In Qingming, a meditating dharma idol warrior suddenly opened his eyes. He summoned a spirit horse, mounted it, and galloped south.
After not seeing it for a while, the spirit horse's speed had increased a bit more; this progress was rather swift. As they galloped, the spirit horse suddenly asked, "I hear you used to have a mount named Azure Steed? Why do you ignore it now?"
Wei Yuan started, having truly forgotten about that horse. It had originally been an ordinary mortal horse, nurtured into a spirit horse through Xu Wenwu's continual feeding along the way. But after the Great Karma Curse, Wei Yuan's strength had surged by leaps and bounds. Now that he had virtually no need for a mount in battle, he had entrusted Azure Steed to Xu Yi.
Had the spirit horse not brought it up, Wei Yuan would have completely forgotten. Curious, he asked, "How did you find out about that?"
"Hmph! That fellow Xu Wenwu told me everything!"
"The two of you..." Wei Yuan grew even more curious, wondering how on earth the two of them had gotten to know each other.
To his surprise, the spirit horse flusteredly cut him off. "We just meditate and cultivate every day! We haven't done anything else!"
"Huh???" The phrase that instantly flashed through Wei Yuan's mind was *the more one tries to hide, the more one reveals*.
The spirit horse suddenly fell silent, burying its head and galloping onward. Wei Yuan's curiosity only deepened. "Why aren't you speaking?"
"The more words, the more slips."
Man and mount galloped for nearly half a day, finally arriving at the Bishui domain. At once, a dharma idol general flew forth and barred their path.
Wei Yuan's avatar retrieved the Domain Lord token and handed it over. The token was a jade plaque imbued with Wei Yuan's aura and inscribed with four large characters. At a glance, the general thought he saw the four characters for *As If the Emperor Himself Arrived*!
He was thoroughly shocked—*Zhen* was the imperial pronoun reserved exclusively for the Great Tang Son of Heaven! Fortunately, upon looking closer as the calligraphy seemed to grow clearer, he realized it actually read *As If I Myself Arrived*. The characters were written in archaic script, and the penmanship was frankly atrocious, which was what had caused his eyes to play tricks on him.
The general also recognized Wei Yuan's token. He said respectfully at once, "So it is the Domain Lord's avatar. Please wait a moment; this general will inform the Fourth Prince immediately."
Wei Yuan nodded. After waiting about a quarter of an hour, he saw Li Chengfeng flying over at full speed. Landing before Wei Yuan, Li Chengfeng clasped his hands and said, "Lord Wei, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?"
Wei Yuan glanced at the Bishui domain behind him and said, "Over two hundred li now. Looks like you've invested quite a lot of capital!"
Li Chengfeng's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly said, "I was a bit impatient a while ago and threw in some resources. I won't do it in the future."
No wonder Li Chengfeng was so polite. Zhao's army of several hundred thousand that had raided Hanyang Pass had been completely annihilated, and his own forces possessed less than half that strength.
Originally, Zhang Sheng had been invincible in field battles while his siege abilities remained untested. But ever since Qingming began deploying infantry guns en masse, city fortifications had lost much of their usefulness. This crude, brute weapon powered by gunpowder had turned out to be the bane of city-protecting formations. No matter how formidable a grand array was, it could not withstand hundreds of cannons bombarding it day and night without pause.
Wei Yuan asked, "Your Fourth Highness has the authority to train troops, correct?"
"My royal father granted me permission to organize and train two hundred thousand new troops under my command."
"Among the princes, does anyone command more troops than you?"
"The Crown Prince commands three hundred thousand troops, including fifty thousand seasoned veterans; his strength far surpasses mine. Second Sister also leads two hundred thousand, but her army has one hundred and fifty thousand elites and only fifty thousand recruits. On top of that, her maternal clan assigned two hundred Dao Foundation officers to her, so her strength is also greater than mine."
Wei Yuan wondered what princess title this Second Sister held. A sudden thought of Princess Anguo and Princess Ningguo gave him an odd feeling inside.
Wei Yuan continued, "Since you are raising a new army, you must have designated areas to gather provisions and pay?"
Li Chengfeng replied, "Currently, the funds and grain from three frontier commanderies are at my disposal. I am entitled to seventy percent of the collected taxes for military expenditures. However, the Western Regions are barren, and the three commanderies have barely seven million people combined. There really isn't much money or grain to be had."
Wei Yuan reviewed the relevant intelligence on Zhao in his mind and remarked, "Two of those commanderies are rather difficult to collect taxes from, aren't they?"
Li Chengfeng paused, then smiled bitterly. "Second Brother and Fourth Sister have never gotten along with me. Those two commanderies were originally their troop-raising territories. Royal Father reassigned them to me, but most of the low-ranking officials are still their subordinates, so next to nothing can be collected."
Wei Yuan finally got to the main point: "Your Fourth Highness, is the equipment needed for your two hundred thousand troops fully assembled?"
Li Chengfeng replied, "Only fifty thousand are fully equipped. The rest are still undergoing training."
At this point, he gave Wei Yuan a wistful look. If he lacked equipment, was it not because Wei Yuan had wiped out his elites in one fell swoop and returned nothing but a bunch of bare-bottomed men? Nowadays, finding men was easy, but acquiring gear was exceedingly difficult. A set of elite armor and weaponry was far more expensive than the warrior wearing it; such was the case across all nations.
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "I can provide you with full sets of equipment for a hundred and fifty thousand men. Do you want it?"
Li Chengfeng's voice turned somewhat dry. "When can you deliver?"
Wei Yuan held up a single finger. "Full delivery within one month. One hundred taels of immortal silver per set, equipped with standard Qingming gunpowder guns and flying sword guns—roughly just a tiny bit better than what your Zhao craftsmen produce."
Li Chengfeng had intended to say something, but upon hearing they were Qingming standard firearms, he jolted violently, a conflicted struggle showing on his face.
Wei Yuan laughed. "What is Your Fourth Highness still hesitating for? With the meager craftsmen Zhao possesses, how long would it take them to manufacture a hundred and fifty thousand guns? Besides, now that Jin and Zhao are at war and there is no fighting in the Western Regions, why would any newly forged firearms go to you? Your fellow princes and princesses fighting on the front lines will naturally arm their own troops first."
Li Chengfeng gave a bitter smile. "How could I not understand that? For all I know, one day an army led by one of my brothers or sisters will march through and seize my domain. But... where could I possibly produce so much money!"
Wei Yuan said calmly, "It doesn't matter if you can't pay right now; I can extend you a loan. Your Fourth Highness only needs to put down ten percent upfront."
Li Chengfeng's voice trembled slightly. "Th-this... How could there be such a good deal? Then what must I offer as collateral?"
"Fourteen million immortal silver. What does Your Fourth Highness think is worth that much?"
Li Chengfeng was rendered speechless. Finally, he let out a long sigh and said, "Lord Wei, you must already have a plan in mind, yes? Please be direct, and I will see if I can stomach it. Or... should I betroth Chunyi to you?"
Wei Yuan nearly lost his composure and hurried to say, "Your Fourth Highness must be joking. I am not that kind of person!"
Li Chengfeng asked, puzzled, "Why have I heard that Lord Wei has always been quite interested in several of my younger sisters?"
Wei Yuan quickly coughed a few times and said, "Even for Princess Ningguo, a betrothal gift of fourteen million would be far too much. Let us discuss business, strictly business."
"Lord Wei, please speak!"
Wei Yuan said, "I want the tax revenues of the three commanderies as collateral. If Your Fourth Highness cannot collect them, I can collect them for you. Of course, my men will act in your name; Your Fourth Highness need only prepare ten thousand sets of personal guard uniforms. In addition, I want fifty years of mining rights in the three commanderies. That will just about cover it."
Li Chengfeng's heart pounded wildly, his face alternating between green and pale. He smiled bitterly. "If we do that, I... I will have completely fallen out with Second Brother and Fourth Sister."
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "What is so serious about a falling out? On the path to the throne, where is there room for brothers and sisters, beloved kin and close friends? Those who cannot be put to your use are mortal enemies and blood foes."
Li Chengfeng turned those words over in his mind, surprisingly finding great truth in them.
Seeing him still hesitating, Wei Yuan added earnestly, "The price I am offering is by no means low, but in this chaotic era, any immortal silver not turned into blades and spears is merely money saved for someone else. Nothing compares to having an army of two hundred thousand fully equipped and ready within a month!"
Li Chengfeng finally steeled his resolve and said, "Lord Wei speaks the truth! It is settled. I shall go gather the first installment of immortal silver at once, and visit Qingming with the contract and silver within three days!"
Wei Yuan clasped his hands. "Then I wish Your Fourth Highness swift success in advance!"
Returning to Qingming, Wei Yuan was quite pleased with the trip. The development of the new gunpowders was nearing completion—and two varieties at that. One was what Ji Liuli and Sun Yu had been researching: soaking spirit plant silk-cotton in limestone fluid, supplemented with other ingredients. By now, all the constituents had been assembled, leaving only finding the optimal ratio and figuring out how to reduce costs.
The other was a formula substituting ancient spirit charcoal for spirit wood charcoal, which likewise multiplied power immensely. Once both types of new gunpowder were developed, all firearms and ammunition would have to be redesigned and refitted across the board. The older gunpowder guns would become obsolete; rather than scrapping them, selling them to Li Chengfeng made far better sense.
Immediately upon returning to Qingming, Wei Yuan wrote a letter to the King of Jin, stating that he intended to travel to the capital for an audience and expected to arrive in the Jin capital in ten days.
Qingming's stockpiled firearms were colossal in scale, and Li Chengfeng alone could not absorb anywhere near enough. Wei Yuan planned to use the same method to extend a loan to the King of Jin for full sets of equipment for five hundred thousand men.
Chapter 738