Chapter 165

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Chapter 165: A Simple Choice

First, he arranged for several tents to temporarily house Bai Ze and the others.

Then, he found a few people from the Medical Department to treat their wounds, which also helped to increase their loyalty.

As for assigning work, it would be more convenient to wait until all the tribesmen arrived before distributing tasks uniformly.

To be honest, Luo Ji had a lot on his plate.

For example, to welcome his first cavalry unit, shouldn’t he prepare dozens of sets of horse equipment?

Saddles, stirrups, reins, whips, and horseshoes, along with specialized earplugs and blindfolds, would be necessary to prevent the horses from being startled during combat.

The structures of these items were not complex, and with existing horses as references, Luo Ji found it easy to draw the designs once he had a clear idea.

The main issue lay with horseshoes.

Although he lacked iron ore, copper ore could temporarily suffice.

The real difficulty, however, was in the forging process.

Copper’s inherent lack of toughness was a problem, and given the current forging techniques of the Forging Department, crafting relatively small items could easily lead to breakage.

Mass-producing horseshoes would be quite challenging.

“Wait, mass production…”

Luo Ji paused, his expression dazed, then slapped his forehead.

“I’m so stupid!”

“Horseshoes are, of course, meant for mass production.”

“Why not use casting?”

“They don’t need to withstand direct clashes with other weapons, so they won’t break easily.”

“Even if one breaks, I can just replace it!”

Realizing this, Luo Ji quickly added the note ‘casting’ to the horseshoe design.

The meaning was obvious, and the craftsmen in the Forging Department would surely understand.

After seven days, once Zhang Yisheng retreated, he could safely send people to bring back the copper ore along with these design plans.

Before that, however, he needed to modify his wooden carts.

With horse resources now available, using horse-drawn carriages to transport ore would undoubtedly be more efficient.

In the previous battle, many horses were injured.

Those with leg injuries clearly could no longer serve as warhorses.

Letting them remain idle or slaughtering them for meat would be too wasteful.

In such cases, using them to transport ore was an excellent alternative.

After giving these instructions, he still needed to meet the captive named Zhang Yao.

Tomorrow was the seventh day, and Zhang Yao had been left neglected for several days.

It was time to try and persuade him to surrender.

As a captive, two soldiers naturally guarded the outside of his tent.

Upon entering the simple tent, Luo Ji immediately saw Zhang Yao lying on a wooden bed.

Although Zhang Yao was awake, his severe injuries kept him bedridden most of the time, almost like a cripple.

When he saw Luo Ji enter, he didn’t need to put on a sour face since his expression was already extremely grim from nearly dying of his wounds.

Luo Ji didn’t mind Zhang Yao’s appearance.

He spoke directly.

“You were so badly injured before, and I was the one who picked you up and saved your life.”

“So, I guess you could say I’m your saviour, aren’t I?

“Is there any need to look so glum?”

Hearing this, Zhang Yao’s taut expression visibly softened a bit.

Indeed, given his injuries at the time, he would have almost certainly died without intervention.

From this perspective, the enemy tribal chief standing before him had indeed saved his life.

Luo Ji observed Zhang Yao’s slight change in expression and continued.

“Your chief has been defeated, and utterly so.”

“On one side, there’s Zhang Yisheng, who abandoned you, his fate unknown, and fled for his own life after defeat.”

“On the other side, there’s me, who just defeated your chief and conveniently saved your life.”

“Who is strong and who is weak, who is good and who is bad, is clear at a glance.”

At this point, Luo Ji’s tone suddenly shifted.

“Following me has far more prospects than following your chief!”

“What do you think?”

With the conversation reaching this point, Luo Ji’s intentions were clear.

Zhang Yao was no fool, he turned his head away and said.

“I will not betray our chief, so you should stop wasting your time.”

“However, it is true that you saved my life, and I am grateful for that.”

“Our chief’s ransom will not disappoint you.”

Upon hearing this, a hint of regret flickered in Luo Ji’s eyes.

It seemed Zhang Yisheng had already given them a heads-up.

Recruiting a fierce general from another’s command was indeed difficult.

If only he had someone with a specialized ‘persuasion’ skill, it would be much easier.

Glancing at the sky outside, Luo Ji’s reaction was quite decisive.

“Think it over carefully.”

“You have one more night.”

With that, he got up and left Zhang Yao’s tent.

This straightforward response stunned Zhang Yao, who had been bracing himself for various threats and inducements.

Even Zhang Yisheng, currently ranked among the top 30 without a specific rank, often faced setbacks when he was weaker.

As the captain of the guard, whenever such a situation arose, he was almost always required to stay behind and cover Zhang Yisheng’s retreat.

Therefore, this was not his first time being captured by another player, in fact, he was quite experienced.

Although it wasn’t something to be proud of or boast about.

Yet, in his many experiences of ‘being captured,’ almost every enemy chief who had taken him captive would try every means, even resorting to threats and inducements, to make him surrender.

Luo Ji, however, was the first to be so straightforward, so much so that it gave him a sense of frustration.

It was as if Luo Ji didn’t care at all, and his question was just a formality.

And that was indeed the truth!

For Luo Ji, who had just subdued the fierce general Bai Ze, Zhang Yao’s importance in his mind instantly plummeted.

On one hand, Zhang Yao’s strength was unlikely to surpass Bai Ze’s, as evident from their previous combat performance.

On the other hand, the loyalty of a recruited enemy general would initially not be very high.

With Bai Ze’s 61 loyalty already a headache for Luo Ji, adding another one would be like having two ticking time bombs in his tribe.

He could manage one, even if something unexpected happened, he had Luo Yong, Liu Zheng, and Guo Zhen, three fierce generals under his command, who could forcibly restrain the opponent.

But if there was another, Luo Yong and the others wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Considering this risk and a simple comparison of their strengths, Luo Ji became indifferent to whether he could recruit Zhang Yao.

Perhaps extorting a ransom from the other side would even be more cost-effective.