to Lord Liu Feng,”³ the Niu brothers yelled, and the others quickly followed suit.

Liu Feg looked at the 100 people. They all looked refreshed, completely different from yesterday.

“Start today’s training. Don’t mind me, Liu Feng waved his hand.

“Yes.”

Niu Da led the team into the military camp and immediately sent someone to sort out the military camp. They would eat breakfast half an hour later.

“Young master, if these people practice for half a month or so, and are then equipped with a spear, they would have some combat power and would be able to take on average horse thieves,” Niu Ben said. He had come to the military camp with Liu Feng.

“Too weak. So many people fainted just from running. Their physique is terrible,” Liu Feng shook his head. He saw many people being carried back.⁴

“Their foundation is too weak. It’s okay that they can can actually do this much,” Niu Ben said.

“I’ll leave it be for the time being. For now, let’s look at how well they’ve cleaned their house.” Liu Feng changed the subject. What he wanted were soldiers that could solo 10 people. He wasted so much energy on the military camp, and if the soldiers can only deal with ordinary horse thieves, he would immediately withdraw half of his investment and would rather invite knights to join.

They went around to look. They were quite satisfied with the new soldiers’ housekeeping. Liu Feng didn’t have too high requirements in the beginning.

After all, things like folding blankets and placing shoes were made to train people’s discipline. Only by starting with the details in life can people develop a habit faster. A soldier’s duty is to obey orders.⁵ Liu Feng wanted a disciplined army, an army that would obey his orders.

And they would not be the trash soldiers that would scream their lungs out and just charge in at the enemies. It would be okay if they were fighting an asymmetrical war where they have the advantage,⁶ but against strong enemies, they would get dispersed immediately.

After they inspected a few dormitories, it was already 7 something in the morning, and they went into the cafeteria, preparing to eat breakfast.

Liu Feng took Mina and Niu Ben to the cafeteria and heard Niu Da reprimanding people as soon as they walked into the door.

“All of you line up properly. Whoever dares to cut in line doesn’t get to eat breakfast today.”

The noisy team immediately went silent. Some of them only eat 1 meal a day, and now that they actually get to eat breakfast in the military camp, no one dared to cause trouble.

Today, the breakfast was 2 steamed buns that were twice the size of a fist and a bowl of soup made from pig bones. Thee people’s eyes glowed as they chewed. The soft white buns were 100 times tastier than the wheat bread that they ate. The soup was so good that they almost shed tears.

Liu Feng was full after eating one steamed bun and a bowl of soup. He nodded in satisfaction after seeing the reaction of the people around him. Who wouldn’t work hard for him if the life in the army is good? The steamed buns in here tastes good, and they would be the first ones to object if they were made to eat the hard wheat bread.

“This broth is delicious,” Mina drank the broth in one gulp.

“Let’s go. We’ll leave this place to Niu Da and the others. Let’s take a look at other things right now,” Liu Feng stood up and gave the steamed bun that he hadn’t eaten to Mina.

Mina’s eyes turned in crescent moons. She took the steamed bun and took small bites. The two steamed buns could only make her 70% full.

Niu Ben swiftly followed behind them. In his current appearance, no one would be able to see that he was a cripple. He walked more powerfully than an average person.

“Uncle Niu Ben, I already made people buy warhorses. There shouldn’t be a big problem. Let’s go take a look at the weapons right now,” Liu Feng lead the way to the warehouse.

The things inside the warehouse were things that he brought from Earth a few days ago. Today was the time to let people see them.

Translator’s Notes:

¹ 鸡飞狗跳. Literally, chicken fly dog jump. Describing a scene that’s messy, disorderly, or chaotic.

² Bunch of sadists. Plus adding pain just makes it harder to run.

³ 参见. Pay respect to, greet, or see. It’s like in those cultivation novels where the disciple says, “Disciple greets master,” just that they (probably) use 拜见 instead of 参见.

⁴ I’d like to see you try, shut-in. Let’s see how much better you’ll do. Oh, and don’t forget the whipping. ⁵ 军人以服从命令为天职. For this part, I was debating whether or not I should put in natural duty or just duty. 天 means sky or heaven, and could also mean natural in some cases. 职 means duty, vocation, or profession. 天职 would mean natural duty, but I felt that just duty would be better, so I didn’t include natural.

⁶ 顺风战. It’s a type of battle where one side has the advantage. The side that is fighting a “顺风战” is the side that has the advantage, whether it’s a number advantage or whatever. The other side, the side that has the disadvantage, isn’t fighting a “顺风战”. (Idk what it’s called.) Asymmetrical war was the closest thing that I could find, with the only difference being that both sides are fighting an “asymmetrical war”, whether they have an advantage or disadvantage.

Although I said that I’ll work extra, I was forced outside today in the garden with a bunch of bugs and I’ve counted at least 8 bugs on my body today. Most of the bites were small and don’t affect much, but theirs one on my hand and it itches as hell, so I might not be able to fill up the chapters that I own pretty soon. That said, I’ll still be doing daily updates, so no worries about that.