The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

The present-day Nanzhong was not the Yunnan region of later generations, where spring reigned all year round, but rather a wild and desolate land plagued by miasma.

Wilderness means poverty, and the poor have a morbid obsession with money. With such an obsession, who wouldn't be tempted by pure gold weapons and armor and want to possess them?

Therefore, as soon as the armor and weapons were displayed, the eyes of the leaders of the Southern Central Plains all revealed a look of desire. E Huan, who was confident in his martial prowess, couldn't wait to make a boast that he wanted to take all the gold for himself, which aroused the anger of everyone.

Compared to other leaders who killed with their eyes, Meng Huo was much smarter. Knowing that he was no match for E Huan in a one-on-one fight, he spoke up and said, "Your Highness, Marquis of Shence, war also requires strategy. Isn't it unfair to win by fighting alone?"

Upon hearing this, the leaders promptly moved behind Meng Huo, distancing themselves from E Huan.

Yong Kai chimed in, "A martial arts contest isn't out of the question, but we have to exclude E Huan; none of us can beat him."

"That's right!" The leaders chimed in, demanding that E Huan be excluded to ensure the fairness of the competition, which angered E Huan to the point that he almost got into a fight with them.

These strong, proud men are now publicly stating that they can't beat someone, which shows how desperate they are about E Huan's fighting prowess.

Liu Shan and Guan Xing exchanged a glance, and Liu Shan said, "Since excluding General E Huan is everyone's wish, let's do as you all agree. As for General E Huan, since everyone says we can't defeat him, then..."

"Anguo, what was that line you said again?"

Guan Xing continued, "A direct recommendation! General E Huan will be directly recommended for first place. We'll then order the craftsmen to tailor-make a set of golden armor for him. General E Huan, what do you think?"

The so-called "guaranteed admission" means tying for first place with the first-place winner and receiving the same prize.

Although the leaders felt something was amiss, they did not object, as long as E Huan did not try to steal their prizes.

E Huan, however, seemed to lack a screw in his head, scratching his head and grinning foolishly, "But I want the other weapons too!"

Liu Shan laughed and said, "That's easy. The imperial court has seized the gold mines in Japan for over a year now, and gold is the last thing we lack. As long as you make enough military achievements on the battlefield, I will forge any weapon you want. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, E Huan had no further objections and immediately replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, this humble general will certainly kill more Wei dogs and make more military achievements on the battlefield. I'm determined to have the golden weapon."

Liu Shan smiled and said, "Then let's begin."

After saying this, he and Guan Xing carried away the golden armor, leaving the high platform for everyone to compete.

The first thing to do before the martial arts competition was to register, and more than 300 people signed up.

The fact that only 300 people from an army of 80,000 participated may seem small, but it is actually reasonable. Unlike later generations when food was scarce, the Han Dynasty did not suffer from long-term malnutrition and limited physical strength among its soldiers. In other words, not many soldiers could eat and drink their fill and maintain their peak strength. Basically, only the minor leaders could do this. Ordinary soldiers knew they could not defeat their own physically strong leaders, so there was no need for them to go up and embarrass themselves.

In addition, the weapons used in this competition were all wooden swords and other wooden weapons. After all, a great battle was imminent and no one wanted to get hurt, so it was not necessary to fight to the death to determine the winner.

Three hundred people were divided into pairs for the first round of elimination. Only twenty people remained in the second round of ranking competition. After the twenty people who advanced were ranked, they entered the final stage, the challenge competition. All participants had the right to challenge the first place winner, and if they succeeded, they could take the place of the winner.

After three full days of this ordeal, the final rankings were finally determined: from first to fifth were Yong Kai, Gao Ding, Zhu Bao, Lady Zhurong, and King Mulu.

Yong Kai's physique was too advantageous. He was 1.8 meters tall with a waist as thick as a water tank. When he charged forward, he was like a bulldozer, naturally giving people an extreme sense of oppression. It was only natural that others could not beat him.

After the competition ended, Yong Kai was the first to walk up to the platform to receive his award. Liu Shan and Guan Xing personally presented the award and helped him put on the armor. However, the golden armor was too small for Yong Kai to wear. Liu Shan had no choice but to say helplessly, "Wait for me for seven days. I will have the craftsmen measure your body size and make some adjustments later."

The other victors, however, had no such concerns and calmly left with their weapons.

After this competition, Liu Shan and Guan Xing's relationship with the leaders of the Southern Central Plains became much closer, making the subsequent work much easier.

In the following days, Liu Shan and Guan Xing first inspected the basic situation of the various armies in the south, and then, with the consent of the leaders of each unit, sent a group of officers to the army to serve as instructors and teach them basic formations and discipline.

The soldiers of the Southern Barbarians were too physically weak; it was unrealistic to train them into elite troops in a short period of time. Maintaining order would be considered a success.

After nearly half a month of this commotion, Guan Xing convened another meeting with the leaders, where he revealed his true intentions.

The Southern Army was fighting independently and its members were of varying quality, which seriously affected its combat effectiveness. In order to fully unleash the strength of the Southern Army and allow the various tribes of Southern China to hold their heads high in front of the Wei army, the imperial court decided to select elite troops from various tribes in Southern China to form the Wudang Flying Army.

Given the importance of elite soldiers to each tribe, for every soldier taken away, the court compensates the tribal chief with 1,000 catties of refined iron produced by the steel mill. If the taken soldiers can rank in the top 100 in the Wudang Flying Army competition, each person will be rewarded with 3,000 catties of refined iron, the top 50 will be rewarded with 5,000 catties each, the top 10 will be rewarded with 10,000 catties each, the third place with 20,000 catties, the second place with 30,000 catties, and the third place with 50,000 catties. After receiving the refined iron, each tribe can use it freely, whether to make agricultural tools or weapons.

Guan Xing's purpose in doing so was simple. First, it was routine for the military to select elite soldiers and generals to form an elite force. Second, the Wudang Flying Army was famous, and Guan Xing naturally did not want it to be unable to be launched because of his arrival.

As for exchanging refined iron for people, it was naturally to appease the leaders of various tribes. How could they agree to have their elite troops taken away without compensation?

If they disagree, it's fine to just go back home; if they rebel, that would be a much bigger problem.

After all, their biggest enemy right now is the Wei army, and they can't afford to have internal strife before the war even starts.

As for the rewards for the top 100, they are naturally intended to arouse the competitive spirit of the leaders of each department and divert their attention, thereby making them ignore the pain of having their elite troops withdrawn.

After all, dividing and reorganizing is the best strategy.

Guan Xing was not worried at all about whether giving so much refined iron to the various tribes in the south would make them rebellious or even cause them to rise up in revolt.

Giving these fine irons to the nomadic tribes of the grasslands might indeed raise concerns, but there's absolutely no need to worry about giving them to the southern barbarians. Historically, no rebellion by the southern barbarians has ever succeeded, and they pose no threat to the central court.

As expected, the leaders of all departments were caught in a dilemma as soon as the news came out. They didn't want to give up the people, but they really wanted the refined iron. What should they do?

Finally, the task of handing over people is natural, because what the Southern Region lacks more than people is refined iron. With this refined iron, how many agricultural tools and weapons can their tribes make, and how much new land can they cultivate?

Iron is a non-renewable resource for the various tribes in the south, but people are a renewable resource. Exchanging iron for people is a worthwhile deal.

Furthermore, the soldiers who were drawn into the Wudang Flying Army were ultimately members of their own tribe. If they achieved merit on the battlefield, their leaders would also gain prestige.

So, there's really no reason to refuse.

In this way, Guan Xing successfully used a combination of tactics to draw 8,000 men from various units in the south to form the Wudang Flying Army.

Subsequently, Liu Shan personally appointed Jiang Wei as the first commander of the Wudang Flying Army.