Chapter 432: Once and for all

At noon, Wei Ke and Wei Shen left the city; the Great King lay in his own room examining a topographic map, waiting for them to approach, then he set down some of the supplies Zhu Ti had prepared, and also placed the oxygen bags that Bai Yang had handed over.

Seeing Wei Shen rush over and discover a pile of supplies, then circle the area and see no one, he returned with a puzzled expression, while the Great King lay on the bed chuckling.

Sure enough, as soon as Wei Shen returned, he shouted and rushed into his room.

"Great King! Zhu Ti's crew is too mysterious, isn't it?! When we went, they withdrew leaving nothing behind, just a pile of grain and grass stacked in the woods—what's the point of being so secretive? What if the supplies get lost?"

The Great King, unfathomable, said, "Gathering intelligence naturally requires secrecy; those people might even be peddlers in the city right now."

Wei Shen, convinced, replied, "Well… okay, there are still some boxes tightly bound and heavy; can we open them now?"

The Great King nodded, and then he left.

Those sealed boxes were practically treasure chests, containing everything, and everyone in the courtyard came out to look.

Wei Shen opened them and found some weapons: knives, spears, and even firearm crossbows.

"Any more weapons?"

The Great King had always kept several of these firearm crossbows in the warehouse; now the navy hardly needs that many, and the Great King has taken away a good portion of the warship weapons. The armor and weapons are from John Pu's stock.

Opening another box revealed a large bag of unpacked capsule medicine and several sets of armor. By coincidence, there was also armor that the Great King could wear.

Wei Shen stared in shock, "Armor? Even Liangzhou has this?!"

The Great King had already worked hard to find a set of unseen new armor; the weapons were also freshly taken from John Pu, not those he kept in Youzhou. No matter who asks, they are emergency supplies laid out in Liangzhou's secret warehouse, just in case.

At this moment, the Great King's image in everyone's mind is towering—what kind of strength does it take to reach this level? Even remote Liangzhou actually has armor and weapons stocked!

Although the quantity isn't large, a dozen or so sets are still plenty for times like this. Now the situation calls for using them. The quality of the Great King's armor is life‑saving.

Facing the crowd's astonished glances, the Great King calmly waved a hand, saying, "It's nothing, it's nothing. Cousin, return the armor to its owners; first wear these emergency sets."

Wei Shen felt the armor and remarked, "... still the Owl Cavalry style!"

The Great King: "... that's not the case." When John Pu heard they urgently needed a few sets of armor and weapons, he waved his hand and offered thousands in stock; it was clear he had prepared them in advance to overcharge the Great King, who could only buy at the original price, losing the chance to haggle.

Wei Ke put the firearm crossbow back in his hand, saying, "Four in total." He truly liked these devices, handling each one to confirm that roughly stacking them for transport wouldn't crush them.

The Great King directly said, "Youzhou doesn't have many either; these four will be entrusted to your elder cousin."

Wei Ke enjoys this task; his usually steady face broke into a smile.

"Your Highness, what are those blue inflatable bags for?" he finally found a chance to ask.

"Oxygen. The altitude of Great Permission Valley is nearly a kilometer higher than that of Gold Brilliance; we'll be going up to fight the enemy, fearing oxygen shortage that would make breathing difficult, so these bags contain oxygen to aid respiration. This was specially prepared for the Western Qiang, purchased overseas in advance."

Everyone present was stunned; such foresight is unbeatable, Great King!

The Wei brothers were especially excited; the Great King had mentioned altitude when he previously went to Changzhou, and it's surprising he still remembered and even found a solution!

The Great King glanced at them and knew what they were thinking—what kind of solution is this? It's just paying money!

"We'll set out for Great Permission Valley tomorrow; tonight let's all eat together—we never celebrated taking Gold Brilliance, so let's liven things up."

Gold Brilliance is poor, but it can still manage a farewell drink; the property of the Qiang people inside the city, however, has all been confiscated.

Upon hearing the Great King say that, Wei Shen eagerly shouted for roasted lamb, "... it would be even better if we had some Youzhou white."

As the Great King was about to leave, he turned back and said, "No drinking! Breathing is already hard enough—what alcohol?"

All right, dream shattered.

The lord's manor was smoky and blazing half the afternoon; at nightfall, the Great King finally got to eat the whole roasted lamb. Xie Tu and Zhou Huang kept hovering beside him, you asking how altitude is calculated, he asking how the oxygen is packed into the bags.

The Great King began to answer, but they kept asking without end, delaying his meal, so he set down his chopsticks and started smiling.

Xie Tu and Zhou Huang stepped back together…

As expected.

"How would I know? Of course I read it in a book! The maps of the Great Jin sent from overseas all mark altitude, and you don't even know what altitude is?"

Overseas they can use machines to extract air and fill the bags with oxygen, yet you're asking what oxygen is? They've already done it—shouldn't you scholars be telling me this?

"Zhou Huang!" he singled him out.

"Are you on duty at the Internal Affairs Office? With so many imported samples in Youzhou, I've had you dismantle and study them—what progress have you made so far?"

"Treasure ships have been in service for three years, yet Youzhou still can't copy one over fifteen meters long! Where's my ship?!" the Great King said, not mentioning the gap of years between civilizations.

Xie Tu and Zhou Huang fell silent.

After the Great King's barrage of physical and psychological pressure, no one dared to speak, and everyone ate the lamb in earnest.

Once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the Great King then brought up tomorrow's important matter.

"Everyone has seen Gold Brilliance's miserable state; although we've killed the Qiang people inside the city, the scars they left on this city might take twenty years to fade and improve."

"We've slaughtered the Qiang people inside the city; once we leave, they will surely retaliate. Gold Brilliance and Youzhou City are both our northern territories, and I will abandon none of our northern lands or people. Therefore the battle at Great Permission Valley is unavoidable."

Xie Tu hearing the Great King speak so seriously wasn't the first time, yet he couldn't help but be astonished.

In just a few sentences, the soldiers' emotions were stirred; they shouted to charge Great Permission Valley, exterminate the Qiang once and for all.