Jean and Rosalyne nearby were also looking troubled.

Liyue's problem was, in fact, their problem too.

The Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius had taken most of Mondstadt's elite forces, leaving behind only about three to four thousand members.

And even those remaining had to be stationed in Mondstadt for defense.

Moreover, they still needed to send people into the MC world for development and construction—at least two thousand personnel had to go in.

Jean truly couldn't spare that many people.

Diluc also had a headache. He considered whether to pull some people from the underground intelligence network.

But the underground organizations weren't as loyal to Mondstadt as the Knights were.

As for Rosalyne and the others…

The majority of Snezhnaya's combat forces had already been absorbed into the Fatui.

To be honest, even if they gathered only those members who hadn't participated in missions targeting the Seven Nations,

The total probably wouldn't even reach two thousand.

So Rosalyne guessed—

Even the Tsaritsa must be troubled by this.

Thinking this way, Liyue's situation actually looked slightly better.

Ningguang rubbed her temples, deep in thought.

"One thing at a time. For now, we have about 3,000 Qianyan Army soldiers and miners deployed in Ryen's world. These personnel will remain in place."

"In the short term, we won't send any new members. The Dragon Knight Corps will be selected from within this group."

"The regular hot weapon units will also maintain their current size and won't expand further. Since they're already in Ryen's world, there's no need for more."

"As for the Qianyan Army stationed across Liyue, things remain stable. Just ensure they regularly receive alchemical potions."

"What about the heavy cavalry and light infantry who requested expansion?"

Keqing thought for a moment and replied softly:

"The request came from Fengyan, commander of the light infantry. Both the heavy cavalry and light infantry cited the need to face stronger enemies and asked to expand by 1,000 troops each."

"They sure dare to ask—just happened to set their sights on the remaining 2,000 unassigned Qianyan soldiers."

Ningguang chuckled and shook her head.

"It's probably not their idea—it's those remaining 2,000 under-equipped soldiers who approached them themselves."

"But it's understandable. The rest of the Qianyan Army has become quite powerful, so of course these guys would want upgrades too."

Keqing nodded slightly and said:

"What's your opinion? The General Affairs Department is unsure. Suddenly expanding so many elite Qianyan troops—they're afraid it might lead to problems."

Ningguang waved her hand.

"No worries. The actual command of the Qianyan Army lies with us. The stronger, the better."

"Approve it. In the end, this is more about fairness than scarcity. It's time we armed the remaining Qianyan troops too."

"Approve the expansion—1,000 each. But all new contracts must be re-signed."

"Also, we'll recruit 2,000 more new Qianyan soldiers. These recruits will be considered 'in training' troops."

"There will be an annual assessment. Those who don't meet the standards will be removed. The top performers—200 each—can be absorbed into the heavy cavalry and light infantry units."

Keqing seemed to have anticipated Ningguang's response. She wasn't surprised and simply nodded.

"I'll go to the General Affairs Department shortly. But… are you sure Liyue can afford to support this many Qianyan troops?"

"Why can't we afford it? Even if the number doubles, it won't be a problem for us!"

Ningguang chuckled as she looked at Keqing.

"Sometimes, you should pay attention to Liyue's revenue. Don't just focus on land expansion all the time."

"Right now, Liyue's official market opens every week, and we bring in five hundred billion Mora in just a single day."

"And that doesn't even include the large-scale trade deals we conduct with the Adventurers' Guild and other organizations."

"Last month, Liyue's net income reached 1.2 trillion Mora—nearly double what it used to be."

"Besides, all this Millelith equipment is being mass-produced in Ryen's world. We don't bear any real cost—at most, we just distribute wages and subsidies."

"No matter how many people we recruit, it won't be a problem for us."

As she finished, Ningguang, in high spirits, even cracked a joke.

"Even if we don't have enough Mora for payouts, we could just pay them in gold!"

"The Golden House still has tens of thousands of tons of gold piled up."

Upon hearing this, everyone smiled knowingly.

And so, the expansion of the Millelith army was happily settled just like that.

Off to the side, Jean sighed, somewhat enviously:

"For Liyue, recruiting Millelith is simple. But if our Knights of Favonius want to expand…"

Diluc shook his head.

"We should still try. At worst, we increase the Knights' pay and use Dawn Winery funds as an upfront loan to the Gunnhildr family. Once trade with the outer world stabilizes, you can repay me later."

Upon hearing this, Jean nodded.

"Thank you, Senior Diluc."

As for why he said he would loan it to the Gunnhildr family and not directly to the Knights…

That didn't need to be explained.

As long as Jean hadn't fully taken control of the Knights, Diluc would never get deeply involved with them.

After chatting for a while, Baiwen brought dinner over with her people, and for the first time in a long while, Ningguang and the others shared a meal and conversation in Ryen's courtyard.

Ever since the Rite of Parting, it had been a long time since such a gathering happened.

They talked and laughed, and dinner lasted until the moon rose over the treetops.

Only then did they part ways.

~~----------------------

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