Chapter 487: New Heavy Cavalry

"Very well, Your Highness."

Xu Lianyue replied respectfully, Gao Yang nodded, said nothing, after greeting the Zhao family, he let Xiang Lan and Qing'er help Chen Yan away.

She came today precisely because Xu Lianyue had sent someone midway to inform her that Chen Yan was drunk.

Gao Yang said the line "You did well this time" not because the news Xu Lianyue delivered was especially important; after all, Chen Yan had already told them before leaving that he would go to Du Gou's house for a drink, as they were colleagues.

Being drunk was nothing strange, and staying overnight at Du Gou's house was no big deal.

The main point was that Gao Yang was fairly satisfied with Xu Lianyue's attitude and didn't take advantage of Chen Yan's drunkenness.

That's why she said that line.

Watching their departing figures, Xu Lianyue's eyes grew dim...

"......"

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed; it was already the end of June, about to turn into July.

That day, Chen Yan, as usual, finished teaching a group of students, then instead of heading to the county office, he went to the Negotiation Office.

Li Shimin's men had already been gathered, a full three thousand, and Qin Qiong had already arrived in Weinan County, so Chen Yan planned to take a look.

Entering the Negotiation Office, he immediately heard the sounds of training; Chen Yan went straight to the drill field and saw the experienced Cheng Chu Mo and two others leading many soldiers in basic exercises.

After watching for a while, Chen Yan frowned; although the Negotiation Office's grounds weren't small, it was certainly insufficient to accommodate three thousand trainees, and the field certainly didn't hold three thousand people—at most one and a half thousand.

"Hey, big nephew, you're here?"

Qin Qiong was standing on the high platform watching the soldiers train below; when he saw Chen Yan, he waved at him.

Chen Yan walked up and said in a steady voice, "Uncle Qin, the venue here is too small; training three thousand people is impossible."

"Hmm, I've already noticed," Qin Qiong said, clasping his hands, "After all, it's just a Negotiation Office; there are only a little over a thousand garrison troops, so the space naturally isn't huge."

"Fortunately, behind the Negotiation Office in Weinan County there's a small patch of forest. I plan to clear that forest, expand the venue, and then assign each of the three of them a thousand new soldiers."

"What do you think?"

Chen Yan silently gazed into the distance; from here he could see the forest far away with trees constantly being felled and collapsing.

If his guess was correct, besides the over a thousand on the field, the remaining people should all be cutting trees.

"...... Uncle Qin, you've already sent people to cut the trees, so why ask me?" he said wordlessly.

"Ha ha!" Qin Qiong was in a good mood, patting his shoulder, "It's just giving you, the County Magistrate, some face, letting you know."

Chen Yan said nothing; technically, the County Magistrate couldn't command the Negotiation Office, but he was different—he had authority from Li Shimin to mobilize garrison troops, so he could indeed oversee the Negotiation Office.

"Uncle Qin, His Majesty has provided a lot of military funds, right? Otherwise you wouldn't be thinking of expanding the venue."

"Don't even mention it." Qin Qiong nodded oddly, "If I recall correctly, this should be the most generous grant His Majesty has ever made in years. Back then, he was reluctant to allocate even ten thousand strings to the Mysterious Armor Army; this time he gave me a full hundred thousand strings at once!"

"I originally thought thirty to fifty thousand strings would be plenty, but I got a hundred thousand at once, and His Majesty even said to ask for more if it wasn't enough!"

"I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me for saying this, but I feel His Majesty is being unreasonably generous now!"

Chen Yan curled his lip; could he possibly be less generous?

He had his own people scrambling for petty cash everywhere.

Last year, Li Shimin adopted his suggestion and allocated a lump sum of two hundred thousand strings to the unruly ones.

What's a hundred thousand strings anyway?

Putting aside the fact that they now have a steady flow of money, with future collaborations with noble families and the Money Shop's gradual expansion, money is already abundant.

Li Shimin is, of course, generous.

"By the way, now both my mother-in-law and I have temporarily moved to Weinan County; feel free to come over for a meal sometime," Qin Qiong mentioned offhand after recalling something.

"Alright, I'll remember that." Chen Yan nodded and reminded, "Uncle Qin, take good care of those three thousand troops; it's best not to waste money just because you have it—there will be plenty of expenses ahead."

"A few months ago I forged several types of weapons and gear; in hardness, portability, and sharpness they far surpass the Tang Dynasty's previous weapons and armor."

"These weapons are great, but the only problem is they're extremely difficult to produce and costly; your current military budget can't even equip all three thousand men with a single sword."

Qin Qiong:?

"No, wait a moment!" he tugged at his ear, hardly believing what he heard, "One hundred thousand?!"

"Not even enough for a sword each?"

"Is that your so-called 'people‑and‑horse‑shattered' Mysterious Blade?"

"It's damn made of gold?!"

Chen Yan recalled the cost of a Mysterious Blade; a pang of pain flashed in his eyes, "It's not actually made of gold, but a single Mysterious Blade costs about fifty strings; calculate for yourself whether you can equip each of the three thousand men with one."

Qin Qiong: "......"

Such a simple arithmetic problem, anyone can do it in their head.

One Mysterious Blade costs fifty strings; to equip three thousand men would require one hundred fifty thousand strings.

He still apparently owes fifty thousand strings?

"What kind of sword is that, so ridiculously expensive?" Qin Qiong was a bit flustered, finding it hard to believe a blade could cost fifty strings.

Chen Yan shook his head, "Expensive as it is, it's truly worth it; 'people‑and‑horse‑shattered' isn't just hype, it's forged by hammering countless copper coins, with no fluff."

"Have you heard of those legendary divine weapons? Those so‑called divine weapons cost even more, but I bet they can't match a Mysterious Blade."

"They're top‑tier anti‑cavalry killing weapons."

"And this is just a Mysterious Blade; a Mysterious Night Armor costs even more!"

"Your hundred thousand strings sounds like a lot, but it's actually nothing!"

Qin Qiong: "......"

Alright, sorry for the interruption!

I originally thought the Mysterious Blade was already outrageous, but the Mysterious Night Armor turned out to be even more so.

But thinking about it, one can understand; weapons, of course

Back when Li Shimin formed the Mysterious Armor Army, Qin Qiong was a firsthand participant; even then he thought the three thousand Mysterious Armor troops' spending power was already outrageous.

I didn't expect there to be something even more extravagant here.

However, thinking about the heavy cavalry's combat power, and Li Shimin's earlier feat of using three thousand to defeat ten thousand, Qin Qiong fell silent again.

"Alright, from now on I'll be more frugal."

Chen Yan suddenly laughed, "Save what ought to be saved, and don't bother saving what shouldn't be. If I'm not mistaken, His Majesty places high hopes on this newly formed three-thousand heavy cavalry; otherwise, he wouldn't still be forming such a heavy cavalry after the appearance of explosives!"

Hearing the hint in his words, Qin Qiong's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded lightly.

"Understood."

"......"