Third Brother Li gritted his teeth. He never expected that this seemingly honest man’s appetite would be so enormous—not even a thousand taels of silver could satisfy him.
He let out a soft breath and made up his mind. “Five thousand taels at most. Not a penny more.”
Li Fu shook his head. “You’d better find someone else. For the sake of us both being surnamed Li, I won’t report you.”
With that, he turned to leave.
Third Brother Li hurriedly grabbed him. “Hey, hey, why the rush? You’re a weaponsmith at the Armory. Drawing up a design or making a repeating crossbow should be easy for you.”
A struggle flashed through Li Fu’s eyes. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and named his price. “Two hundred thousand taels. Not one copper less.”
Third Brother Li was dumbfounded. He dug a finger into his ear. “How much did you say?”
Li Fu’s face flushed. “I never wanted to do this in the first place, so don’t force me. If you can give me two hundred thousand taels, I’ll hand over the blueprints and manufacturing process.”
“It’s not that I’m being greedy. If I do this, my family and I will have to leave Ge Feng and go into hiding, fleeing from place to place. We’ll have plenty of expenses to cover by then.”
Third Brother Li quickly assured him, “Then you can come straight to Sizhou. As long as you go there, I guarantee you’ll become a weaponsmith at the Armory. Your wages will be ten times higher than what you’re making now.”
A trace of hesitation flickered through Li Fu’s eyes, but after a moment he shook his head. “No. You don’t know how powerful the Jinyang Army is. Even if I make it to Sizhou, they’ll certainly be able to find me.”
“Other than hiding my identity, I have no other way out. The lowest I’ll accept is two hundred thousand taels. Think it over.”
With that, he hurried away.
Watching Li Fu’s retreating figure, a vicious glint flashed through Third Brother Li’s eyes.
He had always thought Li Fu was an honest man. Who would have thought that he wasn’t honest at all—he simply looked down on a mere thousand taels from him?
His mind raced wildly. Did this weaponsmith, who was risking his life for the job, have any idea how many carts it would take to haul away two hundred thousand taels?
Jiang Jin rode through her own territory, watching the busy farmers and the fields of green crops, as well as the young men and women working on the roads. Everyone was sweating and laboring for this land.
Yun Chengxuan was eating watermelon. It had been chilled in ice, and taking a bite in the sweltering summer heat made him feel refreshed from head to toe.
“So tasty! Mmm!” he exclaimed between bites, dropping the watermelon seeds into the shoulder bag he carried. “Auntie, I’m going to save these seeds and plant them next year.”
Jiang Jin smiled. Her eldest nephew, Yun Chengxuan, was quite adorable when he wasn’t being such a pain.
In the distance, she spotted Mu Wanbai wearing a large straw hat and directing the farmers in the fields.
When Mu Wanbai saw Jiang Jin, she hurried over. “My lord.”
Jiang Jin dismounted and pointed toward a large tree nearby. “Come. Let’s talk in the shade.”
When they reached the tree, Mu Wanbai removed her straw hat and fanned herself. “It’s wheat chafer grubs. This entire plot is infested. They’ve eaten quite a lot of our peanut crops.”
Her face was flushed from the sun. Her hair wasn’t tied up properly either, but had merely been gathered into a simple braid at the back.
This plot had all been planted with peanuts. Some time ago, quite a few of the plants had gradually begun turning yellow and dying. The farmers had quickly reported the problem, and Mu Wanbai had hurried over to investigate.
Jiang Jin frowned. “Do we have any suitable pesticide prepared?”
Mu Wanbai looked somewhat ashamed. “We haven’t managed to develop the phoxim you mentioned yet, so we can only use one of the sulfur-containing pesticides we’ve already made. We tested it before, and the results were fairly good.”
Jiang Jin nodded. “That will do. The rice and wheat in the three villages and Donghu Commandery should be nearly ready, shouldn’t they?”
It was already the end of July, and the three villages had been the first to plant their crops.
A smile appeared on Mu Wanbai’s face. “Yes. The earliest fields should need another half a month or so. I checked them, and the yields look even better than last year’s. I’ll head back as soon as I’m finished here.”
The harvest was of utmost importance. She had to oversee it personally before she could rest easy. After all, Jiang Jin’s wheat and rice were planted almost entirely in the three villages and Donghu Commandery, and they concerned the food supply of hundreds of thousands of people in Fengzhou.
Jiang Jin reminded her, “Before storing the grain, remember to inspect the granaries once more, in case there are any problems with rats or insects.”
Aside from the underground granary in Ge Feng, the underground granary in Xianglu County had also been completed. Once the harvested grain was dried, it could be put to use.
This was one advantage of having a large population: things got done efficiently.
Mu Wanbai quickly agreed. “Rest assured, my lord. The person in charge of the underground granary is one of the former Northeastern Army soldiers. They inspect it several times every day.”
Those who had endured hardship valued a good life more than anyone.
This was especially true of the disabled soldiers from the Northeastern Army. They were grateful to Jiang Jin for saving their lives, and even more grateful that she had not looked down on them as useless men, but had instead given them dignity and trust by entrusting them with such an important granary.
As a result, they performed their duties with extraordinary care and responsibility.
The two were still talking when a rider came galloping toward them. It was Mu Ning.
Mu Wanbai rose to her feet. “My lord, I’ll get back to work first.”
Jiang Jin nodded. “Go ahead.”
After dismounting, Mu Ning hurried beneath the tree. “My lord, Commander Xie has received them.”
Jiang Jin thought for a moment before remembering that Mu Ning was referring to Xie Nanxiao receiving the First Prince’s men.
Her interest was piqued. “How did it go?”
Mu Ning smiled and handed over a report. “All the captured supplies have been recorded here. The money and goods are one thing, but Sizhou’s warships are truly excellent.”
Jiang Jin’s navy had gone from having absolutely nothing, to purchasing ships from Daqing Ze’a Commandery, to now possessing nearly three hundred vessels.
Judging by the number of ships alone, her navy was no weaker than Sizhou’s. Of course, the number of sailors was still far smaller, and as for combat strength, that was another matter entirely.
The more Jiang Jin read, the more satisfied she became—and the more pained she felt.
Sizhou was simply far too wealthy!
This time alone, they had brought sixty thousand taels of silver. They had originally intended to use it to buy grain from her, but now it all belonged to her instead.
“My lord, are you going to Feng’an County to meet the officials from Sizhou?” Mu Ning couldn’t help asking.
Jiang Jin did not answer her question. Instead, she asked, “How much longer will it take to finish the tunnel beneath Wenxia City in Chongzhou?”
Mu Ning thought for a moment before replying, “About half a month.”
Jiang Jin calculated the timing and then said, “It doesn’t matter whether I meet the Sizhou officials or not. Dong Si can go in my place.”
“Have Ge Feng finish the weapons we requested as quickly as possible, according to both the required quality and quantity. I’ll be taking them with me. We’ll need them to attack Wenxia City.”
The Armory had been working overtime recently precisely because it was busy producing this batch of weapons.
Chongzhou, Shouci Commandery.
Blood sprayed across his face, but the young man paid it no attention. He swung the saber in his hand down again, and the head of a Ji Army soldier went flying, blood gushing several meters into the air.
In the distance, Yun Yu had gone numb. This man was just as bloodthirsty as Yun Chengxuan and Shuangjiang, always fond of hacking off people’s heads. Blood and gore were splattered everywhere.
Lu Ping sighed. “He’s probably been suppressing his frustration for too long. This is a good chance for him to let it all out.”
Today, they had run into a patrol of roughly three hundred Ji Army soldiers. Now, only two or three remained. The others had stopped fighting and left those few for the young man.
Yun Yu nodded. “All right, that’s enough. Everyone, clean up the battlefield. Quickly.”
