Chapter 680: Tasting the Sweetness

As soon as this thought emerged, Wei Yuan immediately cast it aside, then promptly forgot it, and no longer dwelled on the matter.

Fortunately, news arrived at this moment that a merchant caravan from Zhao Guo had arrived, bringing with them five million jin of silk.

This caravan bore no markings; they unloaded the silk at the edge of Qingming, and also brought several hundred thousand taels of immortal silver to cover the price difference between the silk and the brocade, as well as to pay for the soldiers' food and lodging.

Wei Yuan had not expected Li Chengfeng to act so quickly, and as a result, he found himself in a flurry of activity. After a day of scheduling and coordination, he finally managed to gather one million bolts of brocade and transported them to the Qingming border.

At the border, Wei Yuan met Li Chengfeng. At this moment, Li Chengfeng was wearing a hooded cloak, his face completely obscured.

Seeing Wei Yuan arrive, Li Chengfeng stepped out from the crowd, came before Wei Yuan, and said, "The silk has all been delivered. It is of top quality, full weight and measure. Now, can you let the soldiers of Great Zhao go home?"

Wei Yuan had already scanned them with his spiritual sense, and Qingming also had hundreds of cultivators responsible for inspection; the silk delivered was indeed top-tier goods.

Wei Yuan then said, "The Fourth Prince is indeed a man of his word. There are currently over ten thousand healthy soldiers in Qingming; these men can be released first. However, there are still thirty thousand wounded soldiers currently receiving treatment in Qingming. Moving them rashly now would likely be inappropriate."

Li Chengfeng gave a bitter smile and said, "I knew you wouldn't let them go so easily. Is there going to be an additional medical fee? Whatever other demands you have, just state them all at once!"

Wei Yuan wore a look of righteousness and said solemnly, "Am I that kind of person? The Fourth Prince underestimates me! These subordinates of yours are receiving better treatment in Qingming; I actually feel there is no rush for them to return. If you don't believe me, Fourth Prince, you may accompany me to take a look."

Li Chengfeng pondered for a moment, then said, "Fine, I will accompany you to take a look."

The generals and strategists hurriedly tried to stop him, but Li Chengfeng said, "It is fine! If Realm Lord Wei wanted to take my life, he could have done so long ago; there is no need to wait until now."

Immediately, Li Chengfeng flew into Qingming with Wei Yuan. The Zhao Guo wounded soldiers were all concentrated in a military camp outside the guest-welcoming town, less than a hundred miles from the border, arriving in the blink of an eye.

The military camp was exceptionally tidy; within the camp of tens of thousands, it was almost spotless. Thousands of lightly wounded Zhao soldiers were divided into dozens of teams, spontaneously cleaning up filth and moving supplies within the camp, everything in perfect order.

In front of several large central tents, thousands of soldiers stood in a long line, waiting to enter the tents for diagnosis. There were also over ten teams of doctors inspecting the tents one by one, checking the recovery progress of the soldiers' wounds.

These doctors were all dressed in white robes of a special design, each one young and beautiful, as lovely as peach blossoms and as cold as frost. Behind them followed teams of assistants, also handsome men and delicate women, with the women being the majority.

Li Chengfeng watched, dumbfounded. He discovered that when a team of doctors entered a large tent, the blood energy and vitality of the wounded soldiers in the entire tent would surge upward significantly, to the point where they didn't even need medicine.

Wei Yuan pointed to the camp below and said, "Fourth Prince, what do you think of my medical camp? Since these days, only a dozen or so have died from severe wounds."

Li Chengfeng praised, "Unprecedented, truly breathtaking!"

This was his sincere opinion. Usually, wounded soldiers lived in ordinary military camps, and no matter what, they would never be as clean as this medical camp. With such a tidy environment, plus the obvious power of the Jianmu Jianmu Sheng Xuan, only a dozen or so out of thirty thousand wounded soldiers had died. In any other place, it would have been at least a thousand.

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "Zhao soldiers are the elite troops of the world; it should be so."

Li Chengfeng then bowed to Wei Yuan and said, "With them on Qingming's side, the ten taels medical fee is indeed too little. Whatever demands you have, Realm Lord Wei, just command them."

At this moment, in order to take these wounded soldiers back, Li Chengfeng's attitude was quite low, and since no one else was watching, it didn't matter.

Wei Yuan then said, "Since the Fourth Prince has said so, then I will not be polite. You can take them back, but two million jin of silk will get ten thousand people back. I will charge according to Zhao Guo's market price."

Li Chengfeng calculated carefully; he actually only needed to lose a little on transport costs. Six million jin of silk would cost at most fifty thousand taels of immortal silver. Compared to exchanging for a large number of elite soldiers, it was not worth mentioning. He immediately said, "That is acceptable, but I need some time."

Wei Yuan smiled brilliantly, "No problem! I have plenty of patience."

Subsequently, Wei Yuan pulled Li Chengfeng aside and said in detail, "It doesn't necessarily have to be two million jin at once; several hundred thousand jin at a time is also fine. If top-tier silk isn't enough, medium or low-tier is also fine, just calculate it according to market price. Anyway, two hundred jin of silk for one person, you are not losing anything at all."

Li Chengfeng did not expect Wei Yuan to be so long-winded and act like a peddler, and couldn't help but curiously ask, "Realm Lord Wei, you are busy with ten thousand things, why are you so obsessed with this silk?"

Wei Yuan said, "The Fourth Prince should know that Qingming produces brocade, but do you know how it is produced?"

Li Chengfeng asked curiously, "Is it not produced by workshops?"

Wei Yuan said earnestly, "Qingming produces brocade, all by newly advanced Dao Foundation cultivators. I use this method to help them temper their temperament and consolidate their Dao Foundation; it has miraculous effects! If the supply of this silk is cut off, then many Dao Foundation cultivators would have nothing to do and would be unable to consolidate their realm."

Li Chengfeng looked solemn and said, "So that's how it is! Then the silk supply indeed cannot be cut off."

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "The one who knows me is the Fourth Prince?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, both appearing very sincere.

At this time, Qingming's second batch of fifty brocade-weaving workshops was about to be completed, at which time the monthly production of brocade would reach one million bolts, about the same as the entire eight counties of Ningzhou. Thus, the annual raw silk required would be about sixty million jin, which is also sixty thousand dan, or thirty thousand tons.

Solving over ten million jin of silk from Li Chengfeng at once, Wei Yuan was actually quite satisfied. Then he began to calculate in his heart when he could solve another batch.

Last time, Wei Yuan defeated Li Chengfeng using only artillery; the new-style chariots and high-power missiles hadn't even been deployed yet. In the next battle, Wei Yuan prepared to test the effectiveness of the chariots. Internal secret drills in Qingming had already proven that chariots moving in clusters were the nemesis of cavalry; even the Long Yi Iron Cavalry had been defeated. Wei Yuan was very much looking forward to clashing with the world-famous iron cavalry of Zhao Guo.

Wei Yuan calculated the time; it should be soon. At this moment, Jin Guo was in chaos, the north had just suffered a defeat, and the Crown Prince had suffered a heavy blow at his hands. With Zhao Wang's shrewdness, he would not let such a good opportunity pass and would inevitably want to bite a piece of meat off Jin Guo. It just depended on whether he planned to bite off two or three counties, or more.

Li Chengfeng naturally did not know what Wei Yuan was thinking, but after seeing the medical camp, he set his heart at ease and returned to the border with Wei Yuan. However, he had some hidden worries in his heart; these soldiers had lived so well in Qingming, they couldn't have too much of a gap after returning. It seemed the silver he originally planned to use to purchase flying swords would have to be taken out to renovate the camp.

In the blink of an eye, the two reached the border, and the ten thousand healthy Zhao soldiers were still on their way. Wei Yuan suddenly asked, "Brother Li's subordinates seem to be missing a few?"

Li Chengfeng's expression did not change, and he said, "They have other assignments, so they didn't come along this time."

Wei Yuan immediately sensed Li Chengfeng's Primordial Spirit fluctuate; he must be lying.

The subsequent matters were handled by subordinates, and Wei Yuan and Li Chengfeng returned separately. At this time, it was time for Wei Yuan to study, so he took out the book of Tinghai Xianjun, braced himself, and headed straight for the Merit Hall, preparing to continue researching the Five Elements Dao Soldiers.

The Five Elements Dao Soldiers had a wide range of uses and were originally a very ordinary Master Yu Jing spell, which could be learned casually without needing high comprehension. But this very spell was dismantled by Tinghai Xianjun, then studied one by one, heading straight for the origin of the Five Elements Dao.

To be honest, Wei Yuan did not understand this way of researching spells at all. It was like wanting to eat an egg; why must one deeply understand the life of a hen?

Although he complained in his heart, the Golden Light Water Blade Technique had already let Wei Yuan taste the sweetness. Although he still couldn't cast the Five Elements Dao Soldiers spell, his understanding of the Five Elements Dao had progressed by leaps and bounds.

This time, Wei Yuan went as usual, passing directly through the portal into the Enlightenment Room, but unexpectedly, there was already someone there. The room was small, and the two collided immediately. In an instant, Wei Yuan felt like he had crashed into a mountain of dark iron.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 681 =====